Sleeping with the Fishes [a pe(s)t project]

[holy carp]

well, I don't have much flow in the tank in general, but I moved it to an area that seems to bet a little less flow. Where it was, it just got some laminar flow across the bottom. Now it's on the side where it's in a little cove, so it may get a slight swirl, but not much current.

 

It's actually under where my dendrophyllia is. I just moved it to a spot on the rock where it gets very little flow. It seems to like the spot, so hopefully the plate likes that area, too.

[holy carp]

OK, so a quick update on the reef.

 

The little plate seems to be happier (maybe not delighted, but definitely happier) in its new place. When the lights dimmed to blues this evening, it started to puff up a bit. I dropped some little SA hatchery diet pellets on it. It wrapped them in mucus and sent them along to the war coral. Then I dropped a big 1mm TherA+ pellet on it, and over the course of 5-10 minutes, it stuffed that thing in its tiny little mouth. The exposed skeleton is sad, but the fact that it will eat is promising.

That's about the puffiest it's been since the day I brought it home.

 

The sunset monti is still oddly waxy in the middle. This is under the blues through a yellow/orange filter:

I wouldn't worry about the color if the PE wasn't reduced in that area. Just such a beauty, though.

 

Everyone else seems to be doing OK. Both halves of the broken rainbow monti seem to have healed and look stable - one's yours, Mariaface. It's not the most fluorescent, but look better under whites.

 

I want to split the hornet from the utter chaos, but I'm so nervous to mess with those wimps.

 

 

 

[StinkyBunny]

Never count a plate coral out till it's out.

[Mariaface]

Gasp! Yay!

 

I'm happy to see everything doing so well, too!

 

I'd wait to split those guys until you have several heads of each. Good plan

[holy carp]

So, bummer... This morning the little plate looked all deflated again. I dropped another TherA+ pellet on it, and the coral quickly swallowed it. I was pleased. I looked back a few minutes later only to see the coral slowly ejecting the pellet - it fed Bruce Jenner with it. I guess it doesn't really like them after all, and I'm sure it didn't keep the pellet down last night, either.

 

Darned bulimic corals!

 

So then I dropped a small chunk of LRS on it. It seemed to consume it pretty quickly, and I can only hope it kept it down, since I couldn't stick around to watch. I'll experiment with it again this evening.

 

(and on splitting the zoas, I'll definitely wait until I have 3 of each at least - patience is a virtue with these guys. )

[Mariaface]

Maybe it deflated for lack of light in the morning?

 

Mine turned into a fluffball when I fed it the LRS nano mix. The tiny orange one, the big green one, the RFA, the clown, the favias, the hammer, the trumpets.. all went crazy.

 

Good luck!

[metrokat]

HC - try 'crop dusting' LRS on the plate later - thaw in a bit of water to mush it up. If it is tiny and also not feeling good, it may be more inclined to eat smaller pieces. LRS is very nutritious too.

[holy carp]

I always dice my LRS on a cutting board (fish tank dedicated) while frozen into roughly 1mm cubes. I leave a few larger chunks to give to the dendro, elegance, and acans, since they really seem to like taking big bites.

 

Then I thaw it in tank water and serve. I normally suck it up in a pipette and inject it into the return flow from the sump so it flies around the tank. I love that LRS stuff for being so neutrally buoyant that it floats around for a long time for the fish and corals to catch it. I spot feed many of the corals as well. The hardest part about getting a bit of food down to the plate is that the clowns will come steal it, so I have to get them stuffed first. Crazy clowns!

 

I'll keep experimenting with feeding that little guy. He was expected to eventually outgrow my little tank, so dying is not an option! I'm going to see if I can do a timelapse of it eating. Those mucus conveyors are pretty remarkable.

[StinkyBunny]

Just because a corals mouth is larger doesn't mean it will take a large piece of food. With corals, smaller is usually better. My acans only take powdered foods and my homemade coral food which is smaller than .5mm in size, I feed the same thing to my plates and bubble corals.

[metrokat]

Try a water bottle feeder to stop the fish from stealing the food. Cut off the bottom part, place it over the plate and pour food through the top.

[holy carp]

Interesting, Kat. I like that idea and just might try it if it proves to be a problem.

 

Stinky, by bigger I meant about 2mm square - definitely not the size of whole LRS bits. Those are for feeding sharks. Do you think that's too big?

 

 

So here's my first video timelapse. I fed the coral a bit that I thought was probably too big (a little over a mm) so then added a few smaller pieces more like .5mm, which in the sped up clip look like they just magically appear in the center. A nassarius came by to harrass the coral, as usual, so I flicked it away. It came back later, but was too late. At the end, there's a frame or two of Lenny looking for a bite as well.

