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Maureen's Classroom DSA 105

MolaMola said:
Pom pom crab in the house!

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We have seen it brandish its anemone fists at a hermit crab and porcelain crab who got too close.
And it has been hanging out in and around the Calfo pulsing pink sinularia I got from @Apon at the swap!

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Wow, long time no updates. Crazy busy and stressful year. No time now, but we have recently obtained a variety of fascinating inverts. More pics to come soon...
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no polyp extension yet? no pulsing?
 
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Feeling crabby: top two are busy filter feeding green and spotted porcelain crabs.
Bottom left is sponge decorator crab who spends a lot of time upside down.
Giant one is a robot-like pitho crab who rips off tufts of turf and lifts it to its mouth.
 
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Brittle star who took up residence front and center of tank under a rock and always has ends of its arms out freaking out students. Comes out for food.
We got two big feather dusters - very cool.
New little sea cucumber after ours went missing after five years. Has been knocking over gorgonians, duncan, nephthea, feather duster.
Also got a buddy for our cleaner shrimp and they seemed immediately happy. In another tank we put a trio of peppermints. We don’t have aiptasia, but students enjoy searching for them. Cool bc they slow down and notice all sorts of things, show each other, and ask lots of questions. The shrimp have already trained students to want to feed them any time they come out. Little smarties!
 
Sneak peek at long awaited lowboy frag tank (courtesy of @ashburn2k)!
One delay after another, feared school would close down in Jan/Feb, months of having to cover extra classes, expected teacher strike, etc. We started cycling it fishless with inoculated marine pure balls, small LR, ammonia, Dr Tim’s. Having Finnex heater issue plus it is clearly undersized I guess due to surface area so added second heater. Got ATO set up before spring break but it needs adjustment. Went in yesterday for care of tanks and science dept pets and saw Tunze PH was totally off. Manual not helpful with its controller but for now I messed with it and got it going. Finished plumbing old school skimmer and put on lights, then turned off both until after break. Need to do some serious cord placement for safety and make a skimmer riser. Had time for one quick pic as custodian was coming over to kick me out:
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I look forward to this project moving along now.
 
Kensington Reefer said:
Dig that old school downdraft skimmer!
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Heehee. Nice and simple. This skimmer must be first run of AquaC - only adjustment is exit gate valve! Main tank skimmer is later version, fancy like adjustable air intake. It has awesome auto waste collector that closes itself with a floating ping pong ball in case it fills up. Perfect for a tank not at home.
 
First attempt at snail overflow barrier made of plastic screen. My drain is finicky and I need to be able to see the water level, and also the plumbing is proud in a couple spots. Planned on using flexible polycarbonate scraps, but in a test they were always obscured by condensation and salt creep. The only zip ties I had a ton of were red, but turns out they don't show from front view of display anyway. We shall see what happens.
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So...lowboy frag tank. Everyone's looks awesome except mine! What are you all doing for flow? I searched people's posts and most of you seem to have a sump as well as circ pumps. I have no sump, but a circ pump at one end and an in-tank skimmer return at other (which doesn't really have anything to skim yet and is adding microbubbles). Everything is blown around everywhere, so I keep turning down the circ pump flow, but it seems weak. Think I should try two small powerheads instead of one bigger one? I guess the volume of water is not that much due to the short height. We already have a 12" deep and wide frag tank that is only 22 gallons and it has far less flow but that's mainly bc it has sand.
 
MolaMola said:
Changed up the gorgonian station in our semester frag-o-rama due to past issues at the mounting step. Tried two techniques: drilled holes in skeletons or rocks, and thin super glue in sand. We fragged two former large frags from @Apon and a massive gorg from @Kensington Reefer. Still haven't dealt with skimmer microbubbles in our new frag tank, so pic not clear.
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What a great and inspiring teacher that's continuing the hobby! I wish I had someone like you growing up to teach me a love of marine science earlier on.
 
Start of summer status of BC29 nem (and supposed to be clownfish) tank. May increase lighting. Will be moving sinularia to tank with stronger flow.
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Tequila Sunrise shrooms last week are loving either Hikari red plankton, a mixed food cube, or scent of silversides. Never saw them do that before.
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Time for Find the Crab! Sponge decorator crab - to left of shroom. Taking food from baster, eating, then profile view.
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