My humble 5.5g

[Sushi]

I'm loving this tank.

[c est ma]

Contradictory, I like how the GHA adds a touch of greenry to your tank! Still beautiful!

 

LOL! Duncan, you're a man after my own heart! I always manage to find the "best case" interpretation for whatever appears. I was once a plant ecologist, and it's easy to regard whatever stage I'm going through as just another example of succession...

 

Thanks, Sushi!

 

--Diane

[SPS20]

What a delightful little tank! Sometimes when I find myself feeling limited by the amount of space in my little 20L, I look at what some people have done with tanks a quarter the size and it astounds me! Your tank is gorgeous! Don't let the hair algae get you down, its normal to have some in a "dirty softie" tank. Take a look at pictures of soft-coral-infested lagoons in the wild sometime. There is tons af algae there too. Its just part of the ecosystem, IMO.

[H7brandi]

Wow. What a transformation and a great little tank. Very nice.

[debbeach13]

I love this tank. Every time it this thread pops up I check it out again and as always it is fantastic. I think it is just amazing that it has grown it the way it has. I think it still is the best 5.5.

[c est ma]

What a delightful little tank! Sometimes when I find myself feeling limited by the amount of space in my little 20L, I look at what some people have done with tanks a quarter the size and it astounds me! Your tank is gorgeous! Don't let the hair algae get you down, its normal to have some in a "dirty softie" tank. Take a look at pictures of soft-coral-infested lagoons in the wild sometime. There is tons af algae there too. Its just part of the ecosystem, IMO.

 

I love you, Josh.

 

 

I may very well have that framed. That's exactly how I try to regard my algae--just part of the whole scheme of things...till I get flamed for it, of course.

 

Funny, I just read your tank thread last night and have flagged it for answering--was too time-pressed at that moment..but one of the things I'm going to say is just what an asset you've been to N-R!

 

 

Wow. What a transformation and a great little tank. Very nice.

 

Thank you!

 

 

I love this tank. Every time it this thread pops up I check it out again and as always it is fantastic. I think it is just amazing that it has grown it the way it has. I think it still is the best 5.5.

 

You are far too kind! Thank you so much.

 

Pics du jour--my hitchhiker Porites. Recovering nicely after it was essentially decimated by overgrowing Discosomas, since thinned. But now there's that white patch which just appeared a day or two ago--it had gotten pushed into the ric at left. Hope it will heal if I keep them separated!:

 

 

 

I guess any SPS that hitches in on a shroom rock has to be hardy!

 

--Diane

[Oregon]

Nothing humble about this 5.5. Looking great.

[H20]

Diane,

 

I have found something similar to the last picture you posted, that is growing on one of my rocks. I can't wait to see what it grows into. Kinda exciting. Here is a picture as best as I could get it. It almost on the side of a rock, and the angle you have to get at to best see it, kinda makes the glass distort the view. It is growing almost in the worst possible place for me to view it. But maybe when it gets bigger I can get it off the rock and move it, whatever it is. You can see it in the middle of the pic, on a rock.

 

Sorry for the cruddy photo, but this is the only angle to get a pic through the glass, and it is distorted at this angle.

 

 

 

Almost looks like a tiny little brain coral, or similar to the SPS picture you posted, but mine would fit on the head of a pencil eraser right now.

[c est ma]

Well, as you know, it's a bit hard to tell from that pic. But how very cool that you've noticed it! I hope you figure out some way to engineer things so you can get a better look!

 

Meanwhile, I've had 2 hitcher SPS. The first, the one above, has been tentatively (sometimes pretty positively) identified as Porites based on my pics and the fact that apparently it is a well-known hitcher, esp. on rock from certain areas...

 

Here are some pics I stole from another one of my threads that show how quickly this little coral regenerated after I let it get totally killed (or so I thought) by overgrowing Discosoma. The first pic was taken shortly after I removed the shrooms:

 

~5/3/07

 

Much better looking just a few days later:

5/6/07

 

6/20/07

 

And today it looks like the pics in my last post above, of course.

 

Then there was a little guy that came in on the stalk of a candy cane frag. Interestingly, other people were getting this as a hitcher around the same time, as well. Here are a couple of threads about it with some discussion of possible names:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=126058&hl=

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...ntipora+porites

 

And here are some pics of mine:

 

Closed

 

 

Open. Sorry about the depth of field. It's very tiny. But I think you can tell that there are a bunch of tiny polyps...

