Viewpoints - A Photographic Journal of my Reef Tank

[rb1685]

Still one of my favorite tanks around. Thanks for obliging the FTS!

 

BTW, there's a little general store in Needville, TX called "Urbaneks." I pass it every time I go to the beach.

 

Found it. Thanks Google Maps

 

Urbanek's

[Deleted User 4]

T his is beautiful. Wow! Love the tank fts so much!!

O

T

M

[uglyfish]

 

Love the hint of purple on the edge of the green monti. Gorgeous colour on everything.

[urbaneks]

Love the new FTS and your SPS growth is amazing! Thank you for putting out your time and keep us updated! We all are a big fans of your tank and your presentation demos.

 

d'Espresso - Thanks for taking the time to check out the journal and making a comment.

 

Awesome. Maybe one day....

 

pschom - Maybe one day? I've seen your tanks, you are there. Thanks for the views and comments.

 

Still one of my favorite tanks around. Thanks for obliging the FTS!

BTW, there's a little general store in Needville, TX called "Urbaneks." I pass it every time I go to the beach.

Found it. Thanks Google Maps

Urbanek's

 

rb1685 - Favorite is a strong word, that's appreciated. Next time I'm in Needville, I will have to stop in and check out Urbanek's. No relatives there that I'm aware of.

 

T his is beautiful. Wow! Love the tank fts so much!!

O

T

M

 

IIX - Thanks again for your continued support. TOTM would be sweet but something tells me 110g will not be considered Nano.

 

Love the hint of purple on the edge of the green monti. Gorgeous colour on everything.

 

uglyfish - Good eye, not the easiest thing to spot, especially in that photo. There are some days when that purple glows. Thanks for the views and comments.

[pschom]

Wow thanks. But there are many tanks and setups on NR that top mine 2X over (including urs). I'm happy with it, but I'm always a critic of my own work and therefore am never satisfied. Translates into pretty much everything I do.

[urbaneks]

November 21st, 2012 - A few more Macro Shots

 

This first shot is of my Cali Tort which if looking at the FTS is the large coral sitting high and in the middle of the tank. If you look back at old FTS you will see that this has been a very steady grower for me. It's almost time to frag again. I have smaller frags down lower in the tank and this coral shows more green down low, needless to say, I like it higher.

 

Cali Tort - This photo makes me think of a vinyard

 

The Setosa has also been a steady coral for me. Again, looking the FTS, you will see this coral in the lower left hand side of the tank. I've slowly been fragging this coral and adding additional pieces to the same rock. Over time, I'm hoping to get a complete Setosa overhang from that piece of rock.

 

Setosa

 

This last shot is an Acro that I picked up at a LFS (The Aquarius) While this coral is not the most colorful, it makes up for it in polyp extension. Day or night, you can count on this coral being out there for everyone to see. It also does well down lower in the tank which is a plus.

 

Unknown Acro - Anyone help with an ID?

[jgpico]

This tank is absolutely amazing! I was wondering where you disappeared to. That black cap basslet looks awesome, is it aggressive at all?

[urbaneks]

November 23rd, 2012 - Response to Feedback

 

This tank is absolutely amazing! I was wondering where you disappeared to. That black cap basslet looks awesome, is it aggressive at all?

 

jgpicodope009 - Thanks for checking out the journal and making a comment. The Black Cap is far from aggressive, very passive almost to a fault, he likes to hide quite a bit.

[metrokat]

Looks great as always.

[JDigital]

Great macro's Love the Setosa.

[NanoTopia]

Always enjoy your updates:)

[urbaneks]

Looks great as always.

 

metrokat - Thank you very much. Your views and comments are appreciated.

 

Great macro's Love the Setosa.

 

JDigital - Many thanks for the comment. I too love the Setosa, It's like no other color you can find with a coral.

 

Always enjoy your updates:)

 

NanoTopia - Thanks! Appreciate it.

[urbaneks]

November 24th - Photo Update, Additional Macro Shots

 

The photo below is of one of my Montiporas (X-Factor). I just recently fragged this coral, what you see remaining here is about 1/4th of what the coral was. The coral had completely cupped and was blocking flow and the view into the aquarium. The fragging has really opened up the tank again not to mention this coral is much prettier to look at from the top vs. seeing the bottom of the cup. I was able to trade the frags in for the Abro pictured at the bottom of this post.

 

X-Factor Montipora - Love the small blue polyps

 

The coral pictured below is an unknown acro which I picked up at a LFS (The Aquarius). While you can't see if from the photo, the coral grows long and thin branches. What drew me to this coral was the baby blue coloration. The base started to STN on me shortly after purchase, I was able to save 4 good pieces from the colony which have since encrusted and began growing nicely.

