Nano Sapiens 12g - Ye Olde Mixed Reef

[Nano sapiens]

A beauty, for sure.

 

I'm just glad that I seem to be able to keep Sanctithomae mushrooms alive finally. Now to just get the dozen or so that I have that bleached and shrunk to around 1/2" and live under a rock to keep living and recover

 

Did you fire your various LED laser canons at them too many times

 

Mine did well in low/med light and low flow and I would have liked to have kept them, but they just got too big for a 12g mixed reef tank.

 

Good luck in getting them back up to size.

[jedimasterben]

Did you fire your various LED laser canons at them too many times

 

Mine did well in low/med light and low flow and I would have liked to have kept them, but they just got too big for a 12g mixed reef tank.

 

Good luck in getting them back up to size.

I honestly don't know. The frag rack they were on peaked at 128ish PAR, and flow wasn't so much that they ever shriveled up, but they just wasted away. Even once I rebooted the tank and was using a single PAR38 and some CFLs to give low light they still wasted away - save for one. That one has now become two and is in around 220 PAR peak for that area, though they are partially shaded by rock.

 

They are also in the undertow of one of the MP40s. I am glad that they do not care if dinoflagellate strings grow near them. I am planning on trying out a few more in the coming weeks/months to see if my Sanctithomae 'curse' is over and done

[Nano sapiens]

I am planning on trying out a few more in the coming weeks/months to see if my Sanctithomae 'curse' is over and done

 

Sure hope so. Best of luck with them!

[metrokat]

On 6/15/2014 at 5:44 PM, Nano sapiens said:

Also picked up an interesting (to me) Yuma. Physiologically, it is quite different from all my other Yumas in that it has much more pointed tentacles vs. the round or elongated, blunt ones. It's also quite a bit more yellow than the pic with burnt orange tips:

 

You are the mushie expert, I would have automatically assumed this was a Rhodactis.

[1.0reef]

On 6/15/2014 at 5:44 PM, Nano sapiens said:

Also picked up an interesting (to me) Yuma. Physiologically, it is quite different from all my other Yumas in that it has much more pointed tentacles vs. the round or elongated, blunt ones. It's also quite a bit more yellow than the pic with burnt orange tips:

 

 

Dang, that's a Yuma?

On 6/16/2014 at 10:03 AM, metrokat said:

You are the mushie expert, I would have automatically assumed this was a Rhodactis.

This

Also do you have any pics of the tank with the diffuser?

[Nano sapiens]

You are the mushie expert, I would have automatically assumed this was a Rhodactis.

 

Good observation and I agree that it looks more Rhodactis than Ricordia. The pointed tentacles, while not as sharply pointed as my other Rhodactis inchoata(?), are indicative of a coral in this genus.

 

This one was sold to me as a 'Yuma' by a LFS owner who has been around for a long while, but of course that doesn't mean it is a Yuma . It has a bit more pronounced mouth column than a typical Rhodactis. It also lacks the typical pseudo scleractinian tentacles on it's oral disk that are common with many Rhodactis species, but some species don't have them. In the future it may be classified as as something else, but all I know is I like it

 

I'm far from an expert in corallimorpharia taxonomy and classification is still being worked out. I seem to be able to keep them happy, that's all.

[Nano sapiens]

Dang, that's a Yuma?

 

Most likely not...

 

This

Also do you have any pics of the tank with the diffuser?

 

Sorry, no I don't.

[metrokat]

Dave at NanoBox uses a diffuser in his lights. It is a very subtle 'hazy' kind of acrylic. Not sure how else to describe it. Almost like if you wore glasses and they were covered with fingerprints kind of hazy. It works very well to prevent the disco effect and while I'm sure it reduces the light intensity, the shimmer is still there.

[Nano sapiens]

Dave at NanoBox uses a diffuser in his lights. It is a very subtle 'hazy' kind of acrylic. Not sure how else to describe it. Almost like if you wore glasses and they were covered with fingerprints kind of hazy. It works very well to prevent the disco effect and while I'm sure it reduces the light intensity, the shimmer is still there.

 

More like a 'sand blasted' surface I'd imagine. 'Jedimasterben' suggested something similar which is a 'peel-and-stick' product which I may try.

[metrokat]

Peel and stick film would work too.

 

So I started a pico, an AIO and it has a lid. I've always wanted a hamster bottle ATO ever since I met you but this little guy has no way to have one on it unless the hood is modded. Even then, every time the lid needs to open, the ATO has to be removed to do so.

[Nano sapiens]

Link? Maybe I can see something that'll make it work out.

