OUsnakebyte

Okay, my other MP40 "walked" down the side of my tank too, mostly b/c I was lazy in cleaning it and valonia had started to separate the magnets. Anyway, it needed cleaning, so I took the opportunity to snap a couple of photos - one that is "normal" and still working and the other that is spinning. Here is the normal one, with the impeller/shaft secured in the housing: Here is the one that was spinning freely. It also looks to me as if the impeller has sheared off from the housing/casing. Is that an accurate assessment? If so, what spare part(s) do I need to order? I mean... I guess it's six on one hand, half dozen on the other. Both systems have given me good service. I enjoyed not having to clean the powerhead parts of the closed loop, but there is SO much more room under the stand now that all the plumbing is gone. Once the OM started to leak at the seams, I just didn't have the energy to fix it and wanted something quick. The MP40s are nice in their customization bells and whistles, but they are noisier and there is the huge dry side sticking out on both sides of the tank waiting for someone to bump them off.... So, I like and dislike both systems, it seems. How is that for a non-committal answer for you....... Cheers Mike

Well, I didn't solve this mystery last night. I had a spare Korallia that I set up for a temporary fix. I'm not gonna lie, either. The last Lord of the Rings movie was on tv last night, and I had a pizza, bottle of wine, a chocolate bar and, more importantly, no one to stop me. (nerd alert, I know...) If I get motivated after work today, I'll investigate it tonight. Mike

Yeah, I made sure the three tabs were inserted into the holes where they line up. I *think* the impeller was spinning. I'll look again when I get home today. Thanks Mike

Last night the wet side of one of my MP40s just started spinning round and round. I took it apart, reassembled it and put it back on. Within a few seconds, it rattled free again (the magnets were lined up properly) and the whole wet side (guard, everything) starting spinning around and around. Do I need to buy a new wet side? Cheers Mike

The ones I saw sit as yours does there. Here are some photos from both Indonesia and Singapore waters. Indonesia = super clear water, Singapore.... not so much... Indonesia - these are up in the reef framework: Middle left and bottom right: Bottom, left: And, then it seems as if they can also be found on the sand - so, I'm not sure it matters so much. Singapore, with HEAVY sedimentation in the water column. Pectinia found both in the sand and in the reef matrix: We were working with P. lactuca (which is what most of these photos are), but yours seems to resemble P. paeonia, though as the colony grows, it will be easier to tell. P. lactuca has longer peaks and valleys. P. paeonia forms spires. But again, larger growth of the colony will help here. Again, good luck with it - keep us posted. Cheers Mike

This is a very cool looking coral when the colony is grown out (growth form is sweet), and I don't think they get nearly enough love. When we organized the Singapore spawning workshop in 2010, this is one of the corals that we worked with (other than the acroporids). So, while I have no experience keeping it in captivity, I can provide some observations from the wild. First, it's in the Family Pectiniidae, which also includes Echinophyllia (aren't these called 'chalices'?) and Mycedium (among others). These are fleshy corals, so I'm not sure why Liveaquaria classifies it under the "SPS" misnomer. Though... since they place mangroves under inverts... I'm not sure I trust them too much... Anyway, I can you tell that when collecting them, I don't remember seeing them sitting in the sand or rubble. Most colonies I remember being up on the reef, but they were in the 20-40 foot range, not the 10-20 foot range where you find the most arcoporids and other "SPS-type" corals. That's not to say that it CAN'T live on the sand - I honestly don't know. But, you might start it out low and then move it 1/4 or so up your reef. As it settles in, it will feed - all corals feed. Placing some small, chopped fish or shrimp on/near the mouth should induce it to feed, but I always have problems preventing my fish from stealing the food, unless I guard the coral with an egg-crate jail. Good luck with it - it's growth form is very distinct and, at least to me, very neat looking. As an aside... these things produce HUGE egg/sperm bundles. I'm not kidding - about 1/4"-1/2" in diameter with THOUSANDS of eggs, which is a far cry from the 10-20 you get out of Acropora egg/sperm bundles. Cheers Mike

Fungia escaping sediments Pretty sweet time lapse video. Enjoy. Cheers Mike

LTAs don't split naturally, from what I have read/understand. Definitely DO NOT cut it, as this will likely be a death sentence for it. Keeping it isolated for a little R&R is what I would do too, however, this is a sand-dwelling anemone that like to have it's foot dug in. IMO, it will feel "more at home" if you can recreate this for it. Here is what I would do. Keep it in the isolation box as you have, but get a 6-8" length of 2" or 3" diameter pvc (depending on the size of the anemone - it looks fairly small, so I would probably go with 2" diameter and 6" length) and put a pvc cap on one end. Fill the pvc tube 2/3 with sand or gravel, stand the tube upright, and place the anemone in the tube and let it dig its foot down into the sand. This should help it get acclimated, feel secure and hopefully heal up. Good luck. Cheers Mike

Hmmm... Maybe they keep at a lower SG to decrease costs - less salt used = less money.... Mike

Heh... I noticed that too!

