Stenopus Hispidus
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Posts posted by Stenopus Hispidus
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At, That was a quickie. Now I can sleep in peace. Thanks.
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Sorry the pic is so big. Forgot to trim it. Its the red coral on the left that needs to be Id'ed. Heres another view from the top.
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According to LFS, this is some kind of a ...pora. That didn't help much but at least now I know its not a turbinaria. Can anyone ID it? Thanks in advance.
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To those who are pro-strontium and wants to follow mainstream thinking, there are some reefers who overdose their tank with Sr 2X the recommended amount! But be careful. To do that, you got to know your tank very well. According to Dustan (1982), studies have shown that calcification rates in hard corals are dependent on light energy and that light-enhanced calcification appears to be essential to the construction and maintenance of coral reefs. Therefore, in tanks with a very, very high load of hard corals under strong MH lighting, it would be possible that Ca & Sr could be depleted to a point of exhaustion (J.C Delbeek) resulting in the stagnation of the calcification process until the next supplement comes pouring in. In such a case, the so-called overdosing may seem merely apparent. In short, how much to dose is really dependent on:
1. Your bioload of hard corals (how much Sr consumers you have in your tank)
2. The intensity of your lighting (how much each Sr consumer consumes). All else being constant, weaker lighting=less Sr/Ca consumption
To dose correctly, you should keep measuring the strontium level to ensure that it is kept at a consistent level. Do not skimp on your test just because Sr test kits are expensive. The more you do a test at various timings, the more you can gauge and understand the consumption pattern of strontium at your given bioload and execute the dosage accordingly. This intensive and religious monitoring may be a hassle for some to which the next alternative, although not ideal, would be to follow the instructions printed at the back of the product which are normally base on a very conservative and safe estimated dosage.
Besides assisting in the calcification process, it is also believed that Sr helps in preventing a malady whereby the coral tissue detaches itself from its skeleton.
On the hind side, Sr has always been a controversial additive for reef tanks. It is still shrouded in mystery and until today, no one has yet provided any empirical evidence supporting its use as a supplement for their reef tanks. Why then do the industry still use it…
The general consensus is;
1. The fact that Sr is found together with Ca in the skeletons of hard corals make some believe that Sr supplement plays an essential role in the calcification process of hard corals.
2. Influential experts use it and observe marked improvements in the rate of their hard coral growth.
3. Strontium levels do diminish in the tank indicating utilisation by the hard corals
Sounds like a neat justification, but if you could just spare some time to take a closer look, you will notice that each situation still begs for some scientific evidence as they broach along the line of speculation. This represents a case of hobbyists' experience catching up with scientific studies, which makes the whole issue of producing, selling and using Sr (amidst this uncertainty) highly controversial.
So until someone can prove otherwise, Sr will continue to be a supplement to reef tanks in the sustaining of hard corals. Just like Tanzy, I have started to come across articles indicating proponents lobbying against the use of strontium equating it to poison. I can't really recall where I read it but it could have been an article or an advert. off FAMA.
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...any reasons why you think it's having such a good start?
Geez…I really don't know? Perhaps what you did hit the nail dead on the head. All this while, the fish keeping community in Singapore have all been lumped together under one general family. As we know it, marines belong to a whole new world by itself with its heavy demands on the acquisition of special knowledge and far greater complexities attributed to its problems such that it needs to have a portal on its own. In setting up this forum, I think you filled a void which reefers in Singapore are aspiring for. The narrow but focused objective of this forum provided the basis for uniting all reefers under one common roof, allowing interested parties who are scattered all over the other more general forums to congregate and adding further to its intended value with their vast knowledge and experiences.
Of course, there will be bigger issues and challenges awaiting as the club starts expanding and getting more international exposure. A team might be needed to do archiving, to manage funds, do some organising of club's activities such as coodinating awareness exhibitions & talks, overseas public and private aquarium visits to share knowledge and learn…but for now, well what can I say but a job well done!
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Hey AT, looks like your hard work is paying off. You've got some achievement here already. 25 days since SGRC's inception and already 112 members have joined. Its growing at a rate of something like 4.5 new members a day! Impressive. I guess the word is really travelling.
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I agree with AT & HQX. Nice to look at, tempting to buy but once in the tank they spread their beauty all over it. Had one red one and another yellow one many years back at a time where little information was had on these beautiful creatures... and it "littered" my tank with all their "feathers' in some apparent suicidal pact among crinoids of the world who must have sworn never to be a "kept" star! Feel bad that those poor souls never lived past 3 months in my tank. Bless them and the way I repent?....don't buy them, ever.
IMO, they must join the category of marine life in the likes of cleaner fishes, dendronephthya, etc where the best home for them really is in their own natural habitat...period.
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Hello Hongqixian, Bought mine for $40 few years back from Sealife too. Think now is $36 if I heard correctly. My friend got one about a month ago. Its a Corallife product.
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Hmm...I guess I still might be able to save the day. Will do some homework here first. Hey, Robe & Phang...thanks for the info. You've been a great help.
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Hi, Phang. Thanks for checking on my behalf. Well then, given the current situation, it looks like I will have to spend that $200 on a Corallife screw on bulb afterall. Of course, the alternative would be to switch to a screw on Iwasaki 150 Watt 20000K mentioned by Rrrobt but that would mean that I will have to junk my existing Corallife 185 watt ballast and replace it with a 150 watt ballast with ignitor. Going to be another bomb right?
