Alucards Invert Haven

DustyXB9Reefer · Apr 29, 2016

Awwwwyeaaaah!

Alucard · Apr 29, 2016

G.Smithii too! Snatched him up from that pet place, don't ever see these guys anymore. Of course my good camera broke yesterday so im using the junky one on my phone for now.

DustyXB9Reefer · Apr 30, 2016

Those mantis are so rad! Are those hard to keep?

Alucard · Apr 30, 2016

DustyXB9Reefer said:
Those mantis are so rad! Are those hard to keep?

These guys not so much, the peacocks can be a little trickier. This one is already being very active, fed him some last night and he gobbled it right up! Also went to the beach today to hunt pods and collect some snacks for mr mantis, the tide was perfect. Found a lot of cool things too!

Huge clam, about eight inches total. I think it was dead since it wasn't under the sand

The same type of clams, they hide under the sand and filter the water for food, quite different from the ones we keep in our aquariums

The underside of a cement pipe from the old dock that used to be here, so much life! There was even some type of temperate camel shrimp

A couple anemones I spotted, not sure if these guys would survive in a warmer tank

This is where I find most pods. They loooove to hide in pieces of driftwood, this one had at least a hundred. Curious how that would play out in an aquarium or if it would just rot away

Luigi having fun. He tried to follow some seagulls out into the ocean

DustyXB9Reefer · May 1, 2016

I'm pretty sure there's been a few who have kept anemones out of the big blue. I've always been kinda curious about the drift too. I have some in my planted tank.

Alucard · May 1, 2016

DustyXB9Reefer said:
I'm pretty sure there's been a few who have kept anemones out of the big blue. I've always been kinda curious about the drift too. I have some in my planted tank.

They are temperate, though, and I've had little success with inverts other than pods and crabs from this area. Maybe once my tank is a bit more mature. I'm surprised more haven't chimed in, especially with the addition of the smithii

Alucard · May 10, 2016

Since the tank is doing so good I decided to try out some of those nems. Found a couple nice, larger ones and so far they are doing really well. Have in them in qt right now for acclimating to the lights.
Regular Shot

Under the bluees

DustyXB9Reefer · May 10, 2016

Very nice! Are those outa the big blue?

Alucard · May 10, 2016

DustyXB9Reefer said:
Very nice! Are those outa the big blue?

Yea they are everywhere here, I even found a huge rock covered in small ones while I was down there. I'm curious how big they really get, not sure what kind they are honestly. I was surprised at how well they took to the tank right away

MCooper · May 10, 2016

Great build and love the dog!

DustyXB9Reefer · May 10, 2016

It's always nice when things go as planned haha. How did you get them to let go of their hold?

Davesgt · May 10, 2016

Seeing all that driftwood makes me want to do a all natural saltwater tank with driftwood and some barnacles.

Alucard · May 10, 2016

Most of the rocks out here are smooth like river rocks so I just used a credit card, it was pretty easy. Hopefully they will like the lr I have in my tank and find a good spot to stay, don't want the huge koralia I have chopping em up

Alucard · May 10, 2016

Davesgt said:
Seeing all that driftwood makes me want to do a all natural saltwater tank with driftwood and some barnacles.

Yes! I wanted to make a dark driftwood, creepy critter tank but another one would be pushing it for my small place

DustyXB9Reefer · May 10, 2016

I finally got to a computer to look at those nems. Those really are great looking!

Alucard · May 11, 2016

DustyXB9Reefer said:
I finally got to a computer to look at those nems. Those really are great looking!

Yea I couldn't believe how nice they look under the leds. In the ocean they are pretty bland looking, I think partly because the water is kinda dirty here lol. I wanna find a really big one and see if it's even nicer. It would be cool to find some anemone shrimp too but I haven't found any yet