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Coral Vue Hydros

12G Nano: The Obsession Begins


fraggle rockette

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fraggle rockette

agro-alive sand i think. it really makes a huge difference with the way it looks :) (wasn't too hard to do either ;) )

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Not a bad start. I too had the habit of re-aquascaping 5 times before I was totally happy with it. I am no looking to move to west side and the only thing that is keeping me from doing so is having to go through the whole process again. I like the new way now, but I would see if you could figure out a way to keep it off the glass as much as possible like Phix said, for cleaning purposes.

 

I'd also watch the sally lightfoot crab. All crabs are different, but the sally that I had was a mean one, a bad crab if you will. As soon as I got it, it went straight for the fish and not the algae I hoped it would. It was hell trying to catch the thing and just don't want anyone else to go through what i had to get it. Just my $.02

 

Otherwise great start. I sell cheap frags every so often when I do some gardening and like to trade too with local reefers if at all possible, always good to see another enthusiastic reefer in the area.

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fraggle rockette

Thanks. I've taken to you guys' advice and re-aquascaped again. lol. My sally hasn't been a problem thus far- loves its algae and grabs food when I feed the corals. The hermits are far meaner than it, but no fish to bother yet so... we'll see how that goes. (tho everyone picks on the poor shrimpy :( ) The rocks are off the glass now, and I'm kind of trying to replicate the back wall aquascaping that an LFS has in a smaller tank- a slice of a reef stacked a little over 2/3 with holes and crevices and some mushy rocks and maybe a clam up front eventually- but it' taking a lot of time, staring, and epoxy. I traded a 7lb lump of rock I had in the back (it was super dense) for a smaller branch that's less than a pound BUT is covered in orange zoos and green zoos- good trade for me! :D. I've also added some more LR rubble to even out the rock loss- I figure this is okay to do something this "abrupt" since I have almost zero bioload, and the LR was already cycled in the holding tank, eh? Pics to come... the dust is still everywhere... sigh.

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fraggle rockette

updates, but no new pics yet. the tank is in disarray- between fragging corals for the swap and the semi-disaster this past week, i have no shots. i left the tank for 2 days (no fish, no problem) and thought everything would be alright... but was wrong.

 

mistake 1: not resetting the light timer=30+ hours of light straight

mistake 2: putting the heater 1/2way in chamber 1= sump topping off main cube= heater not fully submerged and shutting off

 

my tank was at 70 deg when i got home monday, and i lost my pep shrimp and a bubble coral :mellow: but i was lucky i think- everything else has recovered alright and the tank is back up to 76-78 today. sigh. so scary...

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#5: orange zoa branch from a lfs yesterday

#6: green diy frag on some tonga w/ frags from gerber

#7: green zoa ball from a lfs a week or two ago

 

#5 are fire and ice zoas, really nice

#6 not sure but also nice

#7 radioactive dragon eyes, very nice

 

You should frag #5-7 and trade or sell them for some other zoas.

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fraggle rockette
looking very nice. i really like your aquascaping.

thanks :)

 

Time for a couple more pics *Grin*

Allen

I KNOW! i finally found my camera but my aquascaping is hideous right now. there are rocks everywhere, and upside down between my main tank and my prop/hospital tank b/c i rescued a few things from someone switching to fw this past weekend: i now have another bubble coral, a few heads of neon green candycane, a tiny frag of GSP, a dozen assorted mushies, some angry looking zoas, and some xenia if it ever heals/comes back. stuff wasn't in such good shape but i'm acclimating it and feeding and water-changing, so... we'll see. i need to take pics tho- i got a white mushy with blue and purple mottles and some yellow zoos from PTF, and very healthy orange sponge and a gorgeous fox coral yesterday from my LFS- i heart the fox coral, it is my new fave :happydance: so much stuff!!! trying to not think about the inevitable upgrade :mellow:

 

#5 are fire and ice zoas, really nice

#6 not sure but also nice

#7 radioactive dragon eyes, very nice

 

You should frag #5-7 and trade or sell them for some other zoas.

 

#5 and #7 have been fragged and are coming with me to the SCNRC :D

#6 i got from you! lol... it's a combo of them, i just superglued on some lrr

 

if you want to trade for some, i'm always looking for new stuff!

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Sorry but I have them both and was going to bring them too but Ill bring something else instead. Im really excited about the SCNRC though.

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See, PTF isn't all that bad. ;) Yellow zoas, I've seen those ones there, very interesting. are they the all yellow ones (yellow skirts, center and mouth)??

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fraggle rockette
Sorry but I have them both and was going to bring them too but Ill bring something else instead. Im really excited about the SCNRC though.

 

eh bring yours too if u want- i only have a few frags :) sorry i didnt get to talk to you more when i did the pick-up that one time... with the bf, you know how it is... eh.

 

EXCITEMENT FOR SCNRC!!! tho not so down on bbqing livestock, regardless of their pita factor.

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Im excited for the SoCal Swap & Meet. Ill be bringing some of shawn's frags Ill be picking up soon. The pictures are posted in my frag thread in the aquaculture section. I will also be bringing some others.