By the way, I only use 20000K lighting these days. I used to have a 185 watt 10000K Aqualine bulb on one half of my tank and a 185 watt 20000K Corallife bulb on the other half running concurrently for a year and I seem to notice that the colour on corals tend to get richer and tissue growth is much faster under the bluish white light. This little experiment meant that I had to put up with a tank that is half bluish half yellowish for a year. What an eye sore! Not surprisingly, I spend more time dreaming on the blue side...Do not pervert this sentence.
Thanks again for your help.
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Phang,
It sure helps. Thanks a bundle.
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Hello , Phang. Sorta off topic...but do they sell 185 watt 20000K Iwasaki screw in bulb? I am paying $200.00 for each new Corallife bulb which I think is pretty ridiculous if there are cheaper alternatives around.
BTW, do you have Eye Lighting address? Hate to trouble you here.
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AT,
Nope, I can't dive…or shall I say…at least not yet. Have been wanting to take up a diving course but the nature of my work is too prohibitive at least for now. The G1 housing which I am thinking of getting, is meant for me to take pictures attainable through snorkeling esp. corals & inhabitants living inside reef flats and where the sun is bright enough to enable better manipulation of shutter and aperture settings. When I pass the diving course, I am sure the next gadget that I will be looking out for would be things like strobes and strobe arms. Cool items yer know.
Photography has always been my ###### long before I even got addicted to reef tanks. D.cam really changed my life. I can't bring myself back to using analog cameras. So now my film SLR is emancipating in my dry cabi. waiting for the day it will be labelled an antique. 
Nevertheless thanks for the invitation. I appreciate that. Hope to hear from you on how fruitful the course turns out. -
Thanks for the reply and info. Will pop in one of these days to check. Need to order? You mean its not like I can go in and come out with the housing inside a shopping bag or somethin’ ? How long did you have to wait for yours?
Yeah, I am using a G1 3.3 MP. Very good all purpose d.cam. However, if a genie grants me a free wish to improve the G1, I would like spent it on a better macro ability. I use a lot of the macro function cos I want to observe health and growth of corals at different periods. Ricoh and Nikon models can actually go up to 1 cm and 3 cm respectively but Canon’s closest macro range is 6 cm…Duh!
Its good to have a D.cam… instant pix within minutes of taking a picture. Can transfer some pix from the CF card to my PPC and store/view it on a bigger screen anytime, anywhere I feel like I miss my reef tank. Oops…if you are reading this my dear wife, that doesn’t make you second best, you are still my no.1…I swear!
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Hi AT, Did you by any chance happen to see a similar water proof housing for a Canon G1?
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Oops! you actually did take a macro shot. Took quite some time to turn up on my screen - graphic intensive thread <_< .
Wow, wow & wow!!
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Absolutely fantastic! What an eye treat. Can you take a macro shot of that purple acro for us to ravish!
Do you use a calcium reactor for your tank? The pendant MH lamps uses 20K bulbs?
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Glove polyps. They are beginning to grow onto the side glass of my tank. Growth is a bit slower than my green star polyp though but nevertheless, growing...
Heh
Not my intention to make people drool actually. Just thought that it would inspire people to put pix of their own beautiful corals up close as well as to inspire faltering beginners not to give up a dream as they can make it too. At the same time, I can experiment with the digital cam's manual and macro functions.I am sure there must be someone out there with some unique corals to show. The diversity is boundless in the ocean. Sadly, I seem to be the only one posting pix on this thread, hmmm...what did I missed, huh?
Sigh
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Blue Clams. Used to be quite rare but it seems like nowadays everyone has it.
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An Orangey Red Symphyllia in my tank. The colour is hypnotic.
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Great detailed info on Batfish. Guess that's out of my list now.
The dwarf angel such as Lemon Peel, Golden Angel and Potter looks pretty and pricey. Anyone have any experience with this fishes in a reef tank. Do they feed easily and more importantly, are they coral nippers.
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Yeah, its cruel indeed. Don't buy and there will be no demand. No demand then no supply and the lives of these poor "yellow-stained" anemones will be spared the staining process.
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Hi Clowntrigger,
Have not seen any of those fishes zooming in specifically on mushrooms before but finger has small polyps coming out of its branches. Might tempt your Koran's scrutinizing eyes...
The unidentified fish looks like a tusk fish of some kind. Correct me.
In any case, you should try to keep a FO tank FO and err on the side of caution (just my opinion).
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Trigger! Tell me about it. They are serial killers of anything smaller than them, shrimps, urchins, weakened small damsels in distress...you name it. They push rocks, sweep sand and eat anything including the hand that feeds and clean his home.
Ever considered giving it back to the LFS instead of spending hundreds on setting up a home just for it...unless of course, you have some sentimental reasons
Batfish - Is space the only reason why its not reef safe. If it is, I don't think it would be a problem as my tank is about 75 gal. I guess at the end of the day, my concern would be whether he munches on my corals or not. <_<
sea squirt
in New to the Marine Aquaria Hobby
Posted
Hey, this is interesting. I mean I have seen sea squirts of all sizes from 2mm to 1.5" but they all occur and exist indendently. In your pic, I can see a runner giving way to new offsprings much in the same way as Caulerpa. So these animals actually propagate like plants! How long have they been in the tank in order to multiply this much?
What a squirt of an eye opener for me!
Heh after a second look, they do bear some semblance of a cluster of Mickey Mouse heads
Cute stuff!