Blueberry Sea Fan (acalycigorgia Sp.)
- Thread starter Kman
- Start date
Update: I have figured out the amounts of food I need to constantly keep the polyps open but not to the point I deteriorate my water quality to much. I have noticed growth start back up at the base repairing the damage that the coral had when I got it. The bottom portion of the gorgonian was gone and exposed and so far over an inch has grown back, at this rate it will be a few weeks before the damage is repaired and I should see some encrusting growth and growth to the branches should start back up. As with most corals repairing the damaged areas are first and once this is done normal growth will resume. I have had no die off of branches at all. The polyps have gotten the fuzzy hairs on them that were lacking and this is a good sign that it is getting enough food. When you typically buy NPS Gorgonians the polyps are more rounded from lack of food and will only get the fine hairs back with proper nutrition.
As I have to add a lot of food three times a day (Morning, when I get home from work and before bed) for the NPS corals I decided to make some changes to the way I filter my tank. In order for me to be proactive and not reactive this is needed. I have added back on my carbon reactor and am going to add a small amount of GFO into another reactor. I don't want PO4 striped rapidly but gently I plan to use a basic amount. I find my corals don't like GFO at the recommended dosages I will only add a small amount. I will be adding my protein skimmer back on and run it a few hrs a day to help remove any wasted food that has worked it way into the sump. I don't typically like running a skimmer as it is indiscriminate of what it removes and tents to remove large amounts of your food web as well ans nutrients and particulate matter.
As I intend to switch over for at least a portion of my foods to live foods I have added some basic amount of Nirta-guard to my sump and will be using this as added live food and not a lot of nutrient control I will not be using the recommended amounts. Gorgonians and NPS ones in particular love bacterial sized foods and other fine foods as they can't really eat anything over the size of a 24 to 48 HR brine shrimp unless it is weakly motile. The polyps don't have a particularly strong sting to them so it is hard to capture highly movable\motile items. Smaller sized food take up less energy to process and digest then larger food items so this works out great. The bacteria produced from the carbon dosing will work quite nicely as an added source of live food and help with nutrients some what and will add a nutritious food source to the diet. I will be setting up cultures of brine shrimp and phytoplankton so I can feed the newly hatched brine shrimp the phyto and other nutrient rich foods like Reef Roids then I will freeze some and feed live. I am looking at Phyto\zoo reactor options so I can have a live source of them added directly to my tank. But I am not sold on this as of yet. When feeding corals and especially non photosynthetic it is all about maximizing your nutrition level and delivery and reducing wasted energy. Wasted included to large of a food item or not having the polyps out for continuous feeding. Each time the polyps close it is wasted energy from the daily budget that needs to be made up.
As I have to add a lot of food three times a day (Morning, when I get home from work and before bed) for the NPS corals I decided to make some changes to the way I filter my tank. In order for me to be proactive and not reactive this is needed. I have added back on my carbon reactor and am going to add a small amount of GFO into another reactor. I don't want PO4 striped rapidly but gently I plan to use a basic amount. I find my corals don't like GFO at the recommended dosages I will only add a small amount. I will be adding my protein skimmer back on and run it a few hrs a day to help remove any wasted food that has worked it way into the sump. I don't typically like running a skimmer as it is indiscriminate of what it removes and tents to remove large amounts of your food web as well ans nutrients and particulate matter.
As I intend to switch over for at least a portion of my foods to live foods I have added some basic amount of Nirta-guard to my sump and will be using this as added live food and not a lot of nutrient control I will not be using the recommended amounts. Gorgonians and NPS ones in particular love bacterial sized foods and other fine foods as they can't really eat anything over the size of a 24 to 48 HR brine shrimp unless it is weakly motile. The polyps don't have a particularly strong sting to them so it is hard to capture highly movable\motile items. Smaller sized food take up less energy to process and digest then larger food items so this works out great. The bacteria produced from the carbon dosing will work quite nicely as an added source of live food and help with nutrients some what and will add a nutritious food source to the diet. I will be setting up cultures of brine shrimp and phytoplankton so I can feed the newly hatched brine shrimp the phyto and other nutrient rich foods like Reef Roids then I will freeze some and feed live. I am looking at Phyto\zoo reactor options so I can have a live source of them added directly to my tank. But I am not sold on this as of yet. When feeding corals and especially non photosynthetic it is all about maximizing your nutrition level and delivery and reducing wasted energy. Wasted included to large of a food item or not having the polyps out for continuous feeding. Each time the polyps close it is wasted energy from the daily budget that needs to be made up.
Hong
Member
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2015
- Location
- Kitchener, Ontario
Way too much extra work for me.... All the best!
For sure it is a extra work. But for someone like me that has been keeping corals for a long time I want something challenging. If you work it into your daily routine it is not so bad. Especially since I do a visual at these times anyway it is not hard to add foods. Once I have the modification done I will not notice much difference as I typically keep up on my maintenance anyway.
shamous113
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2015
- Location
- Stratford
We need more pics!! 
Hong
Member
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2015
- Location
- Kitchener, Ontario
How do you ensure your tank gets what it needs when you go on vacation? Do you have someone that keeps an eye on it for you?
Yes I have a few people who look after it. I plan to set up an automated system after Christmas. Taking my time resurrecting and sourcing out parts so i get the best system that fits my needs. In a pinch I have a doser kicking around that I am not using at the moment that I can use to at least dose things that don't need refrigeration.
Check out the link below for the one I am leaning towards.
http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.php/249-refrigerated-automated-feeding-system
Check out the link below for the one I am leaning towards.
http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.php/249-refrigerated-automated-feeding-system
Shooter000
HomeGrownFrags
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2015
- Location
- Alvinston, Ontario
Gorgeous buddy!!!! Just gorgeous!
Jealous.
Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk
yveterinarian
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2012
- Location
- Innerkip, Ontario
Absolutely fabulous! They look great. Definitely jealous...
Definitely jealous...Update:
Both Blueberry have survived and are doing great. My original one has even started growth on the branches. Once the original Blueberry has finished repairing the base fully I will see some encrusting growth. Sound be about another month as it was pretty badly damaged when I first picked it up but is growing down the exposed gorgonian core quite quickly and I can visually see progress over a few days.
The second Blueberry that I got healed nicely and I have fragged it into a few pieces. Once they have adjusted and I see them attach some will be up for sale.
All have excellent polyp extension and I have worked out the exact amount of food that is needed for almost constant polyps extension. These new foods today pack quite a punch. Way better then the foods of old. I use a mix of a few different foods for the best varied nutritional value. Reef roids and Tropic Marin Pro-Coral Phyton are my main food as I find they stay in suspension the longest with a squirt of Polyp lab polyp booster. But I mix in portions of one of the following or a small amounts of a combination of Oyster Feast, Roti- Feast, Phyto-Feast, ROE by Reef Nutrition, ZoPlan and Marine snow by two little fishes. In time once my Nitra Guard has aged it will add additional bacteria foods as well and I should be able to back on on some of the other foods. I also turkey base my substrate to stir up detritus every few days. As detritus is nutrient dense and is the perfect sized food it is a power house of nutrition. I typically stay away from chemical filtration but I have added some Seachem Phosbond for Phosphate removal till my criptic zone catches up. I have noticed a huge growth in my food web including sponges that grow in my sump. Once these have increased in density I should be able to back off on the phosphate remover. I also run my skimmer over the weekend instead of only during my monthly major cleanup. As skimmer indiscriminately remove things from the water including the foods you are trying to feed you have to find the balance of not removing to much from the water to impact polyp extension yet remove enough to reduce wasted foods. So I find I blow\stir things up in my sump weekly instead of monthly. In time I am actually considering setting up a dedicated NPS tank. I have a few basement reno to do first so for now i will keep as is.
Both Blueberry have survived and are doing great. My original one has even started growth on the branches. Once the original Blueberry has finished repairing the base fully I will see some encrusting growth. Sound be about another month as it was pretty badly damaged when I first picked it up but is growing down the exposed gorgonian core quite quickly and I can visually see progress over a few days.
The second Blueberry that I got healed nicely and I have fragged it into a few pieces. Once they have adjusted and I see them attach some will be up for sale.
All have excellent polyp extension and I have worked out the exact amount of food that is needed for almost constant polyps extension. These new foods today pack quite a punch. Way better then the foods of old. I use a mix of a few different foods for the best varied nutritional value. Reef roids and Tropic Marin Pro-Coral Phyton are my main food as I find they stay in suspension the longest with a squirt of Polyp lab polyp booster. But I mix in portions of one of the following or a small amounts of a combination of Oyster Feast, Roti- Feast, Phyto-Feast, ROE by Reef Nutrition, ZoPlan and Marine snow by two little fishes. In time once my Nitra Guard has aged it will add additional bacteria foods as well and I should be able to back on on some of the other foods. I also turkey base my substrate to stir up detritus every few days. As detritus is nutrient dense and is the perfect sized food it is a power house of nutrition. I typically stay away from chemical filtration but I have added some Seachem Phosbond for Phosphate removal till my criptic zone catches up. I have noticed a huge growth in my food web including sponges that grow in my sump. Once these have increased in density I should be able to back off on the phosphate remover. I also run my skimmer over the weekend instead of only during my monthly major cleanup. As skimmer indiscriminately remove things from the water including the foods you are trying to feed you have to find the balance of not removing to much from the water to impact polyp extension yet remove enough to reduce wasted foods. So I find I blow\stir things up in my sump weekly instead of monthly. In time I am actually considering setting up a dedicated NPS tank. I have a few basement reno to do first so for now i will keep as is.
Amazing news. I hope that I am able to get one of those frags. My Gorgs are doing amazing and always have their pokyps out in their tank and would love to add a Sea Fan.
Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk
Shooter000
HomeGrownFrags
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2015
- Location
- Alvinston, Ontario
+1 above:]
Now that they are adjusted and their energy stores stocked up I find I could back off on the amount of food and the frequency I had to feed. Before even a few min past the time I needed to feed or not enough food and the polyps closed up. I will keep you gents in mind. Eric gets one frag as part of our disaster recovery program that me and him have been doing for over 20 years. We give each other frags of our important stuff as a precaution. But I still have enough for you two and possibly one more.
EricTMah
Aquariums by Design
Haha gotta watch the vultures...lol just kidding guysDamn straight! back off torx and shooter
Sony Xperia Z3
Poseidon
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- May 15, 2012
- Location
- SW Ontario
that type disaster recovery is actually brilliant ... i need to find someone close by to do this with once i get colonies worth fragging.
i kept track of who bought alot of my corals when i got out a couple of years back, but sadly no one wants to sell them back
BTW awesome work with the seafan, its great to see such careful and thoughtful husbandry.
i kept track of who bought alot of my corals when i got out a couple of years back, but sadly no one wants to sell them back
BTW awesome work with the seafan, its great to see such careful and thoughtful husbandry.