Sounds like you have done this before!

and:

But anyways yeah i've been around the block a few times if ya know what i mean.

I was wondering if you have any sps in your tank? I did not feel like looking back at old pages so i figured i just ask.
Thanks in advance!!

Yes, I have three pieces right now with more on the way. They all have great new growth, all are middle to top placement. They seem to be doing very very well.

Steve, the tank looks wonderful! If I ever get an all-in-one system, I think the RSM has my vote as the best all-in-one by a mile. I really like what you have done with it.

If you haven't thrown out your dead heliofungia, hold on to it. Fungiids have the rather fascinating ability to produce offspring (called anthocauli) long after they appear to be dead. This holds true even if you snap the skeleton in half.

Read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fungiidreprofaqs.htm
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=99015
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2003/invert.htm

As noted in the last article, it appears that Heliofungia produce their anthocauli from the bottom of the disc, so I would place the skeleton "on end" somewhere inconspicuous in your tank where it gets some light and just let it be. Some weeks or even months later, it is possible that you will see reproduction. So basically, "dead" fungiids aren't always really dead.

If you are curious about how to keep Heliofungia long-term, check out my tank thread. The centerpiece of my tank (actually its off to the left lol) is a large Heliofungia. There is one looong post there where I describe how best to care for them. They aren't neccessarily hard to keep, but there are certain things you must do (like feed it) and certain things you must not do (like put it anywhere but on fine sand). They are one of my favorite species of coral, and can be staggeringly beautiful.

I just had to pipe up when I saw discussion of my favorite coral.

- Josh

WOW! Thank you for the info! I haven't removed the skeleton yet, it is still on the sand below my frogspawn. It would really be nice if it would come back, I totally messed up this one by breaking it. I will look into your thread, Thanks again, awesome post

I'm glad you still have your heliofungia. Of course, it may actually be totally dead, but Fungiids have such powerful regenerative abilities. Its hard to say for sure when they are really beyond help. I'd say give it 3-6 months in an inconspicuous but illuminated spot in the tank before you abandon all hope. Reproduction of fungiids in this way isn't exactly super common, but it can happen. Think of your skeleton as a lottery ticket you can't scratch off for a few months.

haha, maybe i'll hit the jackpot! Thanks again. And by "on end" do you mean turn the skeleton upside down from it's normal position when it was alive? or keep it turned the same way as when it had life?

Hmm. Steve, I don't know what to tell you. I did some more research, and there appears to be some serious disagreement over whether or not Heliofungia can even produce anthocauli. Fungia definitely can, I have pictures in front of me, but the situation with Heliofungia is less certain. In the article I linked above, it clearly states that Heliofungia produce anthocauli from the underside of the disc. Then I found this today: http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/e_borneman_020600.html Near the end of the article is a Q & A wherein Borneman flat out says that Heliofungia do not produce anthocauli.

Both articles are by well regarded experts, and clearly, one of them is wrong. Oh, and to make matters even more confusing, I found (and now can't find again to link) another article which made passing reference to Heliofungia with anthocauli on the top side, rather than the underside of the skeleton.

Bottom line: obviously the biology of Fungiids is far from well understood, or else you wouldn't have several well-regarded marine biologists flatly contradicting each other on what should be a basic matter of observable fact.

My advice: take the skeleton, and balance it on its edge somewhere inconspicous, like behind the rockwork where some light trickles through. It couldn't hurt, and then, if you do get growth, I would love to send pictures of it to the guys who said Heliofungia don't do that. The reason you should balance it on edge is we don't know whether the little guys come out of the top or the bottom!

All of this simply proves the need for a scholarly journal devoted to captive reefkeeping. There needs to be a single place to establish basic matters of biological fact regarding captive reef husbandry, so we don't end up with several clashing renditions of how Heliofungia live and reproduce. Its stupid to have well-regarded scientists authoritatively contradicting each other on an issue which really shouldn't be one to inspire controversy.

I hope you find this interesting rather than annoying. I mean, there's like a 90% chance anyway that the thing is a paperweight, and yet all this discussion of what to do with what is probably really dead. One picture of a Heliofungia actually reproducing this way would solve it once and for all. But, the absence of such a picture proves nothing...

