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Thread: my little ocean - nano reef

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  1. #21

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    Nice pics! I also got the salt water "bug" some time last year....I seem to pick challenging hobbies. I have two tanks in my office along with some ferns and orchids. My coworkers refer to my office as very "Zen"...especially with the New Age music in the background.

  2. #22
    Real Name
    Fren
    My Grow Area
    Under Lights.
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    Phrags, Paphs, Catts
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    Jan 2006
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    Edmonton, Canada
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    Default tank moved

    I decided I had to do a tank move because it was getting close to 86oF, which was the maximum I was willing to go. The 94W lighting really is the culprit for the high temps. Its freaky moving the tank but it was successful, (other than the acan that got brown rot later, but it is growing back). It also gave me an idea of how much water I actually have with all the livestock, rock and sand in there, I have suprisingly very little water. Hopefully it will not get too hot in July. For temp, ideally it should be in the basement but no one would admire it down there, so I chose the front of the house that remains cool b/c of the lack of windows.
    Here's what it looked like this morning after feeding. (ok I need to clean the glass )

    I corals grew quite a lot and soon I will have to frag and list them online for locals who wants a head of torch or frogspawn corals. Hopefully I can get more coraline algae, or soft coral to grow on the glass of the backgrounds. The tiny brittle star population has gone up very high now too.

    My 2.5 gallon desktop pico-tank is also doing great running on 9W and whatever sunlight it gets in the orchid filled room. The pulsing xenia soft coral is taking over! Also my firefish goby is less shy now. I notice all my fish are more active, perhaps because of increased metabolism because of higher temps.

  3. #23
    Real Name
    Bruce Brown
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    Greenhouse
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    Oh, that is so nice. I hope you are able to keep it cool enough.

    Cheers,
    BD

  4. #24
    Real Name
    Cin
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    It is so wonderful Fren I am very envious.
    Cin

  5. #25
    Real Name
    Richard
    My Grow Area
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    Phals, Oncs, Neos, Paphs
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    Vancouver, Canada
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    Default

    Such a wonderful tank Fren. How much does the anemone nettle the soft corals around it? I know it's a necessity for the clown fish but it's a bit of a nasty thing for the corals around it. It doesn't seem to affect them much in your tank though.

  6. #26
    Real Name
    Cin
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    I'm looking at your pictures again and watching "Finding Nemo", it is rather surreal.
    Cin

  7. #27
    Real Name
    Fren
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    Default

    Thanks guys for the nice comments I am really enjoying reef keeping, though it is a costly hobby initially.

    Quote Originally Posted by Phyrex View Post
    Such a wonderful tank Fren. How much does the anemone nettle the soft corals around it? I know it's a necessity for the clown fish but it's a bit of a nasty thing for the corals around it. It doesn't seem to affect them much in your tank though.
    Many corals have some sort of defence or way of competing such as stinging tentacles, release of mesentery strands, poison, chemical growth inhibitors released into water, etc.

    those 'anemones' are torch and frogspawn corals in the genus Euphyllia, which calcium carbonate skeletons that the polyps can retract into. They were not fully expanded this morning and can look even bigger later in the day, then in the evening it collapses and its skeletal branches can be seen. They do sting the other corals unfortunately which is why I may have to reduce their size by division of its branching skeleton, and passing a head on to someone else.

    The long elegant sweeper tentacles are what sting the most, such as those of the torch coral that my clown decided to host. Sweeper tenticles serve just that purpose to keep competing corals away. My frogspawn on the right is not hosted by the clownfish although it looks nice. Frogspawn does not sting as much although in higher current it sends longer sweeping tenticles that can do more damage. There is some inevitable stinging going on although most of the other soft corals can resist it temporarily because of a protective mucous coating, however too much stinging and tissue can recede.

    Most true Anemones are difficult to keep alive without stable pristine waters and strong lighting according to the experts. Nor are an anemone necessary for its survival in captivity and human bred clowns don't know who to host although they are born with hosting behaviours. Clownfish will host various things such as even a corner of the tank or a powerhead. So I chose the either the frogspawn or torch coral as an anemone substitute, The look so similar that I wouldn't have known that it wasn't an anemone before I looked into reef keeping. Pulsing xenia and other octocorals can be used as hosts as well but it just doesn't give the same look.
    BTW if a clownfish is hosting what is not desired (such as a powerhead), I heard you can teach it by showing it a picture of another clownfish in the desired coral, and it will learn. Monkey see, monkey do...
    I got lucky. My man bred baby clownfish chose exactly which coral I wanted it to hide and roll around in and she is now getting very aggressive to protect that anemome-like torch coral.
    It's amazing watching videos of clowns hosting a true carpet anemone and they bounce around and swim into the anemone's mouth! In my case she swims into the torch coral's skeleton. Carpet anemones require a huge tank...
    Last edited by smartie2000; June 8th, 2008 at 05:05 AM.

  8. #28
    Real Name
    Bruce Brown
    My Grow Area
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    Fascinating information, Fren. You have learned so much in such a short amount of time. Continued good luck with the reef tank.

    Cheers,
    BD

  9. #29
    Real Name
    Andrea
    My Grow Area
    Windowsill
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    Dendro,Maxillaria,Miniatures
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    Apr 2008
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    Germany
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    529
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    Congratulations !
    I never saw something near it .
    Wonderful !

    greetings from Germany

  10. #30

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    Those are really inspiring tanks. It was really interesting to hear more about them too.

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