Oxy's RSM250

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
So, I have some updates, but w/o pics today (will get some shortly) b/c the tank hasn't been maintained as I've been away on travel and the glass is in need of a cleaning.

The first update, is that I have an issue with my monties growing into each other and some are taking over the others (the orange is taking over the blue and green that it touches). So, I need to do some gardening as I don't want the orange monti to overgrow the others. Is this normal? Or can I just let them grow into each other?

Second update - About a month ago I picked up two Trapezia Pocillopora/Acropora crabs, both are pinkish red, one was placed in my stylo and the other in my monti cluster (of orange, green, and blue monties). Only one crab has survived. The one in my stylo is doing really well. Will get photo up here soon.

And lastly, an odd thing is happening.... I have a coral growing that I have no idea where came from. It is starting to look like a Pocillopora that I had two years ago that died. After the coral bleached out, I broke it away from its base and pulled it from the tank, but now the base is growing another coral. How possible is this? Again I will get a photo shortly, it is about the size where I can get one. I've been watching this little sps with interest for several months now thinking it was another monti, since I have them all over the tank, but its now not looking like a monti......
 

Mrsalt

Active Member
PREMIUM
Tbh I think that looks cool, a bit like one has grown over the other. It's not killing the other coral either which must mean both species have the same stingers.
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
They don't have any stinging tentacles at all, they aren't aggressive corals. And the orange is growing onto and over the other two types. They are all Monti digitatas, so yes, they recognize each other and are fusing. My concern is that I've seen the orange completely take over a blue branch and consume it (grow over it and thus the blue branch became an orange branch). I think I'm going to have to cut away branches so that they aren't fusing anymore. I'm just not sure if I really want to thin them out yet.

Monti caps and other corals can fuse/graft really well sometimes, where the two can grow into each other w/o one taking over the other.... but this orange monti is sort of a monster to the other two.

My concern is that I don't want to loose the blue and green to the orange monti, if overtime the orange takes over both. If these were different species of coral they would not recognize each other as the same and thus not grow into each other or they would have sweeper tentacles that allow them a little distance apart from each other and thus not grow into each other.
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Purchased new 8 frags (4xAcropora, 1xSeriatopora, 2xStylophora, 1xPocillopora).
You can see all 8 in the photo.
One acro came with a its tissue off the top of it, you can see the white in the photo.

 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
So, strange thing.... Came in tonight, after lights out, and the Trapezia/Tetralia crab was in a new frag. The crab has chosen to leave the 1.5 year old Green Stylo for the new smaller rainbow Stylo. The frag is barely bigger then the crab, this is a tiny crab!

 
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Mrsalt

Active Member
PREMIUM
Wow, now I'm thinking he is a bit fashionable and has said green is so last year!

Just goes to show that these guys can see quite a way beyond their location .
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Just goes to show that these guys can see quite a way beyond their location .

They sure can. How did the crab know the new coral was in the tank? Can the crab essentially smell the new coral? Only took the crab about 24 hours to move into it.

I had allowed the green stylo over a year to grow and double in size before I purchased this crab, as I wanted to make sure the coral was strong enough to handle this obligate commensal crab. The potential problem here is that I'm not sure if this little frag can survive/handle this crab. I'm thinking of now placing the new frag near the green stylo perhaps the crab will go back and forth between the two corals?

This crab is a known as a symbiont of pocilloporid corals (which include Pocillopora, Seriatopora, and Stylophora), but it has clearly chosen the two stylos so far. Is this crab discriminating between these two types of stylos because host availability is limited in my tank? I wonder what will happen when my Pocillopora and Seriatopora grow larger or if I add a third type of stylo - what will the crab do with more availability for hosts?

I find this all very interesting.
 

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
The frag off my Branching Duncan that I'll be sending your way HOPEFULLY SOON :)
105dd869262180effd4a486cfefc6077_zps703f7288.jpg

It was real easy to frag & doesn't looked stressed from fragging.
I'm excited about our swap :yehoo:
 

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
And here's how pretty your frag looks after I got home from work:
85f18e8ee36f1c3805313995966bcb7e_zpsd1b8d2f0.jpg

I think you're going to L:heart:VE this frag & from what I see in other tanks, I think it will do OK in with your beautiful SPS corals :D
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Wow - beautiful. :geekin: I thought maybe I would get only one head, that is a great size. :yup: I can't wait.

