You can't have everything. Where would you put it?

[i cant think]

And the answer is: [Oxymetopon cyanoctenosum - The blue-barred ribbon goby]
Highlight to see. I'll admit this photo does make it prettier than it is but it also doesn't show the very strange shape. The Oarfish is a good comparison IMO.

I’ve seen them in the past and they are a stunning species in my eyes.
They used to be classified as a Dartfish (in the family Microdesmidae) but now go under the true gobies which is the family of Gobiidae.

I would absolutely love a pair of these guy in my SPS reef but they’re a relatively large species.

 

[A Young Reefer]

So I bought a colony of blue and yellow goniopora. I very rarely buy more than a frag so let's see how it does! (pictures to follow once it extends)

But that's the boring stuff because I found an awesome fish. It is absolutely stunning and I think I may get one next week. So can anyone guess what it is?

Hint: Its not an Oarfish.

Anyway sorry @Petcrazyson I have to follow my tag and for now I'm going for the weird over the beautiful. It just happens that the weird is also very beautiful in this case.

i read your hint as : it’s an Oar fish, you should’ve seen my reaction:

 

[Slocke]

I’ve seen them in the past and they are a stunning species in my eyes.
They used to be classified as a Dartfish (in the family Microdesmidae) but now go under the true gobies which is the family of Gobiidae.

I would absolutely love a pair of these guy in my SPS reef but they’re a relatively large species.

Interesting. It is very difficult to find anything on them. Apparently they’re fairly cryptic and maybe nocturnal.
One of the ones my LFS had lost an eye so he added it to the display and it looked great there.

i read your hint as : it’s an Oar fish, you should’ve seen my reaction:

do you disagree though. It has that body shape and that weird face. Of course I don’t have a 2’x2’x100’ tank so I have to settle for this.

I know you like the weird things lol. I think ugly is the wrong word that. It’s a cool fish. It’s not a pretty fish, but like you said I’m sure they glow nicely under blue lights, then again so do my ugly old sneakers It is a cool looking fish!

Mysterious maybe. Like a black ghost knifefish. I noticed all the wild photos of them they look ugly but in aquarium photos they have that fluorescence and mystique. It is cryptic like you were looking for though haha.

 

[Petcrazyson]

It is cryptic like you were looking for though

You got a point lol.

 

[Slocke]

So I want to use some of my sand in this tank in my new "sump" and then replace it with finer grade sand. However I hear horror stories about people doing this and releasing trapped junk into the tank and having ammonia spikes or oxygen depletion. Is this something I should worry about? I know you replace sand @i cant think ?

 

[Slocke]

Also I think I may have bought the ugliest goniopora in existence. At least under white lights:

It's great under blues but Its awful and fleshy in whites. Whoops
Also here's the goby out of its cave. Bad photo but still. It is a shame as the eye is probably the best part of the orange spot.

 

[Petcrazyson]

I hear horror stories about people doing this and releasing trapped junk into the tank and having ammonia spikes or oxygen depletion

That’s exactly why if you need to move, never re-use or keep the sand in the tank. However, I think that there is a special way to carefully clean the sand to lower the chances of these things happening. @Lost in the Sauce @SunnyX not sure if you guys know a trick or two about this?

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Not a crazy trick at all. Sand is easy to reuse, and keep the century colony in place, Just needs washed.

Hose with a spray nozzle and 5 gallon buckets will be your friend.

Scoop your dirty sand into the bucket a little over half full. Agitate the sand with the spray nozzle blasting. As the water fills up the bucket, tip the bucket dumping as much nasty water out as you can without losing sand. Repeat until the water is clean and clear.. It takes me 5-7 to minutes per bucket.

That’s exactly why if you need to move, never re-use or keep the sand in the tank. However, I think that there is a special way to carefully clean the sand to lower the chances of these things happening. @Lost in the Sauce @SunnyX not sure if you guys know a trick or two about this?

 

[Petcrazyson]

Also I think I may have bought the ugliest goniopora in existence. At least under white lights:

It's great under blues but Its awful and fleshy in whites. Whoops
Also here's the goby out of its cave. Bad photo but still. It is a shame as the eye is probably the best part of the orange spot.

Lol. This goby. Keep thinking it’s been resuscitated. My thinking is weird when I see this fish lol.

 

[Slocke]

Not a crazy trick at all. Sand is easy to reuse, and keep the century colony in place, Just needs washed.

Hose with a spray nozzle and 5 gallon buckets will be your friend.

