My LTP pic

[RyanM]

Here is my LTP. (long tentical plate) Dont see many people with one and thought id post him. He isnt anything special but has a place in my tank. He likes where he is now. He can move on his own but never has.
Trying to see if I got posting pictures right.

 

[RyanM]

Nope guess I cant oh well

 

[mickela]

very nice.Those pictures are a pain it took razz and I an hour last weekend by phone to post a picture of my horses and it took so much neither of us remember how we did it

 

[Bobtail1075]

Nice picture. I am not sure why it is not working.

 

[jacksonpt]

I think photobucket scripts their images to prevent off-site posting. But yes, that is a great pic. Not sure I've seen a LT one before. :thumbs up:

 

[fatrip]

here very nice pic by the way...cool looking lil guy.

you can post from photobucket but you need to use the direct link address to post it.

 

[RyanM]

Thanks for the comments, he is cool. Took a little moving around tilll I found a spot he likes but seems to be the happiest here where he is now. Light and flow like everything else.

Vince, whats the direct link?

 

[jacksonpt]

Looks like it might make a good host for a clown. Hrm...

 

[RyanM]

My clown has shown intrest in hosting in the LTP but he has his RBT so he only stops by takes a look, rubs it a little then its back to his anemone. But before I got the RBT he hosted in everything in my tank from GSP to green hairy mushrooms to xenia. He acts like the whole tank is his. I would rather he didnt host in the LTP tho..it has very sharp skeloton that if messed with by a clown I think he would damage it.

 

[RyanM]

Found the direct link. see if this works
Ta Da !!!!! Its about time.

Didnt want to post the same pic so I found an older pic of my tank..little more in it now than when this pic was taken. This was taken when it was first set up.

 

[mickela]

Is this subposed to be an anemonie(?) or a real frag?

 

[mickela]

It's neat we (or at least I dont have one of these

 

[RyanM]

It is a Large polyp stoney coral. Mistaken for an anemone at first glance but its a hard coral. Has a hard calcious plate that the tenticals expand from. Kinda like a large frogspawn head. Just the head. No trunk, lays on the sand. The disk is about 3" in diameter.

 

[drbronx]

Finally a full system shot. Beautiful looking set-up Ryan! Looking forward to seeing it in person after the holidays.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

it's a Heliofungia
Unfortunately, I know of no one having long term success with this species.

see:
http://whelk.aims.gov.au/coralsearch/html/201-300/Species pages/210.htm

 

[RyanM]

Sure Jerry, Ill be around after the holidays. Just give me a shout.

Thanks for the link Gary. I read that very thing about them, being hard to keep. They are found in a turbid lagoon setting. The exact opposite of what you would fine in 99% of personal reef aquariums.

Lagoon = shallow = lots of light.
The sand is the lowest spot in the tank there for the least amount of light and the worst spot for a shallow lagoon coral.

Turbid = lots of sediment = likes a dirty tank?
also not what we strive for.

Maybe under normal reef tank conditions (normal meaning what we all try to maintain) it just isnt getting what it needs.

I run IMO one of the hottest bulb one can xm250w 10ks. Best I can do for lighting the LTP.

Ill spot feed it if I see it even slightly decline.

Wish me luck!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

OK- good luck!
FWIW
IME the vast majority of people run their reef aquarium like a turbid lagoon setting so I really don't know why Heliofungia has such a dismal record in captivity.

 

[RyanM]

I dont know Gary, I doubt that even with MH's our sand is getting the light equivilent of a shallow lagoon. And as skimmed clean as we keep them It just doesnt scream turbid to me.

Id like to know at my tanks depth of 24" and my XM's what that coralates to in depth of natural ocean conditions. I have no idea, maybe im wrong and my sand is getting the same as would be found in shallow water. Whats the depth of a lagoon 2'-5'?

If I had to quess and thats just what im doing, Id bet my tank is more like 20'-30' depth. Again I could be way wrong.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

look at the size of Heliofungia tentacles.
Compare them with the tentacles of other Fungiids that are commonly kept (successfully) in aquariums and you might draw some conclusions.

 

[RyanM]

From that comment I gatherd your saying they need more nutrients. I have read everything from them being easy to care for beginner coral to they are hard as hell and if they die they will spew out and could crash your tank. Well I am not convinced that they will kill the rest of the coral based on my readings. I do believe they require more nutrients. So with that in mind I will start to target feed it.

I just did infact and was amazed at how well, fast and how much it ate. I turned of all pumps and power heads and thawed a nice sized piece of frozen mysid shrimp. Took a turkey baster and gently let it rain down on the disk. I have to say, what an amazing sight to see. It completly engolfed the mysid. Took on shapes and movement I have till today not seen. I snapped some pics of it but its a shame I didnt capture the mouth of this amazing creature. It only took about 5 minutes for it to eat every bit of it.

Seconds after feeding it.

Minute or so after.

Several minutes after.

Here is a top down.

Really only doing this to get picture taking a little better. Dont quite have the macro down patt yet.