Marie's 175g mixed reef (new pics added jan 27)

[marie]

Interestingly, I just remembered it was this time a couple of years ago that my purple cap released a massive amount of eggs I wonder if maybe the other caps joined in as well this year and thats why they appear to be suffering the most

Notice the date on the thread
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=34582

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

If we end up coming later in August to PR, do you want me to bring up some buckets of salt?

[Navarchus]

Have mercy ….. This tank is awesome

It seems you’ve selected your fish with tweezers.
The corals are magnificent as well, great aquascape!

[marie]

Have mercy ….. This tank is awesome

It seems you’ve selected your fish with tweezers.
The corals are magnificent as well, great aquascape!

....With tweezers?? :noidea:

Thank You, I think :lol:

[Tom R]

It is looking more like, if you want great coral growth and fabulous colour then you have to move to POWELL RIVER.

Marie even on a bad day your tank is one of the BEST.

Tom R

[banditpowdercoat]

Isn't it because theres nothing else to do in PR other than take care of your tanks????
JK, I couldnt resist, Marie. :D

[Lance]

Isn't it because theres nothing else to do in PR other than take care of your tanks????
JK, I couldnt resist, Marie. :D



There's lots to do in Powell River: Watch the smoke from the stacks at the Paper Mill dissipate into the air, watch the tide come in and go out and come in and go out...... :mrgreen:

[Navarchus]

....With tweezers?? :noidea:

Thank You, I think :lol:

:laugh:


Not literally!
As a metaphor for carefully selecting single out of many !:wink:

[marie]

Things aren't as disastrous as they could of been, corals appear to be going back to normal colouring and the tissue has stopped receding.
From a distance things look pretty good
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/aug1609001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/aug1609002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/aug1609003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/aug1609005.jpg

There is a bad cyano outbreak but I've dealt with that before

[marie]

Up close things aren't all rosy
My superman digitata now looks like an ordinary orange digi. There isn't even a hint of blue anywhere
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/aug1609006.jpg

Every tip on this coral has tissue recession
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/aug1609007.jpg

My poor pearlberry acro
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/aug1609008.jpg

all the brown tips are dead coral skeleton
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/aug1609009.jpg

[Mrfish55]

Even at this darkest hour your tank still looks a damn spot better than mine, I am sure you will get things straightened out.

[karazy]

no more room for corals, and your corals aren't doin to well.
you should get a new reactor.
but if you get a new reactor you need a new sump.
and if you need a new sump might as well get a new skimmer.
and if your getting a new skimmer, you might as well...
UPGRADE!:lol:

[marie]

no more room for corals, and your corals aren't doin to well.
you should get a new reactor.
but if you get a new reactor you need a new sump.
and if you need a new sump might as well get a new skimmer.
and if your getting a new skimmer, you might as well...
UPGRADE!:lol:

You do sum it up well :lol:

[christyf5]

so marie, do you think this is the result of a spawning event (I thought you had mentioned something like that previously). If not, hows your alk? That tip "burn" is very odd. At least the corals can recover from this, brown isn't so very bad compared to white :razz:

[marie]

so marie, do you think this is the result of a spawning event (I thought you had mentioned something like that previously). If not, hows your alk? That tip "burn" is very odd. At least the corals can recover from this, brown isn't so very bad compared to white :razz:

Well that's the thing and why I think it's multiple problems that affected the tank. It started with a warmer then normal tank, a coral spawn, the dust and crap from the renos and I changed the light cycle because of the weather. The corals all stopped growing and the calcium reactor was adding too much cal and alk so the alk spiked at 15 dkh before I turned the reactor down.
The reactor is now just dripping effluent instead of pouring a steady stream and the co2 is approx 30 bubbles a min instead of too fast to count. At least it will be a good while before I have to refill the media :mrgreen:
One coral (not one of my best just one of the biggest) has some pretty major tissue recession underneath as well as the tips. But over all the colour is coming back fairly quickly thank goodness

[christyf5]

Ah ok. Well glad to hear the tank is on the mend :biggrin:

[Lance]

Ah ok. Well glad to hear the tank is on the mend :biggrin:


Absolutely! Marie's tank is one of the major reasons I keep SPS at all. My wife is all about the fish and could care less about the corals. I just show her a picture of Marie's tank now and then and she bends a little. :lol:

[marie]

Up close things aren't all rosy
My superman digitata now looks like an ordinary orange digi. There isn't even a hint of blue anywhere
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/aug1609006.jpg



When this coral decides to get serious about growing theres nothing stopping it. Here is a pic taken tonight, the red in the polyps has come back good but I'm still waiting for the blue colour to come back...check out all the new growth tips :mrgreen:

*edit* top pic was taken aug 15th lower pic taken tonight

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/aug2309010.jpg

and here is a coral my husband bought me on an unexpected trip home
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/aug2309001.jpg

[christyf5]

It never ceases to amaze me the growth you get with your corals Marie. Just awesome. Nice new one too, very pretty :biggrin:

[Lance]

I'm so glad things are on the mend for you Marie.
Nice addition!

[BlueAbyss]

Your tank is inspirational as always... glad things have turned around!

[marie]

It's time for more pics
FTS
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept2909013.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept2909001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept2909005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept2909006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept2909002.jpg

[marie]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept2909008.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept2909011.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept2909016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept0809002.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept2909014.jpg

[marie]

Unfortunately the big purple acro is going to have to go, its blocking too much flow and the cyano is building up on that side of the tank :cry:

[christyf5]

Can you frag off that lower left half and replant it?

Time for an upgrade!! :wink:

[Mrfish55]

Stunning, as usual. Did that little one you took last time come around? I am seriously thinking about a complete teardown and redo on mine.

[marie]

Stunning, as usual. Did that little one you took last time come around? I am seriously thinking about a complete teardown and redo on mine.

Unfortunately no, the rest of the tissue sloughed off that night.
When I get the anemone and clowns out of the cube tank, I will do a major reno on the 175g. I want to remove the rocks that have the massive hairy mushrooms growing on them and cut back some of the corals to improve the water flow...there are downsides to having giant coral colonies

[Mrfish55]

Unfortunately no, the rest of the tissue sloughed off that night.
When I get the anemone and clowns out of the cube tank, I will do a major reno on the 175g. I want to remove the rocks that have the massive hairy mushrooms growing on them and cut back some of the corals to improve the water flow...there are downsides to having giant coral colonies

Well, the colony seems to be doing good, when you want a piece stop by and I will give you a chunk. Should be ready for the nem and clowns next week.

