THE OFFICIAL ASK ALBERT THIEL THREAD

[albertthiel]

I am not usually an advocate of urchins in reef tanks but if you want one then IMO the Tuxedo urchin is probably the best. I was given a small one by a reefer selling up and had it for a number of months now. It does no harm at all in my tank and bothers non of my inverts. Urchins require proper and long acclimatization when first introduced and the Tuxedo is no exception. Here's a pic of mine grazing on the side glass of my tank it would appear.

.

 

Here is what I have as info that I am sure you are probably aware of :

 

Minimum Tank Size: 20 gallons

Care Level: Easy

Temperament: Peaceful

Reef Compatible: Yes

Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.023-1.025

Max. Size: 3"

Color Form: Black, Blue, Red, Tan

Diet: Herbivore

Supplements: Calcium, Magnesium, Iodine, Trace Elements

 

and :

 

It's also known as the Sphere or Globe Urchin, has five to ten broad-colored bands usually blue or black, with red, brown, or dark spines.

 

The striking combination gives it the sort of "formal" look and the name "Tuxedo Urchin."

 

During the day it likes to it hide among the rocks, in crevices, or under algae in a sandy substrate.

 

At night, it will emerge to graze on the algae present in or near where it has a spot that it normally goes to.

 

Although often kept by itself, several can be housed in the same tank if it is large enough to have enough food, and algae for them. Supplemental feeding I think is necessary but depends on how much food it or they can find in the tank.

 

it is sensitive to high nitrate levels. If it starts to lose a number of spines, it is often due to poor water conditions.

 

If algae levels are particularly low, its diet will need to be supplemented with dried seaweed.

 

You probably know most of this anyway .... :0 Nice acquisition .... and good luck with it.

[ZephNYC]

Zeph like these ... not easy to send from cell phone but here is they are ....

 

 

 

Now you know how I felt that day when I did my very first post to you Albert, picture and all from my phone.

Yes, Those are the dragon face. Ive had pairs that did very well on baby brine and pods..more later my phone is about to die.

 

 

 

Really nice picture Albert!

Zeph, are you Marc? pm!!

 

 

edit: Panda, almost forgot I have a really nice purple stereonepthya that opens to around 10 inches, and it frags well. I will post a pic late late.

Edited June 27, 2012 by ZephNYC

[albertthiel]

She may, but as rough as clowns are with their hosts, I wouldn't hope for it. Bubble corals are extremely sensitive to tissue damage, and are very likely to get an infection from it.

 

Did you watch the Video?

[wombat]

And as far as your size comparison goes, wouldn't that be comparable to a blue whale feeding on zooplankton? If that doesn't blow someone's mind, I don't know what would.

 

Blue whales are filter feeders. They strain stuff out of the water. That analogy would make better sense if we were discussing a small filter feeder, like say a juvenile giant clam, a scallop, or a feather duster, which all eat phytoplankton and are about the size of a chromis (more or less).

 

I do thank you very much for the information you give. I am just trying to find a reason that dosing large amounts of phyto into their system invokes such a response as it does. Like I saw earlier in the thread, it may well just be a response to the new "smell" or "taste" that it provides in the water, but I guess we won't truly know, will we? Weirder things have happened in the animal kingdom.

 

No prob. Fish have an olfactory sense just like us, and respond to the smell of stuff even if it isn't necessarily what they would normally eat. For example you can put squid juice in the water and watch them go nuts, even if a squid is not something they would normally eat.

 

Here is an interesting article about fish "smelling":

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/5/fish

 

 

I am impressed!! I didnt know any DendroN's lived in Queens.. LOL. How long have you had them ?

 

I'll be impressed if the answer is several years, with growth.

 

FWIW besides feeding the correctly sized foods, flow velocity in a very narrow range seems to be very important for their survival. There is very little information on the optimal velocity for all the different species.

 

http://www.coralscience.org/main/articles/...thellate-corals

Edited June 28, 2012 by wombat

[tiepilot68]

I didn't mean it as in it was not happy, just that it was like "COME AT ME, BRO!" like it was daring other corals to mess with! Mine does the same thing, just not to that extent - that thing is just gorgeous.

