Fancy Sticks in Glass Box

[Pittsburgh]

It's hard to believe, but this year marks my 10 year anniversary of being in this hobby. The journey from FOWLR, to softies, to LPS and to what is now an SPS dominant tank. I've never had a tank thread on this forum. I guess better late than never. Especially since I managed to stick around for so long. Also, for the first time now, I feel that my SPS sticks progress is based mostly on knowledge and not on short term luck.

I'm not particularly big on new tank builds. Although, I greatly enjoy the DIY aspect of the hobby. So I managed to stick with my very original, now 10yo 95gal Oceanic wave tank all this time. Anyone remember them being available in mid 2000? It's a rather odd shape tank for SPS. 25" tall, somewhat narrow and curved. But guess what, it works, at least for me and at least for now.

There will be pictures of the tank and the sticks later this week. I will also annoy you with my past experiences and the learning curve full of mistakes, surprises, disappointments and also some success stories. Hopefully, this will be useful to some and a good progress journal for me. With so many new build threads around, I feel that there is room on here for some steady long term documented experience, progress and lessons learned. Hopefully, I will continue learning as I update this thread.

 

[Pittsburgh]

And here's a few recent shots. January 2017

SCC Blue Rush

TCK Yellowjacket

Orange Setosa

ORA Tricolor (With Strawberry Shortcake in the background)

Have no idea what this is yet

Starry Night (Old school)

Green Slimer (Bushy)

Have no idea what this is yet

Purple Stylophora

JF Raja Rampage

 

[Pittsburgh]

ORA Hawkins Echinata

Joe The Coral

Does anyone know what this is??? I've seen it in other peoples tanks before

Pink Birdsnest

ORA Marshall Island Purple and Green Acro

ORA Spongodes

Tyree Pink Dragon Tails

ORA Ponape Birdsnest

Red Cap Monti

Miami Hurricane

 

[Pittsburgh]

TCK Blueberry

TCK Fruity Pebbles

TCK Pink Tabling Acro

And finally the TFS

 

[FarmerTy]

My guesses:

Red Planet (red Hyacinthus)

Looks like a pink/red mille or Prostrata though the Moore I stare at it, the more I think it's a pink Hyacinthus.

Acropora sarmentosa

 

[Pittsburgh]

I think you are right on the red planet and sarmetosa! I do remember acquiring red planet at some point but forgot to put it in my logbook.

 

[Diana A]

absolutely love it!

 

[Pittsburgh]

Those of us with a typical netting made of screen corners know that it's next to impossible to make a solid top cover if you have to go around cords, overflow, etc. One solution was to make a shorter screen and add egg crate in the back. I tried that and it looks too ugly to me. So I spent some time over the Christmas break and made some good looking netting covers from solid acrylic.

Smaller cord cutouts were done right into the frame:

Larger sump cutouts look really sweet:

The added bonus is that this accommodates my curved tank perfectly.
For this project I picked the thickest acrylic (0.22") I could find at Lowes. Making the frame 1.25" wide made it surprisingly solid. Most of the cutting was done with a router, including the groove to hold the spline.

 

[Diana A]

i'll have to try this with the acrylic. It looks really nice.

 

[codydemmel4]

very nice! How do the chalices grow for you? I saw some grow outs that look like montis, except I think chalices have a lot more color to them so if you are seeing similar growth. I may have to give them a try

 

[Pittsburgh]

Thanks! Miami Hurricane grows quite fast, not at the rate of my purple cap or even the red cap, but it's still faster than most SPS frags I have in that system. Raja Rampage on the other hand.... one of the slowest growing chalices I've ever had. But then again it started as a tiny frag. Their coloration is great though and they are not anywhere as demanding as most SPS.

 

[Pittsburgh]

So it's time for some growth shots. Exactly one month, Jan 12th - Feb 12th:

 

[Pittsburgh]

And some more. Jan 12th - Feb 12th:

 

[Pittsburgh]

And some more. Jan 12th - Feb 12th:

Some growth is not great at all...

 

[Pittsburgh]

And some more. Jan 12th - Feb 12th:

 

[Pittsburgh]

And some more. Jan 12th - Feb 12th:

 

[Pittsburgh]

Enough with growth shots for now. Here's a couple of random shots from February:

 

[Pittsburgh]

 

[Pittsburgh]

Last month I've mostly been dealing with red bugs outbreak. Went through several treatments of interceptor, which seems to have wiped out all red bugs in the system. I used the recommended dosage for my volume and pulled all hermit/blue leg crabs I could find. What's interesting is that all of my coral banded shrimp and the sally light foot crab made it through multiple treatments.
Corals look happier now and so am I.

 

[Usernam Invalid]

Now that's how you do a photo sump.. well done some really nice growth for only a month. Glad to her you zapped those pesky red bugs.