[Red_Blenny]

Those 'bubbles' around its mouth reminds me of a Yuma but the outer skirt reminds me of a Rhodactis. It's a pretty nice pickup Nano

[Nano sapiens]

Those 'bubbles' around its mouth reminds me of a Yuma but the outer skirt reminds me of a Rhodactis. It's a pretty nice pickup Nano

 

It's a bit of a strange one, indeed.

 

I have an Atlantic D. calgreni and a Indo-Pacific Rhodactis inchoata(?), and except for the color (which doesn't mean much), their exterior physical characteristics are very similar.

 

I think genetic testing of these mushroom corals will show some very interesting relationships.

[metrokat]

Link? Maybe I can see something that'll make it work out.

Thanks for looking http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/345100-kats-bryopsis-killing-machines-158/

[Nano sapiens]

Thanks for looking http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/345100-kats-bryopsis-killing-machines-158/

 

An external gravity feed could work. Basically, a hamster bottle with a 6" plastic tube where the bottle is mounted either to a wall, attached somehow to the back of the tank or supported via a stand of some type behind the tank.

[Red_Blenny]

It's a bit of a strange one, indeed.

 

I have an Atlantic D. calgreni and a Indo-Pacific Rhodactis inchoata(?), and except for the color (which doesn't mean much), their exterior physical characteristics are very similar.

 

I think genetic testing of these mushroom corals will show some very interesting relationships.

 

+1 about genetic testing. I've seen an increase of different Corallimorphs that's making their way into the markets and some of them look pretty close to each other.

[Nano sapiens]

Updates:

 

Lighting: Dropped LED intensity from 90% to 75%. I have mostly Bridglux and Exotic emitters and what I noticed was a lot more heat in the canopy at 90%, but not much actually light intensity gain when running this close to 700mA. 75% is around 525 mA and the lower intensity will reduce heat and should help increase longevity of both these LED chips and the Stunner Strips running along side. I had also noticed that my Acan colonies were retracting somewhat after a few hours at 90% (260 PAR) then opening back up when the main lights turned off, so a little less intensity may suit them better. I've also increased the main lighting from 7 to 8 hours and increased the Stunner RB strips from 11 to 12 hours mainly to increase my viewing time and provide a few additional photons.

 

Sand Bed Algae (Cyano) Bloom: Unsightly and an annoyance for sure, this was however a good opportunity to fine tune feeding, water changes and detrtitus removal with a critical eye on remediation processes. For those following along, I encountered this issue when an auto feeder I set up for a two week vacation added too many pellets daily. It has taken many months to finally eliminate this condition which mainly affected the sand bed. Interestingly, the immediate outbreak looked like gooey coca cola, but later on with reduced nutrients it changed to a dark red color and tended to coat individual sand grains. It also tended to congregate around any obstacles on top of the sand bed due to concentrated nutrients brought about by advection at these sites. The obvious reaction is to reduce tank feeding, perform more WCs and vacuum out the visible algae. One expects the condition to improve fairly quickly, however, often this is not the case and leads to frustration because on the surface it just doesn't make sense. A prevailing theory out there suggests that LR leeches phosphates back into the water column when water column nutrients are reduced and this sustains algae growth, but while the theory has merit, I believe the main cause is that with reduced feeding all the hoards of organisms (seen and unseen) that are dependent on a specific/steady food input begin to die off. This releases a steady stream of now available nutrients into the tank which can sustain the algae bloom for a long time. Eventually, organism populations stabilize based on the current nutrient supply, but this process can take many months.

[metrokat]

Battle on.

[Nano sapiens]

Battle on.

 

There's always something! Part of the nano reefing challenge

[Nano sapiens]

Tank has been running for 6 years now (started beginning of July, 2008): No changes, same old 'unfiltered' setup, two fish, a gaggle of coral...and a wing and a prayer

 

 

Still has a bit of growing in to do around the sides and back where I recently added some Rhodactis (yup, more 'shrooms!) and a few different Palys/Zoas. When I set this up I remember telling myself, "5 years aught to do it" and now I'm thinking "Ok, 10 years and it *should* finally be 'mature'". Funny how that works...

[jball1125]

You are a pro buddy, so clean!

[ninjamyst]

inspiration for us all!

[Nano sapiens]

@jball1125 & ninjamyst: Thanks! Fingers crossed that your tanks will keep on going for years to come.

[markalot]

6 years. Sheesh. I always forget how old this tank is.

[metrokat]

6 years. wow. Milestones are to be celebrated, any little gifts planned for the tank?