Tank Journal Archive
Here is a shot that up until now I have been incapable of getting...mostly due to 'the nature of the beast'...
I have said previously that the smaller stomatopods tend to dish out threats a lot in an intimidating albeit cute effort of defiance...the whole cute side of it starts and ends with the smaller specimens though...
Here is an example of Adam (G.smithii) very small but very defiant, every time I walk up to the tank or walk past he darts out front and threatens me like this, the whole idea of them doing this is to not only look more intimidating but too look bigger as well, when everything is tucked in they are like a tube, with it all out stretched they look much larger, this doesn't stop with small species only...
It is often rare for the big guys to dish out threats either they are just to confident/can't be bothered or prefer to tuck tail and run, however...every then again, the big guys will flare up...this is a very intimidating threat displaying the size of the animal and it's intent to harm, there is nothing cute about a foot+ spearing stomatopod getting angry with you and starting to display like this...
Hard to tell due to nothing to give a size reference but, Adam (above) isn't even as long as 1 of Leviathan end dactyls (the part with all the teeth)...The Leviathan is also at least 5inchs larger then The Juggernaut as well...
On a completely different matter (smasher related)...
It would seem everyone is 'angry' today...I was getting close ups of the Juggernaut and he was very angry...rather then threaten me he swiftly shot at the front of the tank and hit it with a mighty smash which made me squeal like a little girl from the cracking sound of hammer on glass, instantly placed the camera down and inspected the area hit for damage, it was incredibly loud, sent me white, was just waiting for the hair line to appear and spread.
The battle is still going between trigger & spearer...Leviathan has clearly started to adopt a more aggressive offensive now with strikes sometimes coming one after the other, it's a good match at 1 point the trigger swooped down, Leviathan evaded, Trigger swam up, Leviathan lunged and glanced, Trigger responded with swoop, Leviathan evaded but returned with another strike...
I have said previously that the smaller stomatopods tend to dish out threats a lot in an intimidating albeit cute effort of defiance...the whole cute side of it starts and ends with the smaller specimens though...
Here is an example of Adam (G.smithii) very small but very defiant, every time I walk up to the tank or walk past he darts out front and threatens me like this, the whole idea of them doing this is to not only look more intimidating but too look bigger as well, when everything is tucked in they are like a tube, with it all out stretched they look much larger, this doesn't stop with small species only...
It is often rare for the big guys to dish out threats either they are just to confident/can't be bothered or prefer to tuck tail and run, however...every then again, the big guys will flare up...this is a very intimidating threat displaying the size of the animal and it's intent to harm, there is nothing cute about a foot+ spearing stomatopod getting angry with you and starting to display like this...
Hard to tell due to nothing to give a size reference but, Adam (above) isn't even as long as 1 of Leviathan end dactyls (the part with all the teeth)...The Leviathan is also at least 5inchs larger then The Juggernaut as well...
On a completely different matter (smasher related)...
It would seem everyone is 'angry' today...I was getting close ups of the Juggernaut and he was very angry...rather then threaten me he swiftly shot at the front of the tank and hit it with a mighty smash which made me squeal like a little girl from the cracking sound of hammer on glass, instantly placed the camera down and inspected the area hit for damage, it was incredibly loud, sent me white, was just waiting for the hair line to appear and spread.
The battle is still going between trigger & spearer...Leviathan has clearly started to adopt a more aggressive offensive now with strikes sometimes coming one after the other, it's a good match at 1 point the trigger swooped down, Leviathan evaded, Trigger swam up, Leviathan lunged and glanced, Trigger responded with swoop, Leviathan evaded but returned with another strike...
Finally, Rockys (G.graphurus) new mansion is complete :D thus all DIY PVC Burrows for STAND A are now complete :D the difference between his PVC & the rest of the PVC is the much larger bottom plateau on the right hand side along with 2 Ric benches.