[lorenz0]

marie, i think its time to upgrade your camera cause from the looks of it, it does your tank no justice

really jealous of the size of your colonies, lol

[marie]

marie, i think its time to upgrade your camera cause from the looks of it, it does your tank no justice

really jealous of the size of your colonies, lol

The pics really don't do it justice but I suspect its not all the cameras fault :redface:

[lastlight]

That's my favorite looking coral in there you just can't do that!

I was about to say your tank is starting to look like Chingchai's old tank. If he can maintain flow with maybe 100 gallons of water in a 600 gallon tank then you just need to toss some more flow in there =)

Crazy growth and super nice!

[kien]

.there are downsides to having giant coral colonies

I am dreading the day that my corals become giant colonies. In fact I lose sleep over this anxiety :lol:

[christyf5]

Good grief Marie, I just found the super grape milli in one of those pictures. Its huge! It was like 2 branches when I was there in may. And the convexa in the third pic! :eek: You do have a way with SPS thats for sure. Maybe we should call you the reef whisperer :wink:

[fishytime]

:hail: My gosh Marie....what is in the water there in PR???? What K bulbs are you running? Have you ever messed around with the settings in your camera?

[Lance]

Good grief Marie, I just found the super grape milli in one of those pictures. Its huge! It was like 2 branches when I was there in may. And the convexa in the third pic! :eek: You do have a way with SPS thats for sure. Maybe we should call you the reef whisperer :wink:


Yeah, and the first order of the day is to come and whisper in my coral's ears.........corallites.........polyps............ whatever the hell it is you whisper into.

[christyf5]

Yeah, and the first order of the day is to come and whisper in my coral's ears.........corallites.........polyps............ whatever the hell it is you whisper into.


hell she could probly go on tour and make a killing. my house would be the next stop :razz:

[marie]

.... And the convexa in the third pic! :eek: ...

Yea the convexa growth has even astounded me :lol:


:hail: My gosh Marie....what is in the water there in PR???? What K bulbs are you running? Have you ever messed around with the settings in your camera?

I haven't tried messing with the camera, I'm a bit obsessive with things that interest me but I just haven't been able to drum up enough interest in taking the perfect pics yet :mrgreen:

[robert]

Amazing tank, amazing grow. You know something that only you and Chingchai knows :biggrin: BTW, when are fragging again? :mrgreen:

[PoonTang]

I am sitting here quietly making quiet snip, snip noises to my self. :) Not to worry Marie, my new tank should be up and running soon and then we can clear you out some space.

[marie]

I'm always fragging but for all those of you who skipped the first 20 or so pages of this thread...I have red bugs and I'm NOT going to do anything about it any time soon :mrgreen:

[Snappy]

Things are looking great Marie.

[marie]

:mrgreen:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/oct0309004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/oct0309002.jpg

The purple acro is still in the tank, just moved over for now. The coral behind it on the other hand is in my quarantine tank looking for a new home...anyone want a 10"round tabling acro?

[Chaloupa]

The purple acro is still in the tank, just moved over for now. The coral behind it on the other hand is in my quarantine tank looking for a new home...anyone want a 10"round tabling acro?

what color is this table?? And yep, I know about "your" bugs LOL!

[marie]

what color is this table?? And yep, I know about "your" bugs LOL!

Yup, it has colour :razz:


Ok truth is I have no idea, I've been trying to pin it's colour down for years. It's greenish, purplish, brownish...I think I'll go see if I can find any good pics, I know I have some somewhere....

[Chaloupa]

LOL...yeah a pic would be cool!

[marie]

LOL...yeah a pic would be cool!

I added a pic to the above post but what the hey, here it is again :lol:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/march1208011-1.jpg

[Chaloupa]

PM sent!

[Mrfish55]

You could bring that over with the clowns and nem :biggrin:

[marie]

Here are some quick pics before a major deconstruction tomorrow. The middle mountain is coming down
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/oct3109006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/oct3109001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/oct3109004.jpg

The main reason is because of a plague of hairy mushrooms attempting to take over
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/oct3109007.jpg

But I'm also trying to free up swimming space for the fish and improve water flow throughout the tank

[Van-rookie]

:peep: I can't look at your tank

:whoo: wanting mine like yours

[Delphinus]

Oooh, I don't envy you that task tomorrow. Good luck with it!!

[christyf5]

Oh wow, that is going to be a lot of work. Good luck!!:biggrin:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Good luck. I wish I could have helped you with it when I was last there, but now I am up to my eyeballs with work.

Anthony

[fishytime]

If you didnt have the other reasons for removing the mountain, I would have suggested Tailored Aquatics Aiptasia Destroyer....I used it on my hairy shrooms and boy does it work:biggrin:....Its gonna look quite different without that mountain....Looking forward to seeing the "after" pics.

[marie]

Here's a quick pic of the work done so far today. I still have frags to place, the sandbed to clean up and add some more sand

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov0109011.jpg

[christyf5]

That looks terrific Marie, lots more swimming room :biggrin:

[Chaloupa]

looking good......can you post a side by side when it's done? PLEASE???

[Myka]

Oh, that is greatly improved!! I like the new look a lot! :D I'm a huge fan of swimming space.

[marie]

I now remember why I put that mountain there in the first place. It was mostly made from 2 large rocks that weigh a ton. When they went in I just dropped them and decided I wasn't going to move them again :lol:

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

It looked great before but I think even better now.

[marie]

I put in half the bag of sand today, tomorrow the other half goes in. Everyone coming over on sunday should probably bring sunglasses... it's blindingly white :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov0109016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov0109014.jpg

[Chaloupa]

WOW it is WHITE!! Looks good!

[marie]

Hehe, apparently to a fish, shadows can be threatening. I just watched Doofus chase his shadow around the tank with his fins flared and his tail spikes out :lol:

[jimbo222]

wow ..amazing job on this tank looks great you should post a video clip so we can see that achilles in action:biggrin:
< and thanks for your info yesterday on my ick question that was awsome >

[Lance]

Looks good Marie. I like it! :biggrin:

[lastlight]

That latest shot really shows off nicely the changes you made. I much prefer the new layout! And yeah...we deserve a new video for all the reading we've endured.

[marie]

looking good......can you post a side by side when it's done? PLEASE???

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/sept2909013.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov0709001.jpg

[marie]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov0709002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov0709004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov0709005.jpg

[Mrfish55]

Boy did you ever go to town on that! fish must love all the temporary space, did you move some pieces to the cube? looks to be quite a few chunks missing.

