My 65 Gallon Mixed Reef

[biggles]

Beautiful shots Biggles :thumbsup:

Love the contrast with the 3 pieces. Right now, my blues and pinks, are all beautiful brown, but the damned greens, they're as green as ever!!! At least they make my tank bearable to look at though

Thanks mate, always the way that the best colors poop out first when the water is off. Even when many acros were losing tissue through STN the fluoro green stag pieces were hairy green blobs as if nothing was out of order....... :uhoh3:

Clown Bum

I have one of those green with pale yellowish brownish skin acro frags that is getting intense turquoise tips. I'm really hoping I have a nice blueish acro and not another green one. My slimer is enough green for the entire tank.

I got a couple of blue eyed cardinals. Little guys, not much color except a brilliant blue streak over the eyes, but they are active and school nicely. I've got 3 more on order to bring my total to 5. I've always thought both of the bigger cardinals look like zombie fish, especially the red eyed ones.

Hey Mark, fingers crossed for you that you don't see a 'green out' lol. Sounds like your piece might be a little stunner if those tips keep lighting up for you mate.
Zombie fish hey.......... the banggai is already creepy so i think i'll give zombie fish a wide berth lol.

What you're saying about the Banggai, and what Markalot says below is one of the main reasons why we scratched the Banggai's as our choice for a large group. We were planning on them originally because we thought it would be neat to watch a pair try to mouth-brood if they pair up and spawned. Is "mouth-brood" the right term? Because when they spawn they try to protect the fry in their mouth. I may have made up a world. LOL. But hopefully you know what I'm saying :hmm4: Because sometimes, I don't But maybe that would spice up your boring Banggai?.?.?. Ever thought about looking into pairing it up. Or would that just make 2 dull fish lurking in the shadows? Just a thought.

Hey Troubster,

I've bred plenty of African cichlids over the years so the novelty of mouth brooding fish has well and truly worn off. I'm making the official call on banggai's - they're reef duds !


Now onto something extremely upsetting that i woke to this Sat morning - no bloody house water. I live right next door to my work and had organised a plumber to fix a small underground leak i noticed near a fire hose reel today. Now i specifically emphasized that i knew all the fire hose reels were on a 40mm PVC pressure line and to be bloody careful digging near it.
Went next door to see an idiot soaking wet standing beside a small excavator instead of a BLOODY SHOVEL ! " How do you carefully excavate around a 20 yr old 40mm PVC pipe with a 5 ton excavator you #$@%^# idiot ! " - all he kept saying was " I'll fix it, i'll fix it ".........
Now this guy ain't the plumber so now my phone rings and it's the plumber...... " I'm really sorry but my guy has hit a water line and he can't find the shut off....." That's all he got out before i cut loose and i want you to be aware that i normally start the day with about three double black coffees in the first hour and today there is no water for the kettle........ i'm having an RO bloody coffee as i type this.
The best bit was when i calmed down and told him i was already at the job and the water was off and everything was under control and he says - " don't worry i won't be charging for the repair to the broken water line ".......... i cut loose again then whilst pointing out where i would shove the excavator if he tried to build it into the original job - you gotta watch tradies, they're rat cunning bastards............. my sparkie who is always fixing stuff is a perfect example.
Call him out to install two double power points at work, sounds simple doesn't it..........
Sparkie arrives and says yep no prob will take no time at all.

Him " So have you got the power points for me "
Me " Don't you have any ? "
Him " Yeah but i charge $40- if i supply them. "
Me " I pay $5- for them retail so can't you just charge me $10 or something - you're here doing work all the time mate. "
Him " Yeah i would but my wife does the books and she'd hit the roof if i started giving people different prices on stuff "

So the sparkie HAS to charge me $80- for supplying two power points that cost him about $6- wholesale not for any sane reason but simply to prevent his wife hitting the roof........ i'm out of pocket $74- but his wife is happy so all's well i guess.......... $%$@ TRADIES !!!!!!!!! :headwally:

I'm onto the second coffee now and the world is looking more normal......... weekend so it's over the top saturated pic time
I was running four B+ T5's but i'm worried they're actually too strong with the 400W radium and 78W RB and violet LED bar. That's about 640W over the 40x24x18" display. I swapped three of the tubes and now have a B+ and coral plus at the front with two actinics at the back where the acros are up high and were getting roasted by the B+ i think. You can see the phone catches the drastic difference in spectrum from the front to the back in these pics with just the new T5's on.
I'm not quite finished scaping the new acros in so excuse the mess at the front. I dropped a rinsed cube of mysis in just before i took the pics so Potatohead would come running, he goes nuts scrambling all over the acros stealing the mysis caught temporarily by their polyps - he's a smart little bugger is Potatohead........