Thank you!!! lol and yes it does look like it has major attitude.

 

Did you watch the Video?

 

I did!! lol thanks for the link! amazing. Really hope that if she does host it, she wont do it any harm.

[ZephNYC]

If you are going to spam this threat I will get the mods stop you please understand that OK. I do NOT need spam on this thread so do me a favor and remove your post this evening. I do NOT want to see them any longer in the morning. If they are not removed I will report you to the Moderators guaranteed.

 

Albert

 

Albert,

You may just have to learn to ignore these guys. I sympathize with him though, its been at least a week since his mother changed his diapers.

[albertthiel]

Albert,

You may just have to learn to ignore these guys. I sympathize with him though, its been at least a week since his mother changed his diapers.

[ZephNYC]

Now you know how I felt that day when I did my very first post to you Albert, picture and all from my phone.

Yes, Those are the dragon face. Ive had pairs that did very well on baby brine and pods..more later my phone is about to die.

 

 

 

 

 

 

edit: Panda, almost forgot I have a really nice purple stereonepthya that opens to around 10 inches, and it frags well. I will post a pic late late.

 

X large Stereonepthya. These do really well and I've fragged it often. THey are more purple than the picture shows

[jedimasterben]

Blue whales are filter feeders. They strain stuff out of the water. That analogy would make better sense if we were discussing a small filter feeder, like say a juvenile giant clam, a scallop, or a feather duster, which all eat phytoplankton and are about the size of a chromis (more or less).

 

No prob. Fish have an olfactory sense just like us, and respond to the smell of stuff even if it isn't necessarily what they would normally eat. For example you can put squid juice in the water and watch them go nuts, even if a squid is not something they would normally eat.

 

Here is an interesting article about fish "smelling":

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/5/fish

A very interesting article indeed! Thanks so much!

[bhskicker18]

X large Stereonepthya. These do really well and I've fragged it often. THey are more purple than the picture shows

 

Is that the Red Tip? I bought a Lemon Tree from liveaquaria.com and loved the color. Only bad thing was that it was small (Less than a inch on a big ugly plug). My pistol shrimp kept putting sand on the coral and when I was away for the weekend it died. But if you dont mind me asking, what species of anthias is that? Love the clown!

[ZephNYC]

Zeph like these ... not easy to send from cell phone but here is they are ....

 

 

 

Ok..Pipefish!!!

I have had good success with dragon face, which you have already shown, and I have had good success with these.

Blue stripe pipefish

The answer is lots and lots of copepods and lots and lots of live rock. I never had them in my 125 seahorse tank, but now that my hobby has been resurrected i probably will as I have been upgrading that system so much I can now keep my deresa in there. When I had them they were in a 55 along with seahorses and dragon face pipefish and believe it or not a massive elegance coral. I know it sounds impossible because elegance corals are like big stoney based anemones, but I had this aussie purple tip that was just not sticky. seahorses would go through it all the time like a mini at the car wash. I kept them for many years, and bread tons and tons of seahorses, but i believe the longest ive had a bluestipe is about 2 years, dragon face about the same. I wouldnt keep a pair in anything less than a 55 gal, but a 30 would get you by. I also would never keep just one. Always at least a pair. If you do not have the ability to maintain a few copepod cultures dont even think about getting any of these pipefish. They do eat live baby brine shrimp, but you still need the pods. Pods are much better.

[ZephNYC]

Is that the Red Tip? I bought a Lemon Tree from liveaquaria.com and loved the color. Only bad thing was that it was small (Less than a inch on a big ugly plug). My pistol shrimp kept putting sand on the coral and when I was away for the weekend it died. But if you dont mind me asking, what species of anthias is that? Love the clown!

 

Indeed it is a red tip. I never understood why they call it a red tip when it is solid purple. WHo officially thinks up these common names anyway? I understand the Latin but really..why would anyone call this a red tip..its like a joke.

ANyway, I too purchased a lemon tree from LA and it was about the size of a pinhead. It was also a joke. It was pathetic and ddnt open for a week and than a hermit or something walked away with it. THen a couple of weeks later I was working in the tank and found it squished up in the back. I mounted it, and now here she is.

 

Pretty hardy if you ask me. But I do have to add that the tank it is in gets live baby brine several times per day. and several addition per week of marine snow and or other foods. Marine snow is the most awesome food for soft corals. You can see webs of food get caught up in the sclerites. yummyyy!!

 

Almost forgot, That is a male squareback anthia or Pseudanthias pleurotaenia.

Edited June 28, 2012 by ZephNYC

[wombat]

You guys like pipefish eh? Here is a treat for you.

 

Okay, technically not *true* pipefish, but ghost pipefish. This is a video of captive spawning, larval holding, and larval release of Solenostomus paradoxus. To our knowledge this is the first time it's been documented in captivity. We hand collected this pair in the Phillipines. An article about our experience with them will be in the next issue of CORAL magazine.

 

http://vimeo.com/25210712

Edited June 28, 2012 by wombat

[ZephNYC]

You guys like pipefish eh? Here is a treat for you.

 

Okay, technically not *true* pipefish, but ghost pipefish. This is a video of captive spawning, larval holding, and larval release of Solenostomus paradoxus. To our knowledge this is the first time it's been documented in captivity. We hand collected this pair in the Phillipines. An article about our experience with them will be in the next issue of CORAL magazine.

 

http://vimeo.com/25210712

 

INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for that ! I have never even seen those in captivity let alone spawning.

[albertthiel]

Thank you!!! lol and yes it does look like it has major attitude.

 

I did!! lol thanks for the link! amazing. Really hope that if she does host it, she wont do it any harm.

 

I agree and hope so for the owner ... I have seen them do so in the past but you are right Bubble is fragile and could be damaged by the type of behavior a large clown can exhibit

 

X large Stereonepthya. These do really well and I've fragged it often. THey are more purple than the picture shows

 

Still in one of your aquariums Zeph? How large it the tank if I may ask and how long have you had them. Nice looking indeed for a Stereonephthya .

 

You guys like pipefish eh? Here is a treat for you.

 

From Wombat:

Okay, technically not *true* pipefish, but ghost pipefish. This is a video of captive spawning, larval holding, and larval release of Solenostomus paradoxus. To our knowledge this is the first time it's been documented in captivity. We hand collected this pair in the Phillipines. An article about our experience with them will be in the next issue of CORAL magazine.

 

http://vimeo.com/25210712

 

Superb and what an accomplishment that is indeed, and you are probably right that this has not been accomplished before so more power to you guys! ...

 

I can't wait to read the article in Coral Magazine. I was at Barnes & Noble yesterday looking to pick up the next issue, but the mag is either not out yet, or at least B&N did not have it yet ...

 

BTW Coral is a great magazine. I regret that FAMA is no longer around of course but Coral does a superb job IMHO whereas FAMA did not always have articles of the caliber and quality I find in Coral Mag.

 

Thanks for the post and the video ... for those who have not watched it, it a definitely worth watching at least once if not more than once ...

 

Wombat ... do you have any other Videos you can post links to, for us to see of other accomplishments at he Aquarium, or videos on interesting to watch behaviors, and scenes, of the aquariums you take care of. I would imagine you probably have plenty :0 ... so if you could post some other ones for us I am sure that those who are subscribed to this thread would be thankful for them and would be able to see what a large Institution like the one you work for can accomplish. Thanks for looking into it. I appreciate it.

 

That video on Solenostomus paradoxus spawn, fan, birth is really amazing. I just watched it again for I think the 5th time now :

 

http://vimeo.com/25210712

 

Question what kind of equipment was used to record that if I may ask. Must have been some real high quality one to get that kind of macro shots and detail.

 

Thanks for the contribution ...

Edited June 28, 2012 by albertthiel

[atoll]

Sorry Albert I may have missed it but did you do a post on Urchins following my post with pic on my Tuxedo urchin? I know some can be quite poisonous as well as a danger to some corals. It would be interesting to hear your views and experiences with the various ones

BTW I did a link to my original post on how I reefscape a couple of pages back, not sure if you have checked it out or not?

