My Atlantis - Wild & Woolly May 2015 Pictures!

[albertthiel]

What is this Duncan coral doing? Is it what it looks like? LOL

click picture to view video:

Looks like it is about to expel some you know what ... did that brownish thing eventually come out completely?

 

I have seem mine expel a long long strong of brownish material (not brown jelly) but undisgested food or whatever it wanted to get rid of and then start opening up again ..

 

On yours are some of the heads closed ? They will do that sometimes and it can last quite some time and then the re-open fully with all tentacles nicely extended.

[eitallent]

lol He's taking a poo. No need to clean up.

Okay. I finally realized it after much concern! LOL

Thanks for confirming my suspicions.

 

Looks like it is about to expel some you know what ... did that brownish thing eventually come out completely?

 

I have seem mine expel a long long strong of brownish material (not brown jelly) but undisgested food or whatever it wanted to get rid of and then start opening up again ..

 

On yours are some of the heads closed ? They will do that sometimes and it can last quite some time and then the re-open fully with all tentacles nicely extended.

 

Yes the heads closed up. They turned blue too. Reminds me of babies trying to potty. LOL

 

 

[albertthiel]

Okay. I finally realized it after much concern! LOL

Thanks for confirming my suspicions.

Yes the heads closed up. They turned blue too. Reminds me of babies trying to potty. LOL

Mine does that too and usually it will let go of a long string that sort of floats around for a while till it detaches.

 

Guess they have to do a #2 like everyone else :-)

[zhuangcg]

You have a lovely aquarium; even if it does have some poo in it.

[albertthiel]

You have a lovely aquarium; even if it does have some poo in it.

They eat so they poo ... some are worse than others though IME .. My bi-color Blenny seems to be the most active at it for some reason and of course drops it where I don't really want it, often on the Yumas ! Oh well since they are doing just fine I guess it does not hurt them ...

[Spirofucci]

You have a lovely aquarium; even if it does have some poo in it.

 

Too funny, but I agree!!!

 

Save this pic for POTM, under the category of poo in yer tank. I'll vote for you.

[msscha]

They eat so they poo ... some are worse than others though IME .. My bi-color Blenny seems to be the most active at it for some reason and of course drops it where I don't really want it, often on the Yumas ! Oh well since they are doing just fine I guess it does not hurt them ...

In my tank, it's the sexy shrimp! Little lines of poo that float...it was pretty funny watching the various fish discover that wasn't a free food source .

[albertthiel]

In my tank, it's the sexy shrimp! Little lines of poo that float...it was pretty funny watching the various fish discover that wasn't a free food source .

Yes I can imagine .... :-)

[eitallent]

You have a lovely aquarium; even if it does have some poo in it.

TY

 

Save this pic for POTM, under the category of poo in yer tank. I'll vote for you.

I think it might win for most gross!

 

In my tank, it's the sexy shrimp! Little lines of poo that float...it was pretty funny watching the various fish discover that wasn't a free food source .

Yes! Skipper has to learn the same lesson over and over.

 

They eat so they poo ... some are worse than others though IME .. My bi-color Blenny seems to be the most active at it for some reason and of course drops it where I don't really want it, often on the Yumas ! Oh well since they are doing just fine I guess it does not hurt them ...

 

Who knows, maybe the that is the reason the Yumas are so healthy, happy and are having babies.

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New equipment: Hanah pH tester ( I am still uncertain if this works well) and refractometer

[pschom]

Damn snails poo more than anything. I don't see my corals poo anymore (must be shy) but my skimmer sure sees it! Btw shrimp will gobble that right up. It's like caviar to them.

[albertthiel]

Who knows, maybe the that is the reason the Yumas are so healthy, happy and are having babies.

 

Any Pics of the Babies ? I have one ... of which I have posted pics on my thread and you have probably seen it .. are you growing that way or are the Yumas dropping little babies with tiny tentacles already, mine looks like a split off the main one ...

[eitallent]

Any Pics of the Babies ? I have one ... of which I have posted pics on my thread and you have probably seen it .. are you growing that way or are the Yumas dropping little babies with tiny tentacles already, mine looks like a split off the main one ...

 

Sorry, Albert! I meant your Yumas are so happy and healthy and having babies. I must be more clear in my writing!

 

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In other news, I may have scorched my Xenia. I moved it from the sand bed midway up the tank. There were a pink color and now they are white! Their little hands are curled up more than they used to be too. I moved back down to the sand and I hope it is not too late to reverse the damage.

This is now:

 

Before:

[albertthiel]

Sorry, Albert! I meant your Yumas are so happy and healthy and having babies. I must be more clear in my writing!