He pops up on the left

Stealing from the acros in a mad mysis fever.....

 

[Fishy 1]

Looks great as always mate:beer:, a wise old man once said 'you lose coral color with too much blueloo':lol:

 

[biggles]

Looks great as always mate:beer:, a wise old man once said 'you lose coral color with too much blueloo':lol:

Lol there's a bucket of the stuff in those pics mate :lolspin:

Less blue loo.........

Polyps opening after lights out

Goliath the stylo crab bravely kept watch over his 'home' stylo when a massive snail lower right threatened his turf after lights out.......

Celebrating his victory afterwards

Where did he go......... bloody hopeless at hiding is Goliath :facepalm:

 

[Fishy 1]

Hehehe lol.

 

[Bello]

Alright biggles, you sneaky @#@$, we need some top downs!!

That's some insane PE all over, looks like everything is doing great :thumbsup:...and while we're at it, how about a color corrected FTS?

 

[Fishy 1]

Alright biggles, you sneaky @#@$, we need some top downs!!

That's some insane PE all over, looks like everything is doing great :thumbsup:...and while we're at it, how about a color corrected FTS?

I agree with bello, color correct pics

 

[biggles]

 

[Fishy 1]

Tank looks amazing buddy:beer:, I see you still have the red shrooms.
Hows that sneaky sump/frag tank going?

 

[troubadour11]

Wow! Things really seem to be humming along over there!!! :bounce1: I think it's looking great at least :smokin:

I like the way your re-worked 'scape is starting to fill in. That little arch is going to look stunning!!! Not that it doesn't already. :spin3:

So what's your favorite piece to sit and admire right now? I know my choice piece typically revolves around. Easy pickin's for me though with only a few corals :faceplam: One day there might be to many to choose a favorite...

I'd love to hear a brief review of your flow set up again and how you're liking it. If you're willing and have time to give a ramble on it anyway. I think it was talked about a little before when you were trying new powerheads. But now that you've been running them for a bit. I'd love to hear an updated review on them and how you're using them. I had a mount break on one of my "good" PHs. So we're considering updating to controllable DC driven PHs for our DT soon and I'm looking for more info on them.

Keep up the good reef :thumbsup:

- OH - and I LOVE the crab sequence pictures & captions. LOL

 

[Bello]

Now that's what I'm talking about!!!! Things are looking great again, biggles :thumbsup:

I'm actually shocked that the Red Mushrooms spread so much, given the lights and nutrient levels, and they do look pretty cool there

The right side diagonal raft looks pretty cool as well :thumbsup:

 

[martinphillip03]

Its hard to believe you had major problems two months ago. I'm glad everything is/has recovered. How did you take a picture without Potatohead in it?

Marty

 

[biggles]

Tank looks amazing buddy, I see you still have the red shrooms.
Hows that sneaky sump/frag tank going?

Thanks Fishy, the sump tank is a disgrace lol. I need to get the T5 bulbs Scotty recommended as nothing is happy down there except the acro assassin rics i removed from the display a little while back.

Wow! Things really seem to be humming along over there!!! I think it's looking great at least :smokin:

I like the way your re-worked 'scape is starting to fill in. That little arch is going to look stunning!!! Not that it doesn't already.

So what's your favorite piece to sit and admire right now? I know my choice piece typically revolves around. Easy pickin's for me though with only a few corals :faceplam: One day there might be to many to choose a favorite...

I'd love to hear a brief review of your flow set up again and how you're liking it. If you're willing and have time to give a ramble on it anyway. I think it was talked about a little before when you were trying new powerheads. But now that you've been running them for a bit. I'd love to hear an updated review on them and how you're using them. I had a mount break on one of my "good" PHs. So we're considering updating to controllable DC driven PHs for our DT soon and I'm looking for more info on them.

