got ethical husbandry?

Who has non-photosynth gorgonians?

Just finished reading an article that Manhattan reefs does on their e-zine, and man some of those gorgonians look damn sexy and gave me a bit of an itch.

So who has one of those "Azoo"(??) type tanks?
 
I do, still have to setup the autofeeder though.
If you wanna setup an azoox tank check this out:
http://www.azoox.org/phpBB3/portal.php
 
Yeah I've been peeking around the azoox site, just was curious how difficult they tended to be. I could always remember seeing at a LFS the "pretty" gorgonians which of course are non-photosynthetic, and thought that maybe a small fish-less tank so lots of water changes wouldn't be terribly difficult.

I figured the autofeeder would be a necessity, is there any foods that don't need to be refrigerated that'd work though? Retrofitting a dorm fridge would be a huge deal breaker for me.
 
just trolled onto azoox for I think the second time since it was set up.

I'm an equipment junkie and I dig those autofeeders! Real DIY innovation ongoing!
 
I had a swiftia for ~6mos and it really wasn't that much trouble... a few spot-feedings a week and it did great!
IMG_0360.jpg


Buuut, like every time I play with azoox, I eventually ran out of the energy to keep up with completely regular feedings and gave it to a friend with an interest in azoox gorgs.
 
Yeah I've been peeking around the azoox site, just was curious how difficult they tended to be.
The difficulty really depends on the species, Cirrhipathes spiralis are probably the easiest to take care off since they take quite large foods such as chopped mysis. The next level would be gorgs like diogorgonia, and menella that take oysterfeast, rotifers, and cyclop-eeze and are quite hardy (compared to other NPS). Then there are a bunch of other gorgs such as Astrogorgia, swiftia etc. that take rotifers and such. Just stay away from the blueberry gorgonian.
is there any foods that don't need to be refrigerated that'd work though?
Fauna marin foods are usually dry foods
Retrofitting a dorm fridge would be a huge deal breaker for me.
It doesn't have to be ugly ;):
http://i352.photobucket.com/albums/r332/Aquabacs/ARTISAN%2050%20G/IMG_1038.jpg
(Michael Lukaczyn feeding system)
 
Joost_ said:
Yeah I've been peeking around the azoox site, just was curious how difficult they tended to be.
The difficulty really depends on the species, Cirrhipathes spiralis are probably the easiest to take care off since they take quite large foods such as chopped mysis. The next level would be gorgs like diogorgonia, and menella that take oysterfeast, rotifers, and cyclop-eeze and are quite hardy (compared to other NPS). Then there are a bunch of other gorgs such as Astrogorgia, swiftia etc. that take rotifers and such. Just stay away from the blueberry gorgonian.
Sounds like way more info is needed before I even consider taking them on.

Retrofitting a dorm fridge would be a huge deal breaker for me.
It doesn't have to be ugly ;):
http://i352.photobucket.com/albums/r332/Aquabacs/ARTISAN%2050%20G/IMG_1038.jpg
(Michael Lukaczyn feeding system)

Didn't say anything about being ugly, its just those dorm fridges tend to be almost the same level of energy hogs as a full sized fridge.
 
Great when you write a long reply and your browser freezes :tired:
Anyways:
-Gorgs will need a lot of flow, generally a lot more than any SPS can handle
-Keep the tank dimly lit, although the corals generally couldn't care less, this will prevent algae growth
-Tank should be fed 6-10 times a day, although some corals can do without less, you want them to be thriving not just surviving ;)
-Food mixture should include small foods such as rotifers, shelfish diet, BBS, and cyclop-eeze. Fauna Marin foods can be used additionally or instead as well. Bulk frozen rotifers and cyclop-eeze can be found here.
-If you plan on getting other critters as well phytoplankton dosing is a must as well
-You generally want to keep your temperature at the lower end (72-74) although most will generally do fine at higher temperatures as well
-Have some good filtration in place. An oversized skimmer, ozone, carbon dosing/biopellets can be very useful along with WC's
-Definitely recommended to install a autofeeder, feeding 6 times a day can become quite a pain and will make vacations impossible.

Some things worth reading:
http://www.coralscience.org/main/articles/aquaculture-a-husbandry-4/filt...
http://www.coralscience.org/main/articles/nutrition-5/azooxanthellate-co...

Tunicates:
http://www.coralscience.org/main/articles/reef-species-4/tunicates
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/rs/index.php
Sea Apples
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2003/invert.htm

Black corals
http://www.coralscience.org/main/articles/reef-species-4/black-corals-pa...
http://www.coralscience.org/main/articles/reef-species-4/black-corals-pa...

Crinoids:
http://www.reefsmagazine.com/showthread.php?t=79032

Food recipes:
http://stonyreef.com/blog/2008/feeding-azooxanthellate-corals/
http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=257208

and of course:
www.azoox.org
Didn't say anything about being ugly, its just those dorm fridges tend to be almost the same level of energy hogs as a full sized fridge.
Considering the amount of energy usually used on lighting in photosynthetic tanks this shouldn't be something to worry about, especially if your getting an energy rated one.
 
sfsuphysics said:
heavy duty skimmer, GAC, GFO, and water changes to a level that would make an SPS tank owner go "WTF that's a lot of water changes"

Which costs a ton and with the added feeding cost, your looking at the same cost as a SPS tank for the most part :( The hands on is just as much, if not more. definitely not for the timid :D
 
Not for animals that feed higher on the food chain like most gorg's do ;) For other azoox animals that is a fine suggestion.
 
To go along with what Tony is thinking, I wonder if it would be possible to get away with using a refugium as your food source, just one that is many times larger than the Azoo tank itself.
 
Nope, not from what I have seen. Chuck S. had an amaxing NPS tank. Thw fuge was double the volume of his tank and extremely productive. He still had to feed a TON. I do not think you two fully grasp how much they actually need to consume daily.
 
Well that's why I said many times more larger.. I'm talking 100g fuge for a nano tank, of which its not very feasible unless you make the fuge a 'pretty' fuge.. aka planted tank. I figure it's very similar to how the whole food chain works in general, many many smaller creatures get eaten by a larger one, then many of those need to feed a larger still etc.

One gorgonian in a 50 gallon tank :D
 
sfsuphysics said:
Well that's why I said many times more larger.. I'm talking 100g fuge for a nano tank, of which its not very feasible unless you make the fuge a 'pretty' fuge.. aka planted tank. I figure it's very similar to how the whole food chain works in general, many many smaller creatures get eaten by a larger one, then many of those need to feed a larger still etc.

One gorgonian in a 50 gallon tank :D

Food web ;) Many of the little things eat each other as well.

Chuck had like a 150 with a 300g sump. The tank had a very small bioload. The size was for volume to help with water quality.
 
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