Red Sea S-650 - Dave's marine adventure

Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
I look forward to the day that I can have a totally pimp acro crab. I especially love the symbiotic relations that pop up in SW tanks. This is another example of great things working together for a common goal. That is a great addition that ANYONE should be envious of. WAY TO GO!
 
DaveR11

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
Squatch XXL said:
I look forward to the day that I can have a totally pimp acro crab. I especially love the symbiotic relations that pop up in SW tanks. This is another example of great things working together for a common goal. That is a great addition that ANYONE should be envious of. WAY TO GO!
Click to expand...

Thanks Squatch.
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
DaveR11 said:

Pocillopora?
Click to expand...

Oxylebius said:
As for the poci, it looks to be a damicornis. They come in a variety of colors from pinks & maroons to yellows & greens. Very hardy. I think they are even hardier then some monties. Pocillopora, Seriatopora, and Stylophora are all closely related in the same family, as such they can look very similar as frags. As it grows and develops into a coral head you will be able to positively ID it. For right now, I'd say you have a P. damicornis.
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This is what I think you might have:
http://www.garretts-acropolis.com/Enlarged_picture_pages/pocillopora_damicornis_lg.htm
http://animal-world.com/Aquarium-Coral-Reefs/Cauliflower-Coral

The P. damicornis can be brown, green, pink, purple, cream, and a combination of green and yellow, brown and pink. Other combinations have been aquacultured. Aquacultured specimens will have names related to color like Green Pocillopora Damicornis, Pink and Green Pocillopora, Pink Peony Pocillopora Coral, and Cadmium Pocillopora Coral.
 
DaveR11

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
It has been a week of redecoration in the tank. Clint the pistol shrimp is a very busy little crustacean. The left side of the tank has been like the set of a aquatic TV make-over show. I get home from work each day and there are new caves, tunnels and sand piles. The rock pile Clint and Mr Grump (wait till you see his face...) the Wheeler's shrimp goby are living in covers and area of maybe 50cm long by 35 cm wide and the shrimp has tunnels running from left to right and front to back. Most of the sand has been piled in the centre of rock pile where there used to be a big cave. I think in the first few days of the excavation there was a bit of disagreement over ownership between Clint and my peppermint shrimp who had previously owned the big cave. But after Clint pulled out the six shooter and fired off a few warning shots I think the peppermint decided that discretion was the better part of valour. I've had to move a few coral frags on the sand but otherwise it has been fascinating. Watching Clint work and how he keeps one antennae on Mr Grumpy when he is out in the open. Amazing stuff.

Not a very good picture of Clint and Mr Grumpy


A better shot of my Wheeler's shrimp goby


The yellow tang is looking plumper now and I'm really pleased with the new algae feeder which allows me to provide him with algae he can browse on all day. I've also seen him picking on the green algae I pruned back last weekend which is good. He is also a bit of a show off for the camera.....



The green chromis seem more settled now. One is still a bit ostracised by the other 4 and has taken up residence in the right hand rock pile whereas the other 4 live in the left hand pile but I'm seeing much less aggression now and they all mix in at feeding time, or if I walk past the tank and they think it is feeding time.



I've caught 6 Montipora eating Aeolid slugs now but not seen one since Tuesday so I need to remain vigilant in case there is another hatch of eggs I've missed but I'm not seeing any additional to the monti they were eating.

Finally I have fragged my pulsing Xenia again. My LFS said it sold well last time and gave me a few broken bits of rock to put them on so there are now 3 small rocks with Xenia on ready to go back to the shop. The main colony has quickly filled up the vacated space.

Happy reefing,

Dave
 
DaveR11

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
It has been a mixed week with the tank. Firstly the bad news. I had a small Potter's angel in quarantine and for 2 weeks it seemed to be doing fine. On Monday it was behaving differently but I didn't have chance to get a good look at it as it was our team Christmas dinner that evening. On return from work on Tuesday it was on the way out and it died on Wednesday. I think it was marine velvet, the fish had breathing difficulties, rapid gill movements and staying near the water surface. It also had a greyish sheen to its body and indistinct spots . Really sorry for the fish but really glad I had quarantined it so the disease got no further.

In the DT Clint the pistol shrimp has stopped major earth moving and seems to be feng shuing his surrounding now. He keeps adjusting his tunnels here and there. He is certainly always busy. I've yet to get a good photo of both him and Mr Grumpy the goby but here are a couple of attempts.





On the HH front I've not seen a Montipora slug in 10 days and not seeing any additional damage to the corals. I've not seen a Zoanthid slug now in 5 weeks and the Zoas are looking better for it and starting to spread again. My favourite Zoa was only 9 polyps when I bought it and look at it now....



My clam is also looking better for the removal of the pyramid snails. I've taken out 30 so far and I'm checking the clam every other day after lights out. Finally I noticed this evening that the demise of of one of my Cerith snails was not completely in vain as the shell is now being used by one of my hermits.

Happy reefing,

Dave
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear about the potters. Glad you had it in the QT. A quick rinse of the QT with vinegar water can help to clean it out before any new critters are added. You wouldn't want the disease to linger in there to infect any new fish.
 
DaveR11

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
Oxylebius said:
Sorry to hear about the potters. Glad you had it in the QT. A quick rinse of the QT with vinegar water can help to clean it out before any new critters are added. You wouldn't want the disease to linger in there to infect any new fish.
Click to expand...

Hi Sue,

I had some rock and coral sand in the 2ft QT from having Clint and Mr Grumpy in there so I will leave it fallow for 8 weeks. I do have a kole tang reserved in my LFS and if I can move the 5ft hospital tank into the house it could go in there but no hurry. I will see after Christmas. Good to know a rinse with vinegar is a good idea.

Thanks,

Dave
 
DaveR11

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
I haven't managed my usual Friday update because of the holidays. I hope you have all had a good time and met up with family and friends. I was away for 4 days but I set up the auto feeder and got back this afternoon and everyone seems to be happy and well.

I've been checking my maxima clam every few days for pyramid snails and so far the count is 124 snails removed. The clam is looking better as a result with greater mantle extension. I've not seen any Montipora eating nudibranchs now in 3 weeks so I'm hoping I have beaten them. The Montipora danae they were eating is now recovering . For a while after taking out the last slug I saw no polyp extension but now it looks a little better.



You can see along the bottom and right hand edges of the frag where the slugs ate away the coral polyps.

Over the two months I have bought a few Acro frags and was hoping it was not too early to add them to my tank. They are not as colourful as @Oxylebius, @Wrangy or @Danreef have in their wonderful tanks but I do seem to be getting a bit of growth...

After purchase (22nd October)


28th December


Finally I spotted a little bit of Acanthastrea in my LFS about 6 weeks ago. It looked pretty but was a bit beaten up. So after some of hand feeding it is starting to heal itself. My puttying is not very good but I think the Acan is on the mend.



The goby and shrimp (Mr Grumpy and Clint) seem to have settled down now. The shrimp is still very busy, but seems content to open, close and reopen tunnels rather than extend the network. Hopefully in the new year I will add a few more fish. I'm planning to get another clown to make a pair again. I fancy a leopard wrasse of some sort. I will try another dwarf angel and a kole tang again. I wonder if another kole tang will settle my yellow tang down a bit. Before the Ich the two tangs were great buddies, always swimming around together and now the yellow is very skittish and this has a knock on effect on the Chromis. We shall see.

Happy reefing,

Dave
 
Wrangy

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Damn that blue tip piece is awesome!! :D You're definitely getting some solid colour Dave so you should be proud at least :)
I do like the sounds of those new fish though! I adore my Kole Tang, they're such fantastic tangs!
 
DaveR11

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
Cheers guys, your tanks are an inspiration. I lost my kole to Ich @Wrangy so keen to get a replacement. I hope the new one will buddy up with the yellow tang as happened before and be a calming influence.
 
DaveR11

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
Happy New Year everyone!

