64g Tokyo tank

[Anonymous]

If the blasto will eat, it's a good idea to feed them so I'd try that first.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Tracy. I'll have to try and get hold of some frozen mysis, but won't be able until Thursday. :? . I only have small pellet food at the moment. It will probably eat them, but it's really difficult to get them to land on the polyps, even with the Nanostreams off. I might try if with the return pump off as well.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I got the healthy polyps to eat some small pellet food. Let's hope that gives them some strength to fight off whatever is ailing the others. Next time I need to check that there is no tissue recession at all when I buy a Blasto. I really wanted this color, but there were others available with 100% healthy polyps. I don't whether I didn't check this one properly or the unhealthy polyps were hidden when I picked it out. Now just hoping the healthy polyps pull through.

On a more cheerful note, I also gave my baby R.florida a couple of pellets. It turns out to have two mouths (if you look in the original pic I posted, it's a shadow behind the main mouth and it's now much clearer) and I think each mouth got a pellet each. Here's hoping I get a couple of Rics where once I had one.

 

[Anonymous]

You can always take a razor to a piece of frozen shrimp (frozen makes cutting easier) and sliver off tiny pieces. Use a set of tweezers to feed the slivers to the blasto.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Tracy, that's a useful tip. I might try that with the frozen mysis when I get hold of some. The polyps that are going to eat are full now and I'll probably give them the day off tomorrow. The others literally do not have enough flesh to curl up round food.

 

[Anonymous]

Put a little 'juice' from the mysis into the tank a few minutes before you feed to get the polyps open and thinking 'dinner time'.

 

[Anonymous]

It doesn't seem to work that way with Blastos. I had no problem getting the healthy polyps to feed - the pellets stuck easily and they then curled up around them to shift the pellet to their mouth. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I bought some frozen mysis today, but I'm not sure about feeding the polyps every day. Might stress them out a bit, so I'll give them some tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the non-stop production of hitchhikers continues. Here's the latest, spotted and captured by my lovely wife while I was on my way home from work. Still working on an ID, so any ideas helpful!

 

[Anonymous]

Looks like it might be another Sacoglossa sea slug, possibly Elysia mercieri.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, and I did try some of the mysis tonight. Was gobbled up readily, though I've so far been surprised by how quickly the polyps will eject the food again, after maybe only 20-30 minutes. Is that normal? It looks like the food is partially digested at least.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes it is, they can only eat so much then they spit out the excess

 

[Anonymous]

Looks like it might be another Sacoglossa sea slug, possibly Elysia mercieri.

I can't swear on the species id, but it does certainly look like an elysia to me.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes it is, they can only eat so much then they spit out the excess

Thanks! It looks like the polyps are keeping the mysis in for longer than the pellets, so hopefully that means they're getting a bit more nutrients. Though one of the previously healthy polyps that was right next to the troubled area is now looking under threat.

Well, at least if I can keep a few of the polyps alive, I'll be relieved. If I lose all of them, I'll be gutted.

Looks like it might be another Sacoglossa sea slug, possibly Elysia mercieri.

I can't swear on the species id, but it does certainly look like an elysia to me.

Thanks CJ. He's back in the tank now.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, another hitchhiker to report, but a different type. It looks like a hitchhiker coral to me, but what do you guys think?

 

[Anonymous]

I touched one of them gently with the rounded edge of an algae scraper and there were definite signs of a skeleton there (whitish lines radiating out from the center showing through the tissue), though of course it's difficult to tell with something so small. Hoping that rules out the pest anemone possibility, but will have to watch them closely as they get larger...

 

[Anonymous]

Latest hitchhiker to report. This one I noticed a few weeks back, but it was hidden away behind some live rock, so almost impossible to get a picture of. Since I've just moved a small rock, I was able to get an albeit still very blurred shot.

It's impossible to say what it is at this stage, but if I didn't know better, I'd say it almost looked like a Pocillopora (and given what I remember about P. damicornis being so damn indestructible, who knows, maybe it is?).

There is a small bit of it at the top of the piece of rock (the bit I noticed weeks ago), but the largest section is at sand bed level. Again, apologies for the poor photography.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010659.jpg[/rimg]

 

[Anonymous]

The way it's starting to look, I suspect it's a leather coral now. Didn't want one in the tank, but it's a nice pink color at the moment, so let's see how it develops.

In other news, the Blasto is now dead, so I'll put it at the back of the tank and hope for some Lazarus style miracle, without really expecting it. Better news is that a good friend (the guy who first got me into this hobby) is back in Japan and has passed a few freebie frags to me! So I now have 4 zoa frags and a Turbinaria frag in strategic places to look at. One of the zoas is an astonishing fluorescent mint green, another is a striking purple/orange combination, another is pinkish-grey and the final one is currently a bit beige, but looks like it might color up as it grows (it's the end of a frag and might have been a bit shaded before). The Turbinaria has lovely green polyps and is looking very happy already. I'll try and get some pics once everything is looking at its best (one of the zoa frags is not quite 100% open yet, but getting there steadily).

Oh, and the first fish is on its way, to be delivered on Tuesday. It's the first time I've ordered a fish mail order, so a bit worried. It's a Tail Spot Blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura). Plan to follow that soonish with a N.helfrichi.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, and the first fish is on its way, to be delivered on Tuesday. It's the first time I've ordered a fish mail order, so a bit worried. It's a Tail Spot Blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura). Plan to follow that soonish with a N.helfrichi.

Don't worry. I've been buying fish mail order since the early nineties, literally dozens of orders, and I think I've only had DOA three times. Twice because of screw ups by the delivery company, and once because of extreme cold temperatures. Both fish and corals are more resilient to short term environmental problems than most people think. And I've never yet had a mail ordered salt water fish arrive that wasn't in better shape, over all, than the same fish would have been if purchased locally. It's in the dealer's best interest to get you the highest quality, healthiest livestock he can... he knows most people regard mail order livestock with some skepticism and worry, and he does want repeat business.

 

[Anonymous]

shaping up Tom, can't wait for that nice helfrichi to come!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys. The little fella was dispatched today, so should arrive tomorrow evening all things going to plan (which they should, this being Japan and no typhoons being forecast - speaking of which I love the way over here you can specify which 2 hour period you want something delivered in, anywhere between 8am and 10pm - inconceivable in the UK).

Blenny first then firefish, though I think the firefish might not be long after if I play my cards right. :wink: