Myka's 20 gallon Zoa reef (pics Nov 15)

[Myka]

Most recent FTS (Nov 10, 2011):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov102011.jpg


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Post April 29, 2010:

I knew this day would come when I started collecting Zoas and Palys. So here I am putting together a dedicated system for them. I will also move over some of the LPS in my 90 that are cluttering up the sand bed.

The tank is called an Atasuki Trophy. I had a freshwater planted tank in it before, but tore that down a few months back. It is supposed to be 20 gallons, but I've never measured the actual volume. (Note to self: You should do that.) It's pretty cool because the top opening is 24" to accommodate lighting. I made a stand that matches the 90's stand.

I crafted an internal sump/overflow design kind of like an AIO using a MaxiJet 1200 as a return pump. I have a little eggcrate media rack that I still need to install. I will glue a couple little blocks on the sides of the first chamber to set the rack on.

I ordered a Hagen Glo 2x24w T5HO fixture. I'm going to try a Hagen 18,000K and a UVL Super Actinic. The fixture I bought comes with 2 Hagen bulbs included, so I may as well use them (one at a time).

This tank will also serve as a quarantine tank for new SPS since AEFW and red bugs won't infect the LPS and Zoas. :D

For livestock, I'm going to try to catch the Blue Assessor out of the 90, as I think she will look nicer under the strong blue spectrum of the Zoa tank. Not sure what else. Probably some cool nano inverts, and fish.

Water and rock will be in there tomorrow. I have a bunch of live rock that has been cooking for just about a year (I knew I would use it lol), and I will seed it with some rubble from the 90's sump. I will use 10 gallons of water from my 90 after I do a water change tomorrow. I am leaving for work out of province on Sunday so the tank will just circulate. I will be back May long weekend, and will begin to move livestock over.

I'm going to trim the tubing coming off the MaxiJet.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Apr2920102.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Apr2920103.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Apr292010.jpg

[mseepman]

Hey you...this looks good. I've seen these at my LFS...very interesting tanks. There's not a lot of "floor space" on these...are you planning all the items to be mounted to the rock?

Wait...does this mean you have Multi-tank-syndrome? :)

[fishytime]

cool lookin little tank Mindy......does this mean we can expect to see you in the ZA thread?:biggrin:

[Myka]

No Mark, just two!! I can't have all these Zoas in with my SPS (can't handle the clutter), plus the quarantine effect...really it is quite a purposeful tank!! ;)

Hahaha!! I probably should have posted in the ZA thread long ago... :redface:
(http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=63960)

[freezetyle]

perfect tank for a "bonsai" set up!

[Zoaelite]

Welcome to a sub forum of our addiction, NEW AND IMPROVED EVEN MORE ADDICTING!

Subscribed, very interested to see how this turns out.

[fishoholic]

Interesting tank shape it'll be cool to see it all set up.

[Myka]

Jon, not sure what I am going to do with my rocks yet. I gotta dig them out of that Rubbermaid that has dust on it.

LOL zoaElite! (Is your name Evan?)

Thanks Laurie! :)

[Myka]

Here are some teaser photo of my Zoas/Palys. Don't mind the cyano in some of the pics...those pics were taken just after Christmas when my tank sitter was overdosing some Zeo additives by accident.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Zoa%20and%20Paly%20Library/FireandIceZoas.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Zoa%20and%20Paly%20Library/BlueSteelZoas.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Zoa%20and%20Paly%20Library/DarthMaulPalys.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Zoa%20and%20Paly%20Library/Apr3020102.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Zoa%20and%20Paly%20Library/Apr3020103.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Zoa%20and%20Paly%20Library/OxideZoas.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Zoa%20and%20Paly%20Library/Apr302010.jpg

[mseepman]

Wow, those are looking great!! Maybe moving was good for you as those kind of colors are never available in the Okanagan!!

[Zoaelite]

Levi acutally, Devan my brother is also on here.

[Sunee]

Great looking tank! Can't wait to see it full.

[Myka]

Levi acutally, Devan my brother is also on here.

Oops, sorry! I couldn't quite remember it.

