My Rebounding Reef

[revaltion131]

I hope your tank makes a full recovery. My brother lives in Kettering and his power was out for 72 hrs. And if yours was the same that's a long time... Well like I said hope it recovers well and your tank looks awesome BTW!

 

Thanks! I hope everything is well for your brother. It sounds like he is at least in the part of Kettering that did not get knocked out for over a week. Areas right near Far Hills and E. Stroop were out for well over week. One of the local RC members lived in there and lost everything in 6 different tanks, two of which were huge, aggressive FOWLR. I had a hard enough time using my "spear" to get dead fish out of my tank, I can't imagine having to take show-sized puffers and angels out of a tank to toss them.

[revaltion131]

I just wanted to update because I have great news: the Potter's ate some pellets tonight! So, as long as he keeps it up and we get past the magic 3 month mark, we should be good to go. For those that don't know, the main reason why Potter's are often listed as an "Expert-Only" species is because they can be very finicky eaters. Also, they are known for having a lot of issues as a result of capture and shipping stresses, which is quite likely what causes the eating troubles in the first place.

[EnjoiFish]

Great pictures! The mouth on that hammer is incredible. I wish my frogspawn ate like that.

[revaltion131]

Great pictures! The mouth on that hammer is incredible. I wish my frogspawn ate like that.

 

Thanks! I wish my frogspawn did as well. I was really surprised when I was checking things out with a flash light and saw how deep in there you could see. I just had to snap a picture.

[revaltion131]

The tank is now 6 months old, so here are a ton of new pictures.

 

 

This Rainbow Monti is finally slowly starting to color up.

 

Here are the two new acros. The blue wasn't showing the best PE on the first day, but the fact that it was already open right away even just a little bit is keeping me from being the least bit concerned.

 

 

Healthy angel and shrimpy.

 

Thanks for looking!

[Sexy Shrimp]

Lovely!!! Absoultely beautiful! And the harlie is soooo cute!

[revaltion131]

Lovely!!! Absoultely beautiful! And the harlie is soooo cute!

 

Thanks! What's that new pic in your sig?

[Sexy Shrimp]

My YWG have spawned!! That is an egg under the microscope - 3 days gestation! Amazing that something can grow from a single cell so quickly!!

[revaltion131]

My YWG have spawned!! That is an egg under the microscope - 3 days gestation! Amazing that something can grow from a single cell so quickly!!

 

It sure is! Those pictures are incredible. Are the bones in the spine actually already formed?

[Sexy Shrimp]

It sure is! Those pictures are incredible. Are the bones in the spine actually already formed?

Yes and you can see the heart and the blood circulating around the body! It freaked me out when it wiggled its tail though!

[RAF007]

Nice tank Rev...

[revaltion131]

Thanks RAF007!

 

L34NN3, seeing the tail wiggle would have freaked me out too. What do you do for a living that you're able to get such amazing shots?

[Sexy Shrimp]

I work in pathology lab

[revaltion131]

Nice, that must be a pretty interesting job. My little brother is looking into doing something similar but right now he's having a hard time with the chemistry and some of the biology classes he's taking. His professor is not helping the situation, though.

[revaltion131]

I haven't updated in awhile, but everything is going well. The clown has decided he's going to host the sand on the bottom front corner of the tank, so when people walk into the room, they immedeately ask if he's dead...

 

I have added a few more new corals: ORA Plum Crazy and Purple Cap, as well as a GARF Purple Bonsai. The two ORAs look great, but the bonsai is brown right now. It is very slowly coloring up. I will try moving it higher up in the tank and getting it to a spot with a bit more random flow and seeing how things go. Besides the color, it shows great PE.

 

Here are a ton of new pictures.

 

First, the Plum Crazy. One day after getting in the tank about a week and a half ago, and one of it in its current position. However, as can be seen in the second picture, it is starting to turn green on one edge.

 

 

This is the cap. The frag is loaded with feather dusters and came with a stomatella, a nifty sponge, and my first mini-brittle.

 

 

This is a current picture of the bonsai. If anyone has any recommendations on it, please let me know. It currently only looks decently purple under pure actinics.

 

 

My Rainbow Monti has finally gotten the perfect purple color to the mat, but it does not translate well on the camera, and neither do the vivid reds and oranges for the new growth. Either way, here are two current pics and you can see new growth on the putty.

 

 

Next are a couple of pictures of my tiny, green, and unknown acro. The first is from the day I got it 2.5 months ago, and the second is from today. It's a very slow grower, but it's healthy.

 

 

Here is a very unfocused picture of what I believe to be an Acropora cerealis. I have no idea if its color has a name; I just call it a fuzzy mo' fo'. I just moved it today to the spot where I think I will glue it down and its PE is disgusting. As I said, the picture is just about as fuzzy as the coral, but you can see the vivid purple it's starting to develop on the coralites and the nutty PE.

 

 

Here is one of the blue unknown I have. I moved it to the top of the tank a couple of weeks ago. The blue has faded a bit, so I've moved it to the shade of a powerhead. We'll see how that lighting and flow combo does for its color.

