Will my rock die???

Just got 30 more lbs. of live rock and one piece has a golfball sized orange sponge on it( no digital camera, so unable to send pictures). I have read that exposing the sponge to air will kill it.

 

OOOPSSS ! hit the wrong button and posted unfinished message...

Question is, the sponge was exposed to air for app. 20 min in transit and when I took it out of the box to put it in the tank. Will the sponge die???

 

Sponges really are hard to keep some times. Crabs and other critters will eat them. I would expect that it will die off do to the air and the new environment, but sponges grow fast in establised aquariums. But its hard to say that it will or will not die.

craig...minimizing detritus is always good. Here is another idea for all. Get base rock. Then you don't have to cook and you can start aquarium. Drip kalk or use it as top off and the coralline should start up. I did this and my rock has little to no detritus and the coralline is just now starting...

Mike

 

For your clowns Fresh....i would get just one....but wherever you read that was sadly mistaken. In the wild many clowns like Percula ocellaris live in small social units consisting of a dominant femal and a few subordinate males. Am's right, territorial disputes will insue, unless you aquire a young mated pair. Unless they are babies then i would shy from anything more than one. I'ld go with tank bred percula for hardieness and color...they also breed easily if in thier own tank.

 

[quote author=MacnReef link=board=Newbie;num=1101754135;start=30#33 date=12/16/04 at 19:51:34]Dude listen to me...cook the rock!  I can assure you it is the best way.  The people on here only speak from personal experience.  They only do what they do, they never try anything new.  I am sure DSB is still the big thing here...lol

Mike[/quote]

Speak for your self, i work in a store, constantly experiment with reefs, and unload more LR monthly than youve ever played with. DSB, good advise....your heading for a stupid flame war. Please dont bring that 2 this site.

 

FreshtoSalt,

I had my rock in tubs covered w/ wet newspaper for a few hours....but it was not submerged so I am sure exposure to air occured. My sponges are growing just fine.

I would keep an eye on them and if they start to go, go ahead and take the rock out and scrub them off. If not, let 'em grow!

I had also read in one of Tullock's books about keeping a clown family...I know of no one that had done that in "home" aquariums with success...so...Like everyone is saying, I would stick to one species and one pair.

 

I have plenty of time before I put the clown(s) in. I really would like a pair. Can you buy "mated pairs" from the LFS or do you have to get them from a "breeder/dealer"?

I have to be honest here :-/... My son, 4 1/2 years old, has his heart set on having the exact same fish that are in the tank at the dentist office in the movie, "Finding Nemo". I have researched some of the species and they seem compatible. Unsure if they are all compatible, or if it was just a "made for Hollywood" grouping of fish. I have told the little guy that not all fish get along with each other, like him and his sisters , but I will do my best.

To be honest again, I am more interested in the inverts than the fish anyway. I like Clowns, and Chromis, but I am completely taken by the corals, shrimp, anemone's, etc..., etc..., etc...

TTFN

 

Sea...working in a store doesn't make you an expert nor someone to give advise. Go to RC and see how many people complain about the idiots that work at the LFS. I would bet your store is probably listed there somewhere.

My current experience with different clowns. I have a pink skunk and a false percula in my tank and have had them for almost one year. The only time they fought was when the f.percula would get near the pink's host.

Mike

 

[quote author=freshtosalt link=board=Newbie;num=1101754135;start=45#46 date=12/17/04 at 10:43:52] <br>1.Can you buy "mated pairs" from the LFS or do you have to get them from a "breeder/dealer"?

2.Unsure if they are all compatible, or if it was just a "made for Hollywood" grouping of fish. I have told the little guy that not all fish get along with each other, like him and his sisters , but I will do my best.
[/quote]

1. Yes.
2.Thinking back to the movie, I would say that most of the fish are compatible. Regal tangs, percula clowns, butterflys are all compatible and I can't really recall what else was on that movie. But of course starfish are sometimes a nice addition.

Mike

 

Let's play nicely boys and girls!