Lion's Coral Den! Kessil, Rics, Zoas, Palys!

[lljdma06]

That's great information, thank you. My watchman is paired with a tiger, haha, very messy at times.

 

I've had luck with my yuma's. Love floridas though too. I got a bunch in my biotope. Great colors. I like the rubber band technique for splitting. A lot of mine have double mouths already.

[buddythelion]

hmm ......first time i seen this tank,i really like it with all the different colors.the rubberbands a good idea for splitting that ric.i have a orange one for around a year now and its pretty big but never split.ill probally leave it alone though.

i know what your saying about low priced zoas looking great..... i basicly buy things that look good and i went to this one store and was just picking zoas out by impressive color or something i never seen.i got 3 cheaper zoas but there colors are just as nice.

anyways.....i dont really remember seeing some of your zoas around id like to trade sometime.....maybe a single polyp of this and that.hopefuly that will be a go on your end but illl have to get some pictures for all that.any other tricks you have up your sleve similuar to the rubberband?

 

Thanks for the comments Anthony! Yeah. Rics take forever to grow compared to corals like zoanthus! Some people cut theirs up into 4 even 6 pieces! I'm not willing to lose a ric just for propagating purposes. No cutting for me. The rubberbanding keeps it as a whole piece first, and then the ric will split all on its own. I'll take a pic showing how it is now. Looking good and healthy.

 

Expensive doesn't mean nice huh? I'm sure we all know that this is true. I sometimes wonder if the red colored corals were common while the green ones were rare, would everyone think green were better looking than the reds? I think it's just that we all want to be different and stand out, so we get what people don't have. But I have to say that many of the really nice zoas are much more expensive.

 

That leads me to prices on corals (I'm hoping I don't get flamed for this, but it's been on my mind). I could understand this if the demand for them is much higher than the quantity out there, but if it's a fast grower prices need to go down! If it's one of those melters, hard to come by, or are just one of those ridiculously slow growing morphs (you guys know what I'm talking about!), then the price justifies it. There's a lot of people who complain about how expensive corals are now but thing is, there's tons of people paying for them! So I mean... if people are willing to pay for it... why not? Why do you care so much? It's not like an injustice where it's something people need and it's unjust and unfair to charge them so. If you don't want to pay the price, don't buy it. If you really like it and it makes you happy, go for it. Expensive corals will be expensive because there's a demand for them. Orange frogspawn, brown frogspawn. Looks the same to me. But the "orange" morphs do come by much less than your average green-purple ones so I think prices are alright. And heck, people are buying them. There's way too much flaming going around in these forum, to the point I believe that it really kills the hobby. Like... WAAAY too much. I think we can all agree on this... I'm willing to spend money on a coral I like not because of a fad but because I think it looks downright awesome, even if what I like is the fad. I love picasso clowns. I go gaga whenever I see some crazy looking one vs a regular one. All of my friends think picasso clowns look like a bird pooped on them and think I'm nuts for paying $60 for bird pooped stained fish they see online with normal patters for $15.

 

I don't know. The way we think is really interesting. Sometimes we need to take a step back to understand what's going on and look at what makes other people think before we talk negatively... It really makes an impact on your way of thinking when you try it.

 

Man is that a load off my chest.

[buddythelion]

That's great information, thank you. My watchman is paired with a tiger, haha, very messy at times.

 

I've had luck with my yuma's. Love floridas though too. I got a bunch in my biotope. Great colors. I like the rubber band technique for splitting. A lot of mine have double mouths already.

 

Ahh, watchman with tiger is a good pair though! Big fish need big workers! And I get you on messy. I had one before and they can WORK. Way too much work for my tank though, haha.

 

You could try the rubberband trick when they get like... HUGE. And the mouths have a good distance between each other. That when they split it's still two good sized rics. Tried it on a smaller ric before when I was impatient. I got two rics alright, but both about dime sized. They're much less hardier at this state and are more prone to bleaching, unattaching, and just over all being grumpy! Some died on me... haha... Lesson learned! I prefer natural splitting and letting them cover the rock. But I want a more expensive paly but don't want to spend the money, so resorting to trade my ric which I believe is of equal value.