 

 

This is obviously the harlequin...He is still lady-less, but one LFS is getting in a couple this weekend, so I may go scouting and see if either is a female.

 

 

Lastly, here are two fishy pics.

 

[Smurf]

Great pics bro! I'm really liking your tank. Good luck with the anemone problem!

[revaltion131]

Thanks so much! If it starts coming back, hopefully everything will be alright. As much as I love these new corals, I'm really terrified of losing the fish and shrimp.

[revaltion131]

The RBTA did die, but I was home in time to remove it and do the water changes. The tank is fine and doing well. I've added a few new corals.

 

The first is this really cool purple/brown and green Acro. I have no idea if it is a named color or what the specific species is. The frag is damaged, but I have no doubts that it will grow back.

 

 

The next is a Stylo that started out as purple and has turned more of a pink color under my lights so far.

 

 

This one is an orange M. digi. The base is a little damaged and faded from fragging, still.

 

 

This last new one I was told is a green slimer. The color matches, even if the coral doesn't quite. I also didn't pay a ton for this, or any of the others, so I don't care if it's not technically a slimer, I just wanted the color.

 

 

This is my GARF bonsai that has very slowly colored up. It's starting to really look great, but unfortunately it doesn't translate to the camera.

 

 

I finally got my first clams, both Croceas from Clams Direct. The shipping was amazing and the color and health is great as well.

 

 

That's it for now, thanks for looking.

[reefdan]

do you have a mystery wrasse you've been hiding?

 

what's the wrasse in your sig?

[jonrx]

Don't mean to answer for the OP, but...

 

It's a Pyle's Wrasse.

 

Had a mated pair before.

 

Fantastic fish.

[revaltion131]

Don't mean to answer for the OP, but...

 

It's a Pyle's Wrasse.

 

Had a mated pair before.

 

Fantastic fish.

 

Correct! I was looking for a female to give this guy, but he found the carpet instead. I'll be getting another male and two females once I can find them, for my 65. Here's a pic of the guy:

 

 

I don't have a whole lot to update on with the tank. I do have a new FTS (see first page for it) but not a whole lot of other pictures of worth, just growth on my corals for personal reference. I'm trying to put a frag rack together, but it's slow going right now. I'm going to be adding a Yellow Coris Wrasse in the next couple of months as I move the Potter's on to his new home in the 65. I may consider adding a Possum as well, both for pest control and more fish poo for the SPS. Most of my soft and LPS corals will be moving into the 65 when it stabilizes and I'll keep working on converting the tank to an SPS system. I won't be able to move the zoas though; the clown's now hosting them.

 

 

I was looking at getting a Tunze 9002 to upgrade my skimmer, but it looks like there may be some better HOB options that I'm going to look at.

[revaltion131]

First, Christmas came one day early as our ORA order finally arrived. I had ordered a Hawkins, Pearlberry, and "mini" Red Planet, which is just a 3/4" frag instead of the normal size. I was hoping to finally get our full Picassoes, that would go in my 65, but none came. I ended up getting a great looking semi and a B&W instead. Here are the ORA pics.

 

 

As you can see, the tips of the Hawkins and Pearlberry got beat up a bit in the bags, but I think they'll be able to heal up and do just fine. I need to move the Sinularia so it doesn't expand and sting the Hawkins in the morning. Nooooo idea where it's getting moved to, lol.

 

I ended up fragging up the Bird's Nest and now have about a frag that's basically a sphere with a diameter of one inch. It is slowly looking better, so it's going to hang out on the eggcrate while it recovers. I'm not sure if I'll keep it in the 34 or if I'll transfer in a couple of months. It just grows out and doesn't encrust at all, so I'm not too worried about it anchoring itself.

 

On the skimmer subject, I'm looking at the Octopus BH800s, I think is the number...with the Sicce pump. The general consensus is that it's a great skimmer for the price. The problem is that the pump is too strong for the skimmer body, so the skimmer body needs to have some overflow protection drilled in, or you can buy a mod that lets you limit the air intake. The mods aren't too bad at all. My only concern is that I may end up overskimming. I haven't gotten any opinions yet, so if anyone is reading and has something to say about the skimmer, feel free to chime in. I'm also looking at lower levels of the Octopus HOBs, specifically those with built-in filter areas, as well as a Warner Marine model.

 

I may be changing salt, because I'm sick of this crap that goes on constantly with fluxuating Ca levels that are directly related to how low IO salt is in Ca. I am also looking into the Zeovit system, for a number of reasons. It's not as intimidating as it first looked and every tank using it looks amazing. It's also not as expensive as I thought it might be, so with all the money I'm spending on corals, it's probably a system worth spending a little money on to help the corals do well.

 

Lastly, as it's Christmas Eve, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone.

[ddr_phish]

I'm loving all your pretty SPS!

 

Very nice tank man.

[quy_nquyen]

Great choice of SPS

 

I would love to see an updated FTS as well as some new harley pics if you have time Lisa.

[ap123]

I love this tank--and looking at your photo of the Pyle's, I might be in love--I've got a new wrasse to research.