[Myka]

Oh lala! I put water and rock in it! The overflow is running. This is just a teaser post though because I left my camera cord at camp so I can't upload from my camera to my laptop! :doh:

I'm not happy with the overflow...the water level in the tank is too high. I'm going to try a smaller pump since the overflow is only 3 1/2" wide - currently have a MaxiJet 1200 running the overflow. I'm hoping a smaller pump will lower the water level enough. It is currently only about 1/2" from the top of the glass. I would prefer it to be about 3/4". The MaxiJet 1200 is about 295 gph, so that is like 15x turnover through the sump. I have a MJ900 (230 gph), a MJ600 (160 gph), or a MJ400 (106 gph) I can try.

I also bought a Hagen Glo 2x24w T5HO fixture for the tank. I don't have any bulbs for it yet so I stole the lights off my quarantine tank to take pics. I will pick up T5s next time I come back to Saskatoon. I ordered a UVL 454 and a UVL Super Actinic from The Reef Shoppe.

I'm thinking I might put seahorses in the tank...not sure yet. I would like to catch the Blue Assessor out of my reef, and put it in this tank, but I can't catch it.

[mseepman]

Glad to have you back from camp. Looking forward to pics on how this is going!

[fishoholic]

That sucks that you forgot the camera cord, looking forward to pic.'s when you get it back. Hopefully you can get the overflow under control and get the water level to were you like it.

Also it was very nice to meet you at Blue World when you where here a week (or so) ago. I enjoyed chatting with you :biggrin:

[sphelps]

Cool tank. I've got about a thousand camera cords if you want one, provided it's just the mini usb type.

[Myka]

Hey thanks for the offer Steve, but I'm headed back to camp in a few hours. I do have a second cord somewhere, but I can't find it. I might have thrown it out thinking, "What do I need two of them for?" :lol:

Hey Mark, it's nice to be home, even if it's only for a few days. I got done early on Friday morning, so I took advantage and snuck home for the weekend.

Ya, Laurie that was great to meet you and chat for what...2 hours? :biggrin:

----------------------------------------------

Well, I put an MJ600 for the return, and it did lower the water line by a couple millimeters, but not enough. I'm going to take the eggcrate out, cut off the bottom trim of it, and glue it back in. That should give me another couple millimeters. :D I need to raise the media rack too since the floss is floating. Grrr.

[fishoholic]

Ya, Laurie that was great to meet you and chat for what...2 hours? :biggrin:



Ya it was around that, I do tend to talk a lot :lol:

[mseepman]

So any news on this tank?

[Myka]

I have photos ready, but Photobucket isn't working. Grrr.

EDIT: Funny, we both posted at nearly the same time. Hehe.

[Myka]

Ok, photos! :)

Here it is all set up with the Hagen lights on top (not running):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/June42010.jpg



Here is the overflow in action, just one baffle (1" off bottom). I have since moved the media tray up as high as it can go. I switched out the pump for a MaxiJet600, as well I trimmed the bottom bit off the eggcrate overflow part. Both changes resulted in a 3-4 mm lower water level in the tank. These photos are all taken before I made these changes.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/June52010.jpg




And here it is in all its cloudy glory!! (lol) I have since epoxied some of the branch rocks into more vertical branch-lilke positions. The aquascape is made up of lots of small rocks on top of a bigger rock in hopes to aid in making frags later on. I added a Ricordea and 3 Zoa frags last weekend, but no pics. I'm going home for the weekend again later this morning after a short shift, and I will take some more pics. The rocks have been cooking for about 15 months, so they are stark white. I have been feeding the rocks mysis weekly though, so there should be some denitrifying bacteria still alive. The few colorful rocks in there are from my sump to seed some coralline and more bacteria. Btw, this photo is taken with a "spotlight" 50/50 bulb, not the T5s.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/June520102.jpg

[mseepman]

Good to see it's on it's way. I think this tank could be a lot of fun with some of the ideas you've suggested you have for it. Have you decided on whether it will have seahorses?

[Myka]

Well, I moved most of my Zoas over and added some sand. I'm not happy with the rockscape...I might try to get my hands on some decent sized pieces of Tonga branch - I just have real small pieces. The shape of the tank is really awkward to work with being kind of L shaped because of the overflow and much bigger at the top than the bottom. I think the finer look of the Tonga branch would accent the shape better. The current rockwork I think looks too bulky and takes away from the elegant shape of the tank. Plus...too much rock in the sand. It will give me headaches with restricted flow.

