Easy to keep but not "invasive" corals

[Duncan62]

That's awesome @Duncan62 ! How many rock flower anemones do you have? I assume if you have enough and the conditions are right you can get them to breed?

3 adults. 2, male and female just like the orange one above. I've been searching for baby pucd. Lol. I've got maybe 40 counting babies. Most are orange with green tentacles. Some orange with grey. Many dark green with a yellow mouth and a few solid yellow with grey. It's fun. When most RFAs get bigger I'm gonna let them have that tank and move the corals. I'll find some more pics. I have them of the spawning event and of her pushing them out. I'll find them.

 

[Double monti 61]

I had many ricordia yuma in a 12 gallon tank they can move and can be aggressive

 

[KonradTO]

Wow all this spawning and growing looks crazy to me right now. I have a 30g tank with 9 frags, the first of which was introduced to the tank at the beginning of December. No visible growth until now as far as I can tell. Coming from freshwater planted tanks this is completely different, there in one month the tank would look completely different from the previous one. I had some water plants that needed to be pruned twice a week.
But given that the tank is so small this is good actually, I can add more stuff without having the tank overcrowded. I will be very happy the first time I will see some feedback from the corals though.

 

[frizzayyyyreef]

Duncans are much more hardy than most hammers. They grow fast enough to be interesting. Has the hammer been damaged? Gotten sand in it? Wall hammer or branching? So many questions. Lol. I'd say if you can keep a hammer of any type happy you can keep most of the stuff mentioned. Keep light in mind. I add acans and micromussa. Medium to lowlights.

Agree Duncan’s can live through anything lol

 

[muzikalmatt]

Wow all this spawning and growing looks crazy to me right now. I have a 30g tank with 9 frags, the first of which was introduced to the tank at the beginning of December. No visible growth until now as far as I can tell. Coming from freshwater planted tanks this is completely different, there in one month the tank would look completely different from the previous one. I had some water plants that needed to be pruned twice a week.
But given that the tank is so small this is good actually, I can add more stuff without having the tank overcrowded. I will be very happy the first time I will see some feedback from the corals though.

While I never had a freshwater tank, it definitely took some time for my brain to adjust to the timescale in a reef tank. Everything happens so much more slowly.

To make a crude analogy, it's almost like stargazing. Today, we're seeing the stars as they were ages ago due to how long it takes their light to reach us.

In a reef tank we're seeing the results of things we did weeks, months, or even years ago. And changes we make now may not manifest for weeks, months, or even years in the future.

 

[KonradTO]

While I never had a freshwater tank, it definitely took some time for my brain to adjust to the timescale in a reef tank. Everything happens so much more slowly.

To make a crude analogy, it's almost like stargazing. Today, we're seeing the stars as they were ages ago due to how long it takes their light to reach us.

In a reef tank we're seeing the results of things we did weeks, months, or even years ago. And changes we make now may not manifest for weeks, months, or even years in the future.

lol this is actually incredible. If you consider that when you get a frag it could be that it was part of a bigger colony from some aquarist tank 50 years ago.
I think its fascinating to re-scale our thinking to long timeframes. On the other hand I am hyperactive on such things, if it was for me I would be 10h/day with my hands in the tank doing stuff. No patience at all XD

 

[muzikalmatt]

lol this is actually incredible. If you consider that when you get a frag it could be that it was part of a bigger colony from some aquarist tank 50 years ago.
I think its fascinating to re-scale our thinking to long timeframes. On the other hand I am hyperactive on such things, if it was for me I would be 10h/day with my hands in the tank doing stuff. No patience at all XD

Oh man that's a great point too! It's amazing to think of the lineage of some of the corals we keep in our tanks now, and how far they've come.

Im definitely with you on the hyperactive thing too. It's hard to find a balance between acting decisively to change something and just letting things be.

 

[Duncan62]

Wow all this spawning and growing looks crazy to me right now. I have a 30g tank with 9 frags, the first of which was introduced to the tank at the beginning of December. No visible growth until now as far as I can tell. Coming from freshwater planted tanks this is completely different, there in one month the tank would look completely different from the previous one. I had some water plants that needed to be pruned twice a week.
But given that the tank is so small this is good actually, I can add more stuff without having the tank overcrowded. I will be very happy the first time I will see some feedback from the corals though.

Hey just found new borns this am.

 

[Duncan62]

Hey just found new borns this am.

Bottom photo is 5 older brothers. New ones are pin head size. The group pic is 1/4 inch. Wish I could mail you some. Lol

 

[KonradTO]

Bottom photo is 5 older brothers. New ones are pin head size. The group pic is 1/4 inch. Wish I could mail you some. Lol

Wow! It seems that you have found the right conditions for them to thrive! Can you exchange them at the shop for store credit? Lol thanks but I suppose it would cost more than my tank to ship them overnight to Germany xD how long do you think it will take for them to reach parent size?

