Thanks Atlanta Aquarium!!

[globalbutterfly]

Just wanted to give a huge shout out to Atlanta Aquarium and thank them for their support of the ARC. We won the $250 gift certificate at the November meeting and went to spend it Saturday after the ARC Holiday Party.

Rick, the owner, was great. Super patient with my 1,001 questions and endless dithering. In the end came home with some really amazing additions to my tank including two of the fish that sucked me into the hobby the first time I saw them at a LFS: Flame Angel (Sorry pic is so bad. He kept getting spooked by my totally jealous, photo-bombing tang.)

and a Mandarin Goby

(I’ve been waiting and waiting until my pod population was strong enough for the goby.)

Thanks for supporting the Atlanta Reef Club and for the awesome additions to my tank.
- Melissa

Goby was totally unphased by the “photo-bomber”

 

[globalbutterfly]

Blonde Naso Tang “photo-bombing” Mandarin Goby

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[FutureInterest]

Gratz! Those are actually 2 of the prettiest fish in the hobby imo. That male mandarin in particular looks amazing... stunning even. With a mandarin you can never have enough pods... so I do recommend making rubble balls and placing them in the tank in out of sight areas. A rubble ball is just a bunch of live rock rubble all tied up into a ball using some netting material. These give nice habitats for pods to safely breed and thrive in where the mandarin can't get to and wipe out the breeding adults quite as thoroughly. A fellow reefer on here turned me onto the idea and I find that it works quite well.

 

[Smithhansen]

Setting up a pod system in my tank now.

 

[seand]

Rit also sells pods now, pretty cheap

 

[globalbutterfly]

Rit also sells pods now, pretty cheap

Who and/or what is “Rit”?

With a mandarin you can never have enough pods... so I do recommend making rubble balls and placing them in the tank in out of sight areas. A rubble ball is just a bunch of live rock rubble all tied up into a ball using some netting material.

Thanks for the tip! I have a bunch of pods in my sump and DID have a bunch in my tank but he’s been busy since Saturday and I’m a bit paranoid. I was literally just getting ready to Google “DIY pod hotel” when I saw your post. Would a mesh zipper bag work?

 

[AquariumSchmo]

The owner of Atlanta Aquarium... his name is Rit

 

[globalbutterfly]

Lol! I thought he said “Rick.” I did get some pods from him Saturday. I pretty much pick them up anytime I find them locally cultured for a good price. I figure diversity is good and “more is more”.

 

[FutureInterest]

@globalbutterfly Many people call him "Rick". He responds to it and is too polite to correct people and although I'm speaking for him, he's also not offended . You're not the first and you won't be the last! Rit is actually short for something else that is very hard to pronounce if I remember correctly. @atlantaaquarium

As for the pod hotels, yes I think a mesh zipper bag would work just fine. So long as the holes are big enough for the critters to get in and out anything plastic will be good to go. Even a tupperware container with holes drilled in it. I used this stuff because I had some lying around the house.

 

[ricky5415]

I place a small basket full of chaetos on the DT for extra pod supplements. Seem to do pretty good job for keeping 4 mandarin gobies. Also, algae scrubber is also a good way to product pods for your tank too.

 

[seand]

@globalbutterfly Many people call him "Rick". He responds to it and is too polite to correct people and although I'm speaking for him, he's also not offended . You're not the first and you won't be the last! Rit is actually short for something else that is very hard to pronounce if I remember correctly. @atlantaaquarium

short for Rittara, hopefully he doesn't get too mad for me spilling it.

 

[sohal]

Rit is a great guy and runs a great store!! He has been selling me coral for over a decade now [use to be from his personal tank, but now he has made it and has a store : ) ] and it has always been a great experience!

 

[wannabeeareefkeeper]

IMHO - - You won't find a better store in the ATL area that RIT's place, Atlanta Aquarium. He will not sell you something that you don't need, I've witnessed this several times when I visited his store in the past. The customer service is top notch, incredible visit every time I've been there.

Wannabee

 

[atlantaaquarium]

Thank you so much everyone for the kind words. I am living the dream. Thank you so much to everyone who made it possible for me to do this. Happy Holidays everyone!