So I've been lurking on this site for some time and posted a few times. I know its not a nano but I've got a standard 55 gal. Its got ~75 lbs of live rock in it and a good 3" bed. 2 250w mh and 4 65w actinics on top. At night there are 8 blue LEDs.

My critter list:

Fish: Lawnmower Blenny
Mandarin
Saddleback Clown
Watchman Goby
Engineer Goby
CBB
2 Serpent Stars and 2 Brittles
Misc. CUC and a good size feather duster thats somewhat a centerpiece

Corals:
Montis (red and green cap, Tyree LE strawberry patch, strawberry lemonade, purple cap,
elkhorn digi, superman. yellow w/blue polyps, kiwi confusa)
Purple Polyp Birdsnest
Hydnophora
Mystery coral x2 ( 1 may be pavona)
Candy cane
Duncan
Sun coral
Meat
Branching Hammer
Galaxea
Pulsing Xenia and Red Sea type
GSP
Plain 'Ol Polyps
Big green mushie
Acan (red&white)
Micro (Doobisberry and Green Sativa)
Echino (hot pink)
Orange Crush Acan
Chalice (toxic flonk)
Zoas (bubblegum taffy, grape parfait, RPE, Cherry Dble Edge, French Silk Pie, NG,other frags)

Let me know what you all think of the menagerie so far. Pics will follow shortly. Just wanted to say hello to everyone and let you all know what I've got. And flame away about the mandarin, I welcome the discussion, LOL.

Bill

Bill, I am also a "lurker" hahaha. I would really love to see some pictures of you tank and especially your dresser crabs.

Yah! Let's get some pics! You tease.

So the pics are in the works but I made some additions today. I picked up the other tiny clam that my LFS had, a white bubble thats a nice size, a little 'tree' of colt coral, and a red and green brain. I think we're going to leave it at that for awhile. I've run into 2 good deals on tanks recently so that might shift where my $ goes, haha. One is a 47 gal column and my wife has really been studying up on seahorses so thats of great interest. The plus to that is my big interest is tree sponges and gorgonians, so I think it would be pretty interesting. Maybe have the back wall covered in xenia or anthelia? I think it'd be pretty neat to see. The other was a 125 with a free stand (not matching colors). Its a Petsmart buy so its still a little pricey but not bad with a free oak stand, standard lights though. The lighting wouldn't really be that much of an issue because it'd be fish only. My wife fell in love with a big 'ol puffer that one of our LFS's has had for some time. Time will tell what direction we go but for now my efforts are all on my 55. Like I said, pics are coming. Thanks for reading.

Bill

Pictures are finally here! I think I understand the photobucket hosting idea. Lets see if I can make it happen. Turns out my wife likes to take quite a few pics while I'm at work so I'm sure there will be more to come.

Bill

Side note, the skimmer I'm running is an Odyssea. Just so my list of equipment and critters is somewhat complete.

Hey, thats me! The bebe in the rucksack is Milana.

No replies on the pics at all? I guess my ugly mug scared them all away, haha. Maybe I messed up the photobucket, can you all see them? I can but of course I can, I put them up.

Bill

Ha ha... no you did it right...

Looks like you've got some nice stuff going.

Ask the Mrs. if we can get a full tank shot!

I do like the pics. The last one was a little scary, but the baby softened up the picture to make it OK. Just kidding.

What kind of clam is that? I have heard that small clams sometimes don't make it. I hope yours does OK.

dsoz

The LFS actually wasn't sure. Yes they are very small and it can be difficult to keep such young critters. I have the 2 and they're doing wonderfully. Both stay open very well and are in good flow and light areas. It was tough to keep my blenny and clown from disturbing the one clam so we had to move it. They follow me back and forth around the room and they kept butting into it! Thanks for all the comments on the pics. I'll try to get more soon.


Bill

So one of the clams is basically just a cleaned out shell now. I didn't notice any difference this morning on the way to work but I wasn't looking that hard either. I don't know who could've killed and eaten it. It may have died at some point in the night and then just been cleaned out by the various critters. Noone has ever really pestered the clams as far as nipping or anything. Some sand kicked up by tails was about the worst it got. Having such small clams was a gamble in any case and I realize that. The other clam, thankfully, is still doing quite well. Hes open and fully extended so we'll see how things go.

Bill

Did a thorough cleaning tonight of pumps and some problem areas with algae. Going to go through the skimmer and do a good scrubbing tomorrow. Picked up 2 new frags as well. One is a pink and green echino and the other is a nice group of acans. In the process of changing up some of the flow my tall sponge decided to fall over. That led to a change in the aquascaping so theres quite a few differences now. I'll try and post some FTS's so you all can check it out.

Bill

You need to get a grey card and set the white balance on your camera! Your pics are too yellow, but your stuff looks ok, except for the clam. Good work and keep us updated.

So I had a fight with some cyano. Chemi-clean and good water changes and everything is back to being peachy. The orange tree sponge didn't make it though. Seems to be the only one negatively affected. I've also got 3 small conchs in the tank now and they've completely scoured the place of algae. I actually had a rock with some algae on it that I thought of as ornamental and had taken a liking to. Yeah, its gone, haha. I'm thinking 1 possibly 2 of the conchs will go to a diff LFS for credit and I'll just keep the 1 for maintenance purposes. Some new aquascaping is in the works as everyone is growing and expanding. The bubble and the colt are getting quite large so they've been separated a bit more and with the loss of the tree sponge that creates an open spot. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for looking.

Bill

Soooo. Update on the tree sponge is that its still kicking. Lost some tissue in the great cyano war but is still standing and has its tubes extended for feeding. So everything is spreading or multiplying wonderfully. Unfortunately so are the majano anemones! I personally like the way they look but I've just got too many of them and they're annoying one of my green mushrooms now. Looks like they've got to go.

Several updates on new frags and pieces. Got some small orange with green rim zoas and a toxic flonk chalice frag from mvite. Had a creamsicle frag as well but there was some shipping confusion and it didn't make it. Sweet skeleton though. Got another shipment from AA today. RPE's, Cherry Dble Edge zoas, Doobisberry micros, Green Funk palys, Grandis palys and a new monti.

Tomorrow I'm expecting some frags from the ladies of the Coral Kitchen. A mix piece of Grape Parfait and Pie as well as a frag of the bubblegum taffy. Those are all zoas for those not familiar with the Kitchen. I've also apparently got a "surprise" frag coming as well, pretty excited about that. I'm fighting off some GHA right now so I also got an emerald crab and some more CUC guys, including a sweet yellow cucumber. And Teresa picked out a porcelain crab.

And I think that rounds out the updates for the 55. All the params are good and stable, everyone is growing like mad. Pics will follow this week as I'm having surgery and won't have much else to do.

Bill

So I posted these new FTS pics in a thread of someone who was asking for ideas on a 50 or 55 and then I realized I haven't updated my own! Heres a couple to give you the general idea of whats going on right now. The engineer is constantly digging and moving so the sand shifts as he pleases.







Bill

Bump for the start of the late night crew. Any comments, questions? Are 55's with HOB stuff just that lame? LOL.


Bill

your tank is holy YELLOW ?? what happened ? flash ? 10k light bulb ??

10k's and I don't have a card to set my white balance. I haven't really dug in and played with the settings on my digi cam yet. I know it does look crazy yellow.

Bill

Looks nice. I've been toying with the idea of a HOB only 55 FOWLR (cheap is the goal). I've got a bunch of extra LR and don't want to get rid of it.

Yep, that was the goal with this one too. It wasn't drilled and I don't have the equipment so HOB it stayed. Its working rather nicely for me. Everything is growing and splitting so I can't really complain. I don't keep hardcore SPS though, I'm mostly an LPS guy and my wife likes softies and critters. Thanks for the comment and good luck on yours.

Bill

So another update. I moved my bubble to my 1/2 10 gal. and rescaped the 55. I've got more flow hitting the caps this way and I think all my corals will be much happier in this arrangement. The colt and the branching hammer may still be swapped, I haven't completely decided. These shots are all just with actinics so please forgive the blue tint.

