Coral Maternity in Portugal

[Machado deSousa]

Hello xfragmanx!

If I can I feed them everyday in small portions. I use to feed them with a large variety of pellet foods, dry flake foods and frozen foods. In the pics above I'm feeding them with brine shrimp (Artemia) but i give them all kind of frozen foods like mysis, daphnia, bloodwormes, blackworms and mosquito larvae. Anthias and Cromis feed on coral foods like cyclop-eeze, zooplankton, etc. but i supplementary feed them once a week with newly hatched Artemia nauplii (and corals thanks too ...).
About plastic tubes, the covers have a hole where i fix my small babies. I Fill the tubes with aragonite and reverse osmosis water. Jessp gave me a good and practical idea: to fill with aragocret...

Cheers,

 

[xfragmanx]

so thats it? you feed your corals once a week? and fill the water tubes with regular RO/DI water and you corals are growing that good? thats amazing. are you target feeding all the corals or do you just add your newly hatched nauplii and pour it in the tank?

 

[JetCat USA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10950777#post10950777 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xfragmanx
so thats it? you feed your corals once a week?

somebody isn't paying attention

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10947574#post10947574 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Machado deSousa

I answered this question before:

I feed corals with some frozen food like red plankton, bosmiden, lobster eggs and cyclops or pro-coral zooton (lyophilised food), alternating all foods every day. For enhanced long-term coloration and growth I feed them too with cyclop-eeze almost daily mixed together with the mentioned foods.

 

[xfragmanx]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10948144#post10948144 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xfragmanx
. I have a few questions that i am sure have been asked.

yeah i didnt see that that why i wrote the above satement. o and thanks for the large bold font my eye site is going bad.

 

[fatrip]

hi, i am just wondering if there is a difference between cyclops and cyclop-eeze???thanks

 

[Machado deSousa]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10950777#post10950777 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xfragmanx
so thats it? you feed your corals once a week?

Hi xfragman,

May be I didn't explain correctly the way i nourish corals and fishes.
By the other words: I feed corals daily with frozen zooplankton like red plankton, bosmiden, cyclops, oyster egs and rotifers (I remembered these last two now) or lyophilised food like pro-coral zooton and cyclop-eeze. I alternate all foods. Anthias and Cromis take the oportunity of feed on corals foods and vice-versa (When I give newly hatched Artemia nauplii to the Anthias and Cromis corals thanks too ...).

Cheers,

 

[Machado deSousa]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10951261#post10951261 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fatrip
hi, i am just wondering if there is a difference between cyclops and cyclop-eeze???thanks

The Cyclop-eeze i'm talking about is a trade name of copepods commonly available in a dried form. see http://www.argent-labs.com/

Cheers,

 

[xfragmanx]

do you target feed all of your corals? if you dont understand what i mean by this, is i take a tube with a ball at the end, suck up my mixture of baby crab, coral frenzy, kents chromamax, and rotifers, and squirt the food directly onto the coral.

if it seems like im typeing dumb, its that im trying to explain stuff and i dont know if you call it something different over there then here in the states. thanks

 

[TeeLapia]

WOW. Whatever it is you do, you do right. Perfect chemistry and lighting.

 

[jessp]

do you feed your corals after lights out? do you use any HGH?

 

[tiago garcia]

Hello Machado,

As I already said to you personally, it is a marvel to my eyes. So much color, simply a work of art!
Perhaps one day, all that world of color and beautiful species that you show to us, can demonstrate the work and love that you have for the hobby (if that is possible!)
Congratulations Machado, always on top!:thumbsup:

Tiago Garcia

 

[ssavader]

Machado, thank you so much for sharring your incredible work with RC and its readers. Congratulations on a phenomenal job. Whether "experimental" or eventually "commercial", you are contributing to the hobby and helping to save the reefs from being stripped.

 

[Machado deSousa]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10876028#post10876028 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zurk666
What is the next step? Can you post more pictures?