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

In other news, I may have scorched my Xenia. I moved it from the sand bed midway up the tank. There were a pink color and now they are white! Their little hands are curled up more than they used to be too. I moved back down to the sand and I hope it is not too late to reverse the damage.

This is now:

 

You can see some here of different colors ..

 

http://www.aquacon.com/coralxenia.html

[Weetabix7]

This is the first time I think I've heard of "scorched" Xenia.

Xenia is super hardy, I'd say there's a really good chance it'll bounce right back. Just give it a day.

[eitallent]

Hello everyone! TGIF

 

I finished my WC early this morning and spent some time admiring and observing all the activity in My Atlantis.

 

I turned the fuge back on after repairing the spout with Loctite Plastics Bonding System. I sealed the joint with 100% silicone and it is holding fast.

 

After the water cleared up, I turned off the pumps to feed. I took some pictures with the quiet water before feeding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Goniopora

 

 

I got this Candy coral for free b/c it did not look good @ LFS and they let me rescue it.

[Weetabix7]

Hello everyone! TGIF

 

I finished my WC early this morning and spent some time admiring and observing all the activity in My Atlantis.

 

I turned the fuge back on after repairing the spout with Loctite Plastics Bonding System. I sealed the joint with 100% silicone and it is holding fast.

 

After the water cleared up, I turned off the pumps to feed. I took some pictures with the quiet water before feeding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Goniopora

 

 

I got this Candy coral for free b/c it did not look good @ LFS and they let me rescue it.

 

Xenia is looking fine again.

If you feed the Candycane heads, it will recover much faster.

You know that Goniopora is difficult to keep in captivity, right?

It's too bad, cause it's a beautiful coral.

[jedimasterben]

You know that Goniopora is difficult to keep in captivity, right?

+1, you will need to target feed every other day or so with something very small. ZephNYC feeds his colonies daily with Brineshrimpdirect.com 's product Golden Pearls soaked in live phytoplankton.

[albertthiel]

Hello everyone! TGIF

 

I finished my WC early this morning and spent some time admiring and observing all the activity in My Atlantis.

 

My Duncan is doing fine but my Candy Cane is showing signs that it needs more feeding so I'll have to figure out a way to get it done in the middle of the night as as soon as there is any light its feeder tentacles are retracted so I have to do it before daylight comes.

 

I tried doing it after the lights were out for about 2 hours but the long tentacles were still not out, only the real short ones ... Guess I'll have to wake up early .... and take care of it and then try to get some more sleep if I can.

[eitallent]

Xenia is looking fine again.

If you feed the Candycane heads, it will recover much faster.

You know that Goniopora is difficult to keep in captivity, right?

It's too bad, cause it's a beautiful coral.

 

Yes. So far so good with the Xenia. It did change color from a pinkish to white when I placed higher up in the tank. I will keep it on the sand for a couple of weeks and see if the color will change back. It has grown tremendously in two months. Originally it had three hands.

 

After some research, I believe this is Anthelia not Xenia. It is growing directly from a mat. It does not have stalks (or should I say a trunk?) with the hands on it.

An excerpt from this article that athiel posted on his topic thread:

Anthelia are very easy to identify and are unlike any other common member of this family (excluding the newly erected genus Sansibia… *see below). Polyps do not rise from stalks, branches, or summits, but rather grow from an encrusting stoloniferous web or mat (something like Briareum "Star polyps"). Anthelia polyps are never retractile and are only slightly contractile.

 

Click pic to see a 15 sec video of Anthelia (?) with very little pulsing action

 

I have already started feeding the Candy corals. I hope that they make a full recovery!

 

The large Goniporia frag was on sale for $20 and I felt like I could keep it better than that dirty LFS. Out of the three LFS and one semi-LFS (about three hours away) only one is scrupulous with cleaning and care of their livestock and tanks!

There is Aiptasia, GHA and bubble algae in every single tank in three of the four LFSs. Unfortunately the cleanest and most caring LFS does not have a bunch of coral. However, all their fish are excellent. That is where I got Skipper my Citron goby.

 

I just pulled out a bit of bubble algae from my tank. Thank goodness for reef cleaners BA CUC.

[eitallent]

+1, you will need to target feed every other day or so with something very small. ZephNYC feeds his colonies daily with Brineshrimpdirect.com 's product Golden Pearls soaked in live phytoplankton.