Just got back home after a few days away. Most things look OK apart from my clam. As posted on the HH thread I've been dealing with pyramid snails on the clam for a couple of weeks now. I thought the clam was getting better but this evening it looks like it may well have pinched mantle disease as well. I'm going to post pictures on the clam thread to see what the clam experts think but it looks like she may well have to have an RO dip tomorrow.

I was away visiting friends in Kent where I used to work so called in to a very good LFS on the way back today and came away with a lovely purple Stylophora frag and have reserved a coral beauty for collection in a couple of weeks. Having had 2 goes with Potters angels which have died on me I thought I would try a different dwarf angel. Between Christmas and New Year I moved my old 5ft tank from the garage (that had been my hospital tank) into my conservatory where it is warmer. I was probably a bit mad moving such a big tank on my own (and my hands, arms and legs are still sore) but with the cunning use of some chairs as supports it got it done with breaking either the tank or myself. It is half set up and I just need to cook up a bit more RO water, add salt and switch everything on to finish it. The small QT tank I'm leaving fallow for 2 months after losing the last Potters to marine velvet...

Anyway here is the DT as of this evening.



The new algae dispenser works really well with algae sheets. It traps them nicely so the yellow tang doesn't rip it out all in one go (and the algae then ends up in the weir). As a result the tang has food for hours. The clown also seems to like a bit of the green/red/brown stuff too.

I'd been a bit worried that Clint the pistol shrimp was not getting much food but I put a few pellets in a couple of days ago and he just nabbed one and disappearing into the tunnels with it. His mate Mr Grumpy just swallowed his whole! Here he is chewing it...



Happy reefing.

Dave
 
DaveR11

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
I've been nursing a sickly clam now for a couple of weeks (see clam thread) and as of tonight things are not looking good. I gave her a freshwater bath last night as per various advice on the net to treat pinched mantle syndrome. On returning from work she does not look good with the mantle well retracted into the shell and little reaction to changes in light. I think I may have left the treatment too late. I guess I will see how she is over the weekend. I also had to banish the big cleaner shrimp to the sump last night. The big shrimp has always been a bit of a jerk. It is very greedy and will steal food from corals, hermits and snails and as soon as the clam was back in the tank the shrimp was picking at the clam's mantle. The last thing the clam needed.....

On a lighter note the macro-algae that had been spreading around a pink Seriatopora and a 'blue' Monti is back in check. I cut some big chunks away a couple of weeks ago but the yellow tang is now mowing it like a lawn. I think prior to the Ich outbreak the tangs must have been keeping it cropped but it got growing when they went into the hospital tank. There are still a few bits in amongst the Seriatopora where the yellow tang cannot pick them out but it not something I'm worrying about now.



Here are a couple of other corals I've had for a while. First a plating Monti which I've had since the middle of July. It came with free Zoanthids and was a mail order purchase. It is spreading slowly but the new growth if frustratingly towards the back of the tank where it is difficult to photograph. Annoyingly the new growth is a really bright purple with reddish polyps and looks fabulous!



The next is also a mail order frag from October sold as Montipora orientalis. This is just starting to spread and I love the way the polyps swish in the current when they get a bit of flow from the nearby spinstream. I've found mail order corals here in the UK a bit hit and miss. Not in terms of health - everything shipped well. No in terms of what corals look like on the website and what they look like in reality. I bought a 'metallic' Xenia that looked fantastic on the web and has been drab (and tiny) in the tank. I think the LED lighting can be quite deceiving, especially when you have T5s. I suppose it is the same in an LFS but at least there you know what lighting they are using.



Anyway I've saved my favourite mail order coral until last. I seem to remember buying this one to make up the order. I had a couple of corals I really wanted and this one looked OK so as I was paying for the postage I added it to the order. Really pleased with this - advertised as Porites cylindrica. I just wish I had placed it more towards the front of the tank!



Finally another shot of the odd couple Clint and Mr Grumpy together. They have become firm favourites with me!



Happy reefing,

Dave
 
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