This PVC is 32mm (along with the other 3 made + the one in Eves compartment) rather then the 25mm he currently has so it's less awkward for him to enter exit at substrate level, the frames are pushed up against the rear wall of the tank giving an open area up front for substrate level coral, easy access to the entry/exit points of the burrow & hide the imperfections on the rear of each structure.
More to come as I let them bake tomorrow :D then place them into the Live Food Tank for a little while.
This PVC is 32mm (along with the other 3 made + the one in Eves compartment) rather then the 25mm he currently has so it's less awkward for him to enter exit at substrate level, the frames are pushed up against the rear wall of the tank giving an open area up front for substrate level coral, easy access to the entry/exit points of the burrow & hide the imperfections on the rear of each structure.
More to come as I let them bake tomorrow :D then place them into the Live Food Tank for a little while.
Couple of random shots first one of Tintin my male G.ternatensis, he is my smallest specimen in a display compartment but still full of personality :D
This is Minos my L.colemani, a rather 'rare' spearer, I love the horns between his eyes.
More to come :D
This is Minos my L.colemani, a rather 'rare' spearer, I love the horns between his eyes.
More to come :D
Woke up a little early this morning (well for being on Holidays still anyway :P)...and placed all the frames outside where I knew they would get sunlight for as much as the day could offer, being mid summer, the sun is baking hot at 6-7am like it would normally be but at 10am-12noon, good timing on my part I think :), it is really hot outside, can feel it beating down and since these are rite in the sun, they are really going to cook / bake well. :)
Mmmmm baked goods...
More to come :D
Mmmmm baked goods...
More to come :D
Satisfied with the 'baking process' I began to load all the DIY PVC frames into my Live Food tank for a temporary water test...rather the live food suffer then the stomatopods themselves xD...
Looks like stomatopod city too me :D or at least a heck of a journey for 1 stomatopod if they were to all go into 1 tank xD...
You can see a little 'Taco Fish' in the bottom right for size reference :) it's about 3-4inchs long, I call them 'Taco Fish' because they are poisonous but my spearers will still eat them and I think that if it's venomous then maybe it's a little spicy to the stomatopod :D our version of spices...they are everywhere around here so easy to come by just got to be careful when you catch them not to get jabbed.
More to come as I check to see if they pass the water test :) and then...they go into their final resting places within STAND A.
Looks like stomatopod city too me :D or at least a heck of a journey for 1 stomatopod if they were to all go into 1 tank xD...
You can see a little 'Taco Fish' in the bottom right for size reference :) it's about 3-4inchs long, I call them 'Taco Fish' because they are poisonous but my spearers will still eat them and I think that if it's venomous then maybe it's a little spicy to the stomatopod :D our version of spices...they are everywhere around here so easy to come by just got to be careful when you catch them not to get jabbed.
More to come as I check to see if they pass the water test :) and then...they go into their final resting places within STAND A.
Trying to think of something 'different' to add to Rockys DIY Frame as far as coral life goes...
First thoughts was an anemone with some hosting clownfish but it's hard to 'tell' an anemone to sit still as they like to walk and find their own spots...
Clams are an obvious no go specially with this species (G.graphurus).
The lowest Right plateau is rather large and the position that I speak of, with likely low to Moderate flow (full light)
First thoughts was an anemone with some hosting clownfish but it's hard to 'tell' an anemone to sit still as they like to walk and find their own spots...
Clams are an obvious no go specially with this species (G.graphurus).
The lowest Right plateau is rather large and the position that I speak of, with likely low to Moderate flow (full light)
Stomatopods will now also be inhabiting Facebook :) I really never wanted to use it personally but there is no denying that 90% of the world practically is and if you want something to get noticed it is another great place to start...having said that I did say that I never wanted to use it personally for personal things so...it's completely stomatopod related :) I give no information about who I am and locked/wrote nothing in those areas.
Basically it's just going to be another place to upload photos & videos but for those people that don't frequent the forums and a place that is frequented by most likely all of them (at least I know most do).
