Updated info since the article.

[npaden]

One thing I did want to point out was that since the article was written I have had another clam die off.

The beautiful 11" derasa on the left side of the tank in the 10-20-02 pic is gone as well as all 3 of the beautiful maximas that I got from Harbor at MACNA. The 8" derasa that made it through the original clam die off last spring is still doing fine though and it makes me wonder if it is hosting some sort of parasite that it has developed a tolerance for but is wiping out new clams.

The latest clams were in the tank for almost 2 months before showing signs of stress and died over about a 2 week period.

I'm about to give up on clams although I think they are one of the prettiest creatures you can put in your tank.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Nathan

 

[cvye]

Your tank is very exciting to watch - now that we have videos! Are the chromis et al. reversing direction due to a reversal in current that happens every few seconds?

 

[npaden]

Thanks!

I have 4 sea swirls running in the tank but no real reversal of currents or anything. I've been lucky that my chromis do seem to hang togehter pretty well and do move back and forth prety regularly. If I walk by in front of the tank they will usually follow.

FWIW, Nathan

 

[cvye]

Yeah, my tangs won't leave me alone...I'd always thought it was "ooo- big blob might feed me!" but since my nephews/niece came by and scared them off, I actually think they might recognize me (or my movements, at least)!

What species of Pocillipora spawned in your tank? I'm amazed that some planulae made it...do you have more than one colony of the same species?

 

[npaden]

It is just an ugly brown pocillapora of course!

My understanding is that with pocillapora they don't release eggs and sperm in a mass spawning type event but release fully developed planarae? (spelling) that can attach and start growing immediately. This is different from polyp bail out where they actually leave a spot where the polyp actually leaves the parent colony which also occurs in pocillapora.

I'm actually debating whether to get rid of this particular coral as I now have about a dozen different offspring from it scattered around the tank and they don't seem to grow where I want them to. Of course it isn't a pretty pink or purple coral that is spreading like wildfire!

FWIW, Nathan

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Nathan: Always good to see how your reef aquarium is progressing. Congratulations on a great article.