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Anonymous
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Also the BM NAC3.5 skimmer was delivered yesterday. I haven't done more than unbox it yet, but it looks good. Should have it up and running in next few days.
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Lots of excitement on your side! To think I'm just looking forward to the arrival of some molluscs and some sand with worms in it. :lol:
Looking forward to seeing pics of those cardinals at some point. :wink:
Looking forward to seeing pics of those cardinals at some point. :wink:
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Anonymous
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I'm teaching the fish to fetch first. Be patient til then.
Heh. I'm actually looking at getting some sympodium next week sometime, and possibly some efflatounaria (have a local source for that one). I figured I'd wait to do pics til after that. Although really, for the fish I'm going to have to try and take some video of them. Best way to get their full appeal.
Heh. I'm actually looking at getting some sympodium next week sometime, and possibly some efflatounaria (have a local source for that one). I figured I'd wait to do pics til after that. Although really, for the fish I'm going to have to try and take some video of them. Best way to get their full appeal.
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I see, as you're teaching the fish to fetch, you're also teaching me to beg. 
Don't worry, I can wait!
Don't worry, I can wait!
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I have to say, with the redspot cardinals I really can't recommend getting them through liveaquaria enough. The conditioning they got there is excellent. None of them were fat when I received them, but none of them had shrunken bellies either. And they've taken all of the dry foods I've given them with gusto, and considering these guys are known to sometimes be very picky eaters that's saying something. Hell, I bet they'd even eat flakes if I tried.
The only thing I haven't been able to do so far is get them to consistently eat foods floating inside a feeding ring. They'll eat foods floating on the surface elsewhere in the tank, but the two feeding rings I've tried seem to intimidate or confuse them . Bit of an issue since I want to automate their feedings since, like anthias, they really do best with lots of small feedings throughout the day and I don't want the food dumped in the tank to just go down the overflow.
The only thing I haven't been able to do so far is get them to consistently eat foods floating inside a feeding ring. They'll eat foods floating on the surface elsewhere in the tank, but the two feeding rings I've tried seem to intimidate or confuse them . Bit of an issue since I want to automate their feedings since, like anthias, they really do best with lots of small feedings throughout the day and I don't want the food dumped in the tank to just go down the overflow.
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Photo updates....
Okay, first is the Bubble Magus NAC3.5 skimmer. I added it to the tank on friday evening and it's just about through breaking in. Hasn't collected anything except on the sides of the riser tube in the collection cup yet, but that's because I haven't really tried dialing it in yet. Was just letting it run wide open during the break in period.
Okay, first is the Bubble Magus NAC3.5 skimmer. I added it to the tank on friday evening and it's just about through breaking in. Hasn't collected anything except on the sides of the riser tube in the collection cup yet, but that's because I haven't really tried dialing it in yet. Was just letting it run wide open during the break in period.
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Next up.... redspot cardinals and xenia. I'm still hoping to get my hands on the sympodium this week, but decided to test the water (pun intended) with three different captive prop'd xenias from liveaquaria. The standard pulsing xenia, pom pom xenia and a variety I hadn't seen before that LA has dubbed 'octopus ink xenia'. All three came in as very, very small frags.. but it's xenia, should spread quickly.
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The red spots are gorgeous!
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Finally, I uploaded a short video of the redspots at feeding time to youtube. May take a bit for the video to get processed by them and become available, but here it is....
[youtube]nSYDfeMUcbs[/youtube]
[youtube]nSYDfeMUcbs[/youtube]
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Anonymous
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Excellent eye candy! The tank's already starting to look lively. Good combination of coral, shrimp and fish. 8)
Nice quality video btw.
Nice quality video btw.
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Thanks you two. It's starting to take shape, but god knows it's got plenty to go yet. Speaking of, I just placed an order for a piece of sympodium which should be delivered friday. Also just inquired with the local source for 'efflatounaria' ... hoping to get a frag or two of that this week, as well.
Oddly the biggest challenges (next to the sansibia, which is really difficult to get a hold of) are going to be the gorgonians. Hardly anyone stocks them, apart from non-photosynthetic varieties. They may end up being the last additions just for that reason.
Oddly the biggest challenges (next to the sansibia, which is really difficult to get a hold of) are going to be the gorgonians. Hardly anyone stocks them, apart from non-photosynthetic varieties. They may end up being the last additions just for that reason.
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Short update...
The sympodium I was expecting last week had to be delayed due to 107 degree temps around the vendor I ordered from. They weren't comfortable shipping in that much heat and I don't blame them. I should be receiving the order now on thursday.
I've found a dealer down in florida with a good stock of photosynthetic gorgonians. I expect to place an order with them next week, so that's covered. I'm still trying to get some efflatounaria locally, but I haven't been having much luck so far.