Each stomatopod has their own picture and short profile on them based around my experience with them thus far, I made to albums :P 1 for spearers & 1 for smashers lol...naturally :D I DUN DID GOOD :D! There are also a few videos that I picked at random after learning how to link them.
http://www.facebook.com/Kharn.Stomatopods
I'm NOT going anywhere :) if anything I am more likely to forget about the Facebook site...I don't understand it and this is more of a test to see if the 'public' responds.
Basically it's just going to be another place to upload photos & videos but for those people that don't frequent the forums and a place that is frequented by most likely all of them (at least I know most do).
Each stomatopod has their own picture and short profile on them based around my experience with them thus far, I made to albums :P 1 for spearers & 1 for smashers lol...naturally :D I DUN DID GOOD :D! There are also a few videos that I picked at random after learning how to link them.
http://www.facebook.com/Kharn.Stomatopods
I'm NOT going anywhere :) if anything I am more likely to forget about the Facebook site...I don't understand it and this is more of a test to see if the 'public' responds.
Had a slight problem with Rockys new DIY PVC burrow...it was about an inch to wide ='[...however it was a plateau that was making it not fit...so I just trimmed it as neat I could, I have a good plan to touch up the area I trimmed :) bascially PVC cement although really strong peels really well :) like a clean up time when I have LOADS on the floor, I can just peel it all off as one piece :D so I though maybe I'll just pour some glue on a smooth surface, sprinkle substrate over it a few times, then after its all set, peel it off the smooth surface and attach coral gum under it to stick it back on the plateau, either way it's very minor...
Ended up going to my LFS full of excitement but for nothing :( they had the same things in and my mate told me that nothing else was coming...so I plotted the GPS for the coast and headed on down to see Darren @ ReefSecrets, whom I knew always had a treasure trove of nice stock, just a shame he is so far away :(...none the less he took a few hundred off me for an assortment of nice corals all of which my 2 much closer LFS's had nothing comparable.
As I said I never have to really worry about going down to ReefSecrets and not coming back with something...they ALWAYS have good quality stock and lots of it today I picked up nice haul of corals and 2 in particular that I am really happy with...here is the list.
1x Small Zoanthid colony - 6+polyps - Green inner, Orange outter.
1x Small Zoanthid colony - 8+polyps - Aqua Dot center, maroon inner, Bright Pink outter.
1x Small Zoanthid colony - 10+polyps - Dark&Light Blue inner, Bright Red outter (fire & Ice).
1x Small Zoanthid colony - 20+polyps - Electric Blue inner, Dark Blue outter.
1x Small Zoanthid colony - 20+polyps - Black inner, Electric Yellow outter.
1x Small (2inch diameter) - Bright Orange Plate Fungia.
1x Small (1.5inch diameter) - Bright Green Plate Fungia.
1x Medium Ricordea mushie (2.5inch diameter) - Light Grey.
1x Medium Ricordea mushie (2inch diameter) - Light Harlequin.
1x Small Green Star Polyp Colony - 50+ heads.
1x Small Goniopora - Electric Yellow Heads & Bright Green Stems.
1x Small Hammer Euphyllia - Purple Tips & Bright Green Stems.
1x Small Xenia colony - Electric Light Blue.
1x Small Acan colony - Ultra Premium Grade 5-6+ colors.
1x Small Acan colony - Ultra Premium Grade 5-6+ colors.
Was really happy to find the bottom 3 items :) even though ReefSecrets always has quality goods over other LFS I go to, they also filter through their goods fast, so what you see online is often gone within either mins/hours I have always got my Acans from Darren in the past but I have never had a chance to get his Ultra Premium Acans as they are always gone by the time I get down there...today was different :D he had some of the best in there...to many for me though :( lol so I had to choose the smallest just to keep the overall costs down, I would love to take the rest of them :D, the Premium Ultra Grade ones are 3x the cost of the standard ones he sells, so these small fragments would of normally cost me between $15-$20 but because of their colors being Ultra Grade...they cost me $50 & $60 each, then there was the small Xenia hiding in the back behind all this other stuff, easy to miss if you didn't look at the rite angle but once I saw it in my peripheral vision, I asked how much :D really nice be so bright electric/fluro blue.
