Myka's 90 gallon build & 3 province move (Pics Feb 6)

[Myka]

Thanks Doug! Luckily the trio have all moved quite close to each other so photos like that are possible! The remaining three are doing very well. They eat like hogs...worse than the Tang.

So I made a little stop in at The Reef Shoppe on Sunday and picked up...

A lovely Teardrop Maxima (my photo does it no justice) beside the Squamosa that put on 1/2" of growth last month:




A pretty monti cap:




A gorgeous Purple Frilly Gorgonia:




And a wee little (but awesome) RBTA:

[noirsphynx]

That gorg is beautiful.

[Myka]

Thanks! I should make note that the Gorgonia is photosynthetic, so it should do well long-term.

[Lance]

Wow that Gorg is niiiiice! I want one.

[fishytime]

Oh my gorg....that is a sweet gorg. and the clam is incredible.

[Myka]

Thanks guys!! I got both the Gorg and the Teardrop Maxima for reeeeeeeeeally good prices at The Reef Shoppe.

Well, I finally finished the plumbing today!!! Imagine that! It only took 4 1/2 months. *gasp* Scary part is that the tank is full, so if the plumbing leaks it's going to be a PITA. Oh yes, I like to do things the hard way. I'm mixing up more water now, so if I'm brave I will get it going tonight, but my reasoning says I should wait until the weekend. So far bravery is winning.

I'm not happy with my bulbs right now...the PlusRite 20Ks really lack pizazz. They are bland looking. I'm tossing around the idea of trying out some XM 20Ks or Phoenix 14K. Ugh...expensive decision to possibly not like. I need to replace my T5s too, the AS 17500K and the Fiji Purple have about 8 months on them I think, and I've been switching back and forth between a Giesemann Pure Actinic and a Hagen Glo 18K, both of which probably have 14 months use on them. I can't decide on T5s either. Since my T5s aren't all beside each other (2 are together, the third is on the other side of the MHs) I'm noticing the different colors as stripes along the length of the tank. Since I don't need the PAR from the T5s, I might keep 2 Pure Actinics (prob switch to UVL since I don't like Giesemann), and one Fiji Purple. Ok, just rambling out loud here I guess!!

Anyway...critters are looking good. I got some frags from Coral Master. Very nice!! I will snap some pics once they color up.

Caught the Blue Assessor in his new favourite hideout:

[Myka]

I need to figure out how to get better FTSs. Especially with the halides on...all my FTSs are just T5s. The halides wash the photos out.

The tank is looking like a scrapbook with little pieces everywhere since I started collecting SPS. It should look a lot nicer in a year. Patience fledgling reef.

Here is today's:




I was trying to take a pic of the Gorg with its polyps out:



Purple rim cap I got from The Reef Shoppe:

[lobsterboy]

yup, those caps and gorg are great. that gorg is HUGE.

[hillegom]

I really like that gorg!!
And the clams! Beautiful colouration. What do you feed them Myka?
Thanks

[Myka]

Originally Posted by hillegom

I really like that gorg!!
And the clams! Beautiful colouration. What do you feed them Myka?
Thanks

I appreciate your comments. I don't feed the clams...aside from a couple Zeo products which I think they benefit from; Coral Vitalizer, and Sponge Power. They seem to look after themselves. I bought the Squamy from Red Coral at the end of March when the shell was about 1.5" from end to end, and now it is just a hair under 3" so I think it is doing well. The Maxima I just bought a few weeks ago from The Reef Shoppe. Hummm....I think the clams probably appreciate the fact that I don't have a skimmer or any other type of mechanical or chemical filtration. Maybe I will need to feed them when I turn my skimmer on...?