Thanks.

 

Les.

[albertthiel]

Indeed it is a red tip. I never understood why they call it a red tip when it is solid purple. WHo officially thinks up these common names anyway? I understand the Latin but really..why would anyone call this a red tip..its like a joke.

ANyway, I too purchased a lemon tree from LA and it was about the size of a pinhead. It was also a joke. It was pathetic and ddnt open for a week and than a hermit or something walked away with it. THen a couple of weeks later I was working in the tank and found it squished up in the back. I mounted it, and now here she is.

 

Pretty hardy if you ask me. But I do have to add that the tank it is in gets live baby brine several times per day. and several addition per week of marine snow and or other foods. Marine snow is the most awesome food for soft corals. You can see webs of food get caught up in the sclerites. yummyyy!!

 

Almost forgot, That is a male squareback anthia or Pseudanthias pleurotaenia.

 

It always amazes me still up to this day, and that is after I have been in this hobby for 25 years+, what can be accomplished nowadays, and this is a good example of what good husbandry can do, and when you add a little luck in this case for it surviving, even though it was apparently quite roughed up, and look at what you got .. As usual Great job Zeph ...

 

Advances have sure been made since I got out of the hobby, well sort of as I did keep an eye on what was going on although I did not set up another tank after I took the ones I had down in late 1999 when we moved from one location in the Atlanta area to another one.

 

It is in fact hard to say what the biggest advance in all those years has been (still working on an article about that) but one thing I would bring up and that IMHO has contributed a great deal to all the advancements I see if not necessarily tied to light, equipment, filtration types and chemicals, but to the far greater interest that hobbyists take nowadays, or so it seems, in "learning" and "understanding" and having the willingness to do research, and as a result know a lot more about the animals of all kinds they keep in aquariums,

 

The far better "understanding" they have about those life forms, leads to greater success in keeping the alive ... and that is definitely a large shift IMO of what used to happen years and years ago, when hobbyists either did not have access to the kind of information we have access to today, or just did not care, and relied, sometimes too much so, on what their LFS's told them which may not always have been all that accurate as LFS owners are with rare exceptions not Marine Biologists as we all know, and as we often dealt with the employees who worked there that info may have been even more inaccurate unfortunately. But so be it, that was years and years ago and at a time when in many cases so little was known that was "reliable" and "accurate" that getting the wrong or not so accurate information could not be helped.

 

Another major change that came about, I think, of course is the far larger array of life forms that are currently available, versus what was available, say 10 years ago. More to follow on this when I finish the article which will represent only my personal opinion of course ...

Edited June 28, 2012 by albertthiel

[albertthiel]

Sorry Albert I may have missed it but did you do a post on Urchins following my post with pic on my Tuxedo urchin? I know some can be quite poisonous as well as a danger to some corals. It would be interesting to hear your views and experiences with the various ones

BTW I did a link to my original post on how I reefscape a couple of pages back, not sure if you have checked it out or not?

Thanks.

 

Les.

 

Les yes I did reply but it may be a page or two back and I gave you what I remember about keeping Uchins (in this case the Tuxedo one) with mention indeed of some of their defense mechanisms. My response should be 1 or 2 pages back in this thread. If you can't find it let me know and I'll send you the link.

 

Great acquisition and although not a most unusual life form to keep still not all that common IME. I was looking around 2 LFS's yesterday and I did not see any for sale. I am sure there are some online but I did not do a search for them.

 

Good luck with it .. they are IME not all that difficult to keep as long as they can find food but then that is a truism for just about everything we keep in our aquariums, and supplemental feeding can always make up for the lack of what it can find itself ... So what other interesting and unusual critters you have ...

 

On another note: do you remember a hobbyist from the general Manchester area by the name of Andy Hipkiss, and if so, is he still around.

