A Splash of Color

[MichaelW]

Andrew, that yellow deepwater is awesome, I wish I could find a piece like it (and not have it go green). beautiful looking tank.

 

[slavetonet]

FTS is awesome! Those are my favorite pics that you post.

Wow, so you now have 16 liters of matrix? I just added 1 gallon, so just under 4 liters I believe. I built an egg crate basket for it and have some flow running over it. Is that essentially how you are utilizing it?

I was going to say the same thing too. 16 litres of matrix is alot.
I have gone with 2 litres of the sera siporax mini so far and see if it is any good for my system.
Seeded it with zeovit zeobak and see what happens from there.

 

[biggles]

Thanks again Andrew. I use Tropic Marin A- elements (anionic elements). Iodine is listed in the ingredient list. Having said that I will purchase Tropic Marin's Lugol's solution as it is available in my lfs. I will report back to you. That's a promise.

Regarding Sponge Power I can see visibly that the number of white sponges, barnacles and feather duster worms has increased since I started to use it at the end of March 2015. However, having checked my log book, I realised that I also started to use Tropic Marin NP bacto balance almost at the same time (February 2015). The label on my bacto balance bottle makes a reference to increased population of sponges and filter feeders. I am now wondering if bacto balance is really responsible for this. There is only one way to find out, isn't there? I am going to stop using Sponge power for a month and observe its consequences.

Cheers

I have quite a few sponges etc always growing in my sump and i saw no increase whatsoever in sponge numbers or growth over the time i dosed SP Bulent - i had expected to see what you did after researching the product prior to purchase but saw no visible critter increase.
I'll be interested to hear what you think in a month about the withdrawal of sponge power buddy

Great thread, love the contrast of colors you have going on. I'm also very jealous of the corals you can get your hands on. I will definitely be tagging along on your journey!!!! Subscribed !!!!

Thanks for the kind words Henry, i'm very lucky to have access to the corals i do mate

I hate your thread Andrew. It makes my tank look like a Brownipora forest! :mad2: Especially that yellow "deepwater" - I hate that one the most right now. All the Aussie Acro shipments arrive to Canada bleached out. They look like Zeovit Acros and are notoriously difficult to bring back from the brink of death (though I haven't experienced that myself).

Hey Mindy, i know it won't be long before you have your acros smiling again.
I still see acros that are very washed out and partly bleached with the beautiful ones. It's being able to spot the potentially beautiful ones that makes it hard for those new to acro keeping. Years of trial and error has given me a pretty good eye for what might be super tasty as opposed to run of the mill and bleached. :reading:

FTS is awesome! Those are my favorite pics that you post.

Wow, so you now have 16 liters of matrix? I just added 1 gallon, so just under 4 liters I believe. I built an egg crate basket for it and have some flow running over it. Is that essentially how you are utilizing it?

Yes i have 6L in the overflow and 10L in the sump. It's all just spread out acros the bottom about 1.5-2" deep at a guess.
As with my carbon bag it is kept clean and free of detritus by my trained zombie shrimp Potatohead. If you look at previous pics of Potatohead taken in the display with the lights on his eyes were normal. I used a flash for this pic as it was night time but even so you can clearly see his eyes now glow !

ZOMBIE SHRIMP !

Andrew, that yellow deepwater is awesome, I wish I could find a piece like it (and not have it go green). beautiful looking tank.

Thanks Michael, i haven't had that piece long so there's still plenty of time for me to turn it green :sad1:

I was going to say the same thing too. 16 litres of matrix is alot.
I have gone with 2 litres of the sera siporax mini so far and see if it is any good for my system.
Seeded it with zeovit zeobak and see what happens from there.

Clearly you're not aware of a little thing called the BMASC. Pretty sure you'll get plenty of hits if you search ' biggle matrix and siporax coefficient '. It's not rocket science, unlike the relationship between the BFC and BMASC - that's way over the heads of you guys. Trying to explain that would be like asking Sahin to test his alk without a 3D printed magnetic stirrer - ain't gonna happen folks.

Old school sumping............

 

[nemodan]

Andrew....yo have to explain the BMASC at the Matrix / siporax thread. More than one will commit suicide after learning all what they have done wrong for not searching and reading about the BMASC.


And it is soo easy to understand it !!

Cheers
Daniel

 

[plyle02]

Andrew,
The humillis and gemiffera get me every time, but that tenuis looks to have a ton of potential, especially if it holds that orange and yellow coloring. So much hype here in the states over tenuis, they seem to be the hot coral. Aussie shipment came in yesterday to the LFS, some sweet stuff, nothing like what you are posting though Mate! With access to those eye popping corals, and your killer husbandry skills, I am sure those colors will be even hotter than they are right now, in no time at all. Great additions, and that yellow coral... hmmmm..... a bit jealous over here!

