Through the Looking Glass

[watchguy123]

OMG....
For real, very amazing photography skills, and the corals look so beautiful! Wow, wow, wow.... Simply awesome

Thank you. I need to get a new avast porthole, I dropped some super glue gel on it and I now have a smear spot on my pictures

I Always enjoy your updates. Your photos are amazing , filled with examples I've not seen at my LFS!

You know I feel the same about looking at photos of corals in other reef tanks, there are so many different, unique and beautiful coral out there and otherwise we would only see a limited world of it.


Z1, a colony I've had for a while. Came from a wild colony my lfs got a year or so ago. They lost their colony but mine is happy



This little guy doesn't look like much but in my tank it shows all kind of potential. I almost never show picture of it because it always turns out underwhelming in photo

 

[watchguy123]

Purple monster (well when it grows up, it will be)

 

[plyle02]

Old school, love it

 

[reefmutt]

Jealous of your purple monster!
I lost mine in the spring.
I'd kill for a new piece.. Not easy to find in Canada.

 

[watchguy123]

Old school, love it

Jealous of your purple monster!
I lost mine in the spring.
I'd kill for a new piece.. Not easy to find in Canada.

Purple monster is a great Acro. Having a frag is like paying homage to reef history. I tracked a down a frag of the original purple monster years ago. Grew out a nice colony. Fragged it for some friends. And then much later had an issue and lost the colony. A reefer friend gave me a frag from his colony which had come from mine--pretty cool thing for him to do. Apparently a new source of purple monster is now available from the Solomon Islands. Good and sad at the same time.


Got this frag from a good buddie, in his tank it has long bright purple polyps/filaments. Looking at this frag that is hard to believe but patience. Patience is what reefing seems to about



Blueberry wine. Mine is just growing but the craziest blue ever, particularly when it gets big(colony size) and perhaps a bit happier

 

[reefmutt]

Nice blueberry wine! Mine has been growing well, too. It does have quite a unique blue to it.

 

[watchguy123]

Nice blueberry wine! Mine has been growing well, too. It does have quite a unique blue to it.

Thank you, always appreciate your comments


This little colony lights up so differently depending on MH, t5's or leds. These pictures are all MH plus T5's.

Wet Thumbs Mother of Pearl (MOP)



I know this appears to be all green but actually the base of it has a great deal of purple. I almost killed this some months ago with an alk spike but it is recovering nicely. Hopefully in a few months the purple contrast will be visible and its wow factor will reappear. If polyp extension is an indication of happiness, it is pretty darn happy right now.

Garrett's Carduus

 

[watchguy123]

I almost killed this guy with an alk swing a while ago. Coming back and coloring up. Bottom of the tank, just off the sand. Oh and if you see those darn asteria stars, well, I have added a harlequin shrimp. So far my wrasses have not eaten that shrimp so hopefully those ugly chew marks will disappear on my coralline algae.

Purple Dragon Eyes



Not much to look at in this little frag but it has unlimited potential

Reef Raft USA Limitless

 

[watchguy123]

Reef Raft Asia Diablo



Reef Raft Canada Cherry Bomb

 

[watchguy123]

This one just keeps growing a bigger and bigger base

 

[Usernam Invalid]

Through the Looking Glass

This one just keeps growing a bigger and bigger base

That's what the kids would call a "phat base" [emoji3]

 

[watchguy123]

It's not real big but it is happy and encrusting

Reef Raft Canada Wolverine



The below frag was encrusting but not happy so I cut the longest branch and placed it here. It seems to be much happier and hopefully in the next months ahead it will grow and color up

Reef Raft USA Firecracker

 

[Piper27]

Nice! The firecracker is a spectacular piece! Looking forward to updates on that one. Great pictures man.

 

[watchguy123]

Nice! The firecracker is a spectacular piece! Looking forward to updates on that one. Great pictures man.

I think it make be a year or so before I get the growth and color on that one. But sometimes I can be patient

I just love this one. The red polyps are amazing





WWC Red Ferrari (I never understand why WWC and Jason Fox never show colonies of their stuff. They offer enough frags that there must be a mother out there waiting for a quick snapshot. I have an aiptaisia stinging the base of this one.)

 

[reefmutt]

Wow. Beautiful. Both!
What's burning the Ferrari?
By the way, I've been trying to get a purple dragon eyes but I'm not sure it exists in Canada. Looooooove that coral.
But that red Ferrari is special.

 

[watchguy123]

Wow. Beautiful. Both!
What's burning the Ferrari?
By the way, I've been trying to get a purple dragon eyes but I'm not sure it exists in Canada. Looooooove that coral.
But that red Ferrari is special.

Thanks



One of my favorites

Z favorite



Another little frag of a wild piece. I don't think it was maricultured. When I saw it, there was no rock or base attached

 

[reefmutt]

Yep, that Z is nice.
Mark, what food are feeding the fish?

 

[watchguy123]

Yep, that Z is nice.
Mark, what food are feeding the fish?

Nothing unusual. Sea veggies once a day and either NLS pellets or LRS reef frenzy for fish

Red Devil Nasuta. It just won't color up or grow although polyp extension makes me think it is happy




Oregon tort. It's gotten pretty happy and growth is taking off




Interesting phenomena going on. Getting enough growth that some colonies are running into each other. I started trimming to avoid battles. Plus I find trimming challenging because often access to get bone trimmers in is limited. Hate it when I go for a little trimming and I break off half the colony. I think it's easier to keep things under control if you start sooner than later. Although a lot to be said for that untrimmed look

 

[watchguy123]

Darth Maul Porites





I think this is one of the all time under-rated sps. Yes its weird partly because it encrusts vs branching and I find branching so much more exciting. But the colors are amazing. It grows super slow as well. Hardly ever see a frag for sale probably because of slow growth. Yet the price for a frag is usually around $40 or $50 which I think is reasonable for a knock out sps.

I just had a phosphate spike which I don't understand the genesis of. No dead fish, no over feeding ( I was on vacation and someone else was feeding the tank for 4 or 5 days--so maybe). Amazingly, all the corals are exhibiting crazy polyp extension including this darth maul porite and its in the middle of my lighting schedule. I have seen extended polyps on this coral only at night with lights out. It was challenging getting a picture because I have it placed on a vertical rock branch. Anyway, I find this is an unusual episode of polyp extension in this sps during daylight. They have been out all day long now. Fascinating what we reefers get excited about.

 

[reefmutt]

Eeeegad! A darth maul....
I bow to the sneakiest reef hoarder there ever was!! Mark, you take the cake... And the plate it was carried in on.
Soooo nice. I don't think I'll ever own that coral, although I would do just about anything to have it.