Aquabacs' 50 Gallon Azooxanthellae Tank build

[Aquabacs]

Man this tank keeps getting better and better, a truly inspiring tank!

 

 

Thank you very much! I am going to try and add video every so often besides pictures to the thread.

 

Mike

[Aquabacs]

[Aquabacs]

The rescaped lower half of my aquarium

 

Mike

[Aquabacs]

 

Yellow & Green Crinoid I picked up from Greenwich Aquaria.

 

Mike

[Aquabacs]

 

I thought this picture looked pretty cool of one of my crinoids wrapped around my pink dendro colony.

 

Mike

[Aquabacs]

Picked up a blue Distichopora today

 

 

 

Mike

[Markushka]

wow thats really cool is that a stony coral?

[Aquabacs]

 

Mike

[Aquabacs]

wow thats really cool is that a stony coral?

 

Thank you. It is a Distichopora or sometimes called lace coral.

 

From from Arkive.org

Description

Lace corals form ornate tree-like structures, with all the flattened, blunt-ended branches growing in one plane. These fan-like corals are remarkable for their bright colours (2), including violet, red, orange, and yellow, and grow up to 25 cm tall (3). The colour is deposited within the limestone skeleton and remains even after the animal tissue is gone, unlike reef-building corals which have white skeletons and the only colour is found in the living tissue (4)

 

Habitat

Distichopora corals occur in temperate as well as tropical waters, and also occur at abyssal depths. Commonly found in caves and under overhangs in shallow reef environments, and in crevices, under ledges and in caverns (2).

 

Biology

Unlike many coral species, lace corals do not have the symbiotic algae zooxanthellae living within the coral tissue; they are azooxanthellate (2). They are therefore not dependent on light and thus can live where the reef-building corals, dependent on photosynthetic algae, can not.

 

Lace corals are hydrozoans, and thus have different type of polyps with different functions than anthozoan corals. The polyps of hydrozoans are near microscopic size and are mostly imbedded in the skeleton, connected by a network of minute canals. All that is visible on the smooth surface are pores of two sizes; gastropores and dactylopores. The rows of gastropores flanked by one of two rows of dactylopores are diagnostic of the genus (3). Dactylopores house long fine hairs that protrude from the skeleton. The hairs possess clusters of stinging cells (nematocysts) that can inflict stings on human skin. These hairs capture prey, which is engulfed by gastrozooids, or feeding polyps, situated within the gastropores (2).

 

Reproduction in lace corals is more complex than in reef-building corals. The polyps reproduce asexually, producing jellyfish-like medusae, which are released into the water from special cup-like structures known as ampullae. The medusae contain the reproductive organs, which release eggs and sperm into the water. Fertilised eggs develop into free-swimming larvae that will eventually settle on the substrate and form new colonies. Lace corals can also reproduce asexually by fragmentation (5) (6).

 

 

Glossary

Asexually: relating to asexual reproduction: reproduction that does not involve the formation of sex cells, such as sperm and eggs. Asexual reproduction only involves one parent, and all the offspring produced by asexual reproduction are identical to one another.

 

Colonies: relating to corals: corals composed of numerous genetically identical individuals (also referred to as zooids or polyps), which are produced by budding and remain physiologically connected.

Fragmentation: fragmentation is a form of asexual reproduction where a new organism grows from a fragment of the parent. Each fragment develops into a mature, fully grown individual.

 

Larvae: relating to corals: the stages of development before settlement on the reef. Larvae are typically very different in appearance to adults; they are able to feed and move around but usually are unable to reproduce.

Photosynthetic: plants that carry out a metabolic process in which carbon dioxide is broken down, using energy from sunlight absorbed by the green pigment chlorophyll. Organic compounds are produced and oxygen is given off as a by-product.

 

Polyps: typically sedentary soft-bodied component of Cnidaria (corals, sea pens etc), which comprise of a trunk that is fixed at the base; the mouth is placed at the opposite end of the trunk, and is surrounded by tentacles.

 

Symbiotic: describing a close relationship between two organisms. This term usually refers to a relationship that benefits both organisms.

 

 

References

1.CITES (October, 2009)

http://www.cites.org

 

2.Veron, J.E.N. (2000) Corals of the World. Vol. 3. Australian Marine Science Institute, Townsville, Australia.

 

3.Lindner, A., Cairns, S.D. and Guzman, H.M. (2004) Distichopora robusta sp. nov., the first shallow-water stylasterid (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Stylasteridae) from the tropical eastern Pacific. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK, 84: 943 - 947.

