TSTB's 8G NPS Reef "Dendrophyllia Paradise" *Small Update*

[mastahluong]

Sweet rhyzo! Is it white or does it have a slight color tint?

[thesmallerthebetter]

Sweet rhyzo! Is it white or does it have a slight color tint?

 

its like a crystal pink im working on a white/green one next

[animalmaster6]

I like that Rhyzo

[Hero]

I like the pictures . I wouldn't want to meet you in the LFS

[johnmaloney]

needlefish are sweet too, they eat kind of like alligators do

 

when they collect baby barracuda they rope off that section of the shallows with a barrier net usually...

 

impressive to do it with just a hand net and free diving, only fair way to catch fish imo. you should try collecting a puddingwife wrasse if you ever in the carib. even smarter and faster than the juvie barracuda, (okay maybe not smarter), a lot of fun to chase around all afternoon. When old it does just fine in a mega tank.

 

as odd as it seems, I think some of those mega tanks might run less than your pico that thing is decked out! have you got the barracuda eating yet? I always found that part the hardest... live glass minnows work, especially in the 1-2 inch range. Very thin and small at that size.

[Arthur França]

Very interesting tank..beatiful NPS. Congrats.....

[Zo0k365]

hehe u shud see me in the LFS hahaha

 

So you're that guy

[thesmallerthebetter]

So you're that guy

 

well....i am the manager/curator of a small public aquarium.....so yea. im THAT guy

 

unfortunately, this tank now resides in a much diminished capacity, on my desk at work. It all but crashed due to a lack of time spent at home (during the august to september season i work crazy shifts and am on call 100% of the time). Many of the prized corals had to be moved into larger established tanks to stand a chance with my lack of time spent on them.

 

hopefully i can recollect many of my prized dendrophyllid collection over the course of time and remake this tank in all its original glory

Edited December 24, 2010 by thesmallerthebetter

[myjohnson]

any updates?

[thesmallerthebetter]

So ive been absent quite a while, working for the public aquarium and college has seriously taken over my life, that and spending 3 days a week offshore has pretty much had me tapped out.

 

Well, summer rolled around and with all the students gone i had some time to work on my side projects!

 

I had mentioned that this tank had crashed and i saved as much as i could by moving it to the prop system at work. well i made sure to keep them all my dendrophyllids in top notch shape and collect a few more, most have grown a bit (slowly as expected) and i decided to rebuild the old glory of this system.

 

I had an old 8G bio-cube knock off lying around to play with and this is what i came up with:

 

Filtration/life support:

 

Fluval edge heater (preset to 76 degrees, nice and chilly for my NPS beastys)

Upgraded circulation pump (i think its a mini-660, but idk)

Mini fountain pump stuffed in the corner for extra flow

LOTS of filter floss stuffed into the compartments

 

Lighting:

 

Custom remote controlled PAR38, blue and whites seperatley dimmable, helps with photos alot

 

Dosing:

 

Abott Plum-Lifecare 3x IV Pump (will run three seperate feeds: Shelfish Diet, Roti-Feast, and one other "Tricky" food ) - not hooked up yet, as theres only dendrophyllids in there at the moment

 

 

Stocking:

 

"White" Balanophyllia sp. (massive growth form) (from old system)

"Pink" Balanophyllia bairdiana (massive/solitary growth form) (from old system)

"Black w/ Green" Tubastrea micranthia (branching/collumn growth form) (F&W donation)

"Black" Tubastrea diaphana (branching growth form) (F&W donation)

"Yellow/Green" Tubastrea sp. (branching growth form) (from old system)

"Orange" Tubastrea sp. "Fiji" (massive growth form) (F&W donation)

"Orange" Tubastrea sp. "Indo" (massive growth form) (F&W donation)

"Yellow/Orange" Dendrophyllia coccinea (massive growth form) (from old system)

"Orange" Dendrophyllia gracilis (branching growth form) (from old system)

"Pink/Yellow" Cladopsammia gracilis (branching growth form) (NEW)

"Rainbow" Dendrophyllia/Caryophyllia? (unknown growth form/irregular) (from old system)

 

Well, enough chit chat PICS

 

FTS:

 

T. micranthia w/ D. gracilis on the left please, Ive kept alot of black suns, but this one is my all time favorite. oh and excuse the palys, their being held in this tank while a finish building their permanent home *wink*:

 

C. gracilis newly added and closed up w/ D. gracilis in the backround, D. gracilis hates opening up for daytime photos but eats like a pig at night.....

 

Tubastrea sp. "Fiji" all puffed up with food:

 

T. diaphana recently mounted frags:

 

Balanophyllia sp. "White", no idea on species with this guy, grows quickly, started as a single head in the original tank, now 5 with babes at the base of each:

 

B. biardiana, grows very slowly, started as the single large polyp in the original tank, has a big twin growing on its side and a new baby forming on the backside of the mother polyp:

 

Tubastrea sp. "Yellow/Green", this is a wierd one, lost the entire colony in the original tank crash but saved two single polyp frags and now their showing some irridescent green glow to the new heads, awsome coral:

 

C. gracilis, recently aquired this guy, wierd twisted branches, pink with yellow polyps, heads are tiny! note the dime for size comparison:

[Tamberav]

Awesome! I would like to keep some NPS in my 20g and this is inspiring. Than you

[FlowerMama]

I'm so in love w/ all the dendro and tubestrea varieties. White, yellow, black, orange, like you have candy corn in your tank!!!

