| |
| |
 State of the Tank: (cont.) |
| April 2006: (cont.) Corals |
|
Due to overcrowding, there has been quite a bit of rearranging and fragging since last month and there will undoubtedly have to be much more in the near future. I can't recall if I mentioned this last month but I came close to losing Acro #28 when, after several years of good behavior, it suddenly began to recede. Fortunately, we managed to save a viable frag that seems to be doing well. I DID finally lose Acro #26 which is particularly unfortunate due to its unusual gunmetal gray coloration. I never really got a good ID on it and I haven't seen anything remotely like it since. I'm thinking that perhaps all the movement it suffered earlier somewhat hastened its demise though I would like to see more study in regards to this 'sudden death syndrome'. Clearly, from what I read on the boards, I'm not the only person to have had this happen.
I also lost the A. horrida I acquired several months ago; the latest in a long line of horridas I somehow fail to keep alive. I really don't understand what I'm doing wrong with this species. I've had them in high light, low light, indirect light, high flow, and moderate flow... I think I just may have to give up on trying to maintain them. I've never seen a mature colony of it anywhere in captivity and apparently never will in my tank so perhaps it's better to just move on. Besides, I really didn't want the stupid species anyway... Sigh.
All of the other stonies seem to be doing very well; no
|
|
|
doubt benefiting from the stability in water quality I've been able to maintain. Acro #18, in fact, has been growing with amazing speed and spreading onto everything it touches. This is a shot of a new colony growing on the rear wall of the tank where a branch touched briefly before being fragged  . Also, the two frags I received from Atlantis Marine World a couple months ago are finally beginning to encrust their bases after a rather slow start.
There IS a new addition but only because the failure of the horrida afforded me the room. My thinking is that perhaps this part of the tank (extreme right side, midway) may not really have the lighting to sustain an Acropora so I contacted Atlantis Aquarium (the one in California) and ordered this Cyphastrea to fill the space. I'd never seen a green Cyphastrea before and, given they require less light; I thought I'd give it a shot.
But as well as my 'SPS' are doing, I wish I could say the same for my 'LPS'. They still haven't adapted to the increase in water flow and look the worse for it. I continue to hope they will eventually get used to it and flourish because I like they movement they bring to the tank, as do most of my visitors. The purple mushrooms and palyathoa ain't real happy about it either, with a couple 'shrooms even going so far as to detach themselves from the front of the display and moving! Now, I can take a hint but I'm trying to find the closest thing to a happy medium and I realize |
|
|
|
|
|
