A Splash of Color - My SPS Peninsula Reef

[Fishy 1]

The art and techniques of bonsai translate directly to reef keeping and in particular the tree like growth patterns of Acropora sp. so don't ever think you're going off topic in that regard mate
If you want inspiration for your rock scape simply google images for 'bonsai rock planting' to see why the two hobbies mesh so well.

I still can't believe this happened today..........

Mate drops round on the way to a shopping mall which his wife was making him take her to on a Sunday......

She looks at the peninsula stand and get this:

' Oh is that for your new fish tank ' - strike one

' Yes it is ' i say through gritted teeth

' You should put a book case on this side ' pointing to the main viewing side - strike two

' Why would you want a book case on the side ' i could see my mate knew he was in trouble when i glared his way

' To make a feature of it in the room, otherwise it's just going to be a lot bigger nemo tank like your little one there ' - pointing to my ' little #%$^# nemo tank while she said it

Now i had edged to within a few feet of the knife block on my kitchen bench by this point and my mate is saying ' anyway we better get going to beat the crowds at the shops hon ' - i was already thinking of how to explain the deaths to the police.....

She was walking towards the door but worse was still to come, she spotted the pile of frag discs on the kitchen bench like the ones she saw in the tank and here my friends is the piece de resistance.....

' You should paint these ones all different bright colors and put them all around your fish tank to make the nemos happy ' - you know that bit in the movie just before the massive earthquake hits and the birds all fly off....... all the birds near my place flew off right at that moment.......

They both left uninjured and my mate knows never to bring her by again to check out my little #%$#% nemo tank or my little #$$^% book case ! :angryfire:

Ah so that is why the ground shook today. The words of a non reefing female are the harshest, they cut right into you heart and rip it out. If I was in your shoes mate I would have given Kevin "the nod" to "take care" of her:angryfire:. Now go and paint your frag plugs bright colors to make nemo happy:facepalm:

 

[stonecold]

Current tank looks great!! Will be tagging and looking forward to your new journey.

 

[biggles]

Current tank looks great!! Will be tagging and looking forward to your new journey.

Thanks very much mate

The guys are right Bello, you need to get out of the bloody jungle, put some clothes back on and help me get this reef on track mate - you're holding up the whole bloody build :hammer:

 

[tapio]

Thanks heaps for the kind words and encouragement guys The custom tanks will all be ordered through my LFS Marty.

I cleaned up the 65 gal and spread the sand around so the water is dirty but you can still see what's what for a starting point on our journey together into SPS peninsula madness......... :smokin:

That looks like a great start for your peninsula build!

 

[biggles]

That looks like a great start for your peninsula build!

Thanks mate, everything is going into the new tank so i have a good head start

I dropped a bag of Seachem PhosGuard in the sump a week ago to see how it compares to the Rowaphos i was using months back. So far it has noticeably lightened the pigments which were very deep and i think i'm seeing a slow improvement in growth. As long as things keep going the way they are i will leave the bag in and up the food when i think the water is clean enough to prevent the phos really bottoming out.

 

[cFloor]

I'm looking forward to following along on this one. With that much more volume will you be adding any fish that you couldn't keep in your 65 gallon? I'm upgrading to a 190 gallon as well right now and I'm definitely looking forward to keeping a few more larger fish. The last few pics you've posted have been really nice!

 

[biggles]

I'm looking forward to following along on this one. With that much more volume will you be adding any fish that you couldn't keep in your 65 gallon? I'm upgrading to a 190 gallon as well right now and I'm definitely looking forward to keeping a few more larger fish. The last few pics you've posted have been really nice!

Hi mate, thanks for following along. One of the main reasons i decided to bite the bullet and go much larger was so i could have a purple tang again. I had one in a 4x2x2 once even though i shouldn't have. Most people probably think it's a boring choice but for me they are stunning. I also want to add a nice angel that won't eat my acros lol.
I want a lot of small fish in the display for the constant colorful movement they impart on our rather stationary corals. The best example i can give of what i want to have fish wise is Richard's stunning SPS display - Jackson's 115 Gallon

