tank is looking good, are the "leaves" of the prolifera really skinny or wider? it seems that the broader leaf variety grow slower. hth. btw, tanks always look better with a black background.

Thanks. Yeah, I don't know if I'm liking the blue or not. Might switch it to black. Eh..I think the caulerpa is the skinny.

nvm, i got it confused with taxiflolia and mexicanna. you can go ahead and slap me now. i eyed up a blue or black background on my pico today and the blue just looked wierd. black helps hide equipment too.

i've noticed that theres no protein skimmer! im new to this but for reefer tank aren't they a necessity?

no they arent a necessity, just helpful equipment

I think what I have is prolifera. I'm paranoid about it taking over the tank though, so I might end up taking it out. We'll see.

Yeah, no skimmer.

sweet. does it depend more on the bioload of the tank or is it never really a necessity just a nice thing to have? and does coral count as part of bioload?

Well, the idea behind a protein skimmer is to remove organic molecules, proteins, fats, lipids, and what not before they have a chance to be broken down by bacteria into nitrate, which feeds algae growth.

If you have a descent bioload, they can be useful, or if you are trying to maintain very high water quality to keep more delicate organisms. However if you were keeping things that like very nutrient rich water like soft corals, gorgonians, etc, they may actually thrive better in an unskimmed tank since skimming will remove some of the stuff they eat.

It is totally possible to maintain a tank w/o a skimmer. Most equipment like filters, skimmers, etc are just designed to help out.

Every living thing in the tank impacts the bioload. Some things will be more noticible that other though. For example you probably wont notice much with corals, but you will notice it with fish. You will notice it though, if you are heavily feeding your corals (which I also don't do).

sweet shrooms! and i definitly agree...... black is waaaaaaaaaaay better than blue

UPDATE TIME!!!!

Pink Star Polyp w/ Whiteish/Green Centers:



Green Star Polyp Variety 1 (Green center/Greent Tenti's):



Green Star Polyp Variety 2 (Same as above, but brighter green tenti's):



Green Star Polyp Variety 3 (Pink Center w/ Green Tenti's):






Wow, I really sucked at taking pics this time. I need to borrow my sisters nikon!

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!!!

Just recieve my package from SIX!

I am very happy! Great packaging, everything looks good, and she even threw in a bonus!! Very impressed!

Everything is still a little closed up but starting to open up, and has opened up quite a bit from when I took these pics 10 minutes ago. I'll post more pics when they open fully.

Galaxia (still closed):



GSP (still closed) Looks like a minty neon green, but not sure yet! Very nice!:



Orange Polyps (still closed):



Orange Polyps 2 (still closed):



Wammin' Watermellons (still closed):



Thanks so much SIX! Things are opening and looking great. I'll try to get better pics when they open and/or see if I can get my hands on a better camera.

I still haven't changed the background from blue to black, so I'll do another FTS when everything is opened and when I get a chance to change the background.

Oh and I forgot Six sent me some little starts of encrusting gorgonian. This stuff is neat. I used to have it in my very first nano and had it all up and down the glass on one side of my tank. I added a new powerhead and it mutilated it. I haven't found a frag since, so I am so happy she had some of this! It is pretty small but I'll get pics of it once I get it situated somewhere.

New FTS (Sorry didn't get around to changing the background yet):



Stupid image resizing crap! Go to gallery and click on pic to see a nice big shot with some actual detail!

Looking good.

lol, are you stocking fast enough lgreen

Travisurfer, the rule is, if the tank is not covered in hair algae, you're not going fast enough.

Coral only. I'm not feeding anything and have no fish, so I'm not too worried. Plus this tank is just satured with all sorts of sexy aerobic/anerobic bacteria.

I overdid it a bit on the green star polyp. Brought home a few starts from work and then forgot I had one coming from Six too. I guess I'll have something to trade though!

Well, the time has come in which I feel my poor little sony digital camera is no longer adequate to suit my needs.

I have been thinking for the last couple days about what camera I should buy, how much I want to spend, and if I need something simple or more advanced.

