Panda_girl Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 THis is one of my favorite tanks. Check out the unbelievable sun coral growth. They feed frozen baby brine daily. This tank is amazing!!!! WOW!! Quote Link to comment
chrssprngs Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Any thoughts on chalk bass Albert? Chris Quote Link to comment
atoll Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Any thoughts on chalk bass Albert? Chris I Have kept Chalk bass and IMO they are great little fish and ideal for a reasonable sized nano coral tank. I kept a trio of them sometime ago and they bothered nothing in the tank but can be bullied by some fish. If you like them go out and buy them. Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 An interesting method I used when dosing pumps where not in fashion yet and that can still be used if you want a simple top-off method or a method to add KW to your tank This is not the most sophisticated way to do it and I realize that but it "works" Comments appreciated Albert 1 Quote Link to comment
gena Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Gena you may try to get in touch with this place ... They have a strawberry colored one but it looks kind of pink to me ... Guess it does not hurt talking to them and see what they can do for you (maybe they can get hold of one for you) http://www.freshmarine.com/leathers.html Albert I think this is the type of Leather coral that Gena wants ... if anyone who reads this has seen one for sale or knows where to get one, please let her know Pink Sarcophyton Very nice looking Sarco .... Albert Thank you so much, Albert! It's very generous of you to take your time to help me find what I'm looking for The site looks like an excellent source for leather corals. I've bookmarked it for future use. I'll definitely be in contact with them about the pink sarco. Again, I very much appreciate your help with this!!!!!! Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Thank you so much, Albert! It's very generous of you to take your time to help me find what I'm looking for The site looks like an excellent source for leather corals. I've bookmarked it for future use. I'll definitely be in contact with them about the pink sarco. Again, I very much appreciate your help with this!!!!!! You are very welcome 1 Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) My suggestions on Cynarina Corals Cynarina is originally from the Southern Pacific Cynarina is a peaceful type of coral, meaning not aggressive, and should IME not be kept next to aggressive neighbors that will encroach on it and sting or otherwise harm it. Cynarina Coral should be kept in a spot in the aquarium where it can receive moderate lighting along with low waterflow. Because of its lighting and water requirements, keep this coral near the bottom to the middle of the aquarium. Cynarina Coral is easy to care for, and can be kept even by the beginning hobbyist with little or no problem. Here is a pic of a red one ... very nice looking Any thoughts on chalk bass Albert? Chris Chalk Bass (basslet) Do not know of any issues with them IME except that they can be aggressed by other fish. Should have place to hide. Tank size I would say IME 30 gallons or close to it. Are you planning on keeping several in there? How big is your tank? I have seen them in red, blue, green and all kinds of other colors ... Should not be a problem as long as you give them space and make sure that no other fish go after them Albert This tank is amazing!!!! WOW!! Yes it sure it with that enormous growth of Sun Corals I Have kept Chalk bass and IMO they are great little fish and ideal for a reasonable sized nano coral tank. I kept a trio of them sometime ago and they bothered nothing in the tank but can be bullied by some fish. If you like them go out and buy them. +1 indeed the bullying can be a problem ... but they are real nice and peaceful non aggressive fish IME too Albert Edited June 23, 2012 by albertthiel 1 Quote Link to comment
atoll Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 An interesting coral .... Oxypora Chalice form Anyone have more pics of this one ? Albert Here's a pic of one of mine however the colour of the pic does not do it justice as I only have a small pocket camera Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) Any thoughts on chalk bass Albert? Chris See my other posts .... here is a pic of a nice one ... and as I wrote they come in many many different colors Serranus tortugarum Albert Here's a pic of one of mine however the colour of the pic does not do it justice as I only have a small pocket camera Still looks good even though the color is not coming out the way you wanted it. Thanks Les Albert Edited June 23, 2012 by albertthiel 1 Quote Link to comment