[buddythelion]

So a little story on my experiences with yashas:

 

They're great looking, but man are they a pain to acclimate. I lost my first two because the shrimp would always block the hole for about two weeks and block the pvc tunnel I made them (in one of my older scapes). This would starve the yashas to a twig... That shrimp killed at least 3 yashas... Finally took the pvc out, rescaped the tank and just let all hell loose by letting him (Pistol Pete) do whatever the hell he wanted. No pvc. Just straight up "Do your thang Pistol Pete, go wherever the currents bring you. Find my nicest rock and then sink that sucker." Let me just say that it's MUCH better for them to do their thing naturally. The next yasha (and at that point I decided if this one died yashas just weren't cut for me) was a biiiig girl so she acclimated well and was eating mysis from day 1. Added a boy yasha, but he was rather small and wasn't strong enough to last the initial week living in the den and starved. As you can see, this many yashas is pretty expensive (Tried yashas over a span of 2 years, were always one of my dream fish to keep in a nano since they were still being called Stonogobiops sp.). Gave up on trying to pair them and was satisfied that I at least had one yasha healthy. Two months later (last Fri) stopped by my LFS to meet for a trade and found this big boy all fat. He just stared at me the whole time while I was talking to an employee. Staring. Staring. Staring. FINE. I'LL TAKE YOU HOME. GEEEZZZZ. Decided what the hell... Must be chance. And now here they are. I don't think he would have made it if it weren't for the girl. Gives him confidence to peep out and eat. The home is already made as well. It's still far too early to know if he'll become acclimated to the tank. Yashas are one of those fish that need to be kicking *** already if you want a better survival rate in your tank. Brave ones have tons of personality. Still miss one of my older ones... Would even swim around the tank while my hand was in there or during feeding time (I spot feed to minimize waste). The girl is getting braver, stays outside of the hole a lot now. Hoping to see them both swim together and hang out in the open in about a month's time.

 

Oh ya. They need to eat. A lot. Puppy gets fat eating algae off the glass all day long and Poseidon gets majorly obese whenever it's chow time. He eats till his stomach looks like it's about to pop and even then still steals food from my corals. So because of this I feed about every 3-4 days. But yashas, from my experience, have a faster metabolism. So I feed them about every 2 days and it seems to be working for me now.

[buddythelion]

Placed an order from inTank since Thurs. No notification of my items being shipped yet. Is this normal? He's usually pretty fast.

[buddythelion]

Alrighty, just got sent an email from inTank saying my order is to be shipped tomorrow! I've been reusing my filter pad since my last water change. That's a no no! We'll see if their filter pad is any better than my current cheapo one. Also can't wait to see that massive glue they offer arrive...

 

Woke up this morning to this:

 

Three frags fell over. This seems to be a daily routine. Those snails keep knocking my frags over! I don't want to glue my frags down either because I need to move them once in a while. Wish the snails would just stay on the glass...

 

Also found an asterina clinging onto my Sunny D.. AGAIN. GRR. Promptly removed. No tasting the power of the sun is allowed in my tank!

 

THE MURDERER:

 

Update on the rubberband method:

 

Still looking good. Doesn't even seem phased by it, which is a good thing since it's not stressed out. I might try a thinner rubber band though because I think the one I used it too thick... I'll give it 3-4 days first before doing anything else to it.

 

Also added a merleti or blastomussa. I can't really tell the difference. It's purple ring with neon green center. Wasn't doing well in the other tank, so brought it into this one to try and bring variety into my tank. Then again... It's just another polyp.. Haha...ha... *sigh*

 

Upclose:

 

Going to be chlling in the sandbed to get used to the kessil

 

Since I was confident enough to frag zoas, I thought it might as well be a good time to frag these gold cloves that hitched onto the king midas frag. I don't want them to overrun the zoas and I definitely don't want them overrunning my tank. So... ta-da! Frag #2! Looking good and open!