Pic's inc as Rocky & the new corals adjust to their new homes :) I think Rocky is still confused about his new home.
Ended up going to my LFS full of excitement but for nothing :( they had the same things in and my mate told me that nothing else was coming...so I plotted the GPS for the coast and headed on down to see Darren @ ReefSecrets, whom I knew always had a treasure trove of nice stock, just a shame he is so far away :(...none the less he took a few hundred off me for an assortment of nice corals all of which my 2 much closer LFS's had nothing comparable.
As I said I never have to really worry about going down to ReefSecrets and not coming back with something...they ALWAYS have good quality stock and lots of it today I picked up nice haul of corals and 2 in particular that I am really happy with...here is the list.
1x Small Zoanthid colony - 6+polyps - Green inner, Orange outter.
1x Small Zoanthid colony - 8+polyps - Aqua Dot center, maroon inner, Bright Pink outter.
1x Small Zoanthid colony - 10+polyps - Dark&Light Blue inner, Bright Red outter (fire & Ice).
1x Small Zoanthid colony - 20+polyps - Electric Blue inner, Dark Blue outter.
1x Small Zoanthid colony - 20+polyps - Black inner, Electric Yellow outter.
1x Small (2inch diameter) - Bright Orange Plate Fungia.
1x Small (1.5inch diameter) - Bright Green Plate Fungia.
1x Medium Ricordea mushie (2.5inch diameter) - Light Grey.
1x Medium Ricordea mushie (2inch diameter) - Light Harlequin.
1x Small Green Star Polyp Colony - 50+ heads.
1x Small Goniopora - Electric Yellow Heads & Bright Green Stems.
1x Small Hammer Euphyllia - Purple Tips & Bright Green Stems.
1x Small Xenia colony - Electric Light Blue.
1x Small Acan colony - Ultra Premium Grade 5-6+ colors.
1x Small Acan colony - Ultra Premium Grade 5-6+ colors.
Was really happy to find the bottom 3 items :) even though ReefSecrets always has quality goods over other LFS I go to, they also filter through their goods fast, so what you see online is often gone within either mins/hours I have always got my Acans from Darren in the past but I have never had a chance to get his Ultra Premium Acans as they are always gone by the time I get down there...today was different :D he had some of the best in there...to many for me though :( lol so I had to choose the smallest just to keep the overall costs down, I would love to take the rest of them :D, the Premium Ultra Grade ones are 3x the cost of the standard ones he sells, so these small fragments would of normally cost me between $15-$20 but because of their colors being Ultra Grade...they cost me $50 & $60 each, then there was the small Xenia hiding in the back behind all this other stuff, easy to miss if you didn't look at the rite angle but once I saw it in my peripheral vision, I asked how much :D really nice be so bright electric/fluro blue.
Pic's inc as Rocky & the new corals adjust to their new homes :) I think Rocky is still confused about his new home.
Well Rocky certainly took to his NEW PVC home like 'a bat outta hell!' :D
Have not seen him outside it yet...the difference in the OLD DIY PVC burrow & NEW DIY PVC burrow is clear as day and I am certain Rocky appreciates it :) I made his first one a while ago...then sort of stopped as his was a bit of a test, with it failing big time substrate not sticking to the PVC so patches of white all over it...there was 5 entry exit points 4 at the very front and 1 at the very back, the 4 at the front were so close to the front glass that he couldn't enter/exit them. It was when he started to dig under the Rock of Superman Rhodacts in his compartment that I started to realize he no longer liked the PVC (it might of been nice and tight inside. perhaps to tight, but as far as 'vantage point' / 'observational view' goes...I didn't provide one...except for the Rear most Entry/Exit point which was where he sat 90% of the time.
