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Yu guys are probably sick of photos (ya right!), but I'm trying to learn how to take better photos thatnks to a thread on here where people have been helping me. So everyday I get better photos and want to share them! :D
No Leah, I haven't worked on the rockscape at all. This is Friday's project...FOR SURE this time!! :o I tried looking for the Emeralds again, and couldn't find them. Now there is a cycle going in that bucket from the rock being transferred, and the ammonia it quite high. I doubt they could survive, but I haven't found their shells. I will look again for them now that you have reminded me. Here's a pic of the Cyphastrea 'Meteor Shower' frag from Wicked Frags just for you: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...une2320094.jpg I finally got a pic of the Blue Assessor which has acclimatized well, she (I'm hoping) is happily making the rounds around the tank now that the Kole is TOTALLY engrossed with killing himself in the mirror. Sorry the photo is poor. http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...June242009.jpg Here's a pic of how the Kole is looking now...the chameleon: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...une2420092.jpg A pic of my Fox Coral from Pet City that had an accidental fragging last year. It actually has neon green mouths, but I can't get that to show up in my photos: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...une2320095.jpg You can see this Open Brain (Pet City) has mostly recovered from the slow bleaching it was doing last fall: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...une2320096.jpg Lovely Acan frag from Red Coral. Fast grower too: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...June232009.jpg Finally got a decent shot of the Squamosa (from Red Coral) that shows the color well: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...une2320097.jpg A macro of the Favia (from Pet City): http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...une2320093.jpg A better shot of the odd leather (from Bayside Corals). Anyone know what it is? http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...une2320092.jpg |
Wow! Things are looking amazing great photo's keep umm up!!!! Glad things are doing so
well tank is really beautiful. I should be learning to take pictures too!! |
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I hate having to scrol to see it all Steve |
Thanks Leah! :)
Steve, mine are sized right, aren't they? I don't even bother looking when the photos are too big. LOL |
Pics look great to me....but...um...yous guys need a bigger monitor:mrgreen:
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Steve |
Oh good.
The Jawfish went to fishie heaven. :puppydog: He was pretty skinny on arrival. I haven't seen the Blue Assessor eat yet, but she hides lots, so she could be nabbing some of the Mysis when she's hiding. |
So yesterday I didn't see the Blue Assessor at all. Albeit I work 2-10 pm, but the Assessor usually hangs out in the front at times (she avoids the Tang though). So I was panicking!! :eek: I also hadn't seen the Assessor eat, but I was blowing frozen mysis in the rocks hoping wherever she was she was getting some food. :pray: Well, this morning I saw her cruising around, and noticed her belly isn't skinny, so she must be eating then. So I figured I should get some food ready so I can feed when she's out front and watch. I got it ready, and she was still out front (and is now too), so I blew some mysis at her...aaaaaaand SHE EATS!!! :dance: She's definitely not an aggressive eater, she only ate 2-3 pieces, but WHEW!! That's a relief!
The Kole Tang is still really interested in her, but I haven't seen him peck at her this morning at all. I took his mirror down lastnight. Oh, and I'm working today, so I can't do the rocks as planned...AGAIN. Tomorrow I'm going quadding with my lovely boyfriend, so that's out. So Sunday it is! He said he'd help me too, so that's awesome. Gotta get 'er done!!! Starting a new job on Monday too. |
Sorry to hear about the jawfish.
Not terribly surprised though (and I don't mean this as criticism against you, please don't take it as such, I know you didn't mean for him to be in your care in the first place), but I really think this fish is far too commonly available considering how specific its needs really are, and I'm not sure that those needs are being communicated/dissemminated along the retail chain... Basically unless they are in >4" rubble and can see 360 degrees around their burrows - they are STRESSED, stressed stressed stressed. Hiding under rocks doesn't really substitute for a proper burrow. Anyhow once again, sorry about that. It is good news about the assessor though. Question, you're referring to her as a "she" - are you just doing that, or is it possibe to tell the genders apart with them? |
I'm not surprised about the Jawfish either. I wasn't setup for it, and wasn't ready for it, and frankly I wasn't impressed that I had to deal with it (having not ordered it myself!!). Jawfish rarely seem to ship in good health to boot. They are "always" wormy, and have a hard time getting onto commerical foods. They are a tough fish to acclimate that's for sure. Once they are acclimated I still wouldn't classify them as hardy. I do find the Blue Spot to be much tougher than the rest though. Look how many fish out there aren't properly represented when purchasing though. Look at CBBs and Mandarins. They are both cheap fish too, which is doubly annoying because of the "who cares if it dies, it was only $20" mentality.
