A Splash of Color

[sparker1663]

Hey Sam, that was the first time i've had a chance to get some of your cool acros - i appreciate them very much mate

It was that acro, your colony looks stunning. It's already coloring up with light green encrusting and reddy pink everywhere else - if something sat brown anywhere in my system for one month it would be in the back garden or on the neighbors roof........ one of these days he's going to end up with blocked gutters because he never gets up there and cleans them and i reckon i've thrown at least 5 acro species up there in the last 3 or 4 years...... they might be mutated and growing up there for all i know.......... gutter acros...... :wildone:

That last acro was the third one i was going to buy but Dave ruined it as usual when i asked for it later on......

' You said not to sell you any more reds or pinks because you have too many '

' When did i say that ? '

' You kept saying that the whole time i was at your place and you said it right after you picked out the other nice red one from Sam about 2 hours ago....... you said it last time you were here too '

Heads up Sam - don't tell Dave not to sell you certain colored acros because he remembers what you tell him.......

I went to Deer Park yesterday Sam and it was still there as was another one of yours so......

' I'm buying both those frags from Sam and don't try to stop me this time '

' They're yours '

' Cool, now i really mean it this time Dave - don't sell me any more reddish colored acros after this '

Dave just rolled his eyes at me..............

Got a text from Dave Thursday night showing me what he unpacked from Sustainable Reefs............ i asked him to hold a certain one for you that i have already and he replied that it was one of the two you picked out as you were at the shop for the unpacking

Dave said they were 2nd gen frags raised with Christians new dosing additives in the water - i don't know what they are but one looked like pee........ Dave wouldn't let me taste it so who knows what's in it.

I replied last night, but I see it's not here.... That boutique beer was obviously a little too boutique for me!

OK, in a nutshell, in the first picture you posted I snaffled up to two in the bottom left hand corner. A nice orange/peach looking piece and a yellow/green acro with yellow polyps. Looking at the pics again, I could easily have taken a dozen home but my frag tank is full. I either need to have Dave build me another frag tank, offload some frags or both. I'll see what other samplers I have that I can bring into Daves for you. I'll make sure they are encrusted this time, none of that fresh cut business!!!

I must admit - the fireworks frag of yours is my absolute favourite!

Keep up the good work biggles - loving the thread

 

[sparker1663]

oh and yes, Dave has a memory of an elephant and the bastard is usually right too.... I'll make sure the next ones are not red or pink for you hahahahaha

 

[bgouges]

Hey Sam, that was the first time i've had a chance to get some of your cool acros - i appreciate them very much mate

It was that acro, your colony looks stunning. It's already coloring up with light green encrusting and reddy pink everywhere else - if something sat brown anywhere in my system for one month it would be in the back garden or on the neighbors roof........ one of these days he's going to end up with blocked gutters because he never gets up there and cleans them and i reckon i've thrown at least 5 acro species up there in the last 3 or 4 years...... they might be mutated and growing up there for all i know.......... gutter acros...... :wildone:

That last acro was the third one i was going to buy but Dave ruined it as usual when i asked for it later on......

' You said not to sell you any more reds or pinks because you have too many '

' When did i say that ? '

' You kept saying that the whole time i was at your place and you said it right after you picked out the other nice red one from Sam about 2 hours ago....... you said it last time you were here too '

Heads up Sam - don't tell Dave not to sell you certain colored acros because he remembers what you tell him.......

I went to Deer Park yesterday Sam and it was still there as was another one of yours so......

' I'm buying both those frags from Sam and don't try to stop me this time '

' They're yours '

' Cool, now i really mean it this time Dave - don't sell me any more reddish colored acros after this '

Dave just rolled his eyes at me..............

Got a text from Dave Thursday night showing me what he unpacked from Sustainable Reefs............ i asked him to hold a certain one for you that i have already and he replied that it was one of the two you picked out as you were at the shop for the unpacking

Dave said they were 2nd gen frags raised with Christians new dosing additives in the water - i don't know what they are but one looked like pee........ Dave wouldn't let me taste it so who knows what's in it.

I dont think one can ever have enough red acros biggles! even if i had an acro tank full of only red acros ild be quite contempt!

