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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
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Dendronephthya & Scleronephthya aquaculture
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
90% of frags cut yesterday open. Here's some
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
Yesterday at wholesalers, got all black Xmas tree coral. Same as pic. But all black and polyps open
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
Don't say, I don't share.
Just amazing project. Wish I had time to go through the whole thread. Love these corals!
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
Now that you mention that, on the opening page I'll summarize what we found by accident.
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
On opening page
What have we learned and/or discovered by accident
In relation to NPS soft corals, we know we need proper food, proper flow, proper filtration.
If we rely on having these corals in a typical reef tank, we are looking at disappointment, they need a dedicated tank
Foods
We feed liquid Reef nutrition Phyto-Feast dead version, add shrimp food,we add Reef Roids, raw egg. Blend together. Then I have a fish feeder that can feed powder Foods, and I modified to come on once every hour. Powder foods are Reef Roids, and freeze dry algae. In the last 4 days I started adding powder whole egg, to it.
Filtration
I have approximately 20 lb of Marco Rock, 2 and half gallon do-it-yourself canister filter it circulate in the sump, for biological filtration. And a homemade DE filtration system that connects on the discharge of the return pump. It is charged every two weeks.no longer adding DE recharge powder. Just filter cartridge changed . As of 3/15/2020
Flow
Now flow took a while to figure out, try to describe it the best I can. First of all the tank has a divider that is approximately 6 inches away from the back of the tank. That way water circulate around it in a circular fashion and the corals are attached on to the divider. So I have a pump we'll call South pump and I have a North pump. The South Palm will stay on 8 minutes and the North pump will turn on for 20 seconds and then turn off for 30 seconds , North pump will do this within the 8 minutes that the south pump is running continuously. Then the North pump will come on for 8 minutes and the South pump will turn on for 20 seconds and then turn off for 30 seconds within the 8 minutes of the north pump being on. I use 3 micro timers to achieve this.
Rotation or spinning of corals
I was spinning the coral very slowly every time I would look at it or them, 90° or a hundred and 80 degrees. since I discovered the flow pattern I described above, I no longer need to rotate them.
The flow pattern I discovered about a little over 2 months ago, and every carnation I have since then show no atrophy, neither rapid growth, but the carnation corals that I cut to frag, the area that is cut on the coral has small polyps sprouting out after about 2 weeks.
There's more but for another time.
What have we learned and/or discovered by accident
In relation to NPS soft corals, we know we need proper food, proper flow, proper filtration.
If we rely on having these corals in a typical reef tank, we are looking at disappointment, they need a dedicated tank
Foods
We feed liquid Reef nutrition Phyto-Feast dead version, add shrimp food,we add Reef Roids, raw egg. Blend together. Then I have a fish feeder that can feed powder Foods, and I modified to come on once every hour. Powder foods are Reef Roids, and freeze dry algae. In the last 4 days I started adding powder whole egg, to it.
Filtration
I have approximately 20 lb of Marco Rock, 2 and half gallon do-it-yourself canister filter it circulate in the sump, for biological filtration. And a homemade DE filtration system that connects on the discharge of the return pump. It is charged every two weeks.no longer adding DE recharge powder. Just filter cartridge changed . As of 3/15/2020
Flow
Now flow took a while to figure out, try to describe it the best I can. First of all the tank has a divider that is approximately 6 inches away from the back of the tank. That way water circulate around it in a circular fashion and the corals are attached on to the divider. So I have a pump we'll call South pump and I have a North pump. The South Palm will stay on 8 minutes and the North pump will turn on for 20 seconds and then turn off for 30 seconds , North pump will do this within the 8 minutes that the south pump is running continuously. Then the North pump will come on for 8 minutes and the South pump will turn on for 20 seconds and then turn off for 30 seconds within the 8 minutes of the north pump being on. I use 3 micro timers to achieve this.
Rotation or spinning of corals
I was spinning the coral very slowly every time I would look at it or them, 90° or a hundred and 80 degrees. since I discovered the flow pattern I described above, I no longer need to rotate them.
The flow pattern I discovered about a little over 2 months ago, and every carnation I have since then show no atrophy, neither rapid growth, but the carnation corals that I cut to frag, the area that is cut on the coral has small polyps sprouting out after about 2 weeks.
There's more but for another time.
Last edited:
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
New vid
Someone's happy
Someone's happy
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
New Age Aquatics has a box of carnation corals from Vietnam waiting for me. Stay tune
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
Acclimating as we speak 10 Carnation corals from Vietnam. I think there's one or two that look similar to Deadpool.
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
feels like a boat load of carnation corals from Vietnam. Kinda
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
6-7mo, only reason they didn't live longer was my flow pattern stop operating, one-timer went bad, and they started having a slow death. And I didn't catch it in time. But at this time I have small polyps that have grown from the rocks of the Carnation corals that died. And those are over 7 months and going strong some polyps haven't made it but somehow have and growing.
