Khemul's 40B

[Khemul]

A few updates and growth pictures. All traces of the Xenia are gone. The few scraps that were left were donated to a local LFS when I traded in the Kenya frags. Figured there was no sense in dragging them out any further. Did get a Fiji Toadstool for the whole trade, which seems to be working out so far.

This was an early picture. It's looking a little better. Actually looked like hell at the LFS, and was debating heavily on leaving it, but I have yet to see a healthy looking Fiji or Green Toadstool at a LFS so figured I'd take the risk.

Two issues with it.
1) I think flow is okay right now for it. I have the Tunze shooting by it, but not hitting it directly. This seems to be enough for it to open up normally, but it does collect some detritus and I hear these are very prone to infection. Would I be better off having the Koralia Nano blast straight across the top of it or just keeping the Tunze shooting by it like it is now? Hitting it directly across the top with the Koralia would eliminate the chance of sand/detritus falling on it, but I keeping hearing mixed on whether high-flow corals like this or not.
2) There are about half-a-dozen Zoas, or maybe small Palys right at the base of it. They seem to get along fine, but from studying the growth pattern of Fijis (and seeing the shadow it casts already), I don't see the Zoas getting much light down there. They're too close to the base of the Fiji to frag, since the risk of missing and hitting the Fiji isn't worth it. So any chance they'll survive or should I just write them off now?

That leather from the top of the page.

The smaller leather became a victim of a rescape. Took it off a rock and it just dissolved into sand.

The Pipe Organ somehow keeps getting bigger, even though it doesn't look like it is spreading.

 

[Khemul]

Wow. Didn't really notice how much of a difference it made but I changed the bulbs out recently. The ATI Purple+ was replaced with a Coral+ and a new Blue+ installed. The color is a bit nicer. And the corals seem to be reacting nicely.

Tried to hold out as long as possible with the old bulbs, but they seemed to have crossed a threshold. Was expecting a gradual shift as they lost power/spectrum. Instead it seemed like they just passed a certain age, then dimmed dramatically. Maybe was just my imagination. Who knows. Either way, they needed changing out and I can see the difference looking back.

 

[greech]

No bulbs do that and its good you replaced them. Keep an eye on your corals. Changing 2 bulbs at once sometimes can bee too much, too quick and you may need to reduce the light cycle for a little while.

I have never kept a toad stool (or a leather for that matter) but if they like high flow and detritus is collecting on the coral, then you should probably work on resolving that. Sometimes bouncing flow of of the glass or a nearby rock before rather than direct flow on a coral works very well. I don't see a nano being too much flow unless the PH is right next to the coral.

Congrats on the new addition!

 

[Khemul]

The softies don't seem to care how much light they get hit with, as long as it is enough (or more then enough). The Ricordeas are not taking the changes too well. But they are recovering. It isn't helping them that I haven't found them a new permanent home yet.


Its a slightly modded Nano. And it'd be pretty close to the coral.

Guess I'll experiment a little. I turned the Tunze slightly so that it blows across the edge of the Fiji and so far it doesn't seem to notice. But I plan to modify the Tunze, so if I do that then I'll swap the two powerhead positions since the modded Koralia is now pushing the same distance as the Tunze but with a wider angle. Right now the tank is in experimental mode anyways, since if things continue to go as planned it'll be getting moved in two or three weeks. So far the two things I've been hearing about Fijis is to either blast them directly with a powerhead, or hit them indirectly with SPS-level flow. From observations so far, the former may be true since the coral doesn't seem to respond negatively to direct flow (but gets upset easily if touched, which isn't odd for Toadstools).

The detritus collection isn't horrible, but from what I've read on Fijis they aren't as good as other leathers are about coping with it. And with the sifter in there, sand and detritus rains on everything. Even at the top of the tank. :screwy:

 

[Khemul]

Minor update. Not nearly as interesting as previous updates, but the regular pictures haven't changed drastically.

Pipe Organ and it's strange growth pattern at work. Took this one before the polyps fully came out to show the real change. Was actually pretty neat, but hard to get into pictures. Rather then growing a mat, or increasing polyp density, the colony basically grew itself a whole new "floor". Halfway up each polyp a platform grew. The platforms then expanded until they connected to each other and formed a solid shell over the old colony. Then a ton of new polyps popped up on the shell and polyp density went nuts. Was hoping it would encrust the rock entirely, but it looks like the growth up top will shade and impede any growth to the bottom. Although the shell extends out to the side, so I guess 5-6 more cycles of this and one would never even know there was a rock underneath there to begin with.

In other weird growth news...the pink Toadstool split. Which seems rather small for a Toadstool to split. But I've seen a few rocks sold as "Colony Toadstool" or "Cluster Toadstool", which basically had six or seven small Toadstools on them, so maybe this is a species that stays small. It had me worried for a while, since a hole basically developed in the trunk and worked it's way up until there were two heads.

Kenya's truly are immortal. This is what happens when you chop one in half. :laugh:

Well this was interesting. Tossed about 7 or 8 of these in the tank. They split up the under-rock territory of the tank amongst themselves.

They typically don't bond with gobies. In fact they are supposed to eat small gobies (good luck with that, I'd put my money on the Flame Cardinal taking out any fish they can eat first). But apparently no one told these two, since not only do they get along with the shrimp goby, but they appear to be using it for what it was designed to do. They'll feel out the goby's tail before heading out, then they'll stick alongside it. Might explain why these are so much tamer then the others in the tank. The others will only will wait for food to works its way to them. These will come right out and grab it, then retreat into the cave again. The shrimp goby seems happy too, since his home is getting a lot more work done too it then it was previously. :screwy:

 

[greech]

Yep my yasha guides my red stripe pistol all over the tank. Take them right to food or to another burrow. Its like a school crossing card walking a kid across the street .

Those pistols look mean. What kind are they? No offense but why would you add one (or seven) to a tank with a goby if they eat gobies?

 

[Khemul]

I suspect Alpheus heterochaelis, but there are half-a-dozen potential species to pick from. These look about right for it though.

I have my suspicions on just how accurate the goby-eating claim is. But even if it is, it only applies to tiny gobies, otherwise theyd have wiped out their Frillfin neighbors in the wild here. The Crested Goby seems to be missing though so the shrimp could be a suspect there. Frillfins jump past a couple inchs very fast, Crested stay an inch or two for longer. Either way, based on the research and their environment, anything over a couple inches should be very safe.

 

[Ptrick125]

Your corals are looking good as usual 7 Shrimp... At about $8 a shrimp around here, that's a lot! I'd love to get a colony of peppermint shrimp in my tank, but tell me how your pistol shrimp do first


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[Khemul]

Your corals are looking good as usual 7 Shrimp... At about $8 a shrimp around here, that's a lot! I'd love to get a colony of peppermint shrimp in my tank, but tell me how your pistol shrimp do first

I wouldn't base anything off these Pistols. They are a native species around here. While they do occasionally pop up in stores, they aren't really known for bonding with gobies and are usually pretty cryptic. I caught them as a cleanup crew, since our native Nassarius down here are apparently gone for the season. I didn't expect them to interact with the goby at all, let alone become active in the tank. I expected them to sit under rocks (there were about 7-8 rock territories for them to split up), dig tunnels and come out at night to clean up.



And now for a segment I like to call, "crabs are jerks"...

They look tough, but they are pretty timid and seem entirely happy with algae or whatever food they can get their hands on. Don't get me wrong, if I were a fish, I wouldn't trust one in the slightest, but they can't seem to get a hold of a healthy fish so they are basically entertainment and extended cleanup crew (yes, this tank has a rather bizarre cleanup crew... :laugh. They've recently taken to trying to scale the glass. Which leads to some good pictures, but less then ideal results for them.

So last night, the one with the clean shell was picking algae on top of the rock, when he decided to try to pick at the glass. The Pink-Spot was sticking out of his cave, watching, dreading the moment. And then his life flashed before his eyes as a large shell came plummeting towards him (don't worry, he's more then fast enough). So what happens next? Well, of course the crab with the algae on his shell races halfway across the tank, scales the rock and then stands in front of the one with the clean shell, preventing him from climbing further back to his perch. They just stood there like that for a half hour. Every time the one with the clean shell would try to move upwards, the other would push harder. Eventually they grew bored of it and went their separate ways, as is usually the case. Entertaining though while it lasted. :laugh:

Frillfin Gobies are also jerks. Which explains how that 1/2" one I put in as a feeder for the Flame Cardinal weeks ago is now 1" and doing good. Sometimes with marine life, it just comes down to attitude. A 1.5" Molly doesn't stand a chance against that Cardinal (it won't fit in his mouth, but that doesn't stop him from trying, it has to be over 2" before he'll stop trying). By all logic this Goby should either be Cardinal food or Pistol Shrimp food (maybe the Cardinal found a kindred spirit in the feisty little thing, they do have similar outlooks on life "can it fit? can I make it fit? if not I don't care about it"). And he is already prancing around like he owns the place. But then I did plan for him to potentially survive, since Frillfins are jerks...and basically immortal.

 

[Khemul]

Somtimes with marine life, it all comes down to attitude...

They allowed him to claim the high ground, so basically he owns the tank.

For size reference, that powerhead he has claimed as his throne is a Koralia Nano.