Today's Featured Coral: Mini Carpet Anemone

Mini Carpet Anemone.

I bought my one and only mini nem from a guy on NanoReef.com. I probably had this one for 4 months. It was getting bigger and bigger, but not splitting. Then just recently it split into 3!!!!! I'm a proud momma :)



Unfortunately my mini nem decided to make it's home at the back of my tank. Unlike most anemones, these do not require high lighting at all. In the photos here you can hopefully get a view of all 3 anemones. They are a purple, pink, and green combination...so pretty!



Most anemones are hosts to clownfish. The mini carpet anemone is not. However, my sexy shrimp (male) has taken to hosting in this anemone. He rarely leaves it.

The mini carpet anemone is very sticky! Makes a good trap for unsuspecting passerbys. For some reason the shrimp do not get stuck in the anemone (thankfully). At some point I will be selling the anemones that split. If you are interested in buying one...let me know. I think I'll charge $20 each. I want to wait for another split first though.

It's a good idea to feed the anemones often...this leads to more growth and splitting. I have not had any troubles with this species. It resides in my 10 gallon tank.

I'm back.....

Got caught up in summer :) I'm going to try to get those photos of the mini carpet anemones and info. today......

exciting day....babies!

Today gave me a big surprise...the mini carpet anemone in my 10g tank had 2 babies! They split when they get too large and it split into 3! They are adorable :) I'll post pictures tomorrow along with some info. about these wonderful creatures....

A gardening day....

Didn't get around to posting a reef related item today.....
I spent the day involved in my other passion...gardening terra firma :) I planted some cucumbers today. Love, love, love cucumbers. We eat them with Bragg's Vinaigrette salad dressing. They are quite expensive to buy at the store (organic) so I thought I'd give growing them myself a try. I'll let you all know how it goes. Maybe I'll snap a photo of my vegetables tomorrow. I have jalapenos, green bell peppers, tomatoes, lots of herbs...I think that's all.
Hopefully I'll have something reefy on here tomorrow :) Nighty night...or good day (depending on when you read this!).

Today's Feature: Open Brain Coral

Genus: Trachyphyllia

This open brain coral (T. geoffroyi) resides in my 35 gallon reef aquarium. This species is a unique solitary coral. It is found on outer-reef margins and inter-reef areas with other free-living corals like Fungia and their relatives. Some are found on muddy lagoon sea floors, seagrass beds, and on sandy bottom near the reef base.

These are highly fluorescent corals that just glow under actinic lighting. They are neather easy nor difficult to maintain in the home reef aquarium. They can become weakened if constantly being covered with sand, so sand sifting species like gobies may not be the best addition to an aquarium that houses an open brain coral.

These corals are also known for being nipped by angelfish and from my own experience, bi-color blennies. For some reason this coral is especially "tasty" to these fish.

This is one of my favorite corals, for beauty as well as how interesting they are to watch. I highly recommend this species for the home aquarium.

crazy day....

I'll be featuring a coral later today but wanted to blog about the Michael Jackson spectacle her in L.A. today. It's a constant sound of helicopters buzzing the skies this morning. Started yesterday, and woke me up this morning around 5:20am. Michael's private memorial is supposed to be held at Forest Lawn Cemetery which is very close to us. I just checked the news and the family hasn't even left their Encino home yet...but the helicopters are here waiting for them. From what I hear he isn't even going to be interred today. They are going to take his casket to the Staples Center downtown for the public memorial. I say that's asking for trouble! They want people to stay away (without tickets)...but if his body is there, you know people will do all they can to see it. Alrighty....coral to come later :)

Back to business..but first some 4th of July Pics!

While this isn't reef related...it is some fun :) Here's some pics from our evening at the Starlight Bowl. It was a great celebration!

The flyover:


Confetti:


Valley View:


Me watching the festivities:


The real show begins:




Hope everyone had a great celebration.....more reef stuff to come :)

FTS of 10g and 35g

As promised!!!!


My 10 gallon reef tank:


My 35 gallon reef tank:


Happy 4th of July!!!!!

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

Today was a busy, busy day...getting ready for the 4th festivities tomorrow. We have our yearly trek to the Burbank Starlight Bowl for music, fun, and fireworks with great friends. We look forward to it every year!

