Help! or Uh Oh We did it

[tdsapp]

So, we went to the frag swap today... We being my wife and I. I bought some peppermint shrimp and some snails. Since this is a FLOWLR tank we were just going to look at the coral but not get any. That is until my wife finds a few that she likes. Then they turn off the white lights and only have the blue ones. Uh Oh... now she no longer likes them. She loves them.

So I told her that we don't have the lights for coral on the 20 gallon and I'm not done with the lights for the 150. Her next comment was "Well, how much is it for a set of lights for the 20 gallon.". Needless to say, we bought four frags and on the way home we stopped at DNA and bought a light fixture for the tank.

So now all three bags are floating in the tank and have been for about 30 minutes now... But I have no idea how else to acclimate the corals to the tank. I have heard about dipping the coral in RODI water for about 10 seconds but I'm not so sure that is needed for frags like this. I also need to know where to put them in the tank. I think the mushroom normally goes low in the tank close to the sand but what kind of flow does it need? And can someone tell me where to put the Zoas? Mid tank, mid flow>?!?

This is what we came home with

2 Peppermint Shrimp
3 Turbo Snails
3 Nassarius Snails

6 Zoa Blow Pop
1 Zoa Mr. E's
4 Zoa Radioactive Dragon Eyes
1 Ricordia Mushrooms

I am about to start dripping some water from the tank into the bag with the shrimp and snails... I am worried about that since on some sites they say to just drop them into the tank after the temperature has matched. But that is a site that is shipping them to you and they have built up more ammonia in the bag than the 3 hours these guys have been in the bag since we left. Anyhow, I am going to start on them until I hear some more details about the coral.


Tim Sapp

 

[tdsapp]

Oh Just in case someone is wondering... SG1.25, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, and NitRate probably around 30PPM, so I am about to do a 10 to 20% water change.


Tim

 

[fperkins]

http://www.aquacon.com/acclimation.html

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/PIC/article.cfm?dept_id=&aid=612

 

[freshsaltmonkey]

Dip in lugols solution you can get at Dallas North.

http://www.marineandreef.com/Lugol_s_Solution_30_ml_Brightwell_Aquatics_p/RBA01034.htm?gclid=COea44e66roCFUlp7AodKXMA7g

 

[tdsapp]

@fperkins wrote:

Thanks for the links... they helped out quite a bit.

@zaphod1 wrote:

Thanks for that on the dip... While DNA has the 10% which I used today and already saved my membership dues for DFWMAS, Aquarium Advantage was much closer to the wife and I went over there to get the dip. I probably should not have done that today.... Took an empty water container with me to get more RODI water so I would not have to break out my filter. When the wife and I got there we ended up buying an Ocellaris Clownfish, Two Pajama Cardinal Fish, flake food, frozen food, and the dip. Ended up spending another $100.00 tonight.

Acclimating the fish now and the corals, shrimp and snails are doing great in the tank. The shrimp are busy little guys, and the Blow Pop Zoas have already opened up, and the Mushroom is just sitting in the corner of the tank bobbing a bit. So far everything appears to be very happy.

Tim

 

[freshsaltmonkey]

Give us some pics when you have a chance....im in the colony if you need any help.

 

[tdsapp]

@zaphod1 wrote:

Ask and ye shall receive. [smilie=wink.gif] Here are a few photos of what I put into the tank over the weekend. Out of the three Zoas we bought only one has opened up, the Blow Pop. I did have them on the sand to get used to the lights but no change after three days, so I moved them up this evening to see if it made a difference. I also moved the mushroom out of the corner and out just a bit.

I also have the gallery loaded up on our family web site. http://sapp-family.com/photo-galleries/my-new-fish-tank/

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Tim

 

[freshsaltmonkey]

Looking good....they will really make the tank pop when they start to spread.

 

[tdsapp]

Start to spread.... I just hope they open someday. [smilie=worried.gif] I guess I am not too worried though, I have read everywhere that Zoas are very hardy, and I only need to worry if they start to dissolve.


Question about the shrimp though...

Yesterday I had to move my coral frags because either the snails or the water circulation had been moving the sand out from under them and they were falling over. So I went and washed my hand and arm and rinsed off really, REALLY well and then dried off. I reached into the tank and started moving two of the coral frags onto the rocks when one of my Peppermint shrimp came out of the rocks and jumped on the back of my hand. I thought it was funny and left my hand there a bit to let him crawl around and he started doing his cleaning thing around the cuticles of my fingernails. I later had to move one of the frags because it was being covered by sand and my other shrimp did the same thing. My wife was watching this time so I let him crawl around on my hand and he started cleaning again. I let him do it a bit longer so my wife could see it.

We used to have a freshwater fish that would let us pet it, but we lost it a couple years ago. It's great to have a fish (or shrimp) that interacts with us like that again. So is it a problem letting the shrimp do that? I am sure that as I move things around in the tank or when company with little kids come over that would be quite the thing to let them see. Is this not a problem or can it cause problems with the shrimp in the future?

Tim