You already have LED's and Kien was pouting awhile back cause he didnt have any. :biggrin:

Kien,
Glad to hear your family and home are intact!!!!
Being here in Calgary and seeing all the devastation it's heart breaking to say the least.

Last year I had a water line let go on my main floor while we were away. My wife got a call from the fire department telling her our home was majorly damaged and that was not a fun evening.
But in our disaster it was all covered by insurance. Now with this mess it will be different and that's the unknown part. At least when our home flooded the adjuster comforted up right away saying its all covered !!!
(200K) and 8 months latter out home was fixed.

So really glad to hear your home and some of your reef and fish have survived.

If you need any help with anything during all this just shout I/we are here.

Just finished the first 33 pages of this thread . love your tank . hope it fully pulls through your latest trials .

will read through the rest another day .
Would like a tank of your layout one day . great dimensions

Nature always has a way of reminding us who is ultimately in charge...glad the family is ok Kien and bittersweet on the tank as it is a part of the family too....


I talked to one of my cousins he was one of the areas put under mandatory evacuation went home after being away for 33 hrs found that his house was one of the few in his neighbourhood that was left untouched by the floods that being said when he got to his house he discovered that 28 cats 15 dogs and some other critters had taken up residence at his place and because he had a pet door for his cats and dog the neighbouring animals made themselves at home in his house.

With the help of neighbours, SPCA and emergency services all the animals were reunited with owners or taken to local shelters. Unfortunately they did make a mess of his kitchen and living room and some other areas of his house. But he and his wife kept their sense of humour as they have a sign in their window stating they are a pet friendly house and apparently all the neighbourhood animals took them up on the offer :)

Ya but not a cool led flashlight with your logo on it! :pout:

Kien now that your back home and the powers on, how's the tank doing?

It appears as though the remainder of my fish and inverts are OK. They all appear healthy and ate voraciously yesterday. Some of my LPS are still deflated as are some SPS. Some have recovered so corals are a mixed bag at the moment. Clams are not quiet as full as they normally are. I already had a batch of NSW mixed up before we evacuated so I will do a water change today.

All in all, I am totally shocked that the tank didn't suffer a full on crash or that there were not more casualties. The water was completely stagnant for over 12 hours resulting in a significant reduction in oxygen. Heat was also a minor issue dropping down to 71. I knew that a temp of 71 wasn't catastrophic though but was sure some of my more sensitive inverts like starfish would have been toast. It was a very gradual drop though which I'm sure gave the fish time to adapt. I was lucky that the house was fairly warm. If it was winter time the temperature would have dropped much further and definitely into critical territory. I knew that not having lights on for 24 hours wasn't a big deal. The reefs go through that all the time during storms. To me the essentials were oxygenation and flow with temperature coming in a close third. In the end that was all I needed to keep the tank hobbling along for the duration of the outage. Will report back as I observe what the corals do over the next while.

Super glad to hear things weren't catastrophic and all in all everything is ok.

Kien, you probably know this, but keep an eye open for ammonia. It would be a good time to hang a SeaChem Ammonia Alert badge in the tank.

After all of that, your KEEN sense of humor didn't suffer any. Glad to hear things are getting kind of back to normal. Hoping for a speedy recovery for all in Calgary....

Glad things weren't worse for you. I too was without power but only lost a few corals because I was also able to get a generator. I think the biggest issue ended up being how cold the tanks got and a few corals couldn't handle an extended 65 or below degree temps for that extended period of time. My main concern was to provide flow in the tanks and keep my freezer & fridge going so I never bothered with tank heaters. Let me know if you need help with anything.

Good suggestion Mindy! With so much going on I actually had not thought about it until you brought it up! Also, with mature tanks you tend to get complacent with things like Ammonia and Nitrites. All appears good on that front though.

Thanks, and good to hear you come out OK as well. My basement is pretty cold too so I'm sure that if my tank had been in the basement the temperature would have reached critically low levels as well.

Summer Update: good news and gooder news.
 

Well, it's been a couple of weeks now since the non-flooding flooding incident/event. The good news is that a few corals did not make it which means that a bit of precious tank real estate has freed up! :biggrin: I'm actually not too upset about the corals that were lost (if you didn't already notice). Mostly because they were the more common (easy to obtain) corals like green tenuis, birdsnest, blue stag, millies, etc. Thankfully I did not lose any of my more prized corals. Well, not yet anyway.. :lol:

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...psff726b85.jpg

The gooder news is that the tank seems to have settled back down. A few other colonies lost a bit of colour but they've stabilized so they will probably pull through. At the end of the day it wasn't a complete disaster for the tank so I'm happy about that. The tank has definitely looked worse!

On another note, this month marks the 4 year anniversary of this tank. Crazy! It is a bit of a milestone as I have never had a tank for this long before. I'm not going to go into too much of a retrospective here. I'll save that for the 5 year anniversary. Anyway, MOAR PICTURES!!

