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Dpolt's Mixed Reef Tank. (New Shark Diving Pictures).


dpoltsdsu

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The newest addition to the tank, a Yellow Watchman Goby. The Goby has adjusted very well to the tank and is already eating Rods food and pellets. I wanted some yellow in the tank and this Goby provides that pop.

 

sZxEV8Q.jpg

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As you can tell, the Goby is a really happy guy......lol

 

I took a picture of the tank, and I noticed the Goby in the corner of the shot. I cropped it and got this face.. haha

 

iWNcMjp.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Here are a couple growth shots of one of my soft corals. It looks just like GSP however it grows by branching. I really like this because i get the really intense green color and flowing motion that matting GSP provides without it growing over everything. The growth rate has been very fast so far as well.

 

12/26/14

GczX4sC.jpg

 

2/20/15

arr2W1b.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

March 23rd

The tank is doing really well. I am getting some really good growth out of the corals and the tank is really starting to fill in. Here is a picture as of this morning

 

48PEVR7.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

4-4-15 Update

 

The reef is doing very well. I have kept maintenance to a minimal and the only "filtration" I have been adding is a high quality carbon in the back chambers to help offset any chemicals that the soft corals may put in the water. I also do a 10 gallon water change every 2 weeks as well. The tank runs with no skimmer, no reactors, no ozone, no uv sterilizers, and no supplements. Just carbon and water changes. Coral growth has been quick and consistent and the fish are fat and healthy.

 

Here is a shot of most of the coral and the tank

Qcs9Wwl.jpg

 

The fish are also doing very well, I took some pictures of all of them. They are all characters and they all have a ton of personality.

 

Here is the Yellow Watchman Goby, this goby is supposed to pair with a pistol shrimp but this goby seems to be attracted to a cleaner shrimp.. The goby and shrimp rarely leave eachother and they share the same burrow.

 

K5Lyz7w.jpg

 

Flame Hawkfish

 

h6W8dFL.jpg

 

The newest and final addition, the Orchid Dottyback, This fish has incredible colors without the aggression associated with other dottybacks

 

lGfmIIr.jpg

 

Last and not least, the original fish in the tank The Melanurus Wrasse and the Clownfish. These are both model citizens and swim together the great majority of the day.

 

3rTVsnu.jpg

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Here is a really cool clownfish at my lfs. It has a natural money sign ($) on its side. One of the most interesting morphs I have ever seen!

 

Unfortunately it is not for sale..

 

3uKZyxW.png

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  • 2 weeks later...

A quick picture of my Flame Hawkfish. It's quickly becoming my favorite fish. It has so much personality and is always hopping from perch to perch. It is super nosy as well and always needs to know what's going on in the tank. The focus is on the fish but you can can get a little look at my new zoanthids in the bottom of the picture ;)

 

5TyGr2C.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
dpoltsdsu

Update 5-1-15

The reef is doing very well. Everything seems to be stable and the coral growth has been consistent. The fish are all fat and healthy as well. I have removed the Orchid Dottyback because the Flame Hawkfish was bullying it. All fish seem to be getting along now.

I'm thinking of getting a photosynthetic Gorgonian next, does anyone have any recommendations?


Here is a current picture of the tank

6bc8ZAE.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

Hello everybody, some big changes came to the reef this last month

 

Since I have had a bit more time to care for the reef, I have decided to move on to more difficult coral. This means that I will be getting more and more SPS coral.

 

Because of this, I have decided to change the scape. I have gone to a more traditional wall like scape. However, I plan to add coral overhangs to make the scape feel more unique.

 

To prepare myself for SPS, I have started to dose Kalkwasser through my auto top off and I plan on adding a large refugium in the back chamber of my Red Sea Max. I added a Montopora Digitata and a Montipora Setosa to see how SPS will react to my system. I am happy to say that they have both encrusted and are starting to grow vertically.

 

I had to sell off my large Tree Coral as it was getting too large.

 

I also made changes to my fish selection. I traded my Melanurus Wrasse for a small Yellow Tang. Since the Tang is very small, I plan on keeping it for a little more than a year and then giving it away to a friend who I have already discussed this with. The tang is eating voraciously and its color has already improved quite a bit.

 

Here is a new FTS, it doesn't look like much but I have planned my coral selection carefully so I hope it fills in nicely

 

S6zKmba.jpg

 

Side Shot (You can see the Digitata at the top of the picture

 

UMjU9s0.jpg

 

Acan

 

mad8ucg.jpg

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Here is the plan for the scape and future coral placement

 

jfn4OGq.jpg

 

White Box This will be a large Zoa garden. I hope to get some colorful Zoas so this area can become a mid level focal point of the tank. I already have quite a bit of Zoas but I need to place some more in the middle.

 

Yellow Boxes This will be the SPS areas. This part of the tank has high light and high flow. I hope to place Montipora and Pocillopora species on the top left box and Acropora species on the top right once I move the large Briareum colony currently located there.

 

Red Box This area will be the new home of the fragged branches of my large green Briareum colony. I have already placed a couple branches here, and my hope is that they grow up to create a thick and colorful overhang.

 

Blue Boxes These areas will be the home of the LPS sections of the tank. The box on the left will continue to be the home of my large Ducan colony and the box on the right will be the location of a future Acan garden. I hope to one day place a Rock Flower Anemone here as well.

 

Pink Box I hope to one day place a sun coral colony here one day to provide some good color to the tank. This spot gets little light so I think this coral would be a good choice because of this.

 

Thanks for reading everybody!

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Wow- looking great! You should try a plating montipora as well- capriconis

 

I want to do this :unsure: but I do not know where I would place it without it shadowing over a bunch of other coral

man nice looking tank!!!

corals are growing nicely, what salt are you using?

 

Thanks! I appreciate it, I use natural saltwater from San Diego. The local marine research institute filters water from the ocean and then allows hobbyists to use the water. It is a great resource

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Some of the new coral,

 

First up is my new Orange Bam Bam. This really caught my eye and I thought it would make a good addition to the Zoa garden. I placed it in the middle of the Zoa area

 

7947kRv.jpg

 

Next is the SPS I talked about last post.

Here they are,

 

WdtJxUt.jpg

 

Top down view of Digitata. You can see it starting to encrust near the top

 

LMPIamu.jpg

 

Top down view of the Setosa. Starting to encrust on the lower half of the picture

 

TcuwIER.jpg

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oldskoolwayz

 

I want to do this :unsure: but I do not know where I would place it without it shadowing over a bunch of other coral

 

Thanks! I appreciate it, I use natural saltwater from San Diego. The local marine research institute filters water from the ocean and then allows hobbyists to use the water. It is a great resource

lucky! its doing a great job, ur tank is looking awesome!

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oldskoolwayz

Some of the new coral,

 

First up is my new Orange Bam Bam. This really caught my eye and I thought it would make a good addition to the Zoa garden. I placed it in the middle of the Zoa area

 

7947kRv.jpg

 

Next is the SPS I talked about last post.

Here they are,

 

WdtJxUt.jpg

 

Top down view of Digitata. You can see it starting to encrust near the top

 

LMPIamu.jpg

 

Top down view of the Setosa. Starting to encrust on the lower half of the picture

 

TcuwIER.jpg

nice additions! those bam bams are really gonna pop in ur tank

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Looking good! Love the RSM line. I'm so tempted to do a bigger tank but I told myself (and my wife) that when I did my my $700 enhancement project to the Biocube 14 that it would hold me over from a new tank until we move. It's been a little less than a year and I've got the itch. Oh boy.

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