Now we need to figure out all the shipping details.... fedex, no fedex..... :dunno:
And wait on the storms to pass :snow: I can't believe that we are supposed to expect mixed precipitation tonight w/lows hitting below freezing and in the 30s the next few nights..... it is mid-April! Sigh
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
BTW - the saga continues with the little crab. Last night it was back in the large green stylo, today when I got home it was in the small frag again. Mind you I am moving the frag around getting it used to more intense light and that little crab is finding its way back and forth. So, I decided that I will definitely place the frag next to the other stylo so the crab and easily make it way between the two.
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Updating current inhabitants list:

Fish
Black and white clown (pair) (Amphiprion ocellaris)
Tailspot blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura)
Coral beauty angel (Centropyge bispinosa)

Acropora
Pink Sniper (A. selago)
Moonbean (A. yongei)
Limelight green slimer (A. yongei)
Purple rain

Montipora
ORA Greensleeves (M. digitata)
ORA German Blue Polyp (M. digitata)
ORA Orange (M. digitata)
Grape (M. capricornis)
Orangade (M. capricornis)
Purple Smoke (M. capricornis)
Shady Lady (M. capricornis)
Neon green Palawanensis (M. palawanensis)
ORA Spongodes (M. sponogodes)
Tyree Sunset
Purple Haze (M. danae)

Stylophora
ORA Green
Cotton Candy
Tyree Rainbow

Pocillopora
Valentine Damicornis (P. damicornis)

Turbinaria
Yellow Scroll (T. reniformis)

Seriatopora
Pink Lace Birds Nest (S. hystrix)

Echinophyllia
Red Firestone Chalice
Pink Mink Chalice

Gorgonian
Frilly Purple

Duncanopsammia
Giant Green Polyp Duncan (D. axifuga)

Briareum
Green Star Polyps (B. violacea/violaceum)

Mobile Inverts
Scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp (pair)
Peppermint shrimp
Blue leg hermits
Red leg hermits
Hawaiian dwarf zebra hermits
Cerith snails
Nerite snails
Margarita snails
Nassarius snails
Mexican turbo snails

Many hitchhikers, including:
Chitons
Collonista snails
Brittle stars
Orange and white ball sponges, and
Red Pseudocorynactis white-tipped anemones
 
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Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
The list is getting long, so I need to keep track some way.....it doesn't look like I have all this in the tank, waiting for the corals to grow in now.
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Tank is looking great! How is your Calcium and Alk doing with the SPS growing? Are you having to dose anything yet?

GOMA - still not dosing yet. Still getting these params regularly: Ca ~460: dKH ~9 test results day of water change/before water change (weekly water changes ~4gallons). With all my sps and lps I'm wondering how long I can keep it up. Hopefully a bit longer. Dosing is intimidating.
 

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
GOMA - still not dosing yet. Still getting these params regularly: Ca ~460: dKH ~9 test results day of water change/before water change (weekly water changes ~4gallons). With all my sps and lps I'm wondering how long I can keep it up. Hopefully a bit longer. Dosing is intimidating.
Good to read that your params are holding up with just WCs....I've been meaning to ask you that.
I am also a bit intimated by dosing. I guess when the time comes, I will have to figure it out. I just hope it's easier than I'm thinking it will be. :)
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Urgh, I split my gsp and placed the second one on the sand under/near a rock cropping where monti digis are growing above. Since it was placed there my blue monti digi hasn't opened its polyps fully. It has now been a couple of weeks like this. Water params are where they are supposed to be and have been. Nothing different there. I'm thinking that I can't keep the gsp there any longer, thinking maybe allelopathy is causing issues, that perhaps the current is taking water that flows over the gsp directly up and over the monti digi and it doesn't like it.

Today I will add new carbon to tank and water change (I do water changes on Sunday, but will do it today instead, a few days early).

Thoughts?


((Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms. These biochemicals are known as allelochemicals and can have beneficial (positive allelopathy) or detrimental (negative allelopathy) effects on the target organisms.))
 

Mike Johnson

Well-Known Member
I've always warned about the dangers of Octocorals mixed in with Scleractinia. With a beautiful tank like yours I'd take it out.

Love your tank thread.
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Thanks Mike. I guess I needed a little confirmation on my thoughts about this. I spent a lot of time recently reading up on mixed tanks as I was very concerned about mixing softies w/sps and lps. But, decided in the end to test it out and see how it goes. Some people have success and some have success for a little while (even up to a couple of years) then the tank gets wiped out.

I really like the movement the gsp adds to the tank. But, this monti was part of the first group of monties I added back in March 2012. I haven't lost it and have fragged from it numerous times since then. I don't want to loose it over the gsp.
 
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