Another palythoa thread...!

[JT101]

One polyp on my "oldest" palythoa colony ("old " meaning about 4 months) was cupped "backwards" after the rest of them acclimated themselves to the tank (took about a day). In other words, when all the other corals were done for the day and the lights went out, their "dinner plates with fringes" would close upwards and all you would see was a little tiny hole at the end of a stalk. This one seemed to have somehow rolled backwards over itself. I never really paid it much attention, thinking that eventually it was just going to fall off and die.

Well, last night I noticed that it has FINALLY fully extended its polyps so it now looks like a "dinner plate with fringes" instead of like a folded umbrella.

Does anyone know WHY palythoas do this? It seems to serve no biologic purpose, especially in the case of a single polyp in a large colony doing something against the grain.

Thanks
John

[tippMANn98]

each individual polyp has their own "life" as you will.....They are all different, some of my zoos will open one day, and the next its vice versa for a few select polyps...maybe he was eating some kind of particulate?

[BigAl07]

Yeah even though they are a colony they are still individuals and all have some type of "personality" to boot.

Maybe that one was just GASSY for a while

[JT101]

Originally Posted by BigAl07

Yeah even though they are a colony they are still individuals and all have some type of "personality" to boot.

Maybe that one was just GASSY for a while

LMAO Allen!!

Wow, there is SO MUCH going on in a reef tank and I believe we have merely scratched the surface...

Now, what if I suddenly see a formerly "normal" polyp suddenly exhibit this "inverted" folding-over behavior? Is that something I should worry about?

[BigAl07]

To be totally honest with you, I don't worry about hardly anything in there anymore. I mean if it's something drastic I try and fix it (light fixture falls INTO tank etc) but other than that I let the tank "work" on it's own. We have to keep in mind this is a tiny "World" if you will and just like the BIG world, the more we try to "control" and "Help" it the more screwed up it gets. I tend to just "observe" with minimal interferrence from me. I may get beat up for this but I figure Mother Nature knows what She's doing and I end up getting in the way.

With that being said, if I notice a whole colony staying closed or something like that for days (not just one or two days) I start TESTING my water, checking the tank and just making sure everything else "looks" right. If something "tests" out of normal I will correct that but if everything checks out OK I don't usually mess with it unless I KNOW it's DOA and then I remove it from the tank to keep it from polluting the small water world.

I hope that puts "BigAl's tank philosophy" into perspective. I'm not saying this is how you should do it but I WILL say that since I adopted this philosophy my tank has blossomed into it's own.

[Witfull]

Al is an advanced Padawan~

to much tinkering and fretting can be bad~

[JT101]

Originally Posted by BigAl07

To be totally honest with you, I don't worry about hardly anything in there anymore. I mean if it's something drastic I try and fix it (light fixture falls INTO tank etc) but other than that I let the tank "work" on it's own. We have to keep in mind this is a tiny "World" if you will and just like the BIG world, the more we try to "control" and "Help" it the more screwed up it gets. I tend to just "observe" with minimal interferrence from me. I may get beat up for this but I figure Mother Nature knows what She's doing and I end up getting in the way.

With that being said, if I notice a whole colony staying closed or something like that for days (not just one or two days) I start TESTING my water, checking the tank and just making sure everything else "looks" right. If something "tests" out of normal I will correct that but if everything checks out OK I don't usually mess with it unless I KNOW it's DOA and then I remove it from the tank to keep it from polluting the small water world.

I hope that puts "BigAl's tank philosophy" into perspective. I'm not saying this is how you should do it but I WILL say that since I adopted this philosophy my tank has blossomed into it's own.

Hi Allen!

Wow, I LIKE your point of view!!

I have honestly been severely grappling with the idea of going back to college to get a marine chemistry degree (if such a thing even exists) just so I could come to terms with the millions of parameters that always seem to be teetering on the brink of disaster with our little reef worlds!!

Whew! With that said (and I KNOW I will get killed by you and many others for continuing to blather this heresy) I have CONTINUED to do massive weekly water changes in my tank using natural seawater. Other than that, and of course feeding my critters, I don't add ANYTHING to my tank. No kalkwasser. No iodine. No strontium. No magnesium. No NOTHING. Now, of course, I admit that I also do not TEST for any of these elements either, figuring that each week my AquaPod is seeing a 50% natural seawater change and is getting a reboost of any consumed trace elements. However, even if I was using ASW ("artificial" sea water) I would most likely STILL not add stuff, as water changes should take care of adding whatever is used up.

Anyway, enough of my rant. With the exception of a possible sick brain coral (that may very well have been sick to begin with when I got it) my reef is thriving. No cyano (well, no more since I got rid of the seashells on the bottom and improved the flow), no more bryopsis (all scrubbed away), levels are good etc. Other than the one brain coral, I am pleased with the results so far.

I think over time I may slowly grow tired of fetching close to 9 gallons of seawater each week from the ocean and "give in" to a RO/DI setup and start using the "fake stuff" but for now I'm going to stick to my regimen.

[BigAl07]

Hey if it's working don't change it buddy.

Yes I would like to get more "Edu-ma-cated" on reef chemistry to but my wife has threatened to cut My internet OFF if I try to MASTER anything else. I get so "into" anything I do .. so much to the point and I become it Allen the Reef

[vdituri]

If all you have is an inverted paly and a questionable brain then things aren't all that bad.
Keep up the status quo. Full steam ahead!

When and if you succumb to ASW don't be surprised if your tank inhabitants have some kind of reaction. I've read alot of posts about this even when switching from one brand to another brand of ASW. Its just them adjusting to different levels of minerals etc.