Mr. Microscope's Cube 2.1

[NanoTopia]

That's it, I'm unsubscribing!

 

Tired of all the build up on this thread, then nothing at all, crap man, real crap!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding Mr. M, I will never unsubscribe, your a legend. Don't stress, all will fall into place in due time

[Mr. Microscope]

That's it, I'm unsubscribing!

 

Tired of all the build up on this thread, then nothing at all, crap man, real crap!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding Mr. M, I will never unsubscribe, your a legend. Don't stress, all will fall into place in due time

LOL! And, awe! :) Thanks Christine!

It's a much longer journey than it should have been. I think it was October when I decided to change directions with my tank. Oh well. The one thing I failed to consider was stupid winter. D'oh!

 

On a more fun note, I did a bunch of aquacaping yesterday and got most of my acan colonies onto a nice looking rock. I can't wait to get home today and see how everything has settled in after all the putty and super glue drama. It should make for some nice viewing. New FTS sooner than normal!

[HVani]

No new pretty nems?

 

I feel ya though. I've been waiting for a coral order for 3 weeks that keeps being delayed due to weather. I honestly forgot what I ordered.

[Mr. Microscope]

No new pretty nems?

 

I feel ya though. I've been waiting for a coral order for 3 weeks that keeps being delayed due to weather. I honestly forgot what I ordered.

Thanks for the empathy. Yeah, lesson definitely learned. No more winter ordering.

[kguske2]

Here's a small update.

 

 

Finally, here's some more pics just for fun

I call these my Reddy-Red Red Acans. lolhttp://s876.photobucket.com/user/Mr_Microscope/media/acans0320140208_zps1bf4244d.jpg.html'>

http://s876.photobucket.com/user/Mr_Microscope/media/acans0220140208_zps27f16c41.jpg.html'>http://s876.photobucket.com/user/Mr_Microscope/media/acan0120140208_zps05603c03.jpg.html'>

 

 

How do you get your acans to open up so nicely?! They look amazing!

[got2envy]

Nice quiet FTS:

 

You can see how the nem has moved.

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also,

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Four

Tank looks awesome as ever!

[Mr. Microscope]

How do you get your acans to open up so nicely?! They look amazing!

Thanks kg! I'm not really sure now. I used to think it was because I target fed them once a week or so, but now I've stopped that. They do have a fair amount of feed fall on them though and I often blow of my rocks and I notice they tend to open up more when I do that. I do 5 gallon WC once a week which helps water quality I imagine. If you're having problems getting yours to open up, try putting some cyclope-eze in your tank. Mine always react to that if they're not already open.

Tank looks awesome as ever!

Thanks go2envy! I just did a fairly large change in the tank. Will post more about that soon.

[Mr. Microscope]

As I mentioned recently, I mounted most of my acans onto a rock. Partially at the recommendation of Giga and buddythelion, and partially because I was reworking my sump and needed to move a huge piece of rock into the DT to make room. It's hard to tell in the image, but the rock angles back towards the pillar slightly making for a nice grading to go up with the colonies without them shading one another. Here's the results (in actinic view):

 

This rock is pretty close to the glass. So, it makes for some nice macro shots.

 

Also, I'm doing a three day lights out this weekend. I've been getting this brown snotty bacteria stuff all over everything lately. I blow it off and in a few hours it comes back. It's been bugging some of my corals lately. I suspect this happened because I disturbed the sand bed a little too much. Pretty sure it's not cyano or dinos. I can't identify it, but I found a few threads out there that described a similar issue and the dark period obliterated it.

[gena]

WOW! Looks amazing. One day I'm going to have an acan dominated tank. Nice work there .

[Polarcollision]

Love the acan garden idea and scape, especially that yellow one. My rainbow acans all turned shades of orange. Gotta find out how you're keeping their colors true

 

Are you putting the nems up top, then?

[Mr. Microscope]

WOW! Looks amazing. One day I'm going to have an acan dominated tank. Nice work there .

Thanks Gena! They are addicting. It's amazing how fast a frag grows. All these colonies started out as one or two polyps. They're a lot of fun to feed too.

Love the acan garden idea and scape, especially that yellow one. My rainbow acans all turned shades of orange. Gotta find out how you're keeping their colors true

 

Are you putting the nems up top, then?

Thanks PC! The yellow one is actually more orange, but a really bright orange. The center is almost pink and there is a slight reddish ring on some of the more mature polyps. The babies start out green. Yeah, I've done a lot of experimenting with lighting and color of my acans. From putting them in full light to straight-up under my overhang for months at a time. It's odd. Some color up better in one parameter or the other and look like crap in the opposite, but they don't all react the same. Most of my rainbows are reddish, but I feel I'm getting better color out of them in full light at the bottom.

I've heard that Todd Cherry swears by low light in the 50 PAR range.

 

Yup, nems all go up top!

[gena]

Thanks Gena! They are addicting. It's amazing how fast a frag grows. All these colonies started out as one or two polyps. They're a lot of fun to feed too.

 

 

I agree. I think the fact that they are so hardy and grow so well makes them even more desirable. Not to mention the gorgeous colors .

[mpsti05]

Looming good in there! I need to grab some acans from reefwise soon

[Mr. Microscope]

Looming good in there! I need to grab some acans from reefwise soon

I haven't been there yet. Do they have a good selection?

[RollaJase]

Acan rock looks amazing mate, makes me wish I had room for acans in my cube haha.

[Mr. Microscope]

Acan rock looks amazing mate, makes me wish I had room for acans in my cube haha.

Thanks Rolla! I had to go look at your cube. You've got some really nice candy in there. It would be a tight squeeze to add a garden, but you'd have room for just one acan frag..and just one more after that..and it begins. Lol

[Arkayology]

Nice recent shots Mr. Micro. Good luck getting rid of that snotty brown junk.

[fastuno]

Going back to algae & healthy corals vs no algae & deteriorated corals.

 

I say do a refugium if you have not. Some big time reefers swear by them & I went into one guy who had an entire large tank setup completely setup with chaeto & algae. His display tank was sparkling clean & multitude of SPS's & zoas very healthy. That was his thing, SPS & zoas.

[mpsti05]

I haven't been there yet. Do they have a good selection?

Ohhhh yea! Top notch stuff and there coral selection is amazing. Only place I go

[jedimasterben]

Also, I'm doing a three day lights out this weekend. I've been getting this brown snotty bacteria stuff all over everything lately. I blow it off and in a few hours it comes back. It's been bugging some of my corals lately. I suspect this happened because I disturbed the sand bed a little too much. Pretty sure it's not cyano or dinos. I can't identify it, but I found a few threads out there that described a similar issue and the dark period obliterated it.

Take a sample of this stuff and put it under a microscope. Video of it would be best for ID, but by that one picture I don't have good news for you, and if it's what I think it is, a blackout (especially only three days) will only trigger them to encyst and to enter a heterotrophic state versus photoautotrophic.

[Felicia]

I love all the new photos of this tank. It looks pretty awesome now with all the LPS corals. You're definitely helping encourage me to go that route I just love all the balls of acans! Also, nice job being super nerdy and using tissue culture plates to hold frags I use lab stuff all the time for my tank, so its nice to see another lab worker being creative! I'm currently using a T75 culture flask as my alk dosing reservoir

[Polarcollision]

Thanks PC! The yellow one is actually more orange, but a really bright orange. The center is almost pink and there is a slight reddish ring on some of the more mature polyps. The babies start out green. Yeah, I've done a lot of experimenting with lighting and color of my acans. From putting them in full light to straight-up under my overhang for months at a time. It's odd. Some color up better in one parameter or the other and look like crap in the opposite, but they don't all react the same. Most of my rainbows are reddish, but I feel I'm getting better color out of them in full light at the bottom.

I've heard that Todd Cherry swears by low light in the 50 PAR range.

 

Yup, nems all go up top!

 

I've heard about spectrum making a difference, though in my experience it has only been minimal changes. More people say low light and blue LEDs. I bought a gorgeous green and red and yellow and pink rainbow acan from pacific east aquaculture, which stayed like that for about a week before drifting off to orange. Did a little sleuthing to find that they use geisemann T5 Actinic plus and aqua blue bulbs. Under the Hydras they're getting a hint of their former glory back, but only when they're shrunk up tight for bedtime. One person said they come from fairly turbid water and need lots of plankton to keep their colors--which would support the 50 PAR idea. Others say 3:1 blue:white LEDs increase the rainbow coloration. Others claim UV. Clearly no one knows. or it's complicated. :-)

 

Have you heard of Austin Aqua Farms? They're low on stock right now, but usually have a fantastic acan selection

[Mr. Microscope]

Nice recent shots Mr. Micro. Good luck getting rid of that snotty brown junk.

Thanks Ark! It seems to be going away. Today is the last day of the black out.

Going back to algae & healthy corals vs no algae & deteriorated corals.

Yeah, I'm sort of back to that, but I've recently gotten a bit more conservative with feedings and have gone bat-$hit crazy with water changes. The algae seems to have taken a serious hit and corals still look pretty happy.

I say do a refugium if you have not. Some big time reefers swear by them & I went into one guy who had an entire large tank setup completely setup with chaeto & algae. His display tank was sparkling clean & multitude of SPS's & zoas very healthy. That was his thing, SPS & zoas.

Yeah, I have a small fuge going and recently cleared a new spot in my sump to grow a bunch more chaeto (which should be coming along with my nems from coral collection). I'm planning to have a massive amount of chaeto going in my next tank as I've also seen some very healthy tanks with similar sized fuges. Thanks for the thought.

Ohhhh yea! Top notch stuff and there coral selection is amazing. Only place I go

Cool. Good to know. I'll have to make a day of it sometime. Thanks for the heads-up!

Take a sample of this stuff and put it under a microscope. Video of it would be best for ID, but by that one picture I don't have good news for you, and if it's what I think it is, a blackout (especially only three days) will only trigger them to encyst and to enter a heterotrophic state versus photoautotrophic.

Hmm. So, what do you think it is? Thank you for your input here Ben. I appreciate your insight.

I love all the new photos of this tank. It looks pretty awesome now with all the LPS corals. You're definitely helping encourage me to go that route I just love all the balls of acans! Also, nice job being super nerdy and using tissue culture plates to hold frags I use lab stuff all the time for my tank, so its nice to see another lab worker being creative! I'm currently using a T75 culture flask as my alk dosing reservoir

Thanks Felicia! Yeah, now when I'm shopping around I find myself scrolling through the LPS pages rather than looking at SPS or zoas.

 

Nerd-high-five! Culture flask! Nice thought. The nice flat dimension of that has to be a great space saver! Speaking of nerdy lab stuff, did you see the pics of the sea-urchin facility in my institute? I posted them in my Microscopy thread.

 

Here's another good use for lab stuff that I recommend. I always carry one of those plastic 50cc tubes with me in my bag and have one or two at home. They come in really handy when I find something cool that I want to take to work and get a quick look at under a microscope.

 

I've heard about spectrum making a difference, though in my experience it has only been minimal changes. More people say low light and blue LEDs. I bought a gorgeous green and red and yellow and pink rainbow acan from pacific east aquaculture, which stayed like that for about a week before drifting off to orange. Did a little sleuthing to find that they use geisemann T5 Actinic plus and aqua blue bulbs. Under the Hydras they're getting a hint of their former glory back, but only when they're shrunk up tight for bedtime. One person said they come from fairly turbid water and need lots of plankton to keep their colors--which would support the 50 PAR idea. Others say 3:1 blue:white LEDs increase the rainbow coloration. Others claim UV. Clearly no one knows. or it's complicated. :-)

 

Have you heard of Austin Aqua Farms? They're low on stock right now, but usually have a fantastic acan selection

Yeah, I've seen a lot of nice acans come out of T5 tanks. Hmm.. I've been thinking about building a hybrid T5/ LED setup for my next tank.

I'm glad to hear you're getting your acan's color back. I've found one nice thing about acans is that you can really morph their colors pretty dramatically and get them back to their original glory in due time. I had one acan frag itself accidentally and I decided to put the frag in more intense light. It got more rainbow, but also got the grey/white ring around the edge. The colony that was in the shade was completely red/orange with no ring. I'm not sure which I like better.

[jedimasterben]

I've heard about spectrum making a difference, though in my experience it has only been minimal changes. More people say low light and blue LEDs. I bought a gorgeous green and red and yellow and pink rainbow acan from pacific east aquaculture, which stayed like that for about a week before drifting off to orange. Did a little sleuthing to find that they use geisemann T5 Actinic plus and aqua blue bulbs. Under the Hydras they're getting a hint of their former glory back, but only when they're shrunk up tight for bedtime. One person said they come from fairly turbid water and need lots of plankton to keep their colors--which would support the 50 PAR idea. Others say 3:1 blue:white LEDs increase the rainbow coloration. Others claim UV. Clearly no one knows. or it's complicated. :-)

It's actually not all that complicated lol. The fluorescent red proteins that they have need quite a bit of light in the 550-650nm range, which the cool white LEDs present in basically all commercial fixtures do not cover with respectable output. Use a good quality, high-CRI white LED as the base and the problems go away

 

Hmm. So, what do you think it is? Thank you for your input here Ben. I appreciate your insight.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21748634#post21748634

 

Here are some videos of 'tank' dinoflagellates: http://www.youtube.com/user/YorickSanchez

[Polarcollision]

It's actually not all that complicated lol. The fluorescent red proteins that they have need quite a bit of light in the 550-650nm range, which the cool white LEDs present in basically all commercial fixtures do not cover with respectable output. Use a good quality, high-CRI white LED as the base and the problems go away

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21748634#post21748634

 

Here are some videos of 'tank' dinoflagellates: http://www.youtube.com/user/YorickSanchez

 

I don't want to emphasize the fluorescent red proteins. They're already dominant without the warm white LED. Instead, I'd like to emphasize the other colors the acan is capable of. Suggestions?