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MARSH + Moody Gardens = A Reef-Tastic New Partnership! (1 Viewer)

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sneezebeetle

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I will see what I can find out for you. Ryan is headed back out to the Flower Gardens this week, but I will see what I can find out and share it [emoji16]
I heard through the grapevine that they started a seagrass project just wondering if we could get some info on that? Are they lookibg for volunteers? I could use all the knowledge I can get my hands on. Or who should I get on contact with?

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chris85

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Thank you vcan you ask him to post pictures of the reef I heard it is ha ing a hard time out there!! Maybe bring me back a Mardi grad wrasse!?!:biggrin1:
 

sneezebeetle

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Thank you vcan you ask him to post pictures of the reef I heard it is ha ing a hard time out there!! Maybe bring me back a Mardi grad wrasse!?!:biggrin1:
Yes! Most definately..I was picking his brain about the article that another member posted as well about the Juvenile Manta Rays oit there...very cool stuff!

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chris85

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I miss moody very much!!:turboink:
We use to go once a week for the last two years, but we had to make cutbacks this year.:doh:
 

Seaturtle

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Hey everyone! The tank is coming along really nicely, I've had an up-turn of growth in the last few weeks since I have been able to fix the manufacturer's mistake on my calcium reactor (they didn't fully glue everything together and I was having cavitation issues). With that squared away and calcium levels increased there's plenty of new tissue. Having some new corals come in, recently a large surplus of M. capricornis from Seattle and we'll be looking forward to a variety of new species from Shedd aquarium come this January, I don't have an exact stocking list yet but can keep you posted if you're interested. I'll try to get some pictures of the tank up before I head out on holiday. If anyone has any specific questions I'd be happy to answer.

Happy Holidays,
Ryan aka Seaturtle aka Moody Coral Guy
 

chris85

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Thanks for the update!! Let me know if you guys need any help I live just a few blocks from you guys.
 

chris85

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Guess who got there membership back!!!

What you doing to the lps over there!?!? Giving them anabolic phytoplankton shots?

The tank looks amazing... Can you tell us a little about the behind the scenes setup?
 

sneezebeetle

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Guess who got there membership back!!!

What you doing to the lps over there!?!? Giving them anabolic phytoplankton shots?

The tank looks amazing... Can you tell us a little about the behind the scenes setup?
Thats great @chris85!

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Seaturtle

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Hey guys and gals! Back in action, sorry I wasn't able to get these out before the holiday, it has been quite busy here at Moody. I was able to attach some images here for you all and I'd be happy to answer a few questions.

For coral feeds, and not just for our lps, I target our nps and then feed out to the tank 2-3x a day. Feeds consist with a staple of 24-72 hours nauplii that is then enriched with a selection of rotifers, roe eggs, oyster eggs, and planktonic algae. The mixes are changed up randomly but each enrichment happens at least once a week.

Behind the scenes is pretty simple setup, standard sump and all water runs through a pentair canister filter returning back to the tank. I have an RK2 skimmer and a mrc phosphate reactor hooked on the system as well as a korallin calcium reactor. I use kent marine liquid doses for magnesium, strontium/molybdenum, and tech I weekly. The water used for water changes is treated seawater pulled from the bay. Lighting is maxspect R420R with a kessil tuna blue spotlight in one of the corners.
 

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sneezebeetle

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Looks great Ryan :) things seem to be filling in nicely. Is the livestock holding steady with the few fish you've had in there or have you added any?

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Seaturtle

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We've been consistent with the same few fish for awhile now; one vlamingi tang, 4 yellow tangs, tomato clown, maroon clown, pink skunk anemone fish. We've had some recent additions including a six line wrasse donated by a MARSHian along with a toadstool coral. I have added in ten forktail blennies that were born here at Moody Gardens from broodstock. I have also recently added in 3 spotted mandarins to the exhibit that are adjusting quite well.

Coming next month I will be adding yellow coris wrasse, copperband butterfly fish, aiptasia eating filefish, and a yellow stripe clingfish to the exhibit as part of my cleaning crew.

I am also planning to remove the vlamingi tang out of the exhibit and transfer her to our large main exhibit and she is too large for the display and is out competing other individuals. She has grown really quickly since she was donated and is ready to go play in the big leagues with our other large tropical fish.
 

chris85

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Thank you sir!! You guys are awesome.

