Swedish fish - behind the scenes rebuilding a public aquarium

[VSVP bet]

The growth on those colonies is incredible. Thanks for sharing those pics!

 

[Sallstrom]

The growth on those colonies is incredible. Thanks for sharing those pics!

Thanks!
Yes, I really like those large colonies. Many of them started out as fist sized colonies 4-5 years ago. Some were larger, but not many.
Check out the build thread in my profile to see the development of the 10000L reef!
Here's a low quality time lapse



And here's another picture from today. This reef will unfortunately be closed within 8 months, but we will keep all the corals during the rebuild. Hopefully we can save some of the large colonies for experiments with sexual reproduction(try to get them to spawn). Then they need to be quite large.

 

[VSVP bet]

do corals spawn in a system like that? I know my buddy had a 300 gallon sps reef, and his poci colony startted popping up new colonies all over the place,

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

Thanks!
Yes, I really like those large colonies. Many of them started out as fist sized colonies 4-5 years ago. Some were larger, but not many.
Check out the build thread in my profile to see the development of the 10000L reef!
Here's a low quality time lapse



And here's another picture from today. This reef will unfortunately be closed within 8 months, but we will keep all the corals during the rebuild. Hopefully we can save some of the large colonies for experiments with sexual reproduction(try to get them to spawn). Then they need to be quite large.

Incredible.

You clearly had an incredible amount of success with the original colonies. Were there any issues or setbacks you experienced during that 4 year span, or was it largely smooth sailing?

 

[Sallstrom]

do corals spawn in a system like that? I know my buddy had a 300 gallon sps reef, and his poci colony startted popping up new colonies all over the place,

That is a good question. Some probably do without us noticing because we aren't at work when they spawn. I did find egg and sperm bundles inside a staghorn Acropora one time when I cut some branches. It looked like they were ready to go in a day or two when I compared to research papers.
Here's a picture

But we haven't had any mass spawning events so far
I would like to monitor some colonies closer during longer time to see if they produce gamets and if we could be ready to document and collect if they spawned.

 

[VSVP bet]

That is a good question. Some probably do without us noticing because we aren't at work when they spawn. I did find egg and sperm bundles inside a staghorn Acropora one time when I cut some branches. It looked like they were ready to go in a day or two when I compared to research papers.
Here's a picture

But we haven't had any mass spawning events so far
I would like to monitor some colonies closer during longer time to see if they produce gamets and if we could be ready to document and collect if they spawned.

Thats awesome. If someone came by the aquarium and said they had a reef tank and asked for frags or any pieces of coral that break off, would you ever consider giving it to that person? I only ask because I was at the new england aquarium in Boston MA last week, and they had an awesome looking long polyp turbinaria colony that was massive. I considered asking for a frag, or being put on a list where if a piece ever fell off, I could grab it, but didnt know if that was an appropriate question to ask.

 

[Sallstrom]

Incredible.

You clearly had an incredible amount of success with the original colonies. Were there any issues or setbacks you experienced during that 4 year span, or was it largely smooth sailing?

Thanks!

Overall it's been pretty smooth sailing. It's more problems now when the tanks is packed and they start competing more and grows up to the surface.
The first period was really nice, we put in some test corals after just a couple of weeks, and they did great from the start. So growth wise, this tanks has been wonderful. Everything I've put in except Gonipora and Sun corals are doing well. Can't really say why, but I'm really happy it works.

We do have AEFW stressing some Acropora. Actually we lost two really big colonies. But they were moved into this tank when there were big and already pretty stressed by flatworms(I think, could have been something else).

And we have Aiptasia, BTA and Valonia algae of course But only the BTA are a problem, the other ones are eaten.

 

[Sallstrom]

Thats awesome. If someone came by the aquarium and said they had a reef tank and asked for frags or any pieces of coral that break off, would you ever consider giving it to that person? I only ask because I was at the new england aquarium in Boston MA last week, and they had an awesome looking long polyp turbinaria colony that was massive. I considered asking for a frag, or being put on a list where if a piece ever fell off, I could grab it, but didnt know if that was an appropriate question to ask.

Officially no. If I say yes all the LFS's would hate me
But we do have some hobbyists as partners, to spread some risk. Usually they give us pieces of their corals and they get some back if they lose theirs.

