Foam Rockwall w/ built in refuge for a 26 gal bowfront

Finished product!!

I love it! Soo much more convenient than the glass top.

*screen is taught width wise and has some slack between the hinges for articulation - works great!










Trimmed the old plastic back strip to fit and added mangrove opening.














Best part, the supplies only cost me $25! When I make one for the next tank, it will only be $10!

Itemized list:

Lowe's
1x 7' screen door frame @ $4
1x 4ct frame connectors @ $2
1x 0.160 x 25' rubber spline @ $4
1x spline roller tool @ $4
1x 4ct mini hinges @ $2
FragTasticReef.com
4ft² (4'x2') clear ¼" netting @ 75¢ ft² - $9 shipped
 
Last edited:
Mangrove's can live suspended in the water column, provided that the top quarter of the propagule remains un-submerged.
This method allows for better root structure of the prop roots. I would have to make media baskets if I were to use a substrate, which I'm not interested in.

Thanks Mr. Hoaster!
Just need to make some form of handle to open it a little easier.

Now I have to hear the weird clicking of the timer and the 30% whirl of the mp10 instead of the fans lol

Here's a couple pics of the mangrove. :)






Tank pictures to follow later today!
 
If it's not organized, it's not mine! lol Glad I can keep your world spinning [emoji14]

Today's post is cell phone macro shot inspired..


Missy, notice tail is completely black now


Toadstool is happy and fully inflated at 5" across.


Large toadstool polyps


Little 2" toadstool


Cualastrea


ORA Birdsnest




Purple stylophora - put it higher up to see what happens to color. The bleached one I moved to low light is starting to color up dark purple.

...
 

Pulsating Xenia


I'll have to take a pic of the whole thing, it looks really good coming out of a conch shell I jammed the tree into.

Last but not least 5" rbta
 
Your corals look great and your pics are awesome! That rose anemone is gorgeous too! Has it settled down? It looks happy. Are you feeding it?

Would love to see it all together in a full tank shot.
 
I'm gonna make you wait for the FTS. :D

I'm getting pretty good at manipulating the bta to do what I want. Lol

I tricked it to move by putting a flashlight on the glass top only shining on half the nem and it moved for me. lol
After I relocated it to the center of the barnacle cluster, it was dumb and managed to fit it's foot through a hole about the size of half a thumbnail where it stretched to the bottom.
I noticed it start moving the day before I left two weeks ago. In a span of me leaving and coming back to monitor it (30 min) had pulled itself all the way through the tiny hole after living like that for a week.
I then blasted it off the rock (15 min of manual basting the foot..) and relocated it away from the powerhead. I broke off the barnacle in front and placed it there and hoped it wouldn't move while I was away for 2 weeks. It moved it's foot out to the outer lower edge of the same broken barnacle while I was away.
I thought it would be better if I broke off that barnacle completely so it could stretch it's foot under the rock and up through the center of the barnacle cluster, so I basted it last night (only 5 min this time) and put it where I wanted. It will stay here I'm sure.

Now I just gotta convince the clowns to notice it!



I feed it a tiny bit of shrimp when i first got it. I fed it a big chunk of shrimp 2 weeks ago and a shrimp pellet last night.
 
Tease!

Anemones are tricky, aren't they?

I remember my clowns taking their time noticing my rbta, in my old reef tank. Eventually they did, and I'm sure yours will too.
 
Definitely some strange, but beautiful creatures!

My rock boring urchins are apparently shrimp lovers.. They both showed a high level of interest in shrimp on a stick and quickly brought it around to be eaten. No interest in nori...

Xenia "growing" out of a conch shell I found on the honeymoon snorkeling in Curacao.


Better pic of rbta's foot. Can stretch foot below rock if it wants to.




FTS
 
Bought me a new bubble tip! :D

It is mint green! It was the size of a small lemon and had slight orange tips at the LFS.

It moved last night and was the size of a grapefruit under a rock ledge! Had to ghetto rig a cover for the mp10 in case it started floating. Luckily it didn't.





Lol







Also got a bicolor blenny that is being picked on by the clowns.



The chromis died on the operating table (my hand) trying to free it's mouth from getting dislodged and shut closed.





Throwback Thursday.



Very beginning

























 
Whew, that's a lot of pics! Your new GBT is pretty! I love that color morph. Now that you have two, there is a chance of sexual reproduction!

Great to see the throwback pics. It's a good way to show how far the tank's come. Your foam wall is still the best I've seen. It looks so natural! And it's such a great way to maximize space.

Sorry about your chromis. So its mouth got messed up and you tried to fix it? I hope your new blenny makes it. I think the order of introduction is even more critical in a tank that size.

So what's next? Any other additions planned? Or is it time to sit back and watch the corals grow?
 
Speaking of sexual reproduction, I got a new snail too and later saw it releasing sperm/eggs. It was above my turbo, but it's the only astrea in the tank..

At first the new mint green bubble tip (mgbta) or should I call it mint julep (mjbta) or seafoam (sbta) or mtn dew baja blast (mdbbbta) lol wouldn't attach to the rock I put in for it, just the sand bed. I gave up that night and it ended up moving about a foot away under the ledge and is now slowly coming out. I got really worried when I couldn't find it the next morning!

I'll have to look up bta reproduction other than splitting. Does it actually happen sexually in captivity? I know carpet nems can, but none have ever reproduced sexually in home aquaria.

Thanks for the wall love! I just wish the top held up instead of slowly degrading. Space saving was the goal. The only issue is that everything has to be mounted perpendicular to the wall, now that coral has grown, things below are getting shaded.

Sad day for Mr chromis :/
Their mouth can extend so it looks like a tube when they eat and somehow his came out, and when it retracted, the little spoke at the top got caught on its upper lip, forcing the extension downward completely blocking is mouth. Stress got to it while I was manhandling it's mouth.

The clowns just sit and wait for the blenny to pop out of a shell and charge it. The wife wants to get rid of the clowns, but I can't do it. Strangely, the clowns were the last additions. The chromis was the alpha when it was him, the male clown and silver goby. Now the female clown is mean to everyone except the male clown and making him mean..

Guess it's time to sit back and watch! :)
 
I don't know if anyone's had a bubble tip reproduce sexually in their tank, but I would think it's possible, with the right conditions.

You might try removing the clowns to a temp holding tank or bucket for a week or two, so the blenny can get established.
 
I have read this thread, from start to current post. When i get my new, 48x24x30 tall, i am going to foam the back. Thank you for sharing.
 
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