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fraggle rockette
See, PTF isn't all that bad. ;) Yellow zoas, I've seen those ones there, very interesting. are they the all yellow ones (yellow skirts, center and mouth)??

 

yeah. no frilly skirts, but solid yellow and kind of varying. cost me $10, but i really liked them. PTF is alright- I just like tropical imports better. the staff is kind of awesome, and they don't sell me any bs. PTF is great, don't get me wrong, and I might get fish there eventually cause it's a little cheaper (tho idk, my loyalty is somthing you just can't buy :happy: ) but it's just always really busy and i kinda like just hanging around the tanks and talking to someone. ehh.. hoorah.

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Strange, it's never busy when I go, granted it usually on my way home from work around 5:30'ish but maybe a customer or two in there. I love hanging around the tanks there though, it's my original LFS, so I'm pretty loyal to them, and their stuff rocks! Fish are healthy and corals too for the most part. If you swing by there again, let me know, I'll chat up some reefing with ya'! I'm always down to window shop at PTF, lol! B)

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Strange, it's never busy when I go, granted it usually on my way home from work around 5:30'ish but maybe a customer or two in there. I love hanging around the tanks there though, it's my original LFS, so I'm pretty loyal to them, and their stuff rocks! Fish are healthy and corals too for the most part. If you swing by there again, let me know, I'll chat up some reefing with ya'! I'm always down to window shop at PTF, lol! B)

 

As an older timer then you matt :P , id say becareful what you get from PTF. As often as I go there, I do notice a few things.

 

They seem to get fish that are collected by chemical means (ive had more then ONE fish die withing 24 hours.. Talking to the owner, I believe he gets his livestock from someplace new as of recently (regular flasher/fairy wrasses, anthias, crosshatch triggers, etc.) Still I make them feed every fish I buy, if I don't see it eating in the first place, and if its lethargic, slow, injured, or doesn't eat it doesn't come home.

 

The corals are all in various stages of death. Some are perfect and some are near dead, and all but a very small handful are overpriced. This is true for most LFS though....

 

It is the best place in the area though.

Freshwater live stock from there is top notch though.

 

 

Fraggle: Is your tank recovering? Lets see some pics. :D

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fraggle rockette
As an older timer then you matt :P , id say becareful what you get from PTF. As often as I go there, I do notice a few things.

 

They seem to get fish that are collected by chemical means (ive had more then ONE fish die withing 24 hours.. Talking to the owner, I believe he gets his livestock from someplace new as of recently (regular flasher/fairy wrasses, anthias, crosshatch triggers, etc.) Still I make them feed every fish I buy, if I don't see it eating in the first place, and if its lethargic, slow, injured, or doesn't eat it doesn't come home.

 

The corals are all in various stages of death. Some are perfect and some are near dead, and all but a very small handful are overpriced. This is true for most LFS though....

 

It is the best place in the area though.

Freshwater live stock from there is top notch though.

Fraggle: Is your tank recovering? Lets see some pics. :D

 

PICS ON THE WAY I PROMISE!!! :D lol. my battery is in the charger... technology kicks my butt every time. come to think of it, their clowns did look slow last time... maybe i will stick to TI in glendale... they only get the BEST they can find (finally had 2 fox corals- said they won't pick out anything unhealthy- beautiful sponge on a good 1" piece of LR too from there) and their fish usually look good, so... $60 for mated clowns sounds a lot, but if they're healthier, i'll wait.

 

phix, i'll let you know if i go up and over that way to PTF anytime soon- i think their frags are overpriced, but then again have gotten too good of deals thus far. usually there only on weekends tho... B)

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PICS ON THE WAY I PROMISE!!! :D lol. my battery is in the charger... technology kicks my butt every time. come to think of it, their clowns did look slow last time... maybe i will stick to TI in glendale... they only get the BEST they can find (finally had 2 fox corals- said they won't pick out anything unhealthy- beautiful sponge on a good 1" piece of LR too from there) and their fish usually look good, so... $60 for mated clowns sounds a lot, but if they're healthier, i'll wait.

 

this may sound jaded to you but. those guys at TI are slick talkers. Reef used car salesmen. :D Not to say I havn't gotten a few nice things there either.

 

You should try and take a hike out to Studio city and visit mark's tropical fish. Slick talkers there too but much much nicer livestock.

 

Or if you realllllly wanna hike, go down to OC. There's great fish stores down there. We usually make a day of it(we meaning my friends excluding phixion).

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Gee thanks John! :P I ALWAYS observe things well before buying from PTF, but I do this at ANY LFS I go to. never had anything from PTF die on me, except for some fire and ice zoas I got a long while back. The frag of about 30 wilted away slowly over the course of 2 weeks... :( But my clown and my 6 line I got both from PTF, and they are doing great!! My Dusky and Fridmani I used to have I got both from Strictly Fish. The Dusky is still doing great, and the Fridmani, well it died a week and a half after my tank move. :( And wwhere are these bad deals at PTF?? Ok, so the SPS and other stuff is bad priced, but I've gotten the best deals or stuff I've gotten from there. I mean you can't beat $50 for a colony of 200+ blue zoas! B):D I also never spend more than $15 for any zoa/paly frags from there either.

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fraggle rockette
this may sound jaded to you but. those guys at TI are slick talkers. Reef used car salesmen. :D Not to say I havn't gotten a few nice things there either.

 

You should try and take a hike out to Studio city and visit mark's tropical fish. Slick talkers there too but much much nicer livestock.

 

Or if you realllllly wanna hike, go down to OC. There's great fish stores down there. We usually make a day of it(we meaning my friends excluding phixion).

 

i'll watch my back... the ones i work with are usually helpful, and i'm pretty good at talking prices down :rolleyes: haha... i've also wanted a few different things on several occasions and have been talked out of them b/c they either were injured (a devils hand) or recovering corals that they didnt want to sell (at least to me-lol) yet. i'll have to visit marks tho- i have a giant container i gotta return to the guy i got my tank from in studio city anyway. i'm hoping to make it down to one of the san diego lfs one of these days since i visit there a lot anyway. :D

 

Gee thanks John! :P I ALWAYS observe things well before buying from PTF, but I do this at ANY LFS I go to. never had anything from PTF die on me, except for some fire and ice zoas I got a long while back. The frag of about 30 wilted away slowly over the course of 2 weeks... :( But my clown and my 6 line I got both from PTF, and they are doing great!! My Dusky and Fridmani I used to have I got both from Strictly Fish. The Dusky is still doing great, and the Fridmani, well it died a week and a half after my tank move. :( And wwhere are these bad deals at PTF?? Ok, so the SPS and other stuff is bad priced, but I've gotten the best deals or stuff I've gotten from there. I mean you can't beat $50 for a colony of 200+ blue zoas! B):D I also never spend more than $15 for any zoa/paly frags from there either.

 

battle royale!!! you guys are crazy... yeah i guess i spent 10 for the yellow zoas and 10 for some GSP (which i thought was too much but it was really pretty and looked like the fast growing kind) but 6 or 7 for an individual mushy? come on... eh. i'll have to check out their colonies someday tho- or you could just frag those blues *cough*cough* ;)

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battle royale!!! you guys are crazy... yeah i guess i spent 10 for the yellow zoas and 10 for some GSP (which i thought was too much but it was really pretty and looked like the fast growing kind) but 6 or 7 for an individual mushy? come on... eh. i'll have to check out their colonies someday tho- or you could just frag those blues *cough*cough* ;)

 

I knowingly overpaid for a red mushie from PTF a few months back, paid $15 for a single, ugh! :slap:

 

And don't mind John, he hates my all-in-one (especially since I went from an AP12 into the Finnex which is still all-in-one, lol!) and the fact I praise PTF! :D

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And wwhere are these bad deals at PTF?? Ok, so the SPS and other stuff is bad priced, but I've gotten the best deals or stuff I've gotten from there. I mean you can't beat $50 for a colony of 200+ blue zoas! B):D I also never spend more than $15 for any zoa/paly frags from there either.

 

SPS is horrendous. Dying RTN'ing mini colonies for 100 bucks?

LPS is usually 100+ for 5 heads of even common colored blastos, and acans...

 

I'll still go to PTF though. I just don't buy certain things there. Once in a while they'll have blastos for under 20$ a head and then i'll get one. Zoo's and mushies are usually a good deal there as well.

 

I always always always order my custom tanks from PTF. :D

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fraggle rockette

pics as promised! :D

 

my rescued bubble coral "in rehab" (just turned on the lights and fed it- it opens more than that usually, but was eating i think)

bubbleinrehab.jpg

 

a few zoas i'm bringing to the meet (more in the other soapdish, just not open yet b/c lights were off but these orange ones open so fast!)

zoosforscnrc.jpg

 

my prop/hospital tank (10 gallon with Aquaclear 20, airstone, ~20lbs LR, and PC hood from my nanocube)

proptank.jpg

 

henry the sponge- i eyed him at TI for three weeks before finally giving in

mrspongers.jpg

 

the love of my life, my fox coral- worth every penny of the $30 i spent :happy:

foxy.jpg

 

a shot of the left side of the tank (the better side right now)

lefttankfave.jpg

 

a fts with new aquascaping- i'm trying for more arches and caves so when i get those fishies they will be oh so happy

fts1.jpg

 

and of course, a fts with the sunpod :happydance:

ftswsunpod.jpg

 

i've experienced a little zoa bleaching in the main tank b/c of mh acclimation, but am still at 3-3.5 hour photo periods and working up very slowly (so hopefully no more bleaching) with actnics and moonlights the rest of the day (plus natural light thru the window which is quite a bit- the zoas look like plants when i wake up, straining toward the window- lol) and additional food to suppliment any nutirent loss from the shorter amount of light.

 

:D enjoy!

 

p.s. do you think i have enough LR in there? it goes to the top of the tank but depth is only 1/3 of tank- it's less than before, but i haven't seen any spikes... is more better or is what i like better or should i find a balance and smoosh some pieces behind my scaping? thanks!!!

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if this is enough rocks to keep levels at bay then i wouldnt add anymore rocks to it. right now you're aquascaping is kick a$$

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