 

He and I used to email each other all the time, and even visited each other both in the UK and in the US, but then, in the very late 90's, I kind of lost track of him (he was a programmer and his wife a nurse), and yes he was at that major London Zoo Conference where I, amongst several others, gave a long lecture on Water Chemistry, using an ideogram if you remember that I drew on the large board behind me ...... What a conference that was btw, so well attended, I think 400 or so participants with some real top level aquarists and if I recall correctly a few researcher and scientists as well. Were any other similar ones organized after that? Here in he US we have MACNA and a few others but the original ones did not come close to the London Conference. I have not been to a recent MACNA so I do not know whether if has grown much larger than it used to be (the last one I attended was in Long Beach CA I think).

 

Wish I still had that ideogram I used to go through the water chemistry presentation ... maybe I do somewhere, but of course with all the time gone by I have no idea where I would have stored it, that is if I actually scanned it in and kept it as what I used at the conference was just an 8.5 by 11 piece of paper that had it all on there.

 

But I digress ... sorry for those who read this and do not quite understand what I am on about :0 ...

 

So Les look for my response on the Tuxedo Cowrie and holler at me if you cannot find it

Edited June 28, 2012 by albertthiel

[ZephNYC]

Still in one of your aquariums Zeph? How large it the tank if I may ask and how long have you had them. Nice looking indeed for a Stereonephthya .

Yes, in fact that picture was taken just last night. I have had that colony for over 4 years now and it was about 1/4 of that size when I purchased it. I have fragged them well, but its tricky because they dont like acrylate (sp?) glue and have to be tied to a frag plug and they always want to fall off. Flow is a key factor with these guys. They will literally shrink and die if the water flow is not adequate. Alternating currents work much nicer.

These guys are in my old clam system albert. WHich consists of a 210 gal. lined in with a 125 gal., sharing a 125 gal. sump.

Edited June 28, 2012 by ZephNYC

[atoll]

Les yes I did reply but it may be a page or two back and I gave you what I remember about keeping Uchins (in this case the Tuxedo one) with mention indeed of some of their defense mechanisms. My response should be 1 or 2 pages back in this thread. If you can't find it let me know and I'll send you the link.

 

Great acquisition and although not a most unusual life form to keep still not all that common IME. I was looking around 2 LFS's yesterday and I did not see any for sale. I am sure there are some online but I did not do a search for them.

 

Good luck with it .. they are IME not all that difficult to keep as long as they can find food but then that is a truism for just about everything we keep in our aquariums, and supplemental feeding can always make up for the lack of what it can find itself ... So what other interesting and unusual critters you have ...

 

On another note: do you remember a hobbyist from the general Manchester area by the name of Andy Hipkiss and if so is he still around. He and I used to email each other all the time but then in the late 90's I kind of lost track of him (he was a programmer and his wife a nurse) and yes he was at that London Zoo Conference where I amongst others gave a long lecture on water chemistry, using an ideogram if you remember ... what a conference that was btw, so well attended, I think 400 or so participants with some real top level aquarists and if I recall correctly a few researcher and scientists as well.

 

Wish I still had that ideogram I used to go through the water chemistry presentation ... maybe I do somewhere but of course with all the time gone by I have no idea where I would have stored it, that is if I actually scanned it in and kept it as what I used at the conference was just an 8.5 by 11 piece of paper that had it all on there, but I digress ... sorry for those who read this and do not quite understand what I am on about :0 ...

 

So Les look for my response and holler at me if you cannot find it

 

 

Oops sorry you did indeed my bad. Thanks for the reply and my urchin is doing very well. It wonders around my tank grazing on whatever it finds and is no trouble at all. As for any more unusual corals etc well I only have a nano and have posted pic's of most of what I have up already. I have kept pipefish in the past ones called snake pipefish. I feed them on newly hatched brine shrimp.

 

One interesting ditty for you. The clowns on the front cover of your book spawned regular. One day I watched a pipefish gorge itself on their eggs before making off. It pulled hard on each egg and munched on it in turn I recon it eat about 10 or so. The clowns were annoyed at this of course but made no attempt to stop it feeding on their precious eggs. The female clown wafted its tail and the pipe but it took no notice and carried on feeding on the eggs. IMO the clowns may have thought it was some sort of small sea snake and were confused by its shape. Unfortunately I don't have pic's of them to show you.

