RonTheGuy

The frog spawn, GPS and acan seems to be happy guess they are pretty tough the flower pot seems.to be sensitive in many ways

I have a 48" evo quad led hood with 48 x 10k white and 16 x 460nm blue 3watt leds for up to 8600 lumens. It is by beamWorks for on amazon for about $270. I can select none or half or all of either of the led types. So I have determined my picky flower pot daisy coral doesn't like any setting or placement with this led hood but it does like an older metal halide hood which also has uv fluorescents I also have tried. Further I found these cheap 12v led light strips on ebay that can even be placed under water in the aquarium which come in anything from 460nm to 20k wavelengths. Would higher 20k be better or more 460nm or what?

I tried.spot.feeding.with Kent's phytoplankton the polyps quickly retract I see.it.as.a.defensive.response not.a.feeding response. So seems that isn't what it wants.to eat. Also I tried in a tank with a nice led light array with blues and whites does seem to favor.that vs. A metal hydride light.

Fyi stayed at the Fairmont orchid in kona .. such a nice place. Found out hotel guests have rights to access a high end community nearby behind a guard shack nearby called #49 black sand beach ... well there is a nice cove beach with all the tropical fish

Coral inserts aren't cheap and they can dress up a FO tank. The only places I've seen ones this large were restaurants. I haven't seen a lot of people on the forums that have FO tanks, but I'm sure there are some. I think your best bet is Craigslist or Ebay. There are some coral inserts on Amazon if you have a sellers account.

I know you asked for opinions on price, but I'm not going to speculate on the value.

thank you for.the replies ... it.is.true.the real.stuff.is better . The guy that had the setup.with these "a young man" said.he spent all the money he had.on these ... rather sad to waste.like.that .... I guess I will put.them on ebay and see what they are really.worth

Put up a pic if you can, please?

You can sort of see it in my avatar lower right-center a green mound on the gravel.

The good way at the moment to post a picture.

this has a video, just found that, need to listen the feeding rap there!

Can you feed baby brine shrimp to this coral, other corals?

Where can I come see and buy ASAP? My phone number is 512 364-9682, text or call.

Ron

If I don't feed it phytoplankton is it going to fade and eventually die?

they r filter feeder and beuatiful piece of corals for sure, low light low flow and required phytoplanton feeds 2-3 times a week to keep it grow and thrive.

if u can keep up with maintenant like water change, keep ur N&P in check or having a skimmer rated 2-3 times as ur tank size, cause phytoplanton will increase nutrients (phosphate & nitrate) that leads to bacteria blooms (cyano) and algaes .

thats just my experience from the past...good luck

Where do you buy the phytoplankton? Can one dose live phytoplankton to maintain in tank? Would my wet dry filter pull out the phytoplankton?

Thanks ... it is a daisy flower pot with greenish polyps that extend out about 2.5 inches. When retracted the head is about 3.5 inches across in a near perfect dome shape. I doubt it was raised. I do not know how one would cut a piece.off it seems.so rocky and dense. No sign of dead or.dying polyps I have had it.for about 2 months now. Been playing with differently lighting and placement to realize what it likes best .... if you move.it takes 24 to 48 hours.to fully extend again.

Have some frog spawn doing fine. I have a toadstool growing big. I have green star polyp doing great. But I have some flower pot coral which is ok but clearly sensitive. So anybody have flower pot doing well? I purchased the flower pot from river city aquatic on an impulse and I didn't realize it is a difficult one. So now I figure it is my tank water early I warning device and my goal is to have it.thrive. in reading about flower pot I have.read it likes moderate light and.moderate water.flow? I have.read it likes feedings? I haven't been doing feedings (no other coral I have needs feedings) I did try mushing up some brine shrimp and using a turkey baster to gently see if.the polyps would show any sign of feeding but nothing. So I have read.these corals slowly fade.away ... what say.you?

Thank you elite reefer, you have a beautiful tank!

Thank you for.the information ... I will be reading those articles

I probably will continue to use a couple of undergravels powered by birthstones as well as the wet dry so the airstones provide air and I need not worry about lids blocking airexchange. Also air pump is battery backed so gravel bio filter and is pretty much insured.