Well Mark, I've been tossing around some ideas for critters. I have been looking at the tank thinking it really isn't designed with seahorses in mind, but with the new plan to go with Tonga branch rock it will be much more pony friendly. I'm not sure if seahorses mind hitching up to Zoa covered rock though...anyone know?

Here are some options I have been considering...

~ 3-5 Flaming Prawn Gobies aka Griessinger Goby OR Yasha Goby (neither are very good choices for open top tank though)
~ Bullseye or Candy Stripe Pistol shrimp
~ Pair of Seahorses (not sure which specie...something smallish for sure)

OR

~ Blue Assessor (if I manage to catch him out of my reef)
~ Maybe something yellow like a Clown Goby or Watchman?

OR

Dwarf Golden Moray (also not a good choice for open top)

OR ???

[Reef_surfer]

a small tang would look nice....... lol liking the build so far. i have moved my zoas over from my 17g into the pico but im thinking the lights are not enough for them as they are starting to reach for the light.. whats the length of the legs on your hagen light?

[Myka]

Haha, ya I think a Sailfin tang would be a good choice. When it gets too big to turn around I will upgrade to a 30 gallon. :eek:

Do you mean how tall is the light or what length does the fixture stretch to? When I bought the fixture in Petland I noticed some 12" T5 bulbs. Not sure if they were HO or NO though. I didn't see a fixture for them, but I didn't ask either. Maybe look into that?

[Reef_surfer]

ya i live two blocks maybe ill swing by and check it out. thanks

[lastlight]

Impressive job you did building that overflow to conform to those odd contours. I'm wondering if you'll have issues with detritus settling on your viewing panels? Not many of us have that worry!

[Myka]

Hey Brett, thanks for your comments! The overflow was a pain in the butt. I wish i would have put another baffle in there. Dangit. Detritus doesn't settle on the front pane because it is flat, but it does settle on the two side panels which are curved. I just use a turkey baster or small scrubber to dust them off. I think better positioning of powerheads will help as well.

-------------------------------------

Woohoo, got some bulbs for the Glo fixture! I just picked some up from a friend - a no-name Actinic and an Aquascience 15,000K. Looks pretty blue! The bulbs are actually brand new though so they should burn in in the next week or so.

I moved all but 3 Zoa frags to the nano today, and they are all looking pretty good. A couple are closed up still, but most opened up immediately. I am happy to get rid of the clutter from the bottom of my 90. The 90 had a good clean up today. Next weekend I will work on arranging all my SPS frags in my 90 so I can move the frag rack to the nano since it will double as a SPS quarantine tank since SPS pests can't infect Zoas.

I have Tonga branch rock coming in next week I think. I think it will look much nicer.

I think I already need a bigger tank!! It's pretty crowded already!

Anyway, I'm sure you guys are waiting for some more interesting pics, so here they are. Please feel free to make suggestions. I'm not really all that sure how to do the rocks to make the Zoas easy to frag, and look nice when they grow in. It's my first Zoa tank. :)

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/June1220103.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/June122010.jpg



One of my newest additions. No ID yet:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/June1220102.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/June1220104.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/June1220105.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/June1220106.jpg

[fishytime]

Lookin good there Mindy!.....the new zoas look to me like PPEs....if they are, nice score!

[Myka]

Thanks Doug! that would be sweet if they colored up into PPEs. :D Any ideas to make the tank look nicer? I'm not happy with it...

[fishytime]

Thanks Doug! that would be sweet if they colored up into PPEs. :D Any ideas to make the tank look nicer? I'm not happy with it...

Im almost positive they are PPEs:wink:

your not happy with it.......how come?.....what dont you like?

[Myka]

I hope you're right! What I don't like? The rock...it does the tank no justice. I do have Tonga branch coming, so hopefully that will look better. I gotta make it easy to frag too. I don't know, I'm undecided. I also don't like the rock in my 90 either...I think I'm just too picky. :lol:

[bignose]

Very cool tank. Is there an advantage with flow at the bottom of the tank with the rounded sides?

[Myka]

Ya there would be...I do plan to put a powerhead down low behind the rocks, and probably eliminate the one on the top right.

[bignose]

any updates? pics?

[Myka]

any updates? pics?