I've noticed this with all my stomatopods, they prefer to make their burrows,cavities in a place where they can either see as much of the tank as they can or a good position to attack/defend, if nothing is suitable they look else where like Rocky had started to dig under the tanks center piece giving him full view of the whole tank.
Rocky is also much larger then Eve but their burrows are the same width due to max potential size they can gain (all PVC burrows are built for max potential size not the individuals current size), so when it comes to do my 2 O.scyllarus next, both will get 65mm stormwater pipe even though the Kraken is vastly smaller then the Juggernaut.
Took a few hours yesterday but mot of the corals have started to open up in the compartment so pics inc :)
Have not seen him outside it yet...the difference in the OLD DIY PVC burrow & NEW DIY PVC burrow is clear as day and I am certain Rocky appreciates it :) I made his first one a while ago...then sort of stopped as his was a bit of a test, with it failing big time substrate not sticking to the PVC so patches of white all over it...there was 5 entry exit points 4 at the very front and 1 at the very back, the 4 at the front were so close to the front glass that he couldn't enter/exit them. It was when he started to dig under the Rock of Superman Rhodacts in his compartment that I started to realize he no longer liked the PVC (it might of been nice and tight inside. perhaps to tight, but as far as 'vantage point' / 'observational view' goes...I didn't provide one...except for the Rear most Entry/Exit point which was where he sat 90% of the time.
I've noticed this with all my stomatopods, they prefer to make their burrows,cavities in a place where they can either see as much of the tank as they can or a good position to attack/defend, if nothing is suitable they look else where like Rocky had started to dig under the tanks center piece giving him full view of the whole tank.
Rocky is also much larger then Eve but their burrows are the same width due to max potential size they can gain (all PVC burrows are built for max potential size not the individuals current size), so when it comes to do my 2 O.scyllarus next, both will get 65mm stormwater pipe even though the Kraken is vastly smaller then the Juggernaut.
Took a few hours yesterday but mot of the corals have started to open up in the compartment so pics inc :)
Here is a video of The Juggernaut (O.scyllarus) taking down a large crab, the video is split in 2 because I ran out of battery in the first camera (Nikon P500) and so started to use the Nikon 1 V2 as it was on charge and managed to get the rest :).
HD 1080p capability
Hope you enjoy.
HD 1080p capability
Hope you enjoy.
Pictures of Rockys (G.graphurus) new compartment :D
First thought a comparison FCS (full compartment shot) of OLD VS NEW, since Rocky was already residing within my first design of DIY PVC burrow.
Here is his old compartment take note of the PVC itself, was 1 coat of glue and substrate due to difficulty of laying just the 1 coat...so it's easy to see the PVC through the glue & substrate...see the entry and exit holes have white patches of PVC showing where the substrate and glue either didn't get done I also neglected to add a little glue and substrate to the insides of the PVC at the entry/exits so it's easy to see the PVC in his old burrow...Not to mention the 4 entry exits at the front were basically pressed against the front of the tank, making access very difficult for the stomatopod.
This is the new compartment much more time was taken into the glue & substrate side of things and even though it was a really tight fit...in the end the whole thing fit snuggly into place, I then put the substrate back in but only about half of it/ just enough to bury the lower portion of the PVC DIY burrow. Overall this is a much nicer looking frame with loads of room at every entry/exit point for the stomatopod to enter/exit or build/block, not only that but the whole frame only takes up 1/2 of the tank leaving the entire front half free swim space, best of all I bumped up the PVC diameter from 25 mm (old frame) to 32mm making it easier for the stomatopod to move around within (they like to flip and reverse themselves).
Not the greatest pic as I am still trying to work things out with my new camera :) either way I think it looks much better and considering it took him mere minutes to gain the courage to enter (and never leave) lets me think that he is very happy with it as well :D, he can see anywhere in the compartment from the entry/exit points and having so many various levels of them allows so many different vantage points for offensive/defensive behavior.
Here are a few more random shots of the compartment.
