400 gallon project

[untamed]

Today, I noticed that the male Maroon Clownfish (aka "Bubbles"), was preoccupied with a certain spot behind the anemone.

Yes, they've finally laid eggs. Of course, they were very careful to do it in the most difficult spot to photograph. Here are the proud parents with their brood.

[Skimmerking]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh look at all the babies

[untamed]

The clownfish are working on their 2nd batch of eggs. Maybe it is time to do a bit of reading to see if I can raise some baby clowns. Might be fun...

My pink pocillipora decided to RTN this morning. It went from having a small white area to almost completely gone within 12 hours. I've now intervened by fragging off the dead areas and iodine dipping the remaining live portion. I suppose we'll know how I've done by morning.



My theory is that I somehow transfer some sort of bacteria or virus onto the coral when I have my hands in there. I'm fairly confident that nothing has significantly changed with my water parameters and nothing new was added to the tank.

I've been having some fun with a Xmas present. It's a macroscope. Like a telescope with a focal distance of 18". Very cool. By putting it in front of the camera, I get images like these.

[danny zubot]

Hey thats nifty, it gives the appearance that you are pearing out of a submarine window. What's the zoom on the macroscope?

[Jason McK]

Also looks like Red Bugs or are the polyps orange?

J

[untamed]

Originally Posted by Jason McK

Also looks like Red Bugs or are the polyps orange?

J

No...those are orange polyps. (that would be quite the infestation of red bugs, eh?) But if they were there, this device would certainly make them easy to spot.

[Jason McK]

HAHA

Is it a Ogles Mesoscope?

J

[untamed]

Originally Posted by Jason McK

HAHA

Is it a Ogles Mesoscope?

J

No..it's a Bruntan macroscope. We tried to get the webcam to view through it, but the webcam seems to be unable to handle it for some reason.
http://www.brunton.com/product.php?id=282

[SeaSerpant]

Ok i just spent the few last nights sifting through this thread. it looks awesome. Right now what kind of livestock do you have. In that one picture with the clowns i can't see the eggs (i don't know what they look like really). It looks like it took a lot of time and effort to finish this project off. What are the conditions of your tank right now? I was wondering if i could get the site for your web cam? since i only read portions of your thread i probably missed it. Thanks

The New One
SeaSerpant

[untamed]

Originally Posted by SeaSerpant

Ok i just spent the few last nights sifting through this thread. it looks awesome. Right now what kind of livestock do you have. In that one picture with the clowns i can't see the eggs (i don't know what they look like really). It looks like it took a lot of time and effort to finish this project off. What are the conditions of your tank right now? I was wondering if i could get the site for your web cam? since i only read portions of your thread i probably missed it. Thanks

The New One
SeaSerpant

Maroon clowns seem to lay maroon coloured eggs. There are so many that you probably don't realize what you are seeing. It is that reddish purple mass directly above the lighter clown's nose.

They are working on their 2nd brood now. We were expecting to see a hatching this evening, but we've given up waiting around in the dark! I can tell the eggs are fertilized and very close to hatch because they are no longer maroon in colour...now they are darker, silvery and have shiny eyes...

As for the tank in general....I don't think it has changed too much since the tank photo on pg. 41. Everything seems stable enough. Corals are growing...fish are healthy...

I took some coral growth photos today. My corals have a LOT of room to grow. It will take several years for this tank to achieve what I have envisioned.

Webcam is: http://brads-aquarium.viewnetcam.com:50000 (lights are on from about 1PM to 10PM PST)