Diver's Paradise - The Original

[Felicia]

Woah!!!! Not a fun surprise!!!

 

Weren't you supposed to post some new pictures? FTS?

Yeah...I'm a slacker, sorry. I got super behind on stuff this week and kind of forgot I had a final for my class when I promised photos. I will take them on Saturday

 

+ like 1000 where are the pics of the midas? I had to live vicariously through you for now until my blenny comes in.

I know! The new midas is super pretty and I need to get photos of him. He's still skittish when I get near the tank though so I'm not sure how good of photos I'm going to be able to get. He's made himself a home in a hole in the top of the rock arch and his front porch is the lilac monti. He lays out on the monti like its a couch. Its super cute.

[FlCandy]

So cool, what I did was just sit with the camera in the spot I needed it until he came out, then I snapped what I could get until they get more comfortable. All about moving super slow so they don't see the movement. Gotta be

[Felicia]

So cool, what I did was just sit with the camera in the spot I needed it until he came out, then I snapped what I could get until they get more comfortable. All about moving super slow so they don't see the movement. Gotta be

Yep, I need to try to be sneaky about it. He's usually out and about more in the evening because he's always begging for food, so I'll try then. I plan to get a bunch of new tank shots tonight anyway.

 

Bay Area Reefers regional frag swap is today! Frag swaps are so much fun. I hope I get some good stuff. I'm taking golden egg frags, sour apple birdsnest frags, and frags of some zoas. I'm also picking up a PAR meter at the swap because our club now has one to loan to members. I'll finally be able to measure my DIY LED fixture.

[FlCandy]

Take pics! I love swaps, we have one on March 30th I am looking forward to it, and a field trip to the Watershed/Conservation place here. They have tidepools and etc. So looking forward to it.

[Felicia]

 

Take pics! I love swaps, we have one on March 30th I am looking forward to it, and a field trip to the Watershed/Conservation place here. They have tidepools and etc. So looking forward to it.

I'll definitely get some photos of the swap! I wish ours had tide pools! Ours is at a community college. Check back for photos this evening.

[Felicia]

I'm home from the swap and everything is in the tank! I had a great time and got some nice pieces. I got 3 different acros, my favorite being this nice big piece of a purple/blue one that already has great PE, and a Bird of Paradise birdsnest. I also got Mind Blowing palys which are way more awesome than I realized when I grabbed them and a frag of Sunny D's. They don't look nearly as nice as the ones Mark is going to be sending me but I grabbed them since it was the last round and there wasn't a ton left.

 

The coolest coral I got wasn't actually from the swap but from the DBTC program in the club. DBTC is "Don't break the chain" and its a program in my club to give out frags for free from your colonies to basically back them up. If you ever lose your colony, the people with frags are required to give you a frag back. Its also just a nice way to share aquacultured corals within the club for free, since the clubs goal is to promote sustainable aquaculture. Anyways, I got an Ironman Litho through that program today. Its such an awesome shade of red with gold eyes. Randi, you're going to love this thing. I've got a mint green litho like yours, so I'm excited to have another color.

 

I also went by the LFS afterwards and got an Allen's damsel (aka neon damsel) for the frag tank. I wanted to get something that could hold its own against the dottyback since the dottyback has had time to establish her territory. So far they don't seen to be trying to kill each other. The damsel was definitely a good choice because he's already swimming around out in the open. I was going for active, colorful fish for the frag tank.

 

I picked up the club's PAR meter today, so I get to measure my LEDs tonight. Super exciting! I'll let you all know the results. Speaking of lighting, I've pretty much decided I want an LED fixture on the frag tank instead of the T5's. I definitely like the look of LEDs the best out of the different lighting options. I just need to save up a bit first. I'll probably just do another DIY kit from Aquastyles since I love my fixture on the 30 gallon so much.

 

I'm about to clean the frag tank and take photos of both tanks, so look for photos later tonight!

[Spirofucci]

Soooo cool! Can't wait for pics!!!!!

[Felicia]

I just played with the PAR meter. My DIY Aquastyles fixture did great. Its at about 75% power and the readings were about 100 umol/m^2s on the sand, about 200 umol/m^2s on the zoa rock, and about 300 umol/m^2s at the top of the arch by all the SPS corals. The recommendation is to have a reading of 100 on the sand, so my fixture is right on PAR

 

Unfortunately though, the frag tank light (4 T5 bulbs) SUCKS! I can't believe stuff was growing under that light in the 10 gallon. The reading just below the surface of the water in the frag tank is only 70 umol/m^2s I'm going to have to get a new light for that tank or the SPS frags in there are going to have issues. I guess I need to order an LED fixture for that tank sooner than I thought.

 

Ok, now I'm off for some cleaning and photos.

[Felicia]

You guys are going to hate me...I'm going to make you wait until tomorrow afternoon for photos. One of the local reefers just texted me wanting to trade me some SPS for zoas tomorrow so I just fragged a bunch of zoas for him. Of course zoa goo went all over the tank and now everything is super PO'd. My plan was just to wait a bit for the water to clear up and everything get happy again, but then my friend texted me wanting me to go to the movie. So now I'm leaving and I haven't taken photos. Woops. Tomorrow though! I just finished cleaning it all up so it will be super pretty for photos.

[FlCandy]

BAH!!!!

[Felicia]

BAH!!!!

Sorry! Its all in an effort to get myself a frag of Cali Tort and either a frag of Hawkins Echinata, Garf Bonsai, or Red Planet.

[gena]

I'm home from the swap and everything is in the tank! I had a great time and got some nice pieces. I got 3 different acros, my favorite being this nice big piece of a purple/blue one that already has great PE, and a Bird of Paradise birdsnest. I also got Mind Blowing palys which are way more awesome than I realized when I grabbed them and a frag of Sunny D's. They don't look nearly as nice as the ones Mark is going to be sending me but I grabbed them since it was the last round and there wasn't a ton left.

 

The coolest coral I got wasn't actually from the swap but from the DBTC program in the club. DBTC is "Don't break the chain" and its a program in my club to give out frags for free from your colonies to basically back them up. If you ever lose your colony, the people with frags are required to give you a frag back. Its also just a nice way to share aquacultured corals within the club for free, since the clubs goal is to promote sustainable aquaculture. Anyways, I got an Ironman Litho through that program today. Its such an awesome shade of red with gold eyes. Randi, you're going to love this thing. I've got a mint green litho like yours, so I'm excited to have another color.

 

I also went by the LFS afterwards and got an Allen's damsel (aka neon damsel) for the frag tank. I wanted to get something that could hold its own against the dottyback since the dottyback has had time to establish her territory. So far they don't seen to be trying to kill each other. The damsel was definitely a good choice because he's already swimming around out in the open. I was going for active, colorful fish for the frag tank.

 

I picked up the club's PAR meter today, so I get to measure my LEDs tonight. Super exciting! I'll let you all know the results. Speaking of lighting, I've pretty much decided I want an LED fixture on the frag tank instead of the T5's. I definitely like the look of LEDs the best out of the different lighting options. I just need to save up a bit first. I'll probably just do another DIY kit from Aquastyles since I love my fixture on the 30 gallon so much.

 

I'm about to clean the frag tank and take photos of both tanks, so look for photos later tonight!

Sounds like an awesome club!

 

oh my gosh...can't wait to see all the new stuff!!!!!

[Felicia]

Ok, so the lights just came on (forgot to switch the timers for daylight savings, so they came on an hour late), which means time for me to take some photos. While I'm doing that, here's some info on my plan for the light for the 10 gallon frag tank so that you guys can give me any feedback or suggestions.

