Anna's 40 Breeder - 1 Year Old!

[markalot]

Holy cow, that is gorgeous. I mean wow.

 

Might want to try Purple+ as well, I really like those bulbs.

New page, so I will quote all the pics.

 

 

Here's a few recent pictures!

 

Thanks!

 

That's because 40B's are the best!

 

 

So I've been gone for several months on an internship, because there's nothing I like more than working and not being paid. I left the tank in the very capable hands of my dad, and he didn't let me down!

 

So a lot of the Birdsnests have just exploded, and as a result my calcium and alkalