A Splash of Color - My SPS Peninsula Reef

[whiteshark]

That squarespot Anthias is amazing.

 

[rodneyri]

nice pics biggles

 

[biggles]

I think you should see them mate, especially the fairy since it ate before lights out.

Haha lol, well that makes two of us, I'm off to bed

They both came out as soon as the lights were on the first morning and both of them are darting in and out of the reef all day and eating with all the other fish

Hey Biggles,

I just finished getting a new floor put in our basement and put away 4 cords of firewood. So if the wife stays distracted, I may have enough time to get a tank journal started:lolspin:. That's on my to do list!

That's a nice shop--I'd like to see some of those frags here in the US. I refuse to pay 100 dollars for a frag that's the size of a gnat and those frags have some size to them...........................Jim

Hey Jim, let me know as soon as you get the journal going mate. The only reason i was able to buy the two frags was because one of the LFS guys cuts them from his own colonies. All the wild stuff is either broken off branches or small intact colonies. $40-$70 is the normal range for most acros i see for sale.

Great tour!!
Magic, eh?? Explains a LOT!!
I always thought I had been drugged and date raped... Thank goodness it was all magic. Makes me feel much better to be poor..
Those Poseidon missiles are called fire fish around here.. Poseidon missile is very dramatic.
Don't stop talking about the little stuff, biggles, it's basically what got us all here!
I'm enjoying this ride!

Thanks Matt, beware LFS guys wearing wizard hats mate.......:hammer:

A very fair question, only an experienced reefer like you would ask. I have learned so much from your threads!

Marty

I thought so too Marty. I'm not an idiot, obviously i'd need to add a second pot as the fish grew in size.

That squarespot Anthias is amazing.

Thanks for telling me what it was mate lol. He was nearly 4" long and looked quite stunning in real life.

nice pics biggles

Thanks Rodney

This might interest some of you.

It took me three tries but i finally managed to get two different color variants of SSC to co-exist. By co-exist i mean one is going to overgrow the other one with no stinging hopefully. The small frag is much more cream and pink whereas the larger SSC is mint green with more red polyps. I've never seen one acro able to lay out mesenterial filaments over the polyps of another without one or the other attacking the rival. This happens daily for extended periods and so far neither acro looks to be stinging the other.
Anyway it should be interesting to see how the whole thing grows out over time - SSC Frankenstein.

The seri has not managed to make friends with the red milli as you can see by the white branches lol. I dropped the cutters onto the SSC earlier which is why there are broken off tips top center of the pic :facepalm:

 

[Fishy 1]

Looks great buddy. Now tell me Biggles, how close can SPS be placed to each other?

 

[markalot]

Random question ... what temperature do you run this tank at?

 

[Fishy 1]

Random question #2 do you have a tank controller and how do you dose calcium, mag and ALK etc.

 

[biggles]

Looks great buddy. Now tell me Biggles, how close can SPS be placed to each other?

Thanks Rory. Unfortunately there is no simple answer to that question mate. A good guide for acros would be 2-3" but it all depends on the species and growth pattern of each particular piece as to which way it will grow and or encrust. If you wanted to lay out say ten frag discs on your rocks i would space them at roughly 3" intervals i guess.

Random question ... what temperature do you run this tank at?

The temp swings from 25C - 26.5 daily or 77 - 80F Mark.

Random question #2 do you have a tank controller and how do you dose calcium, mag and ALK etc.

No i don't have a controller. I drip the alk dose in 1L of RO over about 20 hours. The calcium i put through the ATO and the magnesium i dose manually twice a week.

 

[Fishy 1]

Thanks mate. I thought that may be the case. So do SPS have stinging tentacles like LPS do?
Well that is a indicator of you skill level mate, being able to have a tank like that with out a controller is impressive and good to see that you don't need one for a great reef. Ok thanks.
Also what heater are you using?

