I decided to take pictures of the Bubble Tip Anemone every hour for 24 hours, especially as it was looking miserable again. I didn't quite get it every hour, but I got pretty close. In the first shot you can see just how deflated it looked. And in the final picture, roughly 40 hours later it started looking better again. I can't figure out why it does this, but I wish it was happy looking 23 hours a day.
The first soft coral I ever bought was a "Colt" coral. It is listed on my 29g's webpage. Mushrooms, Xenia, button polyps, etc are all corals, but I don't look at them like that. The Colt coral was like a cactus, with a thick trunk and many stalks reaching upward, covered with thousands of little polyps for filter feeding.
It grew quite large in my 29g to the point that I thought I'd have to remove it. It spread onto another rock nearby, and I was able to take that piece and put it in to the 55g reef.
I tested out the new salt Oceanic is producing now. They'd mailed me a trial sample to make 5 gallons. Adding the entire amount to exactly 5 gallons of water, I let it mix for an hour. It was clear within 5 minutes, and dissolved completely. For 30 more minutes I aerated it by raising the hose the pump was connected to, to pound the surface of the water. These were the results.
Yesterday I got a few nice pieces from Dallas Marine, and wanted to post a few pictures.
Here are some beautiful zoanthids that I put in my 29g under PC lighting. They opened right up.
Here is a Distichopora, which is in my 55g under 175w MH and VHO 03's.
A single multicolored frilly mushroom, also in the 55g, put on the substrate.
When RTN (Rapid Tissue Necrosis) hits a coral, there is little time to act. I've been growing a tiny frag of "bird's nest" for about six months or longer, and as of yesterday it looked like it was really taking off. I have a Frogsspawn coral nearby, and it has brushed against this coral on occasion, but never enough to make me worry.
A few articles have been added to my site, that have been in the club newsletters over the past few months.
How to buy a good digital camera
Why should you use RO/DI water in your reef tank
When can I safely add a mandarin to my tank?
First of all, my Montipora capricornis frag is finally doing something exciting! I got a chip of a frag last year, and it just never did anything. Then I got this nice orange piece last August, but algae grew on it, it fell into my Milleopora several times, each time stinging the crap out of it to where a chunk would bleach and die..... Finally I used a zip-tie strap to hold this piece on a boulder of LR and it has been growing for me.
I took this macro shot today, and look what I see deep down in the ridges: POLYPS! I never get to see them and it was exhilarating to find a few.
The new 5100K bulb over my refugium is really making a difference. The macro plants are growing fast and furious. I was worried about it, but it looks like it was a success. :)
The sand storm from yesterday morning (in the 55g reef) left half the tank looking super clean. I'm ready to start a man-made sandstorm on the other end just so it will match. LOL
ARGH!!!!! I walked into the living room and saw the 55g was a little too white, like it snowed in there. The actinic lights were the only ones turned on, so it took a second for me to figure out what had happened. A powerhead came loose from the glass wall, and blew a good chunk of sand out of the corner and across the entire tank. Basically, suction cups suck!
The new sump I built to go under my 29g was installed this evening. It is working just as planned, and looks great! I made a new webpage with all the details and pictures.
