DBrinson's 280G Odyssey

DBrinson

DBrinson

Member
Reefmack said:
Hi David - the FTS looks awesome! Could that crab have been a commensal coral crab? Pretty crab, but when in doubt the sump is the best place for him.

Coral Crabs
Click to expand...
Nice link!

He could very well be, he looks like a member of the Trapezia genus from looking at that guide. (and that he was very attached to his pocillopora coral.)

He was observed eating the Pocillopora from the bottom up, which I could live with in moderation. Normally dark tipped claws would indicate a Xanthid. The biggest Xanthid feature that concerned me was his dark eyes. Also Barry hasn't eaten him (of course he should know not to eat Xanthids because they are poisonous.)

A Trapezia crab ... with coloration to "mimic" a poisonous Xanthid for protection perhaps?

He's a beautiful crab, I will keep him either way, but that's great info Mack.


EDIT: OK, a trapezia is a Xanthid. Explains some of my confusion. Gonna keep this guy in the sump, maybe I'll toss a Pocillopora frag in there sometime for him to play on.
 
Reefmack

Reefmack

NaClH2O Addicted
PREMIUM
A lot (most) of my SPS seemed to arrive with a tiny coral crab that lived in the branches, with no harm to the corals. If yours was actually comsuming the Poci that was not a good thing at all! Sounds like a non-commensal crab. :)
 
Eric

Eric

Google Warrior
PREMIUM
That newer FTS is a major improvement on the HA looks like your beating it into submission :D
 
DBrinson

DBrinson

Member
Well, it's been a long time since I posted here, I got really busy a couple of months ago but thankfully my tank had stabilized nicely by then.

Here is a link to my Apex data on Reeftronics.net if anyone wants to see my "levels".

  • Corals, clams, fish doing very well. My SPS corals have been growing along the rock very quickly and my rockwork is very secure in their grasp.
  • Never had any incidences of disease, though a pair of percula clowns disappeared on the same day. I suspect that as they were spawning they picked a fight with one of the larger inhabitants of the tank, possibly Barry.
  • I have never installed the curtains above the tank, but I have the entire curtain "track" in one piece ready to hang. I plan to finally put it in
  • I now drain 4 gallons every day from the tank, roughly a 1% daily water change.
  • My seagrass bed became overgrown with filamentous red algae, the seagrass continues to grow through it under intense 6500K lighting and I continue to harvest algae from the bed every few days, so nutrient export is still happening.
I can post some updated pics as soon as I find out what the kids did with my camera.
 
DBrinson

DBrinson

Member
Here's the latest FTS, can you find the eel in this picture?

Notice the small rock formation in the foreground, if I ever land a nice Stych. Gigantea that will be his home.

FTS_20110508.jpg


OK. So Barry is ... fat. So if you see him don't say it "out loud" or even I won't stick my hands in the tank anymore.

Don't misunderstand me, he's very gentle ... but my wife let me hold the other end of the stick she feeds him scallops from ... and he has very, very powerful jaws.

Barry_20110508.jpg


Here's the view from the right side:

Right_Side20110508.jpg


Here's the tubeworm members of my local reefer's club identified for me yesterday, he is completely encased in Favia:
TubewormMugshot.jpg


Don't even ask me how that clam above the tubworm in the above photo got into that position, I couldn't tell ya.

Any more than I can explain how my wife's camera was under my computer desk for two months. I swear, I checked under there like 20 times.
 
Reefmack

Reefmack

NaClH2O Addicted
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The tank, etc. look great! That's really interesting how the Favia grew over the tube worm.
 
DBrinson

DBrinson

Member
Here's a belated update ... (click the image to expand)



In case you were wondering, the answer is: Yes.

I'm a part-time scuba diver trying to keep the Xenia trimmed ... I do not know how long I can keep it from growing out the top of the tank.

I had to literally scrub Xenia polyps from my smaller clam yesterday so he would open (that's him peeking from his shell bottom center)

I'd consider any one of a number of soft-coral eaters just to keep this under wraps, even if it means the loss of the thirty or so different Zoanthids growing each in their own corner.

That acropora top center left just bleached three days ago after a long Xenia harvesting "derby". Sad because it had grown from a tiny bud out of that rock to cover it and "glue" a good part of the rockwork together.
 
jpsika08

jpsika08

Well-Known Member
David, congrats, the tank is looking beautiful, hope you can manage removing some Xenias as they are dominating the tank.
 
W

Woody

New Member
I'm sympathetic to the Xenia battle. Still one of my favorite corals, but I wish they didn't spread and grow so fast in my tanks. Probably nearly half of my mantainance is keeping them from taking over.
 
steved13

steved13

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
Great to hear from you again!!!

Tank looks great. Someone need to find something that eats xenia but not other stuff we want to keep.
 
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