What would be your pick of these lot andrew? i think youve already got christians lokani?

oh and yes, Dave has a memory of an elephant and the bastard is usually right too.... I'll make sure the next ones are not red or pink for you hahahahaha

You frequent alot of forums sparker haha! Nice to see you immersed within the hobby, been abit to much drama surrounding the facebook world of corals lately! look forward to seeing what biggles can do with the frags you gave him!

 

[bgouges]

Don't be so sure Matt, i asked Christian for another piece of this


I saw both your red stunners not to mention the tank stuffed full of beautifully colored acros that aren't red ....... you should be really proud of what you're achieving mate :beer:

The link in your siggy is broken btw buddy.

Sorry i missed this one mate.
Yeh im quite illiterate with this whole forum thingy so i have no idea how to link it. i just copied and pasted it and hoped for the best

 

[biggles]

Went to Deer Park aquarium today and came home with 9 new chromis - they look like mozzies buzzing around lol.

 

[glaukos]

they look awesome mate:beer:
Do they fight?Every time i tried those fishes i ended up with one, after a couple of months...mccloud style

 

[biggles]

Beautiful stuff as usual Andrew. I had to catch up from February, not as much time to hang around as I'd like. I do get insanely jealous looking at some of the acros you all have access too, that might be part of the reason.

Thanks a lot Mark, i need to catch up on your journal and all my other good mates reefs. I had a quick peek and saw your reef is looking very scrummy again mate, really nice to see you rewarded for the hard yards you put in bringing your reef back from a horrible place

oh and yes, Dave has a memory of an elephant and the bastard is usually right too.... I'll make sure the next ones are not red or pink for you hahahahaha

Hey Sam, it was great to meet today finally mate. I got Dave to take a big frag for you off that branch i picked out today and considering Dave was hooking up all those sustainable reef potions to his doser i'd pick it up sooner rather than later........ you know what usually happens when he's trying to work out potion dosing into the SPS holding system.......:wildone:

I dont think one can ever have enough red acros biggles! even if i had an acro tank full of only red acros ild be quite contempt!

What would be your pick of these lot andrew? i think youve already got christians lokani?

Hey Brok, there is something rather special about the deep reds lol. I think everyone would agree with you if they could pull the rich red colors you do mate.

I like all the different multi colored tennuis frags but i have no spots for them lol. I grabbed a little blue frag today which might have red polyps. There were much more obvious eye catchers but the shade of blue just caught my eye today so i took him home. The 2nd gen frags are $60- btw and Dave isn't even doubling his cost price so i think they're great value.

I have this little guy which is the one i think you mean. I cut most of the plug off and then snapped the rest pushing it down into the putty lol. I squirted super glue into the crevasse created by bloody Christian's joke plug - probably hung over the day he made that batch......... wouldn't be the sick from the bends because he never goes diving........ get this, he refused to go out collecting during cyclone Debbie despite me pointing out the bloody obvious - you'd have the whole GBR to yourself Chris !

A wasted opportunity to find me some super cool acros goes begging yet again........ i'm getting really tired of this whole ' my life comes first ' approach to acro collecting Chris.....:rolleye1:

 

[biggles]

they look awesome mate:beer:
Do they fight?Every time i tried those fishes i ended up with one, after a couple of months...mccloud style

Thanks Mike, Dave said they were a lot more peaceful than the regular blue or green chromis so we shall see how they go. They're only about 1.5 inches long atm and if they don't kill each other i'll get another ten in a couple of months.

 

[sparker1663]

The pleasure was all mine, to finally meet the man, the myth the legend that is biggles! But to be greeted with yet more amazing gifts, best day ever. Actually no, to get home and find the rain already falling voiding the requirement to mow the lawn - that was the best thing ever.

These frags are stupid amazing, I think I may be snookered - but I'll see what I can dig up

Hey Brok, good to hear from you mate. Hope all is well? No doubt about the drama on Facebook - it's a minefield out there and you can never be too sure what's underfoot. But hey, there are good folk out there too, just have to look harder than usual sometimes LOL

 

[biggles]

I hope those frags do well for you Sam, no need to dig anything up at all mate. It's nice to share cool stuff with friends who enjoy keeping acros as much as i do

Spooky Mike is now haunting another reef.........