I think the grammars are sensitive to water chemistry since I see nothing that kill them in the life list I suspect your chemistry is bad. Rising nitrates nitrites? Is this a new virgin setup as.of.30.days ago? If so I really suspect.chemistry and.a.bio overload. Have the water.tested.at.an aquarium shop ... river city aquatic will.do it.for.free. what you do when too high here ask them

From about age 14 to 18 I had freshwater tanks did discus and raised an arrowana to 22 inches. Starting age 16 I Worked part-time for a fish store ... tex's tropical fish in long beach Calif. Tex's was one of the first importers of saltwater fish to So. California in 1970. The fish store wholesaled to other stores doing saltwater. I saw a lot of sea life early in the hobby... anybody had a sea snake? We did! In college I worked a couple of summers servicing aquariums in restaurants, CEO offices, and wealthy homes. Then in the nineties I got a smaller 55 and did saltwater fish for a few years. now a few years ago I moved to austin and re setup the 55, in the last 6 months I picked up 40 gallon with coral and a chiller. my slender wife will have the house as high as 82 in the summer, go figure, so a chiller is a good idea. Last week I got this acrylic 100 gallon with lifereef wet dry and matching skimmer which I merged the 55 to. Also A couple of months ago I bought a 150 gallon glass oceanic on a Custom 1700 dollar solid maple tall stand ... like 750lbs heavy it sits in the garage for my wife to decide ;-) what I can keep and put where in her house. Anyway nice to find ARC... look forward to the next meeting.

Lots of big time reefers have used plain instant ocean on sps tanks for years. It works fine. My plain instant ocean mixes at 8.0 dkh, 420 ppm calcium, and 1250 ppm mg

it is unclear by reading instant ocean website ... is it that non reef instant.ocean has everything corals need and it is just that reef version has extra high levels to buffer against possible coral use? If so just.doing.water. changes would be fine. Who knows?

as with all elements there are a few

DO NOT CHASE OR DOSE FOR PH

What do you mean by Chase exactly?

Why not dose for ph? Otherwise do what?

Better safe than sorry and not use the non reef salt at all.

I acquired a setup aquarium with just fish with non reef saltwater. So couldn't setup new with all.reef salt. My theory is if I do water.changes with reef salt corals will be fine. Do not.think one can measure most of element levels so I guess water changes are safest .. however maybe I c

Might spike the tank with a reef elements addition if I knew which one to.get? Kent what type?

The instant ocean reef crystals just has more Ca, Alk, Mg at a specific gravity than the regular instant ocean salt. Either works fine as long as your testing your levels.

Ca is fine .... how does one test Alk and mg?

Ron, if you'd like to see an example of a skimmerless tank feel free to bring a cut of that guy over!

I have had a skimmer less tank ... just has less fish closer to the real reef.

Fyi I think it is a macro algae too ... I was hoping a red coral. Now I didn't taint the posting but the tank did have a red macro algae I purchased on ebay maybe 3 months ago then died within a few weeks. apparently it seeded the rock before dying?

I made some custom acrylic lids for my aquarium ... keep the jumpers in ... and reduce noise and evaporation too. But seems to me one could cause spectrum losses especially if choose lid material blocks uv. Opinions? Any way to measure light spectrum in marine tanks? Perhaps I could buy the tool and offer a service?

I was cleaning a tank and had the lid off running an auxiliary filter for hours. Next day I notice they where is Benny .... I find my big nice Benny dried up days later 10 feet from the aquarium behind a table ... so sad. Then last week I am moving an aquarium and have filled buckets. I net a blue chin trigger and drop her in a bucket and instantly she jumps out and fortunately lands in another bucket of water ... laugh and quickly put the lid on that bucket. So yes fish jump especially some types .... good to have good lids

No .... the water was mixed with the orange packaged non reef instant ocean ... I read at instant ocean site they add more of some elements but it is unclear how each type compares to sea.water as.they do not give that.