Rock flower grow out tank

[reefhound]

so, with a bunch of baby rock flowers in a tray in my lagoon tank, I figured I better get something cycling

25x15x7.5 high

 

i'll add a micro smart ATO, and put it in a lee's specimen cup with a hole drilled in it

 

 

 

 

[reefhound]

also picked up a little tunze pump and a sheet of kydex to make a hanger.. will hang my kessil A160 over it

 

I have 2 little damsels in the tank/tub, a 50 watt heater, a HOB with chemiclean 

Florida crushed coral in the bottom

[Nart]

Wayyy too cool. Following!

 

I have been wanting to do something like this too... just need to find the space.

[reefhound]

the kessil over it

5mm on the largest flowers.. still 70+ 5-10 in the tray

[reefhound]

ill add a ton of asternia stars and brittle stars for the CUC

snails tend to mow thru everything... can't have that

[GregEmmitte]

That's pretty rad

[reefhound]

I think it will work out well.. will test it this weekend.. i want the flowers to be a good 1/2 in before i add them..

Need the ATO and a little better filter reconstruction first

[reefhound]

feeding time.. little mouths open. they haven't figured out how to use tentacles yet

[reefhound]

so, at just over 3 weeks.. most are at 3/8 inch and it looks like some haven't grown at all. I have an 80+ count in the tray still and only 3 I can see in the tank. i'm pretty sure they don't survive in the tank well. they un-attach, get lost and that's it. next time i'll make the effort to get them off the rock in the DT.

 

SO.. we broke down and ordered an ADA 60F. couldn't help it  

and yep, I fully understand I have a problem My GF has a problem.

 

 

[reefhound]

baby's get a mix of this

seems to be working out well..

adults get shrimp or scallops soaked in AminOmega.. they devour the scallops

[Nart]

Loving it!

Did your RFA's decide to breed and you ended up with a batch of em?

RFA's are seriously fun and easy to keep.

[reefhound]

I did! probably 80-90 here and there. pretty crazy. awesome watching them grow too

[SeaFurn]

This is so cool! I'm going to follow along! 

 

I've got seven RFAs in my contest tank right now and I love them.

I started with 10 but lost 3 and I have no idea why so it's been pretty stressful for me. The remaining 7 seem great though. 

Being a newby I don't know what behavior is normal and what isn't so I'm freaking out all the time thinking something's wrong. 

 

[reefhound]

I've had 2 Belize rock flowers melt on me.. they turn inside out. trying to save the last one of 3..

my other 3 are from florida and breeding.

I won't buy another one unless i'm sure where it came from

I also have 2 juveniles that should be ready in 8 mos

[SeaFurn]

41 minutes ago, reefhound said:

I've had 2 Belize rock flowers melt on me.. they turn inside out. trying to save the last one of 3..

my other 3 are from florida and breeding.

I won't buy another one unless i'm sure where it came from

I also have 2 juveniles that should be ready in 8 mos

The 3 that melted on me all seemed to be the same type and different than the others so maybe I have the same situation. 

 

I hope mine breed at some

point - like when I'm much more experienced with them!! 

[reefhound]

yea, I think VIP reef is my next route.. i'll do a 5 or 10 pack.

if I get these little flowers grown with little loss, I will make an effort to breed regularly.  i'm hoping for another breeding event in a week to learn a little more about the sexes in the tank

 

biggest thing, my flowers are under 2 inches and not supposed to be breeding yet. so i'm hoping I have another female or even 2

[reefhound]

16 minutes ago, SeaFurn said:

The 3 that melted on me all seemed to be the same type and different than the others so maybe I have the same situation. 

 

I hope mine breed at some

point - like when I'm much more experienced with them!! 

I actually found it on face book flower group. I hope i'm not spreading rumors, but mine didn't look like RFA's ive seen before, and the seller didn't know the origin.. too suspicious. bad lesson learned

[reefhound]

tank showed up last night.. still need an ato and better filter set up.. a week or so more on cycling and should be good to go

 

flowers getting big, a nice growth spurt, and starting to use their tentacles 

[hinnenkm]

This is so cool - excited to see the progress! What a neat project for you and they're beautiful!

[reefhound]

6 more born today.. again, bright white tentacles.. that's over 100 from our 2" flower

 

I could only manage to get 2 in the tray

[William]

How do you know when they are born 

[reefhound]

two ways, you can see them being spit out and landing on the disc.. or you simply find them under the flower (I constantly scour the tank for new flowers so I can get them protected in the tray) . right now, the newborns have brilliant white tentacles that will start to turn brown after a day. she has been giving birth to 5 here or there for about a month. (a month after her initial mass release)

 

I suspect (or really hope) that she is getting ready for the next event this week (solstice)

[reefhound]

up and running

2 damsels, 3 sexys , micro brittle stars for a cuc so far

[reefhound]

added 4 new flowers to the tank..

[reefhound]

3 are pushing 2 inches..

I stripped most of our corals out and traded them in.

 

also have a 5 pac coming VIP reef, nice of them to let me know they will pull the biggest flowers out for me from their next shipment don't know when it will get here, but will gladly wait for breeders.