FTS


Left side


Right side


The colt and some others were mad at me for moving everyone so I'm expecting them to be open nicely in the morning. Check out my 1/2 10 thread, the bubble looks really nice in there. The green striped mushie got the transfer too. Fortunately he left me a baby to grow out in the 55.

Bill

Nice! How deep in your sand in there? I like the simplicity of your other tank. You bubble is showcased there instead of kind of lost in this one. Good idea! I love the bubble & goni I got from C7. I have them in my 10g & they make the tank!!! Keep us posted.

Yeah, the engineer goby moves the sand as he pleases so he ends up piling it rather deeply in the front. It was about 3" evenly around the tank and now its good and high in some spots up front and really thin in some places beneath the rocks.
I personally like the look of both tanks. This tank is what I would imagine I'd see if I came upon some rock somewhere in a reef. A fairly even covering of rock with corals spread throughout. Its not a crazy SPS forest although some of those do look amazing. The 1/2 10 is more stark and (possibly) artistic looking although thats not what I was going for. I just wanted it to be simple and I thought the bubble would look nice against the dark sand. Judging by the comments I was right, LOL.

Thanks for the input and for looking,

Bill

i love engineer gobys. can you get a pic of it?

Yep, I'll try and snap one of him tomorrow when the lights are back on.

Bill

Crunk, my bad for not getting you pics. I will try again tomorrow. So alot has changed in the tank. Moved several things around to better utilize the light setup and to accomodate more frags of course! I'm moving out some pieces in the NR Secret Santa gift exchange so they're basically just sitting in the tank. Not really placed because they're going to new homes soon.

So my new frag list since the last time I posted an update:

Purple montipora undata (x4)
Purple w/blue polyp monti cap
LE Tyree Strawberry Patch
Green Sativa micros
Strawberry Lemonade montipora
Blue w/pink eye oxypora
Dreamsicle Chalice
Kiwi monti confusa (x2)

More pics to come as things get sorted into their final resting spots.

Bill

Jeez, the changes are just flowing. Lots of aquascaping has been changed again to accomodate the frags I got from my secret santas! Here's the rundown of them:

Hydno
Duncan
Candy Cane
Frogspawn
nice lil zoa rock
Umbrella shroom
Pavona

Pics will be up for all to see tomorrow. Everyone was settling in tonight and I'm still not totally positive on their placement but I'm fairly sure they're right. We'll see with the halides on tomorrow if I still like where I've put them. Or if they still like it, LOL.

Oh yeah, my LFS is having a holiday sale this weekend! Pipefish are in, assorted nudis are in. And a sweet octopus. Probably none of which are good for my tank but still kewl to spread the news to you all. Boatloads of fish and whatnot as well obviously.

Bill

So, an engineer goby shot for Crunk. I'm gonna say he's as thick as my middle finger and twice as long. ~8"



Some new FTSs






New frags. New rockwork. New placement for old frags. The secret santa and AAs last ebay were major.

Another couple shots of frag placement and whatnot.











Bill

Just fed everyone. Duncan and Candy Canes are the 2 new guys and they ate really well. Even the 2nd head on the duncan took a piece of silverside. That's mostly what I feed. I find it easier to just cut them up into small pieces than to thaw a cube of mysis and then slurp the slurry up and squirt it at the micros and stuff. Rather just use tweezers to grab a silverside chunk and set it right on the mouth. Takes a bit more time this way but it's very effective. My micros down the stuff like it's the divine nectar, LOL. Even the chalices get it.


So all seems to be going well with the new 'scape and additions. I'll keep you all posted.

Bill

Looks good

Moved the PHs around to adjust the flow for the new rockwork and all the caps that are in there now. Moved some more frags around as well. The leng sy style cap is above the colt coral now instead of next to it. The candy canes are now in the hole that the cap frag once occupied. I also took those frogspawn that were above the colt and moved them down to the sand in front of the big feather duster. A piece of kiwi confusa now occupies the spot where the frogspawn once sat.

