Polarcollision's Nuvo 24: March FTS

[vlangel]

GSP is one of my favorites. I thought it would be fun to take a longer shutter speed this time and let it blur with the current. The power head is even placed along the back wall so that the GSP moves more. :-)

Even your FTS captures the movement of the GSP which is really cool. That is a feat with still photograghy! Your tank is beautiful as always.

 

Did you ever get your dwarf seahorses and auto hatchery going?

[shaner014]

Love this!

 

I probably missed it skimming through the thread, but what is your lighting schedule?

[RollaJase]

Thank you! It's 'sugar' sand, anywhere from 1" to 3" depending on the watchman's mood

Thanks! I'm using the same sort of sand, was just curious on the depth as I plan to get a leopard wrasse also.

[ninjamyst]

those wrasse...and yellow polyp monti. wow

[gena]

So gorgeous! Thanks for the update .

[Polarcollision]

Even your FTS captures the movement of the GSP which is really cool. That is a feat with still photograghy! Your tank is beautiful as always.

 

Did you ever get your dwarf seahorses and auto hatchery going?

Oh, that's a fairly easy trick. All you need to do is set the camera on a tripod or something steady, then set the shutter speed between 1/4 second to 5 seconds depending on how much blur you want.

 

Yes, I'm half way there! Had a little delay with a massive dinoflagellate breakout. It took 6 months or more to resolve, but it finally burned itself out and now it's just a bit of hair algae on the hatchery and back wall. None on the rocks, though. It's weird, but not complaining about it! I bought a pulsing hands xenia to test the water quality. It's growing like crazy, so everything looks good to go for a few more gorgonians and the seahorses. Wheeee! So excited. I'll upload some iphone pics in a bit... stay tuned.

 

Love this!

 

I probably missed it skimming through the thread, but what is your lighting schedule?

Thank you! And thanks for dropping by. :-) I honestly don't even remember. Let me see if I can find the page for you.

 

Here are the peak percentages below. Lights come on around 6 am, ramp up until 11 am, stay at the levels linked below until 5 ish, then the reds ramp UP to around 15-20% while everything else ramps DOWN over 2 hrs. This little trick mimics sunset and signals photosynthesis to cease for the day and convert to nighttime business. Blues stay on so I can enjoy the neon glow all evening and the lights are 100% off by 10:30 pm. I aim for 500 PAR at the top 4-5" of water and 100-200 PAR under ledges. It mostly works out that way.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/337141-polarcollisions-nuvo-24/?p=4859789)

 

 

Thanks! I'm using the same sort of sand, was just curious on the depth as I plan to get a leopard wrasse also.

Gotcha. He sleeps under the pink zipper paly rock with the yellow watchman. It's a fairly slow wriggle in for the night--no worries about breaking his face. I think 1.5" is average there. Congrats on the future leopard. You'll love it!

 

those wrasse...and yellow polyp monti. wow

Lucky find, yeah?! Picked it up at Cuttlefish and Coral in Portland. They have a great variety of coral in.

 

So gorgeous! Thanks for the update .

Hi Gena!

[Polarcollision]

Did you ever get your dwarf seahorses and auto hatchery going?

 

Here ya go! The Nuvo 8 tank today. :-) Sorry about the awful iphone pics. Cool yellow and red mini sponges and tons of feather dusters and amphipods.

 

 

 

From the side. You can see the hatchery along the back wall here. It's the piece growing algae, and I think you van make out the airline tubing plus the red nail polish I used to seal sand in the bottom to weigh it down.

 

Fat mandarin--healthy in 8 gallons. The giant red algae ball hosts giant amphipods. I think she eats a lot of those too.

 

[vlangel]

Here ya go! The Nuvo 8 tank today. :-) Sorry about the awful iphone pics. Cool yellow and red mini sponges and tons of feather dusters and amphipods.

 

 

 

 

From the side. You can see the hatchery along the back wall here. It's the piece growing algae, and I think you van make out the airline tubing plus the red nail polish I used to seal sand in the bottom to weigh it down.

 

Fat mandarin--healthy in 8 gallons. The giant red algae ball hosts giant amphipods. I think she eats a lot of those too.

 

[/quoteThat is super cooĺ. And that is a fat mandy! I am not totally up on keeping dwarf seahorses but I thought I read that amphipods were big enough to be a danger to them?

[PieMan2k]

Beautiful tank! Hope my tank will turn into yours after 2 years.

[Polarcollision]

That is super cooĺ. And that is a fat mandy! I am not totally up on keeping dwarf seahorses but I thought I read that amphipods were big enough to be a danger to them?

Oh no! I hadn't heard that. Off to research.

 

OK, from what I've found the concern is a specific type of amphipod: Gammarids. Some of the images look similar, others look very different (and larger!) from what's in the tank. Mine are about 3/8 to 1/4" and I've only seen them eating detritus and whatever is in the algae. I'm 95% certain they ate zoas when the big tank was still immature. Websites say the large adult amphipods eat baby seahorses, but not adult seahorses. I guess if babies seem to die overnight I'll make a mesh breeding box for the babies until they're big enough. Seem like a plan to you? Any advice is welcome!

 

Beautiful tank! Hope my tank will turn into yours after 2 years.

Thank you! Of course it will. I documented all of my blunders and challenges, in the earlier pages. Hopefully it will help smooth out the journey for anyone figuring it all out as well! Are you a full blown reef addict yet??!

[vlangel]

Oh no! I hadn't heard that. Off to research.

 

OK, from what I've found the concern is a specific type of amphipod: Gammarids. Some of the images look similar, others look very different (and larger!) from what's in the tank. Mine are about 3/8 to 1/4" and I've only seen them eating detritus and whatever is in the algae. I'm 95% certain they ate zoas when the big tank was still immature. Websites say the large adult amphipods eat baby seahorses, but not adult seahorses. I guess if babies seem to die overnight I'll make a mesh breeding box for the babies until they're big enough. Seem like a plan to you? Any advice is welcome!

 

 

 

That seems like it should work but again I have never kept dwarfs. I don't know how fast the babies grow to adulthood either. Its 4-6 months for erectus fry to be sexually mature but maybe dwarf seahorses are faster? I will be excited to follow your DS tank.

[metrokat]

Fat mandy is fat

[PieMan2k]

Oh no! I hadn't heard that. Off to research.

 

OK, from what I've found the concern is a specific type of amphipod: Gammarids. Some of the images look similar, others look very different (and larger!) from what's in the tank. Mine are about 3/8 to 1/4" and I've only seen them eating detritus and whatever is in the algae. I'm 95% certain they ate zoas when the big tank was still immature. Websites say the large adult amphipods eat baby seahorses, but not adult seahorses. I guess if babies seem to die overnight I'll make a mesh breeding box for the babies until they're big enough. Seem like a plan to you? Any advice is welcome!

 

Thank you! Of course it will. I documented all of my blunders and challenges, in the earlier pages. Hopefully it will help smooth out the journey for anyone figuring it all out as well! Are you a full blown reef addict yet??!

YUP everyone I go into the store I walk out with something reefing related. Next time I go in there I will be getting some water for by cycle!

[ReefWeeds]

Here ya go! The Nuvo 8 tank today. :-) Sorry about the awful iphone pics. Cool yellow and red mini sponges and tons of feather dusters and amphipods.

 

 

 

 

From the side. You can see the hatchery along the back wall here. It's the piece growing algae, and I think you van make out the airline tubing plus the red nail polish I used to seal sand in the bottom to weigh it down.

 

 

Fat mandarin--healthy in 8 gallons. The giant red algae ball hosts giant amphipods. I think she eats a lot of those too.

 

 

[/quoteThat is super cooĺ. And that is a fat mandy! I am not totally up on keeping dwarf seahorses but I thought I read that amphipods were big enough to be a danger to them?

 

Polar - what is that in the bottom left corner of the rocks? Is that a red macro???

[vlangel]

Polar - what is that in the bottom left corner of the rocks? Is that a red macro???

It looks like red grape caulerpa to me but of course it would be better to hear a definitive answer from Polar.

[Polarcollision]

That seems like it should work but again I have never kept dwarfs. I don't know how fast the babies grow to adulthood either. Its 4-6 months for erectus fry to be sexually mature but maybe dwarf seahorses are faster? I will be excited to follow your DS tank.

The babies double in size in 2 weeks and are sexually mature in 3 months. The fry are pretty easy to feed since they eat exactly what the adults eat. From reading, it sounds like they reproduce like rabbits. Placed an order today for 6 dwarf seahorses, a purple feather gorg with orange polyps, and a sea squirt. Arriving tuesday!!

 

Fat mandy is fat

Once the dwarf horses are settled in she might get a boyfriend

 

YUP everyone I go into the store I walk out with something reefing related. Next time I go in there I will be getting some water for by cycle!

Yay! Start a thread so we can enjoy your build too

 

 

Polar - what is that in the bottom left corner of the rocks? Is that a red macro???

 

Best ID I can find is Botrycladia pseudo dichotoma. It's like a red bubble algae but it doesn't spread and take over the tank like green bubble does. Plus it gets those really pretty flame red specs on the skin. One of my favorite red algae! I'd be happy to trade/sell. LMK

 

Better pics from google:

 

It looks like red grape caulerpa to me but of course it would be better to hear a definitive answer from Polar.

There's red grape in there, but it's to the right. Just two little sprigs in front of the giant red bush.

