Squared Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 that is some amazing candy cane, i want some Link to comment
metrokat Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 The zoas look like eagle eyes to me, but "cool orange zoas with neony tentacles" is just as good a name. Nope, eagle eyes have green skirts. I have 3 varieties of EE. Link to comment
castiel Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 Well they still haven't opened fully, nor the 'magicians', but starting to more. I'll get a better pic for potential ID when they do. I had some SPS issues already, documented here: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=289568 Hopefully all good now. Most of you show off SPS growth ... mine just shrunk =0) Link to comment
castiel Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 Caught a pic of my open brain with the flash, showcasing its mad tentacles. This is how it looks every night once the lights go off ... something I didn't see once with my previous green open brain. You might also see the 'stand' I made it out of putty, so that it sits on the sand upright better. Kept getting knocked over by the damn hermits (it has a pointy cone shaped base). Link to comment
castiel Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 Feeding time at the zoo. Also spotted my HH crab again under the favia ... keep forgetting he is there to be honest. Has tiny pincers ... and I think I saw dark tips, so maybe a gorilla crab. Still tiny so not doing any harm (that I am aware of), but guess I should try and trap him at some point. Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 I found one on my tank at christmas it had eggs so i left it in there but ill fish it out soon and give it to the petstore.I did see some damage done to my favia but so far its healed it over.It must have been on a clove polyp peice i ordered.Black tips on its cleas as well and they looked sharp. Link to comment
castiel Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Today is 104F ... and guess whose air con took a crap last night? Put the fan right over the tanks, opened the lids, and was amazed to watch them not rise one degree in temperature (last night my tank got up to 84 ...). I really thought these little picos were going to die a horrible death today. I even went to the LFS to stock up on water so I could switch some out if it was getting too steamy in there. Thankfully for me, the air con is now fixed! Link to comment
chippwalters Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Today is 104F ... and guess whose air con took a crap last night? Put the fan right over the tanks, opened the lids, and was amazed to watch them not rise one degree in temperature (last night my tank got up to 84 ...). I really thought these little picos were going to die a horrible death today. I even went to the LFS to stock up on water so I could switch some out if it was getting too steamy in there. Thankfully for me, the air con is now fixed! Wow! Close call. Glad to hear things are a-okay. Link to comment
castiel Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Just to add to the drama, had a power outage this morning during a storm. Thankfully only lasted 2 hours and the tanks only went up 4F or so. Made me realise I need to get a battery powered air pump or something though ... I was sitting there with a turkey baster making sure there was some movement for a while, haha. Link to comment
tylernt Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Made me realise I need to get a battery powered air pump or something thoughI sleep better at night with one on my tank. I like the kind that come on automatically when the power goes out. Link to comment
castiel Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Hmm I'll have to look into that option, I didn't know they existed! (at a sensible price I guess). Link to comment
tylernt Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Here in the US, the Penn-Plax Silent Air B11 is pretty reasonably priced. Dunno what options you have over there, or if the B11 will work on 220v. Link to comment
Arkayology Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 One bad thing after another here. Ouch. Link to comment
castiel Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Eh, it's all good, nothing died and the tank is doing well. Except my duncans that is ... but they have been acting weird and closed up most of the time for a few weeks now. Link to comment
surgicalsense Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Awesome pair of picos Link to comment
castiel Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Hmm getting a bit worried at the moment, my duncans are now fully closed and have been for a couple of days. The new zoas I introduced are also completely closed, and the smaller of the two frags (tiny 1/2" piece) is actually dying away I think. I am heating some water now and am going to do an 80% change tomorrow plus clean out the back chambers. I accidentally pulled the flow valve off the end of the pump (the one that directs as it enters the tank) and a load of crap came out and swirled around teh tank. This was today so not the reason for the other issues, but made me realise that the back chamber could well do with a complete clean out. Link to comment
MetaTank Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Hoping for a fast turnaround and a speedy recovery! I hope all goes well with your pair, seeing as I have a pair of my own, I can share in your anxiety. Link to comment
castiel Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 Thanks! I did some rearranging earlier (of my tank) ... removed one of the largeish rocks to free up some space at the front, moved the duncans to see if they do better in another spot a bit more out of the flow. I'll take some pics at some point. The 'magician' zoas completely melted away, and the small piece in Ang's tank did teh same. Weird. The 'eagle eyes' are still closed up and have been for a few days, but I am hopeful of a recovery. Link to comment
tylernt Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 The 'magician' zoas completely melted away, and the small piece in Ang's tank did teh same. Weird. Yeah, much as I'd like to think I know a lot about this hobby, there are still some mysteries like this. Like the fungia that started to decline in my tank, and the Xenia that I currently have which has "gone skinny" for no readily apparent reason (no ammonia, solid temp, solid salinity, added carbon, did big water change). There always seem to be a few "WTF" issues... I guess nobody's an expert on every coral (except maybe Dr Shimek). Link to comment
