FuEl

Feed it ample at night when its feeding tentacles are out. Control your silicate and phosphate levels, if algae like diatoms grow on the exposed part of the skeleton it will be harder for the tissue to grow back over it.

Probably an egg mass.

Both batches were cultured in simple rectangular tanks. Will be moving on to upwelling design after I gain some experience with these fellows first. 2nd batch which was going well kinda crashed due to my mistake of taking salinity for granted..it was at 41 ppt. Only checked it after I changed water..most of larvae died to salinity shock and I kinda overfed them on that day too. Tangling with dead Artemia also killed most of them. Anyway on the bright side the 1st batch is doing well. Salinity around 38 ppt and I'm bringing it back down to 35-36 ppt over 1-2 days. 1st batch is 17 days old as of today. Mortality has stabled with survival just over 30% so far. Zoea V stage now I think.

Such an awesome shrimp..why get 1? Get 10.

AlgaMac

Thanks for the clarification iantoh..nice black-cap basslet. Think you mean Periclimenes holthuisi? Anyway according to this paper they indicated that all Periclimenes are associated with invertebrates. However from a hobbyist point of view I have my doubts as I've seen certain cleaning behavior from these shrimp. Maybe the cleaning function is only a secondary function and thus ignored in the paper. Even for S.tenuirostris, I did swear I observed it "cleaning" my algae blenny. Guess you'll have to believe what you see at times. As for the yellow arrow shrimp I have'nt found the scientific name for it exactly. It's in the same genus as the red spotted shrimp. Both are labelled Urocaridella sp 1 and 2 respectively in some websites. However, recent literature seems to have given the red spotted shrimp the scientific name Urocaridella antonbruunii. As for the yellow arrow, I have'nt been able to find its scientific name even after so many searches. Guess literature is real scarce on this genus. Anyway, the yellow arrow performs cleaning functions better compared to Lysmata sp. or Stenopus sp. That's just my personal observation. They remain hardworking..unlike the latter species which tend to get lazy once they hit maturity.

If it looks pure white to bluish white it should be no problem. If the light looks yellowish it's either time to change a new bulb or the original spectrum of the bulb is around 6500K. If you get a new bulb anything between 10,000 and 14,000 Kelvins would be a good bet.

Hmm? Scientific names? Common names I avoid using..to avoid confusion..Eg.. golden-head boxing shrimp can refer to 3 species.

Anyway, there is more to functional DSBs than loads of sand. The most important component of a functional DSB is the infauna in the sandbed. It must become a habit to replace the infauna every few months to account for natural population declines of such organisms in an enclosed system. In the absence of this replacement, you'll get the hydrogen sulphide accumulation like a balloon waiting to explode. The natural, slow release of such gases by sand-dwelling organisms will prevent the disastrous pH drop associated with sudden hydrogen sulphide leakage.

From the Lysmata group: L.amboinensis, L.debelius, L.californica, L.grabhami, L.seticaudata. From the Stenopus group: S.hispidus, S.scutellatus, S.pyrsonotus. Was quite surprised S.tenuirostris and S.cyanoscelis (both common in Sg marine trade) were not listed as fish cleaners. S.pyrsonotus, although still stated as rare, is not a deep water species as I thought..even S.hispidus can be found in greater depths. Reference for those who want to know more (I don't have a soft copy unfortunately). Calado, R., Lin., J., Rhyne, A.L., Araújo, R., Narciso, L., 2003. Marine ornamental decapods – Popular, pricey, and poorly studied. Journal of Crustacean Biology 23, 963-973.

In fond memory...after so many years..Mr and Mrs Blue..Wish you guys were still alive. Such cuties...

Once you've got familiar with the hobby..basically only a few tests. Salinity, Temperature, phosphate, nitrate, calcium, kH. The others like pH, ammonia, nitrites, etc tend to stay the same when your tank is stable. With frequent water changes iodide and Mg levels tend to stay within range. A well-tuned Ca reactor will keep your Ca, kH and Mg levels in check. Depending on the media you utilize other elements like Strontium may also be maintained.

They just hate light and hide in any concealed places. Normally they are more active during the night. If they come out during the day most likely they'll get eaten in no time.

Ricordea is the genus. Under this, the 2 species we often encounter are R.florida or R.yuma. These 2 species share some similarities in morphology and that is why they are under the same genus. Discosoma is another genus (just means a separate group) due to differences in morphology. Both the Ricordea genus and the Discosoma come under the family Corallimorphidae (which covers all the mushroom corals).

