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

[holy carp]

holy cannoli...

 

Yes, those are regular bulkheads - 1" in the middle, and 1/2" on the sides. Each has a barb elbow on the outside with braided/reinforced tubing to the sump. One of the 1/2" is the return, and the other 1/2" and the 1" are drains. I've actually redesigned the plumbing a bit since that photo in order to accommodate the increased flow when I upgraded from the Aqua Medic DC Runner 1.2 to the Reef Octopus VarioS 2 return pump. I'll take some pics to illustrate tonight.

[Mariaface]

My random paly pinched for a day when I initially got it at RAP, but it put on its Big Boy pants and dealt with whatever the issue was. I temporarily gave it less flow and basted off some diatoms on the stalk, which may have helped.

[natalia_la_loca]

How long has the hornet/chaos frag been in its current location in the tank?

[holy carp]

Mine was wobbling around in the flow this morning, and it's in a low flow area. I'm not optimistic, but at least the Utters looks stable and healthy. Maybe Absolutely Fish has some hornets.

 

They have been in that spot for about 2.5 weeks. (Since June 25)

[Chibils Jr]

I'm in love with your plumbing... It's exactly what I've been wanting to do but didn't know how to do.

 

holy cannoli...

?

[natalia_la_loca]

I'm not surprised that the utter chaos looks good, they tend to be hardy IME.

 

I would suggest moving the frag to a slightly more shady location. It probably won't hurt the utter chaos, and it might help the hornet. (or make it worse. Zoas are mysterious)

[holy carp]

I'm not surprised that the utter chaos looks good, they tend to be hardy IME.

 

I would suggest moving the frag to a slightly more shady location. It probably won't hurt the utter chaos, and it might help the hornet. (or make it worse. Zoas are mysterious)

 

Unfortunately, this feels like déjà vu. Here's my prior utter chaos experience. That one actually started pinching after it grew a tiny baby polyp. After having gone through that, I don't think there's much that can be done to save this hornet. I was worried when I got it, because apart from this experience, it seems like individual zoa polyps are susceptible to problems. The hornet has been open every day, but the base pinching is progressing. It's almost like the head doesn't know yet what the foot is doing. I'll see if I can move it somewhere with less light, but I'm inclined to protect the utter chaos at the expense of the single hornet... Sophie's Choice?

[Mariaface]

Maybe it's trying to pinch away from its mat and relocate? You could try to convince it that it's in a good spot with some fine foods? I dunno, these guys are picky

[natalia_la_loca]

Unfortunately, this feels like déjà vu. Here's my prior utter chaos experience. That one actually started pinching after it grew a tiny baby polyp. After having gone through that, I don't think there's much that can be done to save this hornet. I was worried when I got it, because apart from this experience, it seems like individual zoa polyps are susceptible to problems. The hornet has been open every day, but the base pinching is progressing. It's almost like the head doesn't know yet what the foot is doing. I'll see if I can move it somewhere with less light, but I'm inclined to protect the utter chaos at the expense of the single hornet... Sophie's Choice?

 

I can see why you would do that. I don't think it's that single polyps are more susceptible to problems per se; in the right conditions (whatever those are), a lone polyp will grow and multiply. When I nuked the shit out of my reefbowl with peroxide a couple of months ago, many zoanthids were burned down to isolated bits of flesh and they all grew back into happy little zoas. Some of them took two weeks or more to even begin to open. On the other hand, there is very little room for mistakes when you have only one isolated polyp.

 

I always kind of hate making recommendations about zoanthids because so many different things can set them off. As your experience with the utter chaos shows, you can have totally different results with the same variety of zoanthid, and it can be very hard to figure out what is causing their problems.

[holy carp]

The pinching process seems to have accelerated...

[holy carp]

I got home from work and the little hornet had completely detached from the base. I found it floating around in my sand like a little ball. For now it's in a shot glass with a few pebbles. Maybe something will come of it. It's happened before.

[Mariaface]

Oh, no! Good luck!

[metrokat]

You're not going to pour some vodka in the shot glass and chug it are you?

[Mariaface]

You're not going to pour some vodka in the shot glass and chug it are you?

 

Pshhhht, no. That's just worms. And tiny snakes.

 

 

Oh god it's so gross

[holy carp]

Does vodka neutralize palytoxin?

 

Or is it like doing a shot of venom?

[metrokat]

It's like the worm tequila shot.

Vodka + polyp

[StinkyBunny]

Nice meeting you today.

 

If you have a magnifying glass, take a look at the base of that little fella, make sure there's no nudibranchs afoot.

[holy carp]

Well, here's a closeup of the hornet in the shotglass. I think it looks like some tissue on the side is changing - could that be that it's trying to attach to things? That's what I'll tell myself for now - but someone else tell me if that looks like nudibranches.

 

Nice to meet you, too, StinkyBunny.

[metrokat]

Zoa nudibranchs look like the zoa they are feasting on. I have found them at night when the zoas close up, the nudibranchs show fluorescence with a UV or actinic flashlight.

[holy carp]

Good to know - there's nothing fluorescent other than the typical pattern on the zoas.

[holy carp]

I'm thinking that tissue change really may be the beginning of the zoa trying to grow a new mat... Here's to optimism:

 

(disregard the baby digitate hydroid )

[Mariaface]

Yehp, that looks like it's trying to settle! Though, it looks like it's trying to settle onto the shot glass..

[holy carp]

I know, but...

if it survives... YAY!

being able to see it growing and changing... YAY!

are they really hard to remove from glass?

[metrokat]

I know, but...

if it survives... YAY!

being able to see it growing and changing... YAY!

are they really hard to remove from glass?

Naw, just scrape it off but not before it is a mini colony

[holy carp]

I'm in love with your plumbing... It's exactly what I've been wanting to do but didn't know how to do.

Here's a picture of my reconfigured plumbing...

 

Left is a submerged drain 1/2" with low profile screen. This drain has a ball valve at the sump to restrict siphon flow slightly

Middle is 1" drain with sawn off elbow fitting to perform surface skimming and handle variable flow. Notched for egg crate screen to snap in

Right is return with locline for aiming

Return pump (not shown, obviously) is RO VarioS 2 hooked up to Apex to enable pulsing and variable day/night/feed flow rates

 

 

I also sawed the ABS bulkheads shorter to be more low profile on the front (right) and center - I regret that decision, as the tubing being so close to the glass on the outside prevents me from being able to use a magnetic glass cleaner on that side. Perhaps I'll swap them out some day, but then the question remains if my drain cover box will accommodate the extra length, so it might just stay as it is.

 

Originally, I expected I might need to design some kind of snorkel similar to what I had done in my original configuration, but this really makes no noticeable sound.