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Chucktown BC 29 Mixed Reef


divecj5

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that is a cool ass lookin dog dude...nice.. your tank looks awsome man.. how do you get such good shots of your fish.. mine are always blurry..

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Thanks bud....I think I might have finally gotten my camera figured out with taking pictures of the tank. Just took a lot of practice and taking loads of pictures :)

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digital SLR camera??? which?

 

Yeah, I am using the Digital Rebel (300D). I've had it for a few years now and have been really happy with it. I am looking to get the new Rebel Xsi when it comes out in April so that my wife can have a nice DSLR as well.

 

 

Nice shots divecj5. We need to get some more stuff in there though...

 

Thanks nUgZ. I hear ya about needing something new in the tank. I feel like I am taking pictures of the same thing over and over again so it can't be that exciting. PM sent.

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Yeah, I am using the Digital Rebel (300D). I've had it for a few years now and have been really happy with it. I am looking to get the new Rebel Xsi when it comes out in April so that my wife can have a nice DSLR as well.

 

Thanks nUgZ. I hear ya about needing something new in the tank. I feel like I am taking pictures of the same thing over and over again so it can't be that exciting. PM sent.

 

Even so, I could look at pictures of tanks I like regardless......... Just vary the shooting angle slightly and we'll be ok ;)

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Well, I ended up having to take out the Emerald Crab (Frank the Tank). I have been trying to keep my eye on it since I've read of people having great success with them and others that have them get hungry and start munching on some corals.

 

I guess I got blessed with one that decided it would rather munch on some zoas instead of the pellets that I would make sure to drop right in front of him :) Go figure. I had started to notice that some of my zoas started to look like they were getting picked on a little and some weren't opening while others looked great. Then I was watching the crab and saw him scoot up to one and put a whole polyp in his claw. :angry: Needless to say I quickly grabbed his butt out of there, put him in a bag, and took him back to the store.

 

I guess he ended up doing his job with clearing up the bubble algae that I had but ended up being a pest more than anything else. I guess now I can start looking for some pom pom crabs instead :) I hated having to get rid of him since he was really cool to see and was a crowd pleaser when people would come over. I find it funny that people never really care much about the colorful coral as much as the fish, crab, snails, and shrimp.

 

On another note, my tank has really really been looking great lately coral health wise. I'm not sure if it has to do with me dosing small amounts of Seachem's Fuel product but all of the corals are fully expanded and happy as can be. Hopefully I can start getting some more growth now.

 

I'm also trying to get possibly some Monti cap from nUgZ so hopefully I can spice the tank up a bit in the near future.

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Well, I ended up having to take out the Emerald Crab (Frank the Tank). I have been trying to keep my eye on it since I've read of people having great success with them and others that have them get hungry and start munching on some corals.

 

I guess I got blessed with one that decided it would rather munch on some zoas instead of the pellets that I would make sure to drop right in front of him :) Go figure. I had started to notice that some of my zoas started to look like they were getting picked on a little and some weren't opening while others looked great. Then I was watching the crab and saw him scoot up to one and put a whole polyp in his claw. :angry: Needless to say I quickly grabbed his butt out of there, put him in a bag, and took him back to the store.

 

I guess he ended up doing his job with clearing up the bubble algae that I had but ended up being a pest more than anything else. I guess now I can start looking for some pom pom crabs instead :) I hated having to get rid of him since he was really cool to see and was a crowd pleaser when people would come over. I find it funny that people never really care much about the colorful coral as much as the fish, crab, snails, and shrimp.

 

On another note, my tank has really really been looking great lately coral health wise. I'm not sure if it has to do with me dosing small amounts of Seachem's Fuel product but all of the corals are fully expanded and happy as can be. Hopefully I can start getting some more growth now.

 

I'm also trying to get possibly some Monti cap from nUgZ so hopefully I can spice the tank up a bit in the near future.

