New Polyps
8 May 2007I’ve added a few new corals to the tank this past weekend. I’ve been going pretty small since it’s only a 20 gallon tank. I figure I can get more smaller things in here and let them grow.
The primary purchase was these button polyps.
This rock, however, came with some nice bonuses. First, in the above picture you can see a few of the calcareous feather duster worms that came along for the ride. I’m used to seeing these tubes all over the live rock, but not actually anything in them! This rock has probably 7 or 8 of them on it. Unfortunately, they surround the rock, so this is pretty much the only way I can position it without covering some of the worms.
They are a pretty pink color when fully extended, but are super-sensitive to light and motion. if I merely tap on the floor, that’s enough to send them all into hiding. Here’s a closer picture:
Also, this rock had a fragment of a green star polyp that had spread from a much larger colony in the same tank at the store. It is quite small, but they were good enough to include it. It wasn’t hanging on to the rock very tightly, so I removed it and tucked it into a crevasse in a larger rock in the tank. Actually, there was a small piece of rock that remained attached that acted as a bit of an anchor, so it’s quite stable. I’m hopeful that it will set up camp here.
It was nice getting a few bonuses this time around. I’d actually felt previously that I’d spent a little too much on the zoanthid, which was quite small compared to the other specimines at the shop that weren’t that much more money (several times as large at only 50% more cost). Plus the cleaner shrimp that up and died, not that that is their fault. There are no guarantees in this hobby!
Total price for this addition: $39.99
on May 9th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
Some nice purchases you have got there, and always extra nice when you get some freebies.
Green star polyps are fantastic and once they take hold they grow and spread very quickly. In my last tank I had one which grew so large it covered a huge piece of rock and then covered what must have been a third of the rear glass - it looked like a sheet of grass when they were all out - absolutely fantastic.
Personally I found that they do best with a medium amount of light and water movement, plus if you want them to grow faster keep your iodine levels up as they use this to lay down their mat.
Keep us up to date on your progress - interesting stuff.