My 65 Gallon Mixed Reef

[biggles]

Thanks for dropping by 1000_smiles, thanks for the kind words mate

Hey Bello, the aminos made the colorful pigments in some corals deepen or saturate more but i didn't like the look, it was almost like they had been artificially colored - hard to describe but i'm sure you wouldn't like the result i saw either mate. At the moment i feed roids - a pinch in the display morning and night, same goes for cyclop eeze powder. I hand feed the clown ocean nutrition marine pellets once a day, he also chows on the cyclop eeze. Every 3 days i feed the hammer and clown half a frozen mysis block. Every night i suck up a couple of basters of crap from the sump and squirt it into the display as the acros go nuts for it.

I was only joking about the nem Troub, i seriously think you should give one a go as i can tell it is important to your wife and as i said before there is nothing quite as reefy as seeing clowns in a nem in your display :thumbsup:
Good to see your tank journal up and running mate, Bello and i will be like flys on stink in your thread.........:lol2:

Tank is going along well at the moment and the corals are really starting to settle in, colors are improving on everything and the growth is beginning to wind up a bit at last. Keeping the following parameters and seeing good results.

Alk 7.5
Cal - 420
Phos - 0
Nitrate - 0
Sal - 1.025

I don't just buy browned out corals, i also like to save bleaching acros as they always reward you in the nicest way.........

19 Jan 2013

7 May 2013

 

[Bello]

Good to see your tank journal up and running mate, Bello and i will be like flys on stink in your thread.........:lol2:

:lol: Troub you can count on that

It's funny but I'm using Reef Roids, Reef Pearls, Cyclopeeze, Ocean Nutrition Flakes, NLS pellets, Zeo Coral Vitalizer & Mysis. Don't be saying that I'm spying on you now

Looks like alk is back in line :thumbsup:. I'll be laying off the aminos for a bit now. Let's see how things go.

Wow, the bleached piece has really coloured up :thumbsup:. I kinda like the brown rings around the corallites, pretty neat.

Was just scrolling back up, and the piece that could have been the SSC, the one on the left raft, looks really neat. It seems like the tips are pink with a blue base? If that's the case, it looks as good as the SSC IMO

 

[biggles]

I don't think you have to worry about not providing the right foods for your corals mate, you've got that well and truly covered lol. :thumbsup:

Here's a good comparison pic between that new colony and the SCC frag i stuck on the monti. It's coloring slowly but i think it's going to be very nice once it acclimates.

The small frag of the same colony that i'm nuking with light - looking good so far

Three little pink pigs all in a row lol

The oxy is starting to settle and likes its new spot. See the new mouths forming along the bottom left edge

The other larger frag of the new pink colony that is in medium light on that outcrop on the right hand side of the display. The stupid seri is there as well...... i still hate that little #^$%

And finally i pushed the radium to the left and took a gratuitous top down, you can see the lighting kinda fades to the right lol........

As you can see Bello, my boys are digging in and preparing to give yours and Troub's corals an SPS *** kicking.......

 

[Bello]

Three little pink pigs all in a row lol

Looks like you have your piggies/troops in formation..... you do know that THIS MEANS WAR !!!! :blown:

 

[Bello]

This was an awesome update :thumbsup:

The pinks have a serious pop!! Very nice! The seri frag looks pretty good too, worth growing out despite the annoyances. Mine don't look anything like that. Doesn't look like a S. Hystrix though..... is it?

The frags all seem to be recovering nicely, with good encrusting growth and colour :thumbsup: I think you'd know a hardcore reefer, when even the tiniest itty bitty frags in his tank are glued and saved

The oxypora looks to be recovering well too :thumbsup: I haven't any experience with oxypora, but "chalice" corals on the whole are pretty nasty stingers. My echinophyllia's certainly are

Finally a full top down and it's golden :thumbsup: Variations of colours are excellent. I still love the blue stag the most.

Looking good Biggles....it's time :strooper:

 

[troubadour11]

Three little pink pigs all in a row lol

And finally i pushed the radium to the left and took a gratuitous top down, you can see the lighting kinda fades to the right lol........

As you can see Bello, my boys are digging in and preparing to give yours and Troub's corals an SPS *** kicking.......

The reef is looking good Biggles. That top down shot looks great! Lots of colors in there that should look great when they grow and fill in more. Not that they don't look great now!

And that blue stag doesn't look so good to me. Once I get water in my tank, I'll volunteer to hold it if you need more room.

Piggies huh? Those 3 little piggies are an act of provocation. They are ripe for a Project Anemesis Bomb! :blown: ... ... ... Do to developing acts of Piggie aggresion, it's time to upgrade Project Anemesis to phase 2. Code named Project Aneme-wolf! :fun2:

 

[sahin]

Keeping the following parameters and seeing good results.

Alk 7.5
Cal - 420
Phos - 0
Nitrate - 0
Sal - 1.025

I don't just buy browned out corals, i also like to save bleaching acros as they always reward you in the nicest way.........

19 Jan 2013

7 May 2013

Hey there. Thats a nice transformation.

Regarding your phosphate measurement, what do you use to measure phosphate?

Also, in your experience, does lower phosphate = better colour?
- Note that I dont mean absolute zero, but rather, say is 0.006ppm better than 0.03ppm? Will 0.006ppm yield better colours than 0.03ppm?

That overhead shot looks awesome. And those 3 little piggies look sweet! :beer:

 

[biggles]

Hey guys Those blue stag branches are encrusting well so hopefully they take off in the next month or two. The frag under the LED's is also going just as well but being blue that's a given. I'm not sure on the seri Bello, it's only 1" high so it needs to grow some branches for an ID but i don't see any sign of the typical sharp pointy growth typical of hystrix.
Top downs always look way better than front shots but i am happy with the way colors are slowly getting better, most stuff is still in the process of getting used to artificial lighting so only good things should happen unless i stuff up my alk again :deadhorse1:
I use a Hanna low range to test phos sahin. I can't help you with opinions on phos levels mate as i don't think my observations are relevant considering all my corals are wild collected. I keep phos and nitrates at zero but most of you have success with dirty water so i'm sure you'll do much better if you follow what everyone else is doing in that regard. :thumbsup:

 

[Bello]

I'm not sure on the seri Bello, it's only 1" high so it needs to grow some branches for an ID but i don't see any sign of the typical sharp pointy growth typical of hystrix.

That's what I was thinking too. I did have a pink seriatopra guttatus/stellata (i don't remember the id) a while ago, so it'd be great if that were the case :thumbsup:

Any progress on the second tank? .... Now what was that motto I heard, "Who Dares Wins!": Time to get busy Biggles

 

[biggles]

Went to check out the multi - covered in ich as were most fish and will be dead very soon, should have known better to even bother going to that LFS
Was very good and stayed away from my SPS LFS Bello but i thought i might as well drop in to the LFS i bought my tank from on the way home............. bad idea - i did it again :deadhorse1:

Red table

Purple tip with green polyps

Brown stag - think i see a hint of purple on the tips

Blue tipped very solid tabling acro

Finally scored a monti cap !

Don't even ask where i'm going to place these new SPS........... i'll stress about that for the next few days lol. They're all pretty browned out but that will stop now they're in good water hopefully. I really, really need that second tank sooner rather than later Bello :deadhorse1:

 

[biggles]

The mandarin is pretty happy hanging out in the shadier areas of the sand bed during full lighting now so i finally got a few good picks of him.

 

[JohnniG]

Looks good mate!

 

[troubadour11]

WOW. Lots and lots of new stuff in there! :thumbsup:

I can't wait to see how all those new pieces develop. Especially that purple tip with green polyps. Me likey :eek1:

Nice mandarin shots too! That's interesting to know (your mandarin at least) likes hanging out in the shadier spots. Since I'm hoping to keep a pair, maybe I should try a set up with a few more overhangs. Give'm a reason to be out front. I think I should dare to go more bonsai style if I can! That's next while I wait for my mortar.

 

[Bello]

If I drove for 90 minutes, and saw a sickly fish, I'd be back with just as many pieces :lol:

Great pickups!

I'm a bit curious, when you pickup pieces like that, with fairly largish bases, do you trim/remove the bases? Where on God's Green earth do you plan to place them though? :lol: It can't be easy to shift 'em up for brownie baking and back down again, can it?

The Red table is very nice, looks like its gonna have some great PE, and colour :thumbsup:

The purple with lime green polyps looks pretty cool. Think the base will turn pale, and retain the purple tips and green polyp? That would look pretty awesome!

I'm very interested in the brown stag. I recently bought one, hoping it would turn bluish or purple, but no luck . Hopefully this does better . Will be looking for updates on this one :thumbsup:

I find the structure of the last acro to be very interesting. Would love to see it's structure as it grows out

Pretty nice purple cap, what's the polyp colours on it? Are monti caps somewhat rare in Oz?

I think you could setup a new tank, and populate it with just the sump livestock :lol:. It's time to get busy :hammer:

 

[biggles]

Looks good mate!

Thanks for taking the time to comment JohnniG, it's getting there slowly but surely

WOW. Lots and lots of new stuff in there!

I can't wait to see how all those new pieces develop. Especially that purple tip with green polyps. Me likey

Nice mandarin shots too! That's interesting to know (your mandarin at least) likes hanging out in the shadier spots. Since I'm hoping to keep a pair, maybe I should try a set up with a few more overhangs. Give'm a reason to be out front. I think I should dare to go more bonsai style if I can! That's next while I wait for my mortar.

Hey Troub, yes i went stupid as usual when i saw all the SPS on offer. Definitely do a google search on bonsai design images as some of the ancient pines have been sculpted beautifully and you can almost copy a tree with your rock outcrops. Since you have those flat cut rocks i'd try to use a few as shelves, just tilt them slightly so they're not like a dinner plate and also at an angle that hides the flat cut bottom - get creative mate :thumbsup:

If I drove for 90 minutes, and saw a sickly fish, I'd be back with just as many pieces :lol:

Great pickups!

I knew you'd understand my dilemma Bello lol - i hope you realise the corals i bought are the left overs which is why they're all browning from being in the LFS too long, imagine what the choice SPS were that came with these and were snapped up immediately......... i always get the left overs :deadhorse1:
Trimming down the bases is exactly what i do mate, i know it sounds funny but i don't actually want colonies like these as they're so hard to deal with in my small reef and i'm not trying to create an instant reef as i want things to grow in naturally but in our LFS's this is how SPS are sold. If you moved here and we went for a LFS sortie together i'm pretty certain you'd be speechless at what i consider crappy acros lol. There were about 10 milli colonies for sale yesterday some of which were really beautiful pastel colors - all shades of green so they stayed in the shop lol. They had a dinner plate sized orange milli that i wanted badly but it was just too big - i did score a broken off tip from it for $5- though.
The red table is the biggest problem i have as to how to add it into the scape - still thinking about that one. I've glued that little colony with the green polyps and purple tips down in medium light so hopefully the branches lose all the extra zoa they've produced over the next few weeks to let the pigments show better.
I'm gluing that brown stag to the monti plate near the SCC frag as i want a stag growing up from that raft rock - i'm giving you a heads up right now that if it turns out to be green i'm going to be most displeased Bello ! That blue tipped acro is very obviously used to high flow and high light and isn't a sp. i see for sale normally, i like finding different growth forms just as much as scoring cool colors - i know you do too mate.
That cap looks better in the pic than in real life, its a dirty overly darkened monster at the moment but i'm hoping it lightens up and the true color returns. The polyps appear to be the same color as the monti from what i can see, same as the nice purple monti i scored a few weeks ago - no multi colored monti's unfortunately. The only monti i have ever owned previously was a big tan colored cap so these are cool to me. Monti's aren't rare at all but they take up a lot of room in a poly shipping box whereas small acro colonies don't - the collectors don't pick them often but occasionally you see a few around. I see encrusting colorful montis for sale all the time but i don't like the encrusting sp. so i ignore them lol.

Don't be green. don't be green, don't be green...........:mad2:

 

[Bello]

i hope you realise the corals i bought are the left overs which is why they're all browning from being in the LFS too long, imagine what the choice SPS were that came with these and were snapped up immediately......... i always get the left overs

I think it's time that you resort to more covert methods.......you know, a stakeout outside the LFS :lol:

Trimming down the bases is exactly what i do mate, i know it sounds funny but i don't actually want colonies like these as they're so hard to deal with in my small reef and i'm not trying to create an instant reef as i want things to grow in naturally but in our LFS's this is how SPS are sold. If you moved here and we went for a LFS sortie together i'm pretty certain you'd be speechless at what i consider crappy acros lol.

I'm jealous, plain jealous . Would it be possible to speak to the owner of the LFS, and make a deal with him, say $5 for a frag of every non-green/brown acro that passes through his store? :lol: That'd be pretty awesome, and can always be blamed on damage during shipping...... I'm being really wicked and greedy here :lol:

There were about 10 milli colonies for sale yesterday some of which were really beautiful pastel colors - all shades of green so they stayed in the shop lol. They had a dinner plate sized orange milli that i wanted badly but it was just too big - i did score a broken off tip from it for $5- though.

And... how about a pic of that one? Orange millie sounds incredibly yummy. I certainly wouldn't be able to resist, especially if I just built a new tank :deadhorse1:...:lol:

The red table is the biggest problem i have as to how to add it into the scape - still thinking about that one.

I think the biggest PITA colonies to glue are the tabling acros. I recently dropped mine down while cleaning the side glass, and it took me about 2 hours to have it sit right again :furious:. The bigger they are, the bigger PITA's they are to mount.

I doubt this is going to turn out brown. The tips show a lot of promise. I'm under no delusions that the one I got is the same as this :lol:. A stag on the raft rock would look perfect, just hoping the lights are enough.

It's funny, but I dislike caps (they grow too big, too fast, and I'm just not fond of the structure), while you dislike encrusting monti's, which I love :lol:

 

[biggles]

I frag bombed the front reef slope. I thought i was getting two orange milli branch tips but one is orange and the other multi tipped one is peach tipped with bloody green corallites :deadhorse1: Also attached the only frag of that acro branch my 6025 attacked which is a very pretty aqua green now :deadhorse1: it's down very low between the blue stag branches. Stuck a piece of the bright pink stylo under the orange milli frag.
That little green and purple acro has the poops big time and is not going to be a quick color up i think, barely any PE even at night
As you can see the red table was attacked tonight with the dremel and a great many expletives - pretty sure it's the most sworn at tabling acro in captivity.......... i kinda hate it a bit, but not as much as the seri which looks almost white and might be bleaching - do it you piece of non pink crap and see if i care........ :celeb2:
I just want to point out that i didn't intend the table to go so high but it took 4 tries and when it finally stuck somewhere i just walked away and went outside for a bit......... it looks very sulky as you can see but it has no idea how close it came to spending a cold night on my front lawn - i'm not buying any more table colonies !
Everything seems to be acclimating well and the colors are improving all the time. Had to raise dosing to 100ml a day so i know the corals are settling in. There's no shading btw when the radium is in the middle where it normally hangs.

 

[Bello]

Looks pretty good :thumbsup:

I completely hear you on the tabling colonies. Sometimes you just feel like giving them the chop! I did that with one a while ago, and have frags all spread out over both tanks. The Red one does look good though, nice pickup

The orange milli does look mighty interesting, pretty good for 5 bucks. I also like the green corallite milli . It could get interesting. Looks like the frags are ready for battle :lol:

BTW, been a bit busy, ripped apart my Monti tank

 

[buzzy]

great colors!

 

[sahin]

Wont the corals sting each other in 6 months time with them being located so close to each other?