The next first step is to prepare a new Day-care center to receive all corals that have already passed the first stage of reproduction in the Nursery. The second step will be to move the babies grown in plastic tubes to the reef plugs and put them in the new Day-care center for the second stage of reproduction. After this the Nursery will rest empty as it is obvious. The third step will be to make new collects of polyps or small fragments from the mothers-donors colonies existing in Maternity and settle them on plastic tubes and colonize the Nursery again. The fourth step is wait ...and wait...and wait... I'ill post pics showing all steps.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10876028#post10876028 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zurk666
Do you use natural water?

I do not use natural sea water. I use synthetic saltwater. As you know i live near the sea and I’m going to look for some unpolluted places to collect NSW to save $$$$.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10876028#post10876028 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zurk666
I never asked you this, but, you do not have the DSB (you got algae's on it, right?)

You're right, I have DSB with some algae growing on it (we can see it in the latest pictures I posted). It's true that if I let these algae grow freely on the DSB the sand layer will lose part of their functionality as DSB and the site will became operating as algae filter and refugium. The top layer of the DSB once full of algae will no longer be well oxygenated to succeed in the nitrification and the lower layer fail to make denitrification. Now I have a large mass of algae in the Rizophoras area, to work as filter of algae, and so I can remove some existing algae over the DSB.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10876028#post10876028 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zurk666
What are the advantages and disadvantages of it?

I Think that algae on the DSB has no advantages. The ideal is to have a DSB and a algae filter separated. So I am planning of remove most of the existing algae over the DSB and further develop existing ones in the the Rizophora area.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10876028#post10876028 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zurk666
Where did you get those colorful kills? Do all those kills came from that journey to Germany?

Most coral came from aquariums I had in my home. Everything was moved when i decided to create my prop system. Here I have more space and more freedom to do what I want to do. I have done coral changes with a some friends. From Germany I brought about 20 rare and colorful frags.


Cheers,

 

[JVJordan]

A truly stunning tank by standards of a prop tank or display tank.

A few questions:

You said you use salt mix currently, what is your frequency of water changes as a % of total volume?


I understand that SPS have less chemical warfare issues, but given your stunning variety of species an morphologies, surely you have some problems? Is skimming generally able to remove chemical warfare compounds?


Do you run Ozone or Carbon? Both? Neither?


Do you try to generate chaotic random flow in your tanks? Or just keep the water circulating through the whole system? Any idea of your rate of water exchange from the sump to the main tanks?



Thanks for sharing. The pictures are inspirational.

 

[andrewkw]

This is a simply amazing setup, you have done wonderful things. However I must point out when you are hand feeding your fish you really must be careful with the foxface. I'm surprised you haven't been stung. I'd hate to hear an allergic reaction caused you to neglect your beautiful system.

 

[Machado deSousa]

Hi Andrewkw!
Thanks for your concern. What you say is true about the danger that this fish represents. The foxface is a very peaceful fish and idea I have is that never attacks. When it feels threatened and unable to escape it raises dorsal fins and awaits the striker stung himself. When is eating in my hand sometimes frightens himself and raises the fins, but since I have the hand motionless there is no danger to be stung. Up to today! All the care is little...

 

[Machado deSousa]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10882498#post10882498 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefman13
Make sure to let us know if you decide to get into the business of selling coral fragments.

I am going to be the first one on your list

Ok reefman13! You'll be the number one! lol

Cheers

 

[laomedon]

How do you attach the rubber tops from flower pipes to the plugs? any special technique?
thanks,

Adrian

 

[vapormd]

Machado,

Your setup is amazing, and an inspiration!

A had a few questions about the eggcrate frag rack in your propagation tank - how are the various shelves supported and attached together? Do you have any detailed pictures you could share in terms of the propagation racks and their construction?

I also sent you a PM.

Thanks

 

[Machado deSousa]

Very soon, when I build the eggcreate racks for the new day care center, I will present here step by step photos of the construction.
I'm gonna see your PM. Thanks.