 

Sorry to hear about the emerald going nasty on your tank. What size was it. I heard that they get this way when they grow up. Mine is small still and I haven't had any trouble, but I guess it's important to keep an eye on them like you did.

 

I found that many people connect more with obviously looking animal life because it moves, eats and breeds not unlike us, and a lot of people don't even know that corals are animals.

 

There is lots of educational work for us to do about that ;)

Looking forward to new pics.

b

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Hey Boris. The emerald was pretty big when I got it and I had it for about a month and a half. It was probably close to 2 1/2 inches across its carapace. I'm sure that it probably what ended up happening to it...just got big enough that the algae and supplemental pellets weren't enough for it.

 

On another note, I noticed that one of my cleaner shrimp is carrying eggs....really really cool. They are a greenish color and the other one for sure does not have them. I will try and get a pic of it this afternoon to show.

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dang that sucks about the emerald crab dude.. kinda like a puppy chewin on a new pair of shoes ;) ..

 

glad to hear the tank is doing good... whats this seachems stuff?? is it kindof like kent nano reef??

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Thanks Digg. I was pretty bummed about having to get rid of him as well. He was a cool character to watch....until he started munching of course :)

 

Here is a link to the Aqua Vitro line of Seachem products. I just tried out the Fuel since it is a mix of amino acids, fatty acids, and some other goodies. Heck, it looked more like a multi vitamin after reading the contents :) I just thought I would give it a try since it was only $7 at the fish store.

 

http://www.aquavitro.com/Products/fuel.html

 

Looks like I am getting some new corals here shortly. I am getting a nice frag of Superman Monti and an orange monti digitata as well. Should be getting those on Friday. I also met someone on here that surprisingly is local to me. They have an acan echinata frag that they said has not done that great for them and some eagle eye zoas they want to give me. I'm super excited since these will be the first new corals for me in about 4 months!!!

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I guess I got blessed with one that decided it would rather munch on some zoas instead of the pellets that I would make sure to drop right in front of him :)

 

:angry: Needless to say I quickly grabbed his butt out of there, put him in a bag, and took him back to the store.

 

 

Back to the store? I would have checked to see if your dog likes crab. :D

 

Can't wait to see pics of the montis, acans and zoos. When are you picking them up?

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Hey Elite Twit...thanks for tanking a look at my tank. I have been following your thread as well.

 

I thought about seeing if the dog was interested in the crab :) I'm sure she would have tossed it around like the leaves and sticks she picks up outside. My luck would have been that she would have gotten bitten and then I would have been stuck with that :)

 

I was supposed to be getting the superman and orange monti digi today but the seller wasn't able to get it in the mail yesterday :( Kinda blows since I was really hoping to get it today and now it looks like it will be Tuesday before I see them. Oh well, not too much I can do about all that.

 

The other corals are from a person that lives locally so we just are trying to work out a good time to meet up. With gas the way it is, my thoughts have turned to making sure that the trips that I take combine multiple visits in one (aka see my parents and stop by to see this person's tank since they live close to one another).

 

I have some pics of the pregnant shrimp so I will try and post those up this afternoon.

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Yeah that does kinda blow having to wait, but you did say it's the first corals in like 4 months, so what's 4 more days? At least you know they are still coming to you.

 

Yeah gas is ridiculous. I drive to work and home, stopping at my LFS since it's between the two. Anything else and I think do I want to waste $20 in gas to get there or save that for some corals after the cycle. :D

 

I got my laptop yesterday transfered everything over. I'll be putting all the new pics in of the initial set up and then hopefully posting up tomorrow when I get a chance. Sunday and Monday I'm getting the rest of the water and rock from a fellow club member so I'll be doing a water change, finishing up the rockwork and taking more pics. Thanks for following the thread.

 

I'll be checking Tuesday night for some pics of the monti's!