CJBuckeyes Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 My first post in over six years (took a long break from reefing)... but didn't want to miss an opportunity to get some great advice. I have a 22 gallon ADA tank (about 30 gals with the sump) and I haven't been able to get the corals to consistently thrive. The tank has been up since February, added corals in March. After a few months, I noticed that my blue clove polyps weren't opening (this would probably make most people happy), so I replaced the carbon I was running with a 1/2 unit of chemi-pure elite on the hunch that phosphates were the problem. Within a few days everything was back to normal. A month later, my frogspawn and devils hand weren't opening quite as fully so I replace the CPE during my weekly water change. After that, the devils hand and my sinularia both closed, and remained closed until I did my next water change a week later. After two weeks, I decided to run an experiment and changed the CPE elite again during the water change, and everything closed up. My fuge is going crazy with hair algae, so much so that at some point my cheato stopped growing and started to melt with slime and I slowly removed it after trying to save it with increased flow. I purchased the only (crappy) phosphate test kit they had at the LFS, which only registers above 0.25 (shows zero for me). My temp is steady at 79, my salinity steady at 1.025 using an ato. Nitrites and nitrates at zero, total ammonia is at 0.2 mg/L, and ph is fairly steady 8.2 (off-cycle light in fuge). I do weekly 5 gallon water changes from an RODI, mixing for 24 hours. I'm running a reef octopus skimmer as well. I ordered a hanna phosphate meter that's coming later this week, along with a reactor and GFO. Does this sound like the right culprit, or should I be checking something else? Am I imagining it, or does my tank have a sensitivity to CPE, even though it's only a 1/2 unit and I rinse it before use? Tried to include all the relevant details, hope it wasn't too much. Thanks! Albert, thanks for your PM with encouragement. A quick summary of my problem, all of my tank parameters (that I can measure) were stable and near ideal (temp, salinity, alkalinity, nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, ph). I had algae starting to take off, diatoms in the main tank and TONS of GHA and bit of cyano in the fuge. Whenever I added Chemipure Elite in the sump (passively), my devil's hand and sinularia would close for a few days. On Friday my Hanna phosphate checker arrived, and I did my first test. I literally groaned "WTF" as the 0.00 reading came up. I've read in the past that the phosphates can get soaked up by the growing algae (and even live rock), so I decided to vacuum of the GHA and cyano out my sump during my water change. I also removed the passive CPE wedged a BRS reactor into my stand with a half dose of carbon and GFO. Do you think my theory about the algae soaking up the phosphates is correct? Is removing the algae and adding GFO the right move? A pic of my setup... Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Albert, thanks for your PM with encouragement. A quick summary of my problem, all of my tank parameters (that I can measure) were stable and near ideal (temp, salinity, alkalinity, nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, ph). I had algae starting to take off, diatoms in the main tank and TONS of GHA and bit of cyano in the fuge. Whenever I added Chemipure Elite in the sump (passively), my devil's hand and sinularia would close for a few days. On Friday my Hanna phosphate checker arrived, and I did my first test. I literally groaned "WTF" as the 0.00 reading came up. I've read in the past that the phosphates can get soaked up by the growing algae (and even live rock), so I decided to vacuum of the GHA and cyano out my sump during my water change. I also removed the passive CPE wedged a BRS reactor into my stand with a half dose of carbon and GFO. Do you think my theory about the algae soaking up the phosphates is correct? Is removing the algae and adding GFO the right move? A pic of my setup... On my cell so I'll reply when I get back to Laptop Quote Link to comment
atoll Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Corals from my previous 90 gallon reef tank Lobophyllia I think. Purple Porities. Tongue coral. Polyphilliatalpina. Symphyllia or Lobophyllia?. Small Catalaphyllia jardinei. Candycane. Caulastrea Previous 35ltr nano tank. Favia. Caulastrea, candycane. Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Corals from my previous 90 gallon reef tankLobophyllia I think. Purple Porities. Tongue coral. Polyphilliatalpina. Symphyllia or Lobophyllia?. Small Catalaphyllia jardinei. Candycane. Caulastrea Previous 35ltr nano tank. Favia. Caulastrea, candycane. Looking great Les ! I think they are Lobophyllia ... but I am looking at them on my iPhone ... will check better later this afternoon and suggest what I think they both are ... Gorgeous looking tank though Albert Quote Link to comment
d'Espresso Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I saw this thread the couple days ago and it was only 2 page came back today there is 16 page to read. Oh wow Albert you sure is popular. LOL(laugh out loud) Where did you post about scolymia corals? Quote Link to comment
