Yup, each frag was suspended from a little styro with a plug sized hole. they were secured to the styro with 2 little rubberbands. Then each was in a 3/4 full cup with the lids screwed tight. The jars were carefully sealed with duct tape, put on so it would actually come off!!!! They were arranged in two levels of 4 cups, stabilized with bubblewrap. The whole lot was double bagged. The box had 1" styro lining and the lid wore DOUBLE 40 hr heatpacks.

This packaging was amazing.

Your zoas are looking HAPPY Mitch!!! Keep it up!

The Rainbow Warp paly finally opened all the way. Thing's sick IMHO....it is a solid 5 colors...sorry about the focus thingy....I'm having a heck of a time getting a clear shot of this one....



Enjoy.....

Ooooohhhhhhh.

Yup, they're sweet. You can't really make out the tips of the skirts. They go from alternating purple and red to a final orange then green!!!! With the baby blue mouths that is just a bunch of colors!!!

Here's a little growth progression of my baby Oregon Tort frag.....
1/3/10, just a tiny little frag...


and by 4/9/10 some decent growth.....


and here is 4/21/10, just 12 days later....


This is supposed to be a painfully slow growing coral, I would love to see it just take off....I also wish I could capture the intensity of the blue color.....

I also want to share a few other shots from yesterday and today.....

Sweet pictures of some awesome colors in these corals. The last picture of that chalice? is amazing!

Yup....that's the JC Ancieant Earth Chalice. Real pretty coral, blue with neon green, yellow and orange nodules and the thick green growth rim.....it's my only watermelon....sorry bout the crappy picture....

Is that first picture in the last batch a tri-color? It looks a lot like a coral I have.

Beautiful shots, of beautiful and healthy corals.
Keep doing whatever you're doing, cause you're obviously doing something right!

A very big +1 here.

Mitch, please... teach us

You once said, you can just flat grow some SPS.

And I say, you dang skippy!!

Great stuff. Keep on keepin' on Mitch.

Dead on ID there MJ...Tricolor A. valida, and a really tough one to keep colored up...This is the same one I posted back on like page 14 of this thread.

This is the coral that got smashed under a rock!!!!

That shot was 2 weeks later, on 8/7/08....

and while I was searching for that picture link I also saw where you used that same exact statement Richie!

And Weetie, having your words of appreciation is a real testament. I really do thank all of you for the good words. I think I finally found a hobby I'm really pretty good at....

and BTW....that colony is like 4 inches tall and nearly 3 inches wide at the widest point, that includes over a vertical inch of encrustation entirely becoming more limbs. It's a great coral.

Now...can anybody say "SPS Dominated???!!!??!!!!

Guess I need some new material...

Look at those pics! That mass sell off seems like a LOOOONG time ago now huh?

Beautiful!

Yup, I've had some nice growth over the last few months.....

hey mitch, do you have to pay any membership fee for orca? I have a screenname and password on the orca forum but I feel like i'm missing something since I would like to start coming to the meetings and such.

There is a Membership Fee, but you can come to meetings as a guest. Tonight we are having a Quarterly Frag Event and if you bid as a Guest there is a one time $5 fee for whatever you bought at this meeting. Last quarter a 2 eye BGM, direct lineage to WWC, went for $55. These things are great.

I was an idoit I signed up online but didn't untill now just see there is a seperate applicaiton for the club and a fee. Can I print it out and bring an extra $20 with me for membership?

I would have replied sayint yes, that's the best way to do it, but that was last night. I hope you made it, but I didn't meet you, so dunno.

It was a good time, but I wasn't bidding (no available funds)....

Ohmigosh Mitch, I love the pics of the 2 islands in your tank, so beautiful!
I'd be a much bigger SPS fan if I had your knack with it!!
I know, you'll probably say it's not hard, but for right now I think I'll stick with the Softies and LPS that I do well with and enjoy the SPS on your tank threads.

