Perseverance Reef

[That Crusso Kid]

The much ballyhooed mystery creature is on the way and will be here shortly!

Ballyhooed… not to be confused with Bali Hai’d!

 

[Mschmidt]

So maybe it’s a rite of passage (or not) but I just drank my first cup of RO/DI water. Not bad. I’m extremely certain I’m producing 0 TDS water. The meter still fluctuates due to air in the line despite my tilting it (I’ll have to try it again). Still when water flows properly I get 5 TDS. The water doesn’t taste or smell like… anything. As a result I’m pretty sure I have 0 TDS. There’s also barely any color in the very bottom of DI resin.

I harvested some algae and cleaned the glass tonight. I fed enough frozen food that my duncans caught some pieces. That’ll work. There’s a vermetid snail though that the duncans’ mat is growing around. I hope it doesn’t pose any problems. At least the most developed of the two new polyps is looking good. Both look good but the older of the two has some tentacles peeking out.

We have been drinking RO for some time now. (they say it's remineralized, but I haven't confirmed. I have tested calc in it and it reads 0 even though they say it's going back in...) As long as I live on the east coast I will maintain this habit. I feel better and it tastes better.

 

[Fishy888]

We have been drinking RO for some time now. (they say it's remineralized, but I haven't confirmed. I have tested calc in it and it reads 0 even though they say it's going back in...) As long as I live on the east coast I will maintain this habit. I feel better and it tastes better.

Water on the east coast is a veritable chemical cocktail.

 

[Fishy888]

Ballyhooed… not to be confused with Bali Hai’d!

LOL

 

[Mschmidt]

Water on the east coast is a veritable chemical cocktail.

Sharing is caring right? That's probably why it was months after the switch that we were able to get pregnant.

 

[Fishy888]

Aaaaaannnddd here it is!

It’s not brown despite the iPhone camera. It’s definitely a RBTA.

 

[Fishy888]

It’s starting to settle

It’s settled in (hopefully at least semi permanently).

I love the iridescent yellow on its oral disk. That and I’m glad it has its bubbles. Not bad for being yanked from one tank, landing in another after 3 hours of acclimation, and dealing with different lighting and flow. Granted it’s only been in there about an hour now. Hopefully it won’t move anytime soon.

 

[Fishy888]

The nem must really like it where it is because it’s really dug in.

Its tentacles are fully extended still. I just hope it doesn’t get so far in there that it falls in. I’d have to take the rockwork apart to get to it. Of course I will if I must. Besides I know it can pull forward too. They know how to move around properly.

Of course it’s still getting used to the new environment. For that reason I won’t try feeding it directly for a few days. I can’t guarantee it won’t catch a stray piece of frozen food however.

 

[tbrown]

The nem must really like it where it is because it’s really dug in.

Its tentacles are fully extended still. I just hope it doesn’t get so far in there that it falls in. I’d have to take the rockwork apart to get to it. Of course I will if I must. Besides I know it can pull forward too. They know how to move around properly.

Of course it’s still getting used to the new environment. For that reason I won’t try feeding it directly for a few days. I can’t guarantee it won’t catch a stray piece of frozen food however.

Mine stayed where I put it for two weeks then ran away and hid in a cave for 4 days, then went and hung out with my Christmas Favia for two more days, then went and is hanging out with my Digitata now. He's been there for about 2 weeks.

 

[Fishy888]

Mine stayed where I put it for two weeks then ran away and hid in a cave for 4 days, then went and hung out with my Christmas Favia for two more days, then went and is hanging out with my Digitata now. He's been there for about 2 weeks.

I expect it to move around tonight. A little bit ago I fed the tank and it responded by puffing back up a bit. It might have caught some small pieces though because it’s closing up now. Before long the lights will go out. It’ll be an interesting night at Perseverance Reef.

This was about an hour ago.

This was about 5 minutes ago.

It’s just being a typical RBTA lol. I’m not worried since I can see it’s still inflated and the tentacles look healthy. Of course I’ll be vigilant.

 

[Fishy888]

Lights (out), camera, action!




This guy’s fascinating! I love it! I’m sorry for the not so perfect video. I need to research taking much better videos than this.

 

[Fishy888]

As of a little while ago the nem is still inflating and shrinking, simultaneously exposing its stomach and pulling it back in like in the last video I posted. This didn’t start happening until literally the second the lights went out. That said the nem hasn’t balled up since the last video I posted and its stomach isn’t being exposed as much as it was but it’s still somewhat exposed. It’s not vomiting mesentary filaments thankfully.

The tentacles are their normal size and color, not stringy. I’m pretty sure it’s expelling old water and taking new in. It’s been in the tank about 15 hours and had a 3 hour acclimation period. It didn’t do the inflate deflate thing during the day though and it didn’t gape or expose its stomach. BTW the anemone is glued to its spot and hasn’t moved from it even though I thought for sure it was going to.

How long until I should worry assuming it follows the same pattern of looking like a rockstar by day; and repeating the inflate/deflate and stomach exposed/not exposed cycles by night?