I get their Divers Den emails, and I guess I sort of understand how they categorize things, but others don't make sense... They have sponges listed in two different places - under "Inverts" and "Non-photosynthetic (NPS)". Crinoids (an echinoderm) are listed under NPS; seems they should go under Inverts - that's where I would place them. I understand they require separate feedings. After all, urchins and sea stars, the crinoid cousins, get the Invert status. And, I just gotta love it when they list mangroves and live rock under the Inverts category as well. At least all the fish make it to the correct category - "Fish". I'm waiting for a pygmy dolphin or a sea turtle to be listed under the "Fish" category some day... Maybe the turtle would be appropriately listed under NPS...? Cheers Mike

Not really my style of music... but a good message nonetheless... Cheers Mike

With a coral on it...?!?

Exactly. Plus, if the coral doesn't grow over them quickly, then diatoms, CCA and other organisms quickly will, rendering the neat look an algal coverup. I'm lazy enough cleaning the viewing glass on my tank; I can't imagine having to clean 50 glass frag plugs too. Who wants more glass to clean...?

<<<The surface of the plugs is treated to create a specialized surface that apparently improves coral growth and encrustation rates. >>> That's just about as ambiguous as it gets right there... I'll need to see a little more data before I believe this.

Yes, it's called symbiont shuffling and happens quite frequently - especially if a coral bleaches and accepts another clade. P. damicornis is a brooder - which means it internally develops its larvae and releases settlement-competent larvae that are crawling around (they look like flatworms) looking to metamorphose into a primary polyp - that start of a new, baby coral. There was a post a few months back about someone having a few tubastrea recruits. This is the same thing - Tubastrea is a brooder. Watch out for P. dam. It's cute now when it does it, but when you have recruits popping up next to that uber-special, brand named Tyree acro that you paid out the nose for a 1/2" frag and the P dam is stinging it to death... you'll learn to drizzle kalk paste all over those new recruits... Cheers Mike

Hi all - I have been following and contributing to a thread on Reef Central for some time now regarding Acropora flatworms and Tegastes Red bugs that both infest acroporas. The treatment/thread was started here: Another option for red bugs on ReefCentral I think it's a 13 page (or so) thread, but here is one of the posts/treatments I did: I have been using Ivermectin to control Red Bugs, so I don't have any of those - just the flatworms, at this point. I didn't take any pics of the corals, but this is what I found that fell off about 15 frags/small colonies: I used three different mixes, but about the same ratios of concentration: - 4mL per 1/2 liter or 8 mL per 1 Liter (~0.25 gallons) - 80mL per 2.5 gallons (~10 Liters) - 160 mL per 5 gallons (~20 Liters) Dipping time was about 15 minutes. This is the product I used: *****Edit*****I am now solely using a concentration of 4mL of Bayer per Liter of tank water for 15 minutes.******************* Anyway, read through the thread if you are curious. Hope it works for you all as well. Oh, and this is meant as a dip ONLY. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS AS A WHOLE TANK TREATMENT! You will lose sea stars, amphipods, crabs, snails, etc., etc. ONLY use it as an outside-of-tank treatment. You can buy this at Home Depot, Lowes, or probably any place where they have gardening and pest control treatments. Cheers Mike

Can you just adjust your day bulbs so that they come on later in the day and go off at night? My actinics go on around 10:30-11am but the halides don't go on until 2:30pm and then shut off about 9:30-10pm. Then, actinics about an hour later. Cheers Mike

Wow... that is a very powerful tool. Thanks for sharing! I'm going to see if we could possibly use this on our Science on a Sphere at the zoo. We already have a coral program we do with the sphere; I wonder how difficult this would be to add to it. Thanks! Mike

I think Copps has one of those - very beautiful but too much money for me!

Here, here! And weddings... SERIOUSLY. And I don't have TIVO - will check with a friend. Stupid cephalopods....

From a Sooner.... I'm REALLY not looking forward to seeing three more years of McCoy to Shipley. Round 1 was too painful too many times. Sorry Doug... yes, Cephalopod conference on Saturday the 8th.... Mike

Yeah well..... Saturday October 8th is the friggin' OU-Texas game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You Turds! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Longhorns

If it split, and it's not an E. quad (bubble tip) - and if it looks similar to the pics posted above, then it is an H. magnifica, or Ritteri Anemone. These are absolutely gorgeous animals, but yes, they can be very challenging to keep. And, they seem to be able to grow quite large - maybe about 3 feet in diameter. As you have probably already read, they prefer to be up on high, rocky outcroppings with lots of random, almost chaotic flow. I have mine on a smooth, flat rock, directly under a 250 watt halide. The MP40s alternate the flow, and a sea swirl passes a jet of water over it every 30 seconds or so. If it's moving around, it's definitely looking for "something" - more light, different flow pattern, etc. Perhaps... maybe just a flat surface to attach to...? I'd love to see a photo of it. Can you post a pic when it is more visible? Always looking for another gorgeous specimen... Good luck with it - they are truly magnificent! Cheers Mike

Jan - What type of anemone is this? Is it another color variant of E. quad? Could you post a picture? KNowing what type it is might help us "diagnose" the issue(s)... Cheers Mike