My new 600 gallon reef
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
- Status
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10945404#post10945404 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Goodwin9
Just want to double check cause there were a couple of other corals in the first picture, is this the one that I have to watch out for? If so, THANK YOU for the heads up. No wonder it was part of a let us pick package, and one that I liked...just goes to show how little I know...... Guess I won't be looking for anymore of these.
Goodwin9, these might be duncans, I have something similar which are duncans from Australia. I'm no expert on corals though. If they are they're a pretty sweet coral and very unaggressive.
Last edited:
.
These are duncans behind the suncoral in my tank. They're not fully open in this pic and are a different colour, but similar looking in my opinion. There actually quite magnificent when fully open. The polyps are about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter when fully open. Is this similiar to yours?
Either that or maybe the guy sold you a whole bunch of aptasias. LOL
These are duncans behind the suncoral in my tank. They're not fully open in this pic and are a different colour, but similar looking in my opinion. There actually quite magnificent when fully open. The polyps are about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter when fully open. Is this similiar to yours?
Either that or maybe the guy sold you a whole bunch of aptasias. LOL
Last edited:
Whoops! accidentally deleted the image fro my gallery. Reposting it.
[/B][/QUOTE]
These are duncans behind the suncoral in my tank. They're not fully open in this pic and are a different colour, but similar looking in my opinion. There actually quite magnificent when fully open. The polyps are about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter when fully open. Is this similiar to yours?
Either that or maybe the guy sold you a whole bunch of aptasias. LOL
[/B][/QUOTE]
These are duncans behind the suncoral in my tank. They're not fully open in this pic and are a different colour, but similar looking in my opinion. There actually quite magnificent when fully open. The polyps are about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter when fully open. Is this similiar to yours?
Either that or maybe the guy sold you a whole bunch of aptasias. LOL
Goodwin9
Premium Member
I got a great buy on two Blue Linkia star at the LFS. Before I place them in the new tank does anyone have any pros or cons to adding both to my tank. Jonathan, I bought two of these a year ago and place one in the 470 & 1 in the 210. The one in the 470 is still going strong. The one in the 210 didn't last a week. So I guess that I am batting 50/50. The one in the 470 doesn't seem to cause any problems. It seems to glide over things rather than move them out of the way like a couple of urchins I have had in the past Any one else out there with any thoughts>
Goodwin9
Premium Member
URCHIN update....Tangdiver jump or anyone else that can share information. This is a picture of the same urchin I posted yesterday. It's basically in the same place in the tank as I left it yesterday. It appears to be missing all of the spines it had yesterday. Do they retract, or do I have a fish in the tank that likes to munch on urchins??? Help!
Yesterday
Today..24 hours later.
Yesterday
Today..24 hours later.
michika
red headed step child
I'm sorry to say I have to second the opinion about the urchin death.
Your other urchins may still be acclimating. I know my longspine has days where he has the petal to the metal and other days I swear he is stuck with superglue. Some urchins have phases, like manic and depressive...
Your other urchins may still be acclimating. I know my longspine has days where he has the petal to the metal and other days I swear he is stuck with superglue. Some urchins have phases, like manic and depressive...
jnarowe
New member
You know Chuck, I have seen you do acclimations and it seems that you are taking it slowly, but keep in mind that inverts really need an extended, temp. appropriate acclimation. It should take a couple of hours or longer to acclimate a sea star, urchin, clam, shrimp etc.
So maybe your method can be improved. That's not to say you won't have losses, but you can reduce the risk by the following:
Place animal and its traveling water into a 5 gallon bucket. If there is not enough water to cover the specimen, start with a pitcher. Slowly drip tank water into the bucket and if you cannot set the bucket into a sump, then also place a small heater in there.
Once the bucket is near full, pour off a large part of the water and repeat. You want to try ad completely replace the water over time so that no traveling water goes into your system.
Many people aerate the water but I do not. I feel that there should be plenty of O2 coming in from the display, and aerating can cause the pH to change radically. Comments from other reefers welcome on this subject!