On the opposite side of the tank, I adjusted the powerhead to hit quite a bit of flow onto the large rock with all of the sps frags. This meant that I had to move the oxypora deeper into the rock shelf to benefit from the flow while moving the doobisberry micros farther out on the shelf to protect them from the heavy flow.

As far as I can tell everyone loves it and polyps are out and happy.

More pics to follow.

Bill

So the hammer got moved out from behind the big feather duster. It's now in front of the cave that is formed by the rock shelf that is covered in montis. I put the green palys from AA and the zoa/mushie mix rock from my secret santa in the spot once occupied by the hammer. It works out rather well. The polyps now have some room to grow out and the hammer provide good cover for the YWG and a spot for the clown to nestle.

I also used an xmas gift to order a Koralia 2 and 3 as well as a 160 gal. mix of Reef Crystals and a 10" pair of bent forceps for feeding everyone. Should be here a day or 2 after xmas.

Look for more pics this weekend.

Bill

So here's a question. I've got 10k lights right now that are pretty white. The light system I use is AIO and has PC actinic supplement. Now I really like the growth I've experienced with the 10k bulbs but I'd like to switch to 14k because I much prefer the color those bulbs produce. If I went with 2 14k Phoenix bulbs, I don't think I would need actinic supplements to achieve the color I want. What do you think of switching out my PC actinics for 6.5k/6.7k bulbs?

Would I still get the good growth? I wonder how that would look. Maybe only switch 2 of the 4 PC bulbs to the 6k? I'm definitely going with the 14k for the MH but my PC options are still floating. I think with 2x250w 14k bulbs and actinics it will look like a blue laser, LOL.

What do you all think?

Bill

So no opinions on the light idea, huh? Well alright then, LOL.

So I've got a bunch of new pics to put up and my camera died nicely in the middle of uploading.
I'll get them on shortly though.

Bill

Sorry, I am an idiot about lighting, but I like the tank setup, I think I will tag along

I'm no light guru either.

And thanks for the compliment.

Bill

I think you'll really like the look you'll get from the Phoenix bulbs.
I love mine, and I think I still get decent growth.
I say just switch 2 of the PC bulbs and play it by ear from there.
I want some of that Pink Lemonade!

So I took a bunch more pics after moving corals around. I think everyone is where they should be for now. As things grow out some more movement may be necessary but not much. I think my superman montis frag plug has been encrusted by my monti cap. That may be a problem as the superman is growing over the edges already.

New FTS to show placement diffs


My branching hammer in its new spot up front


Mvites green funk palys and a combo rock where the hammer used to be


Check out the wonderful growth pattern on this piece (Green monti cap)


A 55g is 13" deep and I'd say this guy is well over halfway across. He can eat a silverside.
(meat coral)


Check out the branching here. This started as a single skinny stalk with branches higher up. Easily a 1-1.5 ft when in full swing. (colt coral)


Baby heads on the RPEs! There are 2 behind that you can't see as well so that's 4 new total.


Nice floppy growth here. (Echino/Chalice)

And a close-up


Duncans, lovin' life.


Look at how many mouths are on this thing. Major eater! (Candy Canes)


Strawberry Lemonade for Weetie. (It's a morph of Pokerstar Montipora)


Sorry about the photo skillz but there are still more to come.

Bill

So some more pics.
This majano decided to hang out on my front glass panel. I'm lettin' him stay.


Butt/foot close-up


My still not completely sure what it is cluster


YWG, hangin' out by his burrow. What else is new?


I love the pattern on this clown. The white is so clean and very, very bright.








So what if I overdid it on clown pics? LOL. So that's what I've got for updates so far.

Bill

I like that clown.
I can't wait to see how it looks with the new bulbs.
Save some lemonade for me!

