My 65G Shallow Reef Tank

[DiscusHeckel]

I had to frag my Acropora copiosa yet again today only after fragging it less than three weeks ago as it started to get too close to other corals. I reflected on my decision to put staghorn coral in such a small tank like mine. I am putting up with them due to their excellent coloration and very thick skeletons, which give a good contrast to other corals. However, I decided to be less forgiving on my other fast growing sps coral, orange Montipora digitata. I fragged it heavily yet again today. Ultimately, I am going to replace it with a slow growing Acropora frag. My tank floor is full of frags yet again :sad2:. On the bright side, I will be able to raise funds for a fish as I purchased dry goods with the proceeds of the previous fragging event as my lfs did not have the fish I wanted.

Moreover, I moved one of my smooth skinned Acroporas, A. carduus, from a very high PAR area to a low PAR area to observe how this move will affect its coloration. I bought it as a small frag in September 2014 from this place. Mine always looks creamy colour though its sections that are not exposed to high light tend to look green/blue/grey, which prompted me this move.

Finally, while cutting frags, I made an attempt to take top-down photos without using a view box. Instead, I blocked the light with a polystyrene piece, stopped the water flow and shot the pictures. I am less than impressed, but these pictures still reflect the coloration of my corals much better than pictures taken with a perpendicular angle.

 

[M007]

Very nice, that second top down is so cool with the caps under the acros. Imagine using me caps as substrate with everything else growing above :idea:

 

[Wiskey]

Beautiful shots! I don't know if this can work for you but I have a DSLR with a 100MM Macro lens, the shades for this lens are about 4" long and aftermarket ones are only $10 on Amazon. I am going to glue a piece of glass to the end of an extra one so I can dip the end of the shade in the water and get top down shots. It's a tip I heard from someone else. This frees up both hands to be on the camera and blocks side light nicely.

Whiskey
Whiskey

 

[markalot]

Nice top downs, they look great to me. I love the big staghorns but they grow so fast.

 

[reefmutt]

Beautiful shots! Corals look fantastic!
I bought myself a cheap viewing box with high walls. This allows me to rest my lens face flat against the bottom of the box. Works pretty well for me. Because it wants to float, I can use both hands on the camera and press down a bit into the water without dunking the lens (most of the time.. I have dunked the lens once, or filled the viewing box with water, actually)
Love the granulosa and the Echinata type coral in the first shot.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Very nice, that second top down is so cool with the caps under the acros. Imagine using me caps as substrate with everything else growing above :idea:

:beer: Interesting idea. You would need a lot of flow to keep detritus off it though.

Beautiful shots! I don't know if this can work for you but I have a DSLR with a 100MM Macro lens, the shades for this lens are about 4" long and aftermarket ones are only $10 on Amazon. I am going to glue a piece of glass to the end of an extra one so I can dip the end of the shade in the water and get top down shots. It's a tip I heard from someone else. This frees up both hands to be on the camera and blocks side light nicely.

Whiskey
Whiskey

Thanks Whiskey. I do not have a DSLR camera, but would not mind having one. If only I could sell my frags to fellow reefers as opposed to taking them to my lfs for a credit note.

Nice top downs, they look great to me. I love the big staghorns but they grow so fast.

Thanks. I think Acropora gomezi must be one of those slow growing staghorns. It does not grow as fast as Acropora aspera and and copiosa anyway. Attached are two photos of this coral. The first one photo was taken in April 2014 and the second one was in this month.

Beautiful shots! Corals look fantastic!
I bought myself a cheap viewing box with high walls. This allows me to rest my lens face flat against the bottom of the box. Works pretty well for me. Because it wants to float, I can use both hands on the camera and press down a bit into the water without dunking the lens (most of the time.. I have dunked the lens once, or filled the viewing box with water, actually)
Love the granulosa and the Echinata type coral in the first shot.

Thank you Matt. I have seen a view box on Ebay (UK). Is is not expensive. The only thing is that its wall is about 5 cm high. I will look for one with a higher wall.

I think the coral in the first photo is Acropora lokani, but I might be wrong.

 

[reefmutt]

Lokani, yes could very well be.
Your tank is getting so full, fragging will soon part of your regular maintenance.

 

[biggles]

Those top downs are awesome Bulent, lots of stuff i'd snap off while you weren't watching mate......... :thumbsup:

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Those top downs are awesome Bulent, lots of stuff i'd snap off while you weren't watching mate......... :thumbsup:

Thanks Andrew. You are too nice. You could have easily done that as I was away for the past four days. I went to fishing again spin3. This time there was no seal in sight. I caught plenty (in fact too many):

day 1: 7 (for one hour only)
day 2: 26 (for five hours)
day 3: 45 (for four hours)

Net weight after gutting, boning and removal of heads (day 2 and day 3 total): 7.5 kg.

Tide is very strong. The dark brown weedy areas (up to the bushes) in the third and fourth photos are flooded during high tide . Water rises up to where people fish on the far rocks (photo 3). The man in the fourth photo is only able to stand on that section of the rock during low tide. Water rises up to 5 meters :eek2:. Pretty scary stuff.

 

[biggles]

Damn Bulent, you got onto the fish this time mate.

I've done a lot of rock fishing so i know how dangerous it can be for the unwary. How's the tank looking mate.

 

[sahin]

Wow Bulent those corals look stunning. I love the Lokani looking one! So nice! :beer:

Nice catch - i've never been fishing, would love to have that as another hobby.

 

[biggles]

Nice catch - i've never been fishing, would love to have that as another hobby.

I'd love nothing more than to take you out onto a dangerous rock platform to have a fish Sahin.........

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Damn Bulent, you got onto the fish this time mate.

I've done a lot of rock fishing so i know how dangerous it can be for the unwary. How's the tank looking mate.

Indeed. Thanks Andrew.

The tank looks better than I left. My 16-year old son is well trained to look after the fish and dose Tropic Marin stuff as well as the sponge power. There is a noticeable growth spur on my purple plate. It could be due to the fact that I replenished my kalk stirrer with fresh calcium hydroxide before my fishing expedition.

I also heavily fragged my orange Montipora on the right hand side. I have decided to get rid of it and "plant" and an Acropora in its place (see the second picture). Should I get a staghorn type acropora or bottle brush type or? There is a brace bar over this particular coral, but whatever I put under this brace bar will still get at least 300 mmol/m2/sec PAR. I need your advice. Thanks in advance,

Wow Bulent those corals look stunning. I love the Lokani looking one! So nice! :beer:

Nice catch - i've never been fishing, would love to have that as another hobby.

Thanks Sahin. As I am about to draw sea fishing to a close (I may still go one more time), I am looking forward to re-starting fly fishing for trout in my local reservoir.

I'd love nothing more than to take you out onto a dangerous rock platform to have a fish Sahin.........

Andrew, you are a good friend of Sahin, aren't you?

 

[reefmutt]

Wow. That's quite a haul... And a lot of beheading and gutting.....
Beautiful spot for fishing.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Wow. That's quite a haul... And a lot of beheading and gutting.....
Beautiful spot for fishing.

Tell me about it. It was a big operation. While I was not fishing, I spent most of my time in our kitchen during our stay, cooking, serving meals, washing up and fish mongering related tasks, so that I could be left alone by my wife in peace while fishing.

My mother-in-law has commented that I should have no difficulty in finding a second job in a kitchen somewhere :angry fire:. My wife has also commented that my arms and hands still smell fish :love2:.

Spot is beautiful for fishing but too dangerous for swimming (very strong currents and jellyfish with 1 m stringy thingies).

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Here are some night time close-up photos I took with my iPhone last night:

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I took some sps frags to one of my lfs this afternoon for store credit. I used some of the credit to buy a particular item that I had my eyes on for a while. I made an offer on a set of 24 tubs of Rowa Kalk (600 gr each) and it was accepted. :celeb3: My lfs seemed glad to get rid of them. It was a win-win situation. This set will last EIGHT years. Including another set of Rowa Kalk tubs, which I bought from another lfs, I have now enough calcium hydroxide that will keep me going for ELEVEN years. According to my lfs, I must have more Rowa Kalk tubs than the entire stock of the Rowa distributor in the UK.

It is amazing that reefers in the UK have turned their backs on cost effective means of providing calcium and alkalinity. Having said that I still have to provide bicarbonates and calcium independently of limewater due to insufficient evaporation rate. When I spend my store credits, I give preference to buying dosing salts. As a result, my home office has started to look like a b!o0dy retail shop as I cannot hide these bulky items anywhere else. :crazy1:

 

[reefmutt]

Wow!! You weren't kidding! That's a lot of stock.
You should be on that TV show: secrets of reef hoarders..

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Wow!! You weren't kidding! That's a lot of stock.
You should be on that TV show: secrets of reef hoarders..

Hmm, I am getting worried :eek2:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/11832731/Deep-down-theres-a-hoarder-in-every-one-of-us.html

 

[reefmutt]

Well... I shouldn't judge... I'm a certified frag hoarder...
My wife would have left me long ago if frags could survive in the backyard....... Like they do in my dreams.....