This month we began our project in tank 72. It all began at the start of this year, when we decided to develop a project where we would frag, propagate and remove, and introduce corals in our tank. Over the course of the month of October, we have observed and researched the different organisms of our tank, the 72 gallon tank. We have researched the organisms, and we have also become familiar with the different variables which make our tank healthy and able to function through checking our tank daily. Keeping up with daily observations has been a struggle for almost everyone because of the fact that we have to check our tank everyday, but, like anything else, we are responsible for this tank and must make sure that everything in the tank is healthy and thriving.
We have familiarized ourselves with tank 72 through checking the temperature on the temperature gauge, salinity using the hydrometer, and pH using the pH test kit. These measurements have varied throughout the month: temperature from 75 to 79 degrees Fahrenheit, salinity from 1.0215 to 1.025 specific gravity, and pH from 8.2 to 8.4. We have found that the temperature of our tank has been quite diverse, what we believe is a result of the room it is in. This fluctuation in temperature has also affected the other measurements. After becoming familiar with the measurements of the tank, we began doing our research on which organisms call tank 72 their home. The following species are what we have found thus far: Montipora capricornis, Nepthea, Euphyllia parancora for the corals; Lemon Peel Tang, and 2 Banggai cardinalfish for the fish; and an unknown brown anemone which is taking over much of the live rock.
In tank 72, there is a plethora of Nepthea which we want to propagate and remove from our tank in order to make room for a possible new coral. Another issue in the tank is the overgrowth of the brown anemone which we have found to be currently outcompeting the other organisms for space. In order to limit this unknown and invasive brown anemone which we cannot find any research about, we are going to attempt to introduce a new hard coral into the tank to see if it will be able to overtake the brown anemone which none of the corals currently in the tank seem to be able to do.
Recently, Dr. Reynolds taught us how to frag corals, a crucial part of our project which we will ultimately use to propagate different corals from our tank. We thought that we would be fraging the Nepthea, but instead we fragged the E. parancora, or the hammer branch coral, into three pieces and then placed the pieces back into our tank. Overall, this month has been a learning experience for the both of us. Neither of us knew anything about corals, or maintaining a tank, but hopefully by the end of this project we will be successful marine aquarists!
We have familiarized ourselves with tank 72 through checking the temperature on the temperature gauge, salinity using the hydrometer, and pH using the pH test kit. These measurements have varied throughout the month: temperature from 75 to 79 degrees Fahrenheit, salinity from 1.0215 to 1.025 specific gravity, and pH from 8.2 to 8.4. We have found that the temperature of our tank has been quite diverse, what we believe is a result of the room it is in. This fluctuation in temperature has also affected the other measurements. After becoming familiar with the measurements of the tank, we began doing our research on which organisms call tank 72 their home. The following species are what we have found thus far: Montipora capricornis, Nepthea, Euphyllia parancora for the corals; Lemon Peel Tang, and 2 Banggai cardinalfish for the fish; and an unknown brown anemone which is taking over much of the live rock.
In tank 72, there is a plethora of Nepthea which we want to propagate and remove from our tank in order to make room for a possible new coral. Another issue in the tank is the overgrowth of the brown anemone which we have found to be currently outcompeting the other organisms for space. In order to limit this unknown and invasive brown anemone which we cannot find any research about, we are going to attempt to introduce a new hard coral into the tank to see if it will be able to overtake the brown anemone which none of the corals currently in the tank seem to be able to do.
Recently, Dr. Reynolds taught us how to frag corals, a crucial part of our project which we will ultimately use to propagate different corals from our tank. We thought that we would be fraging the Nepthea, but instead we fragged the E. parancora, or the hammer branch coral, into three pieces and then placed the pieces back into our tank. Overall, this month has been a learning experience for the both of us. Neither of us knew anything about corals, or maintaining a tank, but hopefully by the end of this project we will be successful marine aquarists!