Blastomussa wellsi Growth

[Deleted User 6]

I have 4 healthy polyps of blasomussa wellsi that have been in the same spot for months now but aren't showing any new growth. They went from 1 to 4 polyps in about a year and have seemed to run out of steam. The polyps almost form a square, with one polyp facing outward as the 4 edges. It looks like no new flesh or bone is expanding beyond the 4 "walls" of polyps. Anyone else had this experience? Any tips on blasto growth?

 

[iball1804]

You use that picture for everything.

[Deleted User 6]

that's different than the potm.

[jgpico]

The only time that I have ever seen new growth from my blasto was when I was target feeding each polyp. When I was feeding a piece of mysis to each head at least once to twice a week I saw amazing growth. They went from 6 heads to about 20 in a period of about 2 months. Since I have stopped target feeding each polyp I haven't seen any new growth. From what I have heard blastos need the food to grow and the light to stay healthy.

[iball1804]

that's different than the potm.

 

Well then it is veryyyy close.

[jgpico]

Thats an awesome pic btw. I love that anenome shrimp.

[ThePhilosopher]

From your FTS, it seems as though your blasto is located in a dimly-lit area. Could it be that your blasto simply doesn't have enough light to multiply, but enough to sustain itself?

 

I know that plants and corals are significantly different, but I have 6 cuttings of amazon swords in my freshwater tank that shed their emersed leaves and grew around 5-7 new leaves instead in the first couple of months, with no growth at all during these last 3-4 months.

 

Food for thought.

[Deleted User 6]

The only time that I have ever seen new growth from my blasto was when I was target feeding each polyp. When I was feeding a piece of mysis to each head at least once to twice a week I saw amazing growth. They went from 6 heads to about 20 in a period of about 2 months. Since I have stopped target feeding each polyp I haven't seen any new growth. From what I have heard blastos need the food to grow and the light to stay healthy.

 

You know, that makes a lot of sense. I've been feeding small particle food for quite a while and while I was seeing growth it was larger particle food. Maybe I should pick up some mysis and see if the growth picks back up.

 

From your FTS, it seems as though your blasto is located in a dimly-lit area. Could it be that your blasto simply doesn't have enough light to multiply, but enough to sustain itself?

 

I know that plants and corals are significantly different, but I have 6 cuttings of amazon swords in my freshwater tank that shed their emersed leaves and grew around 5-7 new leaves instead in the first couple of months, with no growth at all during these last 3-4 months.

 

Food for thought.

 

I was always under the impression that blastos were medium to lower light LPS. It's under LEDs, so the brightness vs. the PAR is deceiving.

[jgpico]

my blastos are on the sandbed of my tank so its not getting a huge amount of light from my leds either. Im sure if you started feeding a bit of mysis once to twice a week to each head that you can you will see a huge amount of growth.

 

This is my blasto after i was target feeding it for about 2 months. Their is a lot more polyps on the back side as well. sorry for the crappy pic.

[evilc66]

Feed - yes

 

Not enough light - no

 

Much like other polyps, blastos will extend up towards the light source if they aren't getting enough to be comfortable. I've never had good growth out of lps like blastos, duncans, and acans unless I feed the crap out of them, then they take off. It's a slow crawl if you rely just on light.

[Deleted User 6]

Yeah, that must be the issue here. Thanks guys - I'll up the feeding for them and see how they do.

[ThePhilosopher]

Thought I'd chime in again and second the feeding of mysis. While I haven't been feeding my blastos any mysis, I've always noticed significant growth of my favites frag (located in the lower-mid section) ever since I started weekly feedings of it.

[Prodigal1011]

Feed - yes

 

Not enough light - no

 

Much like other polyps, blastos will extend up towards the light source if they aren't getting enough to be comfortable. I've never had good growth out of lps like blastos, duncans, and acans unless I feed the crap out of them, then they take off. It's a slow crawl if you rely just on light.

 

 

I agree with Evil, I have experienced much better growth after spot feeding my LPS stuff. I'm feeding everything about once a week (when I remember).

[evilc66]

Now, I used to broadcast feed Tetra's Cyclop-eez (freeze dried granules) when it was still available, and I had great growth out of everything lps. Since they discontinued that (for whatever dumb reason), it's forced me to spot feed. I've tried other cyclopeze products, and they just aren't the same. Mysis is about as good as it gets for a cheap, effective food. Fauna Marin's LPS food is awesome, but not exactly cheap. You do use it more sparingly though. I've never seen corals react so fast to food in the water than with that stuff.

[Deleted User 6]

FM's stuff is out of stock on their site. Where to find it precious?

[evilc66]

http://www.cherrycorals.com/home.php?cat=164

[Deleted User 6]

 

but yeah, i just got some mysis for like $5 at petco, lol. i'll see how that does first.

 

i just fed them like half a cube.

[Ezsharkman]

Quick ? Are blastos and acans closely related? I started feeding my acans some mysis and finally started seeing growth. They look so similar

[LoveMyTank]

I have a blasto that popped off the stony stem. I’ve kept it alive and happy in a glass within my tank. It doesn’t survive outside the glass becuz it just floats around and will end up somewhere behind my rocks. Suggestions of how to get it to attach to something?