My First NPS - Rhizo

[divecj5]

I've been reefing now going on about 6-7 years now and have kept a variety of tanks (softy, mixed, SPS-dominant, etc) in varying sizes (55, 29, 29H, 17). As you can tell, mainly sticking on the nano side of things.

My Mini has been setup since July (rock from previous tank) and I've bounced around on what I want to focus on for coral. Gotta be selective in a nano

Long-story short, my plan is to slowly switch out some of my least favorite coral for some large polyp NPS. Hopefully it will become a mix of Euphyllia, Dendros, Sun Coral, Acans, etc.

I've been reading about NPS and their various types/requirements going on about 2 months now and recently started hunting around for my first piece. After seeing that Todd (Cherry Corals) had some nice Dendros, I asked if he had anything else to make shipping worth it. After a good bit of back and forth and bargaining, here's my first foray into NPS :inlove:

It's a Pink (w/green tip) Rhizotrochus typus. Here it is in his tank before shipping.

And in my tank

After some Mysis

I knew that they expanded A LOT at night but when I saw this the first night, I just about woke up the house to come and look.

I've had it for only about a week now and haven't picked where to place it but I've already enjoyed it more thank any other coral in quite some time.

Other than feeding it while the lights are on, are there any techniques to getting it to come out more during the daytime? I think I may mount it under my main overhang to see if giving it a little shade may coax it out more. Any suggestions or other tips on care would be awesome.

Although dimmer than it looks in person (hate photographing under LEDs), here is a FTS.

-Adam

 

[E.intheC]

That looks great man. Very nice tank as well.

 

[Markemark]

Beautiful coral but from what read before I dont think they have a long life span. I could be wrong since I am only going by what I read.

 

[divecj5]

That looks great man. Very nice tank as well.

Thanks. As with any tank, it's always a work in progress.

Beautiful coral but from what read before I dont think they have a long life span. I could be wrong since I am only going by what I read.

I could be wrong, but I believe there are some on the forum that have had various rhizos for at least 3-4 years. Not sure how they do after 4+ years but from what I've read, they're a lot hardier than most think. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can keep this kbe happy and healthy.

I'll try and keep this thread updated with how it does.

 

[E.intheC]

Beautiful coral but from what read before I dont think they have a long life span. I could be wrong since I am only going by what I read.

I'm willing to bet these reports are with standard, mixed reef tanks (and not those that specialize in NPS corals).

 

[Markemark]

I will keep my fingers crossed with you. It is an amazing coral.

 

[Markemark]

Good Luck!

 

[willietang021]

Rhizo, it's like the forbidden fruit! Love the color of your new piece!!!!

 

[Fretfreak13]

WOW! Your whole tank is fantastic! Did you get dendros from cherry too? I've been stalking the fatheads there for awhile...haha

Picks of those too, porfavor?

 

[divecj5]

Thanks for all of the compliments on the Rhizo as well as the tank. Much appreciated.

I didn't end up getting the Dendros as I just couldn't swing the Rhizo plus those I've been stalking them for a while as well and decided to snag the Rhizo since you don't find them all that often and although Todd said he wouldn't likely get any more Dendros, he's had them for a while now and I know they can be found elsewhere.

Sun Coral and Dendros are right there at the top of the list for next additions.

 

[stunreefer]

Very nice pick up. Saw that one in person a few times and it was a very healthy specimen :thumbsup:

In regards to lighting I've kept them about 8" under a HO T5 fixture and they opened just as much as being shaded.

If you think that's opening a lot, give it a couple months along with good feeding, that thing will probably open 6-8" over time.

Never heard of short life spans on Rhizotrochus before, I've personally kept them over three years then had to sell them due to tank break down for moving. AFAIK they're still alive and doing well which would be about five years in captivity.

 

[divecj5]

Very nice pick up. Saw that one in person a few times and it was a very healthy specimen :thumbsup:

In regards to lighting I've kept them about 8" under a HO T5 fixture and they opened just as much as being shaded.

If you think that's opening a lot, give it a couple months along with good feeding, that thing will probably open 6-8" over time.

Never heard of short life spans on Rhizotrochus before, I've personally kept them over three years then had to sell them due to tank break down for moving. AFAIK they're still alive and doing well which would be about five years in captivity.

Thanks for stopping in and commenting on the Rhizo. I can't tell you how informative all of your posts/threads have been when it comes to these and other NPS. Certainly made me feel a lot more confident about keeping one after seeing and hearing about your success.

Glad to hear you saw this one in person....and also glad that you passed on it so it could end up in my tank Do you have a link to your tank thread/build? Would love to see all of the different varieties that you have.

Thanks for the information about shade/out in the open. Although there is a space where I could place it that would give it a little more shade, I'm glad to hear that it's only a matter of time before it settles in, gets used to the environment, and really starts to open. I'd rather keep it where it is since it appears to be happy and it's out in the open so it's showcased front and center.

Right now, I've mainly been feeding it 1-2 mysis soaked in Selcon every 4-5 days. Do you recommend that I keep up with just the mysis, try something like 1/4-1/2 a silverside, or feed more often? In your experience, if you fed them at different times of day, does that tend to entice it to stay more open with the lights on (similar to a Sun Coral / Dendro) or doesn't that matter?

Thanks again for all the great info and for commenting on this one. I'm pretty sure you were the one that I remembered having a couple of these for more than 5+ years.

-Adam

 

[stunreefer]

No problem Adam, glad to help!

I currently do not have a tank/build thread going but will likely have something up around Christmas this year

I'm not a big fan of silversides in general, I prefer to feed PE Mysis or for a bigger punch Hikari Krill. Both seem to provide better nutrition than silversides and are easier for the corals to break down. I noticed a lot of excess waste being expelled from LP NPC while feeding silversides. Krill makes it a bit easier than Mysis for Rhizos because you can just feed them one every few days and be done with it, while Mysis takes a bit more work. With that said I always have Mysis on hand so tend to feed that more frequently. Regarding time of day to feed I prefer during the day as it tends to keep them open more while lights are on. If you consistently feed while lights are off chances are they won't open as much during the day. I don't feed any more than twice a week - although I used to. I had issues with some Dendrophyllia not being able to digest food fast enough with more frequent feedings causing the food to rot inside the "gut" resulting in the polyp withering away. Feeding a bit less also keeps them opening more as they're searching for food.

One thing to note regarding all LP NPC is they tend to look a bit better in lower temps, IME. I generally keep them around 74°F, but they can still thrive in the higher more "normal" temps.

 

[divecj5]

No problem Adam, glad to help!

I currently do not have a tank/build thread going but will likely have something up around Christmas this year

I'm not a big fan of silversides in general, I prefer to feed PE Mysis or for a bigger punch Hikari Krill. Both seem to provide better nutrition than silversides and are easier for the corals to break down. I noticed a lot of excess waste being expelled from LP NPC while feeding silversides. Krill makes it a bit easier than Mysis for Rhizos because you can just feed them one every few days and be done with it, while Mysis takes a bit more work. With that said I always have Mysis on hand so tend to feed that more frequently. Regarding time of day to feed I prefer during the day as it tends to keep them open more while lights are on. If you consistently feed while lights are off chances are they won't open as much during the day. I don't feed any more than twice a week - although I used to. I had issues with some Dendrophyllia not being able to digest food fast enough with more frequent feedings causing the food to rot inside the "gut" resulting in the polyp withering away. Feeding a bit less also keeps them opening more as they're searching for food.

One thing to note regarding all LP NPC is they tend to look a bit better in lower temps, IME. I generally keep them around 74°F, but they can still thrive in the higher more "normal" temps.

