A Splash of Color - My SPS Peninsula Reef

[bibarassa]

Biggles do you think that calcium and alkalinity supplementation methods could be a contributing factor for the amount of water changes?

 

[sahin]

Looking bloody too nice mate. As usual I'm very jealous of your SPS colours. :beer:

 

[ryanrid]

No probs mate

This little frag has really ugly hairy polyps......... and yes i'm that picky lol.

solution - add several angels to nip and retract them

 

[Fishy 1]

solution - add several angels to nip and retract them

Haha :lol::lolspin:

 

[tdb320reef]

Great colors!

 

[Wrangy]

You seriously have the most killer tank mate and I still can't believe I'm getting frags from the notorious Acro Man and his amazing side-kick Kaos Koala! lol

 

[Oldude]

Everything i get is wild collected from either Queensland or Western Aus reefs. I have a couple of nice frags from one of my LFS guys tank but that's it.

Andrew I think you might need to start importing some acros from Indonesia so you can get the granulosa you're looking for. :lolspin:

Seriously though your corals look terrific! I am envious of both the coral species & colors you are getting, nicely done. Love that sweet A.subulata (I think that is what is in post 532) so if that is your answer to the smooth bright skins you mentioned in my thread I say - mission accomlished. :beer:

 

[biggles]

Biggles, in which way do you make your islands? Looking at your video on feeding fish it seems as if there weren't rocks under the corals"¦.a very original look...:eek1:

I use regular live rock but as little as possible to create the effect i want, i also place many acros almost on the sand so as to hide bare rock bases. You can see from that last pic of the ugly little blue acro that it's about 1/4" from the sand and gets half buried overnight if i try to 'tweak' the flow lol. It looks really pretty right after i blast it free with the turkey baster and those ugly polyps are fully retracted. :deadhorse1:

Biggles that was the most professional sump video I've ever seen. The tank looks pretty big in the vid, lots of space for all the revoltingly beautiful corals you have to grow. I'm getting bored with the flubber in my tank so I'll be pestering you with questions as I try to go SPS dominant in my tank:beer:. I have put an order for the LFS to get me a nice branching monti (something nice and easy to start my collection with). So that should be hear soon:bounce:

Hey Rory, good to hear you're going to add some SPS mate - the branching monti sound cool, i've never seen one for sale....... not ever lol.

Biggles do you think that calcium and alkalinity supplementation methods could be a contributing factor for the amount of water changes?

I do the water changes for one reason only mate, to reassure myself that the trace elements aren't being depleted even though i have no idea what is at what level lol. At the moment they're helping with the nitrates as well though.

Looking bloody too nice mate. As usual I'm very jealous of your SPS colours. :beer:

Thanks mate

solution - add several angels to nip and retract them

Lol screw that for a joke Ryan.....

Great colors!

Thanks very much mate

 

[biggles]

You seriously have the most killer tank mate and I still can't believe I'm getting frags from the notorious Acro Man and his amazing side-kick Kaos Koala! lol

Lol thanks buddy :beer:

Andrew I think you might need to start importing some acros from Indonesia so you can get the granulosa you're looking for. :lolspin:

Seriously though your corals look terrific! I am envious of both the coral species & colors you are getting, nicely done. Love that sweet A.subulata (I think that is what is in post 532) so if that is your answer to the smooth bright skins you mentioned in my thread I say - mission accomlished. :beer:

Thanks a lot Greg, i love the noodly look they get when they're shooting tips everywhere like yours are - very cool looking acro imho.
I'm sure there's a few more pale skins in the ocean with my name on them Greg....... an acro keepers work is never done as i'm sure you know mate lol.....

 

[bibarassa]

Biggles, but in which way you can: "place many acros almost on the sand so as to hide bare rock bases"? i.e. how do you glue the coral to the rock?
and regarding the size of rock, are they as large as a "fist" or more? (I ask you this because in my cryptic I've a lot of rock as large as "fist"…and next saturday I remove my dsb and I'll try to do a "minimalist" scape….. if I can, like yours or like Scott & Tammy's 3ft tank)
Have you got a video where I can see how you make your islands?

 

[biggles]

Biggles, but in which way you can: "place many acros almost on the sand so as to hide bare rock bases"?

