Mr. Microscope's Cube 2.1

[Mr. Microscope]

I like the new rockwork! That will fill in nicely

 

Sorry to hear about the BTAs and the urchin though. It sounds like the BTAs should recover, so I guess its just patience at this point while you wait for them to get their gorgeous colors back. Where are you planning to put them on the new scape?

Thanks Felicia,

 

They're there already on the right side. One of the bigger ones positioned itself at the back of the rock work. So, you can't see it. As they're all kinda peeved right now, they're a bit on the deflated small side.

[Felicia]

Oh! I'm silly. I see them now I was all distracted admiring the acans and missed them. For some reason I thought they were still in the basket recovering.

[FlowerMama]

I like this set up, of course, when have I ever said that I didn't?? I've liked each setup but this one stands out the most to me. Really like it. Looks like it's spiralling.

[DrVENKMAN]

Fantastic job, the tank is looking great.

[NanoTopia]

Looking posh Mr.M :twothumbsup:

[Mr. Microscope]

I like this set up, of course, when have I ever said that I didn't?? I've liked each setup but this one stands out the most to me. Really like it. Looks like it's spiralling.

Good eye 1st! That actually was a part of the plan to make it like an upward twist! My dinner table is actually to the left of the tank and the acan garden is more exposed over there (fun to watch while eating). I was intending to take another shot form that side, but my camera battery died on me. Will post more shots soon.

Fantastic job, the tank is looking great.

Thanks Venk!

Looking posh Mr.M :twothumbsup:

Thanks NT!

[TheKleinReef]

i really like what you did exchanging the rock, if i was still at home it would be something i do.

my next will start with a dry rock custom aquascape.

[Mr. Microscope]

i really like what you did exchanging the rock, if i was still at home it would be something i do.

my next will start with a dry rock custom aquascape.

Thanks!

 

The dry rock really gives you a lot more time to plan out the aquascape and you get the added benefit of no surprise pests. The only issue with this stuff was that the Pukani took several months to leach out enough phosphates that I felt comfortable using it.

[HVani]

Looking good!

[Mr. Microscope]

Looking good!

Thanks HVani!

[Mr. Microscope]

Hey all,

 

Got out the camera last night a grabbed a few pics. Was feeling lazy. So, I didn't bother to turn off the pumps. Forgive any blurring, but i just wanted to show how the tank looked from the sides.

 

To start out, here's a FTS. The acnas have really gotten puffier. Some of the nems were closed up, but those are improving as well.

 

Here it is from the right, however the angle the tank sits doesn't allow for easy viewing from this angle. So, I hardly ever see it from this side.

 

From the left, this side is seen from the table. So, it makes for good viewing during dinner. I designed the rock scape spiral to start from this side so that the acan garden and torch were clearly viewable. Also, you can see some of the branch pieces with SPS sticking out from this side as well.

 

I mentioned earlier that I picked up a cheap piece of SPS from a LFS. Here's a close-up shot of it.

 

At first I thought it might have been some sort of valida or tenuis, but the more I look at it, the more I'm thinking it's actually A. Nasuta. According to the growth pattern and colors (which are sort of browned out at the moment, but showing hints of green and pink), and I think I might have stumbled on a genaric version of the ORA Shortcake! Time will tell.

 

also...

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the wife may have approved the purchase of this little gem. Thanks Toni!

 

From Unique Corals. It's an Aussi A. Vermiculata "Super Blue". Advertised at 3/4". The pic is not WYSIWYG, but should be similar. Shipping corals really makes me nervous, but their shipping cost is only $19, so I couldn't pass it up. With shipping that cheap, I'm thinking I'll have to order from them again if all goes well. I'll probably have it by Tuesday.

[hey]

scape looks great, I rly liked the coloring of your nems when you had bryopsis though lol, wonder if one could make a bryopsis reactor with a crazy powerful UV rig between the display and the reactor lol.

[HVani]

I love that torch!

 

Everything looks great. It's really cool you can see your tank from so many different angles.

[Mr. Microscope]

scape looks great, I rly liked the coloring of your nems when you had bryopsis though lol, wonder if one could make a bryopsis reactor with a crazy powerful UV rig between the display and the reactor lol.