A couple of Sexies hanging out in their Maxi Mini Pad.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3680/9...932efee1_o.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7407/9...184ceabf_o.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7437/9...812fc5d9_o.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5549/9...58a2aa78_o.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3716/9...b330d91d_o.jpg

The Red Bubble tip. I've had this guy for over 4 years now. He he split sometime last month so now there are two of them.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3788/9...ce89132b_o.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5487/9...a490d12a_o.jpg

One of three clams that I've also had for over 4 years.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/9...b6101e16_o.jpg

One of my all time favs, the Aussie Gold Torch.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2871/9...35b9ec53_o.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7385/9...a840fe27_o.jpg

A Red Goni that I've had for 3, almost 4 years now. This guy is virtually indestructible (he's probably going to be dead by the morning.. doh). He used to live in my "131g FOWLR" where he eventually became the target of abuse by my angels. Half beat up, I finally noticed and took him out and put him in my 150g reef. He heeled up nicely only to be stung by pretty much EVERYONE near him, including a patch of GSP which took out half of him, again. After moving him to spot that has a nice 8" radius of nothing but sand and rock he was able to settle in and recover nicely (again). Except now it's PAYBACK. He extends his tentacles 8 inches and wipes out anyone within reach. Seriously, who knew Gonioporas could be so powerful. I call him the PUNISHER.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7429/9...b0b037c4_o.jpg

The Duncan. He's growing dangerously close to THE PUNISHER. I heard a rumour that some locations are starting to ban the harvesting of duncans.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2862/9...7f71df92_o.jpg

Blostomusa.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5489/9...eb69b261_o.jpg

Blue eyed red Goni. Different from THE PUNISHER as this one has a blue centre. Tiny frag I got from Concepts about a month ago.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3692/9...a3b5736d_o.jpg

Bubblicious Coral.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5513/9...916eafda_o.jpg

A cool favia I found at Concepts a few months back. Not sure if it has one of those fancy schmancy names or not. I'm not very good with fancy favia names.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3834/9...092505d7_o.jpg

Pink/Purple Urchin. Love this little guy/girl/it. Always a fav among house guests. She can really cruise too!

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2888/9...93291105_o.jpg

what camera and lense do you use to take such wonderful photos?

That's because kien takes shots mission impossible style, hanging from the ceiling. :mrgreen:

Always impressive shots kien! Glad to hear everything is stabilizing again.

Great photos! Everything looks happy! --Except those SPS corals in the bucket! You definitely look at the bright side. :lol:

Very nice. Glad everything is on the rebound. I love the colour of your Duncan's and that Favia is really cool.
Is that urchin a type of pincushion?

Great photos kien! Sorry to hear about the freeing up of real estate, but it seems that it could have been a lot worse.

I suppose on top of all these costs for me to get into the hobby, I am going to have to add on an expensive camera and lens, so that I can try to keep up! Luckily I won't have much to shoot for a few more years.

Congrats on the 4 year anniversary!

Thanks!

I switch between using a canon 40D and 5D Mark II. For lenses I'll use the canon 100mm macro or the 105mm zoom lens.

So true. Thanks :lol:

Thanks. The tank actually doesn't look as bad as the Bucket of Death suggests. I'll throw up a FTS in a few days after I dump a few more photos.

Thanks. Ya, the favia is definitely a show stopper and yes, that's a pin cushion. I have a couple. The pink one and an orange one.

Thanks. It definitely could have been a lot worse, and in fact, it has. I've gone through a couple of rounds of complete coral (SPS) wipe outs. Although there was loss (and some decline) here, it wasn't a complete write off.

You don't need need an expensive camera :-) Well, I suppose it depends on your definition of expensive! Lenses do tend to be on the pricy side though..

Maybe you should call the blue eye goni the Punisher's girlfriend.

I wanna see the other clams you have.

The Full Montis
 

Montipora nudosa.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3762/9...3a365d01_o.jpg

Montipora confusa. This is actually two frags that I got from two different people. You can see the rift where they are colliding.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7383/9...758f0c7f_o.jpg

Season's Greetings / Chilli Pepper / Reverse Sunset Montipora

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5476/9...2ae26b38_o.jpg

Rainbow Montipora

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2805/9...7943b517_o.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/9...39c54502_o.jpg

Pokerstar Montipora

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2876/9...967f762e_o.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5507/9...33a3855a_o.jpg
Sunset Montipora

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3719/9...faf8c120_o.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3817/9...8931739a_o.jpg

Montipora spongodes.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5495/9...dbc159db_o.jpg

Montipora undata

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7308/9...9f6f1685_o.jpg

Superman Montipora

[ SPACE RESERVED (still missing from my collection of montis) ]

Damn you are sure optimistic!

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Haha nice. She is cuter than The PUNISHER. I'm afraid to put her anywhere near him.. As for the other clams I have a giant derasa (which looks like every other derasa) so not very exciting there. The other is a blue maxima. Ill see about getting pics of those two.