I decided not to spend very much and keep it simple.










Wait a second...that's not me. In fact I impulsively did the exact opposite.

Anyway, my new Nikon D50 DSLR w/ Nikkor 18-55mm DX Zoom lens, should be here early this week.

oh, i was too late. cannons are the new standard.

that's crazy talk

nikon > cannon

no, I'm serious. my dad works for a local newspaper that is selling off their d2H's for cannons. the biggest two reasons are quality and, well, quality
the d2H's have undergone countless repairs even within a year of use. these repairs are costly, a few even had shutters crap out.
the other quality is the overall pic quality which canon still really takes the cake in.

there is a reason why the paper is spending $100,000 to replace their cameras that are already completely up-to-date as far as nikon goes. canon is just too far ahead for nikon to catch up. with that being said, the d70 I used for awhile was still pretty fun.

You're talking aboug professional grade dslrs though and I'm talking about entry level.

I've been researching whether to get the nikon d50 or canon XTi for over a year now. Reviews have consistantly stated that the differences are minor and mostly come down to personal preference. Reviews have state though that the nikon d50 produces the best right out of the camera results, while the canon XTi's photos are great, but often soft (which is obvious in side by side comparision of pics from both).

My decision basically came down to personal preference after checking both out at the store. For me, I don't like to edit my photos, as I have no editing software and don't plan to buy any, so having great photos right out of the camera is more appealing to me. Additionally the canon XTi is a bit small for my hands (and my hands are not that big). The nikon d50 was much more comfortable to hold. I will say though, that I think the canon XTi looks a bit nicer though. The nikon d50 is really nothing fancy or exciting from a cosmetic standpoint.

Anyway, I'm happy with it. And if I was rich I'd buy both, because I'm sure they are both great cameras and have great advantages in certain situations.

oh wow, i so envy you........ anything camera like that would make me invincible.... er... i mean able to take pictures better.

I have a D50 myself and Ive got no complaints

its a great camera

No don't envy me. Very naughty impusle buy. The temptation of my visa platinum card has again PWND me.

lol, here's to the struggling college student

I have the Canon S2, great point & shoot camera. Canon 100%.

Today will be another DOUBLE update day!

I just recieved an amazing shipment from MVITE so that will be the freature of the second update that I will post later today when everything opens up.

First though is a few things from the last few days!

Updated shot of Six's Gallaxia all opened up:



Stupid camera messed up the colors. It is actually much more colorful than that. New camera in 1-2 days though, so we'll fix that!

Pulsing Xenia (this shot turned out kind of neat. Cant see the glass, looks like I took it in the water):



Anthelia:



Tons of baby Gallaxia's that I busted off when unpacking the coral. All are doing well though:



I'll have more update pics of the rest of the stuff I got from Six all opened up.

This is kind of getting disorganized for me, so I need to find a way to get all these pics kind of more in order so they aren't just random all over the thread. Maybe I'll post a nice shot of each coral in my first post.

Update 2 in a while:

Excellent Shipping:



Thanks Mark! You're speciall too lol. OH, look, you can see a paper that says dental plaque in the right top corner. Neat. Reminds me that I need to finish writing a paper!

More pics in a while.

The galaxia opened up nicely!

wow, thats a ton of corals, keep us posted

Looks great so far loren! that galaxia looks awesome!

Thanks all.

I think my indicator corals (anthelia, gps, xenia) are letting me know I'm about ready for a water change.

Hopefully mvites stuff will be ready for a pic tonight, but if not, tomorrow.

New FTS today or tomorrow. Things are looking pretty good, but the true test will be if I can get some growth.

UPDATE

Tiger Astrea Snail:



Six's Pink Star Polyp:



Here's the stuff I got from mvite. He had this stuff under metal halide so the colors are night quite as intense, but I'm sure they'll color up a bit more after they get established.

Mint Palys:



RPE (slight bit of red, still have some coloring up to do):



Blue Palys:



PPE (2 large polyps, a small splitting, and another baby):



Lunar Eclipse Paly (neon orange, with deep purple center)(they're still a bit ticked off and need to color up a bit):



AND

I think that will be enough corals for quite a while.

This will be my official FTS for October:



Click below for larger shot:

http://www.nano-reef.com/gallery/data/500/FTS_8.JPG

Looking good, bro.

Lookin' good...it's filling up fast!

Yeah it is. Faster than I expected. I guess I went a little crazy there.

My new camera came today. I'm trying to finish a big ass paper though and get ready for a presentation on dental plaque biofilms that I have to give tomorrow in microbiology, so I'm not really going to play with it much tonight. I still need to get an SD media card for it too before I can start snapping pics.

I really like how you have an expansive rock wall, and maintain the illusion of a lot of sand space. That's terrific aquascaping!

nice frags

Thanks

The lunar eclipse palys are not doing well. There were origionally 5 or 6 and now I think I'm down to 2. I'm losing confidence the other 2 are going to make it. Everything else looks fine, so I'm assuming they just must not have taken well to my tank.

The anthelia has poked out like 5 new heads and the start polyp has about 1 cm growth, which is not to bad for 2 weeks.

I will get some new pics up w/ the new camera as soon as I buy an SD media card. Waiting for one to go on a good sale.

Updated pics of mvites stuff. Haven't bought a memory card for the new camera yet though, so these are from the crappy sony. sorry.

Very nice, sir.

These are my favorites of your "crop" so far. I'm interested to see how they fair throughout the contest. I really like the second ones. I wonder if they will pale and become very fluorescent green in the middle? Hopefully that blue tint holds on and moves out through the tentacles. Those ones in the first picture could be really nice if they'd keep that bright orange. Maybe they will?

What brand of memory card does your camera take? Some of the cards are really expensive! I bought a 1GB xD card for my camera and it was $50. But I guess a year ago it was $100 plus, mmm so yeah.

Looking good!

Yeah, I think those second ones are supposed to be RPE, despite them not being a dark red. Everything else I got though looked kind of faded when I first put it in the tank, but slowly has been coloring up, so I don't know what will ultimatley become of them.

The first ones seem to be keeping the bright orange pretty good. They should have a center that is deep purple just like the PPE's. Still a bit faded though, but who knows what will happen over the next few weeks as they finish getting settled in.

I need to get and SD memory card. I'm thinking about running down to compusa here in a while. They have a 2pk of 1gig PNY SD cards on sale for like $29.00 after $40 instant savings and $10 mail in rebate. I'd be fine with something much smaller as I don't take tons of pictures, but that seems like a pretty dang good deal. They had some still when I was there monday, so hopefully they will still have some.

tank is coming along nicely

The "RPE's" are actually Green Stardust PE's.

http://www.zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gall...p;g2_itemId=315

First shots with the Nikon D50. This is the first time I've used it, so bear with me for a few weeks while I figure out how to use it.

Finally a camera that shows my corals true colors straight off the memory card.





^About 10 new heads in only 3 weeks















More later if I get bored and decide its time to play with the camera more.





Oops one more.

looks nice lgreen. what is that last colony of zoanthids called?

watermellons like the pic title hints at?

six calls them wammin' watermellons.

Updated shots of what I already have w/ the nikon d50. Check out the coralline coloration in some of these pics. I didn't even know some of these colors of coralline algae existed.

FTS Right Side



FTS Left Side



Anthelia



Galaxia Baby



Mint Palys



Link to Full Size: http://www.nano-reef.com/gallery/data/500/mintpalys.JPG

More GPS (w/ little turquoise mushroom)



Orange 2



Orange 1



Red Green Mushroom



Pulsing Xenia Closeup



I think there are a few more little frags I have not posted pics of or new pics of, but am having trouble getting good pics of due to their size. I'll keep trying though.

wow, tank is really coming along.

Thanks

New FTS:



Full size here: http://www.nano-reef.com/gallery/data/500/FTS9.JPG

Looks great man!