120 "Florida" Reef

[moriarty]

So this mess is going to be my newest project!

Thought it would be interesting, and something different (at least for me) to do a reef tank featuring corals, inverts, and maybe the occasional small, reef-safe fish from (most of our) own back yard.

I just received my last shipment of Aquacultured Florida live rock this morning. Decided not to order it all at once to minimize an Ammonia spike. I've been incredibly impressed with the amount of stony corals that are attached to this rock! So far, I've counted at least a half-dozen Rose corals (Manicina spp.), Cladocora, Phyllangia spp, Siderastrea spp, and a few more that I still need to ID. Along with the stony corals, I have 2 different gorgonian species, lots of different types of sponge growth, various macro algae, and a few bivalves (which I'll be keeping a close eye on). FWIW, I did overnight shipping on this rock to minimize die-off. It was packaged very well, and none of the corals seem to be any worse off because of the trip.

I haven't done anything with the 'scaping yet, aside from placing the rock on PVC pipe. There is a ton of life on this rock, so my plan is to let a little time go by, and see what happens before I decide on where their final placement will be.

You can tell the older pieces from the ones that arrived today by the amount of diatoms... Hopefully this won't last too long...

I lent my good camera to my brother when he had his first daughter last year, and have yet to get it back. He has since bought one for himself, so I should be getting mine back when they come to visit next week. Will take some better pics then!

Thanks for looking!

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

Looks cool,I like the aquascapeing.

 

[moriarty]

Thanks for saying so! For randomly piling up the rocks on PVC, the scape really isn't too bad! Will have to do some tweaking eventually, but I think that I'll leave it as-is for a bit.


Thought I'd share some pics of a couple of my Caribbean rose coral hitchhikers.

This looks like two separate colonies (bottom of the pic) that are growing right next to one another. Will have some better pics soon, but the bottom one is green and purple, while the one on top is more blue and pink. They are attached to one of the rocks that came in yesterday, and seem to have survived the trip just fine. They are even starting to put out some feeding tentacles at night.

This is my biggest one... Very bright green. I'm not sure if this will change as it settles in, but time will tell. There is a lot of color variation between all of the rose corals.

There are a few small anemones that I'll be keeping an eye on. Best ID that I could find so far is either "lightbulb", or "bead" anemone. I definitely don't mind a few, but if they start to multiply a' La Aiptasia, I will have to take action.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Looks like you scored on some Curly Que Anemone's too.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I do love the natural at home Gulf of Mexico life. I grew up in New Orleans and fished the gulf for many years. I sure do miss it. Can't wait to see your tank develop and mature

 

[moriarty]

Thanks! I'll be sure to post updates!

I completely hear you about missing being near the water! I lived in South Florida for 7 years, and am really starting to question my sanity for leaving. I guess that was my motivating factor for starting up a "Florida" tank.

 

[AirForceAquariu]

Thanks for identifying those rose corals! I have them all over my aquacultured rock and had no idea what they were! Any special care they like? They always have their feeding tentacles out for food when it hits the water.

 

[moriarty]

Thanks for identifying those rose corals! I have them all over my aquacultured rock and had no idea what they were! Any special care they like? They always have their feeding tentacles out for food when it hits the water.

Congrats!! Definitely one of my favorite Aquacultured LR hitchhikers! From my past experiences with them, they are very easy to keep, and can adapt to a variety of flow and lighting. I kept my previous rose corals under T5 lighting with moderate flow. In this new set-up, I have a bit more light (4 Kassil A150's), and again moderate flow, and they seem to be adjusting very well to tank conditions. I haven't fed my new ones yet (waiting for them to acclimate fully), but I used to feed the ones in my previous tank mysis and other finely chopped seafood two or three times weekly.

Would love to see some pics of yours if you have any available

 

[AirForceAquariu]

sssshhhh I'm at work so none here now. I will try and remember but... with it being Friday afternoon I may forget. Mine are very small comparatively and have been with me just over a year. They show a little growth and not a ton and mostly seem to encrust the rock around them opening new "heads". Very cool!