Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata

I just added my first gorgonia to a reef tank. I LOVE it so much. This one is a purple (bipinnate) sea plume gorgonia, Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata, from Florida waters.

I've read mixed reviews on the difficulty of this coral. Most say easy, some say difficult. Sea Plumes are a very common, photosynthetic, shallow water octocoral found throughout the Caribbean and Florida. This one is purple with white polyps. I'm including a closeup of the coral as well as a full tank shot of what it looks like in the tank. click on the photos to enlarge!

Pederson anemone shrimp

I ordered some new inverts for my tank. I got two Pederson anemone shrimp, 2 nano brittle stars, and a purple photosynthetic gorgonian. I've never had a gorgonian before. I've read mixed things on this. Some say they are easy to care for, some say they are difficult. I got the purple (bipinnate) sea plume gorgonia, Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata, from Florida. I'll highlight this tomorrow. Today I'll tell you about and show you my new shrimp!

Taken from the website where I bought them:

This is the anemone shrimp from the Caribbean called the Pederson’s Cleaner Shrimp, Periclimenes pedersoni. They are small shrimp with long wavy antenna that spend most of their time perched on anemones waiting for fish to come by for cleanings. They seem to prefer the corkscrew anemones and the knobby anemones that live on the offshore hard bottom habitats, but whey will host on just about any Caribbean anemone, including the corallimorphs such as ricordea. They are quite animated in an aquarium and will rock back and forth bouncing their antenna trying to attract the attention of the larger fish so they can check them for parasites.

I chose this species because my tank is mushroom dominated. I figured they would feel right at home here :)

debating with myself....Possum Wrasse:

As the title says...I'm debating on whether or not to add a third fish to this tank. I think I may in a few months. Give the tank some time to really establish itself. The fish I think I will get is a Possum Wrasse. I haven't decided between the Yellow Banded:

or the White Banded


I think I need to see them in person to make my decision. I am leaning toward the White Banded though. If anyone out there has any experience with this fish and wants to share...please do. I've done a lot of research on it and it sounds like it will be a perfect addition for my tank. Again, in a few months (if I can wait that long :) You know how it is. You walk into your LFS and there is the fish of your dreams. Sometimes you just can't walk away!

Is that all I did today?????

I think I spend way too much time sitting in front of my aquarium during the day. I just can't help it. I can stare at it for endless amounts of time. Do you ever go to a friends house (with an aquarium, fresh or salt) and find yourself just wanting to stare at their tank? LOL! There is just something so mesmerizing about an aquarium. Even the tanks at the Dr's office, or the E.R.!!!!!!! I think it's a sickness, therefore no better place to have an aquarium than at the dr's office!!!!!!

I guess I just can't get enough of them. Sometimes I'm relieved when the lights go out on my tank at 6:30. I can then get a lot done because I'm not drawn to it's magicalness :)

macroalgae

I added some macroalgae to the tank. I have Halimeda, Ulva, and Red Gracilaria. I wanted to get a more natural look to my tank. Plus I just love the look of macros in the display tank. However, today I pulled the red gracilaria. I saw what looked like cyano at the tips of the algae. I have NEVER seen cyano in my tank so I immediately freaked and yanked it out. It may be a natural thing for this type of macro...but I didn't want to take any chances. I guess I'll just have to see what happens now. Hopefully it didn't get introduced with that algae!

Here's the latest FTS with the added macros. Keep in mind, the red gracilaria has been removed. I took this picture a couple of days ago. Click on it for a bigger photo.

GSP spawning!

On Tuesday, I was looking at my tank (big surprise there) and see these tiny pink balls floating throughout the tank. They are stuck in algae, they are even hanging on to the rock. I figured they were eggs of some sort. I start observing more closely and see it's coming from my green star polyps! They were covered, at the mat, with tiny pink balls. I never, in all of my reefing years, had experienced anything like that.

