Octopus Proofing a Red Sea Max 250

[QueenB]

Looking stellar! Love the table. There is an octopus one that I covet that has a similar base. You probably won't regret the bit of extra table space. Moving walls is never fun but the results are worth it. Keep in mind that you will need to fully cover the tank AND any filtration when you are tearing down or sheet rock sanding.

Got that covered with a tarp we're going to tape around the whole tank till its done. Just need to clean the Skimmer out daily, and test every other day.

 

[QueenB]

Does anyone know if I try to frag (w/e this pretty coral is) out, will kill it? I plan on doing it underwater, with a new pair of medical scissors I bought. I'm not sure which method would be best for this species.

Rubber bands holding it to a piece of round flat rubble rock, or to actually use coral glue. The coral Glue doesn't work on my shrooms. If they move off a rock, I try to attach them to a diff one, and they release again or the glue just won't stick. they float to the bottom, and open up on the floor. I even tried placing them on a rock on the floor.

I've never cut/fragged a piece before. Its so beautiful when I turn the lights on and it wakes up. it kind of closes up at night. gets droopy, but I think it's because of the weight of it. It already has tried to split.

 

[DWhatley]

I believe that is Kenya and if it is it frags easily. One of the things I have read but not tried successfully is using a thin needle from a syringe (of course you have to put up with add looks at the pharmacy to get them). The couple of times I tried it, I did not get the needle stuck well into the LR but it did not hurt the animal. Super glue should work with the kenya but you have to dry the end you are gluing or just put the freshly cut end in a crevice. IME, the cut piece will look sickly for about a week and then spruce right up.

 

[QueenB]

This is a side view right after I toss in the Phyto feast, the Conch shell isn't covered in algae anymore. It's mostly off from the snail and the crabs in there. I was tearing down their old tank, and just tossed them in there since I seen all kinds of micro organisms all through the tank. I think it might be cycled.

I haven't had an ammonia spike which is what is mind boggling me. I check that everyday. NO dead creatures. Nothing on the rocks have died off. You can see the Xenia's are happy as a pig in a blanket. Their a chocolate color now instead of the normal white that they have been for the past year. The even spread all over the rock, but stayed white. I'm thinking their loving those T5's

Do you think it could be from my cured LR already coming from cycled inhabited tanks?

Knowing my luck since I posted this it will prob hit tonight or tomorrow.

 

[DWhatley]

I would guess that you brought along enough bacteria to handle the ammonia. I love live rock. Having kept (or, more accurately, attempeted) saltwater tanks a couple of times in the 70's I have seen first hand the difference in this technique and the sterile startup environment methods.

 

[QueenB]

How do you use the needles? Do you take the needle off and put it up in the center of the coral, then glue it to the rock?

I was thinking on a toothpick, maybe a plastic one.

But Originally I was going to glue it to the rock like I do the shrooms, and then put it in the frag containers I have. I even bought a new one, for the Octo to maybe sit on. I was going to start by putting the crabs on it to get them used to it. It's a Blue Soap holder with suction cups on it, and frag holes in it.

 

[QueenB]

I would guess that you brought along enough bacteria to handle the ammonia. I love live rock. Having kept (or, more accurately, attempeted) saltwater tanks a couple of times in the 70's I have seen first hand the difference in this technique and the sterile startup environment methods.

I put in the Nitro Bac that Red Sea Provides in their Starter Kit. Plus I put some Tigger pods in there, and Phyto feast daily. The Live rock had the xenia, and the hair algae, and the hair algae has so many amphipods in it its unreal.

I was thinking the Live rock was a big help. I tore down the other 29g and kept the rock going in the basement. Then even pulled the main pieces out of the Other 29.

Do you think there is enough rock in there for her? I still have a lot more. I chose pieces that were HEAVY, yet had hiding holes in them, and made caverns under them to give them a little privacy.

I moved the rock away from the back of the tank though, because I have a Hydor Flo in there to help circulate what is behind the rock. I had a problem with that in the 29g's. The rock was right up against the back, and leftover pieces of shrimp would be behind there rotting, and upping the tank parameters. So I did a 50% for 2 weeks in a row, while moving the rocks forward and centered so I could clean all the way around them.

And then my problem was solved.

This tank is so easy to clean! Reusable sponges, and material.

I re did the post to include a photo of the bottle I used, notice the advantages on the front? Wondering if my Cycled LR, cycling the substrate ahead of time, and this made the ammonia spike not happen? Or happen and be so unnoticeable?