[vlangel]

Yes, I was looking at the red grape but now I see the red bubble. Wow, that is so cool and I have never seen it before.

I think I might be interested in a trade some time. Shall I take a number?

[Polarcollision]

Yes, I was looking at the red grape but now I see the red bubble. Wow, that is so cool and I have never seen it before.

I think I might be interested in a trade some time. Shall I take a number?

I'd love to trade for some of your yellow polyps. Think they can make a USPS 2-day trip?

[ReefWeeds]

The babies double in size in 2 weeks and are sexually mature in 3 months. The fry are pretty easy to feed since they eat exactly what the adults eat. From reading, it sounds like they reproduce like rabbits. Placed an order today for 6 dwarf seahorses, a purple feather gorg with orange polyps, and a sea squirt. Arriving tuesday!!

 

Once the dwarf horses are settled in she might get a boyfriend

 

Yay! Start a thread so we can enjoy your build too

 

 

Best ID I can find is Botrycladia pseudo dichotoma. It's like a red bubble algae but it doesn't spread and take over the tank like green bubble does. Plus it gets those really pretty flame red specs on the skin. One of my favorite red algae! I'd be happy to trade/sell. LMK

 

Better pics from google:

 

There's red grape in there, but it's to the right. Just two little sprigs in front of the giant red bush.

 

I would love to buy or trade! I love it! It is very unique.

[vlangel]

I'd love to trade for some of your yellow polyps. Think they can make a USPS 2-day trip?

I don't think that 2 days would be a problem in temperate weather. The nicest little frag of the yellow polyps is already promised. I have another rock with some struggling yellow polyps but that rock has lots of algae on it too. If you don't mind trying to nurse the yellow polyps back and dealing with the algae? We probably should wait for this cold snap to end. Its been bitter here.

[PieMan2k]

 

Yay! Start a thread so we can enjoy your build too

 

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/367402-pieman2ks-long-awaited-bedroom-tank/had one for a few weeks now.

[Mirya]

Best ID I can find is Botrycladia pseudo dichotoma. It's like a red bubble algae but it doesn't spread and take over the tank like green bubble does. Plus it gets those really pretty flame red specs on the skin. One of my favorite red algae! I'd be happy to trade/sell. LMK

 

I had that macro in my frag tank. It must have come in as a hitchhiker, though I never remember it on a frag. It only grew on my Alternative Reef Wrasse Den (ceramic bowl that gave my sand sleeping wrasse a sand bed to sleep in), but not anywhere else in the frag tank. It completely covered the bowl.

[teenyreef]

 

I would love to buy or trade! I love it! It is very unique.

Ha ha! As soon as I saw the picture and the offer to trade I thought "Stella's going to be all over that!"

[metrokat]

Ha ha! As soon as I saw the picture and the offer to trade I thought "Stella's going to be all over that!"

+1

[metrokat]

 

I would love to buy or trade! I love it! It is very unique.

This is the red version of the pretty green bubble algae in your tank, you know that right?

 

Best ID I can find is Botrycladia pseudo dichotoma. It's like a red bubble algae but it doesn't spread and take over the tank like green bubble does. Plus it gets those really pretty flame red specs on the skin. One of my favorite red algae! I'd be happy to trade/sell. LMK

 

 

Botryocladia skottsbergii has been dubbed by some as 'Red Valonia', though the implied comparison is apt only when a specimen is very young, and the grapelike bladders appear to be directly attached to the substrate as in the photo. As this red alga grows, the rust-colored, branching stipe becomes obvious, though the entire thallus rarely grows to protrude more than an inch off the substrate. The bladders themselves are small, rarely growing little larger than 1/3 inch in diameter, and appear a smooth, transparent red-brown to reddish purple. Tiny dark spots (called cystocarps) visible on the inside of the vesicle wall herald sexual reproduction. The species is found around the Indian Ocean, into the Western Pacific, south to Australia and eastwards to Hawaii.Botryocladia uvarioides forms smaller, more numerous vesicles, on a highly branching stipe that can give specimens heights of nearly a foot from the substrate, looking very much like a bunch of grapes. The species has a curious distribution, with records thus far only in the Philippines and in Baja California. Botryocladia botryoides also forms tall thalli, but there is less incidence of branching, and so the 'stems' are longer, and adorned with bladders. It is found throughout Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, as well as locations along the Eastern Atlantic. Only record in the Western Pacific is in the Philippines. Other species include: Botryocladia leptopoda from Arabia to the eastern shores of continental Asia and down to Australia; Botryocladia microphysa, a primarily Mediterranean alga with records in the Canary Islands and Indonesia; and Botryocladia pyriformis from the Canary Islands, the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, and the waters from China to the Philippines.Botryocladia vesicles usually float when severed, because the mucilaginate fluid inside is less dense than water.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/hcj/feature/index.php