<<< colonial tunicate >>>

[BOXING SHRIMP]

hi peeps i have just found this stunning little creature on the net
but me thinks it could just be for a specialist tank

like keith man's shultz's etc who keep the
dendros and gorgonians gonipora's etc

just wondered if anyone had any info or experience keeping these???
cheers rich...

http://www.reefscience.com/images/corals/0226/DSCF0026t.JPG (http://www.reefscience.com/images/corals/0226/DSCF0026.JPG) nice or what...:D

i'm right in thinking its a type of sponge yes
becuase if so i keep purple and blue at the minute with nice growth rates
any comments appreciated

[zimreef]

Yes, they do look stunning! However, taxonomically it's about as far away from a sponge as you can get, although probably(?) has the same feeding requirements as a number of other non-photo filter feeders.

I know this particular species is hard to keep for any period of time although suspect with the recent advances in foods and feeding methods that may not be the case for long.

John

[BOXING SHRIMP]

ok john cheers for that
i've looked on the net but theres not much info at all
i'll just wait in hope for some more replies
feeding and lighting are the main concerns
but it looks like the sort of coral that takes more fine particulte matter from the water imo
but again its only a guess

[johnski]

its a Nephtheis fascicularis, some info at the link below, but not that much

http://www.fishdb.com/db/salt/specimen/Blue_Lollypop_Tunicate.php

[BOXING SHRIMP]

thanks johnski some good info mate cheers:thumbsup:

[johnski]

i've just noticed on the link i posted that on the section to the right of the photo theres different tabs that give more detail

[BOXING SHRIMP]

yeah seen em bud great link
i have only seen them for sale on a site in the us,although rare ocean might be able to order in if i did decide to try and keep a specimen atb rich..:)

[Peculiar_Clown]

I unsuccessfully kept one, lovelly looking creatures but found it to be very fragile. faded away over a fairly short period unfortunately.

[zimreef]

They do appear occasionally - I know TAC have had them in at least half a dozen times. Pretty sure STM has had them in too!

John

[BOXING SHRIMP]

tac had them in, who are they please john ???
would like to ring them and see what they have to say if they can remember them,where they based i know about stm i'll try them too
cheers again rich..:)

thanks perculier clown but whats no good in one tank may also thrive in another in nsw conditions

[zimreef]

Taunton Aquarium Centre - a little way away from you, but so is STM!! :)

John

[BOXING SHRIMP]

thanks john...:)

[Something Fishy]

There was an article on them in Marine World relatively recently. I'll have a look for the issue when I get home tonight.:)

[BOXING SHRIMP]

thanks for that sf i try get a copy, my lfs has old ones i think:)

[Andythescientist]

I know the stuff receives alot of flack and ridicule but one thing i can say about it was, when i was using marc weiss combo vital i had a load of small tunicates, i then got an out break of hair algae. At this point i stopped using it and the tunicates vanished very quickly.

I'm tempted now that hair algae is a thing of the past (12months+ ago) and i've started probiotics, to try dosing some of my marc weiss stuff again and see what happens.

I'd love a large tunicate, but never got one due to thinking it would just shrivel.

I might have a little experiment and start using it to see if the little tunicates come back.. but if my nitrates sore it'll be stopped for sure.

[aquadorge]

I remember reading about these, they have a very short life expectancy (12 mths or so) in the wild

[Andythescientist]

I remember reading about these, they have a very short life expectancy (12 mths or so) in the wild

That's interesting, we often assume that stuff should be with us for a long time if happy. However if these things live for only 12 months in the wild, then by the time they get to us, they could already be 3-4 months old. I guess if that's the case then 6-9 month in our aquarium is about as much as you could expect them to be around for. Would certainly put me off paying 30 or 40 quid for one, if that's all they could possibly live for no matter how well kept.

[aquadorge]

Should add 'IIRC' to my previous post, on reflection it may be 24mths but I'm not entirely sure. I do recall that they don't continue to grow like most corals and have a very finite life span