illumnae's SPS shallow reef

[illumnae]

2. Australia wild colonies

A very very interesting deepwater colony. When I first got it, it was red with neon green highlights. It is now purple, but has retained the highlights.
SPS 13 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

Very nice colony - Acropora nasuta? It has a mint green body with purple corallites and blue polyps. I have another similar colony under high light that has the same mint green body with purple corallites, but the polys are purple too instead of blue
SPS 9 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

Classic SSC. It turned entirely red for awhile, and is now starting to get the green back. I was told that I'm keeping it under too high lights and too low nutrients, hence the loss in green and predominance of red
SPS 6 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

Not sure what this is, but it reminds me of snowflakes! Very Christmassy look
SPS 5 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

I call this my "Aussie Pikachu" - bright yellow with red polyps
SPS 4 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

A "Rainbow" millie from Australia. When I got this colony some tips were showing blue in addition to the orange/red body and green polyps. You can't see it from the picture, but the corallites are now turning gold
SPS 3 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr


3. Tonga wild colonies

Recent acquisition from a long awaited Tonga shipment. Bought it as a "Rainbow Nasuta"
SPS 2 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

From the same recent shipment, a different colour variant of the above colony - this one is pink with blue tips and red polyps. This piece is still not very stable, so I'm closely observing it
SPS 1 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Acropora selago? It has a very pretty golden sheen under actinics
SPS 14 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

Nice pictures. Yes, I agree that the above coral is likely to be A. selago. It should exhibit much deeper green pigments though.

I used to have a frag a long time ago, but lost it.

Have you ever considered getting frags and growing them to colonies? I find this more satisfying than creating an instant reef.

 

[illumnae]

4. Sabah wild colonies

Sabah wild SPS are notoriously difficult to keep alive, so I'm glad that I managed to keep a couple of colonies.

This one was another totally browned out colony I took a chance on - it stayed brown for months, then finally recently coloured up
SPS 18 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

This tort/echinata/bottlebrush was neon yellow when I got it. It's now neon green, but has regained some yellow at the tips. Hoping to be able to get it back to its original yellow glory
SPS 10 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr


5. Frags from local frag seller - Fantasy Corals

These are frags purchased from a local frag seller, so they are all labelled with his trade names ("FC" stands for Fantasy Corals)

FC "CRT Rainbow"
SPS 25 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

FC "Superman Acro"
SPS 24 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

FC "Rainbow Shabert"
SPS 21 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

FC "Jubilee"
SPS 20 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

FC "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
SPS 19 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

FC "Sweetie Pie"
SPS 15 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

FC "Ultra Walt Disney"
SPS 8 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

 

[illumnae]

Nice pictures. Yes, I agree that the above coral is likely to be A. selago. It should exhibit much deeper green pigments though.

I used to have a frag a long time ago, but lost it.

Have you ever considered getting frags and growing them to colonies? I find this more satisfying than creating an instant reef.

Wow I really like yours! It has rainbow hues and blue polyps :inlove:

Here in Singapore we get wild colonies in abundance - primarily from Indonesia (Bali mostly and sometimes Sulawesi) and Australia, but also from Fiji, Tonga and Sabah. Frags tend to come from these same shipments I have access to, and cost almost as much as a colony (or with some frag sellers even more than a colony) so it usually doesn't really make sense to get frags over colonies.

We also get maricultured mini-colonies/large frags, but I tend to prefer the wild stuff over mariculture, partly due to fear of pests and partly due to hating the hassle of chopping off the cement bases.

There is 1 frag seller that has beautiful frags and he is the exception to the above. I do get frags from him too (they're featured in the post below yours), but the main source here in Singapore is wild colonies.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Is there any update?

 

[illumnae]

Is there any update?

The SPS are still doing well despite the aefw, but introduction of an Achilles Tang caused a white spot outbreak that decimated many of my fish population

I'm now seriously considering going ahead with aefw eradication while running the tank fallow and treating the remaining fish in copper to get rid of the problems in this otherwise flourishing tank.

The plan is to break off all the encrusted frags and colonies from the rockwork and remove the rockwork (to prevent aefw from hiding in the leftover encrusted bits). The fish will all be removed from the tank into a hospital tank to treat with cupramine. I will then use eggcrate to create shelves in the tank to hold the frags and colonies at the light levels that they are used to, and take them out to dip weekly for the next 6 weeks. I'll then reintroduce rockwork and glue the corals back and leave the tank fishless for the corals to take hold, as well as to complete the fallow period to eradicate ich from the tank before reintroducing the fish.

In addition to getting rid of both pests, this also gives me the chance to redo the rockwork - due to the shallow nature of this tank, I find the current rockwork slightly too high to be able to get good photos and videos for updates.

Any reason I shouldn't go ahead with this plan?

 

[DiscusHeckel]

The SPS are still doing well despite the aefw, but introduction of an Achilles Tang caused a white spot outbreak that decimated many of my fish population

I'm now seriously considering going ahead with aefw eradication while running the tank fallow and treating the remaining fish in copper to get rid of the problems in this otherwise flourishing tank.

The plan is to break off all the encrusted frags and colonies from the rockwork and remove the rockwork (to prevent aefw from hiding in the leftover encrusted bits). The fish will all be removed from the tank into a hospital tank to treat with cupramine. I will then use eggcrate to create shelves in the tank to hold the frags and colonies at the light levels that they are used to, and take them out to dip weekly for the next 6 weeks. I'll then reintroduce rockwork and glue the corals back and leave the tank fishless for the corals to take hold, as well as to complete the fallow period to eradicate ich from the tank before reintroducing the fish.

In addition to getting rid of both pests, this also gives me the chance to redo the rockwork - due to the shallow nature of this tank, I find the current rockwork slightly too high to be able to get good photos and videos for updates.

Any reason I shouldn't go ahead with this plan?

Your plan sounds reasonable. That said, I want to stress that I have no experience with AEFW or whitespot.

 

[Jfannin]

Beautiful tank, well done!
Absolutely love the pigmy Angle. Hands done my favorite species of fish.
I had several pigmy in my old system and plan a couple in my new one as well. Keep up the good work.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

My jaw is on the floor. Sweet corals.

 

[illumnae]

Your plan sounds reasonable. That said, I want to stress that I have no experience with AEFW or whitespot.

Thank you! I currently have some freshwater fish in my QT tank till my office tank is ready - once they complete QT and are moved to my office tank, I will repurpose the QT tank for the marine fish and start this long and tedious process. I hope I don't lose too many colonies/frags in the 6 week dipping process!

Beautiful tank, well done!
Absolutely love the pigmy Angle. Hands done my favorite species of fish.
I had several pigmy in my old system and plan a couple in my new one as well. Keep up the good work.

My jaw is on the floor. Sweet corals.

Thank you very much!

 

[reefmutt]

Man.. sounds hellish.. I could not do what you are embarking on.. I think I’d just take it down.. I am noticing indications of aefw in my tank as well but I won’t be so drastic, I don’t think. I am going to remove my melanurus wrasse- who ate all of my peppermint shrimp- then, I will reintroduce 25 or so peppermints, and then begin basting corals to dislodge the adult aefw.
The peppermints are extremely effective at controlling the eggs..

 

[illumnae]

Man.. sounds hellish.. I could not do what you are embarking on.. I think I'd just take it down.. I am noticing indications of aefw in my tank as well but I won't be so drastic, I don't think. I am going to remove my melanurus wrasse- who ate all of my peppermint shrimp- then, I will reintroduce 25 or so peppermints, and then begin basting corals to dislodge the adult aefw.
The peppermints are extremely effective at controlling the eggs..

If it was just either the aefw or the ich outbreak I would not be doing this. It's both occurring together plus the fact I find my scape too high that spurred me to this. I'll be very honest... as I wait for the quarantine tank to free up, I'm having second thoughts almost daily.

You can also try Flatworm Stop. After I started it I've found that I stopped having to throw away more colonies. I'm sure the pests are still there, but controlled.

 

[reefmutt]

I’ve never tried flatworm stop. Always assumed it was a total gimmick..
I guess I have nothing to lose.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I have read that some people use flatworm stop even though there is no flatworm presence in their tank. I have never understood the motive.

 

[illumnae]

Flatworm Stop is supposed to thicken the sps flesh. It's meant to make the flesh unpalatable to aefw thus controlling their numbers. Apparently when used in conjunction with Coral Booster it also has the added effect of boosting coral colouration

 

[illumnae]

Did a small upgrade to the lights before the big teardown

2018-01-29_06-47-57 by Yi Xiang Lye, on Flickr

 

[reefmutt]

Nice. Which lights?

 

[illumnae]

Still the same Radions, but I added the new diffusers. The spread is noticeably better and I have to admit, I didn't notice the disco effect until now when I'm noticing the lack of it. My friend who uses t5 says it looks like t5 but with shimmer.

I wanted to get opinions on this: during the 6 weeks of dipping should I continue dosing my TM and KZ supplements?

 

[reefmutt]

Oh cool! I’ve never seen the diffusers before. They totally change the look of the light. Didn’t realize they were raduons.
Remind again what you are dosing..

 

[illumnae]

The signature pucks of the radions are no longer visible

I'm currently dosing the following:
- TM Bacto Balance (carbon source + additional nitrate and phosphate to keep nutrients reduced but balanced)
- TM A- and K+ Elements (trace elements)
- TM Reef Actif (Biopolymers for corals)
- KZ Flatworm Stop and Coral Balance (ostensibly to keep aefw in check, but supposed to increase coral colouration too)

I'm thinking to increase coral feeding via Reef Roids to make up for the tank being fishless for the 72 day fallow period, and just keep dosing everything as per normal since it's all for coral health - and corals are remaining in the tank. Not sure if that's wise though.