NPS Dedicated Tank - Take 2

Short update... All is still well. I still am struggling with Aiptasia though, and even after the addition of peppermin shrimp, they are still growing. I know that peppermint shrimp wont take the large specimens though, so I am on my way introducing yet another CBB in an attemp to help out.

I have taken this Dendrophyllia from Dorry Pets about two weeks back in an attemp to try and save it, and I must be honest that it is a quite a challenge. It is starting to look better, but a VERY VERY long way from doing well.

I am bottle feeding it daily, and making damn sure water quality remains good. Robert Kukla is going to test my params tonight just for interest sake, as I have no idea what the levels are at the moment.

Here is a pic I took last night, and you can see on some polyps just a faint indication of tentacles. This is the best it had looked in two weeks time from when I had it.

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Another update time:

I have faught a hard and long battle with aiptasia but I must report that I have won the battle (for now...) I got myself some Joe's Juice, and next time round will use Aiptasia X. So most aiptasia are gone.


Here is an updated photo of the spiral coral, notice how much longer the tentacles are:

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Here you can see the growt I have had from my last post (+/-2cm) You can see the tip tapering and starting to curve. This coral is doing extremely well:

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New adition - a purple whip gorgonian - still in early days, not looking 100% yet:

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These are still small, and as far as I can determine, they are balanophyllia. I had two initially, and the bottom colony now has four babies. I do however like the green tip one most:

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Some photos of my baby suncoral, 1 1/2 years old:

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Notice the great colony growth here:

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Here is a suncoral specimen I got as a gift from an LFS that was dying, it is now starting to come on nicely. Had him for about three weeks now:

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A nice photo of my black and yellow (mother) colony of suncorals (Tubastrea and dendrophyllia)

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this is such a cool coral...very different

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I like this pic the contrasting colours are very cool.
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How about a FTS Jaco?
 
Beautiful corals....I wish sun corals were photosythetic and easier to keep.....

Now we need the FTS......
 
LOL... I have a few FTS, so I will try and post them this evening okey...?
 
I had a pleasant surpise last night. As I was doing a water changed my return pump was up to it's ussual "go slow" way of working. As I was struggling to get it to "kick in" something caught my eye in the return chamber...

My "prodical fish" returned!!! It was the Yasha Goby that was living in the tiny return chamber for so long!!! Dont know where it got food, but I would imagine it was eating pods all this time.

This is so cool as the Yasha Goby is a true deepwater goby, and this one specifically was caught at 175meters (so they say...)

Here is a reminder of what the Yasha Goby looks like:

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Further updates include me introducing a racoon butterfly. Even though it was a great gamble, it has not taken to any coral at all, in fact, it has not taken to aiptasia either... it rather hunts for brittle stars and pods...

So I am on the aiptasia x again, and hope the racoon will come to the party soon.

I have also added a Christmas Tree Coral which is doing great, and also another whip coral. This coral however did not come alone... It had a very alien looking creature on it. With further research with Steven from Exotic, we found it to be a Whip Coral Crab (Xenocarcinus tuberculatus) I will post a photo of my exact one, but here is pretty much the exact same one... They are also deepwater crab species, and I still have little idea of what their husbandry will require...

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I still owe you a FTS, so I will do that today or tomorrow, with all the rest of the new additions etc.
 
tube anemones do not play well with anemones. They viciously attack and destroy bta and lta. I am sure they would do the same to others.


Sweet tank!
 
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butcherman said:
Did he enjoy the super tube ride?
Click to expand...

You are welcome to take a FTS yourself, anytime... But when you do come around you will see what a journey the poor fish had to go through to get to the return chamber... :eek:

My DIY skimmer is recirculating, so he had to go into the skimmer, into the sump, then over into the bubble chamber and then into the return chamber. There he had to fight off a large unguarded return pump, that could have sucked him in at any time...

He is a true surviver.
 
Okey, as promised, here is an updated FTS, with the other photos I promised:

Front View:
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Left View:
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Right View:
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Christmas Tree Coral:
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Close Up:
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Wire Coral Crab:
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Yasha Goby doing well:
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