 

Since I love the fixture on the 30 gallon, I'm going to go with another AquaStyle DIY kit. I'm going to get their 14 (3 Watt) dimmable LED kit, so it will have blues on one dimmable driver and whites on the other dimmable driver. I like being able to adjust the white vs. blue level to get exactly the look I want. On the 30 gallon I have half royal blues and half whites, and then the whites are split into half 4500k and half 100000k. I like how that turned out since I don't love the windex look so I like some neutral whites in there for balance. So for the 14 LED kit, I'm thinking the breakdown should be:

- 6 Royal Blue

- 3 4500k White

- 3 10000k White

- 2 Pink

 

I checked, and the Bridgelux Pink LEDs are the same color spectrum as Ecoxotic's magenta stunner strips. I figured I'd try adding in a bit of magenta on the frag tank. I kind of wish I had done that on the 30 gallon actually.

 

The LEDs will be laid out on a 15.8" x 4.7" heatsink. Here's the rough draft of the layout I came up with:

So the whites and one pink will be on one dimmable driver and then the blues and one pink will be on the other dimmable driver. Let me know what you guys think!

 

Oh, and the total cost for those curious is going to be $104 including the shipping.

[FlCandy]

Can I comission you to make me 2 LED setups! LMAO I need one for a 40B and one for a Nano Cube DX.

[gena]

Sounds great, Felicia!!!! Nice DIY price too Sounds like a big savings!!!!

 

Did you get photos of your frag swap this time?

[Felicia]

Can I comission you to make me 2 LED setups! LMAO I need one for a 40B and one for a Nano Cube DX.

You buy the kit and send it to me and pay me in frags for the labor and we have a deal! Seriously though, you could manage to make them yourself. Its super easy. Soldering is definitely nowhere near as scary as it sounds.

 

Sounds great, Felicia!!!! Nice DIY price too Sounds like a big savings!!!!

 

Did you get photos of your frag swap this time?

Thanks! I think I'll go ahead and get this ordered tonight. I want to get a new light on the tank ASAP because I've got SPS frags in there and they are not going to be happy under the current light. It takes about 2 weeks to get the kit since it comes from Hong Kong and then I have to spend an evening building the fixture, so the sooner I can place the order the better. And yeah, those kits are so cheap compared to already assembled fixtures. And personally, I like being able to customize it the way I want it anyway.

 

Yep, I snapped some photos of the swap. I'll post them along with the new tank photos in a bit

 

I just met up with the guy to trade the zoas frags I made last night. He's who I had gotten the Cali tort from a long time ago. It was doing great in my tank, but it got knocked off the rock and into the GSP bed when I was out of town. By the time I got home to notice that it had happened, the Cali tort was a white stick But I traded for a new frag that's decent sized, so I'm glad I could get another piece. He also through in a piece of GARF Bonsai. It wasn't doing very well in his tank so he though maybe I could give it a try. It needs some TLC, but hopefully I can get it to look pretty. Unfortunately his Hawkins and Red planet were too small to frag right now, but I'll trade him for some when they grow out.

 

Also, I met up with him at the LFS for the trade and bought a fish I am so bad about going in the LFS when I don't actually need anything. Amazingly enough, the dottyback and the new Allen's damsel are behaving like best buds so I decided I'd try to add one more fish before they establish a territory. I figured 3 fish is the max for the 10 gallon. I got an azure damsel that I'm acclimating right now.

[gena]

I hope the azure settles in well with the other two as well!!!!! That's so cool that they are getting along like BFF's

 

Can't wait to see them all

[Felicia]

I hope the azure settles in well with the other two as well!!!!! That's so cool that they are getting along like BFF's

 

Can't wait to see them all

Yeah, I hope the azure also does well with them. Its odd because the dotty back and the Allen's damsel just swim around and do their own thing. They can swim right by each other without any aggression. That went was better than I thought it would since most dottybacks establish a territory and then try to kill new fish.

[Felicia]

Sorry for the wait, but now I have a TON of photos for you guys. I even got out the water proof case for my camera and took some macros from inside the tank.