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I finally read the entire thread last night and wow, you've been busy! Your tank looks great and I love the pup, she's such a cutie! That's a bummer about your shipment today. It's always disappointing when your corals don't ship out on time and you have to wait - especially over the weekend. Hopefully they will arrive soon so you can enjoy.

 

How do you like the tunze skimmer? I'm trying to decide if I can fit it in my tank without a lot of extra effort. I've heard nothing but good things about them.

 

Just let me know when you want to come by and pick up the acan and eagle eyes. No rush and I'm working from home all next week.

 

Great pics btw...

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Thanks PodRod for reading the thread....it's gotten to be a long one for sure with lots of changes.

 

As for the skimmer, I really have liked it a lot. I used to have a Coralife Super Skimmer on my 55 gallon tank and I felt like I was always tinkering with it to get it skim better or create less microbubbles. I could never get the sweet spot. With the Tunze, I just check it every once in a while to make sure the foam is consistent and leave it. I haven't touched it in over a month as far as adjusting the air flow into the skimmer and it consistently skims. It doesn't pull out a ton but I don't really have that large of a bioload and I just feed pellets so there isn't too much waste going into the tank.

 

I think I saw that someone (EZCompany) was running a Deltec on their Solana but I know that they run about $300+ as well. They should be able to skim well for that price.

 

That sounds great for next week then. I can just swing over during a lunch break or maybe on Tuesday when I head home to get the corals that I am getting in the mail.

 

Like Elite Twit said, it's been about 4 months since I've gotten anything new so what's an extra weekend to wait :)

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Looks like I will at least be getting some coral tomorrow. I am planning on meeting up with PodRod and getting a frag of Eagle Eye zoas and a acan echinata frag tomorrow morning. I am still not sure if I am getting my montis in the mail tomorrow but I hope so.

 

I finally got around to the pregnant shrimp pictures below. It is a little hard to see in these but you can see the green mass that is around it's appendages and how fat it is. I have to do some closer inspection but I believe they are on the outside and not contained within. Pretty cool and will make a nice snack for the fish when they hatch :)

 

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I will take some pictures tomorrow of the frags that I get. Can't believe it's been so long since I've gotten some corals. Will give me something new to look at in the tank :D

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Just found out that it will be Friday when I get my Monti frags. The guy that is sending them to me has been great and tried to get them out in the mail today. He usually only ships out on Thursdays due to his work schedule but wanted to get them to me today. He took them to the post office by his house and they said that they couldn't guarantee them overnight where the store by his work could. It always amazes me that the Post Office can change what they say from one office to the next. Pretty wild that they can't guarantee overnight from Florida to South Carolina when I could drive to the Keys from here in about 11 hours -_-

 

Either way, he is going to throw in some free zoas and I am going to get some coral tomorrow from PodRod so that will keep me content until Friday :)

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Went by and meet PodRod (Karen) during my lunch break today. First off, her Solana is freaking awesome so make sure to check out her thread in her signature. She has picked out some absolutely stunning corals for her tank (Sunset monti, Superman monti, and some awesome duncans) among others. The glass on the Solana still stuns me when I think about how clear it makes the water look. She has pretty much thought out every detail it appears and you can tell in her tank when you see it.

 

Besides her tank, she was so generous with the corals that she gave me. I was planning giving her some chaeto and a couple of zoa frags. She said that she was going to give me the acan echinata frag as well as some eagle eyes since the acan wasn't coloring very well in her tank and she had a lot of eagle eyes. So needless to say she hardly gave me a "frag" of the eagle eyes. The frag she gave me has about 15-20 heads on it and they opened right away when I put them in my tank. The acan echinata has about 8 "eyes" on it. She has some really nice acros and milli in her tank as well and I mentioned to her that an acro frag was the next thing that I was going to try and without thinking she said that I could have a frag that came off a while ago and was growing for her.

 

So needless to say she was more than generous with everything and everything looks great in the tank. I will have to take some pics tonight and post the tomorrow. I did some pretty major rescaping as well since I figured it was due time to get all of my frags off the sand bed and in the rock.