ZephNYC Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 I saw this thread the couple days ago and it was only 2 page came back today there is 16 page to read. Oh wow Albert you sure is popular. LOL(laugh out loud) Where did you post about scolymia corals? True...I think no longer does Kat have the hottest thread on NR. But Albert doesnt look as good in heels. Also, I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Even though I started this thread for Albert, it was Metrokat that found him and introduced him to NR. She deserves the cred. Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) I saw this thread the couple days ago and it was only 2 page came back today there is 16 page to read. Oh wow Albert you sure is popular. LOL(laugh out loud) Where did you post about scolymia corals? You can either type Scolymia in the search box at the bottom left or you can use this link which should show you all of the posting on them. If the link does no work just do the search yourself once you are in my thread and it will search for all posts on Scolymia and show you the results . Yes, the number of pages went up quite a bit indeed, one of the reasons being that I get personal messages asking for pictures and more pictures on particular corals and even fish and so I post quite a few of those and that and the questions make the page count go up ... but yes the thread has been popular with nearly 300 posts and about 4500 or close to that unique "views" - and that is in 1 week ... so I am really pleased with that but at the same time I am somewhat surprised that the numbers went up so fast ... keeps me busy believe me but I don't mind ... Whenever I can help I gladly do so and post answers to the questions or PM's I get The link : http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...ite=%2Bscolymia Albert True...I think no longer does Kat have the hottest thread on NR. But Albert doesnt look as good in heels. Also, I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Even though I started this thread for Albert, it was Metrokat that found him and introduced him to NR. She deserves the cred. Very true Zeph ... Kat is THE # 1 ... no doubt about it !! Albert Looking great Les ! I think they are Lobophyllia ... but I am looking at them on my iPhone ... will check better later this afternoon and suggest what I think they both are ... Gorgeous looking tank though Albert Les looking at both on my laptop I do believe that they are both Lobophyllia corals Symphillia can look very similar but I do not think that the one where you ask the question is one. I am sure others have looked at the pictures so maybe they want to chime in .... Thanks Albert Edited June 23, 2012 by albertthiel Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) For those of you who want to find out more about T5 and T5 HO lights here is a good link http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/nlpip/ligh...t5/abstract.asp Their webpages are set up in an odd manner so scroll to the bottom and use the arrow on the right to move through all the pages .... Albert Oh and I came across a pic of a Vietnamese Acan ... Edited June 23, 2012 by albertthiel Quote Link to comment
Spirofucci Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 True...I think no longer does Kat have the hottest thread on NR. But Albert doesnt look as good in heels. Also, I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Even though I started this thread for Albert, it was Metrokat that found him and introduced him to NR. She deserves the cred. Yep, Kat has changed the face of NR! Thanks for finding Albert! I love this thread, but have to check it a couple time per day to keep up. mmmmmm? I wonder how Albert would look in a pair? Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 (edited) Albert, thanks for your PM with encouragement. A quick summary of my problem, all of my tank parameters (that I can measure) were stable and near ideal (temp, salinity, alkalinity, nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, ph). I had algae starting to take off, diatoms in the main tank and TONS of GHA and bit of cyano in the fuge. Whenever I added Chemipure Elite in the sump (passively), my devil's hand and sinularia would close for a few days. On Friday my Hanna phosphate checker arrived, and I did my first test. I literally groaned "WTF" as the 0.00 reading came up. I've read in the past that the phosphates can get soaked up by the growing algae (and even live rock), so I decided to vacuum of the GHA and cyano out my sump during my water change. I also removed the passive CPE wedged a BRS reactor into my stand with a half dose of carbon and GFO. Do you think my theory about the algae soaking up the phosphates is correct? Is removing the algae and adding GFO the right move? A pic of my setup... CJBuckeyes ... I have read and read your original post and the 2nd one several times now to make sure I understood exactly what the issue is and what you have been doing and what you are doing now. It seems that you are doing all the right things yet you get adverse reactions with the CPE and your PO4 is at zero ppm I cannot figure out exactly what is going on but have to make some assumptions here : Here is what I suggest ... remove the CPE and let's see what is happening. Let the PO4 build up a little and see if your lifeforms start acting normally again. Keep the skimmer running. Do not use GAC for now and let's do all of this for a few days and carefully record what is going on. Do not do any water changes for a few days either. Once you have that information shoot me another message and let me know what you found out (what happened in the aquarium) and then based on that let's try and figure it out some more. I have a feeling that the aquarium water may too nutrient poor and that is what may be affecting how the corals react. I have heard of other cases where CPE has an adverse effect on certain corals so maybe that is also the case for you. Removing will tell us whether that is indeed so. If you take the above steps and then get back to me in a day or two and tell me what changes you see I can try and give you some other recommendations. Oh and on the blue Clove ... Yes I agree ... most will be surprised as once you have those they usually start taking over your tank ... Here are some pics especially one that shows you a tank that is totally overtaken with them. So get back to me with the requested info. Thanks Does not seem to bother the SPS even though there are tons of them Edited June 24, 2012 by albertthiel Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Now here is a super Stichodactyla anemone Albert Quote Link to comment
