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dmo
04/20/2006, 01:07 PM
It came time for me to get my first fish, after several months on study and preparation, and I decided to go to an actual fish store specializing in marine and reef animals instead of my LPS.
This was my first experience seeing soft corals up close and personal and I had a very interesting reaction.. I don't know if it was the way they swayed in the water, or their rubbery, flabby look, but standing there looking at them I had a slight urge to retch, as if it was something extremely unnatural and wrong sitting in front of me. Even now, thinking about them is sending a slight shiver up my spine. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to keep any in my tank anytime soon. :lol:

sage1970
04/20/2006, 07:04 PM
All I have to say is that you must get sea sick really easy!:D

Can't say I have ever had a reaction like that to them...which is probably a good thing since that is what I have the most of in my tank!:p

XeniaMania
04/20/2006, 07:12 PM
wanna watch my video? There's a lot of swaying. I think you may have a different reaction, but then again, may be the same.
http://www.techssentials.com/reef.mpg 22MB

scrmbld33
04/20/2006, 07:34 PM
thats deffintly some flow in that vid

XeniaMania
04/20/2006, 07:36 PM
I think that's pretty close to what they'd get in the wild...:p When watching coral documentaries, I often see swaying corals hit a point where it looks like they don't know which direction they're going to sway. Then it'll go one direction, then another, then the "mid-sway" point again.

keithntracy
04/20/2006, 09:00 PM
Beautiful Xenia! I love it. I didn't know it could take that kind of flow but I guess they do in the wild.

XeniaMania
04/20/2006, 09:09 PM
ty keithntracy..:) They live so close to the surface that they get exposed to air when the tides go out during low tide, so yeah, they can take a beating...:)

keithntracy
04/20/2006, 09:17 PM
cool. good to know. we moved ours around about 100 times trying to find a low flow area. It seemed in the high flow, they shriveled up.

XeniaMania
04/20/2006, 09:25 PM
General rule of thumb for xenias is that low flow areas make them pulse more, whereas more flow they tend to pulse less. My philosophy isn't so much high or low flow, but to create random pulses. Having a scwd attached to the returns, plus 2 hydorflos gives me 4 possible streams. There are slight modifications to each outlet so they do not all produce the same amount of force, so even the rotation of which stream hits them is random. Then there are moments when 2 streams will collide, 3 streams, even 4 streams cancelling each other out thus increasing a "still moment" even longer. They may get blasted with a strong flow, but it's only for a few short seconds before it's gone or flow from another direction hits.

dmo
04/20/2006, 10:45 PM
I think your tank looks great XeniaMania.. I'm hoping my reaction was just a byproduct of being exposed to so many new things all at once. :eek1:
Like I said, it was my first time going into a 'real' saltwater fish store, and even after four months of reading and planning I still felt (feel) completely clueless :D

XeniaMania
04/20/2006, 11:03 PM
lol...ok...I thought the "unnatural" part was because it was just whipping in 1 direction...lol. ty for your kind words.