 

[Duncan62]

Wow! It seems that you have found the right conditions for them to thrive! Can you exchange them at the shop for store credit? Lol thanks but I suppose it would cost more than my tank to ship them overnight to Germany xD how long do you think it will take for them to reach parent size?

The adults were about 3 cm when I got them. Now the male is over 3 inches. I do trade them with a coral dealer. Only the ones easy to get. If they move to the sand I get them. Lol. I leave the ones on the glass. Your tank with the algea would be a good home. Try one. BTW. Plants doing good?

 

[Duncan62]

The adults were about 3 cm when I got them. Now the male is over 3 inches. I do trade them with a coral dealer. Only the ones easy to get. If they move to the sand I get them. Lol. I leave the ones on the glass. Your tank with the algea would be a good home. Try one. BTW. Plants doing good?

Ohhh. I've had this group for 3 years.

 

[KonradTO]

The adults were about 3 cm when I got them. Now the male is over 3 inches. I do trade them with a coral dealer. Only the ones easy to get. If they move to the sand I get them. Lol. I leave the ones on the glass. Your tank with the algea would be a good home. Try one. BTW. Plants doing good?

Sure. I found the right balance between growth and nutrient load by raising my daylight led up a bit. Now they grow but slowly enough to leave some nutrients for the corals. I prune them every other week. Also the red macro seems to have found the right conditions

I would like to increase species diversity now.. maybe a blue hypnea or a halimeda.

 

[Duncan62]

Sure. I found the right balance between growth and nutrient load by raising my daylight led up a bit. Now they grow but slowly enough to leave some nutrients for the corals. I prune them every other week. Also the red macro seems to have found the right conditions

I would like to increase species diversity now.. maybe a blue hypnea or a halimeda.

I wish more tanks relied heavily on a more algea/plant based filtration. I love the look of it. I think you'll find as your tank matures the need for water changes will decline. Very nice.

 

[KonradTO]

I wish more tanks relied heavily on a more algea/plant based filtration. I love the look of it. I think you'll find as your tank matures the need for water changes will decline. Very nice.

Honestly I set up the automatic water changes only to be sure that every parameter is within range. Probably nitrate and phosphate-wise it will not change much in few weeks. But once I have some stability with the tank I will start reducing the frequency. Salt cost a lot!

 

[KonradTO]

Just wanted to give a short update.
Tank does not look too good. In less than 2 weeks the new corals are not doing well. Candy cane has the skeleton exposed and the plate coral is never inflated.
Also the old ones are not doing well, the leptastrea lost some polyps. Only the euphyllias look ok for now.
Could GHA be the reason? Every problem started with that. Also I set up an AWC but I cannot think how this would matter. Nutrients were bit high last week but now are under control again I would say

 

[Duncan62]

Just wanted to give a short update.
Tank does not look too good. In less than 2 weeks the new corals are not doing well. Candy cane has the skeleton exposed and the plate coral is never inflated.
Also the old ones are not doing well, the leptastrea lost some polyps. Only the euphyllias look ok for now.
Could GHA be the reason? Every problem started with that. Also I set up an AWC but I cannot think how this would matter. Nutrients were bit high last week but now are under control again I would say

The GHA can strip nutrients. Have you scraped the glass or removed a large amount? Is it crowding out corals? Did you get an urchin?

 

[KonradTO]

The GHA can strip nutrients. Have you scraped the glass or removed a large amount? Is it crowding out corals? Did you get an urchin?

But if the problem was nutrient I would read 0 on the tests right? I have normal values now, with PO4 still a bit high.
I decided to go for a fuge hob as you suggested but I am still working on the plumbing (I cannot find small pvc bits for the siphon)
Algae are growing where coral are dying, but obviously I cannot brush them. Healthy one don't have algae on them right now.
My plan was to build the fuge first then go for a 3 days blackout so all the nutrients released from the remaining algae will be absorbed by macros in the fuge.
But this is if the problem is too much nutrients. Otherwise I still have to find out what is the issue.

 

[Duncan62]

But if the problem was nutrient I would read 0 on the tests right? I have normal values now, with PO4 still a bit high.
I decided to go for a fuge hob as you suggested but I am still working on the plumbing (I cannot find small pvc bits for the siphon)
Algae are growing where coral are dying, but obviously I cannot brush them. Healthy one don't have algae on them right now.
My plan was to build the fuge first then go for a 3 days blackout so all the nutrients released from the remaining algae will be absorbed by macros in the fuge.
But this is if the problem is too much nutrients. Otherwise I still have to find out what is the issue.

 

[Duncan62]

I built this for a 40 frag tank. I'll put a pump in the right chamber to return water to tank. Keep it simple the water in the scrubber will be about 2 and half inches deep. Keep it shallow so the flow is fast and light can penetrate the algea.