Lypto Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 22 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said: how did it go? The only jellies I've seen here are moon jellies at the LFS. They're pretty, but incredibly delicate and don't seem to last beyond six months at the store. I kept them for a while and got some nice polyps out of it, but they're not long lived and so fragile. It was a great project to learn about all the systems and biology and methods and I met some great experts on the subject but if I were to do it again I'd start with a species like upside down jellyfish or a warmer water species. good lessons in pelagic life. I was actually planning a little plankton nano tank, something so I could head out on a kayak or over a pier and catch plankton like smaller jellies like combs or crystal jellies and put it in there and just watch all the crazy life do it's thing. 22 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said: My primary LFS actually showed me pics of various clove polyp morphs which they're aquaculturing in one of their coral farms I love clove polyps, do they have a website? 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 18, 2020 Author Share Posted July 18, 2020 1 hour ago, Lypto said: I kept them for a while and got some nice polyps out of it, but they're not long lived and so fragile. It was a great project to learn about all the systems and biology and methods and I met some great experts on the subject but if I were to do it again I'd start with a species like upside down jellyfish or a warmer water species. good lessons in pelagic life. I was actually planning a little plankton nano tank, something so I could head out on a kayak or over a pier and catch plankton like smaller jellies like combs or crystal jellies and put it in there and just watch all the crazy life do it's thing. I love clove polyps, do they have a website? No official website that I know of, but they do have a relatively active FB page called 'New Oasis Aquarium'. They mostly post fish shipments there, but they do have some nice coral pics every once in a while. 😊👍 I saw the clove polyp pics on my LFS manager's cellphone (he showed it to me). I'm not sure if he'll post those pics online though. 🤔 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 Power was out for a few hours today, so I kept the pico alive using a battery pump and large airstone: Over the last two days, I noticed there was a greasy, cloudy film covering the surface of the water. It was quite murky and blocked out the light from reaching the corals below, so some of my zoas and palys were stretching. The addition of the airstone actually created enough bubbles to agitate the surface of the water, so some of the film dispersed, but not all of it. 😕 So I WCed the tank in the evening, and the film is gone. 🤔 Benny & Kraken were really active though: I enjoyed watching Benny eat some pellets today. It's interesting to see how his tube feet *passes the pellet along the length of the arm, and up to the underside of the central disc. 😊 My zoas are also growing out quite well now: Hoping to recollect more zoa morphs in time. Trying to find some LA Lakers & Rastas, to be more exact. 😊 Also, a small bit of unrelated news - turns out my BCG in the nano, Nox, isn't dead - but is well and alive. He just now lives in this giant wad of floating caulerpa: 2 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 On 7/18/2020 at 9:17 AM, Snow_Phoenix said: Harvey: great pic........ I wish mine would pose for pics like that. 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 52 minutes ago, WV Reefer said: great pic........ I wish mine would pose for pics like that. Try luring yours out with a pellet or two - they seem to only magically appear when food is present. Another option is trying to find them at night - but they might be camo-mode (red or green stripes) by then. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 Update #1: Remember the brown zoas I picked some time back, which was kind of ugly and unassuming? Here's how they look like today: 🤗 And I'm pretty sure these have a fancy name of some sort. Gorilla nipples (?) 🤷♀️ : Loving the little zoa corner: 🥰 Sunflowers from the top: And new polyps are finally growing over the bald patch of the zoa frag which was nearly decimated by the pox: 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 Update #2: Meteor shower cyphastrea's colors have darkened a little - hoping they'll return to being bright blue again: Malayan rainbow acans: Tricolor blasto still recovering: 👍 Orange leptastrea still 'sleepy' right after I flipped the light switch back on: 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 Update #3: More ripples on the surface of the red pavona: 😊 Bullseye rhodactis shroom: 🥰 The montihat! 🤗 : Growing *up : John Deere leptastrea encrusting further: Mystery leptastrea (?) or cyphastrea (?) is also slowly growing: 👍 I have to shift my green leptastrea away from my meteor shower cyphastrea - I think it's getting stung because there is a small bald patch on it. 😕 1 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 The corals look great, love so many of those zoa's but the sunflowers are stunning. Some times when things grow you have to move stuff around. It's not a bad thing. Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 1 hour ago, debbeach13 said: The corals look great, love so many of those zoa's but the sunflowers are stunning. Some times when things grow you have to move stuff around. It's not a bad thing. Thanks Deb. I love the sunflowers too! 😊 And I don't mind moving stuff around - the problem is *where do I need to move it to, because I sort of ran out of space. 😅 Am sure I'll still manage to find a spot - *somewhere. 👍 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 Can you spot the shrimp? 🙈 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 I managed to compile a short coral progress pic of one of my zoas. On 19/5/20, I purchased a relatively unattractive frag of zoas which were a dull brown in color, for only RM 10. My LFS was eager to get rid of it, and I mostly grabbed it because it had one metallic green paly polyp attached to it (which I wanted to grow out) and I was slightly curious over what the original colors of the zoas were: The first frame on the top right was taken the first day I brought the frag home, the second frame on the top left about ~1 week later (when I begin to notice the zoas had an odd reddish hue), and the bottom two frames were taken today on the 21/7/20 - approx. ~2 months after the frag was introduced to my pico. 