[thesmallerthebetter]

Awesome! I would like to keep some NPS in my 20g and this is inspiring. Than you

 

Go for it! Once you make it to the dark-side of reefing you might never come back to the light

 

 

I'm so in love w/ all the dendro and tubestrea varieties. White, yellow, black, orange, like you have candy corn in your tank!!!

 

Ive always loved these corals, any time i come across a variety i dont have already i snatch them up. I like finding them almost as much as i like keeping them

 

Some new additions this week!

 

Black/Green/Grey Tubastrea sp./Dendrophyllia sp. (arrived yesterday! already eating, green polyps, grey tentacles, black flesh)

 

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/NPS%20Nano%20Cube/photo-82-1.jpg.html'>

 

Dendrophyllia Coccinea (mother polyp died off and was colonized by a boat load of babys!)

 

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/NPS%20Nano%20Cube/photo-72-1.jpg.html'>

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/NPS%20Nano%20Cube/photo-22-2.jpg.html'>

 

Yellow Tubastrea sp. (rescue from lfs, looks similar to the others orange tubastreas but the individual coralites are tall and tube-like)

 

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/NPS%20Nano%20Cube/photo-12-2.jpg.html'>

 

"Rainbow" Caryophyllia (from the old system, extremely slow grower, ive owned this peice for 5 years and it only just recently produced 2 babys, not sure on the ID but the hourglass shaped skeleton and multitube of flourescent tentacles leads me to caryophyllia)

 

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/NPS%20Nano%20Cube/photo2-1.jpg.html'>

http://s635.photobucket.com/user/thesmallerthebetter/media/NPS%20Nano%20Cube/photo-92-1.jpg.html'>

[FlowerMama]

Black/Green/Grey Tubastrea sp./Dendrophyllia sp.---- love the shade. In that pic kinda looks like dark olives.

[albertthiel]

 

i am a permitted collector within the state of Hawaii, License # 23278. i just bagged him up and shipped him to my front door haha.

 

and yes, i do indeed have plans for the little bugger

 

Eat him .. they taste real good .. but let him get big enough first ..... I used to spoonfish them in the ex-Belgian Congo ... now the Congo I believe after being Zaire for a while ..

[llama roadkill]

Filtration/life support:

 

Fluval edge heater (preset to 76 degrees, nice and chilly for my NPS beastys)

Upgraded circulation pump (i think its a mini-660, but idk)

Mini fountain pump stuffed in the corner for extra flow

LOTS of filter floss stuffed into the compartments

 

Lighting:

 

Custom remote controlled PAR38, blue and whites seperatley dimmable, helps with photos alot

 

Dosing:

 

Abott Plum-Lifecare 3x IV Pump (will run three seperate feeds: Shelfish Diet, Roti-Feast, and one other "Tricky" food ) - not hooked up yet, as theres only dendrophyllids in there at the moment

 

 

Stocking:

 

"White" Balanophyllia sp. (massive growth form) (from old system)

"Pink" Balanophyllia bairdiana (massive/solitary growth form) (from old system)

"Black w/ Green" Tubastrea micranthia (branching/collumn growth form) (F&W donation)

"Black" Tubastrea diaphana (branching growth form) (F&W donation)

"Black-Green-Grey" Tubastrea sp. (branching growth form) (NEW)

"Yellow/Green" Tubastrea sp. (branching growth form) (from old system)

"Yellow" Tubastrea Sp. (massive growth form) (NEW)

"Orange" Tubastrea sp. "Fiji" (massive growth form) (F&W donation)

"Orange" Tubastrea sp. "Indo" (massive growth form) (F&W donation)

"Yellow/Orange" Dendrophyllia coccinea (massive growth form) (from old system)

"Orange" Dendrophyllia gracilis (branching growth form) (from old system)

"Pink/Yellow" Cladopsammia gracilis (branching growth form) (NEW)

"Rainbow" Dendrophyllia/Caryophyllia? (unknown growth form/irregular) (from old system)

 

Current FTS:

 

I know this is really old, but where's the barracuda? I have never seen one in someone's tank. I love NPS, so you tank looks awesome!

[thesmallerthebetter]

I know this is really old, but where's the barracuda? I have never seen one in someone's tank. I love NPS, so you tank looks awesome!

 

the barracuda was a casualty of the earlier crash in the original tank. he nearly doubled in size before the crash and was almost ready to move into a bigger enclosure at work but never got the chance....

 

the crash cost me lots of neat things, the cuda, the rhizo, a black coral, two dendro's i have never been able to find again, ect.

 

in happier news ive added some new goodies to this tank and will be posting photos in the comming week...stay tuned

[llama roadkill]

the barracuda was a casualty of the earlier crash in the original tank. he nearly doubled in size before the crash and was almost ready to move into a bigger enclosure at work but never got the chance....