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, I lost that one while trying to save the candy cane from a vermetid infestation (ended up losing the candy cane as well!). I'll have to ask Bill how his clump is doing...

 

--Diane

[tinyreef]

suuweet! i love the pvc frame!

 

the goby larva was amazing too!

 

great looking tank and mad skills with the pics! *thumbsup*

[H20]

Nice pics Diane, I am still continually amazed at the photos that you get out of your little camera. Like you, alot of times I enjoy looking at all the 'extras' in the tank, and I like to ignore my fish and check out the hitchhikers

[c est ma]

Ah, tiny, thanks so much; that means a lot! I've always looked up to and learned from you!

 

Thanks again, H20--we have much in common. But your thread is much more helpful! BTW, does your hitcher look more like the Porites or is it like the second one? Because those were showing up fairly recently...

 

--Diane

[Maco]

Thank you, Duncan, Adam, Keith, Weetie, & Shaz!

Well, that's easy enough. This was going to be a temporary stand till I found something better, but has been so convenient that I've just stayed with it. I was originally going to spray it black but never even got around to that!

 

Well, you already know what it looks like in use:

 

 

I like the way I can move it back and forth quite a bit, either to change the direction the light is hitting something I want to take a picture of, or to allow access to the tank from the front or the filter from the rear. But another convenient thing about my particular set-up is that I can also set my light on top of the Penguin:

 

 

(Looks too dark there because the glare of the light off the glass top was so bright the camera overcompensated. But when I take off the glass cover [and move the stand]I have plenty of light for siphoning, etc.)

 

Anyway, back to the stand. It's just 3/4" PVC pipe. There are four pieces for the legs, and four for the top. (I'm assuming you don't need the measurements, as you have a much bigger tank, right? 40g?) The pieces are assembled using 4 T fittings and 4 L (or elbow or whatever the 90º ones are called!) fittings.

 

 

 

I just measured the approximate dimensions I wanted and went to Lowes...they cut the pipe for me. It was uber cheap-- < $10 total. In fact, I went back for 2 new sets of legs, each time raising the light fixture farther than I'd originally thought I wanted it. (My softies didn't like too much light.)

 

I would be best to cement or otherwise permanently affix the pieces together. Mine isn't, so I have to be sure they're always fitting snugly...Probably easier to get away with with a smaller tank & light like mine.

 

Hope that's all you wanted to know. (It's probably a lot more!)

 

And a non-stand pic:

 

 

--Diane

Thanks im going to use it on my getto coral quarentean tank.... BTW what camera do you use.......Oh one more thing (lol) that gbg looks so cute next to the mushroom

 

-Mac

[c est ma]

Thanks im going to use it on my getto coral quarentean tank.... BTW what camera do you use.......Oh one more thing (lol) that gbg looks so cute next to the mushroom

 

-Mac

 

Great--you can probably improve on it, too!

 

I use an old Nikon Coolpix 3100--just a 3.1meg point-and-shoot. But I aim it through various magnifying lenses and loupes for best results...

 

That goby's a character. Doesn't even mind if her headrest is moving:

 

 

--Diane

[monkeytrumpets]

Great picture! I've seen "pro" shots that don't look as good as many that you've taken. I'll have to try your magnifying lens trick.

 

As always, you have a gorgeous tank Diane and are an inspiration to us all!

 

-Adam

[debbeach13]

Diane

There is a request in the pico forum thread show us your 5.5 for your tank. So if you have a moment sneak a picture over there for every one. Thanks

[H20]

I think your pics are influencing me.....lol I was at my favorite LFS today and they got in a few rics. I found a nice small rock that had 2 greens and one blue ric on it. Now I have 4 added since last week. Its all your fault.

[chaostactics]

Great tank, the rics are awesome!

[Gerber77]

sweet goby

[klarion]

Thanks, tie! I was lucky to find some nicely colored specimens. That's what catches my eye when I glance at the tank, too. Here are a couple of "walk by" type views:

 

 

--Diane

 

 

I love the walk-by view. The tank is beautiful. I think if the specimens are thriving and diverse, the tank takes on a proper aesthetic all by its self.

[biocubist]

looks awesome diane.

great work, i love the goby.

 

paul

[johnmaloney]

Your right that tank looks terrible. I will take it off your hands.

[TJ_Burton]

Looking pretty good!

[monkeytrumpets]

Just dropped in to say hello and look at pictures, but alas, no new pictures...

[klarion]

I can't get over the Pom-pom crab. He looks so cute.