Unfortunately, I had to remove the torch coral this morning. I am pretty sure it had brown jelly disease. When I got it yesterday, I noticed a spot on it. I thought it may just be from shipping. This morning, I could not see any tentacles, and the spot had spread to cover both heads. I removed it from the tank, because I was afraid it was going to spread. Here are some photos: So I am hoping that was the right thing to do. My xenia looks like it is trying to open though. We will see. I also shot a video of my tank last night: [video=youtube;1aUto5kunyU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aUto5kunyU[/video]
I think you made the correct decision by taking the sick one out. Looked like a goner to me. Good luck with the others.
Thankfully, the place I ordered it from gave me a refund. I hate to have to do that. Maybe I will eventually get another one though. I am going to wait and see how these do. Does the brain coral look ok? I was really worried about it, b/c the water leaked out of the bag during shipping. This is my first brain coral, so I don't really know what to be looking for. The green looks good on it. The rest of it was white during shipping. But it's starting to turn a peachy fleshy color. Which to me I think that looks healthier.
Your brain looks okay to me. Does it open to feed in the evening? Have you tried feeding it some mysis shrimp?
I haven't tried feeding it yet. I spot fed a little yesterday, but that was during the day, and I wasn't sure if it ate any or not. I don't think that it has opened. It looks the same to me that it has since yesterday. Do I have to wait until lights are out to feed it, or can I do it under actinic lighting? I'm feed my tank Frozen Rod's Complete Reef food. All my corals seem to like it and do good. I'm pretty sure it has the mysis shrimp in it.
Mission accomplished. (I think). I turned off my pumps and used a turkey baster to place food on the coral. Nothing happened at first. But then these holes appeared and the food is slow disappearing into the coral. This is wild looking. So I think that it is eating. I've not seen any tentacles though.
I got my new Red Glass Cynarina in today! I really like it. I think it might be my new favorite coral! I'm hoping it does well in my tank. It's beautiful though. It looks like holding a piece of red glass up in the sunlight. I also included some other progress shots of my tank.
Thank you! It's finally starting to come along. It has been up almost 10 months now. Hopefully I can start saving some money and give Uperepik a visit for some zoas. The ones I do have are starting to spread some. My next project will be trying to build a 10 gallon sump for this tank. I use a canister filter right now. But I want to get rid of the HOB skimmer so I can build me a lid. And that will allow me to put some fish in again. I'm thinking a Midas Blenny would be awesome. This was the tank on January 5th of this year. So I think you can see how much it has changed.
I also think the next LPS I purchase will be a Duncan coral. I am not exactly sure where I'm going to put it. I could probably put corals closer than I have been, but it kind of makes me uneasy. I try to give them all plenty of room to grow and spread out in peace.
Hey I can tell by the reflection you've got a razor. That's what I have on my frag tank. How do you like it? I love mine. And your hammers look fat and happy. Sent from uh......
I haven't ever owned any other good light, except for this light. So I don't have anything to compare it with. But I really like it. I am seeing really good coral growth. My green leather toadstool is going crazy. My sister (who doesn't know anything about this hobby) was looking at the tank tonight. She said, "Man your corals are really growing. Especially that mushroom!" So I guess things like that let you know it's working. I have the 420 16K. From what I read online, most people run their A channel a little brighter than the B channel. But I've been doing the opposite. I seen on some forum where a guy who had a theory about running the B channel brighter. In his tank, the A channel seemed to cause corals grow more horizontal. But he noticed that if he ran the B channel brighter, the corals would grow larger vertical. You still crank the A channel high, but the B channel was like 20% higher. He posted photos, (he grew a lot of sps I remember) and his tank looked amazing. I've been running the blue channel higher, and my corals seem to be doing good. I also feed them like every other day. So that may have something to do with it. There's really no science behind his theory, but I thought I'd try it because I actually prefer tanks with a more blue look.
Running blues higher than your whites is pretty normal. Brings the colors out in the coral, also helps them to physically color up. I have the 10000k. I would like to have had the 16000k but I got such a deal on it I couldn't pass it up. Sent from uh......
Here's the cynarina after the lights went off. Crazy how they change. It kept changing shape all day long. I can't wait to see it eat tomorrow.
I like the 16000k. I guess maybe on that forum a lot of people were talking more negatively about tanks that look blue. They were all running their tanks white. I honestly have no clue as to what works, as I'm pretty new to this hobby. But I am glad to hear that a lot of people do run the blues higher. Makes me feel better, b/c I was mainly running them blue just b/c I liked the look. But if you got a good deal on the 10000k, I would've went for it too. Those lights ain't cheap!!
It is very interesting to read all the posts about the LED lighting. You guys don't realize how lucky you are as far as the ability to change and control your lighting. In the past you decided what light to buy and you were stuck with it. I always had good luck with MH and VHO in combination, but you either went for growth or color. Now with the controllable LED's it is possible to have both and also program the color to please your taste. Not to mention the power cost savings. I guess everyone is getting acclimated to the pricing, because they are selling very well now. I decided to use the new AI Hydra's on my 4 frag tanks and have just decided to add a Vega to each one. I should have full coverage and any light spectrum I choose over the full 48" x 24" tanks. They have been set up for a week now and I should be ready for some new corals very soon. If there are any corals you would like to have a frag of, just send me the name and I will find it . Everyone has been asking for "high end/named" corals. I plan to have a nice selection at least by the Christmas party here at my house. Good luck with all your lighting projects and keep the posts coming.
I am very much thankful for being able to use LED's. I have never used MH, but I've seen shops who do. I noticed that they are constantly having fans blow to keep the temperature down. My LED's have built in fans, but I don't think they've ever had to kick on. So I know that is for sure a perk. I also like the fact that in mimics sunrise and sunset. I think people may have done something similar with MH lighting with timers, but I'm really not sure. But I really think that kind of light is more natural for the corals. I think if we as humans sat under the same intensity of lighting, it'd be bad. (Could you imagine sitting under fluorescent lighting 12 hours a day, and then dark 12 hours?) I have been thinking about joining the Reef club. I live in Batesville, and it'd be a little bit of a drive. But there really is not much saltwater activity going on around here. I would really like to talk with people who are in this hobby. This Fall I'm going to try and build my own sump. The crazy thing is, I've never seen a working one in person. (Just online). Even looking at videos, sometimes it's hard for me to wrap my brain around the mechanics of something. I think something as little as just seeing one working would help me understand the basics of it and not be so intimidated by making my own. Also, I just made a video of my cynarina eating. It's uploading to youtube right now. I think it looks pretty cool though. I did a time lapse of it. I'll post as soon as it's uploaded. But it likes a hour and a half.
Here's a time lapse of my cynarina eating. I think it's pretty awesome. This coral amazes me at how much it changes throughout the day. For sure a very interesting coral. [video=youtube;Dvk2HpTFlIM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvk2HpTFlIM&feature=youtu.be[/video]
