Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread

[jnb]

Marc,

As you can see below, it does not leak.

Also, I am at risk at losing electricity - especially now that its hurricane season and my plan is to simply lock my garage door open about a foot or two locking down the generator just inside the door with a fan pointing out/circulating air out and probably extending the exhaust a bit to the outside and turn on the motion detector attached to a siren and/or light or whatever to make them go away before proceeding in - it would be nice to have the door open just inches for an extended exhaust but somehow I am afraid of that.

 

[kizkiz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10121368#post10121368 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Here's a couple of pictures of the new coral that looks happy. I don't know what it is, but I really like its pattern and texture. If you recognize it, please let me know and I'll put it on my ID page. Also, what classification would it fit into? Not SPS, but not LPS either right? I guess something near the Favia / Moon coral type.

try echinophyllia

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10121738#post10121738 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Micki
So where are they?

Jelly & Belly are the Black Onyx Perculas. A woman in Houston breeds some and the parents are gorgeous. These little guys were only a few months old when I got them. What really surprised me was how bright orange they are with some light over them. I'm looking forward to seeing them in the new angled tank that I'll be setting up soon.

A local hobbyist told me he has the perfect piece of marble for the table I'm going to build.

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10121916#post10121916 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnb
Marc,

As you can see below, it does not leak.

Also, I am at risk at losing electricity - especially now that its hurricane season and my plan is to simply lock my garage door open about a foot or two locking down the generator just inside the door with a fan pointing out/circulating air out and probably extending the exhaust a bit to the outside and turn on the motion detector attached to a siren and/or light or whatever to make them go away before proceeding in - it would be nice to have the door open just inches for an extended exhaust but somehow I am afraid of that.

What doesn't leak? I think I forgot our previous discussion and I didn't see it on this page.

I may build a small building on the side of the house that is secure and keeps the generator's exhaust completely out of my home.

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10122085#post10122085 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kizkiz

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10121368#post10121368 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Here's a couple of pictures of the new coral that looks happy. I don't know what it is, but I really like its pattern and texture. If you recognize it, please let me know and I'll put it on my ID page. Also, what classification would it fit into? Not SPS, but not LPS either right? I guess something near the Favia / Moon coral type.

try echinophyllia

Thank you. That's the one I always forget. You'll see that come up in every split of this thread.

Maybe echinophyllia aspera
http://www.corallibrary.info/showphoto.php?photo=282&cat=522

 

[Micki]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10122158#post10122158 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Jelly & Belly are the Black Onyx Perculas. A woman in Houston breeds some and the parents are gorgeous. These little guys were only a few months old when I got them. What really surprised me was how bright orange they are with some light over them. I'm looking forward to seeing them in the new angled tank that I'll be setting up soon.

A local hobbyist told me he has the perfect piece of marble for the table I'm going to build.

Ahhh, I thought you were talking about black clowns. My bad.

Cool on the marble! I'm looking forward to seeing the new tank up and running!

 

[kizkiz]

I have something similar.

 

[bleedingthought]

try echinophyllia

I second that.

 

[purebullet417]

yes def post build pics of the angled tank

 

[NanoGurl]

Just wanted to say hope you're feeling better soon! Gargle with some warm salt water!

Love the names of your clowns! I am going to steal them. They are beautiful. Great photos too!

 

[melev]

Well, I thought before I crawl into bed to get better, I'd post pictures of the reef today. Hope there aren't too many pictures. I'll just mix them up in various categories.

Btw, as an update to the new fish the CBB has broken out in Ich, and the one fish that chases it the most is the Longnose Hawkfish. The Purple Tang chased it hard at first but has decided it wasn't an issue, but the hawkfish is being a real pain. As I watched I thought it was ironic that the one fish chasing the CBB is one that doesn't have a swim bladder. The Purple Firefish eats nicely. And this evening I bought a Lawnmower Blenny that I hope will feel comfortable soon.

A shot from the end of the tank.

And from the front on the same end.

Here's a closer picture of the Toadstool. All pictures were taken with the pumps running, so polyps may not be focused in some shots.

In the front corner are a few different zoanthids.

Under the Toadstool is the Frogspawn.

 

[melev]

Here are the BTAs. I've been watching the parent anemone crawl up the rock slightly and I've got a feeling if I don't start putting food in these anemones soon, they may decide to wander. In all the years I've had them (nearly 5 years) they have never moved once. They were a bit closed up because the female clown was about to lay a clutch of eggs.

I saw the Mandarin for a second, but it was in a dark spot.

The bubble coral continues to look great, and I think it is getting larger.

The M. capricornis looks quite faded, but polyped out. Argh.

The Mean Greens look great as always.

Check out the sponge growth in the rockwork. This is a decent area that includes a cave full of sponge.

 

[melev]

The branching Pink Hammer continues to grow and needs to be fragged again.

And look at the backside of this same coral where the VorTech pounds it all day.

At the other end of the tank, I have a few corals.

Green Hammer.

This end of the tank is rather ugly to me, basically because of the bulb above that section. As I've stated, I need to try reversing the orientation of this bulb to see if it will look more blue and less yellow. Maybe I'll just do this tonight in a few minutes to see what happens tomorrow. If it doesn't get better, I may just ship it back to the mfg as it is only 3 months of usage, at the most.

A. granulosa - this coral is olive green, and new growth (in the back out of sight) is lime green.

This little guy has purple tips.

This frag was from bosborn1 in New York.

And the Sunset Montipora looks faded as well, but polyped out.

 

[melev]

RTN

RTN

So you ask, where's all this RTN you keep talking about? One small beautiful colony is long gone, removed from the tank. But here's the A. hyacinthus that I loved and lost (center rear).

The Purple Milli that was so stunning months ago looks horrible. You can see the RTN'd branches in the lower section. The upper section is furry (and orange!) as can be. The odd thing is the back of this coral. I've been observing it, and the tissue is bright green on the backside with polyps, nothing remotely close to the color it is supposed to be.

Here is a frag of the Purple Milli that I mounted months ago. Thank goodness I still have something to work with that is the right color and seems healthy.

The A. micropthalma (Scripps acro) has lost many branches, but interlaced are many healthy ones (at the moment anyway). You can see quite a few dead branches on the right side, and a black brittle starfish within one section picking it clean.

Here are some of the A. millepora frags that I cut from the five year old colony that went up in smoke. I've seen some of these die back, but the rest seem to be holding on. Again, not the right color at all as this coral used to be blue. Now the core seems brown with polyps that have a little greenish hue to them.

 

[melev]

The main colony of A. nobilis looks ugly and seems to be on a continual decline, but the frag it formed on its own seems to be happy.

Here are a couple of other corals & frags that seem to be doing well.

Unknown acro - seems to be happy back there.

Crayola acropora - some of the leading tips are bright blue (not pictured)

Green acropora table (from Keith), Psammacora in the upper right, Crayola in the upper left.

Lavendar Frilly mushrooms

Neon-blue Star Polyps

 

[green_frogspawn]

wow some great shots there
your bubble coral is sweet!

 

[melev]

Here's a picture of the Maxima clam from the side. It has zoanthids growing all over the rear and now some are appearing on the front side.

Green Acropora sp. with tips that are bright blue. (Color off in this picture, and blurry)

A year ago I got a piece of purple rimmed Montipora foliosa. Stunning piece that died in my tank. The plug it was on was never removed and in the past couple of months it has been coming back from the dead. I'm holding my breath.

I picked up a new acro this evening at the LFS to replace the one that died yesterday. It has blue tips, and seemed pretty. (colors off in this picture)

So that's pretty much it.

 

[melev]

That MH mogul socket has been flipped. I'll see what the color looks like tomorrow from that particular bulb.

 

[lukinrats]

Up mighty late there dude!!! You still down for the count w/ the allergies?

 

[jnb]

the nano that was empty for too long - that I said a week or so again I was going to bring into service and you said something about so much time and you hoped it would not leak - I fionally put your nano up

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10122180#post10122180 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
What doesn't leak? I think I forgot our previous discussion and I didn't see it on this page.