kgoldy Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 Myabe it was a salt differnece that wiped it out. With my system having an almost perfectly steady specific gravity of 1.024, salt should be the last issue. Maybe shock from lighting, or temperature (even though I floated the jar). Either way, if it needs gentle acclimation, it should say so on the bottle. Directions, exactly as printed on the bottle: Grows best in strong light with strong turbulence and aeration. Add to your refugium or culture tank. Macro-Feast can be added directly to your tank, but it will be consumed fast! I did all of the above... Link to comment
seafarm Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Macro Feast has a much shorter shelf life. As a feed it can be used up to 4 weeks from the harvest date but as a starter culture it won't work well after about 2 weeks. When the color changes from dark red to bright red, that's a sign its in decline (just like leaves turn bright colors just before they fall off the tree). A fresh culture show grow just fine in your refugium. It will grow slower than the green macros. Link to comment
spanko Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Here IMO is the best article concerning the keeping of Caulerpa sp. Pay particular attention to the section on Disadvantages and methods to keep it from its sexual reproduction a little better than 1/2 way down and view the video. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/vol...4/caulerpa.html Link to comment
kgoldy Posted April 16, 2011 Author Share Posted April 16, 2011 Macro Feast seems to be making a come back. Very slow, but it appears to be growing. Pics when I get a chance. Link to comment
kgoldy Posted April 16, 2011 Author Share Posted April 16, 2011 Macro Feast pics- I tried photographing some of the critters in the tank. I'm beginning to notice Isopods for the first time... Some are white/tan/clear... Others have a blood red body. I also noticed one flatworm, which was extremely difficult to photograph... Tan-brown in color. Third new creature I noticed on the glass was a few worm shaped things. They travel along the glass like a centipede, and are white. And this is for Weetie- Link to comment
kgoldy Posted April 16, 2011 Author Share Posted April 16, 2011 Also notable- Sea grasses from Reef Cleaners have gone MIA. The little bit that I got seemed very fragile, and because it disappeared while I was away- I don't know what killed it (or where it might be if still alive). Before I left, a very small piece of it had been growing, healthy and green, but I think the snails kept stirring up the sand too much for it to root. Grape Caulerpa has sprouted in my refugium. Guess I didn't completely eliminate it from the other caulerpa I got from the LFS. I threw some chaeto into the back chamber (skimmer chamber) of the sump. It gets a healthy amount of indirect light back there- hopefully enough that it'll be a good place for nutrient uptake. There are tons of isopods running round on the stuff- so the back chamber is becoming a second fuge, for now. ----------------- What do you guys think I should put in the fuge as far as animals are concerned? I was really tempted to buy a pair of pipefish today... Though as far as a refugium (for pods) goes, they would be pretty counter productive in terms of allowing critters to reproduce and feed the main tank. Here's what I'm thinking of in terms of things I would like to add, but know they would destroy the pod population- 1. ORA spotted mandarin 2. pipefish 3. are there any warm water seahorses? I'm also thinking that a small frog fish, or other large-mouth carnivore might be a good addition- since they'll have no negative affect on the pods. Or maybe a mantis? There's a LFS selling a clown/peacock for $20... Link to comment
kgoldy Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 HOLY CRAP. I just found a baby mantis. Freaking awesome. Like, super, super tiny. I'm going to try to photograph it. It's about the size of an adult amphipod, and it's got it's burrow against the glass in the fuge. I cannot wait to watch this thing grow! Woooohooo!! omgomgomg Link to comment
awpong Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 HOLY CRAP. I just found a baby mantis. Freaking awesome. Like, super, super tiny. I'm going to try to photograph it. It's about the size of an adult amphipod, and it's got it's burrow against the glass in the fuge. I cannot wait to watch this thing grow! Woooohooo!! omgomgomg CONGRATS! Photos please! Link to comment
kgoldy Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 CONGRATS!Photos please! I'm trying! It's camera shy... Ah! I have so much to do today... Now I'm going to spend hours laying on the floor with my camera ready... Link to comment
kgoldy Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 Alright, this guy is TINY- and I don't think I can possibly get a better closeup than this without spending a grand on a specialty camera... But here it goes. I used a Cannon G-10 under auto/macro setting. The mantis is small enough that when a copepod swims down into it's burrow, the mantis gets startled. I couldn't see him in these pics... These were taken before it popped out again. And looks like I have my first anemone to kill. 1 Link to comment
savageajc Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 nice tank! love the doggies, hows the baby mantis doing? thats so cool! Link to comment
kgoldy Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 nice tank! love the doggies, hows the baby mantis doing? thats so cool! He's rearranging the burrow... Kind of filling in near the glass, which stinks, because it's making it harder to observe him... Link to comment