 

I have not heard of Andy for quite sometime but I can try and find out if he is still around by posting on Ultimate Reef asking about him.

[albertthiel]

Yes, in fact that picture was taken just last night. I have had that colony for over 4 years now and it was about 1/4 of that size when I purchased it. I have fragged them well, but its tricky because they dont like acrylate (sp?) glue and have to be tied to a frag plug and they always want to fall off. Flow is a key factor with these guys. They will literally shrink and die if the water flow is not adequate. Alternating currents work much nicer.

These guys are in my old clam system albert. WHich consists of a 210 gal. lined in with a 125 gal., sharing a 125 gal. sump.

 

All I can say if very nice ... another one that you focused on that many hobbyists are either not interested in or do not attempt knowing the difficulties that are involved, or just not wanting to set up large systems for them.

 

When you say flow is a factor do you mean its strength or just alternating it or both ...

 

On the glue ... are you saying they do not like the cyanoacrylate that is around currently (and if I am correct there are indeed many kinds I think). A quick look at a summary page on them confirms that :

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari...-8&oe=UTF-8 and one that lists a large number of types

http://www.ellsworth.com/Adhesives/Cyanoac...CFUKc7QodMl4gww

 

Is the behavior somewhat similar to some of the mushrooms we keep or am I off the mark (no pun intended) here? (e.g. Ricordea and the like)

 

Let us know more Zeph ... interesting thread ... Thanks

[Panda_girl]

X large Stereonepthya. These do really well and I've fragged it often. THey are more purple than the picture shows

 

Very Nice Marc, I can't wait for you to frag some more of those. I want! I want!

[ZephNYC]

Very Nice Marc, I can't wait for you to frag some more of those. I want! I want!

 

Ask and you shall receive . This weekend I will be fragging the following:

 

Ora red planet

Blueberry llimeade acro nasuta

red tip stereonepthya (purple)

German purple branching montipora

Tyree purple monster acro

 

I will only be making 4 of each as my frag tank is only 30 gal, but has a 40 gal sump. The stereo will take a little longer to heal than the sps.

 

All I can say if very nice ... another one that you focused on that many hobbyists are either not interested in or do not attempt knowing the difficulties that are involved, or just not wanting to set up large systems for them.

 

When you say flow is a factor do you mean its strength or just alternating it or both ...

 

On the glue ... are you saying they do not like the cyanoacrylate that is around currently (and if I am correct there are indeed many kinds I think). A quick look at a summary page on them confirms that :

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari...-8&oe=UTF-8 and one that lists a large number of types

http://www.ellsworth.com/Adhesives/Cyanoac...CFUKc7QodMl4gww

 

Is the behavior somewhat similar to some of the mushrooms we keep or am I off the mark (no pun intended) here? (e.g. Ricordea and the like)

 

Let us know more Zeph ... interesting thread ... Thanks

 

Al, give me till this afternoon to describe my system. Im at the gym now and I have a big order arriving from Live Aquaria today. Lots of NPS - black sun coral, orange sun coral and yellow sun coral!! Im excited!!!

[Panda_girl]

Ask and you shall receive . This weekend I will be fragging the following:

 

Ora red planet

Blueberry llimeade acro nasuta

red tip stereonepthya (purple)

German purple branching montipora

Tyree purple monster acro

 

I will only be making 4 of each as my frag tank is only 30 gal, but has a 40 gal sump. The stereo will take a little longer to heal than the sps.

 

Are pick up's weclome ?? I want one of each !

[Veng]

Ok Albert, I've got a couple of questions for you.

 

What's the minimum sized tank with a <1gallon HOB, refigum for an advanced aquarist to maintain a self sustaining copepod population for a single adult mandrain? What additional maintance can be done (other than dosing copepods) to artifically increase the sustainable copepod population in a tank?

 

Also, what are your feelings on extremely large, regular water changes on small tanks (<10G water volume tanks, 75% to 90% WC by water volume, not tank size)? Outside of the normal risks of temp and salinity shock, of course.