Zoey's Reef is Growing Up . . .

[Maritimer]

So, I was down at my fave LFS on Friday (I _swear_, I was just looking to pick up some frozen brine for the copperband! He's still being finicky, and I've rarely seen him pick at anything other than brine.), and they had a whole 2 x 2' tray of corals for $15. Some of 'em were golf-ball sized Acropora colonies - but! . . . Those were browned out mariculture pieces.

Worth a shot?

Looking at hints of color. Checking out variations of shape, form, growth pattern. Spotting tunicates, acro crabs, barnacles and other hitchhikers.

Worth a shot.

Scooped up several corals. Went back on Sunday, 'cause it was preying on my mind, and scooped up several more. Below are photos of the mariculture Acropora colonies, which will serve as a reference for when and if they color up in a month or few.

This guy has some awesome deep green-rimmed corallites, with what look like red polyps. There's been some tissue loss here, he's probably in the worst condition of the bunch - but has lost no tissue since arrival here on Sunday:

This fellow is a deep blue-green, with small, sturdy branches that look like it wants to table. The piece included several barnacles, as you can see. Behind it is a more slender, purplish piece with some green corallites and a green "growth rim" at the base, which included two crabs; one of the fuzzy little blue-eyed ones, and an honest-to-God acro crab. Cute little buggers! Corals are slow - flame angels are fast . . .

This guy is a purplish / bluish tone, with zero fluorescence. I have a feeling he's going to look really nice behind that little green Montipora digitata frag, which is recovering from the green water period. Picked that guy up at Reef-A-Palooza this past Summer.

This is a neat little coral - thick branches with lots of little corallites, the tips seem greenish while the bases have a faint pinkish blush.

This one has the strongest fluorescent "pop" of the bunch - deep, olivaceous green. Seems to have been some tissue loss deep inside the colony, but again - none noted since arrival here.

Okay ... Not an acro. This character looks chalice-like, but with no obvious "eyes". The coral is a deep oxblood color, with tiny fluorescent yellow-green highlights, and came on a little rock with several white tunicates (You may be able to spot one on the right side of the rock). Cool-fun stuff! Let me know if there's something else I should be calling this guy.

Being as acros were too much challenge for the 65 to handle (save a single specimen), I'm still pretty new to the nomenclature, and will be happy for any pointers. Which ones are "validas", "milliporas", "tenuis" - or is it "tenius", and which are something else entirely - and how do you tell the difference? They're all fascinating and beautiful! There's also a mariculture Pocillopora in the group, with a massive, cauliflower form, that's got just the faintest blush of pink at the top. Scored some non-maricultured corals as well; a Favia, a Micromussa lordhowensis, a purple-tipped acro cut from the shop's display, and a booger of what I believe may be a brilliant blue valida with green polyps. We'll see how she goes, but the tank is starting to look like an actual reef!

Also, took a look 'round with a flashlight tonight, and spotted a grand gathering of what appeared to be munnid isopods. I was surprised by how many scattered - and how quickly! - when the light caught them.

~Bruce

 

[Bronc]

Very exciting!! Definitely keep us posted on their progress.

 

[Maritimer]

Thanks, Bronc - it is that!

It's that kind of excitement you felt as a kid, when you imagined your stocking full on Christmas morning, or opened a "blind-bag" toy - except with "adult" timing. You just _know_ there's the potential for something awesome ... but that could be months away!

~Bruce

 

[najer]

I always buy interesting "brown" sps as long as they look healthy, had a few little gems.

 

[Maritimer]

Awesome!

That's what I'm hoping for - glad to hear it worked out for you!!

Since I'm here, here's tonight's parametric snapshot of the water on Kingston & Zoey's Reef:

SG: 36ppt / 1.026
Magnesium: 1660
Alk: 7.0 (needs work...)
Cal: 480
Nitrate: 8.0
Phosphate: 0.4

Plan to dose some Alk, using a "little dripper" reptile waterer to drip it into the sump, so that it comes up gradually.

~Bruce

 

[Maritimer]

Some new finned residents have swum onto Kingston & Zoey's reef. Using the "mirror trick" to help disperse any aggression from existing fish, especially the kole tang and flame angelfish - and it makes the tank look twelve feet long!


~Bruce

 

[Maritimer]

Note to self: There is an order in which to do things . . .

My hooded wrasse disappeared yesterday. No sign of her/him. Looked around the inside of the tank, looked around the outside . . . no wrasse. While at work today, got the brilliant idea to look into the overflows.

Skimmer needs emptying.

At least one sock needs changing out.

Looked into the overflows _first_. Couldn't see much, so pulled the drain standpipes, and of course all that water flowed into the sump. (What's that smell? I didn't realize the standpipes would be so anaerobic-smelling!!)

Oops.

Down in the sump, the skimmer has overflowed, and pumped all of the skimmate into the water column. Clean it. Reset it, allowing the skimmate to flow into a bucket, 'cause it's still running pretty wet. Hope and pray it doesn't kill everything in the tank.

Idiot.