 

First off, here are a few photos from the swap. These were taken by the club photographers.

 

Me pulling my group letter for coral picking.

 

Tables of frags.

 

I'm very focused on inspecting the frags.

 

Ok, next is the new FTS for the display tank.

 

Fish

New midas blenny

 

Johnny

 

Corals - SPS

Golden Goose Acro

 

Sour Apple Birdsnest

 

Bali Green Slimer

 

Pocillopora

 

ATL Purple Efflo

 

Unknown Acro. I've had this since the 10 gallon and its been browned out the entire time. Finally over the last month or so it has started developing color at the tips. It looks like its going to be a nice shade of blue.

 

ATL Fire Polyp Undata

 

Pink Lemonade

[Felicia]

Corals - Zoas

Bam Bams

 

Tubbs Blues

 

My Clementines and Nuclear Greens

 

Red Hornets

 

Ring of Fires

 

Red Hornets and Jokers

 

Corals - LPS

ATL Lavender Lace Duncan

 

Neon Green Candy Cane

 

Frogspawn

 

Corals - Softies

Florida Ricordeas

 

Mushrooms

 

Cloves

 

Xenia

 

Toadstool

 

Macros

New Frags

Rasta with Fruit Loops in the background

 

Cali Tort

 

Iron Man Lithophyllon

 

Unknown SPS

 

Unknown SPS

 

ORA Grube's Gorgonian

 

Ok, that's all for now. I'll try to get some more photos of the frag tank soon.

[RollaJase]

Some awesome macro shots, love the midas blenny .

[FlCandy]

 

AWESOME!

I am so jelly of the midas I want my new blenny ASAP. I am keeping the fingers crossed for the Midas but will be happy either way.

 

Your tank looks awesome, I can't believe it has grown in that quickly, TOTM here soon with that baby.

[eitallent]

My main rock structure from the zoas/paly rock through the arch is all connected, so theres no way for me to take the rocks out of the tank. Everyone always suggests fragging zoas by removing the rock from the tank, but I don't know how so many people are able to do that. The way I frag them is by gently waving my hands over them to get them all to close up. Then I slice around the polyps I want with a scalpel. Then I work the scalpel under the edges of the mat I just cut and using a sawing motion I scrape a very thin layer of the rock from under the mat so that the whole piece lifts off without damaging the polyps. Its a pain because you have to lean over the tank at an odd angle the whole time and you have to be really delicate, but it works and you get the hang of it better after a bit.

 

And yeah, after leaning over the tank for an hour scraping with a scalpel and still not getting it all, I decided the epoxy was the easiest approach. I actually got the idea from your brother

 

And my awesome dive buddy gets credit for the photography skills for these photos.

 

You should definitely get certified. I bet you would love diving! I miss having a warm ocean (I grew up in Florida) but at least I'm still near the water and awesome diving.

 

 

No I would be more then willing to get into open water as long as it was a docile shark. Your going to die sometime, why not have it be by something as beautiful as a shark! LMAO J/K but honestly I would totally open water dive with Whites.

 

I frag my zoas in tank too, same exact way PITA but doesn't stress them as much I think and then I just grab the little frag with tweezers and stick it into the glue.

 

Sorry bout your fingers, that sucks I hate glue on my fingers.

 

I tried removing some fast growing Zoas off a big rock in the display with a scalpel and botched the effort ( ). I could not scrape under the rock to lift up the mat intact! Maybe my rock is too hard (?). It is the "Real Reef" stuff so it may be harder than natural LR. Any suggestions for me?

 

Great dive pictures, flsvedlund. You look so happy! I lifts my heart to see your big beautiful smile.

[FlCandy]

Do you have a flathead screwdriver? Or a butter knife? Try getting the chunk of rock off with one of those but be careful of your fingers.

[ajayjack]

AWESOME photos! That swap looks like a blast!!! I need to get myself a macro lens cause those pictures are just awesome.