 

[Piper27]

Andrew are those Vanderbilt chromis?

 

[biggles]

Andrew are those Vanderbilt chromis?

Yep that sounds right Piper, i remember it started with a V.......... thanks for reminding me mate

It's really late here so i'm off to bed. Tomorrow i want to show you just why it is that acros can change colors so dramatically once removed from the ocean and placed in our tanks. Colors don't change, it's the redistribution of colorful zooxanthellae and the resulting flow on effect this causes to the coral pigments produced in those areas that makes keeping acros such a challenge.

I increased the saturation, contrast etc on the porny pics so you can actually see the colors of both the zooxanthellae and the coral tissue and how cool the interaction is between the two.

Very pastel and bright to the eye in a bleached looking way.

See why your acros ' turn green ' sometimes........

The new branch i got today under T5's, i'll get some good top downs with full lighting tomorrow so you can see what changes over time and how it ends up looking.

Flash shot tonight, he's a happy camper already

Ramped up

Green zoa and yellow fluoro proteins in the tissue, red zoa in the polyps and skin tissue, all sorts of different tissue pigments......... mix them all together and then add my lighting and water conditions and who knows what will do what and where.......... the mind boggles........ or biggles.......

It's one of those acros you don't buy because you just know you can't keep it looking half as beautiful as it looks when freshly collected....... but you buy it anyway lol.........

 

[Piper27]

Man that piece has cool growth. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. I always had a hard time keeping the Vanderbilt's in a school, the pick each other off until only one is left. Maybe you will have better luck.

 

[Fishy 1]

Wow the tank is looking amazing Andrew!! I've got a lot to catch up on and see what has been going on while I've been away........its been a while but I'm back finally!!

I've just bought myself a brand new 220ltr setup (managed to persuad the real estate into letting me get a bigger tank hahaha) that I've been customising and preparing to fill it later today (SO excited!!).This will be the build that I get right and have success with so I will be pestering you with questions about everything shortly hahaha.

 

[bgouges]

Thanks a lot Mark, i need to catch up on your journal and all my other good mates reefs. I had a quick peek and saw your reef is looking very scrummy again mate, really nice to see you rewarded for the hard yards you put in bringing your reef back from a horrible place



Hey Sam, it was great to meet today finally mate. I got Dave to take a big frag for you off that branch i picked out today and considering Dave was hooking up all those sustainable reef potions to his doser i'd pick it up sooner rather than later........ you know what usually happens when he's trying to work out potion dosing into the SPS holding system.......:wildone:



Hey Brok, there is something rather special about the deep reds lol. I think everyone would agree with you if they could pull the rich red colors you do mate.

I like all the different multi colored tennuis frags but i have no spots for them lol. I grabbed a little blue frag today which might have red polyps. There were much more obvious eye catchers but the shade of blue just caught my eye today so i took him home. The 2nd gen frags are $60- btw and Dave isn't even doubling his cost price so i think they're great value.

I have this little guy which is the one i think you mean. I cut most of the plug off and then snapped the rest pushing it down into the putty lol. I squirted super glue into the crevasse created by bloody Christian's joke plug - probably hung over the day he made that batch......... wouldn't be the sick from the bends because he never goes diving........ get this, he refused to go out collecting during cyclone Debbie despite me pointing out the bloody obvious - you'd have the whole GBR to yourself Chris !

A wasted opportunity to find me some super cool acros goes begging yet again........ i'm getting really tired of this whole ' my life comes first ' approach to acro collecting Chris.....:rolleye1:

Yep thats the one! I can totally agree with you there bud. I dont think cyclone debbie should stop christ from scouring our seas with his little hooker, no pun intended sorry chirst! But we need the bloody acros mate! I lived the echi wirte up too andrew. I have about 6 echis in my tank but due to light differences its a bit hard to distinguish their full potential, however the thoughtof a full blue echi with white polyps does get me heart racing! Im australian by the way but i like using the word me like me heart or me cup because it gives me sone sense of ownership enough of my dribble haha

The pleasure was all mine, to finally meet the man, the myth the legend that is biggles! But to be greeted with yet more amazing gifts, best day ever. Actually no, to get home and find the rain already falling voiding the requirement to mow the lawn - that was the best thing ever.

