High Tide Aquatics

Mozby's Noob Nano Reef (Nuvo 20)

Thanks for the update, looking good!

I still can’t believe your banggai cardinal was too aggressive. Your other fish seahorses and pipefish? Those clowns are going to be the BOSSes.
 
Thanks for the update, looking good!

I still can’t believe your banggai cardinal was too aggressive. Your other fish seahorses and pipefish? Those clowns are going to be the BOSSes.
LOL I wish I had seahorses! To clarify, the banggai never really attacked anyone, but he was the biggest fish and the most aggressive during feeding in the sense that he was bulldozing his way to every single morsel of food that lands in the water. I was amazed at how fast he got to all the mysis before any of the other fish could get to it.... it was like watching the matrix or quicksilver in X men. The other fish in the tank are a tailspot blenny, yellow watchman goby and the 2 baby clownfish.... they were either too timid or too small to play hungry hippos with the banggai so they back off a lot. I was concerned that the baby clownfish and the goby (who doesn't seem to have grown much) weren't getting enough food. Also the dynamics were different when the banggai was in the tank. When I got him out of there, they seemed more carefree and explored the tank more.

Now that the clowns are a little bigger, they are already starting to show that dominance lol.
 
Meet "Eggsy", the Yellow Watchman Goby who marches by the beat of his own drum...
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So I'm dedicating a post on this fish, because he's presented some challenges:
1. Pairing Denied
As mentioned in the journal, he did not pair up with the pistol shrimp. A week after getting them, I found remains of the pistol shrimp (his pistol claw and some bits) in the seam of the filter sock (R.I.P). I was bummed out, but this presented an opportunity for a do-over. So I picked up another pistol shrimp and tried again. No dice. This goby is 0 for 2 in pairing and somehow does not want to be symbiotic.
2. Ship Jumper
While the other tank inhabitants seemed to settle into their environment pretty well... Eggsy seems to want out. First week, I found him in the filter sock or media basket almost every day. I had to install fish guards in the overflow and that stopped. But he was always hanging out at the edges of the tank, often hovering and peering at the gap between the lid and wall. One day I was cleaning and removed the fish guards.... and I forgot to put them back. The next morning, not only was he in the back again, but he made it all the way to the bottom of the middle back chamber!!! Those of you familiar with IM's AIO chambers know how hard it is to get stuff out of there. It took me roughly 2hrs to get him out. On the bright side, I cleaned up my AIO and it is looking real nice lol.
3. Finicky Eater
Eggsy does eat. But he is so passive that he stays below everyone during broadcast feeding, so it is a crapshoot if some food gets to him. I do try target feeding him but he seems to only eat one or two bites then evades the falling food. Its been 6.5 weeks and he hasn't gotten any bigger (case in point, he was still able to fit through the overflow grooves).

Conclusion
So there you have it. My most challenging fish so far. The other fish seem to be happy and content, but not this guy. I think it would've been a different scenario if he did pair up. But since he didn't, he is unsettled, like a fish out of water (lol couldn't resist). Please feel free to share any insights if you have them.
 
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Are you sure your Pistol died as opposed to molted? Perhaps another watchman for him? We have a pair of watchmen that live with our pistol.
 
Are you sure your Pistol died as opposed to molted? Perhaps another watchman for him? We have a pair of watchmen that live with our pistol.
Its very possible. But that would mean I now have 2 pistol shrimps. Don't they fight? I rarely see them at all. In fact I would've said "never" if not for the fact that I had a rare sighting of one at the back of the tank 2 nights ago. I thought about another goby... but I believe I have maxed out my fish stocking capacity. If I did get one though, I think I would try a yasha goby since the LFS said it has a higher success rate of pairing. Lucky that both your watchmen paired with the one shrimp. I really wanted to see this partnership in action.... :(.
 
I think that with our first shrimps most of us think that they have died when we see body parts in our reefs for the first time. We thought ours were dead at times until we inspected and found out it is only a molt. Here is Peter's molt from his Mantis Shrimp:
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I think that with our first shrimps most of us think that they have died when we see body parts in our reefs for the first time. We thought ours were dead at times until we inspected and found out it is only a molt. Here is Peter's molt from his Mantis Shrimp:
View attachment 9508

Wow you kept the molt??? Thats soo cool!! I wanted to keep my boxfish exoskeleton but threw it away cause there was strong support that it should be buried...


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Wow you kept the molt??? Thats soo cool!! I wanted to keep my boxfish exoskeleton but threw it away cause there was strong support that it should be buried...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My son Peter kept it. He also has Arrow Crab, Porcelain crab, Emerald Crab and maybe a pistol. The colors on a Mantis are really gorgeous!
 
What a great experience for your son! To learn reef husbandry and to collect the molts for scientific documentation. I see a marine biologist in the making!


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Meet "Eggsy", the Yellow Watchman Goby who marches by the beat of his own drum...
View attachment 9506 View attachment 9505 View attachment 9507
So I'm dedicating a post on this fish, because he's presented some challenges:
1. Pairing Denied
As mentioned in the journal, he did not pair up with the pistol shrimp. A week after getting them, I found remains of the pistol shrimp (his pistol claw and some bits) in the seam of the filter sock (R.I.P). I was bummed out, but this presented an opportunity for a do-over. So I picked up another pistol shrimp and tried again. No dice. This goby is 0 for 2 in pairing and somehow does not want to be symbiotic.
2. Ship Jumper
While the other tank inhabitants seemed to settle into their environment pretty well... Eggsy seems to want out. First week, I found him in the filter sock or media basket almost every day. I had to install fish guards in the overflow and that stopped. But he was always hanging out at the edges of the tank, often hovering and peering at the gap between the lid and wall. One day I was cleaning and removed the fish guards.... and I forgot to put them back. The next morning, not only was he in the back again, but he made it all the way to the bottom of the middle back chamber!!! Those of you familiar with IM's AIO chambers know how hard it is to get stuff out of there. It took me roughly 2hrs to get him out. On the bright side, I cleaned up my AIO and it is looking real nice lol.
3. Finicky Eater
Eggsy does eat. But he is so passive that he stays below everyone during broadcast feeding, so it is a crapshoot if some food gets to him. I do try target feeding him but he seems to only eat one or two bites then evades the falling food. Its been 6.5 weeks and he hasn't gotten any bigger (case in point, he was still able to fit through the overflow grooves).

Conclusion
So there you have it. My most challenging fish so far. The other guys seem to be happy and content, but not this guy. I think it would've been a different scenario if he did pair up. But since he didn't, he is unsettled, like a fish out of water (lol couldn't resist). Please feel free to share any insights if you have them.
Side story about Eggsy.... one evening, my 3yr old was watching me feed the fish and I complained out loud that "Eggsy, is not eating". And without missing a beat, she responds "Daddy, that's because he is a watchman goby, so he just likes to watch". LOL
 
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Side story about Eggsy.... one evening, my 3yr old was watching me feed the fish and I complained out loud that "Eggsy, is not eating". And without missing a beat, she responds "Daddy, that's because he is a watchman, so he just likes to watch". LOL
yeah same thing when my 2 year told told us that we can't not hear what moon is talking about because she doesn't have a mouth.
 
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