 

Thank you again PodRod. You have a lot to be proud of with you tank and it's people like you that make this an awesome hobby. Next time when I bring the cheato and frags I will have to bring my camera or at least my memory card and take some photos of your tank. Hope the tips on the camera help you enjoy your camera and lens combo.

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Went by and meet PodRod (Karen) during my lunch break today. First off, her Solana is freaking awesome so make sure to check out her thread in her signature. She has picked out some absolutely stunning corals for her tank (Sunset monti, Superman monti, and some awesome duncans) among others. The glass on the Solana still stuns me when I think about how clear it makes the water look. She has pretty much thought out every detail it appears and you can tell in her tank when you see it.

 

Besides her tank, she was so generous with the corals that she gave me. I was planning giving her some chaeto and a couple of zoa frags. She said that she was going to give me the acan echinata frag as well as some eagle eyes since the acan wasn't coloring very well in her tank and she had a lot of eagle eyes. So needless to say she hardly gave me a "frag" of the eagle eyes. The frag she gave me has about 15-20 heads on it and they opened right away when I put them in my tank. The acan echinata has about 8 "eyes" on it. She has some really nice acros and milli in her tank as well and I mentioned to her that an acro frag was the next thing that I was going to try and without thinking she said that I could have a frag that came off a while ago and was growing for her.

 

So needless to say she was more than generous with everything and everything looks great in the tank. I will have to take some pics tonight and post the tomorrow. I did some pretty major rescaping as well since I figured it was due time to get all of my frags off the sand bed and in the rock.

 

Thank you again PodRod. You have a lot to be proud of with you tank and it's people like you that make this an awesome hobby. Next time when I bring the cheato and frags I will have to bring my camera or at least my memory card and take some photos of your tank. Hope the tips on the camera help you enjoy your camera and lens combo.

 

You are so welcome Adam and it was great to meet you in person. I hope you enjoy the frags and I can't wait to see your tank soon. Thanks so much for your help with the camera - I've been snapping pics every since you left!

 

Take care

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Glad I was able to help you out with the camera and some of the settings on it. They take a while to figure out but once you get it down, they are pretty easy to use. I sent you a PM with some software suggestions as well.

 

Now on to the corals. I ended up deciding to do some rescaping while I was acclimating the corals. I just really started to dislike how little shelf space there was in the tank and overall how much real estate the lobo was taking up in the front right corner. I also didn't really like how all of the zoas were just scattered on the sand bed so I figured it was time for some change. I didn't change around anything too drastically but I did pretty much take out every rock except for the 4 large bases that I have in there. I moved the lobo to the back left corner where it looks to be very happy, made some room and picked out some spots for the frags I'm getting on Friday, and also moved the zoas around so they are more in the rock and look a little more natural. I'm sure I will have to play around with it more to get it where I like it but as of light out, everything was out and happy so I didn't pee anyone off too much.

 

New FTS

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Right Side (including new Eagle Eyes)

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Acan Echinata from PodRod

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Eagle Eyes (these are my favorite zoas in the tank)

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Green Acro (anyone have an id?) I have moved it a little bit on the rock it is on here in the picture. I didn't like how close I had it to the left piece of rock and moved it more to the center so it could grow out and up more evenly. Looks nice and happy where it is and it's getting a pretty large amount of flow in this spot.

 

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From the right looking across the tank...

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Needless to say I have been on a coral high for the last 24 hours. Feels really good to get some new corals after not adding anything to the tank in the past 4 months. I ran out of memory card space and left my other card at work so I will take some more tonight.

 

Thanks again PodRod. I can't wait to get my Superman, Orange monti, and freebie zoas in Friday.

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Thanks nUgZ. I am really happy that I finally just bit the bullet and changed the scape up a bit. It gives me a lot more room to work with.

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