MitchReef Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 I mentioned before that I got a few nice pieces in trade a little over a month ago, and I was just looking at the pictures of them then....well, I just had to put up pictures of Before and After.....mind you these have only been in my tank for 35 days between these shots....(8/23/09 to 9/27/09) Hiller's AquaDelight ORA (California) Blue Tort Blue Green Echinata Silver Bullet Bonzai behind the echinata I'm quite happy with not only the coloring up they have done, but also the amount of growth over just a month. Link to comment
MitchReef Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 Wow.....no comments....I'm a bit hurt....JK...... Link to comment
nikeSB Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 is your lighting all t5? im so in love with this tank. other than the 2part dose, what else do you do? amino acids or anything? what do u feed Link to comment
konolua Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 is your lighting all t5? im so in love with this tank. other than the 2part dose, what else do you do? amino acids or anything? what do u feed I second that notion! What kind of lights are you using? Well done! Link to comment
MitchReef Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 When I first set this tank up I decided I wanted to do the two islands of LR, one being SPS and high light LPS dominated and the other being Mushroom, Paly, Zoanthid dominated, so I set up gradient lighting.....Over "Stoney Island" I have a 250W Phoenix in a Sunlight Supply ReefOptix III pendant, and "Softey Island" has a matching 150W Phoenix in a Sunlight Supply ReefOptix III pendant....those are right about 7 inches above the water surface.....They are supplemented with 2 X 39W Geiesemann Actinic Plus T5HO's in "the good" TEC reflectors (the new generation with 29 bends)....I also have a little bit (and I mean a LITTLE bit) of DIY blue LED moonlighting....The T5's run from around noon til 11 PM, the MH's around 3:30 PM til around 10:30 PM..... As for what I use in my water, I have used exclusively Reef Crystals since the late 80's and will stick with that salt, mainly just because it seems to work for me....I dose 2-part on my DIY dosing system (running for about 13 months now) and use ONLY Oceans Blend 2-part....I supplement Mg with Epsom Salt when needed....otherwise I really don't add much of anything....I run charcoal in my DIY media reactor occasionally, but not really often enough....maybe I will fill it up this weekend.... I am not very good about feeding actually....I was using Rods Food until I ran out a couple months ago....I feed mostly pellet food, either Hikari Marine A or Spectrum Thera + A from New Life...I also thaw out a bit of mysis and brine, maybe some frozen lobster eggs once in a while....I also like the freeze dried Cyclopees or Coral Vibrance for the filter feeders.....my biggest statement of all, regarding feeding, is that I'm really quite the slug and I intend to feed twice a week, but probably only think about it weekly most of the time....I prolly average about every 5 or 6 days, if you were to chart it out..... I have a decent protein skimmer, an Octopus 110 NW, and a very healthy fuge with two different chaeto balls, and a couple of mangroves, and I think that is one of my biggest positives....when I lost one of my chromis' a few weeks ago, the fuge absorbed him to <0.2 ppm Nitrates within 3 days....I have a DIY ATO, using redundant float switches on a low-voltage relay, driving an Aqualifter, replenishing RO/DI, with a reservoir by the stand, filled from my holding tank on the back porch....I use about 3 1/2 gallons of ATO per day.... In case anybody wonders about flow, I turn the volume over about 53 times per hour using a Blueline 1100 GPH return pump, 2 X Koralia 4 and a couple of powerheads on a wavemaker, just to disrupt the flow patterns..... That's pretty much "the Nuts and Bolts" of the system, as it is currently configured.... Link to comment
Needreefunds Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Mitch, the growth and coloration in such a short amount of time is very impressive Sir. I think you said it yourself here somewhere, you can flat out grow some SPS! Great stuff! Link to comment
MitchReef Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 Why thanks again...I guess sticks are my strongsuit....The SPS's just really like my tank.....I was running my MagFloat around the display couple days ago and knocked one of the branches off the AquaDelight....so, now I have a frag starting to encrust.... Link to comment
Hoosierfan Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I would love to see a FTS. Absolutely gorgeous corals. Link to comment
MitchReef Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 Thanks a bunch Hoosier.... FTS's really look like crap on this tank, because it has viewing area of 21 inches height and 9 feet wide, being two sided....the best is a series of shots, going all the way around....I will try and get a fresh set of views tomorrow evening....Stoney Island is just under T5 now....Also, Softey Island doesn't look like much, most of its good stuff is actually on the sandbed.....But, I will work on it....promise.....I might even turn off the pumps for a set of shots....I've NEVER done that before.....all the pics you see are full flow, handheld with a Point and Shoot...... Link to comment