 

[DWhatley]

The idea is to push the needle through the animal and into the LR, leaving it attached that way for several weeks and then removing the needle. Getting the needle into the is where I did not do so well with my attempts. The needles on todays syringes just screw off. You might even be able to just by needles. They are surgical steel and safter to use than plastic but I don't know that it matters much with most corals.

 

[QueenB]

I take Humera Shots, but their in the epi pen form. So the needles are extremely small. I was thinking on the size of those needs to look for.

Just worried I'm going to hurt it. It's such a beautiful coral. I'll Photo my progress.

Hitting the sack, family coming over tomorrow for dinner to show off my table project. it was in rough shape till we patched it up and fixed it. she sure did turn out nice though. lol

Where did you see the Octo one? I was actually looking for one but couldn't find anything other then end tables and coffee tables. I would have loved to find oneof those. Maybe turn the whole room over and make it look like an underwater paradise.

 

[DWhatley]

Where did you see the Octo one?

There are several posted at the beginning of Will's Ceph furniture thread but the one I have always wanted did not show up during a quick search so I Googled it and found a version of it here(at twice the price I originally saw it for) but during that search I found a new one I like even better but is only lottery winning affordable.

 

[QueenB]

Those are really nice!

 

[QueenB]

Tested the water again today, and still nothing. I find it very odd that the nitrates are still at 5. And no ammonia. I must have done something right without even noticing it. I'M NOT COMPLAINING!

I added 2 more fans to the tank, and got the tank down to 73.5 now with the lights on. We also put up new window blinds and new curtains to help darken the room a bit more. Sorry for the mess on the table. But you have to get used to it having saltwater tanks. New table comes in handy with the tank room now. Husband isn't liking the table in there.

I took photos of the pet carrier I made for the Ceph's for when I finally get one again. Most likely going to try an Octo this time. I had horrible luck with the tiny newly hatched Cuttles. They wouldn't eat, thats the only conclusion I can come to. so I'm too afraid to try anything newly hatched. Maybe something thats at least a month old AND EATING!

Only thing left to do is cut the plexi glass stencil for the top and send it to a place I found online to have a red piece cut specifically for a Merc, and then a Clear one for anything else.

 

[QueenB]

Gonna post up some Rock photos tonight, to give you an idea of the holes and caverns in there. The large center piece with the Xenia and purple coralline all over it, has some holes in it that they can hide up inside. I also tried to position it so I can still a barnacle in there or something of the sort to see if they will den in it. I have a whole huge box full of heavy shells I've been going through to maybe toss a few in there to give some options for dens.

There is one more piece gong in there after the 6 week mark, but do you think that is enough LR? Or do you think I should put more in there? I used almost every Large Heavy piece I could find. But I could take the large ones out of the Clown tank, and put in there, and cycle some more for the clowns. I have a lot of medium small pieces, but I don't want the med/small pieces in the Octo tank for fear they may pull it on top of themselves.

I'm not quite sure on how many .lb of LR that is, but I assure you the bucket was so heavy my husband had to carry it.

 

[DWhatley]

Very nice denning area on that one on the left but you never quite know which area they will pick. Everything looks pretty solid except the one bridging the "den" rock and the xenia. The mercs don't do a lot of rearranging in the tank but other are notorious for it, especially an about to brood female. That is certainly enough rock for a merc but the main desire for LR is filtration so including what you need for any future bio-load (like a larger octopus) now wont hurt.

 

[QueenB]

Very nice denning area on that one on the left but you never quite know which area they will pick. Everything looks pretty solid except the one bridging the "den" rock and the xenia. The mercs don't do a lot of rearranging in the tank but other are notorious for it, especially an about to brood female. That is certainly enough rock for a merc but the main desire for LR is filtration so including what you need for any future bio-load (like a larger octopus) now wont hurt.

I was thinking on moving that one to, but it is a heavy piece, it looks like the one with the mushrooms on it in my other tank. I was hoping it was too heavy for them to lift. You think they would be possibly able to lift it? I know their strong, thats why I chose the pieces in there now.

So a few more large pieces I'm assuming. I have 4 more very large pieces in the clown tank I could use, but then I would have to move all the medium small pieces in the curing tank to the clown tank. I'm gonna go to the LFS and see if I can find some to replace the pieces I will be taking out of the Clown tank. I would have torn down the clown tank as well and just had the Octo tank, but I've gotten very fond of the Chocolate Clown and the Purple Lobster.