I'm off on thursday so i'll take some top down videos for you so you can see how i made the formations. It is indeed made up of many fist sized pieces, in many cases i made sure a rock would sit where i wanted it to and then i attached the acros to the rock outside the tank and let the glue/putty dry for 30 mins in the sump before adding the rock to the existing rockwork of that particular island with some more glue and putty. If i wanted a small rock overhang where one wasn't i shaped a small rock and glued the acro to it before then gluing the small overhang rock to the larger existing scape.
I cut the bases of most pieces flat with a diamond wheel grinder so they were stable even when not attached to the main rock work.

Your plan to use many smaller sized rocks and make a minimalist scape is a good idea. The most common mistake that many many reefers still make is going to high with rocks at the start. You can always add rocks on top of lower rocks to create a perfect spot for a new piece but you can't remove large rocks up high as easily. Don't scape thinking you have to make a complete guaranteed to be perfect for your acros masterpiece rock scape. Take your time and make a base that will suit the type of look you're going for, i spent two weeks making the two end islands alone and the three islands i've almost completed so far are all acro scaped taking all three viewing sides into consideration.

 

[bibarassa]

Thanks a lot mate, it's very kind of you to make some videos...................what kind of glue are you using?

 

[cFloor]

I really enjoyed the video on the previous page. Potatohead getting that special hand fed treatment was cool and funny at the same time. Tank is looking really nice

 

[trueblackpercula]

Boggles got a question that I must ask and hope you can do your best to answer. Have you taken PAR readings by the blue tenius? I would really like to know how much light is getting and for how long. It has to be the best one I have ever seen with that much blue on it. It looks better then a true Oregon tort lol. Again thanks for all the inspiration you have provided.

 

[Oldude]

an acro keepers work is never done as i'm sure you know mate lol.....

Andrew I say acros are like jello, there's always room for more.
That said, I'm not sure if you'll get the reference to the old "jello" commercial - might not have aired in your part of the world.

 

[martinphillip03]

Buggles, Tank is coming along very nicely. Can't wait to see how it develops.

Marty

 

[1000_smiles]

Hey Biggles,
I can't remember if you have mentioned it before, but I was wondering how you treat new acros. Dipping, QT, acclimation? Thanks.

 

[Fishy 1]

Hey Rory, good to hear you're going to add some SPS mate - the branching monti sound cool, i've never seen one for sale....... not ever lol.

Hmmm, really?!?!. I'm a little worried now:worried:. They were going to try and get me one. Montipora Digitata is what I'm after, so they were going to get one in just for me, but knowing the ozzy SPS identification saga, who knows what I'll get:lol:.

Here's what I want: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+322+473&pcatid=473

 

[biggles]

Thanks a lot mate, it's very kind of you to make some videos...................what kind of glue are you using?

It's no problem at all my friend I use any type of super glue gel but usually Loctite 3g (1oz) tubes because they have long pointy tips that i can use underwater to squirt more glue into any spots i think need reinforcing. I tried the larger reef super glue gels but you waste heaps with it going off and the bottle tips are only good for outside the tank work. It might cost a bit more buying the tubes but the convenience factor far outweighs that for me.
You guys will like this, i have a plumber i use a lot and he uses the aquakneedit putty for temp fixes until he can get back to fix a leak etc. I told him to try putting super glue gel on the putty as well so it sealed and stuck to the pvc pipe better - he tried it and the response was ' that glue trick worked a legend mate .'

This means the addition of glue to the putty did indeed have a profoundly positive influence on the adherence properties of said putty. I speak fluent tradiespeak............

Here's a sparky (electrickerman) term that most don't understand at all.

After showing the sparky the electrical problem and asking him to sort it out if he then says 'hmmmm' - that's $100- before he even gets a screwdriver out. If he's rubbing his chin whilst saying 'hmmmm' then double it to $200- tacked onto the job just because it's not run of the mill stuff.