 

(Total elapsed time was 10 minutes accelerated 10X. It was zoomed and cropped, so sorry about the image quality... Enjoy!)

 

 

It's interesting to see how the plate's flesh actually recedes off the skeleton on the left when the snail bumps up against it too much. You can later see the flesh return over the skeleton again. Pretty cool $#!+.

[metrokat]

that was nice

[StinkyBunny]

I'd say 1/2 that size would be better, .5-1mm. Smaller is better with corals, you really can't go to small.

[Mariaface]

Now I feel like That Jerk that expected her RFA to gulp down a piece of LRS over half its size.

 

I mean, it did. But I should probably put that scalpel to use.

[holy carp]

I'd say 1/2 that size would be better, .5-1mm. Smaller is better with corals, you really can't go to small.

 

OK, but I disagree slightly on not being able to go too small. Some of my corals won't even grab the bits if they're not substantial enough. The dendrophyllia is a perfect example. It'll grab chunks and pull them in fast, but it almost seems like it doesn't 'feel' the tiny pieces and doesn't even respond, so they just float through the tentacles and past the coral. I can go smaller for most of the other corals, like the acans, brain, war, and elegance.

 

(the more I think of it, the more I imagine that NPS may have a different response than photosynthetic corals. Trapping food expends energy, and if their only energy comes from food, then they may only want bits that are substantial enough to be worth the effort. Photosynthetic corals may not care in the same way, because eating is always just a snack and never a staple, which comes from their zoox)

 

 

that was nice

Thanks. That little experiment turned out more fun than I thought... I have a feeling we might have some more feeding videos in the future. Is Manhattan Reefs back open yet? Some little mysis would be perfect for this, and a lot less chopping.

 

 

Now I feel like That Jerk that expected her RFA to gulp down a piece of LRS over half its size.

 

I mean, it did. But I should probably put that scalpel to use.

RFA's are like flowers. Flowers are like plants. Plants are like Audrey II. Audrey II says, "Feed me, Mariaface!" (oh, your poor neighbors...)

[StinkyBunny]

I haven't had much dealings with NPS corals, the black coral I have LOVES NHBS. You might be right on the energy expenditure thing though. I know all of my corals love the Fauna Marin ricordea food, only the larger polyped stuff will take the 1mm pellets. I wouldn't say liquefy foods, but the smaller stuff seems to be accepted more by corals and not rejected than larger particles.

[holy carp]

BABY!!!

 

 

and the twins (bottom right) seem to be doing well.

[holy carp]

Well, it's now been 4 days of twice daily feedings for the little plate coral, and all I can say is, what a great difference. I never realized these guys were such hungry little buggers!

 

If I named my corals it would be a tough call between this little plate and the dendrophyllia as to which would be called Piggy!

 

Anyway here's before:

 

And here's after (YAY!):

[Mariaface]

I flipping love these little guys. They look like this bright orange-and-purple beast until they fluff up extra hard and you discover they are ALSO AQUA

[holy carp]

I flipping love these little guys. They look like this bright orange-and-purple beast until they fluff up extra hard and you discover they are ALSO AQUA

 

Yeah, a few more days of feeding like this and I might be able to make a meringue puff like yours. These are photosynthetic, right? Maybe when they're little they need more feeding since they don't have that much surface area yet to get the light?

[Mariaface]

 

Yeah, a few more days of feeding like this and I might be able to make a meringue puff like yours. These are photosynthetic, right? Maybe when they're little they need more feeding since they don't have that much surface area yet to get the light?

 

Yehp, yes, that.

 

But also, you've got marinepure - just feed all day every day, so they'll outgrow your tank and come to me

[Narzyzz_12]

I've been taking regular photos of my green acro and decided a little time-lapse would be interesting to see. This is from mid August. I wasn't diligent about the timing and missed capturing most of September, but the photos for the most part are weekly.

 

Can anyone identify this guy for me? I got it at reef-a-palooza at the end of June. It wasn't doing well for the first month, so I moved it in early August, and now it seems to grow noticeably every week.

 

8/16-12/13

 

 

 

For those curious, the photos are all spaced a week apart, except I missed 3 shots in September.

 

This is one of the best progress shots I've seen, awesome!

[holy carp]

Well bummer...

 

I suspected it last week, but it's pretty much confirmed now...

The hornet is doing the pinchy thing... I guess single polyps are really susceptible to it. ?

 

 

Too bad, I already had a place picked out for them. At least I know it isn't my fault, since I'd be second guessing myself if I had separated it from the utter chaos.

[metrokat]

Just wait it out.

[Chibils Jr]

And here's a shot from the end.

I'm thinking I might have to paint the inside of that plumbing cover box black instead of white...

Are those just regular ABS bulkheads with a strainer on the intake? Looks great!