New Dendronepthya Coral frag (2nd & Final Attempt)

[ChilisREasy]

Over 1 month & 1 week. : still doing fine, tho it dosent expand fully every time, but is expanding more often now.im out of phyto,baby brine & chroma & will be a while before i can get some..25$ a bottle around here !!!! all i have left is zoo-plankton. so its a drag right now.no new growth or strange happenings to report..all red colony frags are still alive & expanding as well.

[ChilisREasy]

well the bad news 1st...the tiny pink/yellow dendro vanished overnight last week. the baby red frags have appeared to died, & some polyps are dieing on the large pink/yellow colony, this is mainly due to i havent fed it in over 20 days..only fed it zoo once in 20 days...i cant afford phyto & i cant get marine snow ........so im out of luck...


good news is cyano is FINALLY withering away..sweeping the gravel weekly has really cut it down.took 3 weeks to start growing agian

[ChilisREasy]

UNBELIVABLY ! i found 1 bottle of Marine snow now im dosing it every other day in the tank & feeding it to the dendro in the external feeding container, some polyps are staying closed but not the majority of the colony, so hopefully it survives.its been well over 2 months now but still a long way to go. as for other foods, i still am not able to find ANY around my area.

heh i cant even find normal Kent Phyto-plex...only thing is 1 ounce bottles for $26.00..that wouldnt last 1 week....

[ChilisREasy]

the marine snow is too little too late..the large mother colony of Dendro is rapidly decreasing..its polyps are dieing off..wether its the unknown shrimp eating at them or the fact that im still not feeding enough..i'll never know..but i gave it one heck of a shot, ..sorry guys..maybe someone else with clearly alot more knowledge,time & of course money $$. will have success in propagating these wonderful corals..ive tried with 7 different Dendro's, thats it for me..

Take a look at my TRT gallery to see process of the Dendronepthya's i kept.

End..

[tdwyatt]

Post-feeding study addendum: 6 months is how long it takes the coral to consume its internal nutritional stores, and reflects why 6 months is about the length these little beauties can be kept in closed systems with current feeding technology methods. Feeding studies in the literature reflect very specific size reuirements for live foods and their nutritional needs in general (via analysis post-mortum). The polyp extension at night reflects the nocturnal habits of these corals, and is their normal feeding pattern, so feeding at night may enhance the suyccess of these protocols. Check out the available artices on these corals in the journal "Coral Reefs" or "Marine Biology" in your local university biolibrary, I think you will find them enlightening.

Sorry to hear that your corals didn't make it. The process of dropping asexual "buds" is common to octocorals as they face potentially adverse conditions, and is a survival strategy based on small coral buds being swept away by current to more favorable locations and conditions. Production of these buds in the future would be a sign that your feeding strategy might be failing.


Just FYI, HTH.

[ChilisREasy]

yes, here is a very informative and hopefull report released back in 2002..they have had limited success with alot of non-photosynthetic corals..but this report is WAY out of date..if any new reports are found please post them.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/1/aafeature

[JY13131]

We are pulling for you chili!!!

[ChilisREasy]

thanks. but im afraid this will be my last attempt on non-photosynthetic corals for quite some time, i guess i'll start collection Zoa's now.lol. if i get enough money i may start a small system especially for filter-feeding corals, im sure the science of keeping them will advance a little more by then.