- Josh

Thank you again for the indepth research. I will do as you say and prop it up a bit. My plan was to put a few frags of zoa on the skeleton in the future, yet now that you bring this up I will wait it out. Either way, it is staying in the tank, if there is any growth, you'll be the first to know !!!

I found some anecdotal evidence. Now, this is hardly conclusive, but its something.

here's the quote:
"> Hi Travis, I have a question for ya about plate corals. I have a long tentacled plate coral that recently died; however, it now has about 100 baby plates on it or " daughters." I know they are it's baby's because they each look like little having their own mouths and each being about the size of my pinky fingernail now."

Notice the person said long tentacled plate, not just plate. (in other words, Heliofungia) Now, its possible that the person writing this misidentified their coral, as there is no accompanying photo, but its something.

Quoted from here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fungiidfaq2.htm

Ok, i'll quit hijacking your build thread now.

- Josh

Thanks again for your previous info. Ive been reading around and it seems as though you are one of the few experienced reefers who still bothers to answer questions and help new people, which is great. I myself am from the Chicago land area (far NW burbs) and was wondering where are some good LFS? Do you have any that you frequent or do you mostly order things for your tank online? Thanks!

-Matt

Hey no problem, I would be nowhere without the help I have received from N-R. There are others here that are more than happy to answer questions, but I appreciate the compliment. I haven't found any LFS around IL that i truly "love". The stores I have found are small and over priced. There is an awesome store in WI if you are ever in the Milwaukee area, it is called Hoffers. Most amazing store I have ever seen.

I live in the Joliet area, Go Fish is a good store around here, it is in the Orland Park area. Capture the Sea is a good one as well. I will PM you a list of LFS in the CHicagoland area that someone sent to me recently, there is good info there.

80% of my corals come from online vendors. I have found the prices can't compare to any LFS, and even with the shipping, if you order a few items at once, it will still beat all LFS's. The sponsors of N-R have great stock and prices. I try and pay for the shipping myself. The company I work for has great UPS rates, I can send them a Next Day Air label for around $21.00 !!!

Check your PM

Heya StevieT an mp216,
I'm over in the Naperville area. Stevie, if you could, I would really appreciate that list as well. There is a store that i really enjoy and the guy who owns it is fantastic. He tells me when I shouldn't be buying stuff because it'll either a) be unhappy B ) starve ad die or c) crash my tank. It's a rare thing to find an honest LFS like that. On top of that, he can order me in just about anything.

I started a tank thread some time ago, and was kind of stale and just floating around reading posts. The guy at this store really helped me get things moving. eventually I'll have to put up a full tank shot!

The store is called Reef Plus, in Aurora.

I will have to check them out. At least there are still some honest owners in the business! Sounds like he knows how to treat this hobby with respect. Here is that list, this was sent to me from another member, i have only been to LFS's in my local area.

Here are some links to local places and boards, hope you can use them.

http://www.uberfrags.net/modules.php?name=Jig

http://www.zoyzoy.com/aquarium/aquariumstoresmap.asp

http://fins.actwin.com/dir/stores.php?c=1

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdis...amp;forumid=180

This is the LFS I usually use, bot a great site, but good store.
http://shotankaquariums.com/

I've been here to, nice place,
http://www.seaschor.biz/page/page/3866510.htm

Any Updates?

tomorrow !!!

As Promised here are some updated pictures of my RSM. Everything is growing so nicely, most of my zoas are taking off and my frogspawn looks bigger every day! New SPS from Awesome aquatics came in last week, incuded are an Acan and new monti

We'll see how many I can fit before I hit my limit. More to come after that!

Simply put your tank is amazing!

Thank You ! Click back one page for updated pictures

View from my desk

Hey there StevieT!
As i said a few weeks ago i am getting a RSM for Christmas.
I was wondering where and when i should add the pruigin and chemipure and stuff. After the cycle?
What is the purpose of cutting the black sponge in half?
Also is there anything i should do before i put water in it?

Many thanks!

Edit: Is cutting holes in the skimmer really a must? If so where do i cut?