All my fish will go into the new tank except the Anthias. The largest two are constantly annoying me and the other fish with their courting/breeding displays. Only the runty stunted little ugly one who i named Ratboy will be going into the peninsula. I like having a fish that visitors notice, sorta like a show fish...... 'what's wrong with that little ugly one ?' - 'nothing, he's just an ugly little fish' :thumbsup:

Here's a one month color comparison for the Troubster. The stupid rusty/peachy colored spath still refuses to go the extra 20% i think it needs to light up color wise. Hopefully it might brighten up with the water becoming cleaner but who knows :hammer:, it has a little housekeeper now days.
I don't know what the acro next to the spath is but it's coloring up really nicely and should be a beautiful colony i hope

28/10/14

27/11/14

 

[reefmutt]

Every shot of your tank is stunning. I've always been an admirer of bonsai. My yard is filled with Japanese maples.... Biggles! This will be a stunning thread. I am very much looking forward to its progression.
And if anything goes wrong, it's good to know that the tanks will be suitable for burying ignorant 'friends' in them, if need be..

 

[sahin]

Very nice Biggles...i am no longer surpised by colourful SPS pics from you...I've gotten used to seeing colourful SPS pics in your journal :beer:

Look forward to a display full of fish darting in and out of corals. Of course to see the darting in and out we need lots of cool videos

Biggles can you please summarise your whole filtration system at the moment? Also can you discuss FOOD input and WASTE output in your system? I ask this of you because you have your filtration and food input/waste output perfectly setup. This is the main concept most SPS keepers have trouble with and your input would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks mate.

 

[reefmutt]

+ 1
So, no lazy answers..
I want to be able to cut and paste into my thread.

 

[Jim Z.]

Hi Biggles,

Very nice colors on your Acros! That rusty Spath is a pretty cool find. I've been looking for a spath for my tank, but I would have to remove some water to fit in the new piece .

 

[Fishy 1]

I see you on the Photoshop again Biggles:facepalm:

 

[Piper27]

Biggles the blue tipped colony next to the spath is beautiful! I have the same species from what I can tell, got it from ausstrailia and it was green when I got it. I thought it was a spath but it started with the short fat branches like yours and I think its something else now. Its pinkish purple at the tips. If you find out the species let me know, its my favorite.

 

[glaukos]

Biggles that pic with that minion(yellow ) tang under that blue acro is nuts buddy!
Think i'll make it my backround for a while:dance:

Have nothing to say about your crazy colored sps:sad2::sad2::sad2:

 

[cFloor]

Hi mate, thanks for following along. One of the main reasons i decided to bite the bullet and go much larger was so i could have a purple tang again. I had one in a 4x2x2 once even though i shouldn't have. Most people probably think it's a boring choice but for me they are stunning. I also want to add a nice angel that won't eat my acros lol.
I want a lot of small fish in the display for the constant colorful movement they impart on our rather stationary corals. The best example i can give of what i want to have fish wise is Richard's stunning SPS display - Jackson's 115 Gallon

A purple tang would be a great choice! I had one years ago and might add one to the new tank. As far as Angels, I've had luck with a few not touching my SPS, but the red sea regal and goldflake would be my favorites. They never touch anything in my tank and mind their own.

 

[biggles]

Every shot of your tank is stunning. I've always been an admirer of bonsai. My yard is filled with Japanese maples.... Biggles! This will be a stunning thread. I am very much looking forward to its progression.
And if anything goes wrong, it's good to know that the tanks will be suitable for burying ignorant 'friends' in them, if need be..

Thanks Matt, Japanese maples are my favorite tree in the world lol. I had some beautiful trees many years ago and can i tell you mate - when i bought a red leafed maple the bloody thing stayed red without having to drip this and add that....... bloody acros !

Very nice Biggles...i am no longer surpised by colourful SPS pics from you...I've gotten used to seeing colourful SPS pics in your journal :beer:

Look forward to a display full of fish darting in and out of corals. Of course to see the darting in and out we need lots of cool videos

Biggles can you please summarise your whole filtration system at the moment? Also can you discuss FOOD input and WASTE output in your system? I ask this of you because you have your filtration and food input/waste output perfectly setup. This is the main concept most SPS keepers have trouble with and your input would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks mate.

Thanks for the kind words Sahin, i never have anything perfect as you should know by now mate lol. I'll make a post outlining what i do now and with what and the couple of changes i'll be making on the new tank to increase the nutrient processing capabilities of the system over the weekend for you mate but it's pretty basic and boring.

