Bloomin' Tank of GeNRosity

[ReefWeeds]

I'm going to assume get a ton more hermits as mentioned to me earlier by Bulkrate, right?

Scarlet hermits do a good job!!

[FlowerMama]

Oh, here's a better pic.

 

 

And please tell me what is this growing? I've never had it before. No hermits or snails seem to care for it or they'd be munching it.

 

 

 

Yep, and that's the hawkfish liking his perch but the pipe organs under him remain closed. Luckily, no corals exists on it except I think 2 baby nems which can be sacrificed. So I can put the rock in peroxide water. My concern is I'm seeing little patches on some nearby rocks that do have corals on them.

[ReefWeeds]

Looks like turf algae

[BulkRate]

As for the spreading patchy stuff - if the affected rocks (even the ones with corals) can be lifted out temporarily for like 5-7 minutes you can always spot treat using an eyedropper & rinse it away with used tank water before puting them back in your display tank.

 

If what you show's all over the sand I'd get at least five standard scarlets as well as a at least five each of a couple of oddball varieties. Red-stripes (http://reefguide.org/redstripehermit.html) and polkadotted hermits (http://reefguide.org/polkadottedhermitcrab.html) - all of them come from the caribean althrough you may need to hunt around a bit. The polkadotted ones are available from KP aquatics fairly often but the only time I've seen red stripes have been mixed in with bulk shipments of red leg/blue leg hermits. Again, I'd reach out to Kara at KP or John at Reefcleaners to see if they can set you up... although niche they've been the best cleaners (and best behaved) of the hermits I've kept. Unfortunately my last polkadot hermit opted to molt right next to my biggest rock flower anemone, and became dinner.

 

All three will tend to pick away at both sand and rock almost constantly but are small enough to only temporarily annoy the baby nems. Polkadots can eventually get up to about 1.5" as can the scarlets, but the red-stripe never seem to grow past .5" IME.

[FlowerMama]

As for the spreading patchy stuff - if the affected rocks (even the ones with corals) can be lifted out temporarily for like 5-7 minutes you can always spot treat using an eyedropper & rinse it away with used tank water before puting them back in your display tank.

 

If what you show's all over the sand I'd get at least five standard scarlets as well as a at least five each of a couple of oddball varieties. Red-stripes (http://reefguide.org/redstripehermit.html) and polkadotted hermits (http://reefguide.org/polkadottedhermitcrab.html) - all of them come from the caribean althrough you may need to hunt around a bit. The polkadotted ones are available from KP aquatics fairly often but the only time I've seen red stripes have been mixed in with bulk shipments of red leg/blue leg hermits. Again, I'd reach out to Kara at KP or John at Reefcleaners to see if they can set you up... although niche they've been the best cleaners (and best behaved) of the hermits I've kept. Unfortunately my last polkadot hermit opted to molt right next to my biggest rock flower anemone, and became dinner.

 

All three will tend to pick away at both sand and rock almost constantly but are small enough to only temporarily annoy the baby nems. Polkadots can eventually get up to about 1.5" as can the scarlets, but the red-stripe never seem to grow past .5" IME.

 

What percentage water versus peroxide? The one rock I will just let sit in there.

[FlowerMama]

Looks like turf algae

 

ty, I've never had it and thought it might be. I counted 4 rocks with a little, like a 1/8" patch and then the one rock that you saw that's nasty.

 

And I have 2 rocks that have aptasia that I have to try lemon juice, then use the long handle lighters you use for candles and then glue the hole. Problem, sometimes is by the time you get the rock out to the kitchen, I've forgotten where the aptasia was. So I'll jut have to have a rag handy next to the aquarium and lay the rock there and do it right away.

[gena]

I love how successful you are with the anemones..so many babies .

 

Is that Gulf Live Rock? I never had issue with turf algae or aptasia on any of the KPA rock I've purchased.

[FlowerMama]

I love how successful you are with the anemones..so many babies .

 

Is that Gulf Live Rock? I never had issue with turf algae or aptasia on any of the KPA rock I've purchased.

 

Yes, Gulf Live Rock. I did find aptasia on my KPA rock but no turf algae, but I did have that awesome cool spider and I found my girl Gert which I love.

[FlowerMama]

So I'm gonna do just 100% peroxide, let it sit on it for 5-7 mins then brush it, then rinse in RO/DI and put it back in the tank. And I'll do the same w/ the other 2 pieces. I'll do that tomorrow, then I'll vaccuum.

[teenyreef]

I've had good luck with 100% peroxide for 30-60 seconds, with no damage to zoas or softies. Any longer than that and you will get permanent damage to any corals on the rocks. But if you're just trying to nuke the turf algae and don't have anything you care about on the rock, then 5-6 minutes should definitely do the job.

 

The 30-60 seconds treatment usually has to be repeated two or three times to get all the algae permanently killed.

 

I'm loving all the baby pictures

[FlowerMama]

I've had good luck with 100% peroxide for 30-60 seconds, with no damage to zoas or softies. Any longer than that and you will get permanent damage to any corals on the rocks. But if you're just trying to nuke the turf algae and don't have anything you care about on the rock, then 5-6 minutes should definitely do the job.

 

The 30-60 seconds treatment usually has to be repeated two or three times to get all the algae permanently killed.

 

I'm loving all the baby pictures

 

Thanks, I wanna make sure I don't go too long but be effective enough to melt it away and brush it off as much as I can.

[spectra]

I had a bali nem also and it melted........the store I got it from said they lost all of them........wonder what the deal is?

[FlowerMama]

I had a bali nem also and it melted........the store I got it from said they lost all of them........wonder what the deal is?

 

I don't know. Maybe they just don't transition well.

[VIPReef]

I had a bali nem also and it melted........the store I got it from said they lost all of them........wonder what the deal is?

