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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Help Identifying

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12 Jul 2013 22:53 #1 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
My tank has been cycling for over a month and a half. I havent put any animals until today because I was going to go on holidays for 12 days at the end of june and I didnt want having to worrying about the fish while I was away. During this period I did notice a small snail wondering around but as there was plenty of algae I didnt really worry much about him.

By the way when I came back the water temperature was around 33 degrees!!!

Anyway bringing down the temperature now to around 26 degrees and added a few snails, crabs and skunk shrimp. However, in the process I have noticed that I have a few uninvited (but welcome) guest. Some of them are algae of some sort, others I dont know exactly. I am a complete beginner in regards SWA so I have no idea of what they really are so I am more curious than anything!

First one

little starfish approx 4 mm long



Then I found this attached to the glass, its around 3 mm long and it seems to be stuck to it



A strange looking plant that seems to expand when the lights are on



Then a few strange type of algae (not the typical hair algae)





Some strange balls (they have some sort of blue filament inside)



And then these tubular shaped plants




Thanks for your help!

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13 Jul 2013 07:02 #2 by SSS (Sion S)
Replied by SSS (Sion S) on topic Help Identifying
Can't remember the name of these starfish but I used to have loads in my tank. They breed quite quickly so after a while I started taking them out because they were eating my coralline algae and leaving white patches all over it.
2nd picture is an anemone, looks like a glass anemone, might be a good idea to get rid of it because they can spread and cause problems in the future if you plan to add corals.
3rd one looks like a slug, but if its in the same spot all the time its probably a sponge, cool colour too.
The balls are bubble algae, some people say they are really bad, others say good. I had some and they never caused any problems for me. If you do decide to take them out be careful not to burst them because their spores are inside and bursting them will cause them to spread.
The last pic looks like tube worms or feather dusters, these guys are good and will spread very quickly, they're filter feeders. Can you see little "feathers" coming out of the top?
The other pics are algae that I don't know the name of but should start disappearing when your tank is fully cycled. Tangs will eat it too.

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13 Jul 2013 07:47 #3 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
hi SSS

Thanks for your advice. I will get rid of the anemone (i thought it might have been but I couldnt find this type anywhere) and give the bubble algae a chance.

I dont know if the the worms have feathers at the top, they are very small, I will keep an eye on them and see.

The star fish is no where to be seen now, I will keep an eye on it too and make sure they dont overtake the tanks

thanks again!

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13 Jul 2013 07:52 #4 by SSS (Sion S)
Replied by SSS (Sion S) on topic Help Identifying
Yeah one of the best things about a marine tank for me is all the cool stuff that grows in your tank that you didn't put in there.
I always gave everything a chance, even aiptasia hahah.

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13 Jul 2013 15:11 #5 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
Yes you are right, things just keep appearing. I just spotted a couple of new unknowns... the anemone is gone now.

:)

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18 Jul 2013 19:05 - 18 Jul 2013 19:12 #6 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
...
Last edit: 18 Jul 2013 19:12 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez).

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19 Jul 2013 00:58 #7 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Help Identifying
Them tiny stars are called Asterina they are a nasty pest not only will they destroy your coralline algae they will turn on your corals especially hard corals

Go hunting for them yourself and get them out asap

If you are over loaded with them a Harlequin Shrimp will have all his birthdays and Christmases come at once to be let run a muck on them, but im nearly 100% sure when their gone the shrimp wont be long after them so only get the shrimp in you cant keep up with the hunting yourself

best time to find them is early in the morning well before the lights come on, cup of coffee and a tweezers and of course clean hands

Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.

A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.

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20 Jul 2013 15:14 #8 by seabhreach (Justin)
Don't give the bubble algae a chance either they can be a complete nightmare and could overrun your tank. Best to get them out while you've no coral on the Rock. Remove them with a sharp blade when doing a water change. Attach straight piece of pipe to thin flexible tube and get your syphon going then point end of pipe at bubble algae and cut loose, if it bursts the spores will go out with waste. Alternatively take out the rock and remove, thoroughly was with RO. Best of luck :-)

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20 Jul 2013 15:27 #9 by seabhreach (Justin)
Also that algae on the Rock looks like a macro algae called Caulerpa. Good to have in sump but may leave a lot of debris in the display tank.

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23 Jul 2013 12:47 #10 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
Hey guys

Thanks for your tips. Havent seen that starfish for a while now.

I will remove the bubble algae on my next water change probably tomorrow.

Thanks again!

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23 Jul 2013 12:57 #11 by jeff (Jeff Scully)
Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Help Identifying
You can repay us with loads of update pics :-)

Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.

A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.

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23 Jul 2013 13:56 #12 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
Fair enough!!! lol

Just need a lens with macro now but I will upload some as soon as I add some corals!

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