 

[dallasg]

ooh a new tank, def following

 

[troubadour11]

That certainly was an awesome tour of the MFS (Magic Fish Store)! It even had a wizard lording over it and everything! Great pictures in there, thanks for sharing! :eek1:

Those Poseidon Missiles are interesting. Actually a little more $$ then what I see them for here. Also makes me miss my Orange FF a little. It disappeared while I was on vacation for a week :-( ... But we recently released a newly acquired Purple Poseidon Missile into our DT. We're also really close to setting loose 3 new Zebra Barred Dartfish in the tank. These things look pretty awesome and I can't wait to release the small group of them!!!

I wonder how long they can keep them in a tank together before they have aggression issues? We tried to get a pair of Orange Firefish originally... didn't work out to well. I'll stick to singular Firefish now. Especially since I learned you can keep a single FF with a group of the Z-B Dartfish. I so CAN'T WAIT to see them in our tank!

- The main thing i look for before thinking about where the acro should go is polyp extension - PE. I want to see good PE at night which tells me the acro is actively seeking to feed and not unhappy about the water it's in. I never move an acro up if it has zero PE and instead try different spots on the bottom with varying flow. Some acros take 30 seconds to extend polyps after hitting the water and others take up to a week or more depending on the stress they've been through i guess.

- The polyps are extended about 1/16" in the pic and this species typically has 1/4" long polyps once settled in and growing so hopefully that gives you an idea what i mean when i say the PE in the night pic would mean the acro was upset probably about the water if i'd had it for a few months and it showed that poor PE a few nights in a row.

- A good guide for acros would be 2-3" but it all depends on the species and growth pattern of each particular piece as to which way it will grow and or encrust. If you wanted to lay out say ten frag discs on your rocks i would space them at roughly 3" intervals i guess.

All good info to keep in mind there. I for one would be perfectly find reading more of your meandering thoughts if they're all such great tips/experience like that :thumbsup: Especially as I try to venture into SPS more and more...

I'm working on nutrient control right now. Still fighting some GHA after kicking our lights up in power and exposure length. And as you mentioned on my thread, nutrients are probably my next big hurdle to jump before things really start to pop in the tank. I hope!

My purple Stylo seems happy and has what I would call extreme PE pretty much 24/7. It retracts if I blast it with the turkey baster or sometimes for 20-30 minutes when the sun rise/sets. The Birdsnest seems happy I think and continues to expand/contract based off the time of day. Same with our green Pocci. It has lots of PE almost all the time and sometimes looks like it has small clearish stinger/slime tentacles out of spots that it retracts eventually after feeding I think.?.? All have PE during day and evening hours. Anything other SPS (including Monti's) I've tried usually has PE immediately (within an hour or two). Then typically within 2 or 3 months, the more sensitive pieces stop having any PE. They'll stay this way for another few weeks to a month. Then slowly bleach or tissue until it dies. But it typically is colorful the whole time right up until that piece of tissues starts to recede.

** So any meandering thoughts on why SPS slowly stop having PE and then stay sucked up would have my attention. **

My guess is nutrient control and flow as our CA, Alk, Mg have been really darn solid for the most part since June-August. FYI, my No3 typically is 0-10 depending on when I test and water change schedules. I've only ever seen it above 10 once before an h20 change. Right now it's registering 0 despite the GHA. Never tested Po4 as I'd prefer not to chase numbers. But I just ordered a Salifert Po4 test

And by the way. That SSC Frankenstein shot is great! Really looking forward to seeing what your Bonsai Frankenstein reef ends up looking like :bounce2:

I've been super busy lately, but I've been lurking in here a lot when I have a few minutes. So I'll check back in soon!

 

[sahin]

This is an interesting encounter Biggles:

I had two different varieties of SSC and never thought they'd co-exist so close. Unfortunately I only have one type left (nicer one thankfully).

How is the build process going mate? I hope you are busy with the tank and thats why we dont have answers regarding your filtration?

Or are you slacking now Biggles? :facepalm:

 

[Fishy 1]

Biggles, when do you think you'll order the tank?