[christyf5]

Looking great Marie, can't wait to see it tomorrow!! :biggrin:

[marie]

Boy did you ever go to town on that! fish must love all the temporary space, did you move some pieces to the cube? looks to be quite a few chunks missing.

All the hairy mushroom rocks are now in the cube...my bubble coral is reading them the riot act :lol:

[cprowler]

WOW :shocked!:

[lobsterboy]

the new aquascape looks awesome !!! great job.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Very sweet new aquascaping. Can't wait to see it on my next trip up.

Anthony

[Chaloupa]

Absolutely FANTASTIC! Nicely done!

[marie]

I love this hobby. I was pulling chunks of coralline algae off my overflows to use as frag plugs (yes it's thick enough) when I came upon a very tiny crab...it was just like turning over rocks at the beach :lol:


Unfortunately when I released it back into the tank, it went for a ride through the vortechs and I don't know if it survived or not

[Delphinus]

Ha, I know what you mean.

It's entirely possible that the crab survived the trip just fine, I've seen small mysis shrimp and copepods get sucked and spat out, the in-and-out is so fast they don't really have a chance to get too pummelled (I think it's when the object is bigger and gets jammed in there that the blades are doing a chop-chop-chop number, but if they fit in between the blades they might not even be touched).

But OTOH, it's a crab. Crab on beach = "tee hee a crab!". Crab in tank = "ah @^%$^%!$ stupid crab". Well, usually anyhow. :lol:

[marie]

I have a confession to make, I have never evicted any kind of critter from my tanks....Well, except for the clownfish but she was truly evil :lol:

[marie]

I made 2 New Years resolutions this year. One was to not spend any more money on the tanks until my credit cards are paid off and two was not to do any pruning or fragging on the tank for a year....it will be interesting to see what the tank will look like this time next year....always providing I can keep my resolutions of course :redface:
So some pics to start the year off
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/jan1410005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/jan1410007.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/jan1410016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/jan1410011.jpg

[marie]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/jan1410020.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/jan1410022.jpg

And the new Nori feeding station that Darren (PoonTang) made

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/jan1410026.jpg

[PoonTang]

LOL that fish is a camera hog. Glad to see he is enjoying his new feeder. If I come over to visit you WILL be breaking 1 of your resolutions ;)

[christyf5]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/jan1410026.jpg

WHO LOVES YA, BABY?!

Awesome pic. I hope you get your creditcard paid off before the year is up so you need to frag to make room for your new purchases. All but two frags I got from you were directly under the dreaded "broken bulb that still worked" :neutral:

Then again, it will be dang cool to see what the tank looks like in a year. I bet you have corals growing out of the water :wink:

[lastlight]

I love the look of all those nice sized colonies.

No shelf rock to make shelves...you GROW your own shelves and that is BOSS Marie. Can't wait to see how the tank develops.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Can't wait to see what everything will look like when the corals grow like they normally do in that tank.:biggrin:

Nice re-aquascaping BTW.

[marie]

....and here is a coral my husband bought me on an unexpected trip home
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/aug2309001.jpg

I may have problems with my resolution not to touch my corals for a year....Look at the growth on this thing :eek:
The above pic was taken last august

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/jan2410001.jpg

[christyf5]

Marie, sometimes you make me want to cry :neutral: I think I should just bring my frags to your house from now on! :wink:

[Delphinus]

Wow. I could only wish. That settles it; I want to move to Powell River. Because that sounds easier and more practical than my first idea which was to build a 2" PVC pipeline to pipe P.R. water to Calgary..

[marie]

Hey Dave, that frag you gave me has decided that living with red bugs and 4 acro-eating angels is maybe not so bad after all

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/march0110002.jpg

[christyf5]

Oooh thats purty!! :biggrin:

[marie]

Oooh thats purty!! :biggrin:

I thought so to when I saw it in Dave's tank.
After me eyeing it up in his tank for months he finally gave me a frag of it and a few days later his colony died. So It's kind of important that this one stays happy :lol:

[christyf5]

I think we need some coral closeups too Marie :wink:

[marie]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/march0110009.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/march0110010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/march0110013.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/march0110027.jpg

[marie]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/march0110018.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/march0110029.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/march0110030.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/march0110006.jpg

[blueyota]

WOW Those are some impressive size and colored colonies you got growing there WOW!!!!! I can only hope for my tank to grow in like that :biggrin:

[Doug]

:thumb:

[Lance]

Looking good Marie. :biggrin: (as always)

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Sweet looking corals there Marie.

[Skimmerking]

Marie how do you get your SPS to grow Straight up. I find that mine are pooling

[marie]

Marie how do you get your SPS to grow Straight up. I find that mine are pooling

I have no idea, maybe it's because everything is so overcrowded, their only option is to grow straight up

[lorenz0]

love the tank and aquascaping. been debating about doing something similar in my tank with version 2.0

[marie]

This tank is rapidly turning into a "fish that aren't reefsafe living with a whole crap load of sps" tank
I recently discovered my yellow tang, that I have had for 5 yrs may have been the cause of 5 clams dying over the years :twised: I think the 6th clam will live....just not in the same tank as the fish.
So when I introduce the nonreefsafe raccoon butterfly to the 175g the yellow tang will go in at the same time. That will make 7 not reefsafe fish in that tank lol

[andestang]

I just so love your Achilles, have always really respected the way you've been able to keep it so fat and healthy. The SPS forest is also looking fantastic :thumb:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Yes, that's probably the FATTEST Achilles in Canada.

Marie,

How is Doofus doing in terms of his Nori supply?

Need another 400 sheets?

