Anthelia does not need light

I've got an HOB skimmer. I keep some LR rubble in the return chamber of it. As well as a single hermit crab to keep the rubble clean.


Anyway, I've noticed this bit of anthelia develop in there. It went from a spec to 2 heads about 2 inches long and very white. It's been growing for at least 3 weeks now.


Anyway, it grows MUCH slower without light and is pretty colorless with out it... but, apparently, it doesn't need light to survive (the way my tank is setup, there is no T5 residual light getting into the skimmer area and maybe just a little of my ceiling halogen bulbs getting in some indirect light.

Just thought it was interesting so I shared.

There's a sponge on the output, so I have no concerns of it making it to the DT...

 

That does not surprise me Peredhil

I have found this stuff alive round the back of the reef after my tank strip down last year
you never get the rock back exactly how it was, and thus some rock was covering rock that had previously been expossed to light - yet Anthelia developed from there and grew out towards the light, hence I noticed it

Steve

 

Nice!! You know, I've been wondering if I could put rubble into my HOB skimmer for a while. Does it work well??

 

yeah, it works well for me. Means I got to take some extra steps when I clean the skimmer (every 4-6 months) but no biggy really.

I keep a hermit in there to keep it clean from the debri it eventually collects and builds up. It often comes out of its shell so it can maneuver among the rubble. That's kind of neat too.



I'm cleaning the skimmer today hopefully so I'll be cleaning the anthelia out..