Maroun 150g Build Thread

[Tswifty]

In my experience with the encrusting montis... flow is every bit as important as light in order to get the proper coloration. I don't have the superman in my collection yet, so I can't comment on that particular piece.

My Sunset is very happy... it's located in high(er) light, and I'm blasting it with flow.

I would post in the SPS forum... a larger number of people seem to have that piece nowadays, so you should get some good responses.

 

[maroun.c]

My latest SPS addition Sold to me as horn coral but IDd here as probably hydnopora(SP) ?
very bright fluorescnet green under actinics

Green monti,
Had a few incidents falling over a nearby frogspawn which apparently have a stronger sting. but recovered tissue over damaged area and seems to be growing fast.

my officially first growing coral and the first SPS coral in the tank(along with the green accro posted above) got it from holland and has always been in growth and coloration mode. was a rather yellowish brown when I got it and turned into this nice read color with some green on the base, very similar to the redplanet but colors of the red planet are darker and pop more. have broken large chunks of it on several occasions while working in the tank but allthose have made it and are also growing. will post growth pics in few weeks when it achieves 1 year in my tank.

 

[maroun.c]

Will post there TJ.
this was IDd as Pocillopora or maybe green birdnest. Saved it from a large colony that RTNd in a friends tank:

Green pavona no signs of rapid growth but clearly encrusting really fast.

a Favia that I recently got and which is colouring up nicely.

a pic I took fromthe back of the tank of my green scroll coral that I liked:

and to finsih with this ssequence of my lobo looking pretty normal in the first pic and turning into a beast while feeding. My wife was about to toss it wile feeding hte tank one day as she thought it was dead and decaying

 

[Rocketboy52]

Beatiful shots! Can't wait until my new tank is worth shareing!

 

[melev]

I love your pictures, but I think the color is less vivid than reality. I know you do post processing in Photoshop. Why don't you send me a JPG and let me play with an image. I don't work with RAW like you do. It could be that your monitor is part of the problem, if they look right to you. Your green scroll is a perfect example, because it isn't green at all in the picture above.

Other than this picture, which I really like and it might be just a bit oversaturated.

 

[maroun.c]

Thanks Rocket Bo.

Marc I guess the colours on that last batch of pics could be off as these were processed on my laptop with a privacy screen on it under airplain lighting so I'm sure when I see them on my calibrated screen at home there will be some fixes to make on them.
Any particular pics you're interested in trying to play with on Photoshop so that I email it to you?

 

[melev]

I just think corals in Lebanon can still be as colorful as they are in the U.S. That's all.

 

[maroun.c]

Totally agree Marc still those were processed somewhere between Beirut Dubai Saudi and Bahrain so can't erally tell which country is the culprit in washing out the colours
Just looked at the images again on a screen in teh hospital I'm at, and yes they are a bit less vivid but still tht's really not that extreem. Some however are less vivid like the scroll coral pic you mention. on the screen I'm now using (not calibrated) that red mushroom shot is very much oversaturated
I remember having such problems when posting on photo forums as pics in Adobe RGB color mode looked wash out on some browsers and not others (internet explorer Vs firefox) and I did include the change photo mode in the photoshop action that adds the borders and watermark to my pics. then I went and changed that again as saving for web was deleting exif info and I wasn't able to tell how teh pics was taken or when... So maybe that would be the cause. what browser are you using to see the pics?
I will email youba higher res pic of that scroll oral when back to hotel this afternoon and could you please compare what you see on photoshop and whats on the post as they should be the same.
would also appreciate if you could post process it in photoshop to see what you can make out of it.
One more thing as we're in WB issues and PP, when working with JPEGs do you basically take a WB measurment before a shoot and then remeasure each time you're shooting under different conditions in the same tank, like in my tank I have 14 K on the sides and 22K in teh middle so theres a clear color shift on pics. or do you just take pics with one of the preset WB and adjust all in photoshop? if so then why not use RAw as it'll allow you to manipulate the WB much more efficiently than JPEG. Not trying to go in a JPEG RAW debate but just trying to comapre techniques as lately I have been struggling with post processing due to lack of free time.
Also will look at the images when back home on my calibrated screen as that should clear things. if there's a clear difference then mybe I'll also calibrate my laptop screen and take out that privacy filter from it when processing pics.

