Llj's 4G Now 5.5G... A Little Patch Of Sun!

[ainsy]

Thank you most kind!

I could get used to these compliments!!

 

[lljdma06]

Lololol

Oh, I gotta update the Caribbean journal. Getting fishes for that one...

L

 

[Man of fish]

That looks like a really cool coral!

 

[lljdma06]

That looks like a really cool coral!

It's very cool, but it's very finicky. I have my doubts as to whether it'll survive long. If it doesn't do well, I may give a healthy specimen a try. I should at least have the advantage of working with a healthy animal.

I moved the pecten scallop from my Biocube to this nps tank. He was doing ok there, but had to move around a lot because of the jawfish. He was easy enough to catch with no damage to his delicate foot.

Here he is below. I love this scallop. Sort of the poor man's flame scallop, but IMO easier and just as pretty.

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

love that!

 

[SaltNoob]

Mmmmm so purrrdddy! =)

-Tyler

 

[lljdma06]

love that!

Mmmmm so purrrdddy! =)

-Tyler

Thank you both. The pecten is doing very well. Sadly, I'm not optimistic about the blueberry gorgonian. It was ambitious to try and I did manage to get it to extend a couple of times, but not enough for it to thrive and I see tissue recession. *sigh* I also had a heavy academic schedule this month, lots of grading, recitals, and tests, so I haven't been as on top of things. Oh, the tank gets cleaned the water quality is excellent, I just get very exhausted when I come home from work and it's a task to feed the gorgs consistently. They haven't been doing well.

I still have my knack for sun corals and balanos though and will be expanding on them. I'll also be looking into dendros. Over the summer, I'll be looking into automated feeding for this tank to make my life easier and to allow me to keep gorgs better.

Look for me to upgrade, yet again. The old 8g will be upgraded to my ADA 63l, leaving my 8g uninhabited. This is a great location for these nps corals, I think. I may add another fish to keep Lemmiwinks comfortable, but I may not. Part of the reason he's thriving is that there is no competition. I can also go the route of adding more nps organisms, coco worms, Christmas worms, tunicates, sponges, etc.

I just keep plugging away and learning. It's all you can do. The tank itself is doing great.

l

 

[Man of fish]

Sounds like it's doing good then

 

[ainsy]

Don't beat yourself up about the gorg - it undoubtedly lasted longer under your care than it would in anyone else's (or the LFS) tank.

Keep Lemmiwinks on his own and then pack it full of the nps and others that need more than just light to keep them alive. I am sure there is a there is a diy guide on the net somewhere (you have probably already seen it!) about how to make constant feeding devices.

 

[lljdma06]

Don't beat yourself up about the gorg - it undoubtedly lasted longer under your care than it would in anyone else's (or the LFS) tank.

Keep Lemmiwinks on his own and then pack it full of the nps and others that need more than just light to keep them alive. I am sure there is a there is a diy guide on the net somewhere (you have probably already seen it!) about how to make constant feeding devices.

Will be keeping this tank as is, but following ainsy's advice and simply filling it with pretty nps organisms. I'd like to keep this tank running as is for a while. I like longevity.

L

 

[Donya]

Do you have a species ID on the scallop? It looks more like something in Lima/Ctenoides to me but I am not an expert in the Pecten genus either.

 

[lljdma06]

All I have that confirms the identification is John Maloney from reef cleaners assuring me that's it's a pecten & not a Lima. The other is my marine biologist friend confirming that idea.

It's also rather hardy. It's survived a tank switch & it's eating well. It's a little bigger than when I first got it. I'm certain a Lima would've perished by now in one of my tanks. I know they are very difficult to get to thrive & I wouldn't put something like that in my tank.

Do you think it's a Lima? It's rather lovely isn't it. It's in a crevice in the tank & eats the plankton I feed it.

