20141130 Colored Bubble Tip Anenome

I have purchased this colored bubble tip anemone during the Aquatic experience in Chicago a few weeks ago. It has now successfully acclimated to the 180 and is doing well.

Neon Pink bubble tip anemone (left)

And also an update on one of the corners of the 180 Gallon tank.

20140915 Desjardini Tang acclimation

In my previous post I have described the five day process of trying to get the desjardini tang to eat and become used to human presence. One of my strategy was to reward them with food for greeting me. After a weekend of heavy feeding (Started Friday Night), the tang has become very good sport in swimming in the open in my presence.

I am sure too though, that all the overfeeding had escalated the nitrate level! well, I guess that's what the big derasa is there for! But at the end of the weekend I am very pleased to announce this desjardini tang is finally "house broken". Currently it swims alongside with three other larger fish in the tank to form the "dominant four"- The Desjardini tang, Chevron tang, Orange spotted rabbitfish, and flame back angel. and it's been fed heavily on flake food, frozen food (homemade blend), and nori sheets.

Conclusion- Based on my recent experience with the acquisition of Foxface Rabbitfish (in the other tank), the Chevron tang, and this desjardini tang, the average time for any new fish to become comfortable and feel blended in is about a week. The orange spotted rabbitfish though, gave me quite a scare, it was in the tank for over a month showing no sign of acclimation (while eating heavily). I must say most of the fish in this condition would have died within a month, but looks like choosing some open swimming tank mate was the key to open up the rabbit fish's personality.

Coral growth under LED

Now that the new LED AI Sol superblue is set up, I will begin a photo journal to document the effect of this light to my corals' growth, sps, lps, and soft polyps. 

My previous light, 250w metal halide with 4x 24w T-5 didn't exactly promote much coral growth. Like I said, you get what you pay for. So I'm hoping this light will alllow faster growth.

After three days of light acclimation, I increased light intensity to: w25, b55,r55. My plan is to gradually increase 2-3% every 2-3 days until I reach the level where corals can all achieve maximum growth without bleaching.

One of my good light indicators will be my RBTA as they stretch with insufficient light and bubble up when lighting is ideal!

ORA Derasa Clam from Liveaquaria

Living in Wisconsin, I have known Drs. Foster and Smith's company for a long time. I attended their first ever frag swap in their homebase in Rhinelander, WI and toured the warehouse facility as well as their aquaculture lab. I have placed dry shipment orders such as marine salt, filter replacements, gravel, food, etc from them; but I have never ordered any livestock from LiveAquaria.com as I am a bit weary of the capture, quarantene, and the shipping process.

But that doesn't mean I don't check out their livestock availability in a weekly basis! This time I saw an ORA Derasa Clam available in the Diver's Den. The photo looks amazing! I conducted some research. Asked a few reefkeeping friends about their personal experience with LiveAquaria and decided to gamble on this clam.

ORA 6" Derasa Clam

Since I work a 9-5 job my only option is Saturday delivery. The Clam itself costs $150, plut $35 shipping (free shipping if your order is $225 or more), and an additional $15 for Saturday delivery plus state tax if applicable. So basically I paid over $210ish. This is the box it came with 20X18X14, quite large for what I have ordered- only one giant clam.

When I opened the box, I was really impressed with the packing process. The delivered date was one of the coldest days this winter in Wisconsin (-8F outside)! But the box is filled with peanut and a newspaper wrap. Within the newspaper wrap were two heatpacks that you see NFL QBs use to warm up their hands in the winter. I must mention, even two days after I have opened the box, those heat packs are still emitting heat! leading me to believe that they have really put some thoughts into this delivery process that even if the shipment was delayed there is still a good chance of survival for the enclosed animal.

I am acclimating the clam. As you can see, there are several layers of plastic bags (total of seven!) to keep the clam tightly sealed since some clam shells can be razor sharp and puncture the bag. This is extra security to ensure that the water remains with the clam upon delivery. When I was opening the bags, I felt like a surgeon performing a C-section, cutting through layers and layers of bags to retrieve the baby!

The Derasa was labeled 6" in the Diver's Den description. I must say you do get EXACTLY  what they posted as this gorgeous clam was exactly what I was looking forward to. The only thing is I think the clam actually measure up more like 7 inches than 6 inches. Here is the clam being shy.

Clam's mantle fully expanded after a while of acclimation. I am 100% impressed and would order with Liveaquaria again anytime!

ORA 6" Derasa Clam