 

 

Speaking of frags, the pink and gold galaxies are looking great. Putting them higher up and closer to the light brought out some color in the paler looking polyps. Hoping to be able to trade them for some goodies!

 

 

Another frag update:

 

Blondie is looking good. Opened all the way now. I got it the day after it was fragged so to see it open and well makes me really happy and relieved.

 

My fav coral atm:

 

AOGs:

 

In this picture you can see some black areas of the AOGs. These areas that are more black were further away from the light or were in the shade. The difference is very obvious. Polyp extension is shortened and we'll see if being closer to the light will bring that radiant metallic orange I was looking for in these guys...

 

Also, if you didn't notice my neon green ric wasn't doing too hot the past couple of days. But it's looking much puffier(?) and happy today. Just thought I'd share since he's one of my bright pieces.

 

[lljdma06]

Ok, I've got a couple of larger rics with multiple mouths, so I may give the rubberband trick a try. Not on Purty Flower, though, she's too special to split. I'll not risk losing her.

 

L

[buddythelion]

Ok, I've got a couple of larger rics with multiple mouths, so I may give the rubberband trick a try. Not on Purty Flower, though, she's too special to split. I'll not risk losing her.

 

L

Try on your floridas first. Yumas are more picky from what I read. Definitely not her! I think it's a good thing how large she is.

[lljdma06]

Just read your story on yashas. I see now perhaps why I wasn't successful initially. Besides having small gaps in my tank (had a lid, but it had gaps). Well anyway, I would get a yasha and then I'd find it dead on the floor. Yes, I know they jump, but what motivates the jumping? Could be that the tiger pistol was too much for them. I may give a yasha a try again in the biocube with a randals.

 

I also believe in letting the pistol do his own thing. I wanted a goby/pistol pair and I like gobies, so all my tanks feature the rock laying on the glass rather than on the sand. It creates some natural burrow structures. It also lets him do what he needs to get a good burrow going and I don't have to worry about rocks falling on him. He's doing much better with the watchman, who's enough fish for him. Haha, he seals the burrow at night, but I know that the watchman is strong enough to say "uh... no, I want out" and I've watched the watchman (hahaha) moved the shells to get out.

 

One of the most entertaining things to watch in a reef that's for sure.

 

What paly's are you looking for? Did you see my green palys in my 8g?

 

L

[TinyGiant]

merletti is blastomussa..

 

 

the entire scientific name of that coral is Blastomussa merletti

[buddythelion]

merletti is blastomussa..

 

 

the entire scientific name of that coral is Blastomussa merletti

So is blasto just a general term for all types of blastomussa?

[buddythelion]

Just read your story on yashas. I see now perhaps why I wasn't successful initially. Besides having small gaps in my tank (had a lid, but it had gaps). Well anyway, I would get a yasha and then I'd find it dead on the floor. Yes, I know they jump, but what motivates the jumping? Could be that the tiger pistol was too much for them. I may give a yasha a try again in the biocube with a randals.

 

I also believe in letting the pistol do his own thing. I wanted a goby/pistol pair and I like gobies, so all my tanks feature the rock laying on the glass rather than on the sand. It creates some natural burrow structures. It also lets him do what he needs to get a good burrow going and I don't have to worry about rocks falling on him. He's doing much better with the watchman, who's enough fish for him. Haha, he seals the burrow at night, but I know that the watchman is strong enough to say "uh... no, I want out" and I've watched the watchman (hahaha) moved the shells to get out.

 

One of the most entertaining things to watch in a reef that's for sure.

 

What paly's are you looking for? Did you see my green palys in my 8g?