 

the crash cost me lots of neat things, the cuda, the rhizo, a black coral, two dendro's i have never been able to find again, ect.

 

in happier news ive added some new goodies to this tank and will be posting photos in the comming week...stay tuned

 

That's sucks about your corals dying. I would love to see some pics of the new stuff! Is there any way I could see a pic of the cuda?

[Maniu]

the barracuda was a casualty of the earlier crash in the original tank. he nearly doubled in size before the crash and was almost ready to move into a bigger enclosure at work but never got the chance....

 

the crash cost me lots of neat things, the cuda, the rhizo, a black coral, two dendro's i have never been able to find again, ect.

 

in happier news ive added some new goodies to this tank and will be posting photos in the comming week...stay tuned

 

Sorry to hear that. Happens to all of us. Glad to hear about your recovery and I am also one of those who enjoyed your pics.

[FlowerMama]

I have just one head of orange dendro. I'll have to start giving it a little something every other day. I'm feeding only once a week and it's remained one head for 4 mos. I didn't know there were so many varieties. I definitely want to collect more- I'll be starting a 20g long in 2 mos.

[thesmallerthebetter]

Sorry to hear that. Happens to all of us. Glad to hear about your recovery and I am also one of those who enjoyed your pics.

 

thanks for the kind words. hopefully this time with staff around the tanks nearly 24/7 i shouldnt have any more suprise crashes

 

I have just one head of orange dendro. I'll have to start giving it a little something every other day. I'm feeding only once a week and it's remained one head for 4 mos. I didn't know there were so many varieties. I definitely want to collect more- I'll be starting a 20g long in 2 mos.

 

those classic orange ones actually grow pretty quick if you feed them often and regularly. at least mine always have.

 

UPDATE:

 

So added some new goodies this week most of them are actually partially photosynthetic but meh, still dendros so its okay

 

Added:

 

Turbinaria peltata "Green Pagoda Coral"

Heteropsammia cochlea "Walking Dendro"

Duncanopsammia axifuga "Duncans"

Dendrophyllia Fistula "Fathead Dendro"

 

Heres a few pics of some oldies and some new ones

 

Black/Green T. diaphana

 

Dunanopsammia axifuga

 

Baby Dendrophyllia Coccineas growing nicley new dendro visible in backround still pissed about moving in....

 

Cladopsammia frag showing better feeding response

 

Cladopsammia Colony rocking it hardcore these days

 

Heteropsammia being all bad-arse

 

in other news, the mystery "Rainbow Dendro" is laying down new flesh like a boss and its babys are growing skeletons like champs too. hopefully they keep along that path.

 

the the D. gracilis frag still refuses to extend tentacles but each polyp scarfs down some food every so often and the flesh seems to be getting puffier, only time will tell with that one.

 

Yellow sun coral is laying down new polyps in the receeded areas, excellent news.

 

found a couple more dendro family members surfing the web, should be adding them soon....D. arbuscula and T. heroensis....

 

comming along nicely

 

have a line on

[FlowerMama]

Wow, it's like you have dendro sonar or something. Very cool. If I can keep a regular orange dendro, is there anything that different in regards to taking care of the others? Mine is in the light so maybe that's slowing it down as far as growth? I don't know.

[thesmallerthebetter]

Wow, it's like you have dendro sonar or something. Very cool. If I can keep a regular orange dendro, is there anything that different in regards to taking care of the others? Mine is in the light so maybe that's slowing it down as far as growth? I don't know.

 

haha, no sonar, just dedication.

 

every morning i go into work, i do a series of searches and a series of scans over every online retailer ive ever known to carry NPS corals (theres alot, i keep a sheet of them on my desk at work). once a week i visit about a dozen local fish stores for work and most of them know me well enough to let me turn colonies over and check for hitcher NPS corals.

 

then theres the passive ways: fish and wildlife calls when they confiscate a colony or shipment, ebay alerts be any time my keywords pop up on a search (lots of keywords), stores call when they get one i dont have yet in ect.

 

very seldom do i miss a new variant, and when i do i make a point of tracking its little coral butt down! haha

 

 

as far as growing yours faster ive found those orange onces (D. Fistula as far as i can tell) dont like to be lit too brightly, it encourages recruitment of algea which the coral must then spend energy to fight off. they grow best in the dark fed mysis, shredded fish bits, mussels or other things of that nature, not enough to make them vomit it back up but enough to puff them out.

 

mine get fed every wednesday at 10-12ish, thursday 3-6:30ish and friday 10-1ish. i feed rather intensely, and each feeding is followed by a siphoning out of any excess food and a 50% water change to avoid any water quality issues. Its a system that works for me, but theres other ways im sure.

[FlowerMama]

Life's like a tank of unturned coral, you just never know what you're gonna get!. You're just very thorough. What you have is really beautiful. That Heteropsammia is really unique and those are interesting long armlike appendages of the Cladopsammia have it going on.

[llama roadkill]

Do you have any pics of the cuda? I really want to see it!