15 Gallon Nano Build

[TheMikey]

ALrighty, it's been a very long time since I updated my build thread. This is mainly because my basement flooded and killed my laptop, camera, textbooks, books, guitar amp, etc. and I've had a bitch of a time dealing with insurance and the like...

From my initial posts I added a yellow/green torch coral which was two heads and split to four before it mysteriously fell apart and died. I was most displeased and replaced it with a really nice red open brain which is looking really good. The pictures in the update were still when it was new and looking kinda skeletal but now it's nice and puffy (pics WAAAAY far down).

Anyway. Here's my journal entry I just pulled off my once-fried HDD I yanked out of the flooded laptop:

Alrighty. I borrowed my friend's old Canon 2MP camera with no macro, and took a couple shots to update it. I've changed my aquascape to something... less drab.

We're currently getting in some carpet so I wasn't able to get all the pictures I would have liked.

Enjoy!







Brainnnnnsss (or Brain rather)










More pics to come! Also with a better camera, I hope...


And yes indeed, a better camera came along. It's still a point and shoot (with me spending all this money on the SW hobby I don't have anything left for a DSLR.) Santa brought me a Panasonic DMC-FS20 which takes really nice photos.

[TheMikey]

I had to break this post and the previous one into two parts because I had 17 images. Here's the tank update for today:

Like I mentioned, we got flooded so carpet came out and the walls were painted so I had to wait an agonizing four months before I added my first fish - a yellow watchman goby now paired with a pistol - who is ridiculously shy and rarely comes out from his burrow. I'm trying to get a picture of him but have been unsuccessful since I got my new camera.

First off, the FTS. I changed my aquascape up a little so it wasn't such a big pile of rock too:



Some shots of my two zoanthid frags:









And an attempted macro crop with some colour alteration:



The Shrimp:



Remember how the brain looking in my previous pictures? Here it is today:



Then I started fiddling with the camera settings (-.3 exposure with WB set to hallogen):





Anyway, I really like my new camera! It's no D90 but I think it does just fine (:

I'm in a GB on a Boxing Day sale from an online seller and will be adding some nice frags in the next few days so I'll update this thread with those when I get to them. I'm running 96W PC bulbs, so this will be an LPS tank with some zoanthids. In the new year I'll be putting in a couple more fish. Two false perc clowns unless our LFS gets true percs at a reasonable price.

I'm going to wait and see how the tank handles those and might (JUST MAYBE) add a 6-line wrasse down the road. I'm really hesitant about doing so but we'll see how things work out.

[TheMikey]

I took part in a boxing day order from Fragalot and got some killer $10 frags. Here they be!

Candycane (from a fellow reefer, actually):


Coral I used to have an ID on, but can't remember:



Red Acan:



Green Acan and Purple Chalice:


Purple Zoanthid Colony:



Nuclear Halo Zoanthids:


I have another shipment of stuff coming later today, so more updates to come!

[fishytime]

Obviously a gambling man. Lookin like its coming together nicely.

[TheMikey]

Gambling man? You must explain (:

[TheMikey]

I'm really no good with keeping journals up to date - might be why the ones I take backpacking always seem to stop two weeks after I start the adventure...

Anyway, the aquarium has had many changes since the last update in January (2009). I've upgraded the lighting to a 4 x 24W T5HO by AquaticLife (fantastic product, by the way) which is keeping my clam and SPS pretty happy. I've also added a Tunze 9002 skimmer and completely redid my Aquascape.

I had a mini-crash in June of 2009 when my lighting went (right before my current fixture arrived) and I was without high-intensity lighting for 8 days. This was also followed the next month by an absolutely ludicrous explosion of GHA which was most certainly the spawn of Satan and would not die. The sudden explosion of nutrients nuked four little SPS frags (which were starting to become some nice colonies).

I ended up pulling all my rocks and scrubbing them with metal brushes to rid myself of the vile weed. It worked pretty well, actually.

Then - tragedy struck. My little clownfish, George Orwell, ended his life carpet surfing. Shortly after his friend, Krusty the Klownfish, developed Ich and could not be saved.

The Goby is still alive and well, though she looks to be more of a Grey Watchman than a Yellow one. I tried to pair her up with another pistol shrimp but I haven't seen it in almost a week now. I hope it's still alive.

I took some pictures today with my SLR and here's what came out:

FTS



Clam



Zoa colony



Plate



Green SPS

[TheMikey]

Double-post.