Anthony

[marie]

Anthony, I ran out of the nori you sent me a while ago but I found a source here in town. It cost me $11 for 50 sheets so a bit more expensive then what you pay but considerably cheaper then $5 for 10 sheets that I get in the grocery store lol

[Skimmerking]

wow that is $$$ I pay 2.59 for 50 sheets. May be I should buy you some here and ship it out to u Marie.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Time to get out of town for a few days again. May be heading back up for a visit in a couple of weeks if that works for you? If we do come up, send me a wish list, besides schwack loads of Doofus sheets.:wink:

[marie]

5 months into my New Years resolution of not messing with the tank has become.... well? kind of boring
Corals are growing bigger and getting into some serious warfare now. It's become survival of the strongest. I still have red bugs and a new one I'm not sure where it came from is a flatworm that is infesting my orange and red montis. It doesn't seem to affect their growth so I'm leaving them for now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/may0110004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/may0110003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/may0110007.jpg

And this is a two tone acro, the tank brace is right above this coral so half is shaded and is producing an interesting colour effect

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/may0110009.jpg

[PoonTang]

Yep Marie..definately boring as hell.
LMAO you crack me up.
If my tank ever looks that good ill be glad to be bored :)

[andestang]

Nice size colonies in there ! Looks fantastic and did I mention the tang.... :)

[christyf5]

5 months into my New Years resolution of not messing with the tank has become.... well? kind of boring

And this is a two tone acro, the tank brace is right above this coral so half is shaded and is producing an interesting colour effect

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/may0110009.jpg

LOL, I wondered how long that would last :wink:

The piece that I got from you has doubled in size and growth isn't as tight as it is in your system. From what can see, those branches that are a bit more "stretched out" are white with vibrant purple tips and green branches. It kind of looks like a desalwii that Greg posted in his reefcentral thread. I've been trying to get a photo for weeks but I need to find an acrylic box to get some overhead shots.

[marie]

LOL, I wondered how long that would last :wink:

....

I'm starting to think of hosting a summer bbq and rock trade.... my coral infested rock staight across for nice new, clean live rock :razz:

[PoonTang]

my piece used to look like that. now it is just a nice purple acro with the teensy weensyest little green polyps. :(

[marie]

Nice size colonies in there ! Looks fantastic and did I mention the tang.... :)

That tang will have been in my tank 4 years this coming June....I'm kind of proud of that :lol:

[Lance]

That tang will have been in my tank 4 years this coming June....I'm kind of proud of that :lol:
:thumb:

[christyf5]

That tang will have been in my tank 4 years this coming June....I'm kind of proud of that :lol:

:thumb:

+1 Congrats Marie, thats quite an achievement, although not surprising. You're very good at keeping fat, happy fish :mrgreen:

[Delphinus]

LOVE the look of the mature sized colonies!!!

[fishytime]

my gorsh Marie........tank is looking........well........full!.......and very good.......looks like you need a bigger box:biggrin:

[marie]

I have reached the half way mark of my resolution to not mess with the tank for a year.

6 months to go left to go, there may not be any room for fish by then though :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/july410018.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/july410005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/july410008.jpg

There is some serious coral wars happening
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/july410010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/july410012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/july410021.jpg

[marie]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/july410017.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/july410011.jpg

[BlueTang<3]

wow looks great:razz:

[Skimmerking]

Hows the potters doing there Marie I hate you.!!!!!!! a PAIR OF Potters what a sexy pair you have there. lets not hope you overcrowd the tank to much with out doing some snipping good luck.. I think that you wont make it FAIL !!!!!!!!!! sorry i couldn't help myself

[Chaloupa]

Looks like it's working for you!!!! Everything looks FANTASTIC!

[marie]

Hows the potters doing there Marie I hate you.!!!!!!! a PAIR OF Potters what a sexy pair you have there. lets not hope you overcrowd the tank to much with out doing some snipping good luck.. I think that you wont make it FAIL !!!!!!!!!! sorry i couldn't help myself

The potters are doing wonderfully well....when I saw them eating my sps I knew they were going to live to a ripe old age in my tank....after all aren't all annoying fish hardy?

[christyf5]

LOL, ain't that always the way?

Tank is looking great Marie, seeing those big colonies is just awesome. I hope I'm present when you are doing something about those coral wars, I really need a piece of that super grape milli :wink:

I'm also happy to see that the coral two doors up from the potters in this pic is about the same size as my pink lemonade that I got around the same time :razz:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/july410010.jpg

[Zoaelite]

Amazing looking tank! The pair of dwarfs makes a great addition.

[lastlight]

Congrats on reaching the 6-month marker! Them colonies are lookin' SWEET!

Do you ever frag coraline? I'd like to buy a fragpack to speed up the process in my tank please =)

And what about this war/battle? What happens if you don't do anything? When your colonies touch or get close is the damage localized to that area? Or can the entire colony be at risk? And what do you do about encrusting colonies getting close to the base of other corals?

Sorry for a million questions but in a tank as small as mine I don't need incredible growth like yours to start pushing it...

[Lance]

Hey Marie, guess what?

[marie]

Congrats on reaching the 6-month marker! Them colonies are lookin' SWEET!

Do you ever frag coraline? I'd like to buy a fragpack to speed up the process in my tank please =)

And what about this war/battle? What happens if you don't do anything? When your colonies touch or get close is the damage localized to that area? Or can the entire colony be at risk? And what do you do about encrusting colonies getting close to the base of other corals?

Sorry for a million questions but in a tank as small as mine I don't need incredible growth like yours to start pushing it...

For the most part the damage is local but I have a couple of colonies that have decided to give up fighting and lay down and die....those 2 were not only under multiple attacks but they were also no longer getting enough light.
I frag coraline all the time, just today I pulled out huge clumps of the branching stuff...they feel like brillo pads :lol:

As far as encrusting corals touching? It's a dog eat dog world in my tank....I have a rainbow monti that is climbing up the branches of a montipora confusa.....the acropora have stopped the rainbow monti dead in it's tracks though

[marie]

Hey Marie, guess what?

What?

[Lance]

What?

Never mind.I wanted to congratulate you on 3000 posts but you already posted to Lastlight. :sad: Damn you Brett!

[Lance]

And by the way, the tank is looking fantastic! :biggrin:

[marie]

Never mind.I wanted to congratulate you on 3000 posts but you already posted to Lastlight. :sad: Damn you Brett!


Hey I never even noticed :lol:

[lastlight]

I had no idea i'd be damned tonight. Canreef ROCKS!

Marie...so there's no real way to stop encrusting colonies is there? Do people chisel at the edges or what? I never expected anything to GROW in my tank. I want to be SMRT and ready!

[Greenmaster]

WOW what a tank! I hope my corals will one day look half as good as yours!

[snow1]

good looking tank indeed...

[marie]

Yes, coralline algae can be as big a pain in the ass as hair algae or cyano :twised:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/Aug0910002.jpg

[christyf5]

LOL, I'm sorry Marie but that stuff is awesome... a pain in your arse but it looks just beautiful.

[marie]

LOL, I'm sorry Marie but that stuff is awesome... a pain in your arse but it looks just beautiful.


Yea well I cleared out a bunch a few months ago and some small pieces fell on to the acro below. They were tiny and I, not thinking much of it just left them there ....now as you can see they are growing right out of the center of the poor coral

[lastlight]

Have you tried dosing Purple Down?

[Lance]

Have you tried dosing Purple Down?