I am seriously reconsidering my plans of adding a harem of Pearly jawfish to the tank, but my heart is relieved when I see a nice healthy group come in that are eating well like has recently arrived at Bayside Corals here. He got a nice shipment in. IF I do follow through with the plans to try a harem they will be quarantined for some time to make sure they are parasite free and eating. Oh, and the Assessor being a "she"...I'm just hoping because according to my research (hard to find info on Assessors btw) the males can become a bit boisterous, so I asked Kevin at Red Coral to pick the one that seemed to look the most female according to typical Pseudochromis characteristics (rounder fins), which is still just a guess really since I can't find any info on sexing Assessors. So, I am assuming, but mostly just hoping it is a she! :) |
that leather looks like a fine green finger i believe. Myka the kole looks alot happier too his/her colors are looking brighter. love the clam the one that i got from Bayside the baby squamosa i had to take it out of my tank and put it in Doug's 30 gal. It seems to have the pinched mantel look but the other clams that i have doesn't appear to have that problem. it happened to the other baby maxima that i had too.. Do you get that same problem?
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Great to see but your right not an aggressive eater. Kevin |
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My Squamosa has never had a pinched mantel. I got mine from Red Coral though. It had been growing lots I think...about 1/4" along the shell's rim since I got it in mid March. This is my first clam though, and although I have done lots of research on them (for a couple years actually) I am no expert. Quote:
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Wow Mindy...the blue in the assessor really shows up under some better lighting....got me thinking again.....my RG is the biggest wuss ever.....:mrgreen:
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LOL Doug!!! Oh come on, the Assessor is just so much nicer than a RG! ;)
Well I finally got my @$$ in gear and did the aquascaping. From the time I started pulling corals out, rearranged all the rock (including zip ties and epoxy!!) to the time I had the corals all placed again was a whopping 8 1/2 hours! :eek: I knew it would be a big job... I'm not sure how many lbs of rock I left in there until I weight up what's left over (to sell), but I'm guessing I have about 80 lbs. I will be putting a bunch in the sump too. I will need to re-home the Finger Leather since it doesn't have a place anymore, so it's hard to tell but there is a double archway on the left, and then a pile on the right. There is a nice swimming area between the pile and the arch, but the Finger Leather is in the way. It will be more defined when the Finger Leather is not in there anymore. I'm fairly happy with the layout...the fish spend a lot less time hiding. Quite often the Bangaii and the Assessor are out front which is really nice! Just before I started ripping the tank apart I took a bunch of top down photos. I don't have a box for doing top downs, so they aren't the greatest, but top downs always show the nicest color! :D The next steps will be sand, get the sump running, and finish the canopy wrap and stand door. Whew! Getting there...slowly. Without further ado...the pics! Keep in mind the tank still isn't filled, so there will be another 6" of water above the highest point of the arch. http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4.../July72009.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...July520096.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...July520093.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...uly5200916.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...uly5200915.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...uly5200914.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...uly5200912.jpg |
I went a little nuts with the Euphyllia top downs. :D
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...July520095.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...July520094.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...July520099.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...July520098.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...uly5200911.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...uly5200910.jpg |
Wow, that's looking real nice. Good job
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your yellow torch is making me drool.
i saw some on a different site, but it was 100 bucks a head :surprise: |
Thanks for the comments. :o
Karazy...they ain't cheap! :eek: |
Not a huge fan of shrooms but I'm kinda digging them blue rics.
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i think that your jawfish colony idea sounds wicked in a reef tank. i hope it works out for you (make sure they wont get squished by rocks!) |
Myka the tank is amazing I love how you have aquascaped it is just beautiful.