Keep up the good reef :thumbsup:

- OH - and I LOVE the crab sequence pictures & captions. LOL

Thanks for the kind words Troub, i'll have a ramble about the flow i have this weekend for you mate. In the meantime here's Goliath's opposite Tiny Tim. I name my favorite crabs and Tim's shell is only about 1/4" across and he lives at the front of the display so i see him all the time

I watch this guy a lot lately but my favorite is a blue acro i need to get a pic of for you.

Now that's what I'm talking about!!!! Things are looking great again, biggles

I'm actually shocked that the Red Mushrooms spread so much, given the lights and nutrient levels, and they do look pretty cool there

The right side diagonal raft looks pretty cool as well

Thanks buddy The red shrooms don't like the direct light even on the sand so i keep them shaded under acros. I poked one with a stick until it closed right up so you can see how the little stinkers spread. Btw notice the acros growing upside down under the raft about 1/2" off the sand that are about to meet in an upside down acro war lol. Both have grown about an inch and a half under the ledge from opposite sides of the rock.

Closer up you can see the little mini shroom to the left of the closed shroom connected by a very thin line of tissue. They hide this flubber sneakiness under their open polyps but at night after a good poking you can see what they're really up to........flubber can't be trusted to behave with acros so you gotta watch em real close...........

Its hard to believe you had major problems two months ago. I'm glad everything is/has recovered. How did you take a picture without Potatohead in it?

Marty

Hey Marty, i think he was molting that's how i managed lol. Might take a few top downs this weekend so you can bet he'll be making an appearance.

 

[Fishy 1]

Hey Bigs, by Scott do you mean Sahin? Wounder how the guy is going?

 

[biggles]

No i meant Scott who has the disgustingly awesome 4x4x2 and named his angel Spud - who names livestock after a vegetable.......... :worried:
Sahin has been gone a long time now and is missed terribly by many of his good mates here

Acan hiding under some acros....... acans can't be trusted either.

 

[rocknut]

Hey Biggles, just wanted to tell you that I have been following your thread for quite a while, and can't tell you how much I have enjoyed/learned from it. I have had quite a few "light bulb" moments along the way, and have learned more reading your thread than from all the reefing books I have combined. Thanks for taking the time to share your tank with everyone, and give us your insights.

I managed to kill the majority of the SPS I had in my tank several months ago as I was battling dinoflagellates, and am in the rebuilding/restocking mode now, and feel much more confident knowing I can apply what I have learned on this thread.

Keep it up!

Rocky

 

[Bello]

Wow biggles, and you say that you're not sneaky? How the hell do you explain this?!!!!

I watch this guy a lot lately but my favorite is a blue acro i need to get a pic of for you.

For the record, you're not supposed to be having any Green acro's, this is a blatant violation of Tank War's terms!!!

Stunning piece, I actually think it looks better than the SSC, and far less common.... and you say you have a favourite BLUE one?? You're just rubbing it in now, aren't you?

 

[Fishy 1]

Wow biggles, and you say that you're not sneaky? How the hell do you explain this?!!!!




For the record, you're not supposed to be having any Green acro's, this is a blatant violation of Tank War's terms!!!

Stunning piece, I actually think it looks better than the SSC, and far less common.... and you say you have a favourite BLUE one?? You're just rubbing it in now, aren't you?

Bello, he's going soft for green things:lol:.
Hey Biggles what is Scott's username?

 

[troubadour11]

WOW... wow, wow, WOW!!!

That green skinned, red polyped piece is crazy cool looking! :inlove: How tall is it growing off of the areas it's encrusting? Does it have a blue hue on the edge of it where it's encrusting along the rockwork too? Sure looks like it does.

I'm curious to see what your current favorite blue piece is your teasing us with. I mean, I was not expecting a green acro to be featured from you. lol ;-) For someone that only keeps a few, you sure can keep green ones with the best of them :thumbsup:

Any chance you would be willing to snap a pic or two along the edge of your acans? If there are areas that might be showing growth or along the edge of the skeleton. I picked up an acan about a month ago, but it is only 1 single polyp. So I keep going back and forth on whether it is doing well or not... Troub = not so experienced yet... Ours almost always has it's feeder tentacles open. Especially during the moonlight / night hours. But even quite often during daylight. I've been target feeding it fairly often and it always grabs the food and folds in to eat it. Then opens it feeders back up and has a nice, closed, puckered mouth.

