Cali Kid Corals

kinetic Reefer 170

scuzy said:
So your harem of clowns not getting along?
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The bad aggression was the mocha gladiators against the Vivid Fancy that I had (and gave away). I think it was big enough to pose a threat to the bonded pair. But once I took it out, the aggression from the bonded pair stopped completely. They ignore all the other males, except for body checking them while eating. The rest of the males (except the fancy white gladiator) wait their turn to eat.

The Fancy white that I'm selling is actually the only one that's a bit bigger. He's pretty bold and gets along well with the bonded pair. He is the only one, however, bullying anyone else. The aggression isn't much during the day and not when feeding. When evening comes and the lights start to dim, he does a fair amount of head butting with every male (other than the alpha). During feeding, he'll chase away the other males until he's done eating.

I don't think the aggression is bad right now with him, but I'm thinking of isolating him in a breeder box (I'm getting it tomorrow in the mail) to see what happens. Put up the for sale just in case.

A few thoughts:
  • Maybe it just takes one male to keep the pecking order in check, and this behavior is actually fine in the long run
  • This one male is checking on 4 other males, so the aggression is spread out and probably not bad enough to be unhealthy
  • Even if I remove this male, some other male will step up and do the same. So I'd either have to let it happen and hope it's ok in the long run, or give them away until the number will dwindle down to 3?
So I'll try to find a buyer, but in the meantime I might try isolating him for a day or so and see what happens to the group.

By the way, my circus is currently 7:

2x mocha gladiators (fem, alpha male)
2x Fancy White Gladiators (one 1.3", the other 1")
2x Fancy White Extreme (one 1", the other slightly larger)
1x Mocha (1")

The bioload is actually OK right now. 10ppm nitrates and 4ppb phosphates.
 
Building the base for the Magnifica's pedestal. Added a small rock to make the highest point, not a point. Tomorrow I will attach the final flat tonga shelf rock to the top of this:

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There are plenty of contact points for the flat shelf rock to sit on that. I have the largest stick of reef epoxy to get this all to stay.

Plan:
  1. Remove shelf rock from RO/DI tub tomorrow morning (it's been in there for a week now while I dose lanthanum chloride to pull as much phosphates out as possible)
  2. Rinse with a bunch of RO/DI and let dry for most of the day (12-ish hours)
  3. Use a whole stick of reef epoxy in big globs at the contact points, adding small dabs of cyanoacrylate (super glue gel) on the epoxy to help it cure when underwater
  4. Hold rock in place with my hand for about 30 seconds, hope the clowns don't nibble me too much
  5. By Friday, when the H. mag arrives, the epoxy should be all cured and holding tight
 
How are you planning to convince the anemone stay where you want it? I have never had an anemone wind up in it’s intended location.


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JVU said:
How are you planning to convince the anemone stay where you want it? I have never had an anemone wind up in it’s intended location.
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I have my pep talk ready!

I've been talking to Derrick (D-Nak) and other well versed anemone keepers (specifically h. mags). BTA's there is NO way you're going to get it to stay where you want. But mags are a little easier. They like to spread out the foot over a smooth and flat surface, that isn't very porous. The movement they make is up towards light and flow. They will feel around for footholds from where they're placed that are higher than them. They will rarely every go down a vertical base, especially if the rock they're on is kind of a shelf (a distance from the platform edge and base that's holding it up). There's always a chance they'll let go and float around.

The rock I have should be far enough from the glass walls, and have enough overhang to deter the nem from wandering down. The flow is super high right there, and the light is extremely bright. The only higher place is the overflow box.

The top of the rock has a thin layer of reef epoxy that's smooth, so there are no pores. The rock is also about 1/3rd larger than the base of the anemone, so I think it'll have plenty of space to spread out on.

Crossing fingers that this works!
 
Sounds like you’ve considered every variable you can, so I hope it works out.


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Pretty saturated photo of my Rainbow BTA. I could post a not-so-saturated shot, but this kind of shows off the colors he's getting back since being shipped. He's a bit pastel colored when fully inflated during the daytime, when the evening comes around and blues are dominating, he's a pretty dark color.

And of course, with my luck, he stays behind my rockwork facing the back wall, where it's almost impossible to see him. LOL.

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And a video of it waving around:

 
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JVU said:
Sounds like you’ve considered every variable you can, so I hope it works out.
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I hope so! I've had great guidance from all sorts of great experts. So lucky to have such helpful people around this hobby. Really makes it fun.

Though, given my luck, the mag might end up on top of my overflow =P
 
I'm deciding on which rock to use for the H. Mag. The first one below is larger by about 1" shortest diameter, and 2" longest diameter. Good for the nem to grow a bit. The second is big enough (reportedly) to hold it with 2 - 3" extra space to grow. Obv. I could just go with the larger, but aesthetics mean a lot too. Maybe there isn't enough of a difference, but what do you guys think. A or B?

A
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B
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Went with B! I accidentally kneaded the epoxy for too long and it hardened. So we'll see if it holds. If not, at least the rock is pretty stable. I'll get some more epoxy tomorrow and try again ($15 down the drain lol).
 
kinetic said:
Went with B! I accidentally kneaded the epoxy for too long and it hardened. So we'll see if it holds. If not, at least the rock is pretty stable. I'll get some more epoxy tomorrow and try again ($15 down the drain lol).
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lol since i got kicked off nano-reef because of the haters I'm glad I can enjoy YOUR BUILD THREAD HERE!.
ANYWHO i choose B. i like the shaded area underneath it, it makes it feel more like a platform. and since it feels more like a platform i be you once that em is there up on it its going to look better!!!!!!
 
Got the H. Magnifica today. Despite the short trip from Texas, he doesn't look too good on arrival. I'm thinking I'll need to do a cipro treatment.

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What do you think? I think that's his guts showing.
 
Vhuang168 said:
From Texas? Did you buy it from Minh?
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Not Minh. Another guy who closely follows the ways of Minh! Gig'em on RC/R2R. He treats and keeps a lot of mags. He had this one for awhile, fully treated and acclimated. The trip here was only about 15 hours from his hand to mine. Derrick says I can probably put him into the DT and won't need cipro, given the nem was already treated well since import.

I'm going to QT for the afternoon and see what's up. His mouth is already closing up quite a bit just being in the drip acclimation.
 
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