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
Unfortunately out of the 10 Carnation corals from Vietnam maybe one or two is healthy. And this isn't the fault of the Importer but whoever Harvest them either held onto them too long and didn't feed them right or held onto them too long and didn't know how to to take care of them. Bummer
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
Slingshot, I can see you
Slingshot357
Active Member
I'm still lurking in the shadows. Carnations are still doing good. Dendra took a little hit from the heavy metals in my tank and the tank reset but Portia is doing great.
Oh:
Dendra - 17 Weeks
Portia - 11 Weeks
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
Still here, trying frag these
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
Someone ask about feeding, my answer
If you plan to keep one to three of them , spot feed them as often as you can when they are open. Because most people buy them without doing their homework thoroughly. The experts say and this is not me but I do agree with them. That you must have a dedicated tank that have proper flow for them to thrive. In my thread I built a dedicated tank for them after different designs the present one seems to be more effective. By no means have I crack the code on them thriving similar to the ocean but I'm very close.
My opinion is to spot feed them as often as you can. Because the foods or at least one of them needs to be kept semi cold(phyto-feast) and to do that the most effective way is a small mini fridge, plum some water from the sump going into the fridge and then send the return water coming out of the fridge with the food to the display tank and in my opinion that's a hassle. One method I discovered and eventually will spill the beans, is very simple and direct and keeps a small enough portion of food to last for 2 days without the hassles of having a mini fridge, a pump, a magnetic stirrer, and all the fittings and headaches , and the possibility of a leak or pump failure eventually. And it's very compact , for its design.
Here is the foods I use now, and keep in mind I have tried everything as they say under the sun. And all the foods that I tried are in powder form, in the past I've tried powdered whole shrimp, powdered algae's, powdered whole anchovies, Reef Roid, live foods like rotifers , powder crickets, powdered Locust, and powdered egg.
I've condensed it to this. Phyto feast(non-live), Reef roids, powdered whole anchovies, organic white eggs powder or organic whole eggs powdered, organic powder kelp , together mix or blend. Feed sparingly, less is better. I usually make like a quart of food and keep in the fridge.
Organic kelp, in my opinion very important to feed, because it has iodine and the other Trace elements that in my opinion most soft corals need. This way you don't need to add continuously or as needed iodine and the other Trace elements. Also because I do not change my water or I do it's super rare , every two to three days I get a half handful of salt and mix with 1 gallon of RO water and add to the tank sump.
Because your tank will be unique, your flow for these Coral and this is if your plan 2 have any of your soft corals to stand upright and this will apply toward any soft Coral will be the key to success for you. One trick is 2 make the flow in your tank create like a pull or Venturi action pulling the soft Coral towards the top or up. If you can put them and we're talking about Carnation Coral sideways or upside down, then you will figure out a flow pattern that is easier to discover, for their success.
Here's what I have learned I'm still learning and again by no means have discovered them to thrive, but getting close.
What have we learned and/or discovered by accident
In relation to NPS soft corals, we know we need proper food, proper flow, proper filtration.
If we rely on having these corals in a typical reef tank, we are looking at disappointment, they need a dedicated tank
Foods
We feed liquid Reef nutrition Phyto-Feast dead version, add shrimp food,we add Reef Roids, raw egg. Blend together. Then I have a fish feeder that can feed powder Foods, and I modified to come on once every hour. Powder foods are Reef Roids, and freeze dry algae. In the last 4 days I started adding powder whole egg, to it.
Filtration
I have approximately 20 lb of Marco Rock, 2 and half gallon do-it-yourself canister filter it circulate in the sump, for biological filtration. And a homemade DE filtration system that connects on the discharge of the return pump. It is charged every two weeks.
Flow
Now flow took a while to figure out, try to describe it the best I can. First of all the tank has a divider that is approximately 6 inches away from the back of the tank. That way water circulate around it in a circular fashion and the corals are attached on to the divider. So I have a pump we'll call South pump and I have a North pump. The South Palm will stay on 8 minutes and the North pump will turn on for 20 seconds and then turn off for 30 seconds , North pump will do this within the 8 minutes that the south pump is running continuously. Then the North pump will come on for 8 minutes and the South pump will turn on for 20 seconds and then turn off for 30 seconds within the 8 minutes of the north pump being on. I use 3 micro timers to achieve this.
Rotation or spinning of corals
I was spinning the coral very slowly every time I would look at it or them, 90° or a hundred and 80 degrees. since I discovered the flow pattern I described above, I no longer need to rotate them.
The flow pattern I discovered about a little over 2 months ago, and every carnation I have since then show no atrophy, neither rapid growth, but the carnation corals that I cut to frag, the area that is cut on the coral has small polyps sprouting out after about 2 weeks.
