37 Gallon Reef Development

Snapped a few pictures on the day that my reef turned 5 months. It's really starting to fill out and I've slowly seen coralline replacing the nuisance algae.

Duncanopsammia axifuga


Ricordea yuma, this one has a taste for chalices. Expanded at night and killed my OG bubblegum chalice and about half of my rescue pink chalice.


Freshly fragged pink Stylophora


My non Euphyllia LPS garden with a few Acanthastrea lordhowensis, Blastomussa wellsi, and Favites pentagona


This guy has grown quite the base since I've gotten it, but I haven't seen any other growth indicators... until I looked on the backside that faces up to the light. Acropora 'bonsai'
 
Added one of my last remaining pieces to the tank before I must be content and watch them grow. It's an ORA red goniopora, it's shown on the sand bed, but has since been moved to the middle of the reef and in some decent flow to show off its polyps.



I'll try to get a few pictures of the blue mouths.



And with it being a Euphyllia dominated tank, I couldn't resist getting my first E. ancora, wall hammer. This one is a bit larger than it seemed at the store, but it's coloration is stellar, even for being a green.



 
Decided to get a top down shot of the bonsai Acropora to show some new growth.



New Caulastrea I got for babysitting a 240 gallon reef during a friend's vacation:



Action shot (8'x2'x2')



Montipora setosa



Up close of the Aussie splatter hammer



New Blastomussa wellsi, it's solid red with a green mouth, but showing hints of orange around the skirt.



Full tank shot from last week, RBTA has resumed its yamika spot on the upper right side.



 
So I've got some good news and some bad news. I've seen some reduced polyp extension in my bonsai Acropora and after a few days of watching closely, concluded that I had red bugs in the reef. I didn't see them on any other Acropora, so I sought out a dip to see what I could find. Obtained some TLF ReVive from a local reef couple and dipped my bonsai.

Followed the instructions on the dip, noticed a bit better polyp extension after the frag was reintroduced to the reef, then I went to town investigating the bathing solution. I've got a more simple monocular microscope that has a camera attachment to show pictures and video on my lap top, but I'm in search of the connecting cable, so in the mean time, a phone camera up to the eye piece ill have to do.

After sorting through some copepods and an "enormous" Amphipods, I found some culprits. They are yelow in color with a large red spot, I believe these are the infamous red bugs, but from what I have read, that's a general term applied to a few genera of parasitic invertebrates plaguing Acropora corals.





I have also read that one of the best ways to irradicate them is to use Interceptor, a heart worm medication commonly used in dogs. While this soundsgreat, I really don't like the idea of killing EVERY invertebrate in the reef including all beneficial copepods, amphipods, stomatella, and any clean up crew that cannot be collected and removed.

I'll be preforming a series of dips and recording what I find under the miscroscope to see if I can put a serious dent in the population, or if in fact, I need to "nuke" the tank. The first round included all 5of my Acropora and I found 6 red bugs and some egg masses form an unknown invertebrates. Red strings of eggs, similar in appearance to toad eggs on a much smaller scale.

Andnow, who doesn't like ridiculous actinic shots to distract you (me) from the above nightmare?!

Candy Apple Red with a new polyp


Euphyllia parancora sharing the limelight with a Stylophora


Blastomussa wellsi


Zoanthid garden


Utter Chaos Palythoa coloring up nicely


Should be getting a new camera soon, so I'm hoping to see an improvement in pictures. They all seem to have a hazy overcast to them.
 
Time for some updated pictures of the reef. I recently got ahold of a yellow gel filter to take some more accurate pictures under the actinic lighting, but I think it stretches it a bit and falls under the 'too good to be true' category.

Aussie splatter Euphyllia parancora


Aussie prism Favia/dragon soul Goniastrea


Favites pentagona


Montipora setosa and key lime colored Zoanthids


My onyx clowns laid their first clutch of eggs in my tank on September 5, 2014 and I was able to watch the full development and try to take some decent pictures before they hatched. I don't have any extra tanks, green water, or rotifers set up, so there are no plans to raise the young at this point. I did source some ceramic tiles for them to lay on from here on out, so egg removal will be possible.

That being said, I placed the tile near their anemone and found it knocked to the ground last night with new eggs on the rockwork (9/19/2014). Maybe next clutch?





There's a couple new additions to the reef that are really pushing the limits of my real estate, but I couldn't pass on them.

Aussie "yellow" Euphyllia parancora


Seduction people eater Palythoa. Was looking for some nice salted agaves, but this guy will do just fine, thanks Ty!


