Khemul's 120 Gallon Tank

Well the nem and I worked out a compromise. :laugh:
Built up a little cove in the spot I wanted it to stay but it still didn't like it. This morning it popped back out and went back to the spot it wanted to be (by the Frogspawns). So we worked out a nice compromise roughly halfway between the two spots.

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It seems to like this spot. Looks like it has finally latched onto the rock and has opened and closed at least once so far without trying to bail out of the spot. :thm:


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The Octopus Frogspawn (think I'll name it Sideshow Bob) is growing quite well.

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The regular Frogspawn still appears to be doing the slooooow split. There are now two distinct shapes but still only one mouth.

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This one is coming along lately. At this rate I'm leaning towards simply being a regular Frogspawn.

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Blenny getting some shelter. I swear he was posing for this picture. :laugh:


And lastly the oddball picture...
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I do wonder sometimes what the snails think while this is happening.



The Crown Conch has dropped a third set of eggs. At this rate I'm pretty sure it is just dropping unfertilized eggs though. The first set finally appears to be changing, but it appears to be rotting instead of hatching and bursting forth an army of Whelks.
 
Great pic of the urchin :)!

Sideshow Bob is the PERFECT name for that octo!!!
 
Gotta love saltwater. Where the reaction is "That's pretty cool!" rather then "WHAT IS THAT AND HOW DID IT GET IN THERE?!". :laugh:

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At first I thought "crushed snail". Until it started moving. The rear end (purplish area) is a shell but it looks integrated into the body itself, rather then attached like a normal snail shell. The head also looks more Sea Hare-ish rather then snail. The picture doesn't catch the whole body shape since it is folded it. It has "wings" that look like they should go out to the side, but instead are currently folded up over its sides. Basically looks like a folded up Aplysia (not entirely sure it is one, but Aplysia morio do appear on the shores from time to time down here - usually to die).

No idea how it got into there. Or how it was missed in the upgrade/transfer. I lost it again in the refugium since when I put it back in it immediately burrowed into the sand and vanished (try turning over the sand where it burrowed and it isn't there).

I assume it is surviving off of algae since that is where I found it when I turned on the lights. Pretty sure it is nocturnal too since I turned the lights off in the middle of the refugiums off-time (it is off during the day and on morning and night).



Pretty neat though. Will have to try to get better pictures if I catch it out again.
 
Definitely a sea hare and I think you nailed the ID...
In species of Aplysia (E) and Syphonota the shell is a flattened lightly calcified plate, which is partially or fully enclosed in the mantle skin (arrow) and forms a weak protective layer over the viscera and the gill. It is clearly now a remnant organ with Sea Hare defence now mainly achieved by colour camouflage and various glandular secretions.


In species of Aplysia (E) and Syphonota the shell is a flattened lightly calcified plate, which is partially or fully enclosed in the mantle skin (arrow) and forms a weak protective layer over the viscera and the gill. It is clearly now a remnant organ with Sea Hare defence now mainly achieved by colour camouflage and various glandular secretions.
 
I've come to the conclusion that getting detailed pictures is next to impossible on a black and purple slug... :laugh:

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Still not sure how it got in, but maybe an egg got in back when I was trying various wild macro algaes last year in the old setup. I know we had a ton of Apylsia morio coming in, but it was generally assumed they were coming in to die instead of breed. Guess for a lot of saltwater creatures the two concepts are not mutually exclusive so who knows. Otherwise my only other theory is it came in planktonic during a water change, in which case it survived some wild odds.

Whatever type of Apylsia it is, it seems to be surviving off of normal tank algae so that is a good sign. Think I better start planning another upgrade... :evil_lol: ...maybe not. If I even mention the possibility around the house I'll probably get killed. :laugh:
 
Okay, this forum is getting to be pretty damned annoying. Had an update written up but apparently it would prefer to spit out errors rather then post it. :huh:


Anyways...not much to update. Corals are working pretty well. Even the Duncan now fully comes out and eats. Running a small experiment to see if I can grow Green Star Polyps without them being eaten and so far it is working.

On the bad side, the LTA is still not really happy. But hopefully with the new area I built up for it, and less things bumping it around and moving it it'll get more comfortable. We lost the Caribbean Toby to overly aggressive Ich treatment. The treatment worked, but either the puffer got way too stressed or the treatment was an overdose. Haven't seen it in a week though and last I saw it it looked like it wasn't feeling all that good. If this is Ich or not, it is getting really weird. Now with the puffer gone it seems to be focusing on the Damsel family (including the Clowns to a lesser extent). Hasn't really hit the Valentini Toby or any of the other fish. Doing a less aggressive version of the previous treatment (just treating food now rather then doing medicated dips) and increasing feedings to hopefully fight it off.

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FTS.

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The new nem area, complete with cave overlooking the middle of the tank. The gobies didn't waste any time claiming the new real estate.

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The lil' Frogspawn is growing in nicely.
The bigger one looks like hell, but that seems to be because it is heading into the final stages of its split.

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Think I need a male Crown Conch. :laugh:
Had to superglue some of the Zoa frags back down. Snail ripped them right off the rock while laying eggs. Even the urchins aren't that rough.

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The LTA in one of its better moods. It seems to have quite a few moodswings depending on what bothers it. Last night it got quite upset when the giant slug decided to walk right over it (apparently giant slugs don't go around things... :laugh:). Today it is looking a little happier. It doesn't seem to be going downhill health-wise at least.
 
Some type of sponge. I probably should have cleaned them off before taking the picture. They were a bit dirty.

That rock has a long history weird history. Kept out of water for long periods, bleached multiple times and still somehow grows sponges. :huh:

They are practically indestructible. Although they have reduced in numbers A LOT. There was a point in the previous tank that I wondered if it was a rock with sponges growing on/in it or a giant sponge with a rocky shell. :laugh: They literally used to grow from the core of the rock outwards (out of what is now the cave - a Golden Damsel claims that real estate) and at one point a whole side of the rock was squishy and soft. Now it is just the three; one bluish (the one to the right), one orange (top of the rock, just barely out of the frame of the picture) and one grey (to the left).
 
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