CJBuckeyes Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 CJBuckeyes ... I have read and read your original post and the 2nd one several times now to make sure I understood exactly what the issue is and what you have been doing and what you are doing now. It seems that you are doing all the right things yet you get adverse reactions with the CPE and your PO4 is at zero ppm I cannot figure out exactly what is going on but have to make some assumptions here : Here is what I suggest ... remove the CPE and let's see what is happening. Let the PO4 build up a little and see if your lifeforms start acting normally again. Keep the skimmer running. Do not use GAC for now and let's do all of this for a few days and carefully record what is going on. Do not do any water changes for a few days either. Once you have that information shoot me another message and let me know what you found out (what happened in the aquarium) and then based on that let's try and figure it out some more. I have a feeling that the aquarium water may too nutrient poor and that is what may be affecting how the corals react. I have heard of other cases where CPE has an adverse effect on certain corals so maybe that is also the case for you. Removing will tell us whether that is indeed so. If you take the above steps and then get back to me in a day or two and tell me what changes you see I can try and give you some other recommendations. Oh and on the blue Clove ... Yes I agree ... most will be surprised as once you have those they usually start taking over your tank ... Here are some pics especially one that shows you a tank that is totally overtaken with them. So get back to me with the requested info. Thanks Thanks Albert, I really appreciate your advice. Just to clarify (had some poor grammar in that last post), I removed the CPE this morning during my weekly water change and installed a new reactor with GAC/GFO. Like any guy... when in doubt, add more gadgets! The confusing part is that while it seems possible that the CPE may have been pulling out too much causing my corals to "starve", I still have a high level of algae growth (diatoms and a daily coating on the front glass up top, GHA and cyano in the sump). Should I stop the GAC and continue with the GFO, or stop all chemical filtration altogether for a few days? Sorry for all the questions, this has been a frustrating me for a few months. I can't seem to find the right balance! Quote Link to comment
wombat Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 An interesting coral .... Oxypora Chalice form Anyone have more pics of this one ? Albert Hi Albert, can't be 100% sure w/o seeing some dead skeleton, but that appears to be Echinopora, likely E. lamellosa. I can't find the post, but you asked earlier about the 200,000g reef tank, it is at the California Academy of Sciences in SF. I work there with Charles Delbeek whom I'm sure you're familiar with. This is one of the exhibits I care for there, lots of Tubastrea and my favorite fish, anthias. Cheers Quote Link to comment
atoll Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Les looking at both on my laptop I do believe that they are both Lobophyllia corals Symphillia can look very similar but I do not think that the one where you ask the question is one. I am sure others have looked at the pictures so maybe they want to chime in .... Thanks Albert Yes your probably right Albert, some corals are not always that easy to ID and growth forms cab throw you. Thanks for clearing up that one. Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 (edited) Hi Albert, can't be 100% sure w/o seeing some dead skeleton, but that appears to be Echinopora, likely E. lamellosa. I can't find the post, but you asked earlier about the 200,000g reef tank, it is at the California Academy of Sciences in SF. I work there with Charles Delbeek whom I'm sure you're familiar with. This is one of the exhibits I care for there, lots of Tubastrea and my favorite fish, anthias. Cheers Thanks Wombat... Sure I remember Charles ... please say hi to him for me will you ... thanks. On the coral .. I'll double check but the pic I had was labeled as an Oxypora ... but I'll double check as well to make sure. Great pics you added and I too do love Anthias. They are such gorgeous fish, especially the Square Anthias, Pseudoanthisa pleurotaenia and the yellow variety, and the one with the lyre tail Do post some more pics any time you wish ... thanks. Albert Edited June 24, 2012 by albertthiel Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 A few pictures of Cynarina coral Blue C. desheysiani Green Another green C. lacrymalis Pink Red Close up from top Quote Link to comment
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