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

[holy carp]

Oh boy, so that lordhowensis that melted has got me a little on edge. I just got home from the farmers market to see my torch gaping and puking.

 

 

 

I've seen this guy expel some brown stuff before, but I've never seen the mouth gaping like that.

[charnelhouse]

Eggiwegs, I would like to smash 'em

 

Haha! Little Alex, how're the droogies?

[holy carp]

Check out what I spotted last night - now I don't think it's from those eggiwegs that I've been watching, but it sure looks like babies!

 

 

The big one there is a trochus, but it's the only one, so the babies are more likely astraea... Or possibly a dreadful hitchhiker.

[metrokat]

Collonista IMO.

Not sure what would cause the gaping mouth on the torch

[pewpewkittah]

I'd remove the torch ASAP. Their mouths don't gape like that unless there is tissue loss, probably from BJD. If you look closely at the picture you can see the skeleton on the inside of the mouth. You can confirm the tissue loss by blowing on it gently with a turkey baster in a separate container. If the tissue starts breaking off, cut the infected heads and Iodine dip the rest. QT the remaining heads of you can.

[holy carp]

I'd remove the torch ASAP. Their mouths don't gape like that unless there is tissue loss, probably from BJD. If you look closely at the picture you can see the skeleton on the inside of the mouth. You can confirm the tissue loss by blowing on it gently with a turkey baster in a separate container. If the tissue starts breaking off, cut the infected heads and Iodine dip the rest. QT the remaining heads of you can.

I was really afraid of that. The torch was spewing quite a bit of brown stuff, and that mouth freaked me out a bit. I siphoned away most of the brown stringy stuff with an airline tube. It looked a lot like what I'd seen the torch eject before when heads were in the process of splitting. The tissue never really looked weak, though. I checked on it an hour later, and it's mouth was totally closed again, so I'm not sure what to make of it, bit I'm guessing/hoping not BJD. Interestingly, all the heads were producing brown goo simultaneously, and seemed to stop at the same time as well. But two heads on the right really retracted their tentacles, while the left didn't. For now it looks relatively normal again.

[pewpewkittah]

I was really afraid of that. The torch was spewing quite a bit of brown stuff, and that mouth freaked me out a bit. I siphoned away most of the brown stringy stuff with an airline tube. It looked a lot like what if seen the torch eject before when heads were in the process of splitting. The tissue never really looked weak, though. I checked on it an hour later, and it's mouth was totally closed again, so I'm not sure what to make of it, bit I'm guessing/hoping not BJD. Interestingly, all the heads were producing brown goo simultaneously, and seemed to stop at the same time as well. But two heads on the right really retracted their tentacles, while the left didn't. For now it looks relatively normal again.

 

Hm, interesting. One of my torches looked just like yours with the open mouth and it didn't turn out too well. I just thought I'd let you know my experience. I hope it's just your torches having a nice poop.

[holy carp]

 

Hm, interesting. One of my torches looked just like yours with the open mouth and it didn't turn out too well. I just thought I'd let you know my experience. I hope it's just your torches having a nice poop.

 

Thanks. My torch seems to poop more than any other coral, but oddly it won't ever really eat anything substantial. Now that I've seen that gaping mouth, I no longer think it's because the little mysis are too big for its mouth.

 

 

This video was 8 minutes before the photos. The mouth hadn't opened quite as much yet, but I'd already siphoned away most of the brown stuff just a minute before the video. Some of the strands were many inches long and had wrapped around the elegance coral. It was a pretty unpleasant thing to behold.

 

Sorry for the focus - I can't control it manually on the cell phone.

 

Here's a picture of it from this morning:

[Mariaface]

Maybe it was just expelling due to high light?

[pewpewkittah]

That stuff it's expelling in the video looks suspiciously like brown jelly. But it looks great in the picture from this morning! It could have recovered. My torches don't really eat anything either, occasionally I'll shoot some my sis shrimp or cyclops at the heads and they sometimes snatch it up. This isn't very often.

 

Anyways, I'd keep a close watch on that torch. Hope everything works out . Can we get a FTS?

[holy carp]

As you wish...


This was soon after the lights came on this morning, so the elegance hadn't really opened up yet...

 

I'll try to get another FTS to put on the OP.

[ninjamyst]

sooo sexy.

[holy carp]

sooo sexy.

 

That's why it's in the bedroom.

[ninjamyst]

I want to put a 12g long on my kitchen counter top but not sure how to hide all the wires and equipment. it would be soooo sick if i can pull it off.

[holy carp]

I want to put a 12g long on my kitchen counter top but not sure how to hide all the wires and equipment. it would be soooo sick if i can pull it off.

 

You could drill through the countertop pretty easily - if it's stone, you can use the same diamond drill bit like for drilling glass.

 

Or if the countertop is against a wall, you could probably make an opening in the wall to run everything down below (assuming you'd intend a sump to keep everything clean up top).

 

I would have loved to be able to do this tank drilled through the bottom to conceal all the plumbing in rocks, but that was an afterthought.

[ninjamyst]

 

You could drill through the countertop pretty easily - if it's stone, you can use the same diamond drill bit like for drilling glass.

 

Or if the countertop is against a wall, you could probably make an opening in the wall to run everything down below (assuming you'd intend a sump to keep everything clean up top).

 

I would have loved to be able to do this tank drilled through the bottom to conceal all the plumbing in rocks, but that was an afterthought.

I think my wife would kill me if I drill through the countertop =P. I was looking into an AIO insert but there will still be wires coming out for pump, heater, etc. Hmmm....

[holy carp]

I think my wife would kill me if I drill through the countertop =P. I was looking into an AIO insert but there will still be wires coming out for pump, heater, etc. Hmmm....

 

You just have to combine the countertop hole with a new mixer.

 

I know it has been done, but it's hard to imagine making an AIO insert and being able to keep a clean minimalist look to the system.

[metrokat]

Well that FTS looks wonderful. The slimer is the star isn't it? How are the SPS doing? Did Brightwell help to resolve some of your issues?

[holy carp]

Well that FTS looks wonderful. The slimer is the star isn't it? How are the SPS doing? Did Brightwell help to resolve some of your issues?

 

Thank you.

 

I haven't heard back about Brightwell's batch testing yet. But after I had those issues, I swapped the carbon (which was only 2 weeks old at the time - media bag, not reactor) and I did pick up a box of Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt, which I used for the last 2 water changes. I haven't changed anything else, but after the first of those 2 water changes, things started to show improvements after just a couple days. That slimer colored back up pretty quickly, and polyp extension at night is pretty amazing. I think that one will need pruning soon - what a weed! You'll be able to see the change when I post the next time lapses (coming soon!).

 

The bonsai was a little slower to react, but now is getting more purple again and shows great PE. That unknown acro in the back is just barely starting to turn green again, and the blue tort is starting to get some color back at the tips. The cyphastrea is turning green again and starting to spread on its plug, too. The montis actually recovered the fastest, but they never lost color, just had no PE.

 

The only coral still suffering is the Jack-o-lantern lepto. It's still missing a little flesh, but it's also been irritated by exposure to air twice for valonia removal (and unfortunately will have to be done again, soon - arghh).

[holy carp]

So I was doing my weekly valonia inspection. Found one on each of the large rocks. ANNOYING!

 

Then I noticed that the acro in the back was getting stung a little by the elegance, so I tried rearranging a little and noticed this on the back side of the mushroom rock

 

AAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

It was totally hidden from view and tucked under the elegance whenever it's open. These valonia really don't even need much light.

 

Well, maybe... just maybe that was the source that kept reseeding my rocks.

 

Does anyone ever really get rid of this stuff for good?

[metrokat]

Slice them carefully off the rock. And then since it's out you can use 100% peroxide and tooth brush scrub the rest of the rock. rinse and put back.

[holy carp]

Oh, it immediately got my tweezers to carefully remove it all followed by 3 minutes of slowly pouring h2o2 (drug store 3% concentration) over the affected and surrounding area. It's unlikely it'll come back in that spot for a while, but somehow it always seems to spring up somewhere else. Another weekly chore, it seems.

[holy carp]

So here's a pretty neat thing I've had growing very slowly that I noticed a month or two ago. The coralline algae growing on a dead snail shell is actually growing a branching structure. At first I thought that the coralline had actually grown over some other type of algae, but it seems to be the coralline itself growing very slowly. I'm sure it's insanely delicate and fragile.

 

I think it looks really cool, but unfortunately it's so tiny it's hard to see well without a magnifying glass or camera.

 

 

[EDIT: Added a cropped image]

[metrokat]

Branching coralline is actually a thing.

[holy carp]

Branching coralline is actually a thing.

 

Actually a very cool thing!