Thanks Hey!

well, the bryopsis didn't have anything to do with the nem colors. Those came subtly over time and should eventually recover. Probably around the six month mark.

I love that torch!

 

Everything looks great.

Thanks HVani!

Me too. That torch is one of my favorites!

It's really cool you can see your tank from so many different angles.

Peninsula style for the win!

[mpsti05]

How you get your bta's off of the old rock? I've got two gbtas that are on a rock covered in hair algae. Held them upside down for awhile partially in water and they still wouldn't release there foot.

[hey]

Thanks Hey!

well, the bryopsis didn't have anything to do with the nem colors. Those came subtly over time and should eventually recover. Probably around the six month mark.

Thanks HVani!

Me too. That torch is one of my favorites!Peninsula style for the win!

i figured it may have allowed for better water quality while still heavily feeding. lol may be a fun experiment in nutrient export.

[Mr. Microscope]

How you get your bta's off of the old rock? I've got two gbtas that are on a rock covered in hair algae. Held them upside down for awhile partially in water and they still wouldn't release there foot.

Very gently rub/irritate the side of the foot where the nem makes contact with the rock. Choose just one spot on the anemone to irritate. Eventually, a small part of the foot will detach itself from the rock. Once this occures, it's a matter of slowly working the rest of the foot off (actaully more convincing the nem to detach its own foot) by lifting and nudging. In 30min to 1hr, you'll work off the whole anemone. If you do it right, the nem should stay pretty much open/inflated the whole time. Never use any force. If you damage the foot, the nem is toast. I used this technique and got seven of my eight nems off the rocks without doing any damage to them. The eighth nem was really jammed into a rock crevis and I ended up having to use some force to get it out. By doing so, I damaged the foot. I managed to save that one by doing some emergency fraggin. I cut it in half (though the mouth) and discarding the damaged half. The good half healed up fine.

i figured it may have allowed for better water quality while still heavily feeding. lol may be a fun experiment in nutrient export.

You're talking about an algae turf scrubber. If you do a little research, you'll discover some people are having a lot of success with them. There's a few commercial options out there, but I believe it's a pretty easy DIY project. The only drawback seems to be that they take up a lot of space.

My nems were all in perfect health before I put them back into the tank. The reason they lost color was becuase of a bone-headed move I made with H2O2.

[owenj]

I thought I loved your old scape but the new one is . Sucks about the urchin. Moving/changing tanks, seems like no matter how much planning is involved something always manages to come up.

[Mr. Microscope]

I thought I loved your old scape but the new one is . Sucks about the urchin. Moving/changing tanks, seems like no matter how much planning is involved something always manages to come up.

Thanks Jaime!

[hey]

You're talking about an algae turf scrubber. If you do a little research, you'll discover some people are having a lot of success with them. There's a few commercial options out there, but I believe it's a pretty easy DIY project. The only drawback seems to be that they take up a lot of space.

My nems were all in perfect health before I put them back into the tank. The reason they lost color was becuase of a bone-headed move I made with H2O2.

 

Kind of, only bryopsis would grow best submerged, OBV people don't use it for that purpose because its the plague but with enough UV between systems I bet risk of infection to the display is minimal.

[neuwave]

lol Your coral choice is heading in the same direction as my new tank with sps up top and acan garden below. Can't go wrong.

[Mr. Microscope]

lol Your coral choice is heading in the same direction as my new tank with sps up top and acan garden below. Can't go wrong.

like like like!

[Nic]

I just had a big order of SPS from Unique Corals arrive. I believe it was 7 frags, along with an order of 9 frags from Vivid Aquariums. Of the seventeen that arrived I lost one of the Vivid frags overnight to RTN. Everything else has done well and started to color up a bit more. This is the second order I've had from Unique, the first one was a single Strawberry Shortcake Acro frag that STN'd over a period of a few weeks but I think that was more related to the dinoflagellate problem I was experiencing. All in all, Unique Corals has been a great experience thus far.

[Chris!]

Tanks looking better and better! Glad to hear the nems are still improving too....

[Arkayology]

I knew you couldn't stay away from SPS for long... The new scape and frags look great! Sorry to hear about the urchin and the BTAs. I hope they pull through.