No problem. That frag was well over the sides of the plug when I got it. Full polyp extension and it hasn't looked bad to date. I think it will grow out nicely. The rock it's on has quite a few frags. Kiwi confusa, purple undata, purple cap, pink-eyed oxypora, and 2 types of micros. The micros will be moved as they mound off the plugs. The oxypora I think will stay on the rock. I'd like to see it cover the shelf the rock creates with the purple cap as a background. Would look really nice. The purple undata is on the backside of the rock and I'm going to let it grow out and cover as well. It will basically be a purple rock with pink eyes when it's all said and done. That's my hope at least. The kiwi and the lemonade will be moved as they grow close to the rock. I've got another piece of kiwi on a taller rock so this kiwi frag will join it to get some different growth patterns. I also owe a frag of it to dtfleming. The strawberry lemonade may also go on that rock but I'm not for sure yet.

Bill

So I've got nothing going on today. Went a bit pic crazy and now I'm sharing. Some, I think, turned out really well. Especially for me, LOL. Here ya go.

More strawberry lemonade for Weetie.

Check out the polyp coverage.


Strawberry patch

Check out the pink polyps. Maybe too much light?


Combo rock from secret santa..looking out from the cave.


Green cap growth from the inside of the cave as well

Different shot


Nice growth on the orange cap


Urchin with flash

Urchin without flash


My very fat Doobisberrys

Love the pattern on these guys


There are more coming .

Bill

Here's some more.

Purple Undata


Pavona cactus in a brain skeleton

A bit closer


Purple cap w/ blue polyps...should be kewl growth from this position.

Polyps almost look shiny here.


Top-down of RPEs


Bunch of zoas...hoping they'll grow around the feather and form a nice carpet...so far they're doing what I want, LOL.


Grandis...showing their subtle white streaking.

The pic isn't washed out, this young one just has that much white...very nice patten, much like a pied Ball Python.


That might be it for a bit. Teresa was just making fun of me, LOL. Asked how many pics I had up in my thread now. And how many were from just today. Hope you all enjoy.

Bill

Gee, Bill, thanks for telling me to look up your thread! Don't know why I've never gone beyond your 1/2 10 before.


Nice pics! I especially like the macros of the strawberry patch and the purple cap--love to look at those little polyps.

Super sweet acan, and I love those scrolly/platy things (I'm not good at telling one genus from another--feel free to label each pic...).

And I really enjoyed the size refs on the...well, very large lps (Cynarina?) and the...colt? Whatever, I am always transfixed by the large specimens at lfs's and it must be nice to have all the room than a 55 gives you. LPS's are my favorites, and you have quite a nice collection of them!

Oh, and Milana's a doll! Pretty name, too!

Nothing like a picture-heavy thread!

--Diane

I'll label stuff in the morning for ya. No problem. And yes a 55 does afford some nice space but I'm chomping at the bit to get a 120. The 24" of depth as opposed to 13" would help greatly. Also would benefit in the types and number of fish I can keep.

Bill

I labeled most stuff for everybody. Didn't label all the zoas cuz they're just zoas for the most part. I get almost all my new stuff from Mvite or the ladies of the Coral Kitchen if anyone wants to know. I did get a big frag increase from the secret santas as well so I can't forget about them. That was Six and Fish02. Good people.

The strawberry lemonade is a special thing from Mvite. It's a morphed out pokerstar monti. I'm still trying to pick up actual pokerstar and sunset and I should be good on my montis then. Unless there are some more wonderful varieties that I'm unaware of. Oh, that strawberry patch is a Tyree LE as well but whatever. It's important to some people, I just want a good looking coral and it happens to be one.

The orange and green caps came from a local guy with a monster system and a 7' tall skimmer. Met him on RC but he's a good dude. And the meat and colt, which are my 2 largest, came from the local LFS. That's the one with the leaf and the pipes if Weetie is watching. All of the fish came from my local LFS as well.

My Koralias get here soon and I need a CUC recharge so that's about the extent of the new news. Still working on the light bulb situation but it'll be resolved shortly as the life on my bulbs is waning as we speak.

So that was really long.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Bill

Thanks, Bill. I had to google it, but meat coral does = Cynarina...never heard its common name before. Probably 'cause they're not really common in nanos! At any rate, I always covet these guys (and the Scolymia) at the lfs! Talk about a POLYP! How big was your meat coral when you got it?

And is your urchin hard on coralline?

Sweet clown fish!

--Diane