:lol:

[Greenmaster]

Your tank looks too crowded... you should frag a bunch and bring them to the frag swap :D

[marie]

Your tank looks too crowded... you should frag a bunch and bring them to the frag swap :D


Not sure if I can make the frag swap or not, my daughter is due to have her baby then.
I probably wouldn't bring frags anyway unless someone has a special request....my frags have cooties and I wouldn't want to accidentally give out frags to someone who doesn't know this

[Greenmaster]

Not sure if I can make the frag swap or not, my daughter is due to have her baby then.
I probably wouldn't bring frags anyway unless someone has a special request....my frags have cooties and I wouldn't want to accidentally give out frags to someone who doesn't know this

"cooties" is that a nickname for red bugs?

[marie]

"cooties" is that a nickname for red bugs?

Yep, I've had red bugs for quite awhile. I decided that until they cause obvious problems I wasn't going to treat the whole tank

[christyf5]

Have you tried dosing Purple Down?

:rofl:

[Doug]

my frags have cooties and I wouldn't want to accidentally give out frags to someone who doesn't know this

:pound:

[marie]

Well, it's official......Doofus has put a deposit on a new home.


I'm thinking he better find himself a job before my credit card bill comes in :lol:

[Lance]

Yay Doofus! I bet he's excited.
I wonder how long though before you fill this beast with corals. :mrgreen:

[Chaloupa]

Well, it's official......Doofus has put a deposit on a new home.


I'm thinking he better find himself a job before my credit card bill comes in :lol:

WOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is sooooooooooo cool

[christyf5]

awesome to hear Marie!! Lance was telling me about it at the swap, I think he is as excited as you are :wink:

So are you a grandma yet??

[lastlight]

This ain't no private club. Share details with all of us please!!

[Lance]

This ain't no private club. Share details with all of us please!!


I'll let Marie tell all the good stuff. (But I will say it's BIG!!!)

[marie]

This ain't no private club. Share details with all of us please!!

Oceanic corals is building a 96"x30"x30" tank for me....not many details to share yet :razz:

@Christy, no I'm not a grandma yet....She's taking her own sweet time about when she wants her birthday

[Lance]

Oceanic corals is building a 96"x30"x30" tank for me....not many details to share yet :razz:


30" high, eh? I'll have to give you notice when I come for a visit so I don't catch you topless working on the tank. :mrgreen:

[marie]

30" high, eh? I'll have to give you notice when I come for a visit so I don't catch you topless working on the tank. :mrgreen:

Before I do that I'm going to have to invest in drapes for the windows and that ain't happening until the tank is paid for :razz:

[Mrfish55]

This will be fun, I love new big tanks, just like boats, 2 footitis I started with 4' upgraded to 6', fell into 8' and came real close last week to a 10' but I think I'm going to skip straight to 12'. Need help with anything please call, I have no life and loves playing with the fishes. (Hey Lance, when you going to put a liner in the garage and fill it up? you know you want to go bigger :lol:)

[lastlight]

Wow those dims are so awesome until you gotta clean in there or add corals. Wonder what total volume will be factoring in coraline volume...

[Lance]

This will be fun, I love new big tanks, just like boats, 2 footitis I started with 4' upgraded to 6', fell into 8' and came real close last week to a 10' but I think I'm going to skip straight to 12'. Need help with anything please call, I have no life and loves playing with the fishes. (Hey Lance, when you going to put a liner in the garage and fill it up? you know you want to go bigger :lol:)



Hmmm. The wife is fond of dolphins. A 20,000 gal garage/aquarium would be cool. Of course the dolphin police would be on my case.

[marie]

So I am now 11 months in to my new years resolution of not messing with the tank at all and I have come to the conclusion that I have way too many corals in there. Things aren't going all that well and some corals are suffering badly.
One never really takes into account the bioload of corals until the tank is so stuffed full of them that there is more coral then water. With that said I am posting one last pic of what the tank looks like now and this weekend I am going to break my resolution and completely renovate the rock work....it will be like a typhoon blowing through a reef and washing it clean :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov1010004.jpg


Note the new MH bulbs, they are SE phoenix 14k's and boy are they ever blue.....hopefully they whiten up a bit once they are broken in

Oh and the lack of coralline is because there is 2 giant coral and coralline eating, long spined urchins in the tank at the moment. The downside of letting an animal do your pruning for you? They don't care what the end result looks like

[Chaloupa]

So I am now 11 months in to my new years resolution of not messing with the tank at all and I have come to the conclusion that I have way too many corals in there. Things aren't going all that well and some corals are suffering badly.
One never really takes into account the bioload of corals until the tank is so stuffed full of them that there is more coral then water. With that said I am posting one last pic of what the tank looks like now and this weekend I am going to break my resolution and completely renovate the rock work....it will be like a typhoon blowing through a reef and washing it clean :lol::drinking::jaw:

[marie]

:drinking::jaw:



Hehehe, I like a challenge

[Lance]

Hehehe, I like a challenge


Got your goggles, chisels and hammer do you? That's gonna be a whole lot of coral crunching.

[Lance]

Are the corals doing that badly that you can't wait for the new tank? You'll have lots of room then.

[marie]

Got your goggles, chisels and hammer do you? That's gonna be a whole lot of coral crunching.

As a matter of fact I do....although I might pass on the goggles.

I am going to keep a whole, a chosen few mature colonies , some will get pruned right back and others (ugly brown ones :lol:) are going to get chiseled right off the rock

[marie]

Are the corals doing that badly that you can't wait for the new tank? You'll have lots of room then.

The new tank is going to be a major project and will take awhile before it's ready for the transfer. Besides the new tank is going to be set up a little differently, less emphasis on corals and more on all reef inhabitants.... I want it as diverse as I can get it, even algae will be welcome :mrgreen:

[Lance]

The new tank is going to be a major project and will take awhile before it's ready for the transfer. Besides the new tank is going to be set up a little differently, less emphasis on corals and more on all reef inhabitants.... I want it as diverse as I can get it, even algae will be welcome :mrgreen:


Well I hope you can't grow algae as well as you can corals. I've never seen a 375 gallon refugium before. :mrgreen:

[marie]

Well I hope you can't grow algae as well as you can corals. I've never seen a 375 gallon refugium before. :mrgreen:


With Doofus and the foxface in there I doubt that will be a problem :lol:

[lastlight]

even algae will be welcome :mrgreen:

You're in luck I don't mind shipping. What are you after? :lol:

Any progress on the new tank front or has construction not begun yet?

