Dendronephthya experience ?

[curator]

Eric:

Hi, I had some questions about your experience with Dendronephthya. Reading your articles some time back I decided to try the coral in a dedicated system myself. Being
Most specimens are short lived it seems one has to try more in a short period of time.
In addition there is not much information on the Internet.

I noticed you found the coral to inflate dramatically from the addition to thawed squid. Was that Prepared in a blender, and added to the tank in volume or directed at the colonies with Something like a turkey baster?

Do you think the inflation was a reaction suggesting the coral would feed on particles
Of the squid, and not depending solely on phytoplankton or the 98% Or more which had been discussed? I read somewhere about some large colonies of Dendro found in the
Red Sea in crystal clear water which had the author thinking there may be a possibility
The coral feeds through absorption as well. Is that likely in your opinion?

With your knowledge of the Foods on the market, do you think Feeding this species
A product like ESV phytoplankton, or DT’s would be successful or might it be
Necessary to culture a live source.

Would you know what Methods Shedd, and Long Beach used for feeding. (or know
A contact there I could ask) You mentioned a continuos drip being necessary, do you
Feel that it’s crucial. Would a daily feeding with a method of keeping the food in suspension be adequate of too far from the ideal parameters. Right now I am just
Feeding freeze dried sources daily, but was considering a plankton reactor for a live
Source dripping into the tank.

I can’t find anything about Wilken,s experience on the web, it mentions frequent stirring
Of his tanks kicking up detritus. Do you know where I could find any other details on
His methodology. I think I read somewhere that he has kept a colony alive for over
6 years do you know if that is true?

Thanks blane

[EricHugo]

>>Hi, I had some questions about your experience with Dendronephthya. Reading your articles some time back I decided to try the coral in a dedicated system myself. Being
Most specimens are short lived it seems one has to try more in a short period of time.
In addition there is not much information on the Internet.

I noticed you found the coral to inflate dramatically from the addition to thawed squid. <<

I did? I don't remember that. Anyway, Dendronephthya are mostly herbvirous and feed on phtyoplankton.

>>Was that Prepared in a blender, and added to the tank in volume or directed at the colonies with Something like a turkey baster?<<

If I wrote that, it was so long ago that it was not known at that time that they were mostly herbviorous.

>>Do you think the inflation was a reaction suggesting the coral would feed on particles
Of the squid, and not depending solely on phytoplankton or the 98% Or more which had been discussed? I read somewhere about some large colonies of Dendro found in the
Red Sea in crystal clear water which had the author thinking there may be a possibility
The coral feeds through absorption as well. Is that likely in your opinion?<<

I am not aware of any coral anywhere that cannot use direct absorption of nutrients as a means of obtaining nutrients directly from the dissolved fraction in seawater. So yes, it is a possibility.

>>With your knowledge of the Foods on the market, do you think Feeding this species
A product like ESV phytoplankton, or DT’s would be successful or might it be
Necessary to culture a live source.<<

I would guess that either are good options, although DT's might be too small - i don;t know. See Charles Delbeek's article in the first issue of Advanced Aquarist ( advancedaquarist.com)

>>Would you know what Methods Shedd, and Long Beach used for feeding. (or know
A contact there I could ask)<<

No clue on either. Not sure they are "successful" either.

>> You mentioned a continuos drip being necessary, do you
Feel that it’s crucial. Would a daily feeding with a method of keeping the food in suspension be adequate of too far from the ideal parameters.<,

Probably not....continuous availability is likely still crucial.

>. Right now I am just
Feeding freeze dried sources daily, but was considering a plankton reactor for a live
Source dripping into the tank.<<

sure.

>>I can’t find anything about Wilken,s experience on the web, it mentions frequent stirring
Of his tanks kicking up detritus. Do you know where I could find any other details on
His methodology. I think I read somewhere that he has kept a colony alive for over
6 years do you know if that is true?
<<

I would take most anything Peter Wilkens has written or said with a fairly large grain of salt. I have never met him, but through his writings come to the very distinct impression that while being a pioneer of reefkeeping, has managed to stumble around in the dark and write up any anecdote he observed in a tank as a "finding" without much evidence to support it. His works that most read or use as "evidence" are not only quite dated, but are a source of much of the anecdotal myth that exists in the hobby today.