 

[maroun.c]

Ok some frustrating weekend updates.
-Came back on travel to learn that tank temperature was reaching 84+ on daily basis. My dad and wife were trying to cool it down by adding an ice water bottle to the tank (3-4 times) while lights were on and at some stage decided to turn off 2 of the halides.
-my 3 cardinals were no where to be seen. same for the 2 firefish I added recently, hoping that was not caused by the PBT ich...
-All other fish looked good except for my coral beaty which was missing a piece of its dorsal fin. didnt' take long to learn the cause: it was repeatedly going tot he maroon clowns hideout and the female maroon would charge at here and they would fight for few sec then she would back off. never imagined coral beauties to be so stubborn as it only stopped heading there after I fed the tank and added a nori clip to divert it's interest.
-I'm struggling with my pics as they look different when viewed on photoshop, ACDSee, Windows pic viewer also seing them on interent explorer is different that Firefox. I emember struggling with this few years ago and remember that it was a colormode issue SRGB VS Adobe RGB...but this aint' fixing it. Marc is also helping in comparing pics I emailed to him to pics posted here.
-last and worst at this stage:
Connected the chiller (after more than 2 months of buying it and 1 month of picking it up) it did work quickly on the water container I was checking it on however it seems there is a problem with the temp display as its always showing 88. not sure if it's a setup issue as I'm not able to read the manual that only comes in Chineese (would appreciate if a chineese memeber or anyone speaking chinese would volunteer on translating at least the setup of the chiller)or it could be a malfunction. emaile the manufacturer but still no reply. LFS owner comign to check it out tomorrow however this is the first unit of this chiller they sell and I'm not expecting much. this chiller is a heater and chiller so it could be that one has to setup both and maybe the set point for heating and cooling have to be a certain point from each other but I can't get a setpoint reading as the screen is only showing 88. pressing on tempo up or down does make the chiller beep 38 beeps from min to max and I was able to get it to give a 80 F degress for the watercontainer I'm checking on however not being able to see the display i dont' think its safe to elt it run on my tank.
-another bad part is that I'm traveling to Holland(well that's not that bad) and I would love to run the chiller for few days while here ebfore traveling to make sure all is well before leaving also I'm hesiating to leave it runnning as it is now and being away for 2 weeks...

One only happy update or maybe pre update is that I will be able to go on ashoping frenzy in the next two weks in holland as I have an extensive list of LFS with one of them just next to our training center there which is one of the 3 best LFS I ever visited. I only wish things were not as expensive as they are in Europe though.
Sorry for the long post but really needed to vent.

 

[maroun.c]

Guys I need some help with a couple of pump choices,
Skimmer pump:
I'm actually running a Hurricone CAT1 which runs with a modified laguna. Only problem is that When I bought it from the states they couldn't get the 220V 50 HZ pump on time so I had to take the 110V 60HZ. Used a transformer to bring voltage down to 110 and it works fine despite the freqency difference. Still having 110 and 220 V in the electrical supply is sometimes a risk of inserting something in a different voltage, also I don't really know if the pump life will be reduced due to running on a different voltage. Was advised to get a laguna 1500 and take the volute and pinweel from the modified one to the 220V one but couldn't find it. found this Eheim Skimmer pump yesterday in a shop in holland do you think i should go for it? i know some people used a modified Eheim 1262 which worked fine but unfortunately couldn't find it.my other choice is a modified Ocean runner pump 3500 that they have and it's cheaper than this compact Eheim.
LFS owner is suggeting that I go with the Eheim compact due to the improved pinwheel technology.

2nd pump would be one I need to push water from my sump to the fishroom which is on an attick around 7.5 foot high. I was considering an Eheim 1260 but saw an ocean runner 6500 that can do double the output 1700 GPH. the max height on that pump was 12.4 feet.
The LFS owner here is advising me to buy an Aquabee 5000 which can do 1320 G but can push to 16.4 feet. I don't really need that much flow to the fishroom (as it'l only contain Chiller frag and a 2nd fuge) but problem is I'm not familiar with that pump. I do trust this LFS owner as I always get good support from him and also he showed me a new setup their installing which is even higher than what I need where they only use the Aquabee5000. I can still buy the 6000 or 7000 version if I need more but hes assuring me that 5000 is all I need.
The other good things in Aquabee 5000is that it's less than half the size of the OR 6500 and runs at 75 W compared to 140 W for OR. is it safe to use any of those pumps (and which) for a such a head? I'm not worried about loss of volume pumped but on burning the pump due to excessive work. and also it will really be good if I can save place in the stand by not having to have one of those big external pumps.
Thanks for any input.

