10 replies to this topic

[ant86]

I got a few bits of live rock from pet magic on saturday and noticed this morning this.. Photos below

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Edited by ant86, 26 May 2013 - 07:01 PM.

[sandgroper]

Looks like a type of bubble tip anemone.

[dazzabozza]

Would you say the coral and rock base is one / joined? If so then not an anemone.

Looks more like something from the euphyllidae family. Maybe Plerogyra (bubble coral).

[ant86]

Cheers dazza just looked that up and looks just like what l have.. Plerogyra sinuosa. what a score, l have only been cycling that tank for 2 days and l have coral already . Does anyone know if it grows quick?

[gauz]

If you've only just started cycling I'd say your water is still well and truly in the 'honeymoon period' and over the next week parameters could get shaky and  interfere with the grown of your live rock hitchhiker. This is a very resilient type of coral I've noticed from times I've seen them surviving in some sub standard displays so you'll have plenty of time to see it grow and hopefully thrive. 

 

However as with any live rock hitchhiker coral they will appear to grow quite impressively quickly at first but this is generally just them re-emerging after being placed in new more favourable lighting and water conditions than a lot of sale live rock is kept and the growth may appear to slow down now that it has emerged fully.

[ant86]

Well l had the water tested yesterday after almost a week of cycling and the ammonia and salt are alil high but tank probly hasnt had its spike yet. nitrates and everything else is good..

That bit of coral is growing pretty rapidly atm .

Speaking of hitchhickers there are all these bugs coming out of the liverock, kinda look like little tiny walking shrimp??
Once l get fish they should sort them out yeh?

[dbolxo]

deffs need to put some pics up of the nano tank as it comes along man

[ant86]

Yeh l will start a journal..

[gauz]

whatever fish you choose to put in will generally sort out those sorts of hitchhikers, they make a nice bit of natural live food if they get caught. You'll have an abundance of macro organisms living throughout your live rock, the only reason you're seeing them now is there's nothing to scare them into hiding.

 

I recently gave away about 5kg of excess live rock after a re-arrange which had been in the aquarium for over 6 months and was informed of all the interesting crabs etc. that had crawled out in my friend's new aquarium which I'd not seen because they'd probably spent all their daylight hours hiding from my coral banded shrimp. 

[ant86]

We are going to get clown fish but l do really like the manderin dragonet l seen at pet magic last night too. so maybe all 3 if they will go together alright?

[gauz]

If the clowns pair up they can be quite aggressive, but as a reef and bottom dweller the mandarin shouldn't impose on territory too much. For temperament reasons you'd want to be adding the clowns last however the bigger issue is that mandarins are incredibly sensitive fish and I personally wouldn't be adding anything like that to any aquarium under 6 months mature (personal opinion only, doesn't mean it wouldn't be fine) where as clowns are a very hardy fish and can easily be added straight after levels have settled.

 

Consider also your clean-up crew (this should be added first, at least a week or 2 before any fish go in) I'm not going to make any concrete suggestions because a marine aquarium is a very personal thing, but if you have open sand then a sand sifter goby or some turbo snails will help keep the sand looking neat and white, and I find the coral banded shrimp to be an affordable and attractive addition to a reef set-up