Oceanic Angles

[Weetabix7]

Hey, we are watching Bill!!

 

It's just that your posts are so thorough that we really don't have many questions.

 

Sweet new additions.

Even though you have been put on lock down, as you said it should be very cool watching them grow in.

 

Tank looks great and keep those pics coming.

 

7500 views ......

 

x2, we're still out here!!

I like that M. Spongodes too.

It's probably gonna be a while before I do much trading or buying though, I've gotta get stuff back in order.

Oh btw, I have that yellow Monti with purple polyps too, it actually weathered the tank problems just fine and looks great, I really like it.

[varanus37]

Yeah, that Spongodes is really pretty. Is your yellow encrusting or is there plate growth? I've seen pics from another NR person that looked like a cap. Same as my green or red but ultra kewl yellow w/blue polyps, obviously very important. . Really though, I'm a big fan of most montis I've seen. LE or not. That brick red digi Prop has is really nice too.

 

Any closer to a decision on the Pyr? I recommend science diet large breed if you do. Helps with the coat. Watch the brushing too. Not really a high maintenance thing but have to keep the mats out. Oh, and don't shave them. They have 2 coats and it grows badly if they're shaved. They also sunburn super easily. If they're shaved that is, not in general.

 

Bill

[divecj5]

Hey Bill. Just doing a little catching up on threads that I visit frequently. I really like the new monti that you got as well. I have become a real big fan of montis. I currently have two encrusting varieties (orange and yellow with purple polyps) and I'm getting a Superman frag tomorrow. I guess I just like them a lot because I have been really successful keeping them for one and also I just like how uniquely they grow. I have been trying to get my hands on some caps varieties but they are few and far between locally.

 

Great job on the 55. As others said, the tons of pictures you usually post satisfy me and you usually expalin everything perfectly.

 

Where are you getting deployed? How is the new snake doing?

[Weetabix7]

I was wondering about the deployment too.

I think my Monti is an encrusting on although it has a growth edge on the top that looks kinda like a cap. I just posted a pic of it last night on my 16g display thread, if you wanna see it.

I'm probably gonna hold off on getting the dog right now and just do a lot of research and take my time and make sure we're really ready. I really want to get one, but I already have 2 small children so I'm not gonna get another one til I'm sure I'm really prepared!

Plus we don't have a fenced backyard yet, which is a big concern for me. I'm gonna have to get something that isn't high energy or needs a large amount of exercise. Whatever we get will get lots of love and company since we're home a large portion of the time, but I have my hands so full with the kids that I won't be able to take the dog on walks a lot. We have A LOT of trees in the backyard and I had considered the idea of putting a cable between two of the trees on either side of the yard and attaching a lead to it so that I would still be able to put the dog in the yard sometimes without worrying about it running off.

I don't how long it will be before we can afford to put a fence up.

Thank you for your input, it was very helpful.

I had heard that Pyrs as a breed have problems with digging and barking, which is why I asked those questions.

[varanus37]

divecj5- I think that is why most people like montis so much. They grow really well and are easy for beginners but they have kewl enough growth and the variety of colors to appeal to people who have been doing this for awhile. They're also very cuttable. The people on here who actually have nano tanks can clip these things and keep them in check in a small tank. Or you can be like me and watch them hit dinner plate size before you clip to keep others out of the shade. They're very versatile for 'scaping your tank. Thanks for the kind words on the tank. As for the snake, we lost him a couple days after he got here. I'm not sure what did him in to be honest. He ate and drank fine in the viv I built but c7 had already lost the other 2. It's possible that whatever got them plus the cumulative stress of a movement to my house like that was just more than he could handle. That's the only thing that makes sense to me. Usually animals that are on the way out don't eat and drink like that. But there are 2 anoles that can verify that he did, haha. So I kept the viv with the remaining anoles and the plants in it. It's chillin' next to the 55 now.

 

Weet- Checked the pic, very kewl. I totally understand about waiting on the dog because of the kids. It's the reason I don't have that 150 or at least a 120. Same thing with larger reptiles. My girls come first. If you do decide to do it in the future and still don't have that fence, the lead between the trees is a fine plan. Polar is a major couch potato, but when he does get outside it's a burst of energy and playing for a bit and then he just wants to lay in the shade and watch everyone. I think that comes from the herding part. Make sure all the kids and critters are in their place. We do a longer walk in the evening and Teresa takes him out once during the day to do his thing. By the time we get back from the longer walk he's done for. Downs a bowl of water and then keeps an eye on Milana. They're not really runners. They're made to trudge through the Pyrenees mountains watching herds of goats or sheep. Big bursts of energy to get through the snow at a predator or something and then just walking the rest of the time. Good luck with it in the future. Research is always a good idea.

 

And this part is for all the people reading. I do appreciate your comments and concerns about deployments and things of that nature but I can't and won't write about them in a public place like this. My unit is a part of the special operations community and we aren't allowed to give people that kind of information. I can tell you that at this point it looks like I will deploy, if I'm healed, and that the deployment will be later this summer. Beyond that I can't say anything. I really hate telling people that because I know you can go look at a regular units website and see their dates. People think you're trying to be a kewl guy or whatever. I'm not and I'm sorry but that's just the rules here. Thank you for asking and being concerned enough to do so but that's all I can tell you. The docs say my back is healing but at this point I'm not cleared hot for anything. The hope is that by the time deployment hits I'll at least be healthy enough to go be an interpreter or something easier like that. Time will tell.

 

Thank you,

 

Bill

 

Sorry about the enormous post.

[divecj5]

Thanks for the heads up on the deployment and I totally understand. I have a friend that is a Blackhawk helicopter pilot and all he can tell me is when he is heading overseas and that he is heading to a "sandbox" I totally understand not being able to tell. I thought I remembered you saying you were in special ops so that's as much as you need to say. Hope you heal up and sorry for the loss of the snake. I followed your thread about it and C7s thread and sorry to hear it didn't work out.

[varanus37]

Hey, we ride with them! Haha. Good people there. Yeah, the snake dying really sucked. I finally convince my wife to let one stay in the house to help a friend out and then that happens. It was a pretty big step for her so I'm really happy about that. We babysat an iguana before that for a friend and she let that sit in her lap so we're getting better. Thanks for being kewl about the work thing. Surprisingly enough, alot of people aren't. They hear special operations and immediately ask 100 more questions or just get offended that they can't know what's going on.

 

Bill

[varanus37]

It's my BIRTHDAY. Frags will be accepted with or without bows on them. They can also be sent in place of cards.

 

For real though, my whole family is here this week so I'm good.

 

Bill

[divecj5]

Happy belated birthday. Hope that it was a great one. I have a PM heading your way shortly.

[Weetabix7]

It's my BIRTHDAY. Frags will be accepted with or without bows on them. They can also be sent in place of cards.

 

For real though, my whole family is here this week so I'm good.

 

Bill

 

Happy Belated Birthday, I'm SO sorry I missed this yesterday!!!

I hope it was a good one.

Oh, and I totally understand your not being able to talk about the deployment thing.

We just ask because we care!

[varanus37]

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone. And thanks for being kewl about the work situation.

 

AND 8000 views!

 

Bill

[Needreefunds]

Happy Belated Birthday, I'm SO sorry I missed this yesterday!!!

I hope it was a good one.

Oh, and I totally understand your not being able to talk about the deployment thing.

We just ask because we care!

X2!!

 

Sorry Bill! I hope you had a good one!

[varanus37]

Thanks! I definitely did. My whole family came down here to visit me for the week. We all did the dinner thing on my b-day but they've been at the house every night this week. It's been a good time. They're leaving tomorrow which sucks because I'm working. We're doing breakfast as a family though and I'm sure they'll spend more time with my daughter once I leave for work.

 

Thanks everybody.

 

Bill

[c est ma]

Happy belated Birthday from me too, Bill!

 

I think a grow-out period for your tank will be very cool to watch. I'm looking forward to the pics already!

 

(You can also post some of the puppies' "grow-out!")

 

So--gonna call the new baby Hades? J/K!

 

--Diane

[varanus37]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the grow out as well. Thanks for the bday wishes. The name is still undecided. We like Alena Marie. a-leen-a. Or Liya Rose. Lie-a. It's supposed to be an alternate spelling for Leah but we like the sound of Liya better. Marie is my mothers middle name and Rosemary is my grandmothers name. My wife likes the Lena and Lana duo or the Liya and Lana duo. I'm kewl with either one but I'm sure we'll decide right before or when we're in the OB.

 

Bill

[varanus37]

So I tried to frag off a piece of my green cap and a piece of my red cap today for someone. Yeah, I suck at fragging caps it seems. The green cap came off pretty nicely. Basically got the whole bowl shaped piece I was going for but another side plate came off because my knuckle hit it. That glued into a ridge near the back of the colony very nicely. No worries there. The red cap is where it gets crazy. So I was going to cut a piece out of the curved rim of the colony. It was the back portion near the M. undata frags. Apparently I have no concept of pressure or angles and I snapped the entire curved plate portion of my colony right off. Now there are 2 frags to go out and the whole curved rim of the colony has been glued just below its orginal position. Needless to say, I freaked out when it happened but Teresa helped me find glue points and we put things back together as best we could. I figure a month of growth and you won't see any gaps. I'll know where the breaks were but someone seeing the tank for the first time won't. Unnerving but not too bad in all I'd say.

Green colony now.

 

Bowl shaped frag I got. I'd say double the size of the new orange frag so basically the orange frag and the rock its on. Maybe bigger.

 

New red colony with frags below.

 

My hand to explain size a bit.

 

The red frags alone.

 

So that's my heart pumper for the day. Turned out alright though. Send some pieces out to people and get some different growth patterns out of my own stuff.

