Jon's 90 SPS dominant reef
 

I guess i should start with a little introduction.

I have recently moved to Victoria from calgary to attend school and to be with my fiance. I have been keeping a saltwater tank for about two years and have succumbed to "reefing bug" that so many of you are familiar with.

My experience started with a Fish only Biocube 29 that slowly transformed into this:
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0127.jpg

and then finally to a full mixed reef which included few lps some softies, Zoa/palys, and of course sps.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0298.jpg
A full blown mixed reef.

From here i moved cities and experienced a full tank crash loosing all of my corals and fish (with exception of a few Zoas that are still brown).

When i finally settled here on this island. The girlfriend brought up the idea of a new and bigger tank. one that would allow is to hold a greater variety of fish and have more room to keep corals. we were planning on having a tank built but then an opportunity arose to purchases a full set up with almost all of the specifications we were planning.

The original owner did not take any short cuts on his build. Bubbleking skimmer, ATI sunpower 6 bulb fixture, GHL doser, and the most important thing... time to plan out a unique aquascape that would turn heads. His design for the tank has inspired me to continue forward with his initial vision for the tank. I hope to carry on in the manner that maintains true to his original design and vision.

This picture is where my journey Begins
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0624.jpg.


I am still in the process of deciding which coral pieces to keep. My Goal for this tank is to have a minimal amount of corals to accent the rock work. The other thing i would like to implement is corals with vibrant colours.

A few of the corals in the picture are not attached yet as i am still trying to figure out what I find the most visually pleasing. I have always been a person open to opinions and feed back so please feel free to help me on this Journey.


On a side note i would like to apologize to a few members who I feel i was previously an unreliable person to deal with in the sale sections. I was going through a very unstable time in my life, which was reflected in my personality and actions.

You got a great start here cant wait to see what it turns into. :mrgreen:

Definitely not a bad way to start a tank. Best of luck with the new tank and the new life.

Such a good buy. That tank has been one of my favorites for a while

welcome to Calgary :-)

Dude, I've been wanting to redo my tank like the "Canadian" for a while. Here's some inspiration for ya while you rework the tank. If you...uh.. have any left over corals I know a guy who'd probably take'm off yer hands there...:razz:

tagging along, looks like its going to be great.

Calgary is my home, Moved to Victoria

I have been following that link on RC for a while too. there is another one that is about minimalist aquascaping which is pretty good. Although there are a lot of smart ass people who just throw a rock in there 120gal and take a photo. haha.

I will get some photos of the colonies that are currently in there because there are some beautiful pieces. Its tough to think about which ones will not make the cut because they are all of decent size and had some great colours before the move.

Holy crap Jon!.....you certainly have pin-balled around this last year:razz:.....I like the sounds of this tank.....should be saweet:biggrin:

hey jon
taggen along of course
what size is the new tank again?
i still have a few of your zoa colonies growing well if you wish to frag back.

Yea, Ive been a gypsy. Kelowna for five months, Halifax for two weeks, calgary for four months, now victoria. Part of the reason i got this tank is so i would have bigger burdens in one place and have to stay haha.

Brent I just might have to take you up on that. Next time i drive back i'll stop in for that coffee and we can swap some frags. Im sure i will have a few pieces for you
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0642.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0638.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0637.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0635.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0631.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0629.jpg

Things are settling in nicely. the sps are coloring back up after the stresses of moving. I think i have found all of the final resting spots for the coral and picked out a few that don't really interest me.

Previously the tank was being supplied 2-part via B-ionic. but i had the materials for the balling light method from the last tank that i never got to try so i am going to give the system a run on this tank. (pretty much to just use up the materials). I dont really have high expectations of it because of the subtle differences it makes. anyways, I am still in the process of dialling it in. But so far the numbers have gone from 4ml X6 (24ml total)of each cal/alk of b-ionic. to 15 X 4ml of alk. and 12 X 2ml for calcium per day. giving me steadyish values of about 8 kH. and 430 calcium. Still need to find a container for the mag so i am not dosing that yet.