That is actually a pair of pics, both of Stoney Island, taken from the two sides of the peninsula. I didn't shoot a pic of Softey Island in this batch. The tank is going to look a bit different soon. I'm moving most of the frags into the Frag Tank and cleaning up the scape. I'm not going to rush the process, so the "final" appearance may be a while off. Suffice it to say, I now have only 5 things on the magnetic frag rack!

A few more things to move, then the eyesore rack can come out!!!

Okay, so since Weetie brought it up, I got a "Walk Around" photo sequence of my tank. I am starting toward the Overflow wall, facing the tank from the side we face when in our constant seating positions..and walking on around....Stoney Island, Softey Island, end view, end view focused on Stoney Island, then Softey Island and finally Stoney Island again....











Just for reference, Stoney Island is just about 21 inches wide and the growth reaches about 11 inches high.....I guess I would consider this a nicely maturing tank.....

to paraphrase the Farmer Hoggett.....that'll do tank......

Hey Buddy! Tank looks stunning! I'm back from my long M.I.A episode! My tank is doing great i kept it up and running! I will have to show you some pictures of some of the corals i got from you way back when the tricolor is getting HUGE! I lost my superman tho to a case of monit nudi's which i got rid of after MUCH work! i need a frag of that again ASAP! hahaha I can't believe your tank, looks so grown in and amazing! You'll have to check out my tank when i get some pictures up! give me a day or so. I have a 180 in the works hahaha.

awesome as usual

Thanks a lot BTA...all I gotta do now is get the "Baby Tank Syndrome" Bryopsis bloom under control in the Frag Tank!!!! I'm trying to starve it to death, but I may have to cut the lights way back for a few days, or maybe even give them a 3 day night? If I keep the fuge light cooking continuous it seems that would prolly give the chaeto the upper hand to get stuff cleaned up.

so....it's been a while....things are just growing like they ought to.....

I got a new piece today and just had to show it to y'all....I got a frag of Hawaiian Ding Dang zoanthids and they are sweet....an adult and 2 babies....


It's been under low light, so I'm going to see if I can pull more of the pink out of it with a slow increase in the lighting. The babies have a lot of pink in them....

The blackout in the frag tank did nothing to the bryopsis, so I jacked the Magnesium mup to 1750 and the nasty stuff has already lost most (almost all) of its green. I figure another week or two and it will be history...then I can get the rest of the frags and the rack out of the display...I can hardly wait....

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wow....it really IS possible to have tumbleweeds on a web thread....If I weren't nearly deaf I would probably have thestant sound of a single cricket.......this thread has turned into a ghosttown....

I'm sorry Mitch, the last few days have been nuts for me, so I didn't stop by here.
I try not to look in here unless I have a few mins to really sit down and look at all of the pics you put up, and this is the first time I've had that.
Tank is looking awesome as always.
Is that some kind of green algae in places on your sandbed?
I'm just kind of wondering if that's something a mature tank gets over time.
I've got this small patch of brown annoying stuff on my sandbed in one place that pops up every day and dies back every night.
Thanks for the walk around viewing, that was pretty cool.
Really like the Ding Dangs as well.
I had a frag but lost them during all of my tank issues.
l'll get some again someday.
Do you have any Tubbs Blues?
I have some I can share with you down the road a bit if not.

Ooooohhh, I want some Ding Dangs

Mitch, I got some decent stuff this past week, getting some more in the next few days. Hopefully it will be able to grow out quick enough for me to frag for you

I love these Ding Dangs. They don't have hardly any pink, but it seems to be coming out with added light.

I've never had any Tubbs. I appreciate the offer. I've got to get some of your stuff in my tank some time.

The Frag Tank is a GHA mess just now. New tank stuff.

Yup Sam, I gotta see your tank again soon.

Oh yeah...Weetie....notice the floor full of BibleSue's Teal Palys in pictures 5 & 6. They grow like Kudzu in my tank!!!

A little update. The corals are doing great, so it's time to move! *frustrated* *frustrated* *frustrated*

We are relocating about 3 1/2 miles down the road, just so I can stress the tank out again! In about another year and a half we ought to be free and clear and will start looking to buy so this nonsense can come to an end.

Anyway, here are a few growth shots. These first ones are some of the pieces I got at the SouthEast - Coral Farmers Market in May.
5/23/10


7/1/10


5/23/10


7/1/10


5/23/10


7/1/10


and my Oregon tort
1/3/10


7/1/10

not too bad for a terribly slow grower, if I may say so 8)

Those are some really pretty frags Mitch!

Look at the PE!

I kinda cheated for those shots...I had just dusted the tank with Coral Vibrance....all the LPS were worked up by it! But the Oregon tort is always all PE'd up

Nice corals.

Thanks Adam, I just do the best I can.

I am really dreading the tank move, but I have nearly a half dozen helpers from my club lined up. Just gotta see who all actually shows up on the day. I'm keeping my fingers crossed......

Mitch, when is the move?

2 weeks from today, July 17.....I hate the very thought of it.....Sooooooooooooo many corals will be broken.....

I can't help you move on the 17th, I have to work that weekend, but I can get you as many buckets as you need. They are black, hold just over three gallons and have great tight lids. Let me know if I can help.

Thanks Drew, I might be able to use a few of those buckets. Drop me a PM with your number if possible. I got a new phone and lost a lot of my numbers.

Mitch

I really help this move goes well for you, Mitch.
If you have difficulties afterwards, there are many of us who would be more than willing to help you.
In fact, I'll contribute a frag of Tubbs Blues once you get moved and stabilized, just remind me.
No charge, as long as you cover shipping.
It'll be a house/tank-warming present.

Thanks a million Weets. You are just too sweet.

I have a few club members who are coming over for tank moving day. Luckily I have a full day to deal with nothing but the tank move. I hope I can get it taken apart without too much broken SPS. I know there will be some, as a number of my colonies have encrusted onto multiple pieces of rock. I am stressed about trying to catch the fishies too. I figure if I get the rock out and lower the water level down it will not be too bad. I am getting new sand and seeding it with my fuge sand. I should have enough totes to keep all the rock under water. I am going to have to break the piping from the tank to the stand, so I will be getting new bulkheads for the setup. I just hope I have taken everything into account.

I think I will probably be more stressed than the tank but I can deal with it.

Just 38 hours til the big tank move. So far I have 4 confirmed Reefkeeping helpers, about a million totes and buckets, two trucks a new bag of salt, a brand new 10 inch fine mesh fish net and fresh sand lined up. I'm going over to the new house to pick up the keys tomorrow after work, and I'll turn the air on and hook up my RO/DI to make plenty of makeup water. I hope I've thought of everything, but I am sure I will run into a few issues. That's just the nature of the beast.

Wish me luck, pics will follow!

Good luck Mitch! I'm all will go well!

Keep us posted!

I appreciate the well wishes David, I will try to have initial pics up by Saturday night....Stay Tuned for More!!!

Good luck bud, I'm just starting my 40b back up so I'll be hitting you up for frags sometime soon.

Hey Nick....I knew you would be back

I didn't expect it this soon, but gotta say I'm glad...welcome back little bro.....

Hi Mitch!

I have just spent an hour reading through your thread and have only captured highlights. I need to go back for more!

I'm in Orlando too and while I have a hideous day on Saturday, I might be free by the evening to help with whatever you need. I'm in the Conway area, so pretty central.

After you get settled, I'd really love to both see your tank and have you over to see what I've got goin' in mine. I am so in love with it, but still struggle and have a miserable time with SPS. I'd really appreciate your input.

Let me know what you need help with, I can even help with non-aquarium related issues. My husband and I are appraisers and realtors, so if that helps at all, shoot me a pm!