Guess what I'm acclimating...

[tebstan]

you'll never guess! :bigsmile:

[Europhyllia]

Octopus!!!

(I really want somebody to get an octopus)

[tebstan]

The horror stories of their escape tendencies keep me away from critters like that... I'd have nightmares about it crawling out of the tank and coming at my face.

It's a few things actually... two different tanks. Both are things I've talked about getting before, but I finally got the kind I wanted and have been waiting for. :D

Pictures soon...

[tebstan]

Terrible picture, it's still in the bag and not cooperating with the photoshoot. There's two actually, twins for the pico :)

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Spec%20Pico/AnemoneShrimpacclimating8-23-11.jpg



And for the big tank....

Neon Lyretail Butterfly Balloon Belly Mollies! (Say that fives times fast)

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Fish/MaleMollyacclimating8-23-11.jpg
A male (above) and two girls (below)
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Fish/FemaleMollyBacclimating8-23-11.jpg
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Fish/FemaleMollyAacclimating8-23-11.jpg

They're just floating for temp while I cook dinner... going to acclimate them to salt slowly. I'm worried they're going to be a target for the blenny... but if I'm going to have mollies swimming around in there, they've got to be my favorite kind or it's not worth doing.

[txg8gxp]

I know.......

[txg8gxp]

aww, guess I needed to refresh the screen....you already added pics

[Europhyllia]

haha

[BSJF]

lol i thoyght it was another maroon.

[tebstan]

Got a better pic of the shrimp. They're Periclimenes holthuisi, or just Anemone shrimp. :)
I also brought home a mushroom rock for them to live in. The rock ended up upside down in the bag, so the mushrooms are spewing goo all over the pico. I had to do another water change this morning to clear the water some. I can spot one shrimp, but the second is hiding really well...
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Spec%20Pico/AnemoneShrimpacclimating8-23-11-1.jpg


The mollys are still acclimating. I've got them on a really slow drip line. They went from freshwater to 15ppm over a 5 hour span last night. They'll have an airstone in their bucket and stay in a warm room until I can be at home to watch their drip line again. I'm not sure if I'm going too fast with this acclimation, or wasting effort by going so slow.
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Fish/Mollysacclimating8-23-11.jpg

[tebstan]

Update: After a slow drip acclimation, the mollies made it into the big tank on Sunday evening. I spent 5 days bringing them up to 30ppm. While I wasn't at home to keep an eye on it, the bucket went in a warm back room with an airstone. They showed no signs of stress or illness, and ate like pigs. (Marine flake must be better than the standard tropical fare.)

When I added them to the big tank, they hovered in the corner for a day. Now, they hover in a 6 inch range near the corner. Progress!

One of the females got a nibble wound on her side the first night, I suspect a shrimp since the fish have *completely* ignored their presence. I spent so much time acclimating them, I was sure there would be drama when they were introduced. But nothing, not so far anyway.

I hope they get used to the current and swim around some more. They're a nice splash of color, and the tight school formation is neat. (Never saw mollies do that in my fw tanks.)

Hope they have babies and make fish food!

[tebstan]

Oh... and an update on the pico tank... the shrimp is boring. :(

Maybe a new light on the tank will bring a little more life. It gets no ambient light at all, so the stock LEDs are struggling to keep kenya trees alive. The shrimp stays in the only thriving coral - trash palys. (Figures.) With a new light, maybe I can get a kenya forest going and the shrimp will move.