 

Unknown Acro - Anyone help with ID?

 

I bought these polyps in a moment of weakness a few months back. While at the LFS, I was not finding any SPS however these Clove Polyp's caught my eye. I had a particular spot in my tank where I wanted a low light coral that would provide some movement. The coral has really taken off and has grown into higher light areas around some of my acros. So far none of the corals seem to be bothered by it but it quite invasive. If given the chance to do it over again, I would not have brought these home.

 

Clove Polyps

 

I mentioned above that I traded some frags of X-Factor for this Abro Acro. Currently this coral is a light brown with a bit of green. Based on some google searches, this coral should get some intense pink tips. I'm very hopeful that given some time, this coral will color up for me. Until then I still enjoy the interesting growth form with the small cups that protect the polyps.

 

Abrotanoides Acro

[d'Espresso]

Beautiful pictures and demo of your corals up close! I enjoyed every detail that was described about each corals. I can't wait for you to take a nice FTS front view and side view.

 

Where do you placement your Setosa montipora may I ask?

 

Also what type of cloves are those? So far I collected 4 different types and yours seem to be catching my eyes. True that they are fast growers once they settle in a tank.

[Deleted User 4]

Closeup fts please. Love the new macros btw.

[urbaneks]

November 25th, 2012 - Responses to Feedback

 

Beautiful pictures and demo of your corals up close! I enjoyed every detail that was described about each corals. I can't wait for you to take a nice FTS front view and side view.

 

Where do you placement your Setosa montipora may I ask?

 

Also what type of cloves are those? So far I collected 4 different types and yours seem to be catching my eyes. True that they are fast growers once they settle in a tank.

 

d'Espresso - Thanks for the compliment on the photo and write up. I have the Setosa located in a few different locations, one down low and the other up high, both are doing very well and have the same color. Based on my experience you can keep this coral about anywhere in your tank. As for the Clove Polyps, I really don't have any idea what kind they are. They have a nice orange streak in them which is what caught my eye when I purchased them.

 

Closeup fts please. Love the new macros btw.

 

IIX - FTS was just posted a couple days ago, not enough change in the tank to really justify a new FTS. As always, thanks for the view and comments.

[Deleted User 4]

Mmhhmm that one is a bit far from the tank. I want a closeup one! Just the tank only, no stand/room view. Thank you!!!

[urbaneks]

November 25th, 2012 Photo Update - Side Views

 

Here are the side shots of my aquarium at 1 year and 7 months. While the depth of focus does not show the entire tank in detail, I feel both pictures represent the colors that I currently have. Both of these pictures were taken under 20K MH's without any of the T5's running.

 

The first photo was taken from the left side of the aquarium and is focused on the blue/gray unknown acro about center tank. One of my two Bartlett's Anthias, one of the two Clownfish and my Blue Tang are making their presence known. If you look in the bottom right corner you will see my Chevron Tang who's been with me since he was the size of a quarter. The very bright green coral in the front right is a Pokerstar Montipora.

 

A view from the left

 

 

 

The second photo was taken from the right side of the aquarium and is focused on the Pink Prostrata Acro. Also very visible with the blue tips is a new wild Echinata Acro which I just recently added. Again one of the Bartlett's and the Blue Tang are out front. Also in this photo is one of my 5 Blue Chromis and one of 2 LeMark's Angelfish.

 

A view from the right

[Deleted User 4]

Wow!!! AmaZING!!!! Thank you!! Haha

[urbaneks]

Mmhhmm that one is a bit far from the tank. I want a closeup one! Just the tank only, no stand/room view. Thank you!!!

 

 

Wow!!! AmaZING!!!! Thank you!! Haha

 

IIX - Thanks once again for the views and comments. I hope those last two side shots were what you were looking for.

[Kfmmartin19]

Beautiful tank! What was your fish stock when u had your nanocube? Also what is your favorite nano fish you've ever had. This may be a strange question but that pic of your nanocube on the front page...it says it's 16 months and I see no coralline algae...howd you pull that off? Coralline is something that everyone wants but I hate it haha. It's so annoying!

 

Oh also how long did you have that BTA and how big did it get? I've always been scared of keeping a nem in a tank with that much coral!

 

Thanks

[urbaneks]

November 26th, 2012 - Response to Feedback

 

Beautiful tank! What was your fish stock when u had your nanocube? Also what is your favorite nano fish you've ever had. This may be a strange question but that pic of your nanocube on the front page...it says it's 16 months and I see no coralline algae...howd you pull that off? Coralline is something that everyone wants but I hate it haha. It's so annoying!

 

Oh also how long did you have that BTA and how big did it get? I've always been scared of keeping a nem in a tank with that much coral!

 

Thanks

 

Kfmmartin1996 - Thank you for your kind words on both my current tank and my previous Nano Cube. Here are the answers to the questions you asked;

 

 

 

-- Fish Stock in Nano - 2 Clownfish (moved to current tank), 6 Line Wrasse, Pistol Shrimp and Yellow Watchman Goby (moved to current tank) and a African Flameback Angelfish.

 

-- Favorite Nano Fish - Difficult to answer but I'd have to say my YWG and Pistol Shrimp Combo. They were cool then and they still are!

 

-- No coraline algae at 16 months - If you look at the rocks, there is plenty of coraline. Where you don't see it is on the glass and back wall. You will notice the same thing on my new tank which is also over 18 months old. When I aquascape my tank, I make sure I can clean the back wall easily. The trick is to not let the coraline start. When ever I clean my glass (every 3 days) I also clean the back wall. A little extra work every couple days saves a bunch of work down the road.

 

-- The RBTA was in my tank for about the last 6-8 months it was setup. I bought it thinking my Clownfish would make a home in it which they did not. Even with the Nem, they kept hosting the return nozzle. I would guess that it added about 1/4th it's original size and split once in the time that I had it. Honestly, I would never have another one unless it was a Nem dedicated tank. It would stay put for a few weeks, I would move things around to accommodate it and then it would move again. They are beautiful but I can achieve a similar look with a nice torch coral and know that it's not going to move. See below, I posted a nice shot of my Torch Coral, this may be a better option for you.

 

 

 

I hope that I've answered your questions, if you have any follow up please let me know. Again, thanks for your views, comments and insightful questions.

 

For me this Torch Coral is a good substitute for a BTA.

[eawonko]

Your tank is beautiful and everything is so well organized and ....yes...it's just speechless. My boyfriend is the big SPS guy. Our 150 is SPS and he loves colored stix. I can't wait to show him your thread because you guys have very similar tastes in coral and he really likes to look at other sps tanks..even if it's via internet. Thanks for sharing so much about your tank. I really love it!

[Kfmmartin19]

November 26th, 2012 - Response to Feedback

 

 

 

Kfmmartin1996 - Thank you for your kind words on both my current tank and my previous Nano Cube. Here are the answers to the questions you asked;

 

 

 

-- Fish Stock in Nano - 2 Clownfish (moved to current tank), 6 Line Wrasse, Pistol Shrimp and Yellow Watchman Goby (moved to current tank) and a African Flameback Angelfish.

 

-- Favorite Nano Fish - Difficult to answer but I'd have to say my YWG and Pistol Shrimp Combo. They were cool then and they still are!

 

-- No coraline algae at 16 months - If you look at the rocks, there is plenty of coraline. Where you don't see it is on the glass and back wall. You will notice the same thing on my new tank which is also over 18 months old. When I aquascape my tank, I make sure I can clean the back wall easily. The trick is to not let the coraline start. When ever I clean my glass (every 3 days) I also clean the back wall. A little extra work every couple days saves a bunch of work down the road.

 

-- The RBTA was in my tank for about the last 6-8 months it was setup. I bought it thinking my Clownfish would make a home in it which they did not. Even with the Nem, they kept hosting the return nozzle. I would guess that it added about 1/4th it's original size and split once in the time that I had it. Honestly, I would never have another one unless it was a Nem dedicated tank. It would stay put for a few weeks, I would move things around to accommodate it and then it would move again. They are beautiful but I can achieve a similar look with a nice torch coral and know that it's not going to move. See below, I posted a nice shot of my Torch Coral, this may be a better option for you.

 

 

 

I hope that I've answered your questions, if you have any follow up please let me know. Again, thanks for your views, comments and insightful questions.

 

For me this Torch Coral is a good substitute for a BTA.

Wow! Thanks for the thorough response! Really appreciate it. I've been thinking about a goby/shrimp pair but am just kinda concerned for a sandstorm everyday and avalanches all the time! Any thoughts? Also, can u recommend any other shrimp gobies that are cool and active besides the yellow watchman? Just probably don't want the yellow watchman because I am interested in a Midas Blenny and that'd be too much yellow haha. How did u like your 6 line? They r so cool but I know almost everyone says they get too aggressive. On the subject of wrasses, would u highly recommend a wrasse for an SPS tank for eating pests? I would love to get one but am afraid it may not fit with the bioload I have planned for the tank.

 

I agree with u about the nem. I came to the same conclusion myself and bought myself a torch. Too bad my clown won't be hosted by it!

[mikellini]

I made the mistake of going with an elegance coral... Beautiful specimen, was doing so well for over a month, and as of yesterday it started to decline... Guess I'm gonna look for a nice bright torch