RedTheReefer's Rock Flower Garden - 365 AIO Challenge

[RedTheReefer]

Hello everyone,

 

For some time now I have been considering starting a pico reef tank with the sole focus on rock flower anemones. After recently stumbling upon this contest, it seems to me like there is no better time but now to get the ball rolling. I am super excited as this is my first contest and only my second tank after starting my first nano tank in May 2019. Since discovering this hobby, I have been fascinated by anemones but more specifically, rock flower anemones because of their appearance, endless variation of color, and the one of the only anemone species that can be kept in a pico or nano reef tank.

 

My primary goal for this tank is to create a vibrant and colorful environment where rock flower anemones can spawn and reproduce. I do not know how difficult this is or if this is even possible in a pico tank but I hope to succeed at breeding them.

 

System:

 

• Display: Lifegard Aquatics 3.8 Gallon Peninsula (14.17" x 7.87" x 7.87")
• Lighting: AI Prime HD
• Filteration: inTank Filter Floss Holder for Waterbox Cube 7
• Heater: Archae 25W
• Circulation: Cobalt MJ606
• Auto Top Off: XP Aqua Duetto

 

Aquascape:

 

I will be using live rock from GulfLiveRock.com and I will opt for a sand bed as I feel it is completely necessary for an environment catered to RFA's. I decided to go with a very simple aquascape with no overhangs or caves.

 

Current Livestock:

 

• Gorgonians:
  • Angular Sea Whip
  • Yellow Sea Feather
  • Spiny Orange Gorgonian
• Inverts:
  • 25 Rock Flower Anemones

• Fish:
  • None

 

FTS 02-24-2020

 

FTS 05-28-2020

 

FTS 07-29-2020

[jack1978]

Great concept and one of the best condiments ever!

[SeaFurn]

I’m a sucker for rock flower tanks! 

Looking forward to seeing it jammed packed. 

 

I have ave lots of them and lots of baby RFAs so if you ever have any questions feel free to reach out.

 

Just a comment on the equipment. I have the 4.1 gallon version of that tank and the stock pump is a little on the weak side IMO, especially if you aren’t planning on using any other pumps inside the tank. So, you may want to upgrade it. It will be a challenge to find one that fits in that rear chamber but I think there are a couple of options. I just ordered the Cobalt MJ 606 for mine. I’ll let you know how it works out. 

[debbeach13]

Sounds like a nice tank. Good luck in the contest

[mitchels6]

I'm looking forward to seeing this tank matured. Shrooms are my fav corals, and rock flowers look like vibrant shrooms.

[RedTheReefer]

6 hours ago, SeaFurn said:

I’m a sucker for rock flower tanks! 

Looking forward to seeing it jammed packed. 

 

I have ave lots of them and lots of baby RFAs so if you ever have any questions feel free to reach out.

 

Just a comment on the equipment. I have the 4.1 gallon version of that tank and the stock pump is a little on the weak side IMO, especially if you aren’t planning on using any other pumps inside the tank. So, you may want to upgrade it. It will be a challenge to find one that fits in that rear chamber but I think there are a couple of options. I just ordered the Cobalt MJ 606 for mine. I’ll let you know how it works out. 

Awesome! Be prepared for me to ask tons of questions later on! I am a complete newbie once it comes to rock flower anemones so I'll have lots of questions down the road about breeding them. I can't wait to get started!

 

As for the Cobalt MJ 606, please let me know if it fits because I've been considering that as an upgrade too. I believe the dimensions of our rear chambers of our perspective tanks are different (mine being smaller). If it does end up fitting, I would like to know the dimensions of your rear chamber as well. Thanks! 

[vqreefer]

Love it! Maybe some Kenya trees or nepthea would look nice for some branchy contrast 

[This guy is extra salty]

Just lurking the competition..

why did you choose that tank?

[RedTheReefer]

1 hour ago, This guy is extra salty said:

Just lurking the competition..

why did you choose that tank?

I was originally going to go with the UNS 3N for this contest but it did not have a AIO compartment. Both tanks have very similar display dimensions so I decided to go with this one for the sake of the AIO chamber. It is essentially a UNS 3N copy with an extra 2 inches on the back for the AIO. As an added bonus, it was on sale at MarineDepot for $67 for President's Day. I feel like I would of spent more money buying and DIY'ing the UNS 3N since it would of costed an upwards of $90 to get just the tank alone shipped to my door.

 

I decided to go with this size because I wanted something to look at on my desk and I already have a UNS 40C close by. I am also very pleased with the quality of this tank and was not expecting the false wall to be glass! My only gripe would be that vent at the bottom. I am not a fan but they do include a plug for it.