I did my weekly water change on both fish tanks today. This is something I do every Friday. The tanks look soooo good after cleaning day :) I change out 7.5 gallons of water in the 35 gallon tank, and 2.5 gallons in the 10 gallon tank. I just finished so things aren't fully opened. My next entry will be full tank shot photos of both tanks. May not get to it tomorrow due to the 4th of July holiday...but soon thereafter. Who knows....maybe I will get them up tomorrow. Check back in soon :)

Today's Feature: Florida Ricordea

GENUS: Ricordea

Another one of my very favorite corals. This species have randomly pimpled surfaces with the dots often of a contrasting color. Usually the tentacles around the edges of the disc are longer.
This coral is found in diverse locations, many times growing vertically on dead coral or a rocky substrate in both shallow and deep water. You will find more of them in turbid waters, but also found elsewhere.



Ricordea mushrooms can be subtly or brightly colored in colors like red, green, yellow, orange, or blue. Many times they will have a bright green protruding mouth.
Mushrooms are a hardy species...however Ricordeas are not as hardy as some mushrooms. They can tolerate brighter light, but don't thrive under direct metal halide lighting.



Pink and orange Ricordea are mostly from shallower waters and they are generally more tolerant of greater water movement.

The Ricordeas in the photos above are all residing in my 10 gallon reef tank. They are situated at the bottom of the tank, in the sand. You can see them in my youtube video as well...check it out :)

A new day! It's nice waking up to bright sun, as opposed to the June gloom (clouds) we had just a couple of weeks ago. Bring on the heat :)
I picked up my 10 gallons of RODI water yesterday for my weekly waterchanges. I get my water at a local purified water business here in Burbank. They consistently test at 1-3 ppm on my TDS meter. Works for me! In case you have no idea of what I am talking about. The TDS meter tests for the amount of dissolved solids in your water. You want under 10ppm. There are a lot of impurities found in your tap water. The most obvious are chlorine and chloramines, but it is also likely to contain nitrate, phosphates and other organic components, heavy metals and toxic elements. You do not want this in your aquarium! You can buy a commercial dechlorinator at your LFS (local fish store) but that will not remove the other impurities.
*****Even if you purchase your water from a LFS or from a water purification business (like I do), you still need to test this water regularly. The last business I went to for water was testing at over 200ppm! I promptly found a new source! You can get a decent TDS meter on eBay for under $20. That's where I got mine.
So....I put my 10 gallons or RODI water into my mix bucket last night. It's in there with a heater (set to my aquariums' temp.) and a powerhead to keep the water circulating. You don't want stagnant water. The water should be at the proper temp. this morning...and in about 5 min. I will be headed out to my bucket to add the salt. I use D-D H2Ocean Magnesium Pro PLUS Salt Mix. It's pricey...but you truly get what you pay for. It's fabulous salt!

Today's Feature: Montipora

One of my very favorite corals! This one resides in my 10 gallon reef tank. A little background on this species:
GENUS: Montipora
Montipora is one of the largest genera of corals. They are found from deep water to reef crests to turbid lagoons.
Their colors can range from almost every color of the rainbow, although green, purple, pink, and brown are the most common.
This coral is very hardy. They are a submissive species so you must be careful with placement within the aquarium...give them plenty of room for growth as they will most certainly lose a territorial battle with more aggressive species
This coral is quite adaptive to lighting. Though they prefer high lighting and water flow, they can grow well in lower light conditions...however, keep in mind that the color will most likely brown out. This is also a very easy coral to propagate at home. Save the reefs, buy home-grown coral :)



This is my red monti-cap (in the two photos). It grows like a WEED! I need to propagate it soon as it is starting to touch the side of the tank. I have this growing under my 108w Current Nova Extreme Pro T5HO lighting fixture. It is in a pretty high flow area of the tank. It's just gorgeous...and although you can't see the polyps clearly in the photos (I will get a better camera)...they do gently sway in the current. I highly recommend this species for the home reef aquarium!

gena's 10g YouTube video

A fun video of my 10 gallon reef tank...must see!