Hannah’s tank journal

[hmmm2]

4 hours ago, Hannahhhh said:

I just posted some pics 

 

I’ll check when I get home. I’ve been really bad about checking that stuff the last month or so. This week my tank has been pretty neglected... I’m applying to vet school and the deadline is coming up...

Looks like brown jelly. It may quickly spread to other Euphyllia, so, like what you’ve mentioned, pulling it out might be a good decision 

[A.m.P]

1 hour ago, Hannahhhh said:

Also I should have mentioned, when I came back from vacation, that coral had flipped upside down and was sitting on the sand. I don’t know how long it was like that. I assume that’s a factor in why it’s dying. 

That's probably it unfortunately, sorry =/

[Ratvan]

9 hours ago, Hannahhhh said:

Also I should have mentioned, when I came back from vacation, that coral had flipped upside down and was sitting on the sand. I don’t know how long it was like that. I assume that’s a factor in why it’s dying. 

I had a couple of Hammers do this to me when they had taken a knock in transit. The damage never improved and gradually just got worse and worse 😞

[A.m.P]

5 hours ago, Ratvan said:

I had a couple of Hammers do this to me when they had taken a knock in transit. The damage never improved and gradually just got worse and worse 😞

Euphyllia really struggle with physical trauma in captivity sadly, it's really one of the few ways otherwise hardy animals end up having a rough time in our systems.
Iodine dips and constant-attention can save them, but some recommend higher-flow and others lower-flow, the same with lighting for the healing-process... 
Wish I had more tips and experience to share =(
That said, being flipped-over can and will kill most soft-bodied corals and corallimorphs VERY quickly.

[Ratvan]

2 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

Euphyllia really struggle with physical trauma in captivity sadly, it's really one of the few ways otherwise hardy animals end up having a rough time in our systems.
Iodine dips and constant-attention can save them, but some recommend higher-flow and others lower-flow, the same with lighting for the healing-process... 
Wish I had more tips and experience to share =(
That said, being flipped-over can and will kill most soft-bodied corals and corallimorphs VERY quickly.

I found that dipping made them worse, really low flow helped mine 

[A.m.P]

51 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

I found that dipping made them worse, really low flow helped mine 

Did you dip in disinfectants or in "coral dips", coral dips are for pest-elimination and have a ton of citrus extracts and other such bits which could definitely cause irritation and "potentially?" make things worse, lugols iodine or seachem's iodine dips are really just a disinfectant-bath which could help kill the bacteria or protozoans on the animal, some even dose small-amounts of proper-antibiotics to fight brown-jelly on more expensive colonies. Others, like you mentioned, seem to have more success just siphoning-out the necrotic-tissue, dropping it in low-light and flow, and just leaving it alone.
Impossible for me to say what's best =/ I honestly just hope I never have to deal with the situation at all...

[Ratvan]

6 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

Did you dip in disinfectants or in "coral dips", coral dips are for pest-elimination and have a ton of citrus extracts and other such bits which could definitely cause irritation and "potentially?" make things worse, lugols iodine or seachem's iodine dips are really just a disinfectant-bath which could help kill the bacteria or protozoans on the animal, some even dose small-amounts of proper-antibiotics to fight brown-jelly on more expensive colonies. Others, like you mentioned, seem to have more success just siphoning-out the necrotic-tissue, dropping it in low-light and flow, and just leaving it alone.
Impossible for me to say what's best =/ I honestly just hope I never have to deal with the situation at all...

I used a Coral Dip on the first, that killed it faster. 

I used a Disinfectant on the 2nd, still died but not that much slower

Cold RODI - worked well (wanted pests off)

🤷‍♂️

[Hannahhhh]

Ok another question for you guys. Does anyone have any experience with tube corals? The pink on mine is slowly retreating, it looks kinda like it is bleaching. It wasn’t fed for 2.5 weeks so that’s definitely got to be a factor. Also my water was slightly saltier than it should have been, but now all my parameters are back on track. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, I really love this coral and I’m very sad to be watching it do poorly. 

[Ratvan]

17 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

Ok another question for you guys. Does anyone have any experience with tube corals? The pink on mine is slowly retreating, it looks kinda like it is bleaching. It wasn’t fed for 2.5 weeks so that’s definitely got to be a factor. Also my water was slightly saltier than it should have been, but now all my parameters are back on track. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, I really love this coral and I’m very sad to be watching it do poorly. 

How big a swing and how fast?

[Hannahhhh]

It was at 1.030. I brought it back down with a water change last night. 

[Ratvan]

Shade, good flow and target feeding. Cup/Soda feed if you can. That should make any surviving polyps extend

[Hannahhhh]

3 hours ago, Ratvan said:

Shade, good flow and target feeding. Cup/Soda feed if you can. That should make any surviving polyps extend

Ugh even with the cup over it, it’s not extending much at all. It just looks kinda puffy. I think it’s eating a bit though. 

 

On the upside, one of my cardinal fish looks like it’s mouth brooding!! That was one of the reasons I got cardinal fish, but I was pretty sure I had two boys. Hopefully he’s actually brooding and not dying of some weird mouth thing.. 

 

[hmmm2]

2 hours ago, Hannahhhh said:

Ugh even with the cup over it, it’s not extending much at all. It just looks kinda puffy. I think it’s eating a bit though. 

 

On the upside, one of my cardinal fish looks like it’s mouth brooding!! That was one of the reasons I got cardinal fish, but I was pretty sure I had two boys. Hopefully he’s actually brooding and not dying of some weird mouth thing.. 

 

Great news! It’s always satisfying to see our fish breed in our tanks, good job!

 

As for the sun coral, it still looks okay, but it requires very frequent feeding to nurse it back. I’ve personally done it by squirting some polyp booster at night with this:

 

 

Once it’s opened, feed each individual head one piece of mysis shrimp, don’t over feed as it may also kill the coral. Do this consistently every night for one week and the sun coral should look more fleshy.

 

On top of that, if you’re worried about adding too much nutrients into your tank or if your fish/shrimp are stealing food, you may also consider taking it out and place it in a small bucket with your tank water to feed. Place the coral back once every head has fully swallowed the shrimp (it should take less than 15min) and replace that bucket of saltwater that you’ve taken out with equal volume of freshly mixed salt water and treat it as a water change.

 

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[Hannahhhh]

Hi everyone! My tube coral is making a comeback! I’ve been patiently feeding it everyday and it’s finally starting to look more normal. It’s not perfect yet, but I think it’s out of the woods!

 

Looking for some advice from you guys out there on starting a zoa garden and making it look pretty. I love tanks that have gorgeous zoa gardens along the bottom of the tank, but I’m not sure how to do that. Should I just plunk my zoa frags into the sand? Or am I better off setting up live rock low to the sand and attaching frags to those? I’m not sure I will like the look of more live rock on my sand but is that what I need to do? I’m worried my zoas wont get enough light at the lowest level of my tank. Thoughts? I have an AI prime. 

 

Lastly, are there any tricks on getting my zoas to thrive? I haven’t killed any of mine, but they aren’t really taking off either. 

[billygoat]

Glad to hear about the tube coral! Sometimes bringing them back around can be iffy once they've already started to drop flesh like that, but hopefully yours will make a full recovery. 😊

 

Zoanthids need a hard substrate to attach to if you want them to spread across the bottom of your tank. That's why a lot of people who are into super dense zoa gardens opt for bare bottom tanks and just let the polyps encrust right on the glass. Zoas like rocks better than glass though and will probably spread faster if you provide pieces of rock for them to adhere to.

 

Most zoanthids are very hardy, including many designer morphs. I'd say that if you are thinking about picking up some expensive zoas the most important thing you can do is be sure to dip them. There are pests out there that can destroy your entire collection in a matter of days if they end up being introduced to your display. 😨

[Hannahhhh]

51 minutes ago, billygoat said:

Glad to hear about the tube coral! Sometimes bringing them back around can be iffy once they've already started to drop flesh like that, but hopefully yours will make a full recovery. 😊

 

Zoanthids need a hard substrate to attach to if you want them to spread across the bottom of your tank. That's why a lot of people who are into super dense zoa gardens opt for bare bottom tanks and just let the polyps encrust right on the glass. Zoas like rocks better than glass though and will probably spread faster if you provide pieces of rock for them to adhere to.

 

Most zoanthids are very hardy, including many designer morphs. I'd say that if you are thinking about picking up some expensive zoas the most important thing you can do is be sure to dip them. There are pests out there that can destroy your entire collection in a matter of days if they end up being introduced to your display. 😨

Thanks for the advice on dipping them. I haven’t dipped any of my corals yet, but I really should start next time I add more. I’m tempted to pick up some more expensive zoas, but the five or so varieties I have right now are growing soooo slowly that it makes me less eager to buy more. 

[Ratvan]

Try and get 

9 hours ago, billygoat said:

Glad to hear about the tube coral! Sometimes bringing them back around can be iffy once they've already started to drop flesh like that, but hopefully yours will make a full recovery. 😊

 

Zoanthids need a hard substrate to attach to if you want them to spread across the bottom of your tank. That's why a lot of people who are into super dense zoa gardens opt for bare bottom tanks and just let the polyps encrust right on the glass. Zoas like rocks better than glass though and will probably spread faster if you provide pieces of rock for them to adhere to.