L

 

[Donya]

It looks like a spitting image of the Lima species that I see in stores. From the pic of it in the other thread I'm not seeing the "wings" at the back that are so prominent on the Pectens I have seen, and the overall shape seems a lot more front-to-back elongate. However, I don't know whether there is a Pecten species lurking around that has those characteristics.

There are two factors I've read regarding longevity of Lima species in captivity: diet (obviously) and a naturally short lifespan. Obviously the food is a complicated thing, but people still blame starvation even after 6-12 months which always seemed a bit fishy to me given how rapidly other filter feeding bivalves decline on cultured LR and stuff. Quotes I've read on life span in the wild are around 3-4 years and the majority are caught when they are already quite large, suggesting that they are not exactly young. So, as with sea hares, the time quoted for death from starvation is a bit too similar to the average life expectancy and individuals gotten smaller tend to live longer.

Of course, I just went and tried to find one of the papers where I had read the 3-4 years thing and have failed (although I gave up after 2 minutes)...so there's some more excellently cited hearsay for you LOL.


EDIT: Actually I should say PRESUMED Lima species at stores. If yours is certain to be a Pecten something then I question the other IDs I've seen.

 

[lljdma06]

It looks like a spitting image of the Lima species that I see in stores. From the pic of it in the other thread I'm not seeing the "wings" at the back that are so prominent on the Pectens I have seen, and the overall shape seems a lot more front-to-back elongate. However, I don't know whether there is a Pecten species lurking around that has those characteristics.

There are two factors I've read regarding longevity of Lima species in captivity: diet (obviously) and a naturally short lifespan. Obviously the food is a complicated thing, but people still blame starvation even after 6-12 months which always seemed a bit fishy to me given how rapidly other filter feeding bivalves decline on cultured LR and stuff. Quotes I've read on life span in the wild are around 3-4 years and the majority are caught when they are already quite large, suggesting that they are not exactly young. So, as with sea hares, the time quoted for death from starvation is a bit too similar to the average life expectancy and individuals gotten smaller tend to live longer.

Of course, I just went and tried to find one of the papers where I had read the 3-4 years thing and have failed (although I gave up after 2 minutes)...so there's some more excellently cited hearsay for you LOL.


EDIT: Actually I should say PRESUMED Lima species at stores. If yours is certain to be a Pecten something then I question the other IDs I've seen.

So that it is a small Pecten/Lima is perhaps the key... It's only about an inch long and wide. When I googled, I did see the wings as you mentioned and this scallop doesn't have this. It does look like a lima doesn't it? Like a really small Lima that a retailer wouldn't bother with cause it's way too small to sell at Lima prices. I think I paid like $2 for it out of the CUC package. Well... I do tend to purchase my inverts on the small end. All my hermits, and CUC snails were purchased very small. The LFS laughed at me when I deliberately paid the same for much smaller Electric Blue hermits. The smaller you are, the younger you are. At least for some species.

*sigh* you know how they mislabel at the LFS... I can also always go and ask for id. I have good enough pictures of the animal.

PS: my Cucumber is also very tiny and doing well now that he's found the rock. I dose filter feeding food in my Biocube once daily, I'm tempted to move him to this tank as well.

L

 

[lljdma06]

I got more sun corals for this tank and my first Dendros...

Dendros acclimating. I had another one from earlier, but I didn't take a picture of it acclimating. Good price, my lfs gave them to me for $22 a head.

And these very nice sun coral colonies...

Of course they opened up. I have to feed them more, they'll get mysis tomorrow and a nice water change.

The dendros are very beautiful and looky, a little frag of a very interesting sun coral. Bright yellow. Under LEDs, he glows blueish, I'll snap pictures of that.

And of course, what update would be complete without a shot of my balano. A stunning coral.

Thanks for looking. Lemmiwinks is fine. I have to mount the dendros on the tonga branch and clean out the refugium, it's kind of dirty. I'd like to get a coco worm or a feather duster of some type. I've abandoned the terrazoanthus idea and the idea of more gorgonians. I really just like sun corals and their relatives. Still makes for a very pretty tank and they are easy to care for.