It is being plagued by Valonia right now. I hooked up a TLF Phosban reactor to the tank in hopes it will help. I will do a water change tomorrow, and take some pics. Thanks for asking. :)

[ElGuappo]

It is being plagued by Valonia right now. I hooked up a TLF Phosban reactor to the tank in hopes it will help. I will do a water change tomorrow, and take some pics. Thanks for asking. :)

sorry to hear it... its worse than aptasia... i hate it... nothing eats it and its sporus if the bubbles pop... i basically bought my bowfront when my 45 got over ran with valonia...

GOOD LUCK..... and dont add emerald mithrax crabs... sure they may eat it but they pop the bubbles.. at least they did in my tank... i only had a couple i couldnt reach so i added a couple emerals and like a month later i was over ran with valonia...

[Delphinus]

I found plenty of things that will decimate valonia ... they just don't fit in a small tank. :( I shutdown my 20g zoanthid tank over it being a losing battle to valonia. Emeralds did nothing - I think once it gets to a certain point those little crabs can't touch the rate of spread of those things in the same way a ravenous tang can.

I have a similar problem with my 40g at the moment but instead of valonia only it's a mixture of valonia and caulerpa. :( I rotate some of the rocks into my tank with tangs but for the ones I can't move easily I prune as much as I can with tweezers but it's like draining the ocean with an eyedropper.

I tried a few different urchins in the hopes that maybe that was an idea but so far no luck with that. However I haven't given up on the idea altogether just yet. In my other tank I have 2 green urchins that seem to go after valonia, I am hoping to find more of these but I don't know the species ID. If you google green urchin you can find some coldwater species that look sort of correct but I've had one of them for 5 years now easily so if it is a coldwater species, it seems to be one who can adapt to warmer temps but I suspect it's probably a different species.

Anyhow I nod very sympathetically in your direction Myka. Good luck!

[Myka]

I finally won the battle against Valonia in my 90 reef. It was very much plague proportions. So in April I ditched the Zeovit additives and was just using Bak and Start. Then in June I ditched Zeovit completely, added a PhosBan reactor with 300mL of GFO, and added 8 small Emerald crabs. Nowadays you would be hard pressed to find any Valonia in my 90. I even had the dread red bubble algae which make the green stuff seem easy! I would manually prune the Valonia (and Caulerpa) a couple times a month when I was home, but I never got anywhere near all of it. The Emerald crabs aren't very hardy though, I think I only have 2 left in the reef now. I did re-home 4 of them due to their huge size. So I guess that's only two that are unaccounted for.

So, I recently did the same thing with my Zoa tank. On Oct 3rd I added a bag of carbon passively, on Oct 10th I added 2 small Emerald crabs and a Phosban reactor with 60mL GFO. I have already noticed a difference. I'm going to add a couple more Emeralds as soon as I can find some small ones...I'm not sure either of the Emeralds are still in there. Could just be hiding.

Valonia survives off very little nutrients. People starting off ULNS will find Valonia is the last algae to leave. The red stuff is even worse. I found adding the large number of Emerald crabs was the straw the broke the camels back. Not many of the Emerald crabs will actually eat the Valonia. I think the secret is to just keeping adding a couple here and there until you have enough in there that will eat it and can keep up.

Oh, and yes Tony I had Caulerpa in both tanks as well, although it is gone in the 90 now, and on its way out in the Zoa tank.

[sphelps]

Have you tried an urchin? I've always had good success with them for controlling bubble algae. Emerald crabs never did much for me but a couple urchins kept a 50gal tank I had completely under control and without them it was bad.

[Myka]

Steve, I think the Diadema urchins are most likely to eat Valonia, but they grow way too huge way too fast to go in to my 90 (or the 20). I did add a Tuxedo urchin to my 90 to see if he would help at all, and I don't think he eats anything other than coralline. An urchin in my Zoa tank would be a disaster since nothing is glued down in there! :eek: Which urchin are you thinking of in particular?

[Zoaelite]

Mindy the tank is looking sweet, I'm having a very similar problem in the zoa tank I just can't seem to get the pest algae under control.