A 'security gate specialist' quoted $600- to straighten one of the posts at work bent when an idiot drove into it. The acro tractor took care of it in 15 mins - Kevin is a legend on the tractor :thumbsup:

I really enjoyed the video on the previous page. Potatohead getting that special hand fed treatment was cool and funny at the same time. Tank is looking really nice

Thanks mate, Potatohead is my favorite thing in the tank after the acros and he gets spoiled rotten with his own tweezer full of mysis prior to the rest going in the water for the fish. He's hopeless at grabbing them out of the current so i let him gobble up a heap until he climbs onto my hand at which point i know he's stuffed full and can't eat anymore lol.

Boggles got a question that I must ask and hope you can do your best to answer. Have you taken PAR readings by the blue tenius? I would really like to know how much light is getting and for how long. It has to be the best one I have ever seen with that much blue on it. It looks better then a true Oregon tort lol. Again thanks for all the inspiration you have provided.

Hey Michael, i've never taken PAR readings but i can tell you it's in medium light, it doesn't react well to high light and in low light it turns an even deeper blue but growth is almost non existent. It's 14" under the water and the 400W Radium bulb is 12" above the water. It's about 1ft away from being directly under the halide bulb. When i make the new hood i'll be dropping the halides to 8", the height now is because i have the old hood resting on timber supports so the whole lighting rig is 3-4" too high including the T5's.
Thanks for the kind words mate

Andrew I say acros are like jello, there's always room for more.
That said, I'm not sure if you'll get the reference to the old "jello" commercial - might not have aired in your part of the world.

We don't have jello here Greg, is jello the crystals you mix with water and put in the fridge to set - that's jelly. Jam is what Americans put with peanut butter and eat (gag) not jelly. Now i'm pretty sure that Canada shares a border or is part of France or something like that so can i ask what you call Jam in Europe Greg ? Don't suppose you can see the Eiffel Tower from your place can you, pics would be good.

Buggles, Tank is coming along very nicely. Can't wait to see how it develops.

Marty

Thanks Marty, finger slip on the keyboard did it mate.............

Hey Biggles,
I can't remember if you have mentioned it before, but I was wondering how you treat new acros. Dipping, QT, acclimation? Thanks.

Hi mate, i float the bag for 10 mins and then remove the acro from the bag and check for any visible pests before placing the piece onto the display bottom. I keep my water at 1.0260 and both my LFS's are 1.0250-1.0255 so the salinity is fine and both stores use NSW which is where i keep my parameters. They stay on the bottom until i see good PE at least at night, and then i start thinking about where i want to place the piece.

Hmmm, really?!?!. I'm a little worried now. They were going to try and get me one. Montipora Digitata is what I'm after, so they were going to get one in just for me, but knowing the ozzy SPS identification saga, who knows what I'll get:lol:.

Here's what I want: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+322+473&pcatid=473

Don't stress Rory, i'm sure they'll get you a piece of what you're after mate. I just haven't ever come across any probably because i don't get to new stock quick enough most times. I'm actually looking forward to seeing what yours looks like buddy

This is what that crazy blue acro looked like when i bought it - the first night in the old display. It was $90- and is the most expensive acro i've ever purchased. Size was about 4" long x 2" wide. I walked into the store an hour after the acro had been unpacked from the collector's poly box and as soon as i spotted it i said to the girl walking towards me ' i'll take that blue one there '. ' Do you want to know how much it is first sir because i think it's quite expensive ? ' ' No i don't care how much it is and i also want that all fluoro tabling thing too please, no need to bag them yet because i'll be getting more stuff after i have a wander '.

That all took place within the first twenty seconds of my entering the store. If you see something that is standout and potentially awesome in a shop tank don't mess around and um and arr about it because while you're wandering around looking at fish while you ponder spending that much on an acro someone like me will do what i described above - it happened to me once and it's never happened again.

 

[Electrobes]

Hmmm, really?!?!. I'm a little worried now:worried:. They were going to try and get me one. Montipora Digitata is what I'm after, so they were going to get one in just for me, but knowing the ozzy SPS identification saga, who knows what I'll get:lol:.

Here's what I want: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+322+473&pcatid=473

I remember the days when Digis were everywhere! I am still surprised how hard it's been to find them. :lol: I currently have just about all species, though some will need proper identification to fully determine if they are actually Digis.

Biggles - Did you have to pay for your own repairs? :uhoh3: