And in the beginning........
- Thread starter spanko
- Start date
scopus tang
Active Member
Henry, that tank is looking totally awesome! Can only imagine what its going to look like in a year or two. Its so cool that you picked a natural basis for your tank and set out to accomplish something similar!
Way looking forward to continuing to monitor the progress/growth.
cbjt3905
New Member
Whoa, Henry.... Your tank is awe-inspiring; absolutely beautiful! This is exactly what I was talking about when I said seeing these remarkable tanks keep me inspired to get to your level of expertise. Thank you for your suggestions as well... they make great sense.
Man, I gotta get some pix posted and start participating. Thank you!
Jim
Man, I gotta get some pix posted and start participating. Thank you!
Jim
clownfish11
Active Member
thats awesome...your montis are gonna be reaching out of the tank sooner or later....o ya IT LOOKS great...good idea
spanko
Active Member
Originally Posted by Bronco300
http:///forum/post/2615361
very cool spanko! always been hard to leave my corals alone in the tank,haha...then finally glued frags down and grew like crazy! cant wait to see it as it progresses
I agree about leaving it alone, easier said than done. My coral are glued down to the rocks with the exception of the A.cytherea and a pc. of pink Stylaphora. I am finding that as things grow, especially the plating montis, there is a need to do some rearranging to keep working towards the reef flat look. Or, haha, just an excuse to put my hands in there. Probably a bit of both truth be known.
http:///forum/post/2615361
very cool spanko! always been hard to leave my corals alone in the tank,haha...then finally glued frags down and grew like crazy! cant wait to see it as it progresses
I agree about leaving it alone, easier said than done. My coral are glued down to the rocks with the exception of the A.cytherea and a pc. of pink Stylaphora. I am finding that as things grow, especially the plating montis, there is a need to do some rearranging to keep working towards the reef flat look. Or, haha, just an excuse to put my hands in there. Probably a bit of both truth be known.
spanko
Active Member
As you can see from above, I purchased one Foxface and it decimated the Caulerpa. Did not see any in about 3 weeks time. it grew during that time so I took it out and traded it in for credit at the LFS. within a week or so I saw some starting to grow again. Went an found a new small Foxface and he is keeping the tank spotless. I have been supplementing his feeding with Nori sheets and flake food. He is also growing and I am about to take him in for trade. I will then wait a few weeks and see what happens. I will continue to buy small and trade in if I have to. I tried a few different Tangs, a Scopas and a Yellow. Neither did anything to the Caulerpa. I highly recommend a Foxface for this nuisance algae. However in tanks as small as ours we need to find very small ones and get them out when they have completed their task. Others may not agree with this plan but I have not found another way to deal with this algae short of cooking the rock and recycling the tank. I am not willing to go there at this time.
spanko
Active Member
Yes the Foxface has decimated it. I took the first one back when I could not see anymore algae. It was getting big. After a week or so I saw some starting to grow back and found another small Foxface. he has again cleaned the tank and I have kept him and supplemented his feeding with Nori sheets and flake food. He is growing large now too and is about to go back to the LFS. If the Caulerpa comes back I will get another small one and keep this up to keep the tank free of the Caulerpa. Others may not agree with this process however the only other way I can see to rid the tank of it is to cook the rock and recycle the tank and I am not willing to do that at this time. I tried a Scopas and a Yellow tang at two different times before the Foxface but they did nothing.
K
kat74
Guest
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2627558
As you can see from above, I purchased one Foxface and it decimated the Caulerpa.
Ummm... Henry? Did you forget to attach a pic?
Sooo glad that you found a way to get rid of the caulerpa!
In my first 14g Biocube, I had some nuisance caulerpa as well as red bubble algae and one of my LFS suggested a foxface for it too and they told me that if I decided to go that route, we would make sure to keep trading out the foxface once it got a little bigger.
I think it's time for another FTS....
http:///forum/post/2627558
As you can see from above, I purchased one Foxface and it decimated the Caulerpa.
Ummm... Henry? Did you forget to attach a pic?
Sooo glad that you found a way to get rid of the caulerpa!