Have you added sand yet or are you still planning on it. Your photo's are great, BTW come teach me |
Tony, Rics don't count as mushrooms!! Not in my books anyway! ;) I just need a colony of neon green Rics, and then my collection will be complete. :D Same as Zoas, just a few select colors. I just picked up a micro colony (of 4 lol) of these neon speckled orange Zoas. Really cool. I also have about a dozen or so of the blue Zoas from Red Coral. now I need some green ones. :D
Karazy, don't worry the rock is all zip tied, and very solid. It's structurally sound without sand, so it should hold up to jawfish digging no problem. Thanks Leah! I actually just added sand today. I bought way too much, which is usually the opposite...I usually don't buy enough. I bought some nice rubble-sized live rock pieces. My idea was to create some areas of deep 3" sand for the jawfish, so I used rubble to create some walls to hold the sand back. The rest of the tank only has 1" of sand. I used 45 lbs Caribsea Select, and about 10lbs out of a bag of Caribsea Super Reef which is larger stuff with lots of shells. I used the Super Reef to put a layer on top of the deeper spots for the jawfish. They should enjoy having the bigger pieces to pack around. This is the first time in a decade I have used more than 2" of sand in any part of the tank, so I'm a bit nervous about it! I hope I don't come to regret it, but I think with a colony of jawfish they should keep it well churned preventing rotten areas of Hydrogen sulfide. I think I managed to create what I set out to do with the sand, shells, and rubble. I rinsed the sand VERY well before adding it. I initially wet it with RODI water so the sand would soak up RODI, then used the hose (with tap water) to rinse the sand very, very thoroughly. Then I rinsed again with RODI, then rinsed with tank water. I don't like using tap water on the sand at all, but I have no way to pressure up the RODI to get a good rinsing. I put some filter media on the intakes of the powerheads to catch the silt, and the tank cleared up fairly well 3 hours after adding the Select, but then I made the barriers with the rubble, scooped the Super Reef into the tank, and properly fogged it back up! :D It's half cleared up again now, but I probably won't be able to get any pics until tomorrow. I'm guessing it will take a few days or even a week to achieve perfect clarity though. I have been trying to get some photos of a Lobo I added a couple weeks ago that has really colored up. It fluoresces so much though that I can't seem to get the camera settings right, and it turns out looking funny. Anyway, here's the orange speckled Zoas from Bayside. I took the pic only an hour after I put them in the tank, so they aren't open all the way: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...July920094.jpg This Nephthea (also from Bayside) is growing like a weed: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...July920093.jpg I also got a decent pic of "Findiglo" (Fin-indigo-glow har har so lame): http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...July102009.jpg |
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They are wicked now that they are fully open! :D
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those zoas are awesome. they look like Darth mauls almost.
i wanna see pics of how this grand sand plan turned out. |
I went back to Bayside Corals and bought another frag of the orange Zoas so that they are a bit more noticable when I transfer them onto a rock. I will glue them on a rock together, but in the meantime I took some pics of the new frag through a magnifying glass just for you guys! (and anyone else who likes Zoas) :D
karazy, I was going to take a pic lastnight when the room was dark and the lights were still on, but I got a phone call, and didn't get a pic. The tank was crystal clear the morning after adding the sand. I wasn't expecting that! I will take a pic tonight. :) The color is NOT altered, it has some serious fluoresce. :) http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...uly1220094.jpg My Favia is in a great location for photos now too, so I managed to catch the fluoresce quite well this time! :D I love this coral. http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...uly1220093.jpg |
Wow! Looks amazing-did you reuse all your old sand or buy all new?
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I used all new sand, except I added that couple pounds of old sand that you put aside. I had it stored in a bucket with a heater, a powerhead, and a few snails.
I will post pics tonight once the MH turns off (they are ugly yellow bulbs and do the tank no justice!). Karazy, I just Googled "Darth Maul Zoa", and my Zoas look exactly like them. They're selling online for $50/polyp!! :eek: |
Well, my photos aren't very good this time, but here are some shots with the sand and the rubble zones. I set corals on top of the rubble zones, so you can't really see how it goes from 3/4-1" of sand up to 3". Hard to see in the pics. The large Finger Leathers (and their rock) have a new home on Tuesday, so pretend they aren't there!
FTS: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...uly1320093.jpg Left: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...uly1320094.jpg Right: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...July132009.jpg From the right end: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...uly1320092.jpg |
Looks beautiful Myka!
