My shallow 42 gallon reef

[cugly]

So the bucket thing actually works.
Sure no problems, I've been meaning to put it up as well.
Alk 9
Calcium 400
PO4 0
Salinity 1.030 (I'm not sure why its so high. I add fresh water till its 1.025).
That's all I can test for at the moment.

Thanks our numbers are lower but then again you guys have nicer reefs
Ya you can get those small plastic baskets that can fit a nem and clowns I usually clip it to the tank and put a shade so its not blasted with to much light and it worked every time I have done it.

 

[Fishy 1]

Ok interesting. We don't have reefs like up north but there is a fair bit of plate coral.

 

[joshky]

I recently bought a pair of juvenile clarkiis from a local breeder and they jumped in my torch immediately. My old pair of platinums loved hosting everything as well, gave them away to my brother because they stressed a newly acquired malu out which actually ended up getting an infection and dying in a HT. I miss them but they're in a good home.

Hopefully your torch and clowns remain happy together, it's a lot of fun to watch.

 

[Benar]

My last pair of percs ended up hosting my wooden floors :|
Rory, looking great my friend! When's the next sps addition planned for?

 

[Fishy 1]

I recently bought a pair of juvenile clarkiis from a local breeder and they jumped in my torch immediately. My old pair of platinums loved hosting everything as well, gave them away to my brother because they stressed a newly acquired malu out which actually ended up getting an infection and dying in a HT. I miss them but they're in a good home.

Hopefully your torch and clowns remain happy together, it's a lot of fun to watch.

Nice, josh have you seen any negative affects on the torch?

My last pair of percs ended up hosting my wooden floors :|
Rory, looking great my friend! When's the next sps addition planned for?

That's a shame mate
Thanks buddy. Well a new LFS is opening soon(after the new year) and they will have a jaw dropping range of corals, so I'll be in heaven I don't think I'll be getting to many if any LPS (unless its spectacular) as I want to save space for SPS.

 

[whiteshark]

Don't waste any space with anything other than SPS!

 

[Fishy 1]

Don't waste any space with anything other than SPS!

Yes that's what I plan on doing from now on

 

[Fishy 1]

I picked up a nice little chalice frag today. Pics to come. Now I've been thinking (yes that is a very bad thing), I'm thinking of building a whole new scape. I've got a good idea of what I want it to look like and that is a dramatic scape that looks impressive, I'm not going to worry about making max space for tons of corals as I want it to be a beautiful display. I'm planning on building a descent sized frag propagation system in the near future that will be lite by natural sunlight and T5's, can't wait. So that will take care of my desire for lots of corals. I'm hopefully going to start construction tomorrow or on the weekend and will document the process for you guys. I walked past a awesome tank for sale at the LFS today and it made me want to upgrade again, but I snapped myself out of it
This reef bug has bitten hard

 

[johnike]

Cool, me like Chalices.

 

[Fishy 1]

To be honest John I've never really seen the point of encrusting corals but they are growing on me. See what I did there
Here's a pic of said chalice

 

[johnike]

Noice.
:wave:

I'll get you some pics of mine later and post them in the Lounge thread.


Oh and, 19 corals.

 

[Fishy 1]

Thank you.
Cool I'll check them out, is it the what's up with your tank thread? You've got 19 corals? I've now got 11

 

[glaukos]

11???lets see them you sneaky rory

 

[Fishy 1]

Haha lol, yes mike I have 11(doesn't look like it though)
Chalice
Hammer
Elegance
Toadstool
Tracky
Favia
Plate
Torch x2
Acan x2

 

[whiteshark]

Thank you.
Cool I'll check them out, is it the what's up with your tank thread? You've got 19 corals? I've now got 11

15. And all SPS. You sir are slacking :lol2:

 

[Fishy 1]

I know unfortunately my LFS doesn't have the most mind boggling stuff so I haven't bought much, but when this new shop opens.......

I started on my scape today, not as dramatic as I wanted but I've got lots of space for corals. Its a bit flat but I wanted the corals to give it it's shape.

Here's some pics of the steps.

Making the scape shape.

Covering the wire with a bag.

All mixed. I used fine sand with some shells mixed in. I mixed it at a 2 parts sand to 1 part cement.

All done. I'll add some more mounds and lumps later as I ran out of sand:facepalm:

I'm pleased with the look of it

 

[biggles]

That looks bloody awesome Rory :thumbsup:

Can you take us through the process going from how long you dry it to the curing process please buddy.

 

[Fishy 1]

That looks bloody awesome Rory :thumbsup:

Can you take us through the process going from how long you dry it to the curing process please buddy.

Thanks mate but its not done yet I'm going to get some more sand tomorrow and add to the scape. I'm planning on making a slope in the middle of the scape that will fit snuggly against the overflow box and hide it. It will also give the scape some much needed height.

I sure will mate( I said I'd do it a while ago). Tomorrow is a free day for me so I'll dig up some articles and do a step by step writeup. I'm very pleased with my first attempt at fake rock but it doesn't allow me to place lots of corals on the scape. The new scape will allow for lots of eye candy

 

[Fishy 1]

Some quick pics

Chalice. Pic doesn't do it coloration justice. Its got nice orange lines running through it.

The tank with just the actinics

Full lights

 

[Fishy 1]

Some good rock reading material

Some good rock reading material

Here's some articals I found very helpful when researching rock making.
http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/reefs-magazine/56220-faking-artificial-reef.html
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3886
http://www.reef-eden.net/diy_9.htm