 

[sahin]

The yellow acro looks stunning Andrew. :beer:

Andrew, can you share some info about Biggles' Reefing history?

Were you always successful as you are now with acros? What reefing method(s) did you use in the past?

Do you even have any photos of your old tanks? :thumbsup:

 

[Myka]

Hey Mindy, i know it won't be long before you have your acros smiling again.
I still see acros that are very washed out and partly bleached with the beautiful ones. It's being able to spot the potentially beautiful ones that makes it hard for those new to acro keeping. Years of trial and error has given me a pretty good eye for what might be super tasty as opposed to run of the mill and bleached. :reading:

I setup my first saltwater tank in 1993 using babysitting money. I don't think I bought my first Acro until 2005. In that short period of time, I'm certainly no expert, but I'm confident that I can see a nice piece even if it's halfway brown or bleached all to heck. It's more because of this:

Aussie shipment came in yesterday to the LFS, some sweet stuff, nothing like what you are posting though Mate! With access to those eye popping corals, and your killer husbandry skills

I live in a city with a "metropolitan area" of 300,000 people. There is one LFS here. It is a really good shop, but their main sales are flubber as far as corals go, and he has a lot of amazing flubber. He brings in maybe 8 maricultured SPS shipments per year of about 8-12 pieces, and I usually end up getting first pick since there is only one other real SPS collector in the area (and he gets distracted with flubber a lot). The next closest LFS that would have more SPS selection is 6 hours away. So if I'm not buying maricultured pieces locally I'm buying frags online. There are a few vendors that sell colonies/mini-colonies. There are a few vendors that sell high-end stuff, but the best stuff is always sold before it even hits their webpage. Plus any Aussie shipments would be all bleached out from the traveling from Australia to here. I'm not sure why the Bali shipments don't bleach out (well some do).

 

[Wrangy]

:eek2::celeb3::inlove::inlove::thumbsup::lolspin:

I have no words, they are just bloody gorgeous! Your tank is just the absolute pinnacle of inspiration for me Andrew!

 

[biggles]

Andrew....yo have to explain the BMASC at the Matrix / siporax thread. More than one will commit suicide after learning all what they have done wrong for not searching and reading about the BMASC.


And it is soo easy to understand it !!

Cheers
Daniel

Nope, after the BFC controversy i'm no longer discussing reef string theory topics Daniel :reading:

Andrew,
The humillis and gemiffera get me every time, but that tenuis looks to have a ton of potential, especially if it holds that orange and yellow coloring. So much hype here in the states over tenuis, they seem to be the hot coral. Aussie shipment came in yesterday to the LFS, some sweet stuff, nothing like what you are posting though Mate! With access to those eye popping corals, and your killer husbandry skills, I am sure those colors will be even hotter than they are right now, in no time at all. Great additions, and that yellow coral... hmmmm..... a bit jealous over here!

Thanks Perry, i have no idea wht tenuis are suddenly hot. I don't think they have particularly nice branch growth when compared to many other species. They are one acro that every now and then you'll see a one of a kind standout example pop up but in general i don't buy them. The twin intact colony acro thing is the only reason i bought that piece tbh. It still looks the same but the gem is lightening and brightening up considerably in the week since i took that pic.
I'll get a new top down of the two and we can keep track of them to see if i turn them brown lol.

The yellow acro looks stunning Andrew. :beer:

Andrew, can you share some info about Biggles' Reefing history?

Were you always successful as you are now with acros? What reefing method(s) did you use in the past?

Do you even have any photos of your old tanks?

I am keeping my system pretty much the same way i did from day one in the hobby as far as water keeping methods and lighting. The thing that has changed is the quality of the acros health and color varieties. This is a direct result of the overseas demand in recent years for aus SPS. Because the collectors have had to learn how to ship acros properly and have been pushed to collect much more colorful pieces the fallout is that the local stuff is now high quality stuff in general.

I don't have pics of my two 4x2x2's but i can give you a short rundown of my SPS learning curve over the years if you like.

I setup my first saltwater tank in 1993 using babysitting money. I don't think I bought my first Acro until 2005. In that short period of time, I'm certainly no expert, but I'm confident that I can see a nice piece even if it's halfway brown or bleached all to heck. It's more because of this:



I live in a city with a "metropolitan area" of 300,000 people. There is one LFS here. It is a really good shop, but their main sales are flubber as far as corals go, and he has a lot of amazing flubber. He brings in maybe 8 maricultured SPS shipments per year of about 8-12 pieces, and I usually end up getting first pick since there is only one other real SPS collector in the area (and he gets distracted with flubber a lot). The next closest LFS that would have more SPS selection is 6 hours away. So if I'm not buying maricultured pieces locally I'm buying frags online. There are a few vendors that sell colonies/mini-colonies. There are a few vendors that sell high-end stuff, but the best stuff is always sold before it even hits their webpage. Plus any Aussie shipments would be all bleached out from the traveling from Australia to here. I'm not sure why the Bali shipments don't bleach out (well some do).