😊 Tbh, I was quite surprised by the amount & variation in color that this simple, unassuming frag had developed. I *think, if given a bit of TLC, a lot of the browned out or unhealthy frags seen in stores *can actually make a comeback. This actually makes me more eager to pick up any other overlooked frag from my LFSes in the future. I think SPS are a gamble though, and will most likely die once they reach a certain stage of decline. But zoas, shrooms and softies seem a *bit more reselient. Some LPS are worth a shot too, I guess. I'll definitely try to look into purchasing more dull frags in the future - just to watch them bounce back. It actually makes me really happy seeing them regrow or color back up again. And I feel...light (?) 🤔 Eh, it's difficult to explain. 🤷♀️ 3 Quote Link to comment
Lypto Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 That's so cool, I wonder if it always had those colors or if it developed them under your lights. 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 25 minutes ago, Lypto said: That's so cool, I wonder if it always had those colors or if it developed them under your lights. I'm not sure either. I wasn't aware corals could change colors this much under different lights. 🤔 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 Kraken creeping around for pellets: 🤗 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 Update #1: Two new zoas grew over the bald patch of this frag that used to be smothered in pox: Glad it's actually regrowing - hoping it will spread out and fuse with the tubbs blue to create a continuous mat on the sandbed. 😊 Also, my orange bam bams bopped out a tiny new polyp today: These zoas have doubled in numbers since I placed it on the rocks: 👍 Purple death paly growth is still wild. I'm trying to look up on ways to safely frag a few polyps from this thing. If I succeed, then I can try selling them through my LFS to earn some extra pocket money to pick up different frags: 😊 Little baby sunflower polyp has gained more definition: 😊 Little blasto heads are growing out quite quickly: 🤗 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 Update #2: My John Deere leptastrea has lost some of its brightness - probably because I stretched out the last WC for ~18 days (oops!) : Hope it'll bounce back and become bright yellow again. This is my green leptastrea - you can see the receded area where it got stung by my cyphastrea: I think I'll move it back ~1" to see if that helps it regrow. 🤔 Orange leptastrea is very vivid today evening: 👍 Jack-O-Lantern leptoseris has grown a bit more since I last posted about it: 👍 I moved the acan frag next to my red PEs but I think my PEs aren't too happy about it: 🤔 The montihat has plated out even further. I wonder how it'll grow once it bumps against the corners of the glass. Up, maybe? 🤔 : 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 Lots of updates incoming - very pic heavy. You've been warned! 😊 Update #1: 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 Update #3: Coralline Ledge: My apologies if the topview shots aren't clear. The oily surface film was back, and it was blurring everything, and also made some of the coral colors duller. 😔 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 Update #4: FTS on 23/7/20: Topview FTS today: A quick video tour of the pico: 🥰 4 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 White polyp PE on the montihat today morning: Rainbow brain still looking a bit shrunken. Should puff up now that I have turned the lights on: There's still an oily film layer on the surface of the water. It's blocking the light from reaching some of the corals in the tank, especially the ones on the sandbed. 😕 Some quick reading & research online indicates that I might have a high level of dissolved organics, and either manual removal using a paper towel or a surface skimmer might be necessary. 🤔 I have been feeding this tank a few NLS pellets everyday lately. Perhaps I'll scale back the feeding to once every two or three days. To the best of my knowledge, there isn't anything dying or rotting in this tank. All animals are alive and healthy, so I'm a bit confused as to why I'm having this issue *now. My previous/recent WC made the film go away for two days, then it returned. Yep, I definitely have no clue. 🤷♀️ I'll use the paper towel method first, then clean out my filter, replace the floss (again) and also replace the carbon for good measure. This tank is too small to host a skimmer. Even a surface skimmer is a no-go. If anyone has any other ideas on how to combat this - I'm all ears. (Also, sorry if some of the topview shots weren't clear and too blue yesterday - I was really tired, and quite frankly, didn't toy around with my light settings too much. 😕 ) 1 Quote Link to comment
Tired Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 If your corals are all happy (and they look very happy!), I'd say you're feeding a reasonable amount. Just remove the film manually now and then. Might be some strain of bacteria or another has recently had favorable conditions to multiply and produce it. How is your filter set up, again? 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Tired said: If your corals are all happy (and they look very happy!), I'd say you're feeding a reasonable amount. Just remove the film manually now and then. Might be some strain of bacteria or another has recently had favorable conditions to multiply and produce it. How is your filter set up, again? It's just a simple HOB filter with a small sock full of carbon and a folded layer of floss on top of it. I cleaned out the film manually and cleaned out the filter this morning. Replaced the carbon and floss for good measure - and tentatively, it seems to be okay and the surface layer is no longer oily nor murky. Quote Link to comment
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