Finally broke down and purchased a tiny convict and 1 spot rabbit fish (Which will be re homed shortly after my problem is fixed). I would recommend them (as they have been working wonders so far) but the tank might be a tad bit small. Have any of the emeralds irritated your zoas? I stopped buying them after I watched one mow on my expensive candy apple greens :eek:, the whole colony melted shortly after too.
Levi

[sphelps]

Steve, I think the Diadema urchins are most likely to eat Valonia, but they grow way too huge way too fast to go in to my 90 (or the 20). I did add a Tuxedo urchin to my 90 to see if he would help at all, and I don't think he eats anything other than coralline. An urchin in my Zoa tank would be a disaster since nothing is glued down in there! :eek: Which urchin are you thinking of in particular?
I had a tuxedo and a short spine white/multicolored one (not sure of the name), both ate the bubble algae but the white one did eat way more but it also grew pretty big, pretty fast. I stated with both in my 50 and once the bubble algae was almost gone I gave away the bigger white one and the tuxedo was able to keep things under control. The tuxedo definitely worked for me as I didn't have anything else in the tank that ate algae but perhaps these things are hit or miss or it may depend on what other food sources are available as I didn't have much Coraline. I did however often move the urchins into places with lots of bubbles manually and usually the area would be clean the next day.

If everything is loose maybe the best solution would be to take out all the corals and clean everything manually, with such a small tank how hard could it be?

[Myka]

Levi, the Emeralds aren't bothering any of my Zoas so far. *fingers crossed* If they do, I can just move them to the 90.

Steve, time is the issue. I have been working out of province since February, and I am only home for about 30 hours every couple weeks (6 hour drive each way), and am usually pretty burned out when I get home. I just added the Phosban reactor and crabs a couple weeks ago, and I can see a difference already so I'm hoping it will take care of itself. So far, in that tank there is 1 Astraea snail, 2 Emerald crabs, and some Stomatellas. I plan to rip the tank apart at some point anyway since I don't like the rocks that are in there...but when? I have no idea!

[Myka]

Current fish are True Perc and Blue Assessor.

Ok, here's some pics... :o

Oct 2:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Oct22010.jpg



Same as above today...I guess they aren't RPEs!
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov120107.jpg



Look at the closed polyps...what do you see? Grrr! I just rinsed them under the tap and put them back. Tough ole Zoas. :D
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov120106.jpg



Blue Steels and Darth Mauls:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov120105.jpg



Purple Death and Tubb's Blues:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov12010.jpg



Blow Pops:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Oct220104-1.jpg


???
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Oct220106-1.jpg



The uhm...greenery... :o
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov120109.jpg



FTS from today...not impressive! :o I need to put different rock in there, and clean it up. I'm looking for some Tonga branch for it.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov1201010.jpg

[Myka]

RIP Coral the True Perc. A victim of carpet surfing. She lived in various tanks of mine for over 3 years. She was my oldest fish, and made the trip to SK from BC with me. She can be seen above in the last picture I posted. :cry:

[Lance]

:sad:

[reefwars]

nice zoas the rpe's i have look like your second pic as well ive only had them for 2 days so im curious like yourself if they are or not theyve been opening up really nice ,now only time will tell if they color up any different:) i only got 2 polyps though:)

[fishytime]

sorry to here bout your clown Mindy....I know what its like to loose an old clown:sad:

[Myka]

Thanks Doug and Lance...I'm still upset about it. People wonder why I tend to have lots of corals and few fish. It really bothers me to lose a fish. :cry:

nice zoas the rpe's i have look like your second pic

Your RPE's are green too? Hmmm...weird.

[reefwars]

Thanks Doug and Lance...I'm still upset about it. People wonder why I tend to have lots of corals and few fish. It really bothers me to lose a fish. :cry:



Your RPE's are green too? Hmmm...weird.


yeah its hard to tell because mine are very small polyps but they are nice color red on the ouside but they have a green almost " halo " in the middle then a very green slit:) unfortunately ive never seen any large colonies in person just some small frags but all the pics i see online indicate that mine are different slightly, and after seeing your photo it looks just like yours :) i assumed they were red people eaters because they were red and had the slit but who knows lol:) they are still very beautiful:)

[Lance]

Thanks Doug and Lance...I'm still upset about it. People wonder why I tend to have lots of corals and few fish. It really bothers me to lose a fish. :cry:


I totally understand.
When I lose a coral it makes me mad: losing a fish is different. I lost a fish last month, (first one in nearly two years) and it's still bothering me.

[lastlight]

I felt bad enough losing a few new additions for unknown reasons with the Solana. I figure my current gang is going to be around a long time and of course I'm already very attached. Sorry to hear Mindy.