Fine hair-like structures (not sure what you call them) on the appendages seem to assist in some filter-feeding activity during early stages. Just a personal observation.

Hmmm..my second batch of larvae reached zoea III stage. The uropods (segments of the tail) have formed. Second batch doing better than my first batch. Fed them more heavily on T-ISO and rotifers besides the staple Artemia nauplii. So far 2nd batch already 8 days old..survival about 80%. My first batch survival on day 9 was only 48.6%. Anyway..picture of the tail of a zoea III larvae.

Glad it was of use to you guys....just chanced upon it while looking for info for my literature review..hehe

For those who want to give their critters the best. microalgae.pdf

Peppermint shrimp article

You could try a tupperware of sand. Have'nt tried this myself..but at least it contains the sand somewhere.

Can't remember if bubble-tip anemones are natural hosts for perculas. Best is to check dive books. I do remember that maroon clowns and clarkii clowns have bubble-tips as hosts naturally. Any form of powerhead, no matter how weak or strong..is a danger. Anemones are infamous for seeking out powerheads sooner or later. If you opt out of anemones and leave your clowns without hosts, they will do just as well if not better. Clownfish spend energy daily just to prevent themselves from being stung by the host anemone. But if you want a host for them just for aesthetics, I would'nt recommend any type of LPS...sooner or later they will get stressed or damaged. Leather corals might work.

The fish will eventually die of stress without sand as these are very timid fish by nature. They will probably freak out when you approach the tank and they have no where to hide themselves from view. Even a little sand will make them feel secure compared to no sand at all. I've kept mine with a shallow sand bed..less than 1.5 inch of sand. It was confident enough to swim to the other end of the tank (4ft) just to pick up objects to decorate/reinforce the burrow. Then again it was the biggest fish in the tank. You don't have to have a full deep sand bed for your whole tank. Just give it sand at the place where you choose to release it. Construct an artificial burrow for it halfway. A good idea is placing a piece on rock on a deep pile of sand in a corner. Excavate a little and when there's a hole big enough for the fish to go in, release the fish there. It should stay and reinforce the burrow by itself. You'll need different sized coral sand..ranging from grade 0-3 for it to help stabilize the burrow. Place these beforehand near the burrow entrance and the fish should do the rest.

Terrapins eventually grow..and they will attempt to eat anything that moves. Your lizards might be in danger in time to come...especially if they are terrestial. You can look at aboreal species. Lizards which might fit into your setup might be aboreal types like tokay geckos. Saw them for sale in K.L before but then again I've heard them existing in Pulau Ubin. Other common species that you could consider are crested geckos or Madagascan day geckos. Depends on yourself..any aboreal species will do. Anyway..2 ft tank sounds like a problem. Animals eventually grow. 4 terrapins and 2 lizards should have at least a 4 ft tank. Small tanks foul more easily and geckos poop all over the place. If can only get a 2 ft..think at most 1 terrapin and 2 small gecko species..maybe the smaller species of Madagascan day geckos. Then again...I really should'nt be promoting keeping exotic species..perhaps you could consider a local species? A small specimen of Malayan blue coral snake will fit greatly into a 2ft setup..just make sure it does'nt escape or bite you. I first saw a 2/3 foot specimen at Bukit Timah when I was 12 years old..almost got it into my water bottle..but atlas it escaped..now can't find it even after so much trekking.

Hmm..what is the purpose of the laptop? For work or for gaming? Even if it's for gaming 512 ram seems more than sufficient even for latest games like Battlefield 2 and Half-life 2. Then again if 1 gig of ram sets your mind at ease then by all means..can never go wrong by having more memory. 128 mb memory for the video card is also sufficient for the latest games. One thing you should consider is the cooling efficiency of the laptop. My laptop gets scorching hot when I start the graphic intensive games but it's not so bad since the weather is cooler here. If in Singapore things would be different. Not so familiar with the processor though...been out of touch with AMD products.

Bubble-tips are one of the easiest species..however you still have to choose a healthy specimen. The anemones with the red base seem impossible to keep alive for any period of time. Percula clowns don't use this species as hosts in the wild, the anemones they associate with include the bubble-tip anemone. General rule... 1) Good lighting. T5 is minimum. 2) Good water quality that suits even SPS. 3) No powerheads in your tank.