Dinosaur skull on my LR?

cinematek · 03/06/2007, 01:40 AM

After months of reading and research, I finally set up my new tank on Saturday! Here's what I have so far:
25G glass tank (24x12x20)
20G SW (1.0225 SG at the moment)
33.75 lbs LR
20 lbs LS (about 2" deep in front, about 1" in back)
1 MJ 600 with Hydor-flo

What I will add very soon:
2x100W heaters, Tekt5 24" light fixture, Fluval 205 canister filter.

I'll do a full new-tank thread later. For now, I'm just looking for a critter ID. I think it's a mussel or something. It came on part of my LR and is about 1" long.

Do you know what it is?

Do you think it will survive the cycle?

BeesGoneWild · 03/06/2007, 01:44 AM

velocio raptor

hmm Maybe a prequel to jurassic park part4?

But serously, Looks like a mussle of some sort to me ive maybe a little bit more infor on the live rock might help? Like wheres it from? Goodluck on your tank btw

cinematek · 03/06/2007, 01:47 AM

Thanks, Bees.

It's Marshall Island rock from a reliable LFS that gets rock straight off the plane from wherever.

aquarius77 · 03/06/2007, 04:33 AM

Your rock looks smothered in fine soot like stuff, common with new live rock. Try blasting all that off so a filter or something can pick it up. Opening up all the holes and craters on the surface of the rock by blasting that crap off will make it a more efficent bio-filter and it will also let the coraline grow.

Edit:
I use a turkey baster to blast with but a powerhead in your hand works nice too.

greenbean36191 · 03/06/2007, 07:54 AM

It's an ark shell. There is a pretty good chance it will survive the cycle.

mrsgoose · 03/06/2007, 08:34 AM

Hi - I found something very similar on my lr about 3 weeks after I set up my tank. It's only about 1/2 inch and hasn't moved from that spot, but it definitely opens and closes and will shrink back when something touches it. Cool - I hope mine gets bigger, too!

blackheart · 03/06/2007, 09:50 AM

you might want to think about raising your salinity to around 1.024-1.025

chrisqueenz · 03/06/2007, 12:13 PM

Cool pic, hopefully it survives the cycle!

virginiadiver69 · 03/06/2007, 12:22 PM

A couple of suggestions if you don't mind. First one, You mind find it easier if you change your sand bed to slope toward the front instead of toward the back. The detritus will tend to "slide" to the front of the tank this way, making it easy to siphon off. Second, I would rethink using a canister filter and look into a decent protein skimmer.

cinematek · 03/07/2007, 01:25 AM

Thanks for the helpful comments. 2 questions:

1) Why raise the salinity to 1.024?
2) Could I use a canister filter *and* a protein skimmer? My thinking was to start with the canister and then add a skimmer a little later on.

cinematek · 03/07/2007, 01:50 AM

By the way, here's a pic of the whole tank setup.

03/06/2007, 01:40 AM	#1
cinematek Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 189	Dinosaur skull on my LR? After months of reading and research, I finally set up my new tank on Saturday! Here's what I have so far: 25G glass tank (24x12x20) 20G SW (1.0225 SG at the moment) 33.75 lbs LR 20 lbs LS (about 2" deep in front, about 1" in back) 1 MJ 600 with Hydor-flo What I will add very soon: 2x100W heaters, Tekt5 24" light fixture, Fluval 205 canister filter. I'll do a full new-tank thread later. For now, I'm just looking for a critter ID. I think it's a mussel or something. It came on part of my LR and is about 1" long. Do you know what it is? Do you think it will survive the cycle?

03/06/2007, 07:54 AM	#5
greenbean36191 Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Posts: 10,598	It's an ark shell. There is a pretty good chance it will survive the cycle. __________________ Some say the sun rises in the East. Some say it rises in the West. The truth must be somewhere in the middle. Current Tank Info: tore them down to move and haven't had the time or money to set them back up

03/06/2007, 09:50 AM	#7
blackheart Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Daytona Beach Posts: 892	you might want to think about raising your salinity to around 1.024-1.025 __________________ I have been cycling my tank for a month now with 75lbs of live rock when do I add the salt???? click the red house to see pics of my old tank....the better pics are at the bottom :D Current Tank Info: Back to the drawing board!!

03/06/2007, 12:22 PM	#9
virginiadiver69 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Va. Posts: 4,400	A couple of suggestions if you don't mind. First one, You mind find it easier if you change your sand bed to slope toward the front instead of toward the back. The detritus will tend to "slide" to the front of the tank this way, making it easy to siphon off. Second, I would rethink using a canister filter and look into a decent protein skimmer. __________________ Semi-aggressive mixed reef w/ shallow sand bed 96x30x27 310gal custom acrylic w/ ext. "fail safe" overflow 125gal sump/cryptic fuge w/ 6" DSB 3 400w Plus Rite 20k MH in Lumembrights 2 250w Plus Rite 20k MH in spider reflectors VHO actinic supplementation 2 Tunze wave boxes 2 Tunze 6060 in Tunze Rocks 2 Tunze 6125 Reeflo 250 skimmer Hammerhead return on OM 4 way Aqua controller lll Leviton power panel Deltec Eco-Cooler Randy's Two part 6.5 kw generator

03/06/2007, 01:44 AM	#2
BeesGoneWild Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: North Eastern Pennsylvannia Posts: 1,064	velocio raptor hmm Maybe a prequel to jurassic park part4? But serously, Looks like a mussle of some sort to me ive maybe a little bit more infor on the live rock might help? Like wheres it from? Goodluck on your tank btw

03/06/2007, 01:47 AM	#3
cinematek Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 189	Thanks, Bees. It's Marshall Island rock from a reliable LFS that gets rock straight off the plane from wherever.

03/06/2007, 04:33 AM	#4
aquarius77 Moved On Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Highland, Il Posts: 2,198	Your rock looks smothered in fine soot like stuff, common with new live rock. Try blasting all that off so a filter or something can pick it up. Opening up all the holes and craters on the surface of the rock by blasting that crap off will make it a more efficent bio-filter and it will also let the coraline grow. Edit: I use a turkey baster to blast with but a powerhead in your hand works nice too.

03/06/2007, 08:34 AM	#6
mrsgoose Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bulington, VT Posts: 34	Hi - I found something very similar on my lr about 3 weeks after I set up my tank. It's only about 1/2 inch and hasn't moved from that spot, but it definitely opens and closes and will shrink back when something touches it. Cool - I hope mine gets bigger, too!

03/06/2007, 12:13 PM	#8
chrisqueenz Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Rochester New York, USA Posts: 2,042	Cool pic, hopefully it survives the cycle!

03/07/2007, 01:25 AM	#10
cinematek Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 189	Thanks for the helpful comments. 2 questions: 1) Why raise the salinity to 1.024? 2) Could I use a canister filter and a protein skimmer? My thinking was to start with the canister and then add a skimmer a little later on.

03/07/2007, 01:50 AM	#11
cinematek Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 189	By the way, here's a pic of the whole tank setup.