I would add the chemical filtration after you cycle. You could add the chemi pure in right away, it won't hurt, but the bag may get clogged up with live rock die off. I have my carbon under the pumps, in the filter chamber, it isn't the best spot as far as access but since you only need to change it once every 4-6 months, it's staying. i placed the purigen under the black sponge, which is under the surface skimmer.

Cutting the black sponge in half apparently reduces micro bubbles in the tank. It allows for less water to get airrated before it goes into the skimmer pump. i cut it in half my first day setting up the tank, so I don't know what it would be like with it so thick, but RSM recommends it, and so do all other owners.

Set up all your wirring before you put water in... other than that not much. throw away the bio balls, install the optional rear cooling fan, thats about it. Make sure you are using RO/DI water and a good salt mix, enjoy and good luck!

Ok thanks for the info!

are you going to be adding more flow to the tank?

Yeah i am probably going to get either a korilla 2 or 2 nano-sized pumps from fraggle reef.

i'd go with 1 #2 IMO. Less in the tank makes for a cleaner look.

Yeah true, but i think i might try the nano-pumps and if i don't like them i will just give them to my friend.

Love the tank stevie. I noticed your bizhub copier. I work for konica minolta

Thanks! I love that printer, we had a smaller biz hub and it worked like crap. they upgraded us to this stand up unit and i couldn't be happier. Along with my color laser, scanner and photo printer, i can do just about anything. I think we are around $150/month on that biz hub.

New Leather Imported from Milwaukee Wisconsin last night on my way home from the Holidays:






Frag I made last July, taking over this dead coral branch:

Love that ride, baby-yea!
Great Video and music too. LOLOLOL

Clifhanger?!
Did you enter this shot into the photo contest: CUC?

Not bad at all. Great shots BTW.Hey stevie where did you get your gorgonians?Online or local?

Thank you. I got them from Sealifeinc.comSuper cheap, Ken is a great guy, i have purchased rics from him as well, i think i have 2 or 3 transactions with them.no, i entered i macro of a crab with a bunch of coralline on his shellhttp://www.nano-reef.com/gallery/showphoto...861&cat=534Thank you, i had fun with that one. around the world.........

For those that are interested in my skimmer cup mod. I drilled 6 holes in the lid, may be over kill but it seemed to help a little. I stuck the air hose in one of the holes to cut down on the sucking sound, that helped A LOT! the pump is still noisy. I used a 7/32" drill bit.

Nice leather, make a great focal point!

Thanks, it fits nice there. Looked a LOT smaller in the store!

why did you reply reposting all my pics?!

If you don't mind me asking how much was your GSP? I am going to get some eventually for the RSM.

Kinda hoped I'd see a tang or two...

What do the holes in the skimmer cover do?

I got that large piece for $40.00. It is relatively cheap and gows fairly quickly.gives it a vent area. I proably didn't need 6 holes. My remora had a hole in the skimmer cup, it helps with the foam fraction since a cover would starve the area of air flow, sort of like a gas can. I drilled them before I added a bio load so I don't know what it would be like without them. It was sudgesed by many other RSM users.I'm hiding him from the pics, i don't want to get flamed. here is a picture of my tang :

Nice yellow fiji! Be prepared for a big growth spurt now that he is under your lighting and happy. That is what mine did as you can see from my RSM thread. When I got him he was about 1/2 the size he is now! I found that mid level RSM light, with a bit of food, and good flow (like with your K2) and they really take a shine to it.

FH2

Thanks FH2! He is really enjoying the placement in my tank, it really completes the middle of it.

1.15. Update:

more pics to come after I clean the glass

oh wow.. it hasnt cracked yet?

fingers crossed. I try and keep the baseball bats away from my tank.

Nice ric garden and I want thoese blue zoos!

thanks, ricordea island is doing rather well. All the orange rics have split a few times.

Blue zoas have taken off lately. That is a frag I made July of 07 with 6-8 polyps. Has taken over the branch I glued it to.

beautiful tank Stevie. Awesome pictures. I know I've peeked in at your tank before, but I just looked through the whole thread this time. Very nice !!!!