Next time, _clean_the_skimmer_FIRST_!

~Bruce, who still hasn't located that wrasse . . .

 

[Radman73]

Any luck with the wrasse?

 

[Maritimer]

Not a scale - thanks for asking!

I suspect she jumped, and was found by one of the half-dozen dogs that my son babysits for most days. While searching around the tank for the wrasse, I did find my ruby scooter. Drats.

Everyone else is doing well - in honor of Thanksgiving in the U.S.A., here's a video of feeding time on Kingston & Zoey's Reef - food (mostly PE Calanus this trip out) hits the return about 15 seconds in:

~Bruce

 

[Radman73]

Sorry about that. When we moved from GA I found a yellow watchman behind the tank that I always assumed perished in the tank.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

 

[reeferfoxx]

@Maritimer Can you do me an awesome favor? Could you record your tank and it put it on continuous playback? I could watch your fish for hours! Looking good!

 

[Maritimer]

D'aaawww w w!

Thanks, Reeferfoxx - and thank you too, Radman73. Hope your Thanksgiving was awesome as well.

Behind the tank was one of the first places I looked . . .

I don't know how to do continuous playback - but there will be more vids in the future!

~Bruce

 

[Maritimer]

Now, I'm seeing things.

Especially when I go peering about in the dark, with a flashlight. Found a gorilla crab - interesting to watch him extend his hairy legs below a rock - is he hunting passing plankton with those bristles? Found a tiny decorator crab, too, trundling about the rock, and a little bitty sea urchin. Saw that guy one night ... then lost track of 'im. There are places where I can usually expect to find mysid shrimp, though - a most welcome addition. I certainly do enjoy these little "night dives" with flashlight and magnifying glass!

Remember those browned out Acroporas from up at the top of page 8? Thought I'd revisit them, and just kind of post up a record of how they're doing. (Hint - most are better, one is ... not so much.) I'm still pretty much on the floor about the fact that acros can even survive in a tank of mine, and that I'm having to run a kalkwasser drip!

This little guy is really improving - seems to be displaying some pink or purple at the tips - and is certainly displaying its little polyps!

This guy's ... interesting. Pinks? Blues? It's certainly _much_ paler than it was at arrival.

Again, much paler, lighter tips ... and look! Little polyps! Still seems to have a purple or blue wash to it.

More in the purplish end of the spectrum, now with whitening tips. Can you spot both of the commensal crabs that share this coral?

This one seemed to have a deep blue-green tint to it - not so much any more, but it does still have barnacles!

This poor fellow makes me sad. Each day, the white seems to encroach. Just took a flashlight look at him, and there are amphipods and isopods working at the edges of the coral's flesh - I don't know that they're eating living tissue, but they may be scavenging unhealthy tissue along the edges of life. I keep hoping that this guy will win the race, but it's not looking great . . .

Okay, so ... not an acro. This pink birdsnest was a gift from a fine local reefer, and when it arrived about a month and a half ago, its branches were sparse and smooth - now, it looks like a cactus with all that spiny new growth!

Still have no idea what this guy is ... except pretty cool.

Yeah, I know - not even a coral. Just thought I'd toss a photo of "Blue Max" in here, as he seems to be doing well too. Not as "fluffy" as some other maximas I've seen, but reliably open as you see here. At this angle, he looks ... blue-ish ... but the higher you rise in relation to his position, the brighter he gets. If you look down through the water's surface, you need sunglasses.

~Bruce

 

[Maritimer]

The glass is clean.

Corals are (mostly) happy.

Fish glide smoothly and effortlessly, exulting in the flow.

Two minutes of tranquility on Kingston and Zoey's Reef in December of 2017:

~Bruce

 

[Maritimer]

Another night on Kingston & Zoey's Reef, another "night dive", checking out the polyp extension that only shows after the lights have been out for an hour or three, when . . .

What's that?

There, on the sand-channel . . .

Long, dark, pressed against the sand to evade the current that rips through there . . .

NET!

NOW!!

This one's not a monster, maybe four inches gliding flat-out; two inches, netted and in a cup.

Polyclad flatworm. Fascinating creatures in their own right, but stealthy predators of mollusks - like my maxima clam, for instance...

From above, they look like this as they move:

From below, they look more like this:

~Bruce - a big fan of diversity in a reef tank ... within reason!

 

[Water Dog]

Pretty gnarly critter ya got there Bruce.

 

[Maritimer]

Yeah.

Now it's 12:30 am, I'm not sleeping, and I'm trying to convince myself that was the only one! (>__<

~Bruce

 

[najer]

Ouch, fingers crossed for you!

 

[Maritimer]

Thanks, Simon!

Yeah, hoping this guy was the only one. I was able to retrieve him without breaking off any pieces - from what I understand, these guys have remarkable powers of regeneration!

~Bruce

 

[Maritimer]

Almost every day, I spend at least a little time like this, nose pressed against the glass (well, alright, hovering an inch or so away, so I don't have to clean it _again_ ... ), and checking things out up close:


~Bruce