EvilTwin's 75g tank - Page 2 - Frag Outpost Forums - Coral Propagation and Reef Aquarium Forums

EvilTwin · 03-07-2006, 08:45 AM

I did my usual feeding this morning and gave the fish a typical treat of bloodworms. Since I was feeding with a turkey baster I decided to feed one to my single button polyp. I got the idea after seeing photos of a sun coral eating mysis shrimp. Up until this point I had tried spraying it with the other chopped foods like clam but it never would seem to eat. It appeared to REALLY love the bloodworm. Sucked it down like a spaghetti noodle. Maybe this will help speed up the reproduction so I can get some more. My poor button needs friends...er clones.

FragOutpost · 03-07-2006, 08:49 AM

Wow. That is a very inpressive photo. How long have you been feeding bloodworms to your fish? I used to feed frozen bloodworms to my cichlids but never thought about feeding it to some polyps before. Very nice!

EvilTwin · 03-07-2006, 08:54 AM

This is the only time I have tried it. I guess I know what to feed my polyp now. They do, after all, like meaty foods.

Now if only it were ORANGE!!!

More pics

EvilTwin · 03-07-2006, 09:00 AM

Sorry, I misread your post. I have been feeding bloodworms once a week or so since I set up the tank. The clowns like it the most.

EvilTwin · 03-08-2006, 11:43 AM

OK, something strange here. I guess everything is strange the first time, right? Right now, as I type this, my green polyp has opened it's mouth and it is gaping wide. Nothing seems to be coming out and I can't tell what it is doing. I have set up the camera to take 1 minute interval pictures for the next hour and a half. Anyone got any clues?

D12monkey · 03-08-2006, 11:51 AM

pooping?

EvilTwin · 03-08-2006, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D12monkey

pooping?

Well, I thought about that, especially after it gulped down that big ass bloodworm. But nothing came up, so I wasn't sure. Was cool to see it all stretched open like that. Maybe it was sleepy and just needed to yawn a bit.

Something I did notice is that on one side it has a small bulge that appears to be getting a bit bigger. You think that's from the worm or might it be budding off?

FragOutpost · 03-08-2006, 12:22 PM

Inverts like polyps and anemones have a two way digestive system, meaning that food enters and exits via the same orfice. My guess is that you will eventually see the digested food exit the mouth. As for the bulge on the side...I don't know. Got a pic? When you say it is getting bigger do you mean by the hour? or more like slightly bigger every day/week? If you mean day/week then it is probably forming a new polyp. If by the hour then...????

EvilTwin · 03-08-2006, 01:39 PM

It seems ike it's just been getting bigger over the last few days. That would be so cool if it was going to bud off another polyp. I'd really like to see these start to multiply. How often do polyps like this tend to reproduce?

FragOutpost · 03-08-2006, 01:53 PM

When starting with just one polyp it will grow slowly. Polyps as with most corals will grow exponentially, meaning one polyp has the potential to become two, two become four, four become 8, and so on. Also certain species grow faster than others and growth is also dependent upon water parameters, so it is difficult to say how fast the polyps will reproduce. Does the foot of the polyp seem to be getting bigger or spreading out?

EvilTwin · 03-09-2006, 06:47 AM

The only time it looks like it's spreading out is when it squats down a bit. I think the bulge was just a lump in it's throat from the big ass worm

EvilTwin · 03-12-2006, 12:42 PM

Just took some more photos today as I was cleaning up the tank. I put my remaining yellow polyps on a new piece of rubble rock and set it on the bottom in an area with good flow. I also moved the new sps frag down to the bottom since placing it up higher on any of the rocks allowed the snails to move it and knock it over. I moved the gorgonian higher and into a strong flow. It has opened up nicely. The xenia has a bunch of new polyps forming at the base of the stalks. The finger leather seems to be growing nicely. Enjoy.

EvilTwin · 03-12-2006, 12:47 PM

FragOutpost · 03-12-2006, 01:34 PM

Looks like your corals are doing really well! The SPS frag will probably do better with as much light and flow as possible. You might want to consider using some epoxy or superglue to attach to the top of the rockwork. Glad to see that you were able to salvage some of the yellow polyps after the snail intrusion. The leather is looking better ever time I see it!

EvilTwin · 03-13-2006, 06:28 PM

Well, once it's grown out a bit more (the leather) perhaps I can start fragging it and send you one on those nice frag plugs you are sending me.

EvilTwin · 03-18-2006, 10:05 PM

I know this is a photo thread, but it seemed the best place to just provide updates on my tank. I made some changes today after getting back from a week away in Boulder.

The first thing I had noticed was my gorg was not looking well. The polyps are now much browner in color, as opposed to the nice white that they were. I did a 20% water change so we'll see if that helps at all. After doing the change my xenia turned quite grey and shriveled for a while and my leather retracted. I suspect the temp as the water was a little cold.

I took a trip to That Fish Place since I needed salt and I picked up some other stuff while there. I got a pair of PowerSwwp 228 powerheads. These are the ones with a built in sweeping output. They are only rated at 270gph and I have them in each corner of the tank. I also have an additional 400 gph ph in the back center of the tank pointing forward. So I now have plenty of water movement but not so powerful it blows everything over. My old powerheads kept coming loose from the walls and blowing substrate everywhere so these were needed.

I figure the sweeping powerheads will be a bit of an experiment. I have not seen any reviews so I guess I will have to review them. It looks like they sweep in a 90 degree arc, and sweep faster one way than the other. One good thing is they come with a very solid mount with 4 suction cups. It stays very secure in my tank and runs quietly.

FragOutpost · 03-19-2006, 09:15 AM

That is weird about the gorgonian polyps turning brown. I'm not sure what causes that to happen. I had bought a couple of zoomed powersweeps when I first set up my tank a while back and they worked great for a while but after about 6 months the sweeping motion would start to lock up and they soon became either locked in a fixed position or the nozzle that sweeps would quit sweeping and you would have to aim in a certain direction. A few months later I just tossed them. It is a nice concept but I think it has too many moving parts which means too many things that could break. I hope that they have improved the durability of these powerheads and I hope you have better luck with them than I did.

EvilTwin · 03-19-2006, 10:30 AM

Well, I ran tests today after my water change. PH dropped to 8.0, which is huge after only a 20% water change. Nitrates are now undetectable. I also tested for iodine which cam up at .02, this is low. Phosphates were zero but silicates were really high. I suspect this is the reason for my diatom problem I have been fighting. My fish don't seem to be stressing, but the gorg isn't looking any better. My finger leather has been a bit retracted since yesterday as well. I suspect if I let things settle out I'll see some improvement. The xenia is still quite retracted. I will get some iodine to dose in the next day or so.

FragOutpost · 03-19-2006, 10:41 AM

Once your PH rises to 8.2 your xenia should bounce back like nothing happened. Quick changes in PH are very stressful to reef invertebrates. The general rule of thumb is that PH should not fluctuate more than 0.2 +/- within any 24 hour period. Silicates would explain the diatoms issues although Calfo also says that excessive iodine may contribute to diatom outbreaks. Are you using RO/DI water? I think kent makes a silica busting DI cartridge. Could your silicates be coming from somewhere else?

EvilTwin · 03-21-2006, 10:25 AM

Took some pics today. The gorg is doing badly but the Digi seems quite happy (I swear I see new growth

) and my yellow polyps are really coming around