Random Questions I Can't Find Answers For

[Myka]

Ok, so here's my tank:



I have a few questions regarding the inmates...uh I mean captives...uh inhabitants.

1) Will my Open Brain eat my Yasha Goby?
2) I think I should feed my Open Brain some Mysis or Krill? If so, how often?
3) What do I feed my Bubble? I can't seem to find out what it eats...
4) How do you know when you're feeding enough? Or too much? I've been feeding my tank DTs Phyto and Kent PhytoPlex.
5) How's my coral placement?
6) Suggestions on corals I can put up in my rockwork that will go with my setup and current inhabitants?
7) At what point should I start running carbon?
8) What corals would possibly eat my Yasha Goby?

[Sk8r]

Watch that leather up there---softies don't play nice with stonies lilke the rest.

For higher up corals, consider the euphyllias, the frogspawn and hammer: they can touch each other. Candycane is good, grows well; of the acroporas, montipora digitata is lowlight and forgiving, and makes interesting shapes. Fox coral is trickier, but very nicelooking. Try not to let mushrooms get started: they're a pita in a stony tank.

Re your goby, no, it shouldn't bother your goby: they're used to dodging in and out among coral tentacles, and don't seem to be bothered. My tailspot blenny regularly snuggles underneath the frogspawn, as if it were a weeping willow.

Note: Ooops. I see you're saying 'xenia' and I see that COULD be a xenia, not a leather, up there: xenia is cool stuff, a softie, stinky as all getout, but not 'hot' like leather. I would, however, not put xenia anywhere near a structural rock, because it multiplies like crabgrass, and if it gets a foothold on a rock, may take over. Get it on a separate rock and set it down in a corner where it can't reach anything else, or get stung by the night-emerging tentacles of some of your stonies.

[Myka]

Thanks for the quick response! That's actually a pulsing xenia up there...or so I am told. The Xenia is on a frag plug right now...will that keep it from spreading?

I wasn't going to get a frogspawn or a hammer since their sweepers get so long and my tank is rather small. What about a GSP? Do GSP need to be in the sand or rock? A Monti digitata would be ok with my lighting???

[Sk8r]

The euphyllias don't do sweepers, per se, just lengthen one of their regular tentacles, and since they can touch each other, you can crowd them in together in an area of tossing current. The longest sweepers belong to that sweet little bubble coral you've got down there---a nice one, by the way---which will have sweepers about 6 inches long. The trick is to get your long-sweeper guys situated where the prevailing current carries the sweepers toward empty space. They can't reach up-current.

GSP is like xenia, a fast-spreading sort. Keep it on a separate rock and trim it mercilessly. No problem growing it.

If you get the kind of hammer and frog that come in 'heads', it's easy to frag off a few when the colony gets too big: just get a small hacksaw and wear goggles: you can work on them out of the water if you're fast, and plan what you're doing [and get them to fold up---] Then you can trade it to your lfs for another variety.

A frag plug won't keep xenia from spreading: it'll overgrow the plug and head for your rock, your glass, etc. A razor blade can peel it, and you just lay a rock on the piece you've taken off: it'll adhere to the rock, and you've got a new specimen. It's very nice stuff, has to be traded locally---as I understand it they don't ship well. So there's always a market for it.

Re lighting: the bubble is low-light. Digitata seems to thrive for me [I have mh] wherever I tuck it, including down in the sand where bits have broken off in the shade. I think you might try a small bit of it, smallest you can get---it grows like crazy--and if it thrives, you can get more.

You'll want to be testing ammonia/nitrate/nitrite---should be 0. And calcium [400] and dkh alk [8.3-9.3]. You will have to start supplementing regularly when those corals start to grow. You've got a pretty rock structure and some good specimens---should be a pretty tank in a few months.

[vessxpress1]

It's a well known fact that if xenia thrive in your tank, they will take over. It's not an exageration. They spread like vines. If you cut them and a little piece floats away and lands on a rock somewhere else, new, tiny xenias will start growing. If you cut a stalk off as far down on the base as possible and get rid of it, but leave a little bit of material on the rock....you guessed it. New, tiny xenias will re-appear and start growing again. If it does well in your tank, it's almost unkillable. That's IME. And they will grow fast. Meaning the clusters can double in size about every 5 to 6 months.

As for the frogspawns and hammers.... I have an 8 inch wall hammer, a 3 in. dia., 7 head branching hammer, and 2 frogspawns about the size of baseballs, among many other corals in my tank. I wouldn't worry about it. The sweepers I've seen come out of these are not a big deal. 3 inches max., and they rarely extend them. Just don't put a sensitive coral in the direct flow of them or right next to them. The can grow to be very large but are easily fragged by breaking off what you want.

[Myka]

Here's my tank params (Salifert kits):

pH - 8.0
Am - Not measurable
Ni - 0
Na - 0.2
Phos - Teeny tiny little trace
Alk - 14.4 dKH or 5.14 meq/L (oops, I added too much SeaChem Reef Builder)
Cal - 435

vessxpress: Thanks for all the info! Didn't know all that about the frogs in hammers. My LFS has a niiiiice branching frog right now...

[vessxpress1]

BTW, I think you're cheating yourself out of some water volume there. I'd at least get the water level up to the trim in the tank.

Sk8r's right in that if you get a branching version of the hammers/frogs, they're really easy to frag. I was moving stuff around one day and one of my frogspawns fell to the bottom of the tank and hit a rock on the way down. The white, new growth areas under the tentacles are relatively weak. One head busted off at that area. Now, the piece that broke off just sits at the bottom, expands, contracts, and lives on it's own like nothing happened.

I really like that bubble coral. Be sure to leave plenty of space around it.

[Myka]

Ya, branching is a GREAT idea!!! I'm all over that branching frog tomorrow...hehehe. I hope it's still there.

LoL...I know, I should top the tank up! It always gets low (yes I am adding top off water) from adding new additions, or maybe it just goes to never neverland I dunno.

The only thing near the Bubble is a purple feather duster (less than 1" away) that I tried to move, and nearly killed it. I might try again to move it. Otherwise, the closest thing is the Open Brain, and it's about 6" away...is that far enough? I didn't know the Bubbles were bad for sweepers!!!