All the ones I've got almost 2 months ago are doing fine and eating (About 20 of them). The few that I've sold are doing well, except the one Flowermama lost. BTW, they are mixed in with about 200 Caribbean RFA's and no issues here.

 

Frank

[spectra]

All the ones I've got almost 2 months ago are doing fine and eating (About 20 of them). The few that I've sold are doing well, except the one Flowermama lost. BTW, they are mixed in with about 200 Caribbean RFA's and no issues here.

 

Frank

 

I had mine mixed with my Caribbean ones also but not sure why it went. First nem I ever lost.......

[VIPReef]

 

I had mine mixed with my Caribbean ones also but not sure why it went. First nem I ever lost.......

Did you get it from the same shop that also lost all of them?

[spectra]

Did you get it from the same shop that also lost all of them?

 

Yes not sure if they had a bad batch or what.

[ReefWeeds]

Thanks, I wanna make sure I don't go too long but be effective enough to melt it away and brush it off as much as I can.

I think doing it that long will kill off any/all life on the rock. The shorter period may Teeny mentions might be safer

[BulkRate]

I only use "full strength" (that'd typically be be around %3, I think) over the counter hydrogen peroxide when spot treating. For dips of incoming coral frags or the occasional problem rock only a 60/40 mix of used tank water to H2O2.

 

But seriously... once you beef up your clean up crew and handle the big stuff things should settle down. I have 2 tiny tufts of turf algae left that I leave alone nowadays - very week or so a hermit finds its way up to that shelf and goes to town on it. Never spreads but if I ever see it suddenly starting to grow fast I know it's time for a water change or a census.

 

I really like that baby anemone with the pink/red tentacles you keep posting pics of. All of mine are white fringed...need to look into getting a couple more exotically patterned/colored ones to diversify the gene pool in my tank, it seems.

[Droy008]

Quick idea, maybe setup a small 10g and suck up the babies and set them in there for a couple days?

That would allow you to clean your tank normally without worry of baby losses.

[FlowerMama]

All the ones I've got almost 2 months ago are doing fine and eating (About 20 of them). The few that I've sold are doing well, except the one Flowermama lost. BTW, they are mixed in with about 200 Caribbean RFA's and no issues here.

 

Frank

 

Just strange, don't know what happened. I've checked parameters, they're good. I hate not knowing why.

I only use "full strength" (that'd typically be be around %3, I think) over the counter hydrogen peroxide when spot treating. For dips of incoming coral frags or the occasional problem rock only a 60/40 mix of used tank water to H2O2.

 

But seriously... once you beef up your clean up crew and handle the big stuff things should settle down. I have 2 tiny tufts of turf algae left that I leave alone nowadays - very week or so a hermit finds its way up to that shelf and goes to town on it. Never spreads but if I ever see it suddenly starting to grow fast I know it's time for a water change or a census.

 

I really like that baby anemone with the pink/red tentacles you keep posting pics of. All of mine are white fringed...need to look into getting a couple more exotically patterned/colored ones to diversify the gene pool in my tank, it seems.

 

All the others are white fringe, I am surprised how many white fringed there are. I don't have one white fringed nem in the tank at all, just must be a very strong characteristic.

[FlowerMama]

Quick idea, maybe setup a small 10g and suck up the babies and set them in there for a couple days?

That would allow you to clean your tank normally without worry of baby losses.

 

Yeah, I've been thinking of converting the 10g to a baby station once they get to a certain size. Just not sure how to set it up. Even the babies on rocks in the 40 I don't want to remove for fear of losing them. I'd have to wait til they started moving around to a spot where I could remove it.

 

Would I make it bare bottom? Filtration is my biggest question as your main tank usually has the rocks taking care of that. It'd be no problem if it was plumbed into a system that already had rock work but it's a stand alone 10g w/ a hang over back filter. I could buy another cheap Aqua Clear filter and put rocks there and then put carbon & floss in the other as I have now. I don't want rocks in the display as I want to be able to remove the baby if it gets big enough to sell to my local group. There's about 80 of us now in our local group.

[BulkRate]

I wouldn't make it bare-bottom - maybe a shallow layer of coarse black sand to showcase the babies would be useful, let them grab hold of something yet still be easily vacuumed. But I admit, that's just my esthetic preference, you're clearly doing it alright in your own way with that many offspring scooting around.

 

Possibly use a mesh bag of Matrix in the HOB as a live rock substitute, or a single large block of one of the other bio medias... not much that an AC50/70 loaded with a cut-to-fit bonded floss pad, maybe a pack of carbon & said sack o' Matrix can't deal with. Especially if fuge-modded or with one of the inTank drop-ins.

 

Lucky local reefers club you have there. It's pretty awesome to have people like you "playing it forward" with such potentially nice specimens.

[FlowerMama]

There are only a couple lfs, none carry flowers. It'd be nice if the future goal was not removing any from the wild anymore. Just locally grown.

 

A far as my 10g goes, it has a Par 38 that has really showcases nice colors.

I'd probably just leave the substrate that I have in it already. The content of the 10 right now are:

 

various mushrooms

Double D palys

2 different frogspawns

gbta

cherub angel

oh and 2 pincushion urchins and a coral banded shrimp.

 

And 2 large rocks. Really not much in there so it'd be the easiest to convert.

 

It's not looking its best. Really bummed me out when the the clowns & gbta never hosted so the clowns went in the 40 of course.

 

[FlowerMama]

Some pics. I didn't do any maintenance I wanted to do. But I fed the parents and the babies. Minced the food & hoping they are able to eat some. I'll leave off the flow & all for a couple hours so they can eat as much as they can. I fed the baby brine the other day.

 

 

 

and the rose coral baby is growing fast!!!!