A Mixed Reef in Maryland

[Reef Frog]

Beautiful tank, good job! I would try to knock out the aiptasia next.

Thanks!

Ah yes my beloved volontary anenomies. I absently-minded pulled a random older photo to post (new pic poster here) so the tank wasn't really ready for prime time. Kind of like inviting Martha Stwart over the morning after the Super Bowl party I guess! I will redeem myself with a spic 'n span new & improved full tank photo soon.

The Aptasia are not a problem really. I zap em with AptasiaX every 3-4 weeks or so and they are easy to control. For me, their appearance ebbs & flows. I have noticed over the years they expand in numbers more quickly under higher nutrient conditions - especially when feeding planktonic sized foods like oyster eggs, freeze dried zooplankton, cyclopseeze and the like. I can go a few months without seeing any (except for a few well hidden individuals) and I don't think I can recall them doing any permanent damage. It sounds odd, but sometimes I find aptasia sniping fun. My nephew has become quite a decent aptasia sniper and is disappointed when he comes over and there's nothing to zap. I still need to supervise him and make sure no lethal blob of goo lands on top of a coral.

If you look closely you'll see some bubble algae, hair algae & a few other pests in this tank. They were all once a pestilence at one time but I was able to deal with them all one by one as they came. And now they are all 95% under control with just basic maintenance. I use GFO & change it every 3 weeks (ideally) for best results. I also blow the LR periodically and run blue/white floss 75%-90% for mechanical filtration. I skim wet about 40% of the time, skim dry 40% and sometimes turn it off for a few days sometimes. I only rarely run a small bag of GAC if I happen to notice a green or yellow tint to the water. My water changes are infrequent due to laziness mostly....10% normally but sometimes 20%. Class cleaning is necessary maybe every 3 days. It's an easy, semi lassie fare low tech approach that works for me - sometimes I do slack off and something or the other starts to grow, but I'm able to get back on track quickly. I hope my luck holds, as I plan to add a few select Acros & a clam in the next year and need to take every precaution against introducing species-specific parasites into my aquarium.

 

[Reef Frog]

nice arrangement, very colourful!

Thanks NOY! I've admired your NPS work for a long time. I still am aiming to get some of that blue sponge you grow and just posted about in the NPS forum.

 

[Tweaked]

Reef Frog, more info on that gorgeous red acan colony. Take my money!

 

[Reef Frog]

Thanks Tweaked.

Assuming you were referring to the Acan Bowerbanki on the rock? Actually an excellent local SW-only LFS has several 1-2 polyp frags in stock now at a reasonable price. But they don't ship so you'd need to drive to MD!

I'll be doing a small Acan show & tell soon. But my A. Bowerbanki is about 3.5 years old. I acquired it as a small ~6 polyp colony (can't remeber exactly but undo have early pics marooned on an old camera). It has approximately doubled in size over that time - all the growth has been the polyps on the lowest course, hugging the rock.

It has also grown upward, becoming more rounded. I don't consider it a fast grower, but it does expand. Not that it adds new polyps there because the area is full already - but it seems it's laying down new layers of calcium underneath the top polyps.

I feel they need to be eventually mounted to LR to grow out. I don't think they can accomplish this on a sand bed or being on a frag rack long term. But I may be wrong there. I feed it 3-6 times per month and think that helps it grow and stay healthy.

 

[dunkinbanks.db]

In need of help what's a good color program for coral

 

[Reef Frog]

Love the colors!! Which ATI bulbs are you running?

Thanks. I started 5 years ago with 10K and actnic bulbs. Now I'm using ATI 3 Coral Plus and 3 Blue Plus like so many others. This combination looks good to me and brings fluorescent colors out while not making the tank "too blue."

However in my tank the light seems powerful enough to sometimes lighten or even bleach LPS, Palys & even SPS like montis & Stylos. Often it takes a lengthy aclimation procedure to get it right, and sometimes even then I can't keep things like trumpets, chalice & Acans in the top 1/3 of the tanks happy, unless I can find some shading or mount them off center, to the sides.

I can't blame this on the bulbs as there are other variables in play: the ballasts, the fact that the light is maybe 4" from the water's surface, etc. I run a 10-11 hour photo period and I don't have seperate lighting channels. I've never had the opportunity to test things out with a PAR meter. But I am satisfied with these bulbs. These pics are under 8 month old bulbs. I change them at 11 or 12 months.

 

[Reef Frog]

Acan Lord.

This one was especially sensitive to high light. It began slowly bleaching when I bought it about 3 years ago. It is now mounted on the vertical in the bottom 1/3 of the tank. Color darkened, growth slowed but it has no horizontal areas to expand.

Same experience as above. It's the perfect spot but no real opportunities for major growth.

A rainbow variety I've had for 3 months. Temporary position and its thriving, although the colors, while nice, aren't as vibrant and varied as when under the seller's Radion Gen 3. I should have taken a pic while it was in his tank but didn't. The closeup pic below is accurate to what the eye sees but is missing some subtle colors. And the iPhone 6 camera shows its limitations here. It receives a direct flow from the Vortec MP40 @ ~40% on the opposite panel - just enough to make the polyos "jiggle" a little bit.

It needs to be mounted on a rock. In the pic I just turned the MP40 to 100% for a few minutes during a quick detrius removing session. You can see how the sand blew up to touch the polyps. IMO this is a dangerous thing if left uncorrected. I think I want to create a small island on the sand bed, mounting this on the top and seeing if the polyos will expand downward. Or even a flat piece of LR. But the location which seems to be to this Acan's liking is tight on room. And a bubble coral to the right could be a problem eventually but it sits on its own island rock and can be moved.

Close up. The last pic doesn't show the colors very well. I've heard about some people saying that some "rainbow" Acan Lords lose some of their coloration over time. Let's see what happens.