Hey Mindy, i don't doubt you have a good eye for potential colors It's a pity the aus stuff is arriving in such poor shape because i'm sure they start out looking beautiful. I know you all wish you had the same access to wild stuff that i do but i wish i could order a few frags with guaranteed colors like your dragons............:inlove:

:eek2:

I have no words, they are just bloody gorgeous! Your tank is just the absolute pinnacle of inspiration for me Andrew!

Thanks Dom, it's going along pretty well atm so fingers crossed i don't do anything stupid again. :spin2:


The SSC has got the poops again in the last week and stn'd at the base a bit. Has ok PE but poor for an SSC and the colors are just awful lol.
The pale washed out piece will put the prettiest SSC to shame once it recovers, i ignored at least four colored up SSC branches to take this piece home because it's a four colored pastel stunner. It will be glowy green with purple corallites, reddy purple polyps and baby blue growing tips.
You just gotta know what you're looking at otherwise you can miss some nice acros when you're shopping at the LFS.

 

[sahin]

Andrew, I'd definitely be interested to read about your SPS learning curve. :beer:

I can see the potential in that washed out SSC variant. No doubt it will shine in time under the Radiums.

 

[biggles]

I'll give you a run down this weekend since i have it off mate, right now it's time for night porn.......

Little Kenny wasn't impressed with the flash......

Does anyone spot the weird polyp in one of the pics...........

 

[glaukos]

:inlove::inlove::inlove:
Awesome pics andrew!!!
Corals are amazing even during the night
The weirdo polyp is in the second pic on the left?That stick is beautiful in general!

 

[C.Eymann]

2nd pic, one axial corallite is green where the rest are uniform purple! definitely not the norm.

 

[reefmutt]

The green lantern has taken up residence in your tank!
Fighting evil and poor water quality to keep Biggles ocean heathy and full of colourful Acro bush!!!
Question of the ages...
Who would win in a duel to the death between green lantern and zombie shrimp???
Those are the most colourful night shots I've ever seen.
Do you use the camera flash or extra flashlight?
Love the third shot: yellow, purple and blue all together. Nice!!

 

[bibarassa]

I am keeping my system pretty much the same way i did from day one in the hobby as far as water keeping methods and lighting. The thing that has changed is the quality of the acros health and color varieties. This is a direct result of the overseas demand in recent years for aus SPS. Because the collectors have had to learn how to ship acros properly and have been pushed to collect much more colorful pieces the fallout is that the local stuff is now high quality stuff in general.

I don't have pics of my two 4x2x2's but i can give you a short rundown of my SPS learning curve over the years if you like.

Andrew a question for you: what kind of salts are you using for "balling"?

 

[biggles]

:inlove:
Awesome pics andrew!!!
Corals are amazing even during the night
The weirdo polyp is in the second pic on the left?That stick is beautiful in general!

Thanks Mike, yep it's the green polyp on the second acro. Top downs with phone camera flash on, nothing but crop and resize in PS - all of you can do this using a chocolate box lid as Bulent does

2nd pic, one axial corallite is green where the rest are uniform purple! definitely not the norm.

That's the one mate

The green lantern has taken up residence in your tank!
Fighting evil and poor water quality to keep Biggles ocean heathy and full of colourful Acro bush!!!
Question of the ages...
Who would win in a duel to the death between green lantern and zombie shrimp???
Those are the most colourful night shots I've ever seen.
Do you use the camera flash or extra flashlight?
Love the third shot: yellow, purple and blue all together. Nice!!

Thanks Matt, zombie shrimp is already dead so he can't be killed again - he'd be chowing down on green lantern brains in short order.
Just the phone flash through the acrylic box, give it a try as you might be pleasantly surprised at the images you capture Matt.

Andrew a question for you: what kind of salts are you using for "balling"?

I use bulk supply bicarb, calcium & mag i get from the LFS and red sea blue bucket salt mate.

If you look a bit closer you can see the pair of acro crabs that keep a close eye on Goliath the stylo crab who lives next door. The male is watching Goliath while the female with pink claws does crabby things.

 

[scrapz]

I can't wait to get me some acro crabs. I never buy maricultured so I guess I can never have em..

 

[biggles]

I can't wait to get me some acro crabs. I never buy maricultured so I guess I can never have em..

I'm pretty sure you can buy them in the US mate.

I have named this sand sifting starfish Matt since he's creepy and taking an unhealthy interest in my baby - i moved you to the other end of the display Matt.........

 

[biggles]

The acros are infested with anthias......

Bloody anthias in the stags.......

 

[glaukos]

Amazing pics andrew:inlove::inlove:
Lets say you'd ask me to come over there and take one coral,which ever i like.....i'd have a reeeeeally hard time deciding mate!