One hiccup i have experienced is that the tank gets a little bit of morning sun which is kind of bleaching one of the zoa frags i have so its going to need a new home on the other side of the tank.
Before:
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0637.jpg
After
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0656.jpg
Favorite piece at the moment
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0669.jpg
not sure what this is. got it at a frag workshop at Blue world Victoria
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0668.jpg
Favia which i dont think i am going to keep (any takers?)
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0667.jpg
Chalice
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0666.jpg
Clam and blue polyp monti
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0665.jpg
Chalk basslet
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0664.jpg
getting some sweet PE
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0670.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0658.jpg
Milli
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0671.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0660.jpgFts
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0676.jpg

Jon, I'd still like to come by and see your setup!

Crap i totally forgot about your messages. Midterm season at uni. Anytime you want. i think our OC order is inbound pretty quick so we could do it sometime then.

Jon, anytime is good for me. Lemme know what works...

Your unknown is one of my favorite corals in my tank. John (lobsterboy) told me it is oxypora but it also looks identical to another coral someone called hollywood stunner chalice or something? I don't recall where I saw it but it's a canreefer's tank.

Edit:

I did find it (scroll down a few pics):

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=67198

and here's mine:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/random5.jpg

It is an LPS. next time i stop in at Blue world I will ask spencer. At the frag workshop there he must have snapped at least 10 frags off the thing and it is still huge. Fast grower from what i understand too
EDIT:

They look Sick when they get bigger!

Yeah mine is growing very fast. It bleached when I originally switched to 250w in the Solana but in my transfer I angled that rock so this piece faces a bit away from the bulb. Red all came back I was really happy.

It's very close to touching my superman digi but since that coral has decided it doesn't want to really have a blue base and just be a pink digi I may let the lps give it a few pokes! :twised:

They seem to be kind of finicky with light. That frag started to brown out and all of the eyes seemed to almost disappear in my biocube with a 4 bulb fixture. no matter where i put it. other lps in there are fine. As soon as i put it in a shady spot under the sunpower. perked right up

Those frags are off of the big colony Brian (Biggs) grew. Wow it was awesome.. The size and shape of a punch bowl and it just sparkled.
Brian said it was an enchino, which along with oxypora are all kinda lumped together as chalice. I figured it was a Hollywood Stunner also. I have a piece of it also and it's near the bottom under 400w and mine seems to like the light.

I I'll point out this thread to Brian and maybe he will let us know how he grew that monster.

yeah, its an oxypora but at the same time its fancy name is Hollywood stunner. I think Xtreme might have gotten it from me in my old tank. It grows super quick, and watch out for stinger;s at night.

I have a colony that looks pretty much the same. Originally I got it from Fooser. You think it's Oxypora John? I've been calling mine Echinopora Lamellosa (Hollywood Stunner is what I've seen them call it in the US). Check it out in Corals of the World and tell me what you think.

Just yesterday I noticed quite a long tentacle. And for a week there has been a side that is sorta close to the LPS on my superman that has some cyano or some red slimy algae growing on it. The coral is growing well I wonder if that area got stung?

I'd keep the LPS over the superman anyday it's awesome.

yeah your totally right Sean, sorry there Brett for the faux ID. :redface:

yeah, in my old tank i was wondering why my plates were not doing well, and then i seen the stingers. OUch.

Thanks for the ID guys. I was wondering if it was a chalice, To me it didnt have the right structure, but i have never really experimented with lps too much so i am kind of slow on the subject.

Sorry to be so slow in responding but things have been busy. It was sold to me as an Echinopora sp. and is apparently not a very common coral. Mine grew to the size of a punch bowl and was growing at an astounding rate and that's why I had to move it. I kept a piece so I could grow it again. It liked light and lots of it! I kept it under a pair of 400W 20000K XM Halides and maintained very high Calcium levels (475 -500) and Mag levels (1400-1500). It's slow to start growing and seems once it reaches critical mass it explodes. It throws sweepers 6" long and is very aggresive....but stunning if you have the room for one!

Cheers!