RESONANCE Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 LOL, pretty cool mantis pics! Don't think I've ever seen one that small... you can just barely make out the arms... or maybe that was my imagination? lol. Now I've gotta start taking a closer look at those burrows on my glass pane too! Btw, G10's supposed to be a pretty good camera isn't it? Maybe you can rent a gazillion dollar lens to entertain us here on N-R! Just kiddin . Link to comment
kgoldy Posted April 19, 2011 Author Share Posted April 19, 2011 Boo... Got home from work and the burrow is caved in. =[ Link to comment
mmcguffi Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 LOL, pretty cool mantis pics! Don't think I've ever seen one that small... you can just barely make out the arms... or maybe that was my imagination? lol. Now I've gotta start taking a closer look at those burrows on my glass pane too! Btw, G10's supposed to be a pretty good camera isn't it? Maybe you can rent a gazillion dollar lens to entertain us here on N-R! Just kiddin . Ive got a G11. The macro lens focuses on things that are touching the lens itself. Seriously. Sucks about your tiny matis bro Link to comment
malibukay Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Boo... Got home from work and the burrow is caved in. =[ I don't think he's gone, I just think he didn't want you peeking in on him Link to comment
kgoldy Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 Moved the Macro Feast out of isolation, and split it between the 90 gal and the fuge... everything in the 90 gallon was instantly consumed (not my intention) and everything in the fuge looks good. Very thick and bushy, a lot prettier than the Reef Cleaners Red G. Pics when I get a chance. Girlfriend is back in town, she demands a lot of attention. Haha Link to comment
bitts Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Goldy this thread just gets better as time goes by. Thank you for throwing it up it's becoming one of the best examples on the site. Link to comment
kgoldy Posted May 24, 2011 Author Share Posted May 24, 2011 Thanks Bitts. Sorry for lack of updates. 60 hr workweeks and g/f being done with school means I don't get a lot of "me and my tank" time. Caulerpa has all grown out a lot- the tank is looking really green. No sexual problems... keeping my nitrates and phosphates at undetectable levels... Going to trim and sell to other reefers soon. Gracilaria is all gone, devoured by snails. Mangroves can't handle the salt that builds up on them thanks to all the bubbles, so I moved them into the main display. I've gotten pretty handy with working with acrylic for work ( see my new acrylic photobooth here ) so Im planning on making my own HOB mangrove tank to put behind the display. Ulva doesn't seem to like to grow in the low flow of the fuge. It does a lot better in the display tank where it gets pushed around by the strong currents. Ironically, I've been trying to seed my fuge with the ulva that's growing in my display... Reef Cleaners is coming out with their "best of season" macro pack June 1st, so I'll be getting that to make this tank more interesting. I've been considering putting my MP-10 in the fuge to get a little more movement in the tank to make the ulva happier, but I don't want to undo the awesome pod breeding ground I have now... Also- I'm probably going to put a mantis in the tank. One of my pistol shrimp managed to make it into the fuge... I have NO idea how... But I'll have to get him out of there before I put the mantis in there. Still waiting on John from RC to tell me what species of mantis he can harvest. I def want something pretty, since it'll be the only thing in the fuge bigger than the pods. Link to comment
kgoldy Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 Haven't been keeping up with this thread... Getting some new macros from John, and also built a big secondary fuge to put behind my display. See link in sig for details... Might have to make a second planted thread- or maybe I'll tie the two fuges into this one thread. Also getting a mantis from John- so this tank is about to get a lot more fun. Trimmed out the c. prolifera and shipped it out to NavyMedic via USPS ground. It survived three days in a box... Included it for free since I didn't know if it would handle the shipping. Photo-dump time... Oh- also put in a tiny pump to add some water movement to the fuge. Figured it would do the macros some good to get blown around a bit. Hydor Pico Evo-Mag 180, it's a sweet little pump... but I'm waiting on the Hydor Rotating Deflector that was supposed to come with it... BRS is working to get Hydor to ship it directly to me. Link to comment
kgoldy Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 TED talks on Mantis Shrimp Link to comment
sstuckey Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 TED talks on Mantis Shrimp That was outstanding. That was so much better than the usual... Q: "Can mantis shrimp ________?" A: "Yeah, cause my cousin's roommate kept one in his dorm and totally smashed the plastic critter keeper with a sonic boom right before he totally died of paly toxin poisoning after his top off water splashed in his eye" Link to comment
kgoldy Posted July 8, 2011 Author Share Posted July 8, 2011 Newest addition to the display fuge- Got tons of macros- so much that I had to throw a lot of it into my BC29 I was trying to break down. Fighting Conch for fuge. Really need the sandbed disturbed a lot more. Freakin sweet purple gorg 1 Link to comment
yoshii Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Woah, lots of macros! May I ask where you bought them from? Awesome tank! Link to comment
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