akabryanhall Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Everything looks incredible mitch. I can't wait till my system is stable enough for sps. I might have you come and get my emmas Jedi mind trick. I believe it might be doing the same thing as the other monti Link to comment
MitchReef Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 We need to figure this issue out.....Are you testing everything? Mg is highly recommended....how stable is your temperature? I try to never vary as much as a degree......It may just need to mature some more..... I gotta get up and magnet the glass...I promised a FTS series...... Link to comment
MitchReef Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 Like I said, The tank is peninsular orientation, with two long sides showing, so for the requested FTS I took a little tour around it, snapping as I went. I even turned off all the pumps.....here ya go..... Check it out...I even slid the frag rack out of the way for the pictures!!!! Here are some shots of the areas around the bottoms of the Islands.... Hope those will do....a true FTS is really not very good with this setup.....Excuse the perpetually nasty glass....and all the scratches..... Link to comment
MitchReef Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 I decided to snap a couple of ACTUAL full-tank shots tonight..... This is the view from my sofa.... Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 SUCH a beautiful tank, it's a credit to your skills Sir. How's the little Acro Crab doing? Link to comment
Needreefunds Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 SUCH a beautiful tank, it's a credit to your skills Sir. How's the little Acro Crab doing? ^^^ this^^^^^ Loaded with goodies too! Thanks for the pics Mitch! Link to comment
Boomboy Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 very nice. i love 3 sided tanks, being able to see through it makes it seem like you can almost touch everything. Link to comment
MitchReef Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 SUCH a beautiful tank, it's a credit to your skills Sir. How's the little Acro Crab doing? The little Crab seems just fine....I see him in there, just hanging out....that coral needs to go down onto Stoney Island, but so far they are still up on the frag rack....I doubt that I will be able to hardly spot him once it is down in the rockwork.... and thanks again....the tank is a real blessing...... Link to comment
Hoosierfan Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Thanks for the FTS! Right now I'm dreaming of a 75 after I get out of college. Your tank is certainly making me want one even more. Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Great work with the SPS! Your tank looks amazing. Link to comment
MitchReef Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 I got my little frag of ORA Hawkins Blue echinata tonight.....it has great potential..... this is the last coral from the swap a little over a month ago....just took my friend a whie to get back down this way with the frag..... Let's check back on it in a few weeks and see how it's doing.....betcha it colors up real nice by then Link to comment
got2envy Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Beautiful!! absolutely beautiful SPS and reef Mitch! 2 wet thumbs up Link to comment
davidr2340 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Beautiful!! absolutely beautiful SPS and reef Mitch! 2 wet thumbs up I'm with Maria... BEAUTIFUL TANK MITCH!!! Link to comment
MitchReef Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 Thanks a lot Maria, and David...I really need to get some corals mounted down it the rocks...I am deeply in need of space on the frag rack....I think I need to bust a big hunk off my big Orange Cap too....it's just about touching my Appleberry Monti.....maybe aI will get a chance ot work on it some this weekend....if I don't end up too nasty from working on my old car....I hate putting my hands in the tank if they have traces of grease on them..... Our Club has a frag event (auction) in 2 weeks, maybe I will send in pics of a few pieces I have hanging out on the frag racks..... Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 WOW! That's an awesome coral! Haha of course, what else was I expecting to see, given the trend of your tank! Link to comment
MitchReef Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 I just love the delicate growth structure of the Acropora echinatas.....the Blue-Green one is only like an inch and a half of growth and look how tiny the branches are.... and at just under an inch tall, the Hawkins is even finer in structure than the Blue-Green.... I love the different growth forms these creatures attain..... Link to comment
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