[fishytime]

You're in luck I don't mind shipping. What are you after? :lol:



be careful Brett......offering to ship weed on an open forum might not be in your best interests:mrgreen:

[lastlight]

be careful Brett......offering to ship weed on an open forum might not be in your best interests:mrgreen:

Haha you make a good point there Doug. What's the legal possession limit on our stuff?

[fishytime]

Haha you make a good point there Doug. What's the legal possession limit on our stuff?

not sure mang, but Ive had, and seen some tanks that meet or exceed that limit:lol:

[marie]

The dirty deed is done, it was fun although the end result is not so pretty. The corals are royally ****ed but the fish are excited :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov1410004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov1410005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov1410006.jpg

This is my favourite coral combo, the pic really doesn't do it justice....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov1410007.jpg

[Zoaelite]

Wow its so spacious, I give it a good 2 week and it should already be grown in for you :lol::lol:. Doofus looks happy as always.

[marie]

And here's a pic of my new flasher wrasses. I haven't decided whether they will go into the 175g when their quarantine is over or if I'll wait until the new tank is set up

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/nov1410003.jpg

[Lance]

Wow Marie! Look at all the room! You really did go to town on those colonies. Nice job! :biggrin:

[marie]

I had to put over 9g of water into the tank to bring it back up to level :lol:

[Lance]

I see you got a pic of the Flashers. I on the other hand cannot get a shot of the Assessor. He swims around in the QT, happy as can be. The minute I lift the camera up he is gone into the rocks. Grrrrr!

[christyf5]

Wow Marie, what a difference. Must have been a huge job! I too love that pink milli, I love even more that I have a piece of it :mrgreen:

[Mrfish55]

Wow did you ever go to town on that! What happened to all the leftovers? My quarantine was ready to debug them.

[Delphinus]

9g of water! :lol: Wowza! Busy day. End result looks good to me!

[Chaloupa]

Looks fantastic! That's a ton of coral if you had to replace 9g!!!!!

[marie]

.... What happened to all the leftovers? ......


Um....you don't want to know. :redface:



I do however have a lot of little frags covering my sandbed that I have to do something with tomorrow

[marie]

Wow Marie, what a difference. Must have been a huge job! I too love that pink milli, I love even more that I have a piece of it :mrgreen:


Actually Christy, the one in the pic is my red planet....I did say the pic didn't do it justice. In RL it is a hot pink/red colour, it makes my pink millie look blah

[Myka]

Note the new MH bulbs, they are SE phoenix 14k's and boy are they ever blue.....hopefully they whiten up a bit once they are broken in

Cool! I just got my hands on some of these too...nearly impossible to find them in SE. Yours are 250w? Where did you get yours from?

[marie]

Cool! I just got my hands on some of these too...nearly impossible to find them in SE. Yours are 250w? Where did you get yours from?

Yep, they're 250w. I got them from Premium Aquatics in the states

[christyf5]

Actually Christy, the one in the pic is my red planet....I did say the pic didn't do it justice. In RL it is a hot pink/red colour, it makes my pink millie look blah

Oh my freaking god, are you serious? That is your RED PLANET??? I got my pink lemonade at the same time you got that and FFS, here I was all proud of my small colony and yours is freaking monstrous!

My hats off to you, you certainly are the coral whisperer! :wink:

[lastlight]

Can't believe how much you took out of there! Did you also remove rock? Fish must be ripping around like giddy schoolkids now.

[marie]

Can't believe how much you took out of there! Did you also remove rock? Fish must be ripping around like giddy schoolkids now.

I removed quite a bit of rock, I had fallen into the nasty habit of adding more rock so I could buy more corals. My fish are loving the extra space and have inspected every inch of their new quarters :lol:

[marie]

An interesting observation.

The big reason I renovated the tank was because I was having problems with the corals, growth had stopped, the tissue on the tips was starting to recede, there was some bleaching as well as coral die off from being stung by neighbours.
After removing half of the corals and some of the rock, things have turned completely around... problems have stopped and growth has taken off again.
I believe I had chemical warfare going on as well as physical warfare, the only water changed at the time was the 9 gallons of new water I added to replace the corals and rock I removed.... there are no softies or lps in the tank and I have at least 6 cups of carbon (replaced monthly) in the sump

[Lance]

They just can't play nice, can they? I have to weed out the mushrooms every once in awhile. If they get to within 4 to 5 inches of the SPS, the stonies stop growing. I always have to use a lot of carbon. If I let the carbon go longer than a month before changing it I can see the SPS start to pout.

On a side note: How are the Flashers doing? Are you getting a male emerging yet?

[fishytime]

Good to hear the tank is doing well again Marie!:biggrin:



I have at least 6 cups of carbon (replaced monthly) in the sump
I always have to use a lot of carbon. If I let the carbon go longer than a month before changing it I can see the SPS start to pout.


6 cups!.....wow!....but I guess you are running it statically, right Marie?....
and how much is a lot Lance?....and are you running a reactor or running it statically?..and which tank?....just curious as Im using a reactor and following the recommendations and only using a cup and a half....


On a side note: How are the Flashers doing? Are you getting a male emerging yet?

Im gonna try REALLY hard to leave that one alone Lance:razz:.....Being that it is Maries tank journal and all:wink:

[marie]

...6 cups!.....wow!....but I guess you are running it statically, right Marie?....



I have the carbon in 2 media bags and placed so that all the water in the sump has to pass through the carbon before getting to the return pump

[marie]

.....

On a side note: How are the Flashers doing? Are you getting a male emerging yet?


The flashers are doing great, the 2 largest ones that are doing quite a bit of scrapping so I think the jury's still out on who's going to wear the pants in the family :lol:

[Lance]

Good to hear the tank is doing well again Marie!:biggrin:







6 cups!.....wow!....but I guess you are running it statically, right Marie?....
and how much is a lot Lance?....and are you running a reactor or running it statically?..and which tank?....just curious as Im using a reactor and following the recommendations and only using a cup and a half....




Im gonna try REALLY hard to leave that one alone Lance:razz:.....Being that it is Maries tank journal and all:wink:



Doug, In the 90g I'm running 3 cups of carbon in a BRS dual reactor with GFO. This tank has a large mix of SPS, LPS and softies. In the 225g I'm only running 2 cups of carbon in a TLF reactor. Not much for SPS in this tank, mostly large LPS

[Myka]

Yep, they're 250w. I got them from Premium Aquatics in the states

Ah ok. You say you think they were a tad too blue for your liking, how do you like them now they have burned in? Have you seen the DE version? If so, how do you think compares? I'm interested because I just bought a pair of Phoenix SE from The Reef Shoppe, and I don't have my SE setup made yet (running DE right now), so I'm excited to see what they look like. I haven't seen the Phoenix SE lit up yet.

[marie]

Hi Myka, yes I still find them a tad too blue for my liking but then I'm a big fan of the xm 10k's :lol:

I am using a HQI ballast to fire them and they are a bit bluer then the phoenix DE's I have on my other tank but the bulbs on my other tank are also over a year old.

[Myka]

Ohhh, ok well that makes sense then! I'm going to fire my SEs with electronic ballasts. Thanks for the info!

[marie]

It's been a long while since I updated this because things haven't been doing great in the tank. I was kinda neglecting it a bit in the hopes of moving everything to a bigger tank.......that dream has had to be put on hold and seeing as how the tank has recently had it's 5th birthday I figured I should post something :lol:

FTS (the lighting is a bit weird because I am trying out 2 phoenix bulbs with a 10k xm in the middle, I don't like it and will be going back to 3 10k xms shortly)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230080.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230078.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230079.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230084.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230083.jpg

[Greenmaster]

Some of your colonies look like they need a little piece cut off here/there. I know somewhere that they could go :wink: hehe. But in all seriousness the tank loos awesome. Just a minor lighting issue:biggrin:

[marie]

The fish
These guys will have been in the tank for 5 yrs this june as well as an orchid dottyback who is totally camera shy
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230102.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230101.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230104.jpg

4 yrs in the tank are a pair of mandarins. The female refuses to get her picture taken

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230098.jpg

3 yrs last feb

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230089.jpg

2 yrs, a pair of potters angels

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230099.jpg

and because he is too big to miss a 3 yr old long spined urchin

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230086.jpg

[marie]

and last of all, a couple of pics of my favorite tank at the moment....my 120g tank

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230075.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P4230077.jpg

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Gorgeous fish Marie. Congrats on hitting the 5 year mark.

[christyf5]

Lol, Doofus looks huge!! Congrats on 5 years! :) I like the 10k better too :wink:

[marie]

Lol, Doofus looks huge!! Congrats on 5 years! :) I like the 10k better too :wink:


Doofus IS huge :lol:


I keep getting the urge to try different bulb set ups but when I do, I regret it within the first couple of weeks ......If only MH bulbs were cheap:redface:

[christyf5]

Doofus IS huge :lol:


I keep getting the urge to try different bulb set ups but when I do, I regret it within the first couple of weeks ......If only MH bulbs were cheap:redface:

I got some 14K bulbs off of ebay, they're not too bad and only $15 a bulb. I didn't like them at first, then I did like them and now I'm leaning once again to not liking them as much. I think it was about $60 with shipping for 3 bulbs, still cheaper than a single ushio. I'm not as huge a fan of the blue as I thought I would be. These are a nice whitish blue (not too blue) but I found I've lost some of the intensity that the ushios provided. I might trythe 10K ones when I get myself organized enough to order them :razz:

[PoonTang]

Looking good Marie and congrats on the 5 year anniversary. Sorry to hear that the upgrade isnt happening, i was so looking forward to seeing that.

[christyf5]

Sorry to hear that the upgrade isnt happening, i was so looking forward to seeing that.

yeah, wth happened with that anyways??

[marie]

It's been postponed. It'll happen eventually..... after all I have a very large hole in the wall that I have to fill :lol:

[christyf5]

ah ok :biggrin:

[Lance]

Congrats on five years Marie!
Yeah, you need to get a new tank. I look at the big hole in the wall every time I drive by hoping to see some water. :mrgreen:

[Myka]

I just looked at the pics with the XM and Phoenix side by side, and your SE are much bluer on the magnetic ballasts than mine are on my electronic ballasts. Even with 2x54w UVL Super Actinic running beside them mine aren't as blue as yours.

Congrats on 5 years!

[PoonTang]

Would it help to motivate you on your upgrade if Christy and I came over and stole all the corals out of your 175G ?

[marie]

Would it help to motivate you on your upgrade if Christy and I came over and stole all the corals out of your 175G ?


It would probably have the opposite effect.....I would have room to buy more corals :razz:

I just looked at the pics with the XM and Phoenix side by side, and your SE are much bluer on the magnetic ballasts than mine are on my electronic ballasts. Even with 2x54w UVL Super Actinic running beside them mine aren't as blue as yours.

Congrats on 5 years!


That xm bulb is over a year old so it is a bit more yellow then it should be....

[Myka]

It would probably have the opposite effect.....I would have room to buy more corals :razz:




That xm bulb is over a year old so it is a bit more yellow then it should be....

Ok, maybe that's throwing the white balance even bluer on the camera? Each end just appears reeeeeally blue...like actinic blue.

[lastlight]

I just looked at the pics with the XM and Phoenix side by side, and your SE are much bluer on the magnetic ballasts than mine are on my electronic ballasts. Even with 2x54w UVL Super Actinic running beside them mine aren't as blue as yours.

Congrats on 5 years!

With everyone having different monitors, monitor profiles, browsers, embedded color profiles and mac vs pc...it's really tough to compare one pic to another unless at the very least both pics were taken with the same camera with the same settings and then viewed on the same system. Just sayin'... it's frustrating as hell for digital designers let alone reefers.

[Greenmaster]

With everyone having different monitors, monitor profiles, browsers, embedded color profiles and mac vs pc...it's really tough to compare one pic to another unless at the very least both pics were taken with the same camera with the same settings and then viewed on the same system. Just sayin'... it's frustrating as hell for digital designers let alone reefers.
Just an add to that... Cameras have a white balance as well... so the color you get isn't the color that you actually see... in order to get the colors right you actually need to have a "color strip" with a white, black, blue, yellow, red, and green. You then have to manually adjust the colors to match the color card. If both pictures were taken in RAW used the same color card and then modified to match it, then you could compare pictures... but since most people don't even have a camera that keeps a pic in RAW good luck on that one. :lol:

[lastlight]

It just came to mind. We all still compare pics... I do too sometimes forgetting all this.

[nlreefguy]

Hey I can't help but notice the beautiful regal angel you have in your tank. How long have you had it? I was thinking about getting one but wasn't quite sure how it would do in a reef. Your tank looks similar to mine, mostly SPS and LPS, but I have a couple of softys and some zoos as well. What would be your advice on putting a regal angel into a reef tank? Thanks so much for your help.