+ 1
So, no lazy answers..
I want to be able to cut and paste into my thread.

Oh here we go.......... i asked you 'What 150W bulbs will run mate' in your journal, obviously expecting to see a spectral chart, brief explanation of the gases used to produce said spectrum and i'm sure many of us thought you may even take us on a piccy tour of the bulb manufacturing facility......

We got instead this - ' I have 20 xm bulbs '

No lazy answers........ seriously Matt, you need to take a long hard look at yourself mate. :facepalm:

Hi Biggles,

Very nice colors on your Acros! That rusty Spath is a pretty cool find. I've been looking for a spath for my tank, but I would have to remove some water to fit in the new piece .

Hey Jim, it's a nice acro but as i said it's right on the verge of popping color wise constantly but i can't quite push it across the bloody line lol. Do you have a journal i can check out Jim. You better have one Jim, otherwise someone might think you're lazy.........

I see you on the Photoshop again Biggles:facepalm:

These night flash shots are resized and cropped, no PS or nothing just for you Rory.

 

[markalot]

Tang is saying you're lucky there's glass between you and him.

Wonderful colors Biggles.

 

[biggles]

Biggles the blue tipped colony next to the spath is beautiful! I have the same species from what I can tell, got it from ausstrailia and it was green when I got it. I thought it was a spath but it started with the short fat branches like yours and I think its something else now. Its pinkish purple at the tips. If you find out the species let me know, its my favorite.

Hey mate, it is a very pretty acro and i'll be sure to let you know what it is if and when i get an ID. I can't say i've ever seen any hint of green on it in my system but you know how differently the same acros can behave in different water

Biggles that pic with that minion(yellow ) tang under that blue acro is nuts buddy!
Think i'll make it my backround for a while:dance:

Have nothing to say about your crazy colored sps:sad2::sad2::sad2:

Thanks Mike, my yellow tang hides under the over hanging acros when i put the top down box in so he's always getting in the pics lol.

A purple tang would be a great choice! I had one years ago and might add one to the new tank. As far as Angels, I've had luck with a few not touching my SPS, but the red sea regal and goldflake would be my favorites. They never touch anything in my tank and mind their own.

Thanks for the info on your angels mate, the purple tang is a definite and i'll grab a small one if i see it from this point on as he can hang in the 65 gal for a couple of months without a prob. A regal sounds nice as they're beautifully colored and look great in a tank full of colorful acros. :thumbsup:

Tang is saying you're lucky there's glass between you and him.

Wonderful colors Biggles.

The tang hates me Mark lol, i'm always shining a torch or doing something to annoy him at night.


I'm going to Williamstown Aquarium today which is my new SPS LFS since the crash. This is where all my new treasures such as the speciosa and that crazy blue acro were sourced and they have some crazy LPS etc at times. If they don't mind i'll give you a piccy tour of the store so you can see where i now go to for 'the good stuff' lol. They have radions over the SPS and after seeing the same acro pieces under them for weeks i wouldn't hesitate to go with Radions if the world ended and my beloved Radiums were no longer made......

If there are any cool SPS in the sale tanks when i get there they'll be in my tank by this afternoon.

 

[reefmutt]

Oh... So now YOU'RE going to do a little piccy tour.... Nice....

Ever notice how close those two light sources sound? Radium, Radion... Marketing perhaps..
Love to see the tour and all the little Aussi gems that may be hiding in that shop.. Should be interesting..

How far do you have to travel to get to decent reef shops?

 

[biggles]

Oh... So now YOU'RE going to do a little piccy tour.... Nice....

Ever notice how close those two light sources sound? Radium, Radion... Marketing perhaps..
Love to see the tour and all the little Aussi gems that may be hiding in that shop.. Should be interesting..

How far do you have to travel to get to decent reef shops?

I have noticed the similarity Matt and i don't think it's a coincidence but who knows lol. I have a 40 min drive or 90 min drive to the only two LFS's worth visiting for SPS. I stopped going to Reeflections Aquarium though which is the one 90 mins away because for some ridiculous reason they started keeping the corals in 1.0235 which shuts them down and it takes them a long time to recover when i was putting them in water with the correct salinity.