My Nano - the tale

[Sprattoo]

OK....
I grabbed a 10G tank and a piece of 1/4" plexi and was determined to have a little nano tank for mysis and 'pods and grow out some frags etc... Here is where it's at:

The tank. I cornered off a section with plexi for a sort of in-tank sump and snipped out some of the top where the water from the top flows into the sump. In-take of a fluval 204 in the sump out to the tank. Currently only running the foam.. which will be removed when tank matures.

The sandbed is about 4" deep and I pick out some nice pieces of blank rock I had made. The water was all from my 75G to get things started. I put in about 2 lbs live rock and about 1 llb Garf grunge (no comments on GARF Please) *snicker*

9-10 snails and 3 hermits. The lighting was originally intended to just be natural sunlight in my window... which it still gets.
I have suplimented the light with 2 65W PC's one 10K one actinic.

The snails crawl into the sump to help clean-up and back whenever they want. top off is 4 stage RO/DI.

This tank is now about less than a month. I put in some leather corals and these are doing Odd things. Odd meaning in growth rate.

I looked in at one in particular and it's almost "vomiting" a growth spurt.
It will have a skinny part in the stalk that over the course of a few hours moves up toward the head. Over the past week it has grown about an inch across it's head!!!

Otherwise the tank is doing great!!! I will try to get some pix tomorrow to post for everyone and to track the progress of this experiment and try to capture timed pics of this corals strange dance of growth.

 

[Anonymous]

that sounds totally weird. take a picture of it every day, time-lapse style

 

[Sprattoo]

Well this is of just this evening. The "thin" part has been way more dramatic earlier this week.

Has anyone experienced their Leathers doing this before?

The brown on the bottom is the remnants of a combo of cyano and a skin shedding (which leathers often seem to do when moved to a new tank)

 

[Anonymous]

Wow, thats bizare...

GARF.... Hmmmmmm..... GARF? "Whats GARF?"

See? I didnt say that; I had my useless sister say it; you cant persecute me for that! Hence the "quotation" marks! Neener!!!

 

[Anonymous]

BARF?....

 

[Sprattoo]

Well, I have other little leathers that are doing a version of this Jig too... just not as pronounced as this guy.

Maybe it's the effect of different light sources from outside, in the room etc? The 10G is in full sunlight most of the day.

((shrug))

If anyone wants a frag of a dancing leather let me know... I always want to trade.

*sigh*
OK OK GARF GARF GARF.. there! A place named after fragging but probably frag.org was taken so they just spelled it backwards.

I have been pretty satisfied with them.. the Xenias I got from them are growing fast.

 

[Anonymous]

:mrgreen: OHHHH!!!!!! I GET IT!!!!! :lol: LOL! :mrgreen:

 

[hillbilly]

Looks like it expanded fully. Must like the new lighting.

 

[Anonymous]

Geothermal Aquaculture Research Foundation, I think.

 

[Sprattoo]

I'm thinking they came up with the acronym AFTER buying the name...

Anyway.. yes the leather does open and close and my conclusion is:

It's dancing to the beat of the sun. It turns to face the sun daily, then straightens and puffs up in the eves under the PC's.

As a very interesting note... In only a few weeks ALL the leathers in this setup with this random, moving, variable lighting source have grown about 3-4 times as fast (or more) as the ones in my 75G with constant light on timers. Sarcophytons seem to do much better if they get to "stretch out" and move about some.

My only other explanation is that the zooanthilae(?sp?) in them do better with the full sunlight, which I'm sure is higher in the red spectrum than my PC's.

Either way... this is a great discovery for me as a Sarcophytons lover... ALSO to note.
One large sarcophytons I assumed dead (closed up for 2 months, shriveled, turned dark, was seeming to rot off its "trunk") was put in this tank after I cut it out of my 75G. It has now extended its fronds!!!!
I threw it's mate away assuming it was dead! These animals are truly amazing.