New Deodronephthya sp. study group?

The sucess is simply amazing Charles. Thanks for your continueing efforts. I've been thinking about and trying to devise a way to continuously drip a mix of live phyto and rotifiers as I work on expanding my fish room and tank system, but I'm still a ways out.

Now I'm wondering how this method of feeding can be applied to the average tank if it even can without high nutrient levels. Seems as though th benefits would be great with all corals but who knows.
 
Thanks, Guys! Chuck built the building, I just pointed to it and Amy took the pictures. Chuck really deserves tremendous credit here.

If you are trying the "Stottlemire method", recommend getting a syringe pump (syringepump.com) for about $275. It will hold a 60 or even 120 ml syringe, no mixing or bubbling required. It's far and away the best method for continuous infusion of chuck's mix. I'm writing another article about this soon.
 
cant wait to read part 2 ... I have a 120 'm building and I have had plans for a nonphotosythetic reef when this thread frst got started. Atkeast I have someones succss to work from now.
 
The congratulations from Danny and David are especially welcome. I know both of you have worked seriously in azooxanthellate species!

I really think Chuck has done something special here; I place his tank alongside Stuber's and Tyree's historically. I'm afraid we will all have to call him Chuck "Dark Lord" Stottlemire.

I have always thought that the azooxanthellate species deserve their own forum. Perhaps it's time to consider moving this thread to a forum format?
 
What a great step foreward! I'm psyched! We all knew it SHOULD be possible and now a system to play with. new toys....new toys!

But seriously, a seperate forum for azooxanthellate corals would be a wise move. It would help move this work into the general spotlight, where others can benefit a bit more easily. Let's face it, this thread is a bit secret.

Congrats, guys and gal! Nice article for some nice work. And thanks.
 
I am going to attempt to duplicate Charles methods and hopefully with the same results. The food is already ordered and a dosing system is in the works. Its amazing how similar my system is to Charles' setup without any communication. I've got about 500g's with a large sump, 180g display, and several other smaller tanks. This is going to be a great time as more people are able to keep this most difficult species. A local reefer and friend is also working with Dendronepthya and feeding methods so far he hasnt been doing it for too long but his results seem promising atleast short term. I find the fact Charles is also dosing Vodka at faily high level to be interesting. I'm assuming for the resulting bacteria as food and also to help with nutrient control. Very cool.:beer:
 
So I have a question about the article. I am making an assumption that the food regiment is added to keep a certain concentration of food in the water. If I have a tank that I am starting up with considerably less corals than Charles's tank what would my feeding regiment be?

In other words I know that Bacteria will consume a certain portion of food and my corals will consume a certain amount and my skimmer will pull a large amount out as well. What will be the fastest consumer of food?

If its the skimmer then the food added will be the same for aquarium, but if the animals and floating bacterial cultures created by heavy feeding are the main consumer then how should you go about feeding a tank like this?

At current i am compiling all the equipment needed to put this together and circulation and feeding equipment are the last two things on my list. my main concern is overfeeding leading to a crash before I have fully stocked my tank. What do you think?
 
Other questions

1. What kind of sand bed and how deep?

2. Is there a refugium?

3. How much skimmate is produced and what concentration of that skimmate is unconsumed phytoplankton and rotifers?


I am chomping at the bit about this and any info will be most appreciated.
 
Great write up by Charles on Chucks success with his primarily Dendro, Sclero NPS tank in this months Reefkeeping Magazine. I think this was posted earlier in this thread but here is the link to the article again:

Progress in Azooxanthellate Reef Aquariums, Part 1- Dendronephthya Husbandry
by Charles Matthews, Chuck Stottlemire, Photos by Amy McBride Van Sickle

This article is great news and establishes a fantastic reference point or starting point for others considering this type of tank. I would like to see more specifics on the feeding cycle and skimmer use. I actually shut down my skimmer and then feed then tank. Chuck - Does your skimmer run while you are pumping the phyto?

(Note: I am officially coining the phrase NPS to use when discussing these Non PhotoSynthetic tanks. Kinda like SPS or LPS acronyms. Now we have NPS reef tanks. LOL)
 
anybody have good sources to order some dendros and scelros from? Specifically looking for puprle ... red and orange and pink are everywere.
 
reefnewbie54321: Lucky you! Orange and pale yellow scleros here. Two years since I had seen pink.

Let see:
sps - small polyped stony,
LPS - large polyped stony,
NPS - NonPhotosynthetic Soft or NonPhotoSynthetic?

:D Strictly speaking, they are:
NPC (nonphotosynthetic corals), NPSC, or azoa corals, as uk forum names them.
Does it matter? ;)

Need a curator for the Making filtration/skimming work (in this particular environment) problem for not-gurus. Any volunteers?
Where do you prefer to consult - here, in a separate thread (open it, post link to it, I'll come)?

If others do not object this problem-solving approach, in addition to individual setup projects :p
 
Last edited:
Charles, Chuck and Amy -

Thank you SOO MUCH for this article. I have been looking forward to reading about Chuck's success for a very long time. After following this thread since it started and seeing this kind of progress, I finally feel confident at a serious attempt at Dendronepthea. I have dreamed about our community reaching this point since I was in college and I hope that I can replicate these results and add my experience as well. Well done Chuck!!
 
Exciting times... exciting times. I have always been sad when I see dendronepthea for sale at my LFS, but now I can pretend that they will make it into the hands of someone with an algea-drip.
 
Chip, quick hello..I'll have lots more to comment on about this whole progression of the article and such..but, just noticed TODAY it the 3rd anniversary of this THREAD!!! Congrats on that.

I'll have more to write later though. Good perserverence as I've been saying
 
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