Dendronephthya & Scleronephthya aquaculture

[Dr. Dendrostein]

New addition. 2 colonies on one rock

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

New addition. 2 colonies on one rock

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

It's one colony, not two. Bummer. Starting to open. Deep red white stalk.

 

[NPS_Bulu]

Here's the tunicate bought on last Saturday. Happy now

Wish they had more.

Ahh ascidian ... Its funny the colorful ones are hard to keep but the dull ones thrive... so far how is the hiatt system holding up? Is nitrate under control without sulfur denitrator?

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Ahh ascidian ... Its funny the colorful ones are hard to keep but the dull ones thrive... so far how is the hiatt system holding up? Is nitrate under control without sulfur denitrator?

Last time I tested NO3 was 2 weeks ago 20ppm. Hiatt in DIY canister filter I made blue bucket. All good. Need to do 20% WC this week. I notice all carnation corals that de-stress (Emark ones) in strong laminar flow , atrophy almost unnoticeable. That would be 9 of them. The ones in sump , in chaotic flow 3 out of 20. Doing great. They need strong, laminar flow. In addition to food and filtration.

So moral of the story. Is figure out how to make laminar flow in small tanks 10-100 gallon.
Cylinder or hexagonal tanks help. For these corals hexagonal or cylinder tanks ideal.
I have 30 gallon hexagonal tank, going to set up. They should thrive in them.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Here's the new addition from yesterday. Healthy one. From Pet World, 92405

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Closing in on month 4.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

More babies, see if they can run with the big boys. Hahaha
Malaysia, dendronephthya sp.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Circle of life. I disturbed them. But they do get bigger. Tonight more photos.

They look exactly like Mama and Papa

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Can u see the babies?

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Month 4. The carnation corals in laminar flow, better health, no polyp atrophy, even though they shunk enough to notice, but stop shirking, a month ago. Attributed to more feeding. Polyps popping up on most base rock of mother colonies. In 5 years should have some nice colonies if all goes well. Hahaha. ....

My next project, raise some of these adult colonies like 5, in a hexagon tank. Need to get more gyre pumps, ideal for these setups.
Again hexagon or cylinder tanks best for NPS softies. Depending on tank size. 30 gallon 1-5. 55 gallon tank 5-8? Can't have corals blocking water flow to other carnation corals. Side by side, staggered but side by side, fine.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Can't believe we're in month 4. By 15 days all corals dead. Somethings working

 

[NPS_Bulu]

Month 4. The carnation corals in laminar flow, better health, no polyp atrophy, even though they shunk enough to notice, but stop shirking, a month ago. Attributed to more feeding. Polyps popping up on most base rock of mother colonies. In 5 years should have some nice colonies if all goes well. Hahaha. ....

My next project, raise some of these adult colonies like 5, in a hexagon tank. Need to get more gyre pumps, ideal for these setups.
Again hexagon or cylinder tanks best for NPS softies. Depending on tank size. 30 gallon 1-5. 55 gallon tank 5-8? Can't have corals blocking water flow to other carnation corals. Side by side, staggered but side by side, fine.

Can't wait to see the next setup... do the polyps move to face the direction of flow?

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Can't wait to see the next setup... do the polyps move to face the direction of flow?

Most do. I have a 30 gallon hex. I also have a cylinder tank Going with hex. Easier to find new or especially used . One tank which was half moon, I made into cylinder . The laminar flow was close to perfect. Existing tank right now, effective but I notice more planning than with hex or cylinder type.

Pictures from the web

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Aqua Locker has carnation corals, dendronephthya sp. Get 'em while you can. Qty-13

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

All is well, I feel like a farmer. Waiting and hoping for good harvest. Pictures coming soon. Do have like 15+ tiny,tiny dendronephthya polyps, from 1mm to 3 mm,3mm ones with multiple polyps. In 5 years, if all goes well, good harvest. Hahaha

Now, out of the 33 carnation corals, dendronephthya spp. I think 15 look great for being 4mo and no protein skimmer used. The 15 that look great, had decent laminar flow. And for over feeding. 80% frags still alive and growing.
The scleronephthya 80% of the 10, great. Also, all have shrink(25%?) but, i think for being in close system, not enough of what they really eat in ocean. Pictures coming.

For now fine tuning new feeding system. Stay tune

 

[najer]

I picked up the other piece today, this is 30 minutes after hitting my water, no food added, I told the shop that it would die if they kept it, 3 different hitch hikers on the rock.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I picked up the other piece today, this is 30 minutes after hitting my water, no food added, I told the shop that it would die if they kept it, 3 different hitch hikers on the rock.

Beautiful and healthy specimens. Your LRS has awesome selection of corals. Thanks for sharing and keep me posted comrade.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

just cut up 2 dendronephthya corals that were in the sump here's one picture of one of the corals I cut up we'll see what happens

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

No guarantee, but just finish talking with a vendor for pink cauliflower dendronephthya colonies, carnation corals. From Vietnam or Fiji. Not for sure, but they're looking into it. Wait and see.

Here's photo sample