[Cugio]

That really sucks that your perc took the dive. The whole reason why I got into reefs was for my mated pair. If they suddenly took a dive, I would be at a complete lost.

Your zoas look amazing by the way. Is there a specific product that you are using to feed them?

[fishoholic]

Your zoas are looking good, sorry to hear about the clown, it really sucks loosing a fish especially one you've had for a long time :sad:

[mike31154]

Hmm, very unfortunate to lose an original critter like that, too bad, especially to carpet surfing. I have a Maroon female that's one of two fish I first added to my tank. The other original was a Blue Devil Damsel which I lost to some cancerous growth on its tail. Believe it or not, I was sorry to see him gone. Something about the first fish or two you add to a system, you get quite attached. My Maroon is now regularly producing clutches of eggs with her little mate and I can't imagine my tank without them. Not that I don't care about any of the other finned friends, but mama Maroon will always be a little special.

Only fish I've lost to carpet surfing was a lawnmower Blenny and I have a feeling it's because Maroon would take a little run at him from time to time. She may have surprised him enough to make him jump I figure. A lone clown leaping out of a tank is unusual. I imagine you'll be looking for another?

[Myka]

I won't be looking for another clown for this tank since I already have clowns in my 90. I'm not sure what to add with the Blue Assessor.

Thanks for the comments on the Zoas. I don't feed the tank anything except fish food. I dose 0.75 mL Zeovit Coral Snow once per week.

[Myka]

Magicians:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov1520102.jpg



Carribean blues:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov152010.jpg



Purple Death and Tubb's Blues doing well now they have settled:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov1520103.jpg

[paddyob]

Those Magicians are pretty cool.

[paddyob]

Current fish are True Perc and Blue Assessor.



???
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Oct220106-1.jpg





I believe these are Radio Active Dragon Eyes.

[Myka]

I believe these are Radio Active Dragon Eyes.

Hehe, ya I put the ??? over the wrong picture. :redface: Thanks though!

[Myka]

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920104-1.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920103-1.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920102-1.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov192010-1.jpg

[NanoReef]

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920104-1.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920103-1.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920102-1.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov192010-1.jpg

would KILL for some of the blue ones in the first picture! remember to keep me in mind when your fragging next time!

[riceboy]

wow those are beautiful zoas, where are you getting them from? i want them all :lol:

[Myka]

Most of my Zoas have come from Bayside Corals in Saskatoon, SK.

[riceboy]

wow you have to hook me up with a bunch of frags when its warm lol shipping in the cold does not go well

[Myka]

I'm not really at the point of fragging. The tank isn't very old, so it needs time to grow.

[Myka]

On Christmas Day I decided it was time to rip the tank apart and redesign having never liked the rockscape to begin with. I had bought a nice rock a couple months ago to go in there which matched another rock I have in my rock vat. Now that the new rock is cured it was time to redecorate!

Old rock:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/June520102.jpg



New rock:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Dec262010.jpg



New rock with Zoas frags back in it:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Dec2620105.jpg

[Skimmerking]

Looks great Mindy and Hope your Christmas was excellent and your New Year will be Outstanding.

[reefwars]

Looks great Mindy and Hope your Christmas was excellent and your New Year will be Outstanding.

+1 looks good it will look nice once the zoa's take over:) happy holliday:)

[flipzed]

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920104-1.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920103-1.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920102-1.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov192010-1.jpg

what are the ones called in the second picture with the orange fringe??? i want some of those lol

[Myka]

Thanks guys! Happy Holidays to all of you as well. :)

what are the ones called in the second picture with the orange fringe??? i want some of those lol

Those are Oxide Oranges.

[Sunee]

I really like the new rockwork. I agree with the previous comments that it's going to look great when those zoa's grow.

[ryanb69]

wow! great tank! your zoas look great! any chance of some fish pics in the near future?!

[Myka]

Ryan, I have been trying to take a pics of the clowns, but they are skittish.