I’m hoping that after tonight the stomach in and out cycle will stop. I really hope the nem stops having to inflate and deflate like it is now by tomorrow night.

Edit:

I was just looking at one of the pictures of the RBTA in its bag while it was temp acclimating. I didn’t take a video of it but the picture I took of it shows the same thing with the stomach out like it is in the last video I posted. That’s a sigh of relief but I’m still watching things closely.

 

[Fishy888]

I have a couple more videos to post. This one was taken yesterday morning about 15 minutes after the RBTA came out of the acclimation bag.




This one was taken an hour after the lights came on this morning.




The whole mesentarial filaments being exposed thing was a bit unsettling. My sebae from 11 years ago didn’t do that its first night. Of course, this nem isn’t a sebae.

I really expected my RBTA to go on walkabout last night but it stayed glued to where I put it. That’s a good sign. In fact the case could be made that the nem may have its tentacles a bit more extended since it’s as far back in the crevice as it can go unlike yesterday. The tentacles have more bubbles than yesterday too.

All I know for certain is that I’m excited to watch this anemone grow and thrive, hopefully for many years to come.

 

[Fishy888]

My RBTA still hasn’t budged an inch since I put it in its spot. It’s opening and closing more than I’d like but otherwise it looks healthy. In fact the nem perked right up once food hit the water.

My cabbage leather has been shedding the last few days but it’s almost done. My Kenya tree has been closed for four or five days. All my other corals look great.

Although it might have just been a moult my Halloween hermit was likely pulled from its shell. Considering he was in an open area and the “moult” looked kind of meaty I think it’s dead.

 

[Fishy888]

Even though there are times my RBTA nearly gives me a heart attack, it’s doing pretty well. In fact the person who gave it to me told me it’s gained some color since being in my system. Here’s a video of it about half an hour after the light went out.

RBTA Day 3 - The anemone’s third night. Taken about 30 minutes after lights out.

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Up until now I’ve been target feeding my duncans with tongs. I saw online where one can buy a big, hard plastic straw they call a target feeder. Instead of paying 20 bucks for a glorified drinking straw I’m going to get some straws and make myself a target feeder. My assumption is that the target feeder I saw is for pellets. I also started thinking that half inch PVC would be even better. It would be a large enough diameter to feed each polyp frozen food; yet it would be a small enough diameter to be able to see the polyp I’m feeding and make sure the food gets to the polyp in question.

For the first time in almost a week my Kenya tree is open. My cabbage leather finished shedding as well. Both look great now. Both the older and newer GSP are gaining some ground now. My duncans are putting out yet another polyp. There’ll be seven altogether once all these polyps finish coming in. All my other corals are still doing well.

I’m pretty certain the Halloween hermit is dead. I have a feeling that the other hermits ate its remains because they’re gone. The shrimp may have helped because they come up front in the wee hours of the morning.

I haven’t seen my emerald crab in a couple of weeks now. There was a point where I hadn’t seen my peppermint shrimp for a month or so. I assumed they were dead. Then they reappeared at the back of the tank in the right corner. They stay there by day and come up front until the lights come on. As a result I won’t count the emerald crab out yet.

I knew I had some amphipods because I constantly see their moults. Since I’ve started taking video early in the morning I’ve been seeing just how many amphipods I have. I’m willing to bet I have at least 100 adults. I might well have 1000 plus including newly hatched amphipods all the way to the adult size.

I’ve also got a few 6+ inch bristle worms. Most people think they’re ugly but I think they look cool. To me polycheates in general are fascinating. If I ever get enough bristle worms to keep a self sustaining breeding population I’ll get a wrasse. As it is I’d say I’m 75% certain I want a wrasse.

My clowns and yellowtails are doing well. They have great colors and eat like pigs. The damsels haven’t tried to mess with the nem since the one damsel tail whipped the anemone and likely got stung though not badly.

 

[That Crusso Kid]

@Fish Styx - this is someone else's build thread. Or are you one of the types that thinks their own build thread is the only one that matters and doesn't follow anyone else. Hhhmmmmmm?

 

[Fish Styx]

Hey, @Fishy888

 

[Fishy888]

Hey, @Fishy888

Hello! You’ll find this build thread to be entertaining, funny, and useful once every other blue moon.

 

[Fishy888]

@Fish Styx - this is someone else's build thread. Or are you one of the types that thinks their own build thread is the only one that matters and doesn't follow anyone else. Hhhmmmmmm?

Speaking of which I need to catch up on your build thread. I’m making 15 gallons of RO/DI in 3 buckets so I’ll be up a while. I am going to get a brute trash can soon but for now I have to do what I have to do.

 

[Fishy888]

Speaking of which I need to catch up on your build thread. I’m making 15 gallons of RO/DI in 3 buckets so I’ll be up a while. I am going to get a brute trash can soon but for now I have to do what I have to do.

Well I would have caught up on your build thread @crusso1993 but you don’t have one it seems. I hope you start one eventually.