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Myka
I bought one of each color. When I chouse them I maid sure I get those who had more them one mouth. You won’t believe how fast they spread, used to sell them in a very good pries, it seems there is never enough of those! http://www.reef-center-host.com/pix/...l_IMGP4180.jpg http://lh5.ggpht.com/_uxCgBLJKy-Q/SU...2/P1160842.JPG |
Thanks Kelly! :o
Very nice Navarchus! That what I want too, I have an area set aside for the Rics to take over. :D |
You really need to get back to Cowtown, Mindy. I have some florida rics that have never done a thing in my tank(same number of heads for a year) that I would give you as part of my payback.
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Haha! That would be great Doug, but that Acro is owed to the guy who actually bought it in Kelowna. :) Or at least, I owe him an Acro. :lol:
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Look ma, no skimmer!!
:lol: Still no skimmer, but I'm happy to say nitrate is down around 0.2 ppm, and phosphate is undetectable with Sailfert kits. :D I haven't done a water change on this tank since it was setup, so this is the tank processing waste on its own. Yay. :) Although...I did manage to overdose calcium and magnesium. Calcium is about 485 ppm, alk 7 dKH, and magnesium 1450 ppm. Ooops. So I did the first water change lastnight of about 5 or 6 gallons. I will test again tonight to see if it's better today. |
Just elevate the alk to 10-11 dkh, the rest will balanced shortly !
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Well, the water change water I used was 340 cal, 11 dKH, and 1170 mg, so that should have helped. I did add some more buffer too, so it should be fairly balanced. But you're right, high levels aren't crutial provided they are balanced.
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I bought a couple young Bangaiis to try to get a pair or two since I currently have two males. That was last week. I haven't been able to get the two new ones to eat, even though they are captive raised and were eating PE mysis at the store. So today one was dead, and the other is MIA. Grrr...back to square one with two males.
Other notables: - I'm getting a bit of red turf algae. - RBTA split again (from me accidentally ripping it nearly in half, apparently it is tough lol). - Added a couple browned out SPS frags - good PE, so hopefully they will color up. - Added an Emerald Crab. - I ordered a custom sump and fuge, I think they will be ready by Sunday. And the part that's actually interesting to you guys...pics! :lol: I was trying to take a pic of the blue w/ pink mouths Chalice frag I bought, but the Torch got in the way. :D http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...2/IMG_1010.jpg Little Pipe Organ frag...hoping it develops a bit more color, kinda brown now. http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...2/IMG_1015.jpg Yuma I've had for awhile: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...2/IMG_1021.jpg Symphyllia from Red Coral: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...2/IMG_1025.jpg I was trying to take a pic of the two Lobos, but the fish thought they should be in the photo. The green and pink Lobo has really colored up a lot. It has so much flouresce that it looks fake in photos. Haha! Also in the pic is the Open Brain, frag of "Meteor Shower" Cyphastrea, and a bunch of Blastos. http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...2/IMG_1032.jpg A photo of the two little guys, and one of the adult males, but the photo is deceiving because one of the little ones is close to the camera making him appear bigger. http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...2/IMG_1036.jpg My Fox Coral that was accidentally fragged last year that is finally starting to get to a decent size. http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...2/IMG_1039.jpg Squamosa attached to the frag disk the Nephthea is on. Some Bryopsis on the clam's shell...I should do something about that before it spreads. http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...2/IMG_1040.jpg Colorful garden of flowers. http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...2/IMG_1042.jpg Here's one of a my freshwater tank too just for poops n giggles. :p http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...July272009.jpg |
I am receiving a few SPS frags today, but I got a couple about 2 weeks ago. An ORA green polyp pink birdnest, and a mauve Mille. I received the Mille browned out, and the birdnest is faded, but both are starting to show more color already. The birdnest fell on one of my Lobos and one of the branches lost it's flesh, but it's ok now. I should take some update pics, but here is the first day I had them:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...uly3120092.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...July312009.jpg Here is a pic of a blue w/ pink eyes Chalice frag I bought about a month ago or so, also in the pic is an Acan frag that is growing like a weed: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...2/Aug82009.jpg Also a FTS. I removed a rock from the upper left portion to blow torch it as for some reason that rock alone had a few different red algae on it. It is now just in my bucket of live rock, probably ready to go back in. I did rearrange the corals though...all the Euphyllias are now on the right. My new SPS will be going on the high arch on the left. :) http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4.../Aug820092.jpg |
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