Things are progressing!. I mentioned earlier that i was using the balling method to use up some materials that i had gotten earlier. Not sure if its that or i have found a good sweet spot for the nutrient levels in the tank, but wow. colours are starting to come out like no ones business. corals i didn't really like at the start are starting to become favourites. nice to see the vivid colours popping out.

Also added a frag of PPE's, red planet acro, garf bonsai, and a sunset monti from oceanic. Really nice pieces. bleached a little from the stress of shipping but all are coming out nicely. i could have placed them a little better but i was more focused on seeing the colony as it grows out instead of the frag. I will get some pics up as soon as i can. Mainly to get photos up as a size reference for coral to compare later down the road

Been a long time since i have updated. Usual story went home to calgary for a week over christmas and left the tank in the hands of the girlfriend. I made sure that all she had to do was to fill up the water reservoir with water and feed the fish in the morning. i even put the buckets right beside the tank with a small hose and powerhead so she wouldn't have to lift them. well she dropped the hose into the tank water and through evaporation it started a siphon. throwing the SG out of whack. so i came home to two dead birdsnest colonies and a stn'ing monti and stn'ing frags. i also lost the chalk bass yesterday which was kind of salt in the wound. he was big annd i think from what the previous owner of the tank said he was his second fish, either way not fun...


added a few new thing such as this superman rhodactis
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0722.jpg
supposed to be a garf bonsai
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0737.jpg
slowly stn(look at the base)
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0735.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0732.jpg
growing good
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0734.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0730.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0728.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0727.jpg

Slowly, lowering the extra nutrients in the tank ofter the mishaps at x-mas. did some fragging to save a colony hopefully it helps.
Saw this at a LFS and could not leave it.

Porcelain crab found a new home
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0775.jpg


And one of the puppy!
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0766.jpg

Nutrient problem is slowly getting under control. I am debating stopping use of the biopellets and running some GFO as they seem to be a little more efficient at lowering the nutrients and based on the fact that i am using the prodibio system. I had to frag a few corals in order to stop the STN. but aside from that things are on the mend and the corals are growing again.

Also decided to finally start thinking about which corals are going to get the boot and which ones are going to stay. so some things in the for sale thread shortly

Pics
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0792.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0795.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0798.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0800.jpg

Looks like a flyball dog to me!! :)

yea. Hes going to need quite a bit of conditioning. compared to the other dogs at the park he has the speed of a corgi. Now that Im starting to man up a bit and run with him outside he's getting better.ill make it out to one of your practices in a little bit here. get him excited about it!

new additions

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0844.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0848.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0850.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0849.jpg

finally figured out the source of my algae issues. Old RO/DI filters. first water change with the new filters in so i should start seeing the HA and bubble algae decreasing.:biggrin:

Well ive been bored lately and decided to start a project. Actinic LED supplementation. Never having soldered or done anything remotely electrical i decided to start with some cheap 3w blue leds instead of frying cree's. for drivers I am waiting for some meanwell eln-35-700 drivers. I ordered 20 leds's and picked up some u-channel to use as the heat sink. Since these are cheap led's i am not going to go all out and make everything look pretty.

Havent put it over the tank yet as i am still waiting on the drivers
Here is my attempt at something DIY. the bar is going to be about 16" because i am not sure if i will use it on the main tank. and if i is that length i can always put it over the biocube.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0870.jpg

aw man.....Jon!.....that was a bit of a dangle there buddy.....I was specting to see them all fired up:razz:.......cool project mang....

*edit......oh and your other post was zoolicious!

haha always have to leave them wanting more. I should be having a bunch of good updates next week, Im feeling the winds of change :wink:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...e/DSCN0879.jpg
:wink:

new led fixture?

Fleet of UFO's coming for landing?

CLose but not quite

Ding!

It was time for a light change. I needed to replace all six of my t5 tubes and figured if i could get away with one fixture the money i would save would be worth the upgrade. I hung it today so i will try and get some pics up.

Just from playing with it today i am really impressed with the look of both the fixture and the tank/corals under the light. Being a big T5 supporter/user, its nice to see the tank with the shimmer. Although, it takes some getting used to.