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crazy Fishkeeper,Fancy guppy breeder, amateur marine fishkeeper

Friday, January 8, 2010

Marine conservation video

The damages being done to the ocean...

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Marine Tank-- Coral Fragging (Bubble Coral)


Found a small baby bubble coral bud a safe distance from its main colony so took a pair of sheares and separated a part of the skeleton with this baby (no more than 20cent coin size) growing on it... Has since been more than 1-mth in the breeder box and doing well...

Bubble corals reproduce mostly by having such baby buds at one corner of the colony which will drift off to find a new location when mature enough...didn't want to wait to risk having it float to a hidden crevice or worse still blended by the HYDOR wave-makers....

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Marine Tank -- LPS Corals (Moon Coral), Favites spp.

Bought this moon coral to add a splash of green to contrast in my "overly-red" tank...Supposedly one of the beginner corals too... Secluded it in a corner to reduce possible chances of its stinging sweeper tentacles of affecting my other corals...



The Favites Corals are large polyp stony (LPS) corals often referred to as Moon, Pineapple, Brain, Closed Brain, Star, Worm, or Honeycomb Coral. They are the most common and prolific coral in the world, and are very similar to the genus Favia, sharing many of the same common names, and sometimes being very difficult to differentiate. Favites Corals are found in various color forms and polyp shapes.The Favite Corals are aggressive, expanding their sweeper tentacles at night well beyond the base. It is important to leave space between them and neighbors in the reef aquarium. Maintenance for the Favite Corals is relatively easy, making them excellent choices for the beginner to expert hobbyist. They require moderate lighting combined with moderate water movement within the aquarium. For continued good health, calcium, strontium, and other trace elements should be added to the water. It will also benefit from the addition of supplemental food in the form of micro-plankton or brine shrimp, fed twice per week in the evening while its tentacles are visible.



Marine Tank-- Soft Corals ( more Mushrooms & Yumas!! )

Crazy mushroom purchases-- 2 yumas/ rock of purple spotted mushrooms... SGD 225 in total !! I'm officially coral crazy !! Just hope they don't die on me...

Orange-rimmed / Starburst Yuma

Purple-spotted mushrooms

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Marine Tank -- LPS Corals (Blastomussa)

Bought this baby fragment of a blastomussa to try out in my marine tank as it was just going for a few bucks and it looked well enough and healthy with no signs of tissue recession. Baby buds from a main mother maybe ?? Seems to be doing ok after a month or so... Hope it does well to grow to a reasonable size and multiply...

Initially was slightly worried about the polyp appearing next to it but read that it shouldn't do any harm to the blasto...It's a non-stinging palythoa, only toxic when squashed/cut so I decided to just leave it alone...


Blasto corals are relatively rare within the trade and certainly aren’t found in the same numbers as some of the other popular corals. They are well suited to keeping at home however and once settled into a stable tank they can be very hardy and potentially fast growing. The most common colours available in this species are green and red, some animals exhibit both colours and some just a single colour or variation of.
When introduced to the home aquarium try and find them a spot with medium water flow and medium light. If you keep Power Compacts or T5 lighting then they should be happy in most places on the rockwork or sandbed but it is advisable for reefkeepers with metal halide lamps, to find them a spot slightly in the shade or towards the bottom of the tank.
Blastomussa does not require as much light as some other corals. It can be kept under normal output fluorescents without much difficulty. In some cases, it may extend more readily under subdued lighting, however it may display more attractive colors when placed under stronger lighting.

These corals can live quite happily feeding via photosynthetic algae but occasional feeding of small foods such as baby brine shrimp, rotifer and cyclopeze will keep this coral in its best condition and encourage growth.
There are two species of Blastomussa, the Merletti and Wellsi and it has been reported that the easier and more forgiving of the two is the Wellsi. So a better choice for less experienced reefkeepers or those with smaller volume tanks.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Marine Tank -- SPS Corals ( SPS, small-polyped stony corals)

Itchy hands or I.B.S. (itchy B@cksid#) they call it... Two sps coral frags. Previous sps didn't do well due to temperature fluctuation, occasionally over 30deg celcius in the previous 2-feet tank. Hope these 2 can survive in the new 3-ft tank with a more stable temperature...




Got them from a very nice fellow reefer staying nearby... Seems like not a good thing; hard to avoid the temptation/convenience when he's letting off nice stuff...

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Marine Tank -- LPS Corals (Green Bubble Coral)

One more hard coral added -- GREEN BUBBLE CORAL (Plerogyra sinuosa)



One of the beginner LPS corals -- got it as a baby, hope to be able to sustain it and make it grow..






The Green Bubble Coral is a beautiful LPS coral that originates from the reefs of Fiji. It has a white-ridged hard skeleton that can be seen when the polyps are deflated. When inflated, the large fleshy polyps will cover the entire skeleton, and are neon green in color. Like many other LPS corals, they do posses sweeper tentacles that can harm other corals within reach.
The Green Bubble Coral requires a moderate level of lighting combined with low to moderate water movement in the aquarium. Too much water flow may impede the coral from fully expanding. The fleshy polyps of Bubble Corals are very fragile and will puncture easily. Be careful when handling these corals, to only handle them by the hard skeleton. Because they can form long sweeper tentacles, be sure to provide plenty of room to prevent damage being done to its neighbors. For continued good health, it will also need the addition of calcium, strontium, and other trace elements to the water.