|
Post by TenebrousNova on Sept 18, 2014 11:34:51 GMT
For the last few days the green Ricordea mushroom was scrunched up and didn't look very happy. This morning I woke up to find my pair of trochus snails spawning for the first time...and two Ricordeas! I really hope they continue to grow and reproduce, this is probably my favourite species of mushroom coral and they come in such a fantastic range of mixed colours.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 4, 2014 12:01:01 GMT
Bought myself a little green mushroom to add a bit more colour. I also bought a few Duncan coral ( Duncanopsammia axifuga) polyps. I hope they do well.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 5, 2014 10:02:22 GMT
More photos! The Duncan coral seems to be settling in alright, as you can see there are two baby polyps that are growing from the top and left. I used a syringe to squirt some brine shrimp near it, and all three polyps wrapped around their food and swallowed it with surprising speed. Duncan corals cost £10 per polyp around here and most shops only sell the large colonies, so you can imagine how expensive they get. They're also fast growers, especially with regular feedings, so I hope it grows new polyps soon. They can grow in an interesting branching formation although some grow in dense "bushes". Duncanopsammia axifuga seems to be the only coral in its genus. Here's the Kenya tree, which is growing ever larger. Female clownfish in the anemone, which is also getting massive. You can see the way they suck the anemone's tentacles every so often. This is to keep the anemone clean, but also helps them to maintain their immunity from the sting. Closeup of the anemone's tentacles. They have an interesting texture to them, I think.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 19, 2014 9:58:11 GMT
Quick update, the star polyps now cover almost half of the rock. They're quickly becoming one of my favourite corals. As you can see, baby polyps are forming at the edges. Look closely and you'll even notice a few micro brittle starfish arms, they seem to be breeding in the tank now. Under the blue LEDs: The Duncan coral is doing very well and eats every day. I'm hoping it'll grow some more polyps at some point. Had a recent salinity spike but I've managed to bring it back down again. That's what happens when you listen to your parents too much, they think water tests are a waste of money.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 3, 2014 13:13:36 GMT
Sorry about the lack of updates. To compensate, I will include more photos. The Duncan coral is continuing to grow and it still eats a lot. I used a bit of epoxy to attach it to a rock in the middle of the tank. It seems to love it! It seems that the skeleton actually has a fluorescent bright green colour to it when exposed to direct light. Here's a clear photo of the shrimp (Who molted this morning!). As you can tell this was taken before the Duncans were relocated. You can also see that they are closed up because the shrimp loves to loot them for easy food...and the sixline wrasse makes a nice cameo too. This is one of my new pair of turban snails (At least, that's what they were sold as.) Unlike the banded trochus snails, these ones are very slow but they have done a superb job on the algae on the glass. Definitely getting more at some point. Here's the trumpet coral which is still doing very well. I don't feed it as much as I used to but it still seems to be growing. Closeup of the polyps: And here's what the whole tank currently looks like: Hope you enjoyed the update.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 15, 2014 12:18:13 GMT
Just found this lettuce sea slug ( Elysia crispata) at the pet shop and instantly fell in love. Here it is! I like his ruffled appearance. They feed off algae and can also photosynthesize to some extent, so he should do well (Especially since I'm having an algae outbreak!).
|
|
Deleted
Hibernating
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2014 12:31:18 GMT
That is so odd, but nice. Do you have any Khuli (?spelling) loaches?
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 15, 2014 12:39:37 GMT
That is so odd, but nice. Do you have any Khuli (?spelling) loaches? The black and orange stripy ones? We had a few in our tropical freshwater tank but they never came out. We'd only see them in the evenings when the light was turned off.
|
|
Deleted
Hibernating
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2014 12:41:31 GMT
That is so odd, but nice. Do you have any Khuli (?spelling) loaches? The black and orange stripy ones? We had a few in our tropical freshwater tank but they never came out. We'd only see them in the evenings when the light was turned off. Yes, they're the ones. I had one when I was a kid
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 15, 2014 14:39:29 GMT
Here's a much better photo of the lettuce Nudibranch: He has settled in quickly and is now on the move. Like other slugs and snails they possess a radula, but shaped like a hollow needle. This needle can pierce the cells of algae and suck out their contents, so the slug can digest its cytoplasm and organelles. The algae's chloroplasts are incorporated into the slug's body and can produce food from the light. On top of that, they can even absorb and express genes! As far as I can tell, this is the only sea slug that can be kept with relative ease. Others are incredibly specialist feeders and if the specific algae, sponge, coral or tunicates are unavailable they won't take to anything else and slowly starve.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 16, 2014 11:36:48 GMT
Today's post is about the bubble tip anemone. In recent weeks the tentacles have changed their shape from long and stringy to the namesake "bubbles". I haven't fed it for a while, so my theory is that when fed often their tentacles will elongate to catch prey. When they're not expecting food for a while, the tentacles seem to turn bulbous to maximize the surface area for photosynthesis. Of course, no one really knows why these anemones change shape. Oh, and there was a bit of an incident yesterday when my dad was helping to scrape the tougher algae off the glass...he got too close to the anemone and the female clownfish gave him a jagged bite that drew blood. He's okay, I got him to wash the bite immediately. She's a little pirahna, that one. This morning I noticed that the anemone had partially exposed its foot, which is unusual because they prefer to keep their foot hidden in a crevice. It may have been where I was cleaning the powerhead yesterday. Perhaps that caused the current to change slightly and the anemone was considering moving? Its foot is now hidden again.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 20, 2014 21:16:57 GMT
Just bought home this lovely (And cheap!) Acan coral I found in the local classifieds. It's got a very nice green and red colouration which especially stands out under the blue lights. As you can see, it was very quick to put out its feeder tentacles and the little polyp at the bottom can be seen swallowing a bit of thawed squid. He was also selling a gorgeous Scolymia, which looks a bit like this: The only downside is that most Scolymias go for at least £100 with some fetching well over £1000. Maybe I'll get one when I win the lottery.
|
|
|
Post by timl on Nov 20, 2014 21:53:31 GMT
That bottom one looks so trippy o.o wish I had the money for an aquarium like this... Looking brilliant, I always look forward to seeing these pics
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 20, 2014 22:25:37 GMT
That bottom one looks so trippy o.o wish I had the money for an aquarium like this... Looking brilliant, I always look forward to seeing these pics Thanks Timl, you're very kind to say so! The initial set up is pricey but well under £500, the rest is just topping up the water and the occasional water change. Maybe you'll get one at some point.
|
|
|
Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 22, 2014 16:46:17 GMT
I didn't mention it at the time because they hadn't opened up for a photo, but I also bought a small colony of two Zoanthid species. Some are purple and the others are purple with bright green centres. Here they are: They were originally placed at the top but they seem to prefer the bottom. I am told that the green ones are uncommon, even rare. I personally doubt it but I still love them. Hopefully they'll start to grow up the neighbouring rock eventually.
|
|