These frags are stupid amazing, I think I may be snookered - but I'll see what I can dig up

Hey Brok, good to hear from you mate. Hope all is well? No doubt about the drama on Facebook - it's a minefield out there and you can never be too sure what's underfoot. But hey, there are good folk out there too, just have to look harder than usual sometimes LOL

Gday Sam! Yeh mate im still kicking, i just keep a low profile these days i know theres good folk out there and you and dom are right up there! i do still follow everything in facebookso i know your doing well and it kills me to be on the opposite site of our rouged terrain to the rest of our acro loving folk but the show must go on!

 

[bgouges]

Yep thats the one! I can totally agree with you there bud. I dont think cyclone debbie should stop christ from scouring our seas with his little hooker, no pun intended sorry chirst! But we need the bloody acros mate! I lived the echi wirte up too andrew. I have about 6 echis in my tank but due to light differences its a bit hard to distinguish their full potential, however the thoughtof a full blue echi with white polyps does get me heart racing! Im australian by the way but i like using the word me like me heart or me cup because it gives me sone sense of ownership enough of my dribble haha



Gday Sam! Yeh mate im still kicking, i just keep a low profile these days i know theres good folk out there and you and dom are right up there! i do still follow everything in facebookso i know your doing well and it kills me to be on the opposite site of our rouged terrain to the rest of our acro loving folk but the show must go on!

Sorry about me spelling fellas, more than a few beers deep

 

[maxwell]

Hi Andrew
I love reading your thread and the knowledge you have on sps and the colouration changes. Our LFS have just received this shipment which if any you would choose I know its difficult from this picture I bought 3 today the front piece ,the 3rd up from the left and the back green/yellow piece the last 2 were cut in half as they were massive my pictures are also poor as its under blues now.
Bill

 

[maxwell]

Andrew
The one next to the green is a pinky colour impossible to get a pic under blues ,the other which is the 3rd up pic below again poor pic.

Bill

 

[biggles]

Man that piece has cool growth. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. I always had a hard time keeping the Vanderbilt's in a school, the pick each other off until only one is left. Maybe you will have better luck.

One was dead on a pump this morning and one is hanging out in the overflow............ they might not live long enough to kill each other........ $%#%@ Dave and Mark are 100% to blame for this chromis fiasco ! :hammer:

Yellow looks yellow when you ensure the viewers eye will compare the color they are looking at with surrounding colors that enhance the 'deception' so to speak. The small table i moved next to one of my new Spooky Mike colonies is a green zoa predominant acro. There is a lot more to contrasting color placement than just shoving different colors in different spots........ you got to be smart to fool your reefing mates into thinking you have a yellow table....

The green scolly is crucial as are the various shades of lime green acros in the background......... flubber does have it's place. In front of the scolly on the sand is a green Dallas stag frag that will never touch my rock work..... i bought it so all you aussie guys have a known color to compare my others to..... :wave:

 

[biggles]

Wow the tank is looking amazing Andrew!! I've got a lot to catch up on and see what has been going on while I've been away........its been a while but I'm back finally!!

I've just bought myself a brand new 220ltr setup (managed to persuad the real estate into letting me get a bigger tank hahaha) that I've been customising and preparing to fill it later today (SO excited!!).This will be the build that I get right and have success with so I will be pestering you with questions about everything shortly hahaha.

Hey buddy, good to see you back and planning a new tank :wave:

Yep thats the one! I can totally agree with you there bud. I dont think cyclone debbie should stop christ from scouring our seas with his little hooker, no pun intended sorry chirst! But we need the bloody acros mate! I lived the echi wirte up too andrew. I have about 6 echis in my tank but due to light differences its a bit hard to distinguish their full potential, however the thoughtof a full blue echi with white polyps does get me heart racing! Im australian by the way but i like using the word me like me heart or me cup because it gives me sone sense of ownership enough of my dribble haha

I've been telling Dave he needs to go up there and sort Christian out. He uses any excuse not to go to work, did you see on their FB page how he got some new fancy dive computer....... what a joke !

In case you weren't aware Chris, you will see no benefit from the upgrade unless you actually place it in sea water whilst attached to your wrist.

The radial polyps are out this morning along with the new mozzies........