Any non-photosynthetic nanos here?

[non-photosynt]

Here - when it was with 2g sump and Rio Nano skimmer:

 

 

Need help on ID of this coral, porites or something else, and its requirements, it is not doing well:

Update month later: this is Psammocora superficialis. Now better, but green Xmas tree rock, Madracis decactis, got infection, likely with unfiltered live food.

[reefsrule]

Tagging along. I'm planing on getting a lot of non-photos, but for now I just have one orange carnation as the only coral in the tank.

[non-photosynt]

If carnation coral will be well, all others NPS corals should be well there too. Only filtration for a lot of feeding for many corals could be a problem.

 

How is it doing, is it most of the time inflated and polyps open for a feeding?

I'm not expert, just curious.

[non-photosynt]

Some links, that can be useful, add what you found:

Continuous feeding devices:

Live food for feather stars, drawing is used with permission:

Rotifers (Large, Small or SuperSmall-type, enriched) are kept in suspension by air bubbling. Airline valve allows adjust speed of dripping. Return pump (or main powerhead) disperses food in the tank.

 

Wine chiller and feeding pump based device, for dosing cooled mixes, like Fauna Marin foods.

 

Prolonged feeding:

Icyuodd here, at NR (lost link, sorry, quoting from memory) used placing the frozen cube (could be the same rotifers) onto air intake opening on Maxi-Jet-like powerhead. As food thawed, it dripped inside and was distributed by flow.

 

More - here.

 

If you have anything about advanced filtration in nano-scale or keeping large collection in small tanks - post for us, please.

[reefsrule]

Mine

 

 

I couldn't get a clear photo. I'm dripping roti and phyto feast, as well as oyster eggs. There are 3 power heads and two turn off and on. They are aimed at the wall to try to suspend particles. The polyps respond to correct water flow and stay open I'd say 80 percent of the time and they hate sunlight. That's it for now.

[non-photosynt]

Like this?

Scleronephthya.

 

I like idea delivering food directly to the coral.

[reefsrule]

Yes, that's the kind. Heh, I'm hoping it will disperse across the rest of the tank. I have one coral for now but I'm planning many others. Shipping prices limit how many I can get at a time =( I picked that small frag up from the lfs for $30 And the foods need shipping too as my lfs had no roti feast and they had expired phyto feast with severed plans of getting more shipments >:

[non-photosynt]

You may try any other food, readily available locally. For me ZoPlan and First Bites are always available at reasonable prices.

 

Or soak marine flakes and dried crustaceans in aminocids, and the put them in a blender, let fractions separate and use proper size for a feeding (GARF's recipe, mcox33's recipe). Frozen rotifers may work too. Frozen seafood for human consumption (raw, without preservatives), processed through the blender, may work too, but will pollute water more, then dried food.

 

Good flow and almost continuous feeding seems to be a key.

Here is some indicator (green star polyps), how high the flow was around mine:

.

 

I don't know about reproduction: it reproduces in some tanks (mcox33), but not in the others (mine).

Two of mine dropped babies, but later they disappeared. I tend to think, that it was because of too high flow in particular place.

 

Watch also, if they will grow thin and skinny - then maybe add more and different food.

I don't know why scleronephthya sometimes is described as more easy coral, it is not easy at all, at least IMHE.

[reefsrule]

Are those food just as effective as the bottled stuff? And I'm worried about the water pollution, I don't have a large refugium, so it's basically still 10 gallons. =(

 

Also how does a sclero 'drop babies'? Mine tore a peice off and it fell in the sand. I put it on the rock and I think it's attached...you can see it in the picture next to the bigger peice.

And I'm getting a really neat sponge. ( Axinella damicornis) I can hardly wait.

[non-photosynt]

Comparing to RotiFeast and PhytoFeast, dry food polluted water less, frozen rotifers - comparable.

 

What filtration do you have and for how long you feed intensely, not as for mixed reef?

Just curious how others are doing this. I have skimmers or using massive water changes, still filtration could be better.

 

Maybe your tank has more suitable conditions for a scleronephthya, then mine. How long since babies attached? Mine disappeared or moved within a month or so.

 

Sponge: is it a yellow complicated shape ball or an finger-shaped orange or red, covered by net of white polyps?

I had the last one, but large decorative sponges do not live long in my tanks, only hitchhikers.

I spoke with one keeper, who kept it for an year, she fed it phytoplankton for a sponge, and I used only the dried kind, it didn't help. The white polyps are large enough to take a large zooplankton, like cyclop eeze.

[reefsrule]

Oh well my tank is still young and the frag has been attached for about 2 weeks. All seems well so far. They definitely respond to feeding and flow.

 

And yes it is the sponge with white polyps. I don't know what relation the polyps play in symbiosis with the sponge...

 

 

 

 

The hamelida algae grew in on it's on (why are those snails grouped up to be blasted by the powerhead? )

 

Filtration is typical filter 'fuge'

 

 

[non-photosynt]

Polyps are still alive long after the sponge died, but they are not doing well - didn't attach to anything, trials to glue or rubberband them failed, so I'm keeping them in the cage. Stopped to open for a feeding, this is bad.

 

Good luck! I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[reefsrule]

My polyps haven't opened in 3 days I think the water's too warm. The sponge is still fine.

[non-photosynt]

Up to 28C/82F was OK for mine. Polyps were opened most of the time, as long as food was present in the water column.

This is how it looked:

Not in nano tank most of the time, but it was opened in 12g Nano Cube with flow~30x tank volumes per hr, Koralia 1 powerhead - 400 gph. Later moved it to slower flow in 90g.

[reefsrule]

I have no idea what the problem could be The salinity was low yesterday, I upped it.

[reefsrule]

Polypson the sponge opened hours after a brushed it with a tooth brush

Phew, but now I know I have algae issues that will pose problems to my future gorgonians, and I don't want to shut the lights off because of the halimeda plants in the tank. I also bought a small yellow sea cucumber yesterday and ordered a 'tiger sponge' that I think is 'Botrylloides leachii' which is a colonial tunicate. So so far so good, the 'frag' of the scleronepthya is still opening well.

[reefsrule]

Also ordered 'ultra sea fan', and at the store they have me ultra pac for free

 

I also bought a powdered phyto by Tropic Marin.

[reefsrule]

New additions

 

 

 

 

[neuwave]

Any updates on The feather star?

[non-photosynt]

Dark red Hymerometra continues to live, but filtration and water should be 10x better than I ever could possibly have.

 

Mottled fluffy green-white star lasted much longer then long armed two feather stars, but as a chili corals, it (or all of them) didn't like the high dissolved organics water (see Claude's post about chilis and his experiments at RC at NPC subforum).