Can you tell us a little about the rearing of the blennies when you get a chance? I have done molly miller, saltwater sailfin mollies, two or three species of killifish peppermint shrimp, grass shrimp, toadfish, kind of oysters, and working on orange spotted blenny, but I have to rearrange somethings before I will get any fish. Anyway I will stop rambling...Let me know if you guys want any local livestock, well let me see if that would be legal first? I will get back with you.

Thanks for what you guys do!!
 

chris85

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I know yall culture phyto, diatoms, and brine shrimp...Do you also do pods and rotifers? and what species do you have?
 

sneezebeetle

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We've been consistent with the same few fish for awhile now; one vlamingi tang, 4 yellow tangs, tomato clown, maroon clown, pink skunk anemone fish. We've had some recent additions including a six line wrasse donated by a MARSHian along with a toadstool coral. I have added in ten forktail blennies that were born here at Moody Gardens from broodstock. I have also recently added in 3 spotted mandarins to the exhibit that are adjusting quite well.

Coming next month I will be adding yellow coris wrasse, copperband butterfly fish, aiptasia eating filefish, and a yellow stripe clingfish to the exhibit as part of my cleaning crew.

I am also planning to remove the vlamingi tang out of the exhibit and transfer her to our large main exhibit and she is too large for the display and is out competing other individuals. She has grown really quickly since she was donated and is ready to go play in the big leagues with our other large tropical fish.
Can't believe how big the Vlamingi has gotten. How is the yellow tang that was donated as a rescue over the summer? Has his dorsal fin grown back in any?

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That display is really coming along very nicely. I'm seeing some very impressive growth in there. It also looks like you have shifted the light color temp much higher than the 10K or so it was the last time I was down there. It also looks like you need a filter to take your update pics with now ;).
 

Seaturtle

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Haha yes a filter would be nice!!! Just more clear photos would be a wonderful thing to have. Perhaps working with our education department I could be able to invest in a proper camera, it would be great if I could have something that would take macro that we could use as artwork around the aquarium.

I haven't changed the lighting too much if at all I think, I am thinking of transitioning towards white and away from blue just a little bit to depict more of a natural light setting...new year means time to play around with new ideas!

The yellow tang is doing very well! About a third to half of his fin has recovered and he is showing his full yellow color once again.

We do culture rotifers but I'm not sure if we culture pods, we have in the past but I'm not sure if the cultures are still going. I'll ask our culture biologist about it and get back on that along with species list.

I'll also get with our fish culturist about the blennies, he has it running in a different building so I've haven't seen it actually. I'm working with him at the moment collecting peppermint shrimp for him to use as a broodstock for culturing, I also collect them for the coral tanks as well.
 

chris85

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Haha yes a filter would be nice!!! Just more clear photos would be a wonderful thing to have. Perhaps working with our education department I could be able to invest in a proper camera, it would be great if I could have something that would take macro that we could use as artwork around the aquarium.

I haven't changed the lighting too much if at all I think, I am thinking of transitioning towards white and away from blue just a little bit to depict more of a natural light setting...new year means time to play around with new ideas!

The yellow tang is doing very well! About a third to half of his fin has recovered and he is showing his full yellow color once again.

We do culture rotifers but I'm not sure if we culture pods, we have in the past but I'm not sure if the cultures are still going. I'll ask our culture biologist about it and get back on that along with species list.

I'll also get with our fish culturist about the blennies, he has it running in a different building so I've haven't seen it actually. I'm working with him at the moment collecting peppermint shrimp for him to use as a broodstock for culturing, I also collect them for the coral tanks as well.
Well let me know if you need some help collecting peps for the breeding program as long as it is not for profit... I will be going out Saturday night to get some livestock for my daughters school.

Looking forward to what your team has to say about the plankton and breedingprogram.
 
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Haha yes a filter would be nice!!! Just more clear photos would be a wonderful thing to have. Perhaps working with our education department I could be able to invest in a proper camera, it would be great if I could have something that would take macro that we could use as artwork around the aquarium.

I haven't changed the lighting too much if at all I think, I am thinking of transitioning towards white and away from blue just a little bit to depict more of a natural light setting...new year means time to play around with new ideas!


A more natural lighting scheme is nice, but to really get that WOW factor keeping the lights around 14-20K or adding some decent atinics would really make them pop and attract a fair bit of attention.

Here is a really nice example of how lighting can make a difference in the corals appearance

 
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