 

[melev]

I've never used any of those pumps and simply don't know the answer. I'm sorry.

 

[maroun.c]

Turned out that the Eheim maximum output is around 700 GPH while the askoll on the hurricone is 1500 so this answers my question. as for the Aquabee guess I'll just get it and if it doesn't work fine at that head height I'll just use it on a CL for the new tank maybe.

 

[maroun.c]

just before I traeled to holland last week I had some free time and decided to try to make my DIY fishfood.
gathered to followings:
Fish, Mussels, octopus, Calamari, shrimps,

add the followings:

Also prepared another batch with the followings to feed corals with:

Also added some frozen artemia, shrimps eggs...

mixed all of those ina container

wasn't allowed to use the home blender so had to buy my own
not bad for 25 usd as I had expected to have to throw it away because it would smell bad...

started blending:

made a batch without nori for days where I would have a nori clip

 

[maroun.c]

And some more with more veggies, nori, garlic

Finally divided daily doses in nylon shets to be freezed

also poured some in some frozen food containers I ahd:

also spread some on asheet and divided tem in cubes with a knife

in the end it turned out to be much less hassle than I anticipated, smell wasn't as bad as some describe, and my blender was easily cleaned and can be used again...
I did freeze all items for 3-4 hours before blending to make sure they don't start cooking with the blender temperature.

 

[maroun.c]

Other than that I got another bad surprise with the chiller.
After receiving the connection pipes that were missing I connected it and turned it on to discover that the temperature pannel was not working properly. the digital display for water temperature and set temp was alway stuck on 88. contacted manufacturer and LFS owner and took it to a pro electonic repair center. got the update from manufacturer and from repair center the follwoing day that the temp control board has to be replaced which means waiting for another week to get it and asI was traveling for 2 weeks to holland this means tank will be wihtout chiller till 15 Aug when Im back. usually temp starts getting lower by end of Aug so I don't really see any worth to my investment in a chiller for this year. unfortunately temp was really bad before I left and also during the last week. My father and wife have to add 5-6 freezed water bottles starting midday when halides go on.
on a brighter note got a nice surprise from my clowns just before I headed to airport:

and the proud mom and dad.

these pics were taken on a hurry so image quality isn't really good. hopefully next batch will have time for some macros.

 

[sue711]

Yumm yumm that fish food looks great! Nice job! I haven't yet made my own food, but you made it look like a lot of fun.

 

[melev]

Those clownfish are beautiful. Congrats on the spawning event.

I like that fishfood. What made you decide all those different shapes: small blobs, some in the bubble packs, and some cut into cubes?

You bought the chiller new, right? It should have worked out of the box!

 

[maroun.c]

Yumm yumm that fish food looks great! Nice job! I haven't yet made my own food, but you made it look like a lot of fun.

It wasn't that bad and also the idea of not having to mix foods each time I wanted to feed the fish or worse yet preparing food portions for 1-2 weeks each time before I travel so that no overfeeding happens.
Just made sure the wife was asleep while I was mixing those so she doesn't see the mess I was surely going to make. I'm still shocked that the kitchen wasn't really smellikng like a fish store while preparing it and that 5 min after I cleaned everything with bleach you couldn't tell what happened


Marc,
The clownfish are really beautiful indeed I just love them. The female is huge, close in size to my yellow and hyppo tangs.She was previously a male I got for my older female which I lost around 1.5 years ago they were a couple for 2-3 years and spawned regulary. it turned male while I was trying to find a partner for it and rejected the first clown I introduced got here a second one that made the right moves apparently and was accepted. I remember seeing her (when it was a he) fertilize the eggs that the previous female laid. I still have to catch them while spawning and see her laying eggs to believe this clown sex thing
The amazing part is that after the old female died this one started growing very rapidly, it's really impressive how the dominance of a female stunts growth of males
I sure won't be able to raise any of the fish but still its a good sign.
As for the chiller it is shocking indeed. first it was a missing connection and found out that one of the connections wasn't totally round, when I got those replaced got this temp thing. should be getting replacement by next week when I 'm back and if this time if it doesn't work then it's going back. In the end that's the price of going cheap I could have gotten a brand one like an aquamedic but here the 1/4 HP costs you around 1500 USD got a good deal on this 1 HP Resun for aroud half the price of the 1/4 HP aquamedic and thought it would be a good choice. still it shouldn't have been that bad. Unfortunately I can't find anything else bigger than 1/2 HP and I will need bigger for the upgrade so somehow I have to live with it:mad2:

As for the shapes I'm still experimenting as it's my first tiume to prepare fishfood however I divided the foods in 3 categories basically:
-regular fish food with some vitamin additive and some freezed and dryfoods.
-Same as above + more vitamin content, and more garlic used after fish introductions and when I feel fish are stressing.
-coral food basically for anemones, and lps that can eat bigger food size. added more coral foods to those (that can be target fed) as I love to target feed my LPS each time I have the opportunity to. would love to do it once weekly but can't mange more than 1-2 times monthly usually.
Guess having those in the frozen food containers and labeling those would be the best but I didn't have many empty ones on hand

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15498060#post15498060 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maroun.c
It wasn't that bad and also the idea of not having to mix foods each time I wanted to feed the fish or worse yet preparing food portions for 1-2 weeks each time before I travel so that no overfeeding happens.
Just made sure the wife was asleep while I was mixing those so she doesn't see the mess I was surely going to make. I'm still shocked that the kitchen wasn't really smellikng like a fish store while preparing it and that 5 min after I cleaned everything with bleach you couldn't tell what happened


Marc,
The clownfish are really beautiful indeed I just love them. The female is huge, close in size to my yellow and hyppo tangs.She was previously a male I got for my older female which I lost around 1.5 years ago they were a couple for 2-3 years and spawned regulary. it turned male while I was trying to find a partner for it and rejected the first clown I introduced got here a second one that made the right moves apparently and was accepted. I remember seeing her (when it was a he) fertilize the eggs that the previous female laid. I still have to catch them while spawning and see her laying eggs to believe this clown sex thing
The amazing part is that after the old female died this one started growing very rapidly, it's really impressive how the dominance of a female stunts growth of males
I sure won't be able to raise any of the fish but still its a good sign.
As for the chiller it is shocking indeed. first it was a missing connection and found out that one of the connections wasn't totally round, when I got those replaced got this temp thing. should be getting replacement by next week when I 'm back and if this time if it doesn't work then it's going back. In the end that's the price of going cheap I could have gotten a brand one like an aquamedic but here the 1/4 HP costs you around 1500 USD got a good deal on this 1 HP Resun for aroud half the price of the 1/4 HP aquamedic and thought it would be a good choice. still it shouldn't have been that bad. Unfortunately I can't find anything else bigger than 1/2 HP and I will need bigger for the upgrade so somehow I have to live with it:mad2:

As for the shapes I'm still experimenting as it's my first tiume to prepare fishfood however I divided the foods in 3 categories basically:
-regular fish food with some vitamin additive and some freezed and dryfoods.
-Same as above + more vitamin content, and more garlic used after fish introductions and when I feel fish are stressing.
-coral food basically for anemones, and lps that can eat bigger food size. added more coral foods to those (that can be target fed) as I love to target feed my LPS each time I have the opportunity to. would love to do it once weekly but can't mange more than 1-2 times monthly usually.
Guess having those in the frozen food containers and labeling those would be the best but I didn't have many empty ones on hand

excellent job on making your own food Maroun. I notice you using Selcon. Is there any difference between Selcon and Vitachem?

I have been using the vitachem in my homemade food but have noticed a few reefers using Selcon

 

[maroun.c]

Capn its not like I have too much choice around here I just buy whatever I can find on travel and was very happy to find some selcon and Zoe. Do you think I should start looking for Vitachem? any advantages?
Which kinda brings me back to the unsolved mystery of the RBTAs bleaching in my tank as I remember beeing advised to add selcon or maybe zoe to their food and at the time I had none available maybe I should add to their diet a fish or shrimp that's been soaked overnight is Selcon or Zoe!