The reason I ask for the photos is because when it doesn't have it's feeder tentacles open, I feel like the outer tissue has receded some despite the target feeding and such. But I really just don't know what they look like along the edges. They are flubber and can expand and contract quite a bit. So maybe we're all good. And of course, I understand if you choose not to feature any more flubber :lolspin:

But I'm pretty sure yours are looking healthy and could give me a good comparison of a healthy specimen.

I need to grow some large acros so we can add the crabs! DisBeReef desperately wants crabs.... :debi: ... in our aquarium. Or in our bellies. I bet she'd be good with either! ;-) The acro-crabs are the only ones I'm really hot for right now I think. Now I just got to get some acros so I can host them. :thumbsup:

 

[biggles]

Hey Biggles, just wanted to tell you that I have been following your thread for quite a while, and can't tell you how much I have enjoyed/learned from it. I have had quite a few "light bulb" moments along the way, and have learned more reading your thread than from all the reefing books I have combined. Thanks for taking the time to share your tank with everyone, and give us your insights.

I managed to kill the majority of the SPS I had in my tank several months ago as I was battling dinoflagellates, and am in the rebuilding/restocking mode now, and feel much more confident knowing I can apply what I have learned on this thread.

Keep it up!

Rocky

Hi Rocky, thanks for the kind words and i'm glad you've found a few useful bits of info along the way mate

Stunning piece, I actually think it looks better than the SSC, and far less common.... and you say you have a favourite BLUE one?? You're just rubbing it in now, aren't you?

That's a piece of the second SSC i got a long time ago mate lol. It's finally happy and growing again since the dramas but in a weird green way......
Thought i'd stick my hand beside it and take a snap before Potatohead got to me........ no chance. Undersaturated and over exposed the pics so my fingers looked sorta normal to me.

He really is a pest at times....

Bello, he's going soft for green things:lol:.
Hey Biggles what is Scott's username?

Scotty freddy - TOTM....... ring any bells Fishy.........

Scotty & Tammy's 4x4x2 SPS tank

WOW... wow, wow, WOW!!!

That green skinned, red polyped piece is crazy cool looking! :inlove: How tall is it growing off of the areas it's encrusting? Does it have a blue hue on the edge of it where it's encrusting along the rockwork too? Sure looks like it does.

I'm curious to see what your current favorite blue piece is your teasing us with. I mean, I was not expecting a green acro to be featured from you. lol ;-) For someone that only keeps a few, you sure can keep green ones with the best of them

Any chance you would be willing to snap a pic or two along the edge of your acans? If there are areas that might be showing growth or along the edge of the skeleton. I picked up an acan about a month ago, but it is only 1 single polyp. So I keep going back and forth on whether it is doing well or not... Troub = not so experienced yet... Ours almost always has it's feeder tentacles open. Especially during the moonlight / night hours. But even quite often during daylight. I've been target feeding it fairly often and it always grabs the food and folds in to eat it. Then opens it feeders back up and has a nice, closed, puckered mouth.

The reason I ask for the photos is because when it doesn't have it's feeder tentacles open, I feel like the outer tissue has receded some despite the target feeding and such. But I really just don't know what they look like along the edges. They are flubber and can expand and contract quite a bit. So maybe we're all good. And of course, I understand if you choose not to feature any more flubber :lolspin:

But I'm pretty sure yours are looking healthy and could give me a good comparison of a healthy specimen.

I need to grow some large acros so we can add the crabs! DisBeReef desperately wants crabs.... ... in our aquarium. Or in our bellies. I bet she'd be good with either! The acro-crabs are the only ones I'm really hot for right now I think. Now I just got to get some acros so I can host them. :thumbsup:

Hey Troub,

Yes it has a purpley blue edge where it encrusts and has only started shooting tips all over in the last month. It's only about 1/2" high across the surface.

Ok i want everyone to make a note of this before anyone says i'm cruel. Troub is asking to see the skeleton edges of an acan knowing full well i'll have to whack it a few times with a stick to make it close up......... any concerns please take them up with Troubster, i'm just doing as i'm told. Halide is already off so i'll whack it after all the lights are out and flash it before it knows what's hit it.

Acro tickling produces good colors but you gotta be gentle.........

 

[tmantaylor18]

Do you even lift?