ZM's 200g build
- Thread starter zoomonster
- Start date
zoomonster
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Well the plexiglass is too thin and/or too many cutouts (this is supposed to be the improved version) and the rack itself sags in the middle with minimal weight. If the rack had a full back instead of just two tabs it would probably be OK. The magnets are hardly worth the premium for "strong" magnets. The rack does not slide but the magnets are easily knocked off. Think I have 5/8" glass. Plus the chrome plating on the magnets is already starting to chip off but that could be from getting dropped when they got knocked off.
zoomonster
New member
I said a while back "that's probably it for acro for a while". Well I lied :lol:.
Hopefully this stuff will be here tomorrow from UC. A lot of this stuff I was wanting anyway and 4 of these were in a WYSIWYG frag pack (saved me about $60 overall before discount) and I added Red Robin and the blue Vermiculata. Now "that's probably it for acro for a while". Other than a few Acan's I've not added any LPS yet to round the tank out. I guess its just a matter of finding some stuff I actually want.
GARF Bonsai Valida
Paletta Pink Tip
Blue Tip Stag
Bali Shortcake
Red Robin
Aussie Blue Vermiculata
Hopefully this stuff will be here tomorrow from UC. A lot of this stuff I was wanting anyway and 4 of these were in a WYSIWYG frag pack (saved me about $60 overall before discount) and I added Red Robin and the blue Vermiculata. Now "that's probably it for acro for a while". Other than a few Acan's I've not added any LPS yet to round the tank out. I guess its just a matter of finding some stuff I actually want.
GARF Bonsai Valida
Paletta Pink Tip
Blue Tip Stag
Bali Shortcake
Red Robin
Aussie Blue Vermiculata
zoomonster
New member
Cell phone quickie... front to back left to right. That blue tip stag is so dark right now its hard to get a good pic. I'd say I had a favorite but I like them all. I will say that Bali shortcake is even nicer color than expected and that red robin beats out my strawberry shortcake or red planet for the red title. Nothing ORA so no PIA plastic plugs to deal with.
GARF Bonsai Valida
Aussie Blue Vermiculata
Blue Tip Stag
Bali Shortcake
Red Robin
Paletta Pink Tip
And a crab sporting a new ride he probably jacked from its owner :lol2:
zoomonster
New member
Newborn
Newborn
When my rose BTA finally settled it climbed into a deep hole in a large flat rock and I had to position it for view. Its slowly but surely been coming out a little further for weeks but driving my pair of percs absolutely crazy with a lot of opening and closing. I just noticed it had closed again and the clowns were having a cow fussing and wagging tails at it. As I looked closer it must have just split and there's now two in the hole. I always had good luck with growing them but that was fast. Just have to make sure the new one doesn't move out and find its way into a pump. It was ~7" open before split and not really what I would call large yet.
Newborn
When my rose BTA finally settled it climbed into a deep hole in a large flat rock and I had to position it for view. Its slowly but surely been coming out a little further for weeks but driving my pair of percs absolutely crazy with a lot of opening and closing. I just noticed it had closed again and the clowns were having a cow fussing and wagging tails at it. As I looked closer it must have just split and there's now two in the hole. I always had good luck with growing them but that was fast. Just have to make sure the new one doesn't move out and find its way into a pump. It was ~7" open before split and not really what I would call large yet.
zoomonster
New member
Maybe... that anemone did try to get itself sucked into an powerhead the second day I had it and hid a few days until I found it and exposed it to the front of the tank. That was a while back though and its been fat, happy and healthy since then. Frequent feeding, good water conditions and MH light has always worked for me though.
Both are still in the same rock opening and still hoping one will move out soon sp I can place it on the other end of the tank for maybe a second pair of clowns. Pretty much set on getting a black pair either regular or snowflake.
Both are still in the same rock opening and still hoping one will move out soon sp I can place it on the other end of the tank for maybe a second pair of clowns. Pretty much set on getting a black pair either regular or snowflake.
zoomonster
New member
I think its safe to say I have become a full fledged SPS addict. I was looking at LPS and saw they had some SPS I also wanted. Back in the day most of what was available in corals was green, green and more green. What I realized was my avoidance of green left me with no nice green other than a nice Sinularia softie and a few traces of green in other corals. I've tried to have a good mix of color with red, pink, blue, purple, orange, yellow any pretty much skipped right over green. I will eventually get a Bali slimer but the ORA Frogskin is a good start. I did get a single polyp wellsi and a $4 chunk of zoa's but again SPS dominated. I've really been wanting a Red Dragon but today I'll settle for a Pink Dragon. That piece pretty much gets credit for me making this purchase. Then it became making it to free shipping and 10% off :lol: Well I almost bought the prostrata and rainbow last time.
Purple Prostrata
ORA Frogskin Acropora
Pink Dragon Acropora
Eagle Eye Zoa Zoanthus
Cherry Blastomussa wellsi
Rainbow millepora
Purple Prostrata
ORA Frogskin Acropora
Pink Dragon Acropora
Eagle Eye Zoa Zoanthus
Cherry Blastomussa wellsi
Rainbow millepora
zoomonster
New member
All actinic S5 cell phone pic of my fat lazy yellow belly hippo (still a juvi so not yellow yet). He's pretty much doubled in size since I got him 7/8/14. He pretty much eats non stop and has made this frag rack home. Most of the time he wedges between corals or actually lays down on the rack. He's gotten a little larger and figured out he can wedge between rack and glass. He used to sleep at night between a powerhead and bracket but got to large for that. I guess he needs his rest since the purple tang picks on him.
zoomonster
New member
Thanks, yes what a long strange trip its been :bigeyes: A few kinks and details yet to work out with the overall system like one of the Apex modules going back for RMA today. Pretty happy with where the tank is now but I keep telling "myself patience is a virtue grasshopper" as I settle down for the long haul of growing it out. I'm already planning a system to go in my back room/home office so that will keep me busy once I get started. That will probably consist of a frag and a larger fish quarantine/hospital system at minimum.
zoomonster
New member
Been playing around with my old Nikon and managed to get a few usable pics.