 

TY for the suggestion jedimasterben. I have been reading a lot about Goniopora. I found the info in this Advanced Aquarist October 2005 article especially interesting:

Goniopora is a genus of coral. When most people think of Goniopora, they think of Goniopora stokesi. No wonder everyone thinks you can't keep Goniopora successfully; those things are hard! Goniopora stokesi comes from turbid, nutrient-laden water on a soft substrate. They eat a lot. When I do not feed them five times a week, they shrink.

 

The range of desired flow, food, and light needs differs among the many species of Goniopora. Some grow quite large, and a mature colony may look like a colony of Porites from a distance. Others have short polyps and are encrusting. Still others are free living on soft substrates.

 

So there is hope for this Goni. I have seen it curl its tentacles on tiny food particles that I gently drizzle over them. I feel like it likes the flow and lighting. Its polyps are plump and stretch out most of the time.

 

My Duncan is doing fine but my Candy Cane is showing signs that it needs more feeding so I'll have to figure out a way to get it done in the middle of the night as as soon as there is any light its feeder tentacles are retracted so I have to do it before daylight comes.

 

I tried doing it after the lights were out for about 2 hours but the long tentacles were still not out, only the real short ones ... Guess I'll have to wake up early .... and take care of it and then try to get some more sleep if I can.

 

What signs did you notice? I have been feeding the Candy at 5 :30 am about three to four hours before the lights come on. I have not seen feeder tentacles though. It may not be eating after all!

[jedimasterben]

What signs did you notice? I have been feeding the Candy at 5 :30 am about three to four hours before the lights come on. I have not seen feeder tentacles though. It may not be eating after all!

They cannot feed without their tentacles out, otherwise the food will not be caught. Feed the tank normally and it will open its feeders as it senses food in the water, at which point you can then feed it. They don't always keep them open at night, and they don't have super long ones either, so Albert, if you're reading this, the short tentacles are the feeders.

[albertthiel]

They cannot feed without their tentacles out, otherwise the food will not be caught. Feed the tank normally and it will open its feeders as it senses food in the water, at which point you can then feed it. They don't always keep them open at night, and they don't have super long ones either, so Albert, if you're reading this, the short tentacles are the feeders.

 

You may want to watch this video Ben ...

 

[msscha]

What signs did you notice? I have been feeding the Candy at 5 :30 am about three to four hours before the lights come on. I have not seen feeder tentacles though. It may not be eating after all!

FWIW, I have only spot fed my candy canes once in the 7 months or so that I've had them. Mine seem to have adapted to the feeding that I do (which includes frozen and 2 different zoo/phytoplankton foods from brightwell), and I've seen them put up feeding tentacles in the afternoon. Otherwise, I've done nothing special...and they've grown/multiplied slowly but steadily (from 3 to about 7 right now). Given the number of clearly active filter feeders in my tank, I'd say there must be food sources other than what I am providing that supply the nocturnal feeders. I've never had problems with tested water params, though the recent algae bloom makes it clear that nutrients are there (despite not being able to keep chaeto alive!).

[eitallent]

FWIW, I have only spot fed my candy canes once in the 7 months or so that I've had them. Mine seem to have adapted to the feeding that I do (which includes frozen and 2 different zoo/phytoplankton foods from brightwell), and I've seen them put up feeding tentacles in the afternoon. Otherwise, I've done nothing special...and they've grown/multiplied slowly but steadily (from 3 to about 7 right now). Given the number of clearly active filter feeders in my tank, I'd say there must be food sources other than what I am providing that supply the nocturnal feeders. I've never had problems with tested water params, though the recent algae bloom makes it clear that nutrients are there (despite not being able to keep chaeto alive!).

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It is good to know that yours are thriving without spot feeding.

 

I have noticed mine "plumping" up when the lights come on. I have not seen any feeding tentacles yet. They may be sneak eaters!

 

 

They cannot feed without their tentacles out, otherwise the food will not be caught. Feed the tank normally and it will open its feeders as it senses food in the water, at which point you can then feed it. They don't always keep them open at night, and they don't have super long ones either, so Albert, if you're reading this, the short tentacles are the feeders.

I have been watching them closely when I feed. I have not seen tentacles yet. Do you turn off your pumps when feeding? I turn mine off and provide a really slow stream of food with a pipette. After a short period I turn on only the circulating pump. Afterwards I turn the pump on with the filtration. I figure that leaves the food in the water column for a while before it gets removed by the filters.

 

Thanks for your input.

[Weetabix7]

I don't personally know anything about this product, but I just saw that Two Little Fishies has just come out with something called Goniopower. It's a food developed specifically to feed Goniopora. I know Marine Depot is starting to carry it, don't know about any other companies.