Rocky (G.graphurus) sitting and inspecting the top most entry/exit point.
Zoomed out a little I can get him and the pair of zoa colonies in the same shot :)
Here he is at the right raised entry/exit point, with the pair of Acan colonies above him, really want to learn how to take photos of Acans, so far they have proven to be the most difficult coral to capture colors of...in real life they look totally different..Green,pink,red,yellow & blue all fluro and really bright!
[Broken External Image]:[URL]http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/8793/rockyacans.jpg[/URL]
This is a shot of the acans under only blue lights, I am trying to manually white balance the camera under the blue lighting but it doesn't want to play ball...
Here is a shot of the new Hammer I got, it's a "reverse" style having purple tips (although they look brown in the pic...-_-) and with fluro electric green stems :D, hard to pass up...
More to come as I work out this new camera more!
First thought a comparison FCS (full compartment shot) of OLD VS NEW, since Rocky was already residing within my first design of DIY PVC burrow.
Here is his old compartment take note of the PVC itself, was 1 coat of glue and substrate due to difficulty of laying just the 1 coat...so it's easy to see the PVC through the glue & substrate...see the entry and exit holes have white patches of PVC showing where the substrate and glue either didn't get done I also neglected to add a little glue and substrate to the insides of the PVC at the entry/exits so it's easy to see the PVC in his old burrow...Not to mention the 4 entry exits at the front were basically pressed against the front of the tank, making access very difficult for the stomatopod.
This is the new compartment much more time was taken into the glue & substrate side of things and even though it was a really tight fit...in the end the whole thing fit snuggly into place, I then put the substrate back in but only about half of it/ just enough to bury the lower portion of the PVC DIY burrow. Overall this is a much nicer looking frame with loads of room at every entry/exit point for the stomatopod to enter/exit or build/block, not only that but the whole frame only takes up 1/2 of the tank leaving the entire front half free swim space, best of all I bumped up the PVC diameter from 25 mm (old frame) to 32mm making it easier for the stomatopod to move around within (they like to flip and reverse themselves).
Not the greatest pic as I am still trying to work things out with my new camera :) either way I think it looks much better and considering it took him mere minutes to gain the courage to enter (and never leave) lets me think that he is very happy with it as well :D, he can see anywhere in the compartment from the entry/exit points and having so many various levels of them allows so many different vantage points for offensive/defensive behavior.
Here are a few more random shots of the compartment.
Rocky (G.graphurus) sitting and inspecting the top most entry/exit point.
Zoomed out a little I can get him and the pair of zoa colonies in the same shot :)
Here he is at the right raised entry/exit point, with the pair of Acan colonies above him, really want to learn how to take photos of Acans, so far they have proven to be the most difficult coral to capture colors of...in real life they look totally different..Green,pink,red,yellow & blue all fluro and really bright!
[Broken External Image]:[URL]http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/8793/rockyacans.jpg[/URL]
This is a shot of the acans under only blue lights, I am trying to manually white balance the camera under the blue lighting but it doesn't want to play ball...
Here is a shot of the new Hammer I got, it's a "reverse" style having purple tips (although they look brown in the pic...-_-) and with fluro electric green stems :D, hard to pass up...
More to come as I work out this new camera more!
Attachments
I'm too new to photography to understand exactly what you mean....all I am doing is setting the cameras image quality to Fine and max size 4000x3000 which is about 12mb per pic.
I know my films are direct .MOV files straight from the camera (N1 V2).
Actually the camera upon further inspecting is set to .JPEG normal however there are a few options :)
JPEG basic
JPEG normal
JPEG fine
NEF (RAW)
NEF (RAW) + JPEG fine
as far as which is best I got no idea o_O would the NEF (RAW) + JPEG Fine be the best setting :S ?
JPEG basic
JPEG normal
JPEG fine
NEF (RAW)
NEF (RAW) + JPEG fine
as far as which is best I got no idea o_O would the NEF (RAW) + JPEG Fine be the best setting :S ?
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