[RedTheReefer]

9 hours ago, vqreefer said:

Love it! Maybe some Kenya trees or nepthea would look nice for some branchy contrast 

Great suggestions. I do not have much experience with leathers - only LPS but I will be considering these!

[This guy is extra salty]

1 hour ago, RedTheReefer said:

I was originally going to go with the UNS 3N for this contest but it did not have a AIO compartment. Both tanks have very similar display dimensions so I decided to go with this one for the sake of the AIO chamber. It is essentially a UNS 3N copy with an extra 2 inches on the back for the AIO. As an added bonus, it was on sale at MarineDepot for $67 for President's Day. I feel like I would of spent more money buying and DIY'ing the UNS 3N since it would of costed an upwards of $90 to get just the tank alone shipped to my door.

 

I decided to go with this size because I wanted something to look at on my desk and I already have a UNS 40C close by. I am also very pleased with the quality of this tank and was not expecting the false wall to be glass! My only gripe would be that vent at the bottom. I am not a fan but they do include a plug for it.

That’s interesting literally all glass? 🤔

you got a sweet deal on the tank! But the UNS tanks are super sleek tho! But I have always loved doing DIY’s and trying to make things better or more efficient with what you got. 

sweet office tank! And good luck in the competition.

[RedTheReefer]

5 minutes ago, This guy is extra salty said:

That’s interesting literally all glass? 🤔

you got a sweet deal on the tank! But the UNS tanks are super sleek tho! But I have always loved doing DIY’s and trying to make things better or more efficient with what you got. 

sweet office tank! And good luck in the competition.

Yes. The entire tank is all glass - a very unexpected surprise.

 

Good luck to you too. Your acrylic work is amazing and I cannot wait to get my ATO reservoir and tank tray from you. 😋

[SeaFurn]

I have the 4.1 g version of that tank and I’m not a big fan of the hole near the bottom of the divider wall either. Oh well. 

 

I’m not sure how the rear compartments compare on our tanks, but on mine, the second and third chamber is divided by a short wall, I’m thinking of making it a little taller so that there’s more water in the third chamber to accommodate a stronger pump and keep more water in the second chamber. I’d use a piece of acrylic and silicone it in place. 

I’lol let you know how that works out. 

[spectra]

Looking forward to see how this turns out...............this tank was my pic but decided not to do the comp................RFAs are easy any questions just ask..........have had a few in the past...........

 

Good luck with the tank.......

[SeaFurn]

On 2/25/2020 at 1:07 PM, RedTheReefer said:

Awesome! Be prepared for me to ask tons of questions later on! I am a complete newbie once it comes to rock flower anemones so I'll have lots of questions down the road about breeding them. I can't wait to get started!

 

As for the Cobalt MJ 606, please let me know if it fits because I've been considering that as an upgrade too. I believe the dimensions of our rear chambers of our perspective tanks are different (mine being smaller). If it does end up fitting, I would like to know the dimensions of your rear chamber as well. Thanks! 

The rear 3rd chamber dimensions are 2 1/4" x 3 1/4".  Plenty of room for the MJ 606 as you can see from the picture:

 

 

 

[RedTheReefer]

The live rock came in on Saturday from GulfLiveRock.com and the tank is now wet. When the rock came in, it smelt of death. I'm expecting a lot of die off but we will see. It did come with a couple pieces of coral though! I am overall pleased with the rock at $65 shipped for 10lbs.

 

Let me know what you think of the aquascape. Is it too tall? Since I have 10 lbs of rock, I have extra peices in case anyone thinks I should change the scape. I wanted to go very simple with no caves or overhangs to reduce the chance of having baby RFAs starve from light.

 

I also decided to go with euphyllia as my major coral choice - more specifically, torch coral. Torch corals are one of my favorite types of coral. It will really fill the tank and display movement like I wanted.

 

I think having an Indo torch placed on top of a cliff over some rock flowers would look really cool. I also decided to go with torches because I think they will keep the flowers off the rock! 

 

03/14/2020 FTS 

 

[debbeach13]

I like it. Do you know what the corals are?

[SeaFurn]

Looks good. I don’t think the scape is too tall at all. 

You might want to check ammonia for a few days and hit the tank with some Prime and MB7 if it’s present. You want to prevent as much of the die off as possible. 

[RedTheReefer]

51 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

I like it. Do you know what the corals are?

Very hard to tell. But I think I received a couple of favias or some sort of brain coral and something else that I can't really tell at all. 