So I like the idea of sharing. We are thinking of ways to collaborate more with hobbyists during the rebuild.

Try to find out who's the "coral guy/girl" and get there and talk corals with them Then I'm sure you could get a frag. Even better, ask if they want a frag from you if you have a species they don't.

 

[VSVP bet]

Officially no. If I say yes all the LFS's would hate me
But we do have some hobbyists as partners, to spread some risk. Usually they give us pieces of their corals and they get some back if they lose theirs.

So I like the idea of sharing. We are thinking of ways to collaborate more with hobbyists during the rebuild.

Try to find out who's the "coral guy/girl" and get there and talk corals with them Then I'm sure you could get a frag. Even better, ask if they want a frag from you if you have a species they don't.

good info, thanks!

 

[Brew12]

Officially no. If I say yes all the LFS's would hate me
But we do have some hobbyists as partners, to spread some risk. Usually they give us pieces of their corals and they get some back if they lose theirs.

So I like the idea of sharing. We are thinking of ways to collaborate more with hobbyists during the rebuild.

Try to find out who's the "coral guy/girl" and get there and talk corals with them Then I'm sure you could get a frag. Even better, ask if they want a frag from you if you have a species they don't.

Speaking of coral... if you were going to recommend an easier to keep Anthias for a school of around 7, what kind would you recommend? Other than lyretail that is. ;Bookworm

Ok.. that had nothing to do with coral. ;Sorry

 

[Sallstrom]

Speaking of coral... if you were going to recommend an easier to keep Anthias for a school of around 7, what kind would you recommend? Other than lyretail that is. ;Bookworm

Ok.. that had nothing to do with coral. ;Sorry

Hehe

I've only kept two species, so I can't really say. Just make sure you don't get too many, they need space and they will establish a picking order.
Not much help from me on that one, sorry

 

[Brew12]

Hehe

I've only kept two species, so I can't really say. Just make sure you don't get too many, they need space and they will establish a picking order.
Not much help from me on that one, sorry

Not a problem, I should have asked someone with a bigger aquarium!

 

[Sallstrom]

Not a problem, I should have asked someone with a bigger aquarium!

Yes

 

[Sallstrom]

Some pictures from this week.

First, the butterflyfish enjoying a snack. Really likes the Galaxea and Stylopora corals. This is the 2000L room devider reef.

Then some fish hanging out in the large Sarcophytom In the 10000L reef.

 

[ksed]

Not getting alerts again. Don’t know why it happens all the time.
Stunning pictures. Love the Butterfly.

 

[Fudsey]

Not getting alerts again. Don’t know why it happens all the time.
Stunning pictures. Love the Butterfly.

I had to get myself into the habit of checking "Watched Threads" on the main screen. I loose alerts all the time

 

[ksed]

I don’t know what causes them to stop. I keep checking them when they do pop up.

 

[najer]

I had to get myself into the habit of checking "Watched Threads" on the main screen. I loose alerts all the time

I always check my alerts first then I click on watched threads also.

 

[Sallstrom]

Not getting alerts again. Don’t know why it happens all the time.
Stunning pictures. Love the Butterfly.

I always check my alerts first then I click on watched threads also.

I had to get myself into the habit of checking "Watched Threads" on the main screen. I loose alerts all the time

I'm so glad you want to follow! Thank you for the support!

I know the problem, miss one time and you don't get any more alerts.

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

With a negative attitude like this you are going to miss the latest fad! ;Troll

Now that I know which systems of reefing work the best, I do them all.
I run high nutrients on Monday-Thursday, low nutrients Friday-Sunday.
On high nutrient days I run Alk at 12dkh, I run it at 7dkh on low nutrient days.
On Monday I do the Triton method, Tuesday I add filter socks. I run without a skimmer on Wednesday and micro-nano bubble on Thursday. Carbon dosing is for Fridays and biopellets over the weekend.
I do a large water change on Monday and continuous water change on Tuesday. Wednesday I do the Balling method, Randy's 2 part on Thursday and Kalk dosing on Friday. The calcium reactor handles the weekend.

Most importantly, Stability is key, so it's critical to maintain the proper rotation. ;Smuggrin

This is exactly how it seems with all the latest and greatest methods being talked about. No wonder newcomers are so confused. We need a thread called Keep It Simple.