The sympodium I was expecting last week had to be delayed due to 107 degree temps around the vendor I ordered from. They weren't comfortable shipping in that much heat and I don't blame them. I should be receiving the order now on thursday.
I've found a dealer down in florida with a good stock of photosynthetic gorgonians. I expect to place an order with them next week, so that's covered. I'm still trying to get some efflatounaria locally, but I haven't been having much luck so far.
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Always fun to start realising all those plans. 8)
BTW, I've just noticed that some of that live rock has some lovely corraline on it.
BTW, I've just noticed that some of that live rock has some lovely corraline on it.
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The Escaped Ape":1jhfzvzb said:Always fun to start realising all those plans. 8)
BTW, I've just noticed that some of that live rock has some lovely corraline on it.
Heh. And coralline is still pretty much all the life on it. I've got pods, coralline, one 1/2" crab who has been spending more time out in the open, a couple vermetid worms, one very tiny fanworm, some chicken liver sponge and the world's tiniest aptasia. On the positive side I am finding that coralline seems to like the LEDs quite a bit and is spreading at a fair pace. Still not seeing any on the glass yet, but I'm not exactly heartbroken about that.
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Well, I'm feeling guilty now about the range of hitchhikers I got on mine.
Still, you're ahead of me on the corraline stakes. Though I've got quite a variety of different shades, including some brick red, I have very little of the lovely purple shade you've got there. :wink:
Still, you're ahead of me on the corraline stakes. Though I've got quite a variety of different shades, including some brick red, I have very little of the lovely purple shade you've got there. :wink:
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The Escaped Ape":3ehqxuqp said:Well, I'm feeling guilty now about the range of hitchhikers I got on mine.
Nah. At some point I'll probably just give IPSF or inlandaquatics an order for their various microfauna kits. Which is ironic, because if I'd ended up going with dry rock instead of the live rock I bought I'd be doing the exact same thing.
The interesting thing with the coralline and the LEDs is that I can guage the intensity of the LEDs in any given spot by the color of the new coralline growth. The dimmer spots are getting the darker purple which shows up so well in the photos, whereas the places where the LEDs are more intense are getting the light pink that I associate with coralline grown under metal halides. The Elos LED fixture is definitely a bit more of a spotlight than I'd like. Still, when they release their add-on module (should be available in the US around october or november) that should go a long way towards evening out the light intensity throughout the tank.
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Interesting indeed. I'm still wondering whether I should have gone LED. I might have done if it had been a smaller tank. As it is, I'm pretty pleased with what I have.
Looking forward to shots of your new coral once it gets shipped!
Looking forward to shots of your new coral once it gets shipped!
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Well, the sympodium arrived last thursday safe and sound. It's a small frag, under an inch, and not very photogenic. When closed it resembles a wad of chewed bubble gum, albeit baby blue in color. When open it's very pretty, but it's so small at this point that I'd just as soon give it a chance to settle in and put out some more polyps before trying to really get photos of it.
And now the bad news. The 'octopus ink' xenia I picked up from liveaquaria had been slowly declining, even though everything else in the tank has been growing and spreading. When the decline got pronounced enough I could see that it appeared that individual stalks were missing their polyps. At first this was just a couple, but as of this morning at least 90% of it's stalks are missing polyps. I've been watching for anything preying on it for the last few days and was finally rewarded last night by spotting the culprit... a pure white worm, about three inches long and cylindrical (not a flatworm). Possibly it has bristles, but I couldn't see any... it blends into the xenia extremely well.
A search this morning turned up very little information in general, but did find one gentleman who uploaded a video on youtube (a search there for xenia worm should find the video in question) who captured a much larger specimen of what appears to be the same species. Not only did he see similar signs of predation on his xenia, he could actually see xenia polyps in the gut of the worm he captured.
Tonight when I get home I'll try to go worm fishing and see if I can't nab the bugger.
And now the bad news. The 'octopus ink' xenia I picked up from liveaquaria had been slowly declining, even though everything else in the tank has been growing and spreading. When the decline got pronounced enough I could see that it appeared that individual stalks were missing their polyps. At first this was just a couple, but as of this morning at least 90% of it's stalks are missing polyps. I've been watching for anything preying on it for the last few days and was finally rewarded last night by spotting the culprit... a pure white worm, about three inches long and cylindrical (not a flatworm). Possibly it has bristles, but I couldn't see any... it blends into the xenia extremely well.
A search this morning turned up very little information in general, but did find one gentleman who uploaded a video on youtube (a search there for xenia worm should find the video in question) who captured a much larger specimen of what appears to be the same species. Not only did he see similar signs of predation on his xenia, he could actually see xenia polyps in the gut of the worm he captured.
Tonight when I get home I'll try to go worm fishing and see if I can't nab the bugger.
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Anonymous
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Good luck! I know it's distressing when you start losing a coral. I hope you catch him quickly.
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