 

51 minutes ago, SeaFurn said:

Looks good. I don’t think the scape is too tall at all. 

You might want to check ammonia for a few days and hit the tank with some Prime and MB7 if it’s present. You want to prevent as much of the die off as possible. 

I have MicroBacter7 and have been dosing it daily to really get this tank cycled fast! 

[SaltyGallon]

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this plays out. The cliff top torch surrounded by a RFA garden sounds awesome! Have you got any particular RFAs in mind? 🤩

[RedTheReefer]

1 hour ago, Azur said:

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this plays out. The cliff top torch surrounded by a RFA garden sounds awesome! Have you got any particular RFAs in mind? 🤩

Nothing in particular. I plan on only getting Ultra Rock Flowers though because that is what I want to breed. As for the types of Ultra RFAs, anything will do. In my opinion, half of the fun is seeing the new color morphs of the babies from the adults and how they compare.

 

I plan on purchasing a couple 4-Packs from @Got Corals 

I am hoping for lots of variety in color though!

[RedTheReefer]

Hey guys. So I just got home from work and noticed something on my live rock. Could any one identify what this is? It is like a white film growing on the rock. Should I be concerned? I might decide to take the rock out and give it a good scrub or maybe just a water change?

 

I find this particularly odd because the rest of the rock I have is in a bucket with a pump and heater and shows no signs of this white stuff. Could it be the light? Just some speculation.... This is my first time with cycling with aqua cultured live rock so if anyone has ideas, please let me know. 

 

On another note, I decided to upgrade to the Cobalt MJ606 pump. What a difference! The stock pump was loud and provided barely any flow. I am very pleased with this small pump.

 

 

[debbeach13]

How are you and the tank doing? Are hope you are well. Did you find out what that white film is? 

[RedTheReefer]

On 4/27/2020 at 7:09 AM, debbeach13 said:

How are you and the tank doing? Are hope you are well. Did you find out what that white film is? 

I believe it was some sort of mold or algae build up from the decaying life on the rock after shipment. Overall, the tank is doing well. Thanks for asking!

 

05-17-20 Update:

 

I have to say that this update is long over due. Firstly, I decided to go a different route in what type of species of coral to couple with anemones. I made the final decision to go with gorgonians because of a couple of reasons. First, having euphyllia, an aggressive species, with another aggressive species like anemones in such close quarters in this small tank was not a good idea. Within in one week of adding rock flowers to the tank, the torch that I placed in the tank a month earlier had already stung one so I decided to change my approach.  Secondt, both species (Phymanthus crucifer and Alcyonacea) are prominently found in areas of the Caribbean sea. I thought it would be pretty cool to have a tank of species from only one location of the world. Lastly, thanks to @kimberbee and her beautiful RFA/Gorgonian tank, both species seem to get along well. I wanted the look of branching coral like SPS to fill the dead-space in the tank and gorgonians will achieve just that.

 

My current stock so far is only 6 anemones and only two gorgonians. I am really eager to make a order with KP Aquatics for some gorgonians, rock flowers, and a much needed cleanup crew. I really want to get my hands on their Red/Yellow Finger gorgonians but they are out of stock at the moment. I am also discovering that gorgonians are very hard to find online.

 

Also, another wonderful thing has happened after my purchase of a 4-RFA pack from @Got Corals. One of the anemones was pregnant and released babies in my tank. I did not think I would have to experience raising juvenile rock flowers so soon! I counted a total of 11 babies! However, some have not made it and I am only down to six. 😥 I am uncertain as to why I lost about half of them. I think maybe it is because the tank is not really mature yet. All my parameters are in check and I have been keeping up with weekly feedings-sometimes twice a week-as per @SeaFurn's advice. I will definitely  going to be purchasing more rock flowers from them in the future. Their anemones must be super healthy if they are actively reproducing.

 

I also want to give a shout out to @SeaFurn for muscling through my bombardment of questions from time to time. I really appreciate it. If anyone has any questions on Rock Flower Anemones, ask him. He gives very thoughtful responses!

 

Pictures will come soon. I want to know what you guys think on how the tank looks. I am super picky on how things look and usually can't let things be. Anyone got any recommendations for a phone camera lens for taking pictures under the blues? I was looking at Oceanbox Designs' ReefLens but boy is that a hefty price. Thanks for reading!

[debbeach13]

So glad every thing is OK. Sounds like some wonderful things are happening in this tank. Looking forward to pictures. I post crappy picture all the time. Any pictures are better than none.