castiel Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 Well I have just got back from a whirlwind world tour. Melbourne-Sydney-LA-London-Bangkok-Sydney-Melbourne over 10 days! Needless to say I have missed my little picos, but glad that Ang was home to take care of them. That said, there were two incidents ... 1) She turned the pumps off one night to feed, went to bed and forgot to put them back on and didn't notice until the next evening! Pumps were off for around 22 hours, and it was fairly warm that day too. Miraculously my tank had not a single casualty, everything was fine. In Ang's tank she had a head of Duncan die (bleached white), and it appears that her porcelain crab also died as he hasn't been seen since. 2) She hasn't done a water change, which means I have more algae on my glass than I like to have (though even that is minimal). But Ang's tank, maybe because of the deaths, has a real algae problem to deal with. Black hairy/stringy algae on teh sand, and one of the back chambers is thick with a stringy/cobweby brown algae. I am thinking both might by cyano or similar to. I have a tub of water and was going to do a change today, but it is only enough for about 50% change in each tank and I want to do 80%, so it will wait until tomorrow. Both tanks will be getting a thorough cleaning too. I also thought for my own benefit I would do a little 'stock take' of the tanks and a note on how each is doing. That way I can reference back ... Ang's tank Clove polyps - are spreading across the top and back of the rock they are on, there are quite a few babies back there and it's great to see them doing so well as they are very pretty Torch - seems to have finally adjusted to the higher flow from the Koralia, and is now inflating/extending to similar levels to how it was previously Duncans - as mentioned above, one head died but the other three seem to be doing well Bubble coral - doing very well Cynarina - holy crap this thing gets HUGE now, it inflates to something like 3x its withdrawn size, is probably 3" round in diameter and 1" thick/tall. Somewhat overshadows some zoas that aren't too happy, but is a great centrepiece. Xenia - Moved from the original position a few weeks ago, now sit next to the Cynarina and seem to be doing much better. Maybe it shelters them from the flow a bit better, they were exposed previously. Zoas - the multi-coloured variety of zoas we originally got are doing great (apart from where the Cynarina covers them) - some have really grown in size and show a yellow ring around their skirt - might try to ID them at some point (they were all previously a dullish brown but glowed in teh actinics nicely). The small green zoas though are suddenly not opening much after previously doing really well. GSP - doing very well, seems very happy Gorgonian - doing extremely well, maybe even some further new growth, but great polyp extension several times per day now Sun Coral - doing pretty well, opens up now and then during the day but feeds well. Ricordeas - both doing really well, nicely spread out Morphs - all doing well. One that we have watched develop from barely a speck is now showing bright green streaks (brown main body), can't wait to see it keep growing and see what it turns into. The YCG is still doing great as well, along with the hermit and two snails, plus multiple stomatellas that see to like coming out during hte day ... My tank Hammer - appears to be splitting, isn't inflating fully at the moment but I am not sure if the two are related or if it just isn't happy? Ricordea - loves its new position, the way it spreads over the rock reminds me of a maxi-mini - love it Candy Cane - doing really well, several look like they are splitting and all are very 'plump' looking Favia - apart form the section that the hammer long ago killed off, looks great and even seems to be gaining colour Random Acro - looks like, well, when I bought it. I have never seen any polyp extension but it has colour and hints of green where the polyps would be, so I am a bit stumped. Any easy way I can tell if it is alive?! Or would it bleach white if it died? Dallas Acro - looks amazing - after I saved half of it from the RTN it has really gained colour, now a stunning bright green. Cyphastrea - not sure what to make of this. I think it looks okay, but then I don't see it extend any more, hasn't for a month or so. Not that it did often before, but would still see it now and then. Might try moving this around the corner, I think it is in too high flow area. Zoas - the two new types of zoas I introduced died away, just melted - one type very quickly the other more slowly but both are now gone. Palys - doing great, spreading on the rock and are a great size. Blasto - holy crap this also gets huge now, bigger than I thought a single head of blasto would reach - almost 2" in diameter. And it's having babies! There are around 10 heads growing around its base like little pimples! Very excited to see these grow. Chalice - not doing too much but seems healthy, and I think some of its jagged edges have rounded off which at least suggests a little growth. Rhodactis - loves its spot, expands fully and is a beautiful green colour. Morphs - a few weeks ago these all seemed to decide to go on a trip around the tank and find new homes. A purple one is now down towards the back, but the two orange ones thankfully found a home in the front corner and seem to be doing okay. Open brain - looks amazing, is nice and plump and I think has even healed the damage it had when I got it. Lovely colours and looks great when it extends its feeding tentacles. Duncan - after not doing well suddenly where they were, I moved them to the other side of the tank but they still don't look good. Not dead, but can barely see the 'flesh' within the heads any more and they don't come out to feed. I might try one last move for them but otherwise at a bit of a loss ... YCG, 2x hermits, nerite snail, porcelain crab - all doing well. I know, tl;dr and not even a picture! Link to comment
chippwalters Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Hey Peter, thanks for the update! Sounds like you got lucky on the flow issue. FWIW, I, too, had an acro with little to no growth. I had it high in the tank, under SPS lighting, clean water and plenty of flow. Finally, I started Alkalinity dosing and it really started to grow-- so you might want to check your levels. HTH. Link to comment
castiel Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 Forgot to put the air con on today and it was up at 95F outside. Got home at 8.30pm to find the tanks at 88F. Miraculously there don't appear to be any casualties, but I need to stop being so forgetful about that kind of thing otherwise I am going to come home to find my tanks nuked one day. Link to comment
lljdma06 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Yikes! Glad everything is ok. I've had zoas "melt" on me too. Yet another zoa will thrive? Go figure. Link to comment
castiel Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 I am learning the mysteries of coral gradually too. Like my duncan ... it was thriving, eating well, fully expanded every day. Then it started to retract a bit ... then a lot ... then altogether. I have tried moving its position in the tank, but no luck. I haven't seen it appear for weeks now ... I am sure it is slowly starving to death, but why it stays retracted I have no idea when everything else in the tank is fine or growing. Link to comment
lljdma06 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Hmmmm, I'm having a similar situation with my two gorgs. You just have to keep trying different things until you find something. Wonder if Ang's tank is an option? L Link to comment
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