Matt's Tubastrea/Purple Queen Anthias 200g

Matt_Wandell

Matt_Wandell

New member
Late 2009:
DeepReef.jpg


Today (Photo Credit Joe "You toucha dis controller you sleep wit da fishes" Yaiullo):
40612_1506801800270_1541059784_1260375_1307616_n.jpg


Tank is a 36" cube at the Steinhart Aquarium in the California Academy of Sciences running since Sept. 2008.
 
Wow, look at that gorgeous sea of yellow!! Love it! Were more corals added since late 2009 or is all the new growth from the original corals? Either way, absolutely beautiful.
 
Thanks guys, there is also an article here about the feeding for the purple queens:
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/reefs-magazine/71849-boldly-colored-beauties-tuka-anthias.html

The tank is automatically fed 2tbsps of live baby brine, 1tbsp Cyclop-eeze, and 5mL Shellfish Diet daily. I feed it from about 9am to 6pm via the auto feeder shown in the above link. I target feed the Tubastrea when I can, sometimes it's 3 times a week and sometimes it's once every 2 weeks. The daily drip gets them fed pretty well.

The orange Tubastrea has been popping out babies left and right, I transfer any polyps I find on plumbing, acrylic, and sand to the main rockwork. You can see several small 2-3 polyps colonies that have done that on their own as well. But most of the "big" new colonies between the 2 photos were added as full grown colonies.

Total system volume is 300g, I have an ETS downdraft skimmer that I want to swap out with an MRC Orca needlewheel soon. I keep the temp at 75. Once a week I add 300mL of vinegar, 100mL of 95% ethanol, and 100mL CaOH powder to a topoff reservoir that feeds the tank via a peristaltic pump. 20% water change weekly. Nitrate hovers around 10ppm, and phosphate stays around 0.20ppm. I run a dual BRS reactor with GFO that I recharge once a month.
 
That's what I am talking about Matt...f'n awesome! Thank you for sharing it with us here. I can only wish & dream more aquariums will follow suit to what you guys are doing at Steinhart. I can stare at an Azoox display for hours on end...just with there were more out there.

Any chance you can twist Joe's arm to create a larger Azoox display at Atlantis ;)

Interested in the back story about this tank...what was the sales pitch inorder to make it all happen?

Mike
 
Aquabacs said:
That's what I am talking about Matt...f'n awesome! Thank you for sharing it with us here. I can only wish & dream more aquariums will follow suit to what you guys are doing at Steinhart. I can stare at an Azoox display for hours on end...just with there were more out there.

Any chance you can twist Joe's arm to create a larger Azoox display at Atlantis ;)

Interested in the back story about this tank...what was the sales pitch inorder to make it all happen?

Mike
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

This started as a 30g desk tank of mine 3 years ago. My intention was to completely control the operation and setup of a system and show my bosses what was possible. At the time an Azoox display was not even on the radar. I had great luck with Tubastrea, Menella gorgonians, sponges. I didn't try much else at the time.

My next goal is to do some of the harder Azoox corals--Dendro, Sclero, more gorgonians, etc. I am not happy with a lot of the features of this tank (particularly flow) and we can do better next time having learned a lot from a tank this size. We have a 1000g system that I have my sights set on. I want to do essentially every nice deepwater fish you can imagine in it... :D
 
Thanks Matt, great story! From desktop to amazing public display. Setting up a 1000 gallon tank filled with deepwater fish and Azoox corals...that is something I would kill to see. Any particular region? Or just deepwater fish from around the world?


Mike
 
Nice tank, it looks even more amazing in person!!! You should transplant some of those tubastrea to the big cave in the main reef tank !!

Bryan
 
fishnerd said:
Nice tank, it looks even more amazing in person!!! You should transplant some of those tubastrea to the big cave in the main reef tank !!

Bryan
Click to expand...

Hi Bryan! That is totally the plan once we get some issues worked out in the big tank, mostly better PO4 control. We have an autofeeder setup in the works which should be in operation late this year too, and we can target feed them daily on SCUBA.

Yee haw!

Let me know next time you're coming down!
 
Matt

I definitely will let you know, my kids have been asking to go back (at least that is my excuse). Should I bring my own dive equipment ;)

Bryan
 
Do you have any problems with the asternia star's?
Also I'll start volunteering on sundays within the next couple of week, so looking forward to meeting you.

Joost
 
flying_dutchman said:
Do you have any problems with the asternia star's?
Also I'll start volunteering on sundays within the next couple of week, so looking forward to meeting you.

Joost
Click to expand...

No problems with the stars--I have a Nardoa novaecaledoniae star which would eat them even if I did. The biggest problem I have in here is keeping up with hydroid growth. Can't find anything that will eat them and the constant feeding makes them grow pretty good.

Cool you're volunteering! For whom? I don't work on Sundays usually but will probably run into you at some point.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

sharkdude
NEWS: Corals begin arriving at Academy of Sciences
Replies
0
Views
614
sharkdude
sharkdude
sharkdude
NEWS: Corals begin arriving at Academy of Sciences
Replies
6
Views
645
JenDub
JenDub
sharkdude
BAR NEWS: Corals begin arriving at Academy of Sciences
Replies
9
Views
745
patrickb
patrickb
Back
Top