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 State of the Tank: (cont.) |
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I AM trying something new regarding better water movement though: Loc-Lines from Modular Hose ( modularhose.com). The thinking here is that if I cannot achieve the overall flow I’d like, at least I can direct what I have to where I want. Granted, this will undoubtedly make the tank look less ‘natural’. But if these are as easy to assemble and disassemble as they claim, I’ll simply put them on until company comes by or I need photos, in which case I’ll revert back to the current Y valves and use them as the ‘show’ returns. Sounds so simple, there almost HAS to be a problem with it…or so I’d think if I was a pessimist, which I’m not.
Another application for which I plan to use this product is to direct some occasional flow behind the rockwork to blow out more detritus. This could possibly mean no more having to drag out the Python every Sunday morning! Hooray! I could actually sleep la…I mean, go to church with the rest of the family! Yeah. Anyway, since I haven’t tried ‘em yet, this is something else that’ll have to wait until the next update to be reviewed. But I’ve got my fingers crossed. This could be a major find for me.
Now, in regards to corals, I am seriously considering getting rid of my pink Seriatopora (birdsnest) as I am failing miserably to create a suitable environment to keep it healthy. For instance, only recently has it |
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come to my attention that these corals do best under medium light and less than vigorous water movement. Well, I have no space left that meets those parameters and as a consequence, I have always placed mine very high in the tank where lighting and movement are the most intense. Actually, this is always where I thought it belonged.
Now, if you recall, the reason my last birdsnest did poorly was because of an invasion of Majano anemones that had taken up residence deep within the structure, killed it off, then hid underneath a secondary invasion of Valona and Cyanobacteria. This time the problem seems to be that it’s constantly being knocked over by Emerald Crabs (some of which appear to be nearly the size of small dogs) and always getting the worst of it when it lands upon one of the acros. This has resulted in several dead branches, which even after fragging, became prone to algae and cyano ‘infections.’
Yes, we’ve tried tacking it down (as you may know, they rarely encrust on their own) and bracing it with rock rubble. But at least once every couple weeks, I’d come down to find it resting (well, getting the crap stung out of it, really) upside down upon another coral head. Enough. I could absolutely use the room to move one of the corals I already have. In fact, a perfect candidate would seem to be my Pocillopora (Catspaw). This is the only other coral that has not |
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