We have a saying around here.. Come hell or high water.. I'm in this for the long haul :-)

Wow! Your coral looks incredible buddy! :surprise: Quite the collection of Montipora's too.

I didn't know you photographed with a 40D. I've been thinking of picking one up off Kijiji. It's what I use to shoot with a few years ago too. Although the cost of the Macro lenses is the real kicker.

Thanks josh. Ya that's where I got my 40D, Kijiji :-). Was cheap too!! It takes great photos if paired with a nice lens. You and I both know its all about the lens more than the camera body. I could produce the same photos with my two lenses on pretty much any camera body :-). I don't like using the 5D because it's quite a bit heavier and I'm a weakling. Also, I never take advantage of its full frame. 90% of my photos end up being cropped down to 800x600 :lol:

What I do like about the 5D is its high ISO (up to 12K). However, in a tank lit by three 250watt metal halides, ISO is hardly an issue :-)

Yea, Lighting is never really an issue when photographing a tank. :mrgreen:

I gotta get something though. Iphones do NOT like LED's so it's impossible to take a decent photo of my tank at home and I do need something for the office otherwise no one will ever see it. (at least no one on the interwebz)

Four years! Blows my mind man... I'm hoping to follow in your tiny footprints! Pics are bangin' like always. I'm loving the monti collection they all look fab. I forgot all about the superman. I used to have a branching one and it grew nutty fast. Wonder why it's not for sale all over the place.

Awesome pics as always! Sorry that you lost some corals but the tank looks like it is making a nice comeback!

Thanks guys! Ya, I used to have both the Superman encrusting monti and branching digi. Sadly I've lost both and am trying to source out replacements. Funny thing is, I do have a superman monti that I got from a local reefer, but its growing is very odd. It encrusts but you can hardly see its polyps at all. They are either constantly retracted, like ALWAYS retract, or their polyps are naturally really small. Like, grain of sugar sand small.

Bali green slimer stag.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7360/9...d74c6615_o.jpg

Unknown acropora.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7439/9...5c2a6b36_o.jpg

Blue polyp Austera.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2890/9...deb209fe_o.jpg

Tri-colour Acropora valida. (aka. Bonsai valida)

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2823/9...ca76b3b8_o.jpg

A frag of the same coral, planted eleswhere in the tank.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3682/9...9ff225e1_o.jpg

Pink/Purple Stylophora. Looks more blue due to the 22K bulbs but more purple/pink in person.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7320/9...5be0457c_o.jpg

Crayola plana mutant. This started out as a typical Crayola plana but has decided it wanted to be something else instead.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7300/9...71c7a51b_o.jpg

Work blocks all of my photos so I'm just going to imagine all of your amazing shots...


Ooohh ahhhhh... ooooo Kien your photo skillz are so legendary!!










Actually though, excited to get home and see these.

Post FTS FFS! :razz::razz:

I'll show you mine if you show me yours.. :lol:

I'm getting to that :razz:

But in the meantime..

Blue with Green polyp Postrata

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3707/9...6629c696_o.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5485/9...4a9dcca0_o.jpg

FAL Poison Ivy

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5487/9...934aaa55_o.jpg

ORA Red Planet

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3786/9...ec0f4071_o.jpg



For comparisons sake, it started out as this frag last fall..

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8227/8...9cdfd32e_o.jpg

And is now this colony.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5456/9...23cc1f7e_o.jpg

ORA Pink Lemonade. Here it is as a frag from last fall..

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8344/8...7e687fd2_o.jpg

Here it is today.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3701/9...433c6edf_o.jpg

Pink Lemonade about to get cozy with the Red Planet.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3770/9...1089aae4_o.jpg

Purple stylophora with green base. Fast grower. Should probably frag soon.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2892/9...1cd39648_o.jpg

nice buds:pop2:

Beautiful shots. Love the colors!

Where are you going to get a better offer then that? Or should Josh sweeten the deal with pheasant balls?



Put me in line for some of that stylo. Damn!

Thanks Woody!!

Thanks!

Um.. I'm not sure I need to see Josh's- oh who am I kidding. I totally want to see Josh's pheasant balls.

As for the stylo, come and get some. Fresh cut off the mother colony!

Wow that red planet growth is insane. Mine barely grows :(

ya, it's a bit weedy in my tank :-)

Blue/Purple tip with redish base Acropor Tenuis

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5482/9...44b28825_o.jpg

Incredible Hulk acro.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2865/9...b25ae2b0_o.jpg

Ice blue unknown acro.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7364/9...0708916c_o.jpg

Fire and Ice Millepora. Although the "fire" part is turning more purpley.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3807/9...9b1cd853_o.jpg

Unknown fuzzy acro.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7432/9...19dc475e_o.jpg

Unknown acro.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5457/9...1bacb8ae_o.jpg