Dendronephthya revival

[karburn]

Despite all of the downside potential, I acquired a beautiful 6" Red carnation sp. of Dendronephthya. I thought I was beating the odds, as it's been doing OK where I put it (good current, decent but not excessive lighting and a steady drip of a good phytoplankton substitute (Marine S***) and most importantly, it did not deflate after being transported and relocated. Until today.

Within a 5 minute period it went from beautiful to flaccid - just like someone "let the air out." I thought I'd try one more thing: I placed the limp specimen (insert one-liner here) in front of and about 4" away from a maxi-Jet 1200 and waited. Two hours later the thing is pumped up bigger than ever. Now the question: is this too much current? The Dendro looks terrific, fully extended, but it's bouncing around like a balloon being held out of a car window on the highway. I angled the powerhead ever so slightly so that the current just glances off the coral rather than a straight shot.

I feel like I may have dodged a bullet, but I also realize that this is going to be an uphill battle. The challenge is to feed enough without raising the Nitrates to unacceptable levels.

Anyway, the current is the big question for now. Thanks as always for your time.

[Anthony Calfo]

Cheers, my friend :) Good to hear from you...

Sorry to hear of the troubles with your Neptheid though. How long have you had if before it deflated... weeks, months?

---Within a 5 minute period it went from beautiful to flaccid - just like someone "let the air out." I thought I'd try one more thing: I placed the limp specimen (insert one-liner here) in front of and about 4" away from a maxi-Jet 1200 and waited. Two hours later the thing is pumped up bigger than ever.


Indeed... many such corals get woefully inadequate water flow in captivity. But you must be careful of applying linear flow like this powerhead for any significant duration of time. It will be a problem in the long run. Random turbulent is the ticket when surge is not possible. Very few cnidarians (in the aquarium trade) naturally occur in laminar currents.


--Now the question: is this too much current?


not likely... just misapplied.


--but it's bouncing around like a balloon being held out of a car window on the highway.

Yikes! :p A bit scary...heehee. The polyps will start flying off next. Ha.

--The challenge is to feed enough without raising the Nitrates to unacceptable levels

Hmmm... the bigger problem is finding out what your aposymbiotic specimen even eats in the first place. Not all Dendros eat phyto... and few survive very long in captivity at any rate as you know. Many occur in crystal clear waters and do not appear to take much if any organismal foods (no floc, phyto, zoo- etc.) but rather feed by absorbtion or upon bacteria at best. This supports the theory some have that the "hardy" Dendros are actually Scleros instead (Wilkens). Do get a positive ID on your coral first. If it is a Sclero- do consider a high flow refugium with a deep sand bed that gets weekly/daily sand stirrings instead.

Best regards and hopes for your tanks and this beautiful coral!

kindly,

Anthony

[karburn]

Thanks for the advice. Despite what I'd read in both your and Eric's books, I made the impulse purchase just this last Monday evening. The deflation occured at about the 20 hour mark. This morning, the Nefarious Neptheid was still standing tall, but it was actually leaning away from the nozzle on the powerhead. I read the body language and swiveled the nozzle back the other way so that the poor coral would not bend over backwards and off of the rock just to escape the current. This specimen is not in a display tank, but a very established holding tank that I use for softies. It's not pretty but all the inhabitants are growing like weeds. The sand bed is VERY established and will get a minor stirring tonight. Just a little "proactive experimentation"!

But, being realistic, I should not have bought this specimen. The effort to maintain, much less propagate the Neptheids is more than most of us amateurs are capable of. That said, I'm going to give this one as much attention as it takes and take all of the good advice I can find. Thanks:)

[Anthony Calfo]

Karburn,

Kudos to you my friend. I can appreciate your intuition and realistic perspective as an aquarist. I do have faith that you are truly a good aquarist.

It is a bummer that you gave in to the impulse, of course, but we all have done it at some point (its only really bad if you do it again and don't learn from it :p).

Indeed, it is so tempting with some infamous species for how good they look on import. Yet, alas... your experience is exactly as most with this creature.

I love the idea that it is being kept in a "seedy" DSB tank. The nanoplankton, DOCs and bacteria are likely to help IMO. Your challenge will be to finesse strong flow in this aquarium. Not too much trouble, but likely not as it was originally set up.

If the colony self-destructs, as you may have heard, there is the possibility of salvaging fragments which may carry on for a few or more months. More chances to experiment with 'em! Do share your results too please. Its all good info however it turns out as we evolve an understanding of the husbandry needs of such animals.

Kind regards, :)

Anthony

[karburn]

Up, down, up down. This Neptheid is still very much alive and driving me crazy. It seems to deflate at the slightest provocation: too much current, not enough current; but then rights itself when I finally adjust the flow to the right direction/intensity. Trouble is, it only stays happy for a day or two, then flop! Over it goes. A tweak of the powerhead and presto! Up again. Hey...as long as it stays alive, I'll play along.

Side note: I got a definite positive reaction to stirring a portion of the sand bed. I'm going to keep track of the amount of bed stirred (approx. sq. in.) and the frequency. Then as a control, I'll skip a week. Not very scientific, but I've only got one specimen!