Scoop your dirty sand into the bucket a little over half full. Agitate the sand with the spray nozzle blasting. As the water fills up the bucket, tip the bucket dumping as much nasty water out as you can without losing sand. Repeat until the water is clean and clear.. It takes me 5-7 to minutes per bucket.

So my question was more how to get the old sand out? Do I need to worry about chemical releases from the sand?
You hear horror stories about ammonia releases and oxygen loss after stirring stagnant sand.

 

[Petcrazyson]

I just read your new signature and I love it

 

[Petcrazyson]

Not a crazy trick at all. Sand is easy to reuse, and keep the century colony in place, Just needs washed.

Hose with a spray nozzle and 5 gallon buckets will be your friend.

Scoop your dirty sand into the bucket a little over half full. Agitate the sand with the spray nozzle blasting. As the water fills up the bucket, tip the bucket dumping as much nasty water out as you can without losing sand. Repeat until the water is clean and clear.. It takes me 5-7 to minutes per bucket.

Thx Lost for helping out so quickly.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

So my question was more how to get the old sand out? Do I need to worry about chemical releases from the sand?
You hear horror stories about ammonia releases and oxygen loss after stirring stagnant sand.

Catch me up. How long has the sandbed been in use? How deep is it? Has it been vacuumed out with any regularly?

How big is the system and are you Light-medium- or heavy on live rock?

 

[Slocke]

Catch me up. How long has the sandbed been in use? How deep is it? Has it been vacuumed out with any regularly?

How big is the system and are you Light-medium- or heavy on live rock?

Probably 6 months since the diamond goby made a 4in depth on one of the tank which is what I want to remove. I probably vacuum once a month but not very deep. 110gal Display with 45gal sump/refugium full of macroalgae. Heavy biomedia and medium rock.

Thanks for the quick response and help btw!

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

How long has the tank been running?

 

[Slocke]

How long has the tank been running?

1 year almost exactly

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

The Easiest way to do it, is with a rip clean. I know people hate that thought but it can actually be fun and give you an opportunity to change some things up every once in a while.

-since nobody would actually do that-

As I understand it, A year old sandbed isn't going to be at risk of making hydrogen sulfide. "Toxic DSB" syndrome takes years to go full boat.

The thing you would care about is releasing a bunch of detritis and decaying organics into the water and overloading your tanks ability to deal with the Ammonia spike. The fact that you have a bunch of macro is a good thing. They eat straight ammonia. Your sandbed is a Massive biofilter. You do not want to pull it all at one time and kick a bunch of gunk into the water. That's how tanks crash.

In your situation, I would likely spend time vacuuming the sandbed. Get as much crap out as you can first.

R&R no more than a foot square at a time. I've siphoned out sand a bit at a time, into a 7" filter sock in a bucket. Replace that area with your new sand. Wash the old and put it in the sump.

This way takes weeks. Rip clean wood have you done by the afternoon on a weekend.

 

[Slocke]

The Easiest way to do it, is with a rip clean. I know people hate that thought but it can actually be fun and give you an opportunity to change some things up every once in a while.

-since nobody would actually do that-

As I understand it, A year old sandbed isn't going to be at risk of making hydrogen sulfide. "Toxic DSB" syndrome takes years to go full boat.

The thing you would care about is releasing a bunch of detritis and decaying organics into the water and overloading your tanks ability to deal with the Ammonia spike. The fact that you have a bunch of macro is a good thing. They eat straight ammonia. Your sandbed is a Massive biofilter. You do not want to pull it all at one time and kick a bunch of gunk into the water. That's how tanks crash.

In your situation, I would likely spend time vacuuming the sandbed. Get as much crap out as you can first.

R&R no more than a foot square at a time. I've siphoned out sand a bit at a time, into a 7" filter sock in a bucket. Replace that area with your new sand. Wash the old and put it in the sump.

This way takes weeks. Rip clean wood have you done by the afternoon on a weekend.

Great thanks a lot! That makes a lot of sense.
I just rip cleaned the sump (which was a macroalgae tank previously) and recently had to tear down the display tank to catch a murderous hawkfish so I'm not quite ready to do another reshuffle but I certainly will use the vacuuming advice.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Great thanks a lot! That makes a lot of sense.
I just rip cleaned the sump (which was a macroalgae tank previously) and recently had to tear down the display tank to catch a murderous hawkfish so I'm not quite ready to do another reshuffle but I certainly will use the vacuuming advice.

I feel you. I've downstacked a 300 now 3 times in a week getting all of the fish out

 

[Petcrazyson]

I feel you. I've downstacked a 300 now 3 times in a week getting all of the fish out

Have you gotten that last pita Wrasse out yet? How’s everyone still in QT? Better?