I think it's time for another FTS....
spanko
Active Member
I have just found about a half dozen Pseudocorynactis in the rock work out of the light in my tank. I believe they are the Caribbean type as they close up in the light. I think this because with my MH on yesterday I fed the coral, (Coral Frenzy, Frozen Cyclopleeze, Seachem Reef Plus and some DT's), with the return pump off but the Koralia's on. I started looking at the tank with the magnifying glass and saw one tucked up in a shaded spot on the rock. As I looked around more found another then another until I came across about 6 of the little buggers. When the feeding was done and I turned the return pump back on they started closing up. When closed you cannot tell what they are except for a white spot on the rock. Here is something from Julian Sprung on them.
Pseudocorynactis
Pseudocorynactis spp. are like Corynactis but are much larger (to about six inches (15 cm) diameter, and usually not colonial. They also reproduce by fission, but it is unusual to find more than about six clones together as a group. The so-called orange ball anemones that can be observed on coral reefs at night are Pseudocorynactis spp. The column varies in color from cryptic shades of brown to orange, red and magenta. The tips of the tentacles are commonly bright orange, but they can also be white. These tentacle tips are extremely sticky, like flypaper, due to the presence of powerful nematocysts. This fact makes the larger species from the Indo Pacific region unsuitable for aquariums housing fishes, which they readily capture. They also can catch mobile invertebrates such as shrimps and snails, and sometimes "attack" sessile invertebrates growing on adjacent rocks, enveloping them in the gastric cavity through a widely opened mouth. Pseudocorynactis spp. can be fed daily, but only require twice weekly feeding to keep them healthy. If they are not fed frequently enough, they shrink. There is a marked behavioral difference between the common Caribbean and Indo-Pacific species.
The Caribbean species, Pseudocorynactis caribbaeorum mainly opens its tentacles at night, and closes rapidly when it senses light. The Indo-Pacific species remains open both day and night, and is not sensitive to light. The presence of food smells (dissolved amino acids) in the water stimulates either species to open up and extend the tentacles, and the Caribbean species can be trained to open in the light by feeding it during daylight hours. The mechanism for its apparent memory is not known.
Whether you have a large reef aquarium or a simple small aquarium, any of the corallimorphs can be easily maintained and enjoyed for decades.
Mine are small at this point and I am starting to get information that the Lysmata wurdemanni (peppermint shrimp) will not destroy these as they will with Aiptasia. One person said to try boiling water. I suppose some of the Aiptasia control stuff might do the trick too, but have not verified this yet.
I want to say this tank and the rockwork in it are now about 1.5 years old. The only recent addition to this tank is a pc. of Pavona varians about 3 weeks ago. It was a small pc. about 2" x 1" and I examined it for anything on it before I added it and saw nothing. WHAT THE HECK!
My plan is to now try to control these corallimorphs with whatever means may work short of ripping out the rocks and "cooking" them. If I cannot I may move on to a new biotope (no more reef flat
) possibly a patch reef or an island with an anemone and some clowns.
Don't have pics yet as when I saw them last night I was in shock that they have appeared so suddenly. Will get some as time allows.
Thanx all for listening.
Pseudocorynactis
Pseudocorynactis spp. are like Corynactis but are much larger (to about six inches (15 cm) diameter, and usually not colonial. They also reproduce by fission, but it is unusual to find more than about six clones together as a group. The so-called orange ball anemones that can be observed on coral reefs at night are Pseudocorynactis spp. The column varies in color from cryptic shades of brown to orange, red and magenta. The tips of the tentacles are commonly bright orange, but they can also be white. These tentacle tips are extremely sticky, like flypaper, due to the presence of powerful nematocysts. This fact makes the larger species from the Indo Pacific region unsuitable for aquariums housing fishes, which they readily capture. They also can catch mobile invertebrates such as shrimps and snails, and sometimes "attack" sessile invertebrates growing on adjacent rocks, enveloping them in the gastric cavity through a widely opened mouth. Pseudocorynactis spp. can be fed daily, but only require twice weekly feeding to keep them healthy. If they are not fed frequently enough, they shrink. There is a marked behavioral difference between the common Caribbean and Indo-Pacific species.