------------------------------
Wow, this journal is due for an update! Almost a year! :o

No good news for this tank though...it REALLY suffered in the last year with almost zero growth of the Zoas. I lost a bunch of Zoas...most of the blue ones are gone. The Darth Mauls gone, the African Blues gone, Magicians gone. Sooo sad... :(

The tank was rampant with Grape Caulerpa and Halimeda for many months. The heater died about 6 weeks ago which caused the tank temp to drop a couple degrees overnight which was enough to spur the Caulerpa into going sexual. I did a big waterchange and ripped out all the Caulerpa, but the Blue Assessor died. :(

Since then I rearranged the rock, and sorted out the surviving Zoas and Palys. Still have some nice stuff left. I have a SWC 120 cone skimmer waiting to be installed, and a little sump for it too that has to be finished up. I am going to drill the tank for a tiny Herbie overflow, but I am chicken because I can't find any info regarding if this tank is tempered or not. :eek: I am going to drill the back pane, and I see no reason for the front or back to be tempered, but I'm still chicken. Since Zoas are tough I'm going to drain the tank most of the way, and drill it like that. I can't just drain the overflow section because it leaks a bit about 5" up from the bottom so it won't hold the tank water out. Maybe next weekend...?

I am considering trying out the AI Sol on this tank. That won't happen until after Christmas though. I am interested to check out LEDs firsthand. Not on my 90 gallon reef though! :eek:

Here it is now...looks like it did when I set it up. :o There is a juvie pair of Clarkii clowns in the tank, but they are hiding from the camera. Wusses. They aren't permanent residents.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov102011.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov1120113.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov1120115.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov1120116.jpg



EDIT: Ok, I got a pic of the Clarkii from the couch. :lol:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Atasuki/Nov152011.jpg

[mike31154]

To check if the glass you're wanting to drill is tempered, a pair of polarised sunglasses & a notebook computer (or any small LCD display screen such as a tablet, maybe even a cell phone screen) will usually do the trick. LCD screens on most of these devices are also polarised to help make them sunlight readable. Look through the glass at the LCD screen with the polarised sunglasses on and rotate the laptop. The laptop or other device you're using should have a white screen on it for this to work properly. Just open a blank page with Notepad or some other simple word processing program. As you rotate the LCD screen, if the glass is tempered you should either see a changing pattern or the screen on the other side get dimmer/brighter as you rotate it through at least 90 degrees. Hope this makes sense, if not a search will likely bring up something with a graphic example of what I'm talking about. Seen a few on other forums.

[fishytime]

sorry to hear about the troubles Mindy......I dont know what it is about magicians/mauls/lunars/etc/etc palys......my track record with them sucks......Ive tried them in the light, half in the light, completely shaded, in some flow, out of the flow......lost dang near every one Ive tried.....I have some magicians now that I thought had completely melted but have now grown back to three heads....they are somewhat shaded and in some pretty good flow.......


polarized glasses work without a LCD screen too....you just need to know what to look for and have the proper lighting.....if the glass is tempered it will look rippled or checkered, like when you look through the side windows of your car....

[Zoaelite]

To check if the glass you're wanting to drill is tempered, a pair of polarised sunglasses & a notebook computer (or any small LCD display screen such as a tablet, maybe even a cell phone screen) will usually do the trick. LCD screens on most of these devices are also polarised to help make them sunlight readable. Look through the glass at the LCD screen with the polarised sunglasses on and rotate the laptop. The laptop or other device you're using should have a white screen on it for this to work properly. Just open a blank page with Notepad or some other simple word processing program. As you rotate the LCD screen, if the glass is tempered you should either see a changing pattern or the screen on the other side get dimmer/brighter as you rotate it through at least 90 degrees. Hope this makes sense, if not a search will likely bring up something with a graphic example of what I'm talking about. Seen a few on other forums.

Someone works with a polarimeter for a living :lol:, I'm +1 with Doug on this one Magicians and similar morphs have horrible track records in captivity. Makes me wonder if it's something in excess melting them or something they are lacking, funny thing's these zoas be that's for sure.

[Myka]

The Magicians are up for debate, those are tough to keep ime. The African Blues and the Darth Mauls were doing very good and were in my tank for 1 year and almost 2 years respectively. They grew very, very slowly though. The Grape Caulerpa took over, and smothered the Zoas which I think is the main reason for their demise. I need to get that darn sump put together, but jeez I have a lot on my plate right now!

That's a pretty fancy trick with the sunglasses! Hubby's sunglasses are polarized, but mine are not, and he won't be home for another 10 days or so. I don't think the tank is tempered...