Also, when dealing with urchins, you need to be very careful about exposure to air. If you allow it to come into contact with air, then hold it business end up and make sure there is no air trapped inside. Hard to describe, but basically you want to gently bleed off any air that may have been injested. You will see bubbles. I do NOT allow urchins to be exposed to air and have never lost one until my overflow went dry during a power outage.
So maybe your method can be improved. That's not to say you won't have losses, but you can reduce the risk by the following:
Place animal and its traveling water into a 5 gallon bucket. If there is not enough water to cover the specimen, start with a pitcher. Slowly drip tank water into the bucket and if you cannot set the bucket into a sump, then also place a small heater in there.
Once the bucket is near full, pour off a large part of the water and repeat. You want to try ad completely replace the water over time so that no traveling water goes into your system.
Many people aerate the water but I do not. I feel that there should be plenty of O2 coming in from the display, and aerating can cause the pH to change radically. Comments from other reefers welcome on this subject!
Also, when dealing with urchins, you need to be very careful about exposure to air. If you allow it to come into contact with air, then hold it business end up and make sure there is no air trapped inside. Hard to describe, but basically you want to gently bleed off any air that may have been injested. You will see bubbles. I do NOT allow urchins to be exposed to air and have never lost one until my overflow went dry during a power outage.
jnarowe
New member
Well, it's a learning curve and I err on the side of cautioun. But I have also had extremely low losses do to shipping and acclimation. I am sure there are many people who have "successfully" popped urchins into their tank with no problem.
Considering the number of animals you have acclimated, you are bound to have more issues than the average reef keeper...you probably don't even know how many fish you have!
Considering the number of animals you have acclimated, you are bound to have more issues than the average reef keeper...you probably don't even know how many fish you have!
Bax
Premium Member
To be very very general, fish are much easier to acclimate than inverts. Jonathan's advice is right on the money.
Stars, urchins, shrimp are inverts that I always slow drip for a very long time, like a few hours before adding them. Even coming out of QT I drip acclimate inverts and fish.
After 3 1/2 years of pouring money into these glass boxes of saltwater, I am beginning to learn that sometimes, as good as some inverts look at the store, these poor critters are already dead when we get them, it's just a matter of time. So in some cases there would be nothing you could do to prevent a death and a certain percentage of our success with these delicate inverts is pure luck in terms of the individual we obtained.
Stars, urchins, shrimp are inverts that I always slow drip for a very long time, like a few hours before adding them. Even coming out of QT I drip acclimate inverts and fish.
After 3 1/2 years of pouring money into these glass boxes of saltwater, I am beginning to learn that sometimes, as good as some inverts look at the store, these poor critters are already dead when we get them, it's just a matter of time. So in some cases there would be nothing you could do to prevent a death and a certain percentage of our success with these delicate inverts is pure luck in terms of the individual we obtained.
jnarowe
New member
And by way of further explanation regarding QT, here is a poor pic of my current setup:
What I want to point out here is the dual float valve just visible on the back. The one on the right is purified water top-off, no longer in service do to swapping out for a LiterMeter III remote pump, and the left one is coming from the display refugium.
There is a gate valve on that line as well, above the picture. I use this to acclimate from the QT to the display, by opening the gate valve and removing a pitcher of water at a time. Allowing it to fill with display water slowly over a couple of days, ensures the fish is well acclimated post QT.
Here is a pic of the original set up which proved to be much too small. It shows the feed from the refugium much better.
What I want to point out here is the dual float valve just visible on the back. The one on the right is purified water top-off, no longer in service do to swapping out for a LiterMeter III remote pump, and the left one is coming from the display refugium.
There is a gate valve on that line as well, above the picture. I use this to acclimate from the QT to the display, by opening the gate valve and removing a pitcher of water at a time. Allowing it to fill with display water slowly over a couple of days, ensures the fish is well acclimated post QT.
Here is a pic of the original set up which proved to be much too small. It shows the feed from the refugium much better.
- Status