Thanks again for the great insight and suggestions. To be honest, with this ELOS being a nano, I was a little concerned about tossing in 1/2 a silverside knowing that it wouldn't be fully digested or at least some waste would be tossed back into the tank. I'm all for feeding mysis, since I also feed my Acans and other LPS at the same time, and will have to hunt around for some of the Hikari Krill. Are they also frozen?

Thanks also for the insight about feeding during the day. Although the Rhizo is in it's full feeding glory at night, I've been trying to feed it when the lights are on to make sure it "knows" that it's best bet to grab food is during the day. Seems like sticking with feeding mysis/krill 2x a week is a good bet for now. When I was researching LP NPC, I read about some issues that people had with Dendros when feeding them too often leading to gut rot. I definitely don't want to do that so I'll stick with just 2-3x per week and adjust from there. I figure a little less is more at this point.

I've always run my tank a little on the lower temp side of things (77-78) and never had any issues with SPS or LPS. I may slowly drop it another 1/2 degree as I'm slowly switching things over to more NPC dominant species.

Thanks again....feel free to post some of your Rhizos on here as well. Would love to see them all again!!

-Adam

 

[stunreefer]

with this ELOS being a nano

Ah, didn't realize this was an ELOS Mini. I had one and absolutely loved it! Here's a horrid pic i dug up:

Are they also frozen?

Yes, the Hikari Krill is frozen. I prefer frozen over freeze dried.

Thanks again....feel free to post some of your Rhizos on here as well. Would love to see them all again!!

Believe it or not I currently have zero Rhizos I actually didn't have any saltwater aquariums running for a year or so due to moving and starting a business. I do have one running now though, Rhizos might get added at some point. I have some very tiny expensive angels and would hate for them to swim directly into the mouth of a Rhizo and not be able to escape, I would feel absolutely terrible. Once they get larger and I know no tiny fish will be added I will reconsider.

 

[GoingPostal]

stunreefer gave great advice, I feed mine normally mysis a couple times a week as well, sometimes pellets/brine/krill or a mixed blend frozen, they will eat whatever, I have also had them throw back too large items. I've never heard of them being short lived either, they are actually pretty hardy ime and very easy to keep, one of mine came back from very bad conditions in fact and has been here two years or so, the other I've had 4 years at least.

 

[divecj5]

Ah, didn't realize this was an ELOS Mini. I had one and absolutely loved it! Here's a horrid pic i dug up:

Believe it or not I currently have zero Rhizos I actually didn't have any saltwater aquariums running for a year or so due to moving and starting a business.

It's certainly the most I've ever spent on a tank but luckily, like most things with this hobby, I had plenty of coral, old equipment and stuff to sell that it helped with about half of the price. Couldn't be happier with it.

I thought I had seen a pic of that before. Love the scape and all of the great NPC that are on those branches. Very cool.

I completely feel ya on the too busy / moving too often to have a tank. I've been close to stopping for a short while a number of times but luckily, with nanos, it's a lot easier to move. Looking forward to seeing your new tank.

 

[divecj5]

stunreefer gave great advice, I feed mine normally mysis a couple times a week as well, sometimes pellets/brine/krill or a mixed blend frozen, they will eat whatever, I have also had them throw back too large items. I've never heard of them being short lived either, they are actually pretty hardy ime and very easy to keep, one of mine came back from very bad conditions in fact and has been here two years or so, the other I've had 4 years at least.

Thanks for the other suggestions as well. I think I need to up my feeding from a couple of mysis every 4-5 days to feeding every 2-3 instead. It looks awesome after feeding and seems to stay that way for about a day or two until I feed it again. Hungry little thing that's for sure

Feel free to post up some shots of your Rhizo(s).

-Adam

 

[GoingPostal]

If you look below the rhizo the other one is actually there, it just looked so awful when I got it I hid it :lolspin:

It looks better now, just small

 

[stunreefer]

Fantastic recovery, looks awesome now :thumbsup: