Just about three weeks ago I got a propagation tank up and running (with "used" LR, so little cycle...). Here are a couple pics of it:
The tank is a used tank I found at one of the best LFS here in Michigan, Preuss Pets. They moved stores about 1/2 year ago and this was one of their old freshwater fish tanks. It is approximately 33 gallons in volume, and measures something like 36x15x14, nearly perfect for my application. It is also drilled in the back right corner for a 1inch bulkhead, and has a somewhat mangled blue background on it that I decided to keep.
The tank is lit by Two 2 bulb 39watt T5HO retrofit fixtures made by "Metropolis"? They seem to be high quality, although I have not heard of the brand before. I currently run 3x 10k and 1x actinic bulbs, but will probably be swapping 2-3 out for blue+ or aquablue bulbs in the next few weeks to get more POP from my zoas.
I kindof ghetto rigged the stand out of some shelving units I had, I supposed this might not be the best idea ever but it is what I had to work with. It held me and my GF just fine....
The sump is a 20Long in which I have LR for filtration and some chaeto for a fuge. This was my old sump from my 20L display. I also run an ASM mini-g skimmer, with mesh mod, for filtration. It seems to work pretty well.
Right now for circulation all I run is a mag7 for a return pump. I don't know if this is enough flow in the display or not.
Stocking
First off, I must show you Dr. Evil. He is an unknown species angler fish (I can't figure out an ID) and he is the guardian of my corals. I picked him up this past weekend. He is a cryptic little bugger, hence the rock in the display for him to hide on.
This past Saturday I attended the Grand Rapids Marine Aquarium Society annual frag swap. This is where most of my livestock has come from. I have said this is a zoa farming tank, but you probably noticed some other stuff in the tank including a montipora digitata, toadstool, and green sinulara. I picked up a few miscellaneous frags from the swap just because I have not tried to keep them before, and want to give it a go. I will also be growing out my acans and maybe blastos in this tank so that they can grow and be fed undisturbed before going back to my display.
Anyhow here are some pics of the LS currently in propagation:
I call these "ghost" palythoas. They have a ghostlike pattern and are a faint yellow and blue when looked at from top down. I hope they will color up more when I get different bulbs.
My current favorite, Legions of Evil
Green mouth Armor of God - mouth is neon green under better lighting
And some rainbow palythoa I got for a cheap cheap price
Some other zoanthids I have in here that I will be proping (which most people won't be as interested in) are:
Tub's - can't verify lineage, but I trusted the seller...
Rings of Venus
Dragon Eyes
Orange Dragon Eyes
Leprechaun Nipples
Gremlins?
A single polyp of PD
The inferior strain of RPE
Starburst PE
Whodah's Cat's Eyes
I am also supposed to get some candy apple reds, lunar eclipses, and armor of god in the next couple weeks. I got them in from a RC seller, but they are melting down #-o
Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
The tank is a used tank I found at one of the best LFS here in Michigan, Preuss Pets. They moved stores about 1/2 year ago and this was one of their old freshwater fish tanks. It is approximately 33 gallons in volume, and measures something like 36x15x14, nearly perfect for my application. It is also drilled in the back right corner for a 1inch bulkhead, and has a somewhat mangled blue background on it that I decided to keep.
The tank is lit by Two 2 bulb 39watt T5HO retrofit fixtures made by "Metropolis"? They seem to be high quality, although I have not heard of the brand before. I currently run 3x 10k and 1x actinic bulbs, but will probably be swapping 2-3 out for blue+ or aquablue bulbs in the next few weeks to get more POP from my zoas.
I kindof ghetto rigged the stand out of some shelving units I had, I supposed this might not be the best idea ever but it is what I had to work with. It held me and my GF just fine....
The sump is a 20Long in which I have LR for filtration and some chaeto for a fuge. This was my old sump from my 20L display. I also run an ASM mini-g skimmer, with mesh mod, for filtration. It seems to work pretty well.
Right now for circulation all I run is a mag7 for a return pump. I don't know if this is enough flow in the display or not.
Stocking
First off, I must show you Dr. Evil. He is an unknown species angler fish (I can't figure out an ID) and he is the guardian of my corals. I picked him up this past weekend. He is a cryptic little bugger, hence the rock in the display for him to hide on.
This past Saturday I attended the Grand Rapids Marine Aquarium Society annual frag swap. This is where most of my livestock has come from. I have said this is a zoa farming tank, but you probably noticed some other stuff in the tank including a montipora digitata, toadstool, and green sinulara. I picked up a few miscellaneous frags from the swap just because I have not tried to keep them before, and want to give it a go. I will also be growing out my acans and maybe blastos in this tank so that they can grow and be fed undisturbed before going back to my display.
Anyhow here are some pics of the LS currently in propagation:
I call these "ghost" palythoas. They have a ghostlike pattern and are a faint yellow and blue when looked at from top down. I hope they will color up more when I get different bulbs.
My current favorite, Legions of Evil
Green mouth Armor of God - mouth is neon green under better lighting
And some rainbow palythoa I got for a cheap cheap price
Some other zoanthids I have in here that I will be proping (which most people won't be as interested in) are:
Tub's - can't verify lineage, but I trusted the seller...
Rings of Venus
Dragon Eyes
Orange Dragon Eyes
Leprechaun Nipples
Gremlins?
A single polyp of PD
The inferior strain of RPE
Starburst PE
Whodah's Cat's Eyes
I am also supposed to get some candy apple reds, lunar eclipses, and armor of god in the next couple weeks. I got them in from a RC seller, but they are melting down #-o
Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