Really wasn't overly impressed with this Caulastrea, but since moving it to my rockwork and changing the angle so that the top side is visible and not the skeletal structure, it has grown on me.


An overall
 
Thanks man! It's been a fun project for sure. The next round of upgrades will be finishing my stand and adding a controller towards the end of this year.
 
I've began to run out of real estate in the reef and will be relocating a few corals to make room for some new ones. Mostly putting zoas in the rockwork and getting rid of a few softies in favor of LPS.

I did add a new rock to the set up to incorporate my evergrowing hammer coral collection.







 
Nice tank! I had that same one years ago and I wasn't really sold on the dimensions, but you've certainly made it work. As far as killing bugs/worms in the reef, you can also dip your coral in Bayer Advanced Insect killer. 1-10 m/l per 4oz of water will kill any pests but not harm the coral. Check it out.
 
Nice tank! You are the first person I have seen on here that has the same 37 I do. I like what you did with your rock work, I had a hard time trying to get mine to fit and give me plenty of room for coral. I think I have finally found a look that pleases me. I too have a pretty LPS dominated reef. Once again great job I'll tag along for any updates!
 
aggie13reef said:
Nice tank! You are the first person I have seen on here that has the same 37 I do. I like what you did with your rock work, I had a hard time trying to get mine to fit and give me plenty of room for coral. I think I have finally found a look that pleases me. I too have a pretty LPS dominated reef. Once again great job I'll tag along for any updates!
Click to expand...

It good to find other 37 gallon owners.
 
The dimensions were definitly a bear to work with and creating depth in a 12" wide tank is certainly difficult. I tried to make my rock work as pleasing as possible with the end picture in mind and leaving room for coral to grow and fill in the rest of the reef. An upgrade has been on my mind, but I may wait for a move to pull the trigger.

I will have to try out the Bayer insect killer for any potential red bugs. My concern is that while killing them on all of the sps frags, will the red bugs and eggs remain in the rock work and continue to plague my Acropora?

My first plan was for a 29 gallon tank, but after seeing the increased height of the 37, I'm glad I went this route, even over a 40 breeder. Thanks again for all the compliments, nice to have some followers!
 
Picked up a new sps piece a few days ago at a local sale, it's an ORA mint pavona. Really cool piece with very detailed textures and growth structure far different from any of my other corals. I'll get it epoxied onto the reef later today during the water change and hopefully it takes off from there. Anyoe else have Pavonas?



My utter chaos are gaining color very nicely and are up to 6 polyps now, quite the screamer under actinics, too.



Although these all look like the same shot, eventually I'd like to do a progression shot of my Montipora setosa growth over the last few months.

 
The onyx clownfish continue to lay egg clutches in the reef, and after a few months, they have accepted the porcelain anemone crab and allow him to reside in the bubble tip anemone with them. Normally he hangs out on the underside of the rose, but today he was a bit more adventurous.







I moved my wall hammer coral to a more open area of the reef to give it some stretching room, and it has taken it quite literally. I've not seen it's sweepers before, but after noticing some closed Palythoas, I did a bit of investigating and found the hammer to be the culprit.



Close up of a Ricordea yuma for good measure

 
Alright guys, let's call this a new chapter in my reef aquarium. First off, I got a new phone, galaxy s5, and am hoping the pictures will turn out a bit better than the previous ones. Second, I found a deal on a Gen 2 Radion LED light that could not be passed up and hung it over the reef a few days ago. I've been tinkering with it on my lap top and can't wait to see some new growth and better colors from my corals. Coralline has finally started to get a footing on my reef and I'm wondering if it's later start wouldbe to the army of fan worms that are throughout the reef.Maybe their calcium tubes have been using the extra calcium? I've been scraping my coralline covered plug sin hopes of it spreading quicker. November 13 will be the reef's 8 month mark. Without further ado, here are some pictures.





New mummy eye/bubblegum chalice. Also a Euphyllia rescue, that I'm hoping is E. yaeyamaensis


What I believe is 4 Acanthastrea lordhowensis and a Micromussa sp. in the middle (smaller purple/mint)




 
It's amazing that what's started as a simple build/reef has grown in such a relative short time. You are nearing the year mark and your Lps are looking more and more like they have always been there! Maybe a birthday party among our local group is in order ��

Ty
 
Thanks Ty, I owe a lot of thanks to you for constant brain picking, excellent coral selection, and supplying me with RODI water for the past 8 months. We should definitely organize a meeting this winter when other hobbies are near impossible to do. This is tank season!
 
37 Gallon Reef Development

+1 on a group meeting. Glad to have another EcoTech-aholic on the team! That RBTA though!! Glorious.
 
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