 

4.Waikïkï Aquarium Education Department (July, 2007)

http://www.waquarium.org/MLP/search/sp_lace_coral.html

 

5.Borneman, E.H. (2001) Aquarium corals; Selection, Husbandry and Natural History. T.F.H. Publications, New Jersey, USA.

 

6.Wood, E.M. (1983) Reef corals of the world: biology and field guide. T.F.H. Publications, New Jersey, USA.

 

7.Wilkinson, C. (2004) Status of Coral Reefs of the World. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Australia.

 

8.Green, E. and Shirley, F. (1999) The Global Trade in Corals. World Conservation Press, Cambridge, UK.

[Arkayology]

That basket star is awesome. My lfs had one just like yours and I thought it was pretty cool, but I hear they don't do well in aquariums.

 

Has your basket star been swimming around ever? I saw a video of it online and thought it was pretty crazy.

[Aquabacs]

That basket star is awesome. My lfs had one just like yours and I thought it was pretty cool, but I hear they don't do well in aquariums.

 

Has your basket star been swimming around ever? I saw a video of it online and thought it was pretty crazy.

 

The oldest crinoid (feather starfish) I own is over 2 years and they do require specialized care. I have never seen my crinoids actually swimming in my aquarium (I have seen a few videos of them doing that). Mine do occasionally walk across the aquarium like a tarantula, it is pretty cool to watch.

 

Mike

[Aquabacs]

[Aquabacs]

 

Crinoid arm

[Marteen]

I have to say again amazing!

 

I notice in a lot of your videos there are always a ton of particulates floating around as well as amphiopods and coepods. Do you feel keeping pods in such high density in the water column is key to success with these crinoids? A similar non-photo tank I saw the owner also packed his water column with pods using a converted reactor to grow phyto to boost the pod population which he also said was the key to his success keeping so many hard to keep non-photos.

[weeber]

this tank is amazing. do u know if lace corals are harder to care for than non-photosynthetic gorgos?

[Aquabacs]

[Aquabacs]

I have to say again amazing!

 

I notice in a lot of your videos there are always a ton of particulates floating around as well as amphiopods and coepods. Do you feel keeping pods in such high density in the water column is key to success with these crinoids? A similar non-photo tank I saw the owner also packed his water column with pods using a converted reactor to grow phyto to boost the pod population which he also said was the key to his success keeping so many hard to keep non-photos.

 

Not just for the crinoids but for the rest of the aquarium as well. For sucessful, long term keeping of non-photosynthetic corals and crinoids, it is important to have constant food in the water column. For this aquarium; it is a mix of dry, live and frozen. I prefer to have the tank itself producing the pods versus having a reactor do it, but you can do it either way. As long as you find a method that works best for your aquarium and you can maintain it.

 

Mike

[Aquabacs]

this tank is amazing. do u know if lace corals are harder to care for than non-photosynthetic gorgos?

 

Thanks! It all depends on the gorgonian, hardest gorgonian right now is Acalycigorgia sp. What makes lace corals difficult is making sure that they are eating and that they are alive. Believe it or not, alot of people who purchase them, will have a dead coral in their tank and not even know it. Here is a close up of what an alive on looks like. I have a thread on another forum talking about this coral.

 

[Aquabacs]

Took it the other day, hard catching everything open at the same time. Will take another one in 2 weeks or so.

 

 

 

Mike

[aaron1987]

Incredible. Nothing else need be said.

 

edit: actually, I did think of something: where do you get all the NPS corals? I've got a few t. faulkneri that I rescued and a few dendrophylia but I have yet to find a truly good, consistent source for high quality NPS.

[Aquabacs]

Incredible. Nothing else need be said.

 

edit: actually, I did think of something: where do you get all the NPS corals? I've got a few t. faulkneri that I rescued and a few dendrophylia but I have yet to find a truly good, consistent source for high quality NPS.

 

Thank you very much.

 

For non-photosynthetic corals I have a few sources for them. For sponsors on this forum, I would check out Phishy Business. Here is a shot from one of their tanks:

 

You should check them out. If you are looking for a particular coral and they dont have it listed, give them a call or shoot them an email.

 

Mike

[Aquabacs]

 

Mike

[Aquabacs]

"rescue" Archohelia Rediviva update

 

3/11

 

4/7

 

 

 

Mike

[Aquabacs]

Up close shot of my Distichopora (lace coral)

[Aquabacs]

Crinoid