 

L

 

My tank is open top, no lid. In terms of being spooked what I did was make a premade ditch under the rock and sand, lead the shrimp in there using... A... Uh. A turkey baster. Like... I just pulled the pump off and placed him into the plastic part. HAHAHA. Don't hate till you try it! It gives just enough room for the shrimp and the open end allows him to swim out into the area I want him to dig. The pistol will go right to work in order to make shelter for himself. As long as there is some water flow passing by he'll find it a suitable place to make their fort. Then after the shrimp has been working for some time, put the goby into the hole the same way as the shrimp. Most likely the yasha will swim the other way (wrong way) up the tube, but just be patient and hold the plastic still. He'll eventually glide out and go into the hole meeted by the shrimp. This will ensure or at least strengthen your chances of him staying underground vs spazzing around your tank (happened to me before). Then FEED them. Asap. Just turkey baste some food in there. To let them know they can get food in this location. For a few days you might not see them but always blast some food into their den if there's sign of them (stirred sand is the easiest) to make sure they're getting some food. They'll become brave enough eventually to start eating with other peaceful tankmates.

 

And by green paly you mean the green implosions? I thought they were your on the way corals, not in already!

 

Yashas are too wimpy to be bustin' out of the shrimp's crib. What babies. Yellow Watchman Gobies = "Thug liiife!" In a strong I do what I want don't be needing your maid services little shrimp way.

[TinyGiant]

So is blasto just a general term for all types of blastomussa?

 

 

yep

 

 

the only other one i think available usually is blastomussa wellsi

[buddythelion]

yep

 

 

the only other one i think available usually is blastomussa wellsi

 

Ah, perhaps that's the one I was referring to. It doesn't seem like the normal red blastos I see. So perhaps it's a wellsi?

[TinyGiant]

if those dead skeletons behind it were also once live .. then yes is wellsi mertetti grows in tight tube shaped skeletons

[buddythelion]

if those dead skeletons behind it were also once live .. then yes is wellsi mertetti grows in tight tube shaped skeletons

Yessir. I now know it's a wellsi!

[buddythelion]

Looked at the tank this morning while lights were still out and saw this:

 

Not too sure what's she's doing so far from home... But I don't like it. Sure hope she's not real estate shopping...

 

 

Day 3 of the rubber banding:

Looking good! Almost finished. Needed a thinner rubberband but couldn't find one, so I just rubberbanded a bigger rock onto it to stretch out the already used rubberband and to increase the pressure to help him split.

 

You can see that the rubber band already went through. Just waiting for it to heal (see two smaller happy polyps!) Sorry for the bad pics, camera decided that the palys were prettier and deserved more focus.

 

Exciting update:

Just a few more days until my special item comes...

[lljdma06]

Why would she be so far away from the male? On occasion, my jawfish will get "divorced". Then they reconcile.

 

The Ricordea looks really good.

 

Whatcha getting in the mail? I got my special package today. It's awesome.

[buddythelion]

Why would she be so far away from the male? On occasion, my jawfish will get "divorced". Then they reconcile.

 

The Ricordea looks really good.

 

Whatcha getting in the mail? I got my special package today. It's awesome.

 

Secret.

[buddythelion]

Found a good picture of one of my zoas while going through photobucket. It's an older picture, but shows its metallic sheen:

 

Metallic Caribbean Zoas:

 

 

Purchased from Coral Morphologic, they are one of those finickier Caribbean morphs. It started off almost covering the majority of the stick it came on (which is actually wood on the inside. Huh.) but then slowly started melting when I wasn't reefing as seriously. But luckily this was a separate colony and the melting didn't affect them. Grown about 3-4 heads since I got them.

[buddythelion]

[buddythelion]

Tried to move the rock with the pink and golds. I thought it was an independent rock not holding the other rocks up. I was wrong... *sigh* Will rescape to what I like when I have time tomorrow...

[lljdma06]

You know what's better than 1 Ric?

 

Two.

 

Rocks falling has happened to me to. I have a really nice zoa that keeps getting knocked down. He's very tough, but must be epoxied.

 

L

[buddythelion]

You know what's better than 1 Ric?

 

Two.

 

Rocks falling has happened to me to. I have a really nice zoa that keeps getting knocked down. He's very tough, but must be epoxied.

 

L

I just hate the way how epoxy stands out though.

 

*sigh*

 

Guess it's time to bust out the glue... And glue those darn snails to the glass where they belong!

[buddythelion]

Cute Puppy:

 

Frags frags frags! I need me a better cutting utensil!