[marie]

Hey I can't help but notice the beautiful regal angel you have in your tank. How long have you had it? I was thinking about getting one but wasn't quite sure how it would do in a reef. Your tank looks similar to mine, mostly SPS and LPS, but I have a couple of softys and some zoos as well. What would be your advice on putting a regal angel into a reef tank? Thanks so much for your help.


I wouldn't recommend it..... that fish is a coral eater, it eats acros, most LPS (although he leaves my frogspawn and bubblecoral alone), clams and zoos.

[fishytime]

So I wanted to ask why the 120 is your favorite tank ATM? The 175 looks pretty dang good to me:biggrin: Asside from th two-tone look

[marie]

So I wanted to ask why the 120 is your favorite tank ATM? The 175 looks pretty dang good to me:biggrin: Asside from th two-tone look



It's less demanding of my time and there are no red bugs, no flat worms, no "coral eating" fish....

The big tank constantly reminds me of all my mistakes :lol:

[nlreefguy]

I wouldn't recommend it..... that fish is a coral eater, it eats acros, most LPS (although he leaves my frogspawn and bubblecoral alone), clams and zoos.


Oh, scratch that then. Looks fabulous though!

[Myka]

Ok, I agree now...the Phoenix SE are too blue for my liking as well. :tsk: Now i get to spend the next 6 months trying to decide what to replace them with. :neutral:

[marie]

I've finally got around to replacing the phoenix bulbs, Thanks Brett.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P8150064.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P8150066.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P8150067.jpg

And here is a pic of a new clam I picked up from Progressive reef

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P8150063.jpg

and this is the tank the clam is in

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P8150069.jpg

[christyf5]

Looking great Marie! That is one big urchin! He's really doing a number on your coralline, I can see thru the back glass!!! :eek:

[Lance]

Looking great Marie! That is one big urchin! He's really doing a number on your coralline, I can see thru the back glass!!! :eek:


Yeah, it's strange to see Marie's tank without 1/2" thick coralline.

[lastlight]

Wow that guy is pretty thorough. Don't they stab into all your corals? Always wondered how those fit into a densely populated reef...

[marie]

Wow that guy is pretty thorough. Don't they stab into all your corals? Always wondered how those fit into a densely populated reef...

He actually gets around pretty good, I haven't ever seen any corals with spines sticking out of them.....my fox face on the other hand seems to run into him at least once a week :lol:

[marie]

I have treated the tank last night with interceptor and other then a few dead acro crabs and some very po'd millies there is no change in the corals.

Stay tuned for some huge changes with the tank in the next few weeks, I'm going to have to change the name of the thread :lol:


No bigger tank in the works yet though.....

[Mrfish55]

What are you up to now? Don't go too drastic, your tank is awesome.

[lastlight]

What are you up to now? Don't go too drastic, your tank is awesome.

+1

Not to mention you're going to see a visible difference in the SPS when they're bug free.

[christyf5]

Dear god please don't go FOWLR!! :eek::razz:

[marie]

I'm getting tired of fuzzy sticks.... they are boring, grow too fast, suck calcium up like there's no tomorrow and they don't seem to care whether they live or die :razz:

I'll still keep frags of my favourites but I'm turfing out my angels and a bunch of rock and will be leaning more towards lps in the future

[lastlight]

I'm getting tired of fuzzy sticks.... they are boring, grow too fast, suck calcium up like there's no tomorrow and they don't seem to care whether they live or die :razz:

I'll still keep frags of my favourites but I'm turfing out my angels and a bunch of rock and will be leaning more towards lps in the future

Grow too fast? You're not going to make many friends with complaints like that :lol:

[Mrfish55]

Grow too fast? You're not going to make many friends with complaints like that :lol:

Sad thing is she really isn't kidding, takes me a year to get the growth she gets in 24 hrs. And the colors are spectacular, pics do this tank no justice.

[Mrfish55]

P.S if you really are thinning out Marie I would love a frag of that teal stag you have, a rogue crab took my last one and hid it under a rock (that rotten SOB) he has expensive taste, when I catch him he gets to visit the Snapper.

[marie]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P1020100.jpg

I had a small piece of purple acro fall into (behind?) my rainbow stylo last year and this is the result :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P1020105.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P1020106.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P1020102.jpg

[marie]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P1020108.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P1020107.jpg

red planet
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P1020103.jpg

corals that somehow made it up to my return lines

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/P1020109.jpg

[riceboy]

Gorgeous tank! So you don't use zeo or anything and don't do water changes that often and that is the result I am very impressed. Do you dose anything at all then? And what is your secret lol I have been struggling for a year now and can't seem to get any growth lol. Well nothing like yours anyways lol

[marie]

Today I did the first water change in 6 weeks, I add 1.5 l of kalk/vinegar saturated top off water and 250 ml ea of cal and alk daily which isn't enough as it turns out. When I tested today (for the first time in 2 months) my alk was at 3.5 DKH :redface:

[riceboy]

That is amazing I'm gonna let my tank do its own thing a see how that goes lol kinda getting tired of doing a test every couple of days and tinkering with the doser and skimmer every couple of days lol

[lastlight]

That is amazing I'm gonna let my tank do its own thing a see how that goes lol kinda getting tired of doing a test every couple of days and tinkering with the doser and skimmer every couple of days lol

Maybe toss me a few more zoas before you do that ok? :lol:

[marie]

I truly believe the secret to my success has been, fat fish and at least once a year completely redoing everything, changing rockwork, pruning corals right back and probably the most important.....periodically adding new live rock, straight from the source that I cure myself

[fishytime]

periodically adding new live rock, straight from the source that I cure myself

I did that too in the last version of my tank.....except I ran out of room for corals so added more and more and more LR to stuff more coral in:mrgreen:.....

I love all the big mature corals in this tank!

[marie]

The only casualty of the inteceptor treatment was a small portion of a pink Millie rtn'd the same night as the treatment. The polyps still aren't fully extended on it yet but at least it's stopped disappearing, a green millie is no longer extending it's polyps fully either.

All other acros look exactly the same as before

[Mrfish55]

If that's the only casualty does that mean there is still red bugs? Or did you kill all those nasty buggers.

[marie]

If that's the only casualty does that mean there is still red bugs? Or did you kill all those nasty buggers.

:lol: let's just say I haven't seen any since on the acros that are close enough to the glass to view red bugs

[Mrfish55]

So time for a visit then? :wink:

[marie]

So time for a visit then? :wink:

Yup

[fishytime]

well at least the preliminary scouting reports are good.....lets hope you nuked em all!!!