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Carpet spawned... again...


OUsnakebyte

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(edited)

Came home Friday night around 12:30ish, ready to hit the sack for a 7am start time Saturday morning. As I passed by the tank, I peeked in as I usually do - or shall I say, I tried to peek in (lights were off of course). The entire tank was completely cloudy. This has happened before; see here:

 

Previous spawn

 

As soon as I could gather my thoughts and not panic, I flipped on the actinics. Here is what I saw:

 

IMG_0001.jpg

 

I mean seriously... it's a 24" deep tank, and you can see about 3" into it...

 

Woo hoo! Yay! Sexual reproduction in the aquarium! Ummm... NO! First, this was MUCH more pronounced than the previous spawning. Note that the first time, you could easily still see through the tank (makes me sad to see my 4 montis now gone - stupid nudibranchs... :( ). Can anyone say, "nutrient spike" when all these gametes die off...?

 

So, I immediately go into water change mode. Luckily, I usually keep at least 30 gallons mixing in a trash can. So, did the water change, and it really didn't make much of a dent, though I guess it did help a little. I then mixed up another 30 gallons for a change the next day (Saturday).

 

Now, let me just tell you... the smell - WHEW! It was the unmistakable smell of, well... at least anthozoan (corals and anemones)... gametes. I first caught that scent last August in Puerto Rico during the SECORE workshop, and yup, it's the same. YUCK!

 

So, went to work Saturday, came home, and performed another 30 gallon water change last night. Here is what the tank looked like Saturday around 4pm (prior to second water change) - actinics only again:

 

IMG_0004-1.jpg

 

A considerable improvement, but still not out of the woods. And, as I sit here typing this, it is still a little cloudy. Oh yeah, and the skimmer is just going nuts. And, what's more, now there is a nice slick forming on the rock surfaces, plumbing, powerheads - you name it. Wonderful... I hope my skimmer doesn't decide to go on strike.

 

The good news is that nothing seems worse for the wear. The fish are all okay; a few corals are not opened all the way, but I guess that is to be expected. And the carpet... well, it looks plain worn out... :smokin:

 

Kinda funny - when I got home Saturday, there were still some eggs floating around, but I fed the fish just a little. They ate some, but usually no, and I mean NO, mysis goes uneaten for more than 3 seconds. I must have watched the same couple of pieces of mysis float around for more that a minute. The fish must have been soooooo stuffed!

 

 

Note that in the first thread, I didn't collect any gametes. This time around, I actually did collect somewhere between 50 and 100, and I am following the same SECORE methods we use for rearing palmata. Now, I have no idea if S. haddoni anemones are hermaphroditic (and if they are, simultaneous or sequential? can/will they self-fertilize?), gonochoric, broadcasters, brooders, etc. I'm guessing gonochoric broadcasters, but I have not had any time to look it up yet.

 

Anyway, I don't expect any to settle out, but... I'm trying!

 

Cheers

Mike

Edited by OUsnakebyte
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This can't be the same tank that just won Tank of the Month, is it?!?!

 

If you did not see it actually spawn, how do you know it is the carpet?

 

Do you need to run carbon?

 

Good save!

 

Bob and Tamie

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I think a diatom filter would have done an awesome job here, good catch though! I'm really hoping something turns out, the carpet is such a neat species

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This can't be the same tank that just won Tank of the Month, is it?!?!

 

If you did not see it actually spawn, how do you know it is the carpet?

 

Do you need to run carbon?

 

Good save!

 

Bob and Tamie

 

The carpet is really the only thing that could have produced that much... mess. I suppose it could have been the long tentacle, but... I don't think so. No corals are large enough to do that - it would have to have been all the corals in my tank spawning at the same time - no way.

 

Re carbon - yup, I changed that out too.

 

Cheers

Mike

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