I added a new webpage for those concerned about flatworms.
It turns out I ordered the wrong kind of B-Ionic, so I ordered the right kind now. The wrong stuff is specially designed to be used with tanks that have high pH all the time. It is up for sale, as I can't ship it back.
Yesterday, I was able to net the Ocellaris (False Percula clownfish) from my 29g and put it in the refugium. I'd like to catch the larger female as well, so the BTA can be left alone for a while to finish splitting or grow. It is just not doing well with the clowns in it all the time.
My B-Ionic finally showed up, after 6 long weeks. I'm going to begin dosing with it immediately. Yay!
And the biggest news of all:
Day before yesterday, to my surprise, my Crown Conch appeared. It lives in the refugium under my 29g reef, and is always submerged beneath the sand where it can't be seen. I really enjoyed watching it travel around in the open, and took a number of pictures. There is a Mud Crab in that refugium as well, so I watched to see how they'd interact. Things weren't going too well, and I decided I would not watch things occur without intervention. Using a chopstick, I kept the crab away from the Conch as it traveled past the spot in question, and all is well.
My 29g had a strange event occur. As you may have read, my BTA split about a month ago approximately. Then about a week ago another little guy split off as well. I didn't bother trying to feed it because it was tucked away and frankly, I didn't see a mouth and figured it would perk up when ready. Apparently I waited too long.
Peaches, the Anthias I bought, is actually a Threadfin Anthias according to one site I read. She seems more and more comfortable staying out in the open, but does cautiously hide in the rockwork if I'm around the tank too long. Still, today she decided to stick around while I took a few pictures, and hopefully she'll end up being less and less camera-shy.
Chiquita, the Lemon Meringue Wrasse died today.
When I bought this fish in mid-2002, it was identified as a Yellow Coris Wrasse. Almost a year later, I was told that it was actually a Banana Wrasse. However, months later it turned out to be a Lemon Meringue Wrasse, because of its white belly.
A new star is born!
Melev's Reef is proud to announce the new arrival of a bubbly baby Bubble Tip Anemone at 4:19am. The proud parent labored for a good 24 hours and is now resting. Pictures will be available soon.
The baby is staying near its parent, and is approximately 2" - 3" in size.
I decided to take pictures of the Bubble Tip Anemone every hour for 24 hours, especially as it was looking miserable again. I didn't quite get it every hour, but I got pretty close. In the first shot you can see just how deflated it looked. And in the final picture, roughly 40 hours later it started looking better again. I can't figure out why it does this, but I wish it was happy looking 23 hours a day.
Overall, everything is doing fine. The mating of the two mandarins doesn't appear to be likely, at least for now. The green Target is still very aggressive toward the orange female Target Mandarin. She continues to seek food, but the male will suddenly swoop in with a burst of speed, his dorsal fins fully extended -- and she darts into the rockwork for safety.