Bowerbsnki

All new growth since purchase is on the bottom rung, hugging the rock. Maybe 15 new polyps but it's taken a long time. The skeleton on top seems to grow upward and the polyps seem to expand in size with it. Hopefully it will now eventually grow outward on some horizontal space. It's positioned below the 1/2 mark of tank depth, off to the extreme left side where the bulbs/tubes are the least intense. In a larger tank, I can imagine a garden of these in multicolor varieties. Flow here moderate/low. This coral has been fed regularly since I I bought it. I feed all of these Acans occasionally when I see the polyps out.

 

[Reef Frog]

In need of help what's a good color program for coral

If you could provide more detail to your question, that would be helpful.

I think the best coloration happens when most of all of the following conditions are met. Not listed in sequence of importance. Just my opinions:

-The right spectrum of light
-The right light intensity & photo period
-Proper flow for the individual coral
-The right position in the tank
-Low nutrient water.Skimming, sometimes mechanical filtering for detrius removal, good live rock and the associated denitrifying bacteria, prudent feeding, use of GFO & maybe carbon if necessary. Water changes. Some nutrients in small amounts as well as some organic matter like fish waste is beneficial but should be kept in check.
- Feed the corals but don't go overboard.
- Maintain alkalinity, calcium & magnesium levels at good levels.

I don't believe in many additives on the market, but have dosed amino acids infrequently with good results. It's very infrequent and well below label recommendations and only if I see a change that warrants attention.

 

[mke07]

what part of Maryland are you from? im just north of Baltimore county

 

[peacetypes6]

what part of Maryland are you from? im just north of Baltimore county

So you're in PA?

To the OP, thanks for sharing! I think I have seen this tank on the local FB groups. Keep up the good work!

 

[rsnapp31]

Very Nice mature Reed

 

[Phludd]

Well placed color. I have a mixed reef but nothing as colorful as that. Very nice.

 

[Reef Frog]

Yellow Clown Goby perches on a Montipora Setosa. An orange hewed pink looks good with the bright yellow of the Goby. Though an SPS it does great with my LPS. A fast grower. The entire colony is maybe close to 3 years old, started from 2 frags mounted side by side in the bottom of the aquarium.

Trumpet or Candy Cane
Easily bleached under my T5s if mounted too high in the tank. I've had luck mounting them on the horizontal as seen here. This photo was with a different camera about a year ago. The bubble algae is under much better control now. It is only hanging on in a few spots in the tank that I can't reach for removal. But I still have trouble from time to time with algae colonizing the exposed skeleton under the polyps from time to time.

I guess this variety is where the informal name of "Candy Cane" was inspired by this variety. I had seen this morph in books for years but never saw one for sale. Last year I got lucky and saw this small colony in a local coral retailer and have never seen one since. I don't know if it's hard to find elsewhere.

A pic of my Yellow Clown Goby in his or her favorite perch, a Pavona. A fast growing coral has an interesting shape with a light green mint green color.

A branching SPS. I forgot the species but it's not an Acro. Nice color, very florescent. It's in a shady location and is a slow grower as a result. I want a few more branching SPS to add balance and interst to the tank.

A shady spot with a Yellow Scroll coral and 2 varieties of leptastrea. The turquoise w orange polyps is spreading quickly over the rock but the colors are somewhat faded, but look better than in the photo. The "gold coin"'leptastrea hasn't spread much but has great color.

A chalice coral mounted high in the tank but to the far right, so the light it recieves is moderate. It's actually a more attractive "Halloween"'orange than the photo shows. This frag is expanding slowly, out competing some GSP as it grows. Notice the feeding tentacles ready for a meal. There was no way to get it off the frag plug in one piece so I mounted the ceramic plug. So the shape looks clunky but hopefully it will improve with time.

A small colony of palys. They look like Zoas to me but were sold as Palys. Very bright centers. Mounted off to the side in low light.

Bleeding Apple Scoly. I think I paid $100 for this 3-4 years ago. I now see similar ones priced at $200-$300 locally and on line. I wonder if that's due to increased demand or reduced supply? This has kind of put a damper on my goal of having a grouping of these guys. This coral recessed on me quite a bit shortly after I bought it. I disinfected the exposed skeleton up to the tissue, fed it and let it recover in low light. Lickily the tissue regrew completely. It's one of the best floresing corals I have found.

 

[Reef Frog]

Thanks for the kind comments Peace, Phludd, rsnapp.

mke, I'm in Frederick County. Peace, I haven't posted on FB as my account is trapped in an old computer and I have forgotten the original password. I'm going to try and fix the situation and check into some groups Ibe been told about.

 

[Reef Frog]

Well placed color. I have a mixed reef but nothing as colorful as that. Very nice.

Thanks Phludd. It's interesting you mentioned placement. I try to place different colors where they will complement or contrast with each other. Of course this urge must be tempered with consideration to where the coral will do best in regards to light, flow and neighbors likely to sting one another.

I design and choose corals mainly on color and occasionally on a unique shape like my Pavona. Finding stuff in reds, pinks and greens is easy. Purple & blue is much harder but doable. Orange is hard to find for me and yellow the very hardest of all to find. I guess that seems why I tend to choose yellow fish if they'll work in my tank.

 

[Phludd]

I completely understand. I have 29gal cube thats a mixed reef and with limited space its a constant struggle with placement. Again, well done.

 

[peacetypes6]

Thanks for the kind comments Peace, Phludd, rsnapp.

mke, I'm in Frederick County. Peace, I haven't posted on FB as my account is trapped in an old computer and I have forgotten the original password. I'm going to try and fix the situation and check into some groups Ibe been told about.

Look into Mason Dixon Reef Club-they are out of Hagerstown mainly.