New things coming to life in a fallow tank...

[raketemensch]

This tank is almost 5 years old, but new to me. I kept it fallow for a bit, adding ammonia to keep things going, and the previous owner had added biospira a couple of times while it was fallow under his care.

The vermatids were easy to ID, and this afternoon I'll be removing that one rock and crushing them in a bucket of rodi water, plus I'm picking up a pair of bumble bee snails this afternoon. The tank (a 14g Biocube) currently also has one RFA and a tuxedo urchin. The plan is to add 3 sexy shrimp and more RFAs -- the shrimp will be the only "fish" and the tuxedo urchin is currently the only CUC.

Now I've got an almost grassy, leafy bit of vegetation coming in, and I'm not sure what it is. Here are some pics:

Can anyone ID it?

Since it's only a 14g the bioload has a hard limit, and I also want my RFAs to breed, so I'm trying to avoid adding things that will devour the gametes or the (hopefully) fertilized eggs.

Picking the right CUC is an interesting challenge. Any advice?

 

[T_BONE]

Not quite sure but it looks like Aptasia from the pictures.

 

[DangerDave]

aptasia ...

 

[lapin]

......
Now I've got an almost grassy, leafy bit of vegetation coming in, and I'm not sure what it is. Here are some pics:

Can anyone ID it?

To me it looks like Gracilaria Parvisipora

Marine Plants In The Aquarium: An online guide to the identification and care of marine plants and macroalgae in the aquarium.

An online guide to the identification and care of marine plants and macroalgae in the aquarium.

www.marineplantbook.com

 

[raketemensch]

Well, I picked up some bumblebee snails, which are doing pretty well at munching on the vermetids so far. I tried to get a good picture of one crunching down, but I couldn't get a good focused shot of it. I guess there's ongoing conversation as to whether they actually eat vermetids or not, but it looks like it from here.

I'm going to try to get a better shot of the vegetation tomorrow when the lights are up.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Terri Caton]

Not Aptasia.

 

[raketemensch]

Not Aptasia.

Thanks, I didn’t think so either. I hope it‘s not something invasive, it’s quite beautiful.

 

[raketemensch]

I'm getting a little better with manual focus, and got some better close-ups. It's kind of fun hunting down the best lighting and angles to discover such tiny things in a little tank...

I also found what is probably just hair algae in the 3rd shot, but I liked the pic, so I'm posting it :]

 

[raketemensch]

A little bit of a better close-up...

 

[Euphyllia97]

Colonial hydroids?

 

[NatD]

I believe that is anthelia.

 

[raketemensch]

I believe that is anthelia.

That would be awesome, since it would be the only non-invasive guess so far :]

They do, though, look quite a bit like colonial hydroids as well. I'm trying to find other pictures that are as close-up to look for those "twigs" on the branches...