One more thing, whatever you grow in your tank do not be concerned if your nitrates hit up to 30 PPM, just keep PO4 to .03 by using gfo, you can achieve this and I'm planning to use it very soon, but I know others that do this, with very much success
If you plan to keep one to three of them , spot feed them as often as you can when they are open. Because most people buy them without doing their homework thoroughly. The experts say and this is not me but I do agree with them. That you must have a dedicated tank that have proper flow for them to thrive. In my thread I built a dedicated tank for them after different designs the present one seems to be more effective. By no means have I crack the code on them thriving similar to the ocean but I'm very close.
My opinion is to spot feed them as often as you can. Because the foods or at least one of them needs to be kept semi cold(phyto-feast) and to do that the most effective way is a small mini fridge, plum some water from the sump going into the fridge and then send the return water coming out of the fridge with the food to the display tank and in my opinion that's a hassle. One method I discovered and eventually will spill the beans, is very simple and direct and keeps a small enough portion of food to last for 2 days without the hassles of having a mini fridge, a pump, a magnetic stirrer, and all the fittings and headaches , and the possibility of a leak or pump failure eventually. And it's very compact , for its design.
Here is the foods I use now, and keep in mind I have tried everything as they say under the sun. And all the foods that I tried are in powder form, in the past I've tried powdered whole shrimp, powdered algae's, powdered whole anchovies, Reef Roid, live foods like rotifers , powder crickets, powdered Locust, and powdered egg.
I've condensed it to this. Phyto feast(non-live), Reef roids, powdered whole anchovies, organic white eggs powder or organic whole eggs powdered, organic powder kelp , together mix or blend. Feed sparingly, less is better. I usually make like a quart of food and keep in the fridge.
Organic kelp, in my opinion very important to feed, because it has iodine and the other Trace elements that in my opinion most soft corals need. This way you don't need to add continuously or as needed iodine and the other Trace elements. Also because I do not change my water or I do it's super rare , every two to three days I get a half handful of salt and mix with 1 gallon of RO water and add to the tank sump.
Because your tank will be unique, your flow for these Coral and this is if your plan 2 have any of your soft corals to stand upright and this will apply toward any soft Coral will be the key to success for you. One trick is 2 make the flow in your tank create like a pull or Venturi action pulling the soft Coral towards the top or up. If you can put them and we're talking about Carnation Coral sideways or upside down, then you will figure out a flow pattern that is easier to discover, for their success.
Here's what I have learned I'm still learning and again by no means have discovered them to thrive, but getting close.
What have we learned and/or discovered by accident
In relation to NPS soft corals, we know we need proper food, proper flow, proper filtration.
If we rely on having these corals in a typical reef tank, we are looking at disappointment, they need a dedicated tank
Foods
We feed liquid Reef nutrition Phyto-Feast dead version, add shrimp food,we add Reef Roids, raw egg. Blend together. Then I have a fish feeder that can feed powder Foods, and I modified to come on once every hour. Powder foods are Reef Roids, and freeze dry algae. In the last 4 days I started adding powder whole egg, to it.
Filtration
I have approximately 20 lb of Marco Rock, 2 and half gallon do-it-yourself canister filter it circulate in the sump, for biological filtration. And a homemade DE filtration system that connects on the discharge of the return pump. It is charged every two weeks.
Flow
Now flow took a while to figure out, try to describe it the best I can. First of all the tank has a divider that is approximately 6 inches away from the back of the tank. That way water circulate around it in a circular fashion and the corals are attached on to the divider. So I have a pump we'll call South pump and I have a North pump. The South Palm will stay on 8 minutes and the North pump will turn on for 20 seconds and then turn off for 30 seconds , North pump will do this within the 8 minutes that the south pump is running continuously. Then the North pump will come on for 8 minutes and the South pump will turn on for 20 seconds and then turn off for 30 seconds within the 8 minutes of the north pump being on. I use 3 micro timers to achieve this.
Rotation or spinning of corals
I was spinning the coral very slowly every time I would look at it or them, 90° or a hundred and 80 degrees. since I discovered the flow pattern I described above, I no longer need to rotate them.
The flow pattern I discovered about a little over 2 months ago, and every carnation I have since then show no atrophy, neither rapid growth, but the carnation corals that I cut to frag, the area that is cut on the coral has small polyps sprouting out after about 2 weeks.
One more thing, whatever you grow in your tank do not be concerned if your nitrates hit up to 30 PPM, just keep PO4 to .03 by using gfo, you can achieve this and I'm planning to use it very soon, but I know others that do this, with very much success
Last edited:
OP
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Dr. Dendrostein
Marine fish monthly
One more thing, when feeding less is better
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