 

Bill

[varanus37]

So new pics. Shows the growth I've been having in the tank. Everything is doing really well. The 'spawn is back in this tank and doing wonderfully. Good growth on all of the SPS and really everyone else for that matter.

So I fragged the green cap and once I got it close to the glass I noticed that the polyps are, in fact, blue. Teresa said she's known all along. Damn eyeballs.

 

Nice green digi. Thanks Prop!

 

Sun coral is doing very well.

 

So is the other frag in the corner.

 

Superman monti. Got some algae growth there but oh well, the CUC eats it.

 

Fragged up red cap.

 

Zoas and palys growing like weeds through this open space.

 

Kiwi confusa. Can you tell which growth is new?

 

Toxic flonk chalice has spread all the way down the frag plug on both sides and is now onto the LR.

 

Birds nest, sativa micro, xenia, strawberry patch, and yellow w/blue polyp monti.

 

Polyps all over the place.

 

Orange crush acan.

 

BRIGHT orange cap.

 

Shroom and 'spawn. The blurry bit on the side there is duncan and NG polyps.

 

Better shot of the duncan and NG.

 

Mystery clump doing well.

 

Mystery plate doing well also.

 

Can you even tell I fragged this hammer?

 

Green cap after fragging.

 

Clam is a bit closed to shoo the blenny away but the colors are still very nice. I think Teresa made a good pick.

 

And that's all folks.

 

Bill

[c est ma]

"That's all." LOL! My entire tank could fit in just one of your shots.

 

What wonderful growth--whaddaya use, Miracle Grow?

 

That "mystery clump" is just so cool!

 

Tell me again what maintenance is like on this tank. It just seems to stay so clean!

 

Nice work.

 

--Diane

[varanus37]

That's actually not all of my corals and frags. I was just thinking that myself when I was putting these shots in photobucket. I was like, wow, this would take forever if I got shots of everything separately. My maintenance isn't really that major. I really, really want to plumb this thing so I can get a calc reactor but that's down the road and I'll just get a RR120 or something for that. I use purple-up sometimes but not on a schedule. I've got supplements for calc and buffers. Only really use those if I test and the numbers are off. Then again, I only test if something looks like it's dying. Hahaha. I'm reaaalllly low maintenance. The seal blew on my skimmer months ago so there isn't really any filtration on this tank. The 2 Koralias and boatloads of light. Regular WC's with good salt and good water for the topoff. That's about it. I'll get the skimmer back up and going soon though. Finally found a place where I can get a new seal. I think part of the reason I'm experiencing good all-round growth is that I put alot of planning into coral placement. Flow, light, where and how the fish sit. It all matters. As does the feeding. I feel that I've got it pretty well locked in where certain types of corals should go in my tank. Chemical warfare is rare and noone really touches. I've also allowed for growth for probably the next 6 months. I'll know then if I'm going to be moving and/or pushing this tank into a larger one.

 

So that was a long reply.

 

Bill

[Weetabix7]

Wow, this is looking super, super nice Bill!!!

I think this is my favorite photo session of yours, that tank is really thriving!!!

[varanus37]

Thank you. It's funny you say that. I was really just sitting there looking at those cap frags. Needed to take some pics of them and then just started snapping. This was the end state.

 

Bill

[Needreefunds]

The tank is just doing awesome Bill.

 

Also very cool is how many cultured frags from other reefers you have in there.

 

Excellent growth too.

 

 

And I got a kick out the digi you picked up from Prop. That huge "frag" growing off of that tiny frag tile

Great piece as well.

 

Great stuff Bill, keep 'em coming!

[varanus37]

Thanks. I've tried to stick to getting coral from other people as opposed to buying it at the LFS. When I first got started I bought a few of the bigger pieces at the LFS. After that though it's all been from other reefers. Started with the caps from a guy locally and then pretty well everything else from here. That digi has actually had to be re-glued. It's backward to how it was before if you check the pics. My wife thought it had grown a bunch where the arms are really dense there until I told her I spun it when I glued it.

 

 

Diane--You said something about puppy updates as well. They're both doing great. Potty training is taking a bit but it's getting there. They have good days and then bad. Both can now jump like mad. Zeus had all 4 feet off the ground jumping straight up and was past Teresas knee. They try to play with Polar but run as soon as he turns around. He's getting better at playing with them. He chases now instead of pouncing so that's good. He doesn't like it when they yelp so I think he's learned not to jump on them. Still not sharing food though. The puppies don't really share well either. That's about it really. Steam cleaned the whole house yesterday, lookin' good. Means the puppies have spent alot more time on the porch or outside but it's good for them.

 

Bill

[varanus37]

Sent the frag caps off today! Now to just wait and see. Good weather here and there looks like so shouldn't be a big deal. I've traded before but this was the first person to buy frags from me. Kinda kewl that my stuff has grown enough from the little frags I bought.

 

Here's hopin' it goes well.

 

 

Bill

[filefish949]

BRIGHT orange cap.

 

that one sure looks like a setosa, is it? it is growing nicely