Christmas Tree Worm Rock Difficulty to Maintain and Good Price?

[livinlifeinBKK]

A shop got in a bunch of Christmas tree worm rocks and since I've never had one before nor bought one before I thought I had better do my research and get opinions first...they're asking ~$75 for this one...is that a good price and do they tend to fair well in aquariums? I thought it might add some color and biodiversity to my starfish tank...

 

[FreeEnergyReefer]

Absolutely it will definitely add both. Color n diversity. They're filter feeders so he'll do great along as the rest of ur filter feeders are doing good. If u have tiny feather dusters growing on ur live rock then he'll do great. I would dose some phyto to make sure they stay thriving but that's up to u. Do it man get it you'll love it.. Also do u mind sharing the store name who has these? I've been looking for a smaller one for awhile now with no luck it doesn't help that I live in WV with no lfs.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Absolutely it will definitely add both. Color n diversity. They're filter feeders so he'll do great along as the rest of ur filter feeders are doing good. If u have tiny feather dusters growing on ur live rock then he'll do great. I would dose some phyto to make sure they stay thriving but that's up to u. Do it man get it you'll love it.. Also do u mind sharing the store name who has these? I've been looking for a smaller one for awhile now with no luck it doesn't help that I live in WV with no lfs.

I'd love to hook you up but I'm in Bangkok so I doubt the store would be much help to you since you're a little out of reach...wish I had a license to ship things like this to the States to get pieces to share with the R2R family on here...they've got bigger pieces as well but idk what they want for them...

 

[FreeEnergyReefer]

Beautiful CTW rocks! I wish u could hook me up too, but yea Bangkok a Lil far I'm sure they have PayPal and would ship but it's not worth the shipping cost for a $75 piece. So... but I like the smaller ones best. Get one man you won't regret it they're easy

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Beautiful CTW rocks! I wish u could hook me up too, but yea Bangkok a Lil far I'm sure they have PayPal and would ship but it's not worth the shipping cost for a $75 piece. So... but I like the smaller ones best. Get one man you won't regret it they're easy

Thanks for the advice! The thing with corals or inverts like this is once they're gone you never know when they'll be back in stock unlike fish

 

[dennis romano]

These have been hit or miss getting to stores for the last few years. I just grabbed one when it became available. The main coral is usually a Porites. The worms are fed like any filter feeder. Here in the States corals like in your pictures can go from $350 to $600.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

These have been hit or miss getting to stores for the last few years. I just grabbed one when it became available. The main coral is usually a Porites. The worms are fed like any filter feeder. Here in the States corals like in your pictures can go from $350 to $600.

Thanks! I wasnt sure if they were picky filter feeders or not so this would probably be a great buy at the price!

 

[Kellie in CA]

I'm jealous! Grab it!

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I'm jealous! Grab it!

After hearing what they normally go for in the States i definitely think I'll be getting it because if/when I make it back there i don't see myself being able to drop that kind of money on one. Plus I'd rather have a unique piece like that that's easy to care for vs an acro or other coral for the same price that would be much harder to maintain.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I also just found this piece that's on sale at another shop for on about $45! Glad that i waited a few minutes before buying the other because i think this one is actually a little more interesting as well. The only thing that bothers me is the fact that I haven't seen them in person so I'm not sure exactly how big they are. Also, are these something you should really see in person before buying? I prefer to see some corals in person for example due to how "touched up" the advertised pics tend to be from a lot of shops and even independent sellers but am not sure if these Christmas Tree Worm rocks are something you can really touch up much for pics...i guess what I'm saying is I'm not a big fan of surprises when it comes to spending money!

Here's a pic of the one at the other shop...I'd go check it out but the shop is pretty far...what do you guys think? Nicer than the other small one?

Edit: This one is about 5 inches across...

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I completely forgot that the Porites coral is still alive and therefore will need relatively strong light so the starfish tank wouldn't be the best place for it due to the lighting requirements...instead I'll place it in my smaller coral/invert only 10 gallon tank...any tips on lighting/ supplemental feeding for the worms?

 

[vetteguy53081]

A steal no doubt

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

A steal no doubt

Unfortunately that piece sold before I could get to it but the seller was apologetic since I had been messaging her telling her i wanted it (she just didn't see the messages) so she offered to pay half the delivery cost for this other piece which is the same price. Imo it's just as nice and about the same size even though I preferred the shape of the other...can't argue with that price for a piece like this though, especially when buying from considerate people!
Here's a pic that should be arriving in just a couple hours...

 

[vetteguy53081]

Unfortunately that piece sold before I could get to it but the seller was apologetic since I had been messaging her telling her i wanted it (she just didn't see the messages) so she offered to pay half the delivery cost for this other piece which is the same price. Imo it's just as nice and about the same size even though I preferred the shape of the other...can't argue with that price for a piece like this though, especially when buying from considerate people!
Here's a pic that should be arriving in just a couple hours...

Beautiful rock it is

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Beautiful rock it is

Actually just received it 30 minutes ago and acclimating now... salinity was off by about 1 ppt so I'm raising it .5ppt every 20 minutes now that it's at the right temp...sound slow enough?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Actually just received it 30 minutes ago and acclimating now... salinity was off by about 1 ppt so I'm raising it .5ppt every 20 minutes now that it's at the right temp...sound slow enough?

Assure temperature also adjusted and introduce at very low light intensity and place in area of moderate to medium water flow and moderate light.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas! Got it acclimated and wish I had a lens for my phone to take a picture! These little guys (and the fluorescent green Porites) are amazing! Well worth the $! Really hoping they adjust to my light schedule well and thrive in there since it'll probably be slightly more intense than what they're used to...almost wondering if they'd fare ok in my other tank but concerned the light would be too weak in there (no coral in that tank).

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Assure temperature also adjusted and introduce at very low light intensity and place in area of moderate to medium water flow and moderate light.

Do you think they'd like Reef Roids? Currently i add a few pinches once to twice a week for the corals and am also dosing amino acids but that's it since it's a coral/invert only tank atm...i could start dosing Phyto again if you think theyd appreciate that...

 

[vetteguy53081]

Do you think they'd like Reef Roids? Currently i add a few pinches once to twice a week for the corals and am also dosing amino acids but that's it since it's a coral/invert only tank atm...i could start dosing Phyto again if you think theyd appreciate that...

Preferably, phyto and most foods feather dusters eat such as baby brine shrimp and marine snow occasionally

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Preferably, phyto and most foods feather dusters eat such as baby brine shrimp and marine snow occasionally

Ok...as an alternative to regular Phyto and marine snow there's also this AF product that's a mixture of Phyto and zooplankton i linked here Here ...one bottle goes pretty far and since it's a mixture it might be a "two birds one stone" type of thing...what do you think? I was also thinking about increasing bacterioplankton populations with AF Pro Bio F (a carbon source for nano tanks) and just keep an airstone running for oxygenation...what do you think about that product and the Pro Bio F? The worms are really small right now so I doubt they could catch the baby brine or anything sizeable at all...