 

[martinphillip03]

Biggles, Sorry I just like saying Biggles!

Marty

 

[Fishy 1]

Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles.....Biggles. There you go Marty, enough Biggles to last you 12hrs:lol:

 

[Oldude]

Here's a small intact colony a bit smaller than a tennis ball i bought. I know this species pretty well and expect it to turn either blue or purple tipped with fluoro green polyps likely. I bought it hoping it would be purple because i have several blue with green polyp acros already. If anyone knows the species please let me know

Looks like A.loripes to me - nice piece loaded with potential!

 

[biggles]

Okay before i reply to everyone's posts here are the non SPS pics to finish the first Williamstown aquarium tour - referred to as Willy from this point on.
The colors are all over the place because of different lighting and me forgetting to always set the phone to cloudy to lessen the blue. They have a lot of stock and no trouble keeping all of it long term with their lighting and water.

 

[Fishy 1]

I'm a tad jealous mate, two awesome shops close by you lucky bugger. Not sure if I could resist pulling the mag cleaner around though:lol:. They have a nice selection of LPS and Zoas.

 

[biggles]

Thanks mate. I thought that may be the case. So do SPS have stinging tentacles like LPS do?
Well that is a indicator of you skill level mate, being able to have a tank like that with out a controller is impressive and good to see that you don't need one for a great reef. Ok thanks.
Also what heater are you using?

Hey Rory, yes those filaments are quite capable of destroying the tissue they contact. If a battle was going on you would see many, many more filaments involved.
Controllers are good imo so get one if you want mate, i just like to use the bare minimum of equipment because i'm lazy and less to go wrong.
I use an Eheim Jager 300W heater - don't ever skimp on your heater, it can kill everything in hours. Fluval Tronic heaters are cheaper and i've used them for years along with the Jager's, those are the only two brands i personally use but i'm sure there are others.

ooh a new tank, def following

Thanks for following the upgrade mate

** So any meandering thoughts on why SPS slowly stop having PE and then stay sucked up would have my attention. **

I'll catch up on your journal first before trying to work out what's up if that's ok Troub. :reading:

This is an interesting encounter Biggles:

I had two different varieties of SSC and never thought they'd co-exist so close. Unfortunately I only have one type left (nicer one thankfully).

How is the build process going mate? I hope you are busy with the tank and thats why we dont have answers regarding your filtration?

Or are you slacking now Biggles? :facepalm:

I'm always slacking you know that buddy lol. I promise to explain how i run my system and the couple of additions i have planned with the upgrade this weekend......

Biggles, when do you think you'll order the tank?

I'll order it in a few weeks and Jack said it will only be a 10-14 turnaround before i have it. I should probably ring Jack to find out how much it's going to be lol.

Biggles, Sorry I just like saying Biggles!

Marty

Have you told everyone yet Marty.......... i can't keep secrets for very long mate. They'll all say wow congrats that's great but deep down they'll all be full of jealous hate - like me

Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles Biggles.....Biggles. There you go Marty, enough Biggles to last you 12hrs:lol:

Rory you've lost the bloody plot mate, have you been drinking the kalk again.....

Looks like A.loripes to me - nice piece loaded with potential!

Thanks a lot Greg, i had a look and it looks pretty similar :thumbsup: Hopefully it turns out to be a nice piece.

 

[biggles]

I'm a tad jealous mate, two awesome shops close by you lucky bugger. Not sure if I could resist pulling the mag cleaner around though:lol:. They have a nice selection of LPS and Zoas.

Now you see what i mean about why your stores aren't really ripping you off when they have to charge more

Here's the best pic i could get of the two new wrasses swimming together btw - more wrasses will be happening !

 

[sahin]

Finally Biggles gets wrasses for his tank!!! You've turned bloody soft mate. :lol: Kevin is too cudly for you...I think you need a tougher pet.

Now that you've got them, what do you think?