 

Most zoanthids are very hardy, including many designer morphs. I'd say that if you are thinking about picking up some expensive zoas the most important thing you can do is be sure to dip them. There are pests out there that can destroy your entire collection in a matter of days if they end up being introduced to your display. 😨

Yeah damn Nudi bast#rds

 

Have a look for some Domed Plugs, Zoas seem to want to pop out more heads evenly on these IMO, also try and buy from Reefers. I have found that LFS over my way dont rest the frags as long as they maybe should so are not as hardy as tank grown. 

 

Different Zoas have different needs in terms of lighting, placement and flow. Maybe have a play with less expensive non named versions first?

[billygoat]

11 hours ago, Hannahhhh said:

Thanks for the advice on dipping them. I haven’t dipped any of my corals yet, but I really should start next time I add more. I’m tempted to pick up some more expensive zoas, but the five or so varieties I have right now are growing soooo slowly that it makes me less eager to buy more. 

I don't have any fancy named morphs or anything, but zoanthids have grown fairly rapidly in my tank with moderate lighting and rather dirty water conditions. Sometimes a new frag will take awhile to get rolling though. I imagine your AI Prime would probably be more than enough light for zoas no matter where you put them in your tank.

 

I haven't dipped any of my stuff so far either, but keep in mind that the more livestock you've already got, the more value you get from dipping since new pests coming in can destroy your existing collection as well as the frags on which they arrive.

[Hannahhhh]

On 9/9/2019 at 8:08 AM, Ratvan said:

Have a look for some Domed Plugs, Zoas seem to want to pop out more heads evenly on these IMO, also try and buy from Reefers. I have found that LFS over my way dont rest the frags as long as they maybe should so are not as hardy as tank grown. 

I will try out some domed plugs, thanks for the tip!

I've been nervous about buying from local reefers, since I'm still pretty new to the hobby and I don't have a sense of who is legit and who might be selling me sick coral. I really trust my LFS, they have been unbelievably helpful to me so far.

 

On 9/9/2019 at 10:34 AM, billygoat said:

I don't have any fancy named morphs or anything, but zoanthids have grown fairly rapidly in my tank with moderate lighting and rather dirty water conditions. Sometimes a new frag will take awhile to get rolling though. I imagine your AI Prime would probably be more than enough light for zoas no matter where you put them in your tank.

 

I haven't dipped any of my stuff so far either, but keep in mind that the more livestock you've already got, the more value you get from dipping since new pests coming in can destroy your existing collection as well as the frags on which they arrive.

You're right, I really need to start dipping the next time I add anything. I don't want to risk my whole collection. 

[Hannahhhh]

Has anyone bought zoas or anything else from vivid aquariums or legendary corals? I ordered wysiwyg corals from aqua sd in the past, and the colors were nothing like they looked online. I'm wondering how accurate the pictures these websites post are. Obviously nothing is guaranteed, but I would be reassured it other people have had good experiences with them. 

[pokerdobe]

20 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

Has anyone bought zoas or anything else from vivid aquariums or legendary corals? I ordered wysiwyg corals from aqua sd in the past, and the colors were nothing like they looked online. I'm wondering how accurate the pictures these websites post are. Obviously nothing is guaranteed, but I would be reassured it other people have had good experiences with them. 

I've placed multiple orders with Legendary and they're good to go. 

[WV Reefer]

2 hours ago, Hannahhhh said:

Has anyone bought zoas or anything else from vivid aquariums or legendary corals? I ordered wysiwyg corals from aqua sd in the past, and the colors were nothing like they looked online. I'm wondering how accurate the pictures these websites post are. Obviously nothing is guaranteed, but I would be reassured it other people have had good experiences with them. 

I have used them both and they are both excellent. 😊

[Hannahhhh]

What do you guys think of this tank that's for sale? I'm a bit terrified to buy a used tank, but I want to upgrade in size, and I can't really afford to buy a new one. 

Additionally, have any of you had any experience designing the scape for a tank like this? I'm worried my tank might look odd, since the tank is so tall, but maybe that's just because I'm use to looking at my little fluval evo which is longer than it is tall. 

Let me know your thoughts. 

 

"42 Gallon Oceanic Reef Ready Fish Tank, includes stand and sump. The tank is extremely heavy for its size, thick glass. A really beautiful tank $350"

[Ratvan]

Nice tank. The Aquascape you'd have to try and keep tall and narrow I guess?

[Hannahhhh]

This is the second tank I am looking at, but it is pretty pricy.... Does $700 seem like a steep asking price for this tank considering that its used? It seems expensive to me, but I don't know. 

"Fluval M90 $700

Aquarium and cabinet set. Fluval Sea Protein Skimmer and Fluval Sea CP1 Circulation Pump. Fluval Sea Marine & Reef Performance LED Lighting."