PDA

View Full Version : Just an update on the yellow polyps.


Bob I
05-23-2002, 08:10 PM
I put that yellow polyp rock into my nano. There are no Astrea snails in that tank. At last count there were still 10 polyps. There was a frilly mushroom close to them ,and where it touched the polyps stayed closed, so I removed it. That tank gets spray dried phytoplankton because I have Featerdusters in it. Should I feed them something else? :confused:

Delphinus
05-23-2002, 08:58 PM
I seriously doubt the astrea was after the polyps. Even if it did bump into them, you'd think they'd only be temporaily closed up.

Now, the mushroom, on the other hand, is (to me, anyways), a potentially big smoking gun. I have no experience with the type of mushroom you have, but I can say that with the ones that I have, very few things are able to compete with them for space. Mushrooms show no obvious means of aggression, yet whatever they touch, tends to do poorly. Don't even think about letting mushrooms touch SPS! It's amazing how fast some SPS melt away from mushrooms. Even some of my LPS that are supposedly "aggressive" such as my bubble coral, my (now long-dead :( ) torch, have started to suffer when confronted by encroaching mushrooms. I know, I should give these guys a break, some people like mushrooms and they're perfect corals for some tanks.

The other point I have is about the spray-dried phytoplankton. I tried some of that stuff, I thought it was for the birds. I have since read that it's not really the greatest, you have to preblend it for you to get any useful particle size, etc. What a pain! I recommend you get yourself a bottle of DT's phytoplankton. You need to store the bottle in the fridge since this stuff is live Nanochloropsis spp. (not entirely certain of the spelling offhand, and too lazy to quickly look it up right now). It is pricey but people swear by it. You can pick up a small bottle locally at Tails-n-Scales (256-9227), or you can mail-order (which is what I do, since I seem to be going through the stuff like it's soda pop, so I get the BIG bottles). At the rate I'm going through this stuff, it is a future project of mine to get a phytoplankton farm going ("Flame*Angel" over at RC has such a setup, check out her website: Flame*Angel's Reef (http://www.sjwilson.net/reef/index.html) [and she's Canadian to boot! rrrRRRowWrrr. We need to convince her to pay us a visit over here! :D ]), but for now I'm just buying the bottles.

I have no idea if you need to dose phyto for yellow polyps though. If you think they might be hungry, why not try some chopped krill (or some chopped mysis, when the stuff gets delivered, which should be early next week, BTW, in case you were wondering about that :D ) Or some baby brine shrimp.

Hope this helps. Cheers

DJ88
05-23-2002, 09:02 PM
Bob,

Like Tony said spray dried needs to be blended for it to work optimally. If you can get ahold of DT's great stuff. :D I go through it like candy. 15 ml every two days. and I may up it some more. ;)

Tone, Toné, Tony ;) :D had it right with the mushrooms. They are like a bad dream. They will take out anything in the way. I am hoping to scrub my rocks of them when I switch tanks next week. They can be cute but man are they weeds with a bite.

If you can get you hands on some try Golden pearls. One of the smaller sizes. They are only in the states, but wow. what a food source..

[ 23 May 2002, 17:04: Message edited by: DJ88 ]

Mak
05-24-2002, 01:03 AM
Glad to see your still here Bob :D :D :D

Troy F
05-24-2002, 01:13 AM
Yellow polyps can except meatier items such as minced shrimp mush. I doubt spray dried or live phytoplankton are much of a meal ticket for these guys. Have a look at some of Eric Borneman's recipes for mush that he feeds his tanks.

...Flame*Angel's Reef [and she's Canadian to boot! rrrRRRowWrrr. We need to convince her to pay us a visit over here! Too funny Tony, true, but funny.

EmilyB
05-24-2002, 02:32 AM
"Nannochloropsis Paste", as well as the Golden Pearls mentioned are easily obtainable. Good for tanks with low fish load (i.e. not much other feeding going on.)

www.brineshrimpdirect.com (http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com)

I had no problem receiving the frozen product. These people are experts. :D

DJ88
05-24-2002, 02:35 AM
Emily,

They sent em up to ya? Had troubles trying to get them here.. I'll try again. :D

thanks for popping in!

EmilyB
05-24-2002, 02:50 AM
Hey DJ,

None at all. I was a bit concerned when I was ordering the paste, but they were on the phone to me twice to alleviate my worries. The product was wrapped so incredibly well. I think I was more concerned as I was doing it in warm weather, but she said they do this all the time. I ordered every available size of Golden Pearls as well. That stuff can really get those juvenile fish fattened up and healthy.

Good stuff, IMO.

DJ88
05-24-2002, 02:51 AM
Ohhh cool. Thanks emily. :D

I'll be callin them tomorrow. I have the larger sizes and samples of all the other sizes. Want more. more. more. more. :D

One_Divided
05-24-2002, 02:53 AM
Darren, that's a lot of DTs.. have u seen a huge advance in growth, colour etc since you upped the usage? I've been using 5 mls every 2 days and growth and polyp extension seem to be a fair bit better then before I used Dts.. I wonder if I'd be safe upping the dosage and if so,if it'd be worthwhile..

DJ88
05-24-2002, 03:00 AM
Adam,

I am really seeing results now. I have been fighting the bryopsis by reducing the photoperiod but I am still getting great growth and color. Now that I am back to a regular lighting schedule I am seeing wild growth the colors are coming up too. I think the two mini spoons of golden pearls are helping out too tho.

I'll talk about it more in another thread. we are taking over Bob's thread here.. lol.

If emily will join in I am sure we can have a great talk about Golden pearls and paste as well.

Bob I
05-28-2002, 12:05 AM
Well I asked Daniel Wai what I needed for my Dusters. He said this spray dried Phytoplankton was the ticket. It comes in a small vial, and should last about a thousand years I think :D I just put some one of those additive containers with some water. I shake it on the way downstairs. By the time I get there it is mixed and ready to feed.