Not sure how I feel about GSP spawning. Actually, I guess I could say it's a little scarey! I'd hate to have GSP popping up throughout my tank. But, needless to say it was cool to see. I snapped a fuzzy photo of it. You can see the eggs near the centerish top of the GSP. Click on the picture to see a bigger version (you'll definitely need to do this to see the eggs).

going stong....

Petey made it through night number two!  He loves his zoa rock in the front of the right side of the tank.  He's surrounded by colorful zoas.  I didn't even realize there was a nice little hole in the centerish of that rock!  Oh, and it's official.....he's a mega pooper....LOL.  Hey, that's fine by me.  Means he eating :)

His home amongst the zoas, the past two nights:

Meet Petey!

I mentioned I was possibly getting a Tailspot Blenny on Thursday.  Well, I got him!!!!!!  It's Petey:


He and Squirt are getting along perfectly.  They like to swim together!!!!



So, now we need to get through the first night (hurdle #1)  and then the first week (hurdle #2).  Then we should be good to go.  Petey seems to be healthy.  He's very actively eating film algae throughout the tank.

St. Thomas Mushroom

One of my favorite corals in the tank is the St. Thomas mushroom.  It's a pretty blue and peach color.  Here's a few pictures of it including a couple of it eating the shrimp I fed it today. 







Yummy....got it all in!!!!!

possible new addition.......

I went to my LFS to pick up a smaller turkey baster style coral feeder to feed my corals with.   I ended up getting the only thing they had in stock, which actually works great!  I paid $14.99 which isn't much above the cost of buying online when you factor in the shipping cost.  Plus, I always like to give my business to local business when it's within reason (price-wise).

I got this exact model.  It's the rio coral feeder:


It works great!

While I was there I saw the little clownfish that I was unable to keep in my tank.  He looked so darn cute!!!!!!!!!!!  The owner hasn't sold it yet because the girl that took him for me didn't tell him what the deal was with the clown.  Hopefully the little cutie will have a new home soon.  Apparently a lot of people wanted to buy him too.  I hope he leaves there soon because he looked sad in his tiny little section/cube in their system.  He really is a cute little clown!!!!!

So....on to why I titled this "possible new addition".  The owner is going to try to get me a Tailspot Blenny this week!  I'm to check in there on Thursday to see if he could get one.  He said they aren't always available, so we'll see.  Keeping my fingers crossed :)

Monday....

Found my big magnifying glass over the weekend.  It's amazing the life you see when you look at your tank with a magnifiying glass!  I found new zoa polyps growing that I didn't even notice before.  If you haven't tried it before...definitely get yourself a magnifying glass and explore your tank with it.  It's so much fun!

my baby girl....

Thought I'd introduce my lone fish inhabitant (so far) in this tank.  Her name is Squirt.  I'm sure you can guess why I chose that name...because she was so tiny when I got her.  She has definitely grown since then and her color has gotten much darker.  She is a Black/White clownfish. 

I had planned to keep her as the lone clownfish in this tank, but a couple of weeks later I thought I'd give her a mate.  That failed miserably.  She attacked it almost immediately and I had to rescue the poor little guy.  I returned it to the LFS because I couldn't stand to watch it die at the hands of my baby Squirt.

I was really shocked that such a tiny clownfish could have such a bad attitude so soon.  Oh well.  My plan was to just have one clownfish and that's how it's going to be.  I do want to add a Tailspot blenny to the tank but so far have not been able to find one for sale.  I'll continue to wait patiently.

Here's a picture of my little Squirt:

Friday, cleaning day....

Today was water change day.  It doesn't take much time at all with such a small tank!  I change out 2-2.5 gallons of water a week.  I start mixing a new batch the same day to use the following Friday.  Gives it plenty of time to mix fully.  I also like having saltwater on hand at all times for emergencies, or for refilling the tank after acclimating something. 

Here's a picture from today, after I finished my water change: