Through the Looking Glass

[watchguy123]

Nice! Maybe acro divaricata?

Species is my weak spot as a hobbyist. I need a tutorial

Very nice tank.
You really need to keep trimming them. As many corals that you have, how do you keep them from going to war?

Some play nicer than others. I originally hoped to have a sort of English garden. Except corals don't bend like flowers so trimming is much more challenging and frustrating

Awesome new pictures keep them coming.

Just curious what your sump consists of. Are you using filter socks, or filter floss at all?

Sump has a single filter sock, protein skimmer, gfo reactor and a small bag of carbon. Also have a refugium with chaeto growing


This is another dragon I got for a trade with a fellow reefer here on socali. It's settling in nicely but I believe it is supposed to color up more

The first picture is from the beginning of March, 2014



And here it is in June, 2014 ( three months for those who can't count so well)



And last, a couple of chalices. It looks like the pink boobies chalice might have just taken a ...., well you know. Picture came out a little pale, I'm still working on my photo skills.

 

[cugly]

Love the contrast with the chalices Mark..how have they been in your tank

 

[watchguy123]

:celeb3:

Love the contrast with the chalices Mark..how have they been in your tank

Thank you, I've had the chalice about 2-3 years


Another non sps, kryptonite trumpet. Wildest, fluorescent green and I really like it. I'll see growth for a while and then lose a head or two and then growth. Not sure why it is not always happy but it is happy most of the time

 

[watchguy123]

Just a few more

Some lps















Mystic sunset montipora

 

[Volcom698]

Just curious if you got your apex feeder going and what you think of it?

 

[watchguy123]

A couple updated rr usa wolverine pictures. Same frag, different angle. Lighting four ati bulbs, three blue plus and one purple plus. My halides come on later in the day. Temperature corrected to 20k. One of the pictures the body looks more blue and in the other it looks more purple, only difference is angulation of the shot.

 

[watchguy123]

Posted this on another forum and thought it would be cool to share here as well. These are some growth pictures


June 2013


January 2014


March 2014


Today, July 2014

 

[reefmutt]

This is one of my favorite threads!
I can't wait to see the progression shots with that wolverine.
Keep'em commin'!

 

[watchguy123]

iphone pic of a symphillia about 10 minutes after going into my tank earlier today. Picture is metal halides and t5's, no led's. I think it is pretty cool piece.



So I felt guilty with an iPhone pic so here it is retaken with the real camera this evening

with MH, t5's and LED actinic supplements. Interesting how similar this looks to the iPhone picture but there were no LEDS in the iPhone picture. The various ways different cameras catch images in our tank is fascinating.



and the blasamussa sitting next to it


MH, t5's and no LEDS

 

[nanomarine]

what's the name from Greg Hiler, aquamarine jewel ?

what's the name from Greg Hiler, aquamarine jewel ?

Thank you, always appreciate the feedback


This is a colony I almost lost a year ago from over trimming. Not too common of a coral either, Greg Hiller coral.

 

[TommyP]

Wow. Just read all the pages (mostly looked at pictures lol) amazing tank, Sir.

I am very jealous and wish I could have half the sps corals you do.

Subscribed for sure. Thank you for sharing your tank.

 

[Volcom698]

How do you like using a calcium reactor. I can't decide on a calcium reactor or 2 part doser.

 

[watchguy123]

How do you like using a calcium reactor. I can't decide on a calcium reactor or 2 part doser.

Sorry, I have not checked in on this thread for a while. I love my calcium reactor. Nothing is perfect but I have enjoyed utilizing one.


So i picked up a new blastomussa. I am pretty excited about it. Just took the picture of it in my display.

 

[watchguy123]

Couple of my lps

Hallucination favia




Another blasto

 

[dtum]

Impressive tank and great sense of humor, really enjoying your thread.
How long is your photo period?

 

[watchguy123]

Impressive tank and great sense of humor, really enjoying your thread.
How long is your photo period?

Thanks. The metal halides are on for 5 hours, t5s are on for 10

Here is a picture of a new frag of a colony I managed to kill a while back. This frag came from a fellow reefer and it is just starting to color up nicely

 

[watchguy123]

I have been trying something new with my tank. Unfortunately it has not been going smoothly but I think it is interesting and want to try it out further:

I have used gfo in a reactor and carbon in a media bag for years. The carbon to help keep the water "clear" and remove some organics. The gfo to control phosphates. My parameters have always been reasonable.

I got intrigued by a thread where a fellow reefer started doing daily water changes. So after finally setting up a water station, I thought I could change out 5 gallons a day in my 180 gallon display. So if diligent, I would change out about 100% of water a month (3% daily). Sounded clever. But my water got too "clear" perhaps. Not positive, but I believe with the gfo and carbon, as well as my skimmer, the daily water changes over a couple of months just got it super clean. My sps, got some burnt tips and some frags showed thinning of the skin and just not as happy as they should be and some frags not surviving. Oh, forgot to add my alk runs around 8.5 via a calcium reactor.

So I just took the gfo and carbon out the other day. Been increasing feedings a lot to my fish. Stopped water changes for this week. And I will restart water changes next week again at about 5 gallons a day. The only reason I say about 5 gallons a day, is that sometimes I miss a day or two in the course of the month but otherwise pretty darn consistent.

What I am hoping to do is get all elements at an ideal range even trace elements through the constant water changes. Part of the allure of reef keeping is dialing everything in to maximize color and growth. I have never enjoyed changing out gfo, it is really messy and time consuming. Carbon is some like mystery thing to me, I never really understood what polishing water truly means. I like checking the tank out daily and with my nifty water station it only takes a few minutes to change out 5 gallons so it seems like win/win. Time will tell how it all plays out.

 

[watchguy123]

No ones feeling the love today?

Darth maul porites update picture

 

[watchguy123]

Still no love

Reef raft orange passion, not a great shot-- took it with the canopy on and I really couldn't see much in the display, my arms were stretched out thru the canopy to get it. I will keep trying on this little frag, the polyps are orange but don't seem to realize it in the photo

 

[w.gurney77]

Love this thread! Amazing tank and beautiful corals. Do you have any more progress photos of the frags from the time you got them and how they look today?