The African Flameback Angel is bugsy. Absolutely beautifully colored specimen. Unfortunately he seldom pauses for more than a split second and have had a hard time getting a photo worth using. Also both the Rose BTA's still in the same hole but the clowns are loving it. Down bottom right are a couple of the pink and red Rhodactis I found last week in the bargain bin. To the left is the superman Rhodactis which has been a pain finding a spot it likes. Too much light and it turns pale blue and low light it gets back its rich cobalt blue.
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zoomonster
New member
This is more the sort of photo I'm used to with the Nikon but having a hard time with. I just rearranged the frag rack and moved some stuff off.
Some of the new frags from Friday are on there. Up front is the pink dragon that's not real pink right now, behind it is the purple prostrata and to the right is the cherry blasto not opened yet and again to the right of that is the rainbow milli which at the moment is pretty much just brown with only a hint of color. Over to the left you can see the good sized ORA frogskin. The zoa's are looking pretty good and probably double the advertised polyps. They are off somewhere down below.
zoomonster
New member
Not the best photo but color is on the money. This Reefgen orchid stylo is one of my favorites and growing pretty fast.
zoomonster
New member
One of my long obsessions has been zoanthids and it's time to build a new collection. I have a few nice, but more common, colonies and a few frags. The only real jewel is the frag I found in the bargain bin at a LFS. I have not identified it yet by its trade name but basically a purple people eater with orange/red lashes instead of green. Anyway there seems to have been something of a recent influx of really nice PE's from Hawaii and I stumbled across a bunch the other day online and of course had to order. Pricey but pretty nice frags with multiple polyps. I've been a little skeptical of this particular vender but we'll see how that goes. These hopefully will be here tomorrow.
Blue Agave PE
Armor of God PE
True Red PE
Rainbow Pulsar PE
Sparkling Apple Cider PE
Red Devil PE
Blue Agave PE
Armor of God PE
True Red PE
Rainbow Pulsar PE
Sparkling Apple Cider PE
Red Devil PE
zoomonster
New member
These guys showed up today from extremecorals. Packed ok and not too bad. Only real complaint is these look to have been glued just before sale. That's ok with those on pieces of rock but the front piece not too happy with. It was one of the cheapest but you can see the mountain of superglue they glued bare polyps into. It was supposed to be three polyps but the frag arrived with one on rock, one missing and one in bag I had to glue back.
BTW that was a typo before... the armor of god is not a PE but is a gigantus. If you look at the top right piece all these PE's have the distinctive green stripes on the head when closed. The blue agave piece was listed that way but I knew it actually appeared to be a mix with two blue and two flaming agave(or could be red devil). We'll see... that piece has not opened too much yet (and you can only see 3 polyps in the pic). I may remount the ones actually on rock frags to either rocks or large flat frag disks. They should outgrow those small plugs pretty fast.
Starting front left to right
Sparkling Apple Cider PE 2
Armor of God 6
Red Devil PE 3
Rainbow Pulsar PE 3
True Red PE 3
Blue Agave PE 4
zoomonster
New member
The wife dragged me out today to go furniture shopping (ack). Then she had the bright idea of going to Costco to pick up a few things she forgot earlier in the week. She left me looking at TV's and wondered off. As I wondered I ran across some great camera deals on stuff I had been looking at online for a while. They had quite a few package deals and of course the very two Nikons I have been going back and forth on. Which means I was left making a decision on the spot D5300 or D7100. The only real hanging point was the 5300 has WiFi and the 7100 does not. Then I read the box and the 7100 package included the adapter and it was a done deal. The 5300 has a little newer processor but the 7100 has a much better focus system (same as pro models) and the 7100 is a little more rugged, weather resistant and holds two memory cards. The 5300 has GPS but who cares its just a battery pig. This was a full Nikon package deal (USA not gray market) so no aftermarket stuff. Package had camera body, AF-S 15-55mm VR II, AF-S 55-300mm VR, wireless adapter, battery, 32gb memory card, charger and Nikon bag. The 5300 package had two batteries but this one had the wireless adapter. So definitely I'll get another battery and if not a second memory card (has dual slots) a larger faster one. The price was pretty good to start and there was an instant $250 Nikon rebate plus money back from Costco. Sales tax always sucks but oh well...
Anyway pics to come and we'll see how it works out. I did get a package this morning with a Red Dragon and a few other goodies from DD.
Anyway pics to come and we'll see how it works out. I did get a package this morning with a Red Dragon and a few other goodies from DD.
zoomonster
New member
Been playing around with new camera and a lot to learn/figure out. I got a few worthwhile pics. This is Gizmo my Tang terrorist wanting to have a look at the red dragon. Partially blocked by the snail working it over between the pink dragon and the red robin. This was cropped and downsized from a 6000x4000 fine JPEG.
The stuff from DD was pretty good but unlike most of Unique Corals nothing came in showing best color. Not brown but colored down from shipping or how they are kept at DD.
zoomonster
New member
A little better view.