The Caribbean species, Pseudocorynactis caribbaeorum mainly opens its tentacles at night, and closes rapidly when it senses light. The Indo-Pacific species remains open both day and night, and is not sensitive to light. The presence of food smells (dissolved amino acids) in the water stimulates either species to open up and extend the tentacles, and the Caribbean species can be trained to open in the light by feeding it during daylight hours. The mechanism for its apparent memory is not known.
Whether you have a large reef aquarium or a simple small aquarium, any of the corallimorphs can be easily maintained and enjoyed for decades.
Mine are small at this point and I am starting to get information that the Lysmata wurdemanni (peppermint shrimp) will not destroy these as they will with Aiptasia. One person said to try boiling water. I suppose some of the Aiptasia control stuff might do the trick too, but have not verified this yet.
I want to say this tank and the rockwork in it are now about 1.5 years old. The only recent addition to this tank is a pc. of Pavona varians about 3 weeks ago. It was a small pc. about 2" x 1" and I examined it for anything on it before I added it and saw nothing. WHAT THE HECK!
My plan is to now try to control these corallimorphs with whatever means may work short of ripping out the rocks and "cooking" them. If I cannot I may move on to a new biotope (no more reef flat
Don't have pics yet as when I saw them last night I was in shock that they have appeared so suddenly. Will get some as time allows.
Thanx all for listening.
morval
Member
why do u want to get rid of them? to my knowladge they do not harm anything and the grow in the shade where other corals probably wont go. ive got a few of these as well and i like the way they look...a no matinance anemone lookin thinggy. but if u do want to get rid of them boiling water should do the trick
spanko
Active Member
"This fact makes the larger species from the Indo Pacific region unsuitable for aquariums housing fishes, which they readily capture. They also can catch mobile invertebrates such as shrimps and snails, and sometimes "attack" sessile invertebrates growing on adjacent rocks, enveloping them in the gastric cavity through a widely opened mouth."
Do the Caribbean ones eat fish too? Do they multiply like Aiptasia? Seems like if I see about six there are probably more in the rock areas I cannot see.
Do the Caribbean ones eat fish too? Do they multiply like Aiptasia? Seems like if I see about six there are probably more in the rock areas I cannot see.
scopus tang
Active Member
Breathtaking Henry, you're doing a awesome job with this. Love the flat reef look
spanko
Active Member
thanx Randy. Just seems like you take care of a problem (Caulerpa infestation) and another pops up (Pseudocorynactis).
I have a small boat living here on the great lakes. A 21 foot Thompson Carrera cuddy cabin. I always say a boat is a big hole in the lake where you pour your money.
Well reefing is like that, a big hole in a glass box where you pour your money. But I do love this hobby, all of the things that pop up without warning, most of which are just kind of magical and wondrous.
The Psudocorynactis are a beautiful thing. If you have not seen on here is a picture, not from my tank yet. They close up in the light. I will have to feed the coral tomorrow and they will come out in the light to feed and I will endeavor to get a picture. but here is what they look like. Small right now like a pencil eraser size. This may turn out to be one of the things that I just let go to see what nature has in store for the tank for a while. Been thinking about it all day and may just not interfere on this just yet. What do you think?
I have a small boat living here on the great lakes. A 21 foot Thompson Carrera cuddy cabin. I always say a boat is a big hole in the lake where you pour your money.
Well reefing is like that, a big hole in a glass box where you pour your money. But I do love this hobby, all of the things that pop up without warning, most of which are just kind of magical and wondrous.
The Psudocorynactis are a beautiful thing. If you have not seen on here is a picture, not from my tank yet. They close up in the light. I will have to feed the coral tomorrow and they will come out in the light to feed and I will endeavor to get a picture. but here is what they look like. Small right now like a pencil eraser size. This may turn out to be one of the things that I just let go to see what nature has in store for the tank for a while. Been thinking about it all day and may just not interfere on this just yet. What do you think?
cherish life.
Member
i just took a glance at these posts...and i think that your idea is extremely brilliant and unique. i wish the best of luck to you. and you look like you're doing a mighty fine job.