Orca Tl450 Nano Reef Log

[daveo_irl]

Yep, the rock is fully cured. I noticed something cool growing on the rock last night. It is very very small, about 3/4 mm in height. It is a bright pink/purple color and has 3 little stalks. Wonder what it is!

 

[tropic_john]

Awesome diary/log need some piccys!!!!!

 

[daveo_irl]

Hopefully my net connection will be up next week, the changeover has been a disaster! I have been taking pics anyway, so I will put them up then.

 

[daveo_irl]

Ok, hopefully these pics work(using iPhone). Have two hermits in there now, also something else which came with a rock. It looks like a flower, with purple "petals" and a bright yellow centre. You can probably see it in the 2nd pic.

http/m.flickr.com/#/photos/daveo_irl/3735370156/

http/m.flickr.com/#/photos/daveo_irl/3735372896/

 

[seffieuk]

Can I ask you to open a photobucket account so that you can post the photos straight on to the forum pleeeeese

Seffie x

 

[daveo_irl]

hope these work!

You might be able to see the "flower" things here, the bright yellow centers seem to almost glow!

 

[Buddyboy67]

nice job with your aquascaping mate..looking really good with a lot of levels and surface area for attaching to..good job!!

This piece of rock is a receeded turbinaria plate coral..cant see yer purple flowers but if on this rock in particular they may be polyps appearing from the coral itself...any chance of a closer pick of one of these "flowers"???

 

[seffieuk]

Looking good indeed

SEffie x

 

[daveo_irl]

nice job with your aquascaping mate..looking really good with a lot of levels and surface area for attaching to..good job!!

This piece of rock is a receeded turbinaria plate coral..cant see yer purple flowers but if on this rock in particular they may be polyps appearing from the coral itself...any chance of a closer pick of one of these "flowers"???

Thanks for the info!! I'm using my phone to take the pics right now as it is the only way I can upload until I get my net connection back. The best way I can describe the "flowers" is that the stalk comes out of a sort of tube, and the end opens up into about 5/6 "petals" which are a dark purple color. The center of it is a bright yellow which almost seems to glow. When it turn the lights off, they all recede back into their tubes. Hopefully it won't be long until I can get some decent pics up!

 

[Buddyboy67]

Really do sound like turbinaria polyps..you may be lucky and areas of ths plate could regenerate for you...If so..really nice piece of live rock..These are lps corals and are known to be great survivors, growing happily in low light levels. Feed one or two "flowers " with frozen brine about twice a week and look forward to see them spread across the dead plate if they are polyps

Google turbinaria, table coral ....pay particular attention to the protruding polyps on these and see if they look like what you have

 

[daveo_irl]

I can't find anything that looks like them to be honest. I was also moving some of the rock, and it looks like they are not attached to the turbinia plate, but to another smaller piece of rock which is sort of stuck to it!

There is also some sort of worm on this rock, which extends filaments out into the water and retracts them to catch food.

 

[Buddyboy67]

That's thr turb theory out then,lol...pics would really help with id...borrow a camera to take a few shots, did this myself til converted to digitals,lol....
The worm could be a spaghetti worm or spinoid of some kind...both harmless additions and help as part of a natural clean up crew. Another option could be a caribbean worm snail, petaloconchus, also a harmless addition..

Here's a link to a handy hitch hiker id site....

http/www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

 

[daveo_irl]

I have a camera, and have taken loads of shots, but can't upload them until I get my net connection back. The pics above are from my iPhone as it is the only way I can upload any pic right now.

Love watching the hermits, crazy little things! Lol

 

[daveo_irl]

Took some readings last night:

Nitrates: 0
Nitrites 0.05
Toxic Ammonia: 0.014
SG: 1.023
pH: 8.4-8.5
Temp 26c

My nitrites seem to be hanging at 0.05 forever now........

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Dont worry too much about the nitrites at the moment. They can seem to stay the same for ages then suddenly spike and drop off or just drop off. If you find that the ammonia goes away and stays at zero for a few days and nitrite is still the same then it might be worth taking a sample to your LFS to get it double checked with a different test kit.

Love the scape in the tank, looks really good