Mr. Microscope's Roughneck Frag Tub

[metrokat]

I bought a clam for $70 clams for my friend last Christmas. It was a beautiful blue. LFS said to keep it in the sand. Big mistake, he didn't last a week.

[Mr. Microscope]

I bought a clam for $70 clams for my friend last Christmas. It was a beautiful blue. LFS said to keep it in the sand. Big mistake, he didn't last a week.

D'oh! That's sad. Sounds like a maxima. I would think that it would have been okay on the sand. Perhaps it wasn't healthy to begin with.

[SpainKenya]

roughneck would be the word i would use to describe that at a glance . Wish i thought to start up some kind of frag tank before i got started, ive just been throwing everything i dont want in my display in my refugium. get crackin on those zoa's our area has a real shortage of cool ones, well at least the fish stores i go to. Cant wait till you have your cube up and going, im sure its gunna be sweet.

[Mr. Microscope]

Here's a quick update on my frag tube. Hopefully, it won't be up too much longer. Everything will be moved into the cube when it's ready. As you may have seen, I finished building the light for my cube and now have that above my tub.

 

 

 

Here's that clam. Looking happy as always!

 

These Organisms have two babies. Soon there will be 4!

 

The LPS is spreading nicely.

 

The Yuma has put out several new babies. All others about the same.

 

[friar1]

Update 2011.10.10

 

Okay, so the swap was two weekends ago, but I finally got around to grabbing some pics. I've had some casualties which has kinda bummed me out. I bought some candy apple reds. I've been wanting those for a couple years now. Unfortunately, they melted on me. I also got this awesome yellow and orange monti:

 

 

Unfortunately, this one succumbed to RTN over the weekend. It's a shame because it was an amazing specimen. I'm just glad I got a good pic before losing it.

 

On the plus side, my LPS and SPS is really starting to take off. I've been adding B-Ionic part two (Calcium) on a daily basis. I don't think I need part one because my Alk is always high (like 10 or 11). I think the added calcium has been making a difference. I've noticed coraline starting to form and the some encrusting from the SPS.

 

I'm still fighting algae, but I think the situation is starting to improve. It's still only on my frag rack, frag plugs, and sides of the tub. I've been keeping up with water changes which has been helping. I also started a new strategy of moving around my blank frag plugs. I put them on top of the algae which blocks the light and stops it from growing. I pick them up and find no algae beneath them. Then, move them to another area of the rack where the algae is picking up. I've also noticed that the crabs have been finding their way up to the top more often. Finally, I picked up a small emerald crab at the swap hoping that it'll help out.

 

I got a couple more zoas at the swap. Starting on the left are some BamBams. These are a classic favorite of mine. The last ones I had eventually got neon pink centers which really contrasted nicely with the orange skirts. I'm hoping to achieve the same success with these. In the middle is a small colony of Hawaiian Ding Dang People Eaters. These are pretty funky. I thought they were pretty cool to find considering alohacorals has been down for so long. The final pic is of my old Happy Samheims. They're getting bigger and bigger which is saying a lot for these tiny guys.

 

 

The frag swap was really nice and clean. The Milwaukee Discovery Center is really a beautiful place. The tanks were cleaner than the public displays at the Shed Aquarium. As I said in my previous post, the center itself cultivates corals and were selling them. I picked up an ORA Derasa clam from them for a steal of a price. I wasn't planning to get a clam, but it's the first thing in this hobby that I've seen my wife get excited about. So, it's made the hobby a lot more fun to share it with her. This pic was taken shortly after acclimation, but it keeps looking happier everyday. I love the rainbow contrast between the orange center and the blue/green tips.

 

 

Finally, my favorite find at the swap are these beautiful yumas. This is probably the most, "red" coral I've ever seen. It has an amazing glow under actinics, and under daylights is just as breathtaking. The base of the yuma is an intense purple/blue and the mouth is neon green/yellow. The color representation is pretty close in this pic if not more subdued than reality. They've been spreading already. So, I'm hoping to see some new ones soon. At the swap, I came across this specimen in a vendors tank while several people were picking about. I took one look, poked my head in between the other hobbyists, and without hesitation looked at the vendor and told him I'd take the yumas. Probably the fastest purchase I've ever made. These will go in the DT when I get it going (which is coming along BTW).

 

 

That's it for now. Mr. M out.

 

 

Stop already! I am so wishing I had a large tank!

 

Good going Micro!

[Mr. Microscope]

Here's a little update on my frag tub. Still going strong. I'm getting lots growth on just about everything. I picked up a monti cap about mid December. Everything from the area where it folds is new growth.

 

This favia recently took off like mad. If you look back at the first page you'll see what I mean.

 

I got this acro a few months ago. It started out as a kinda faded blue, then developed all sorts of green and the polyps turned green, and recently has begun to show pink. It's really one of my favorite pieces. Chime in if anyone knows what it's called.

 

RDE's and other stuff!

[Mr. Microscope]

Here's an update on my Organism Palys. They'd been sitting around for months with only two polyps. Then, all of the sudden, they took off and now how seven! This seriously happened in just two months. They seemed to pop up all at once. Now, I'm seeing a few more starting to bud. So excited for this frag!

Here they are under RB, B, and TV LED's:

 

Clam is growing FAST! Also, I think the blue color around the edges is getting more intense.

 

Finally, I found these morphs with some additional yellow on one of my RDE frags. Probably, just from lack of light (the colony was super dense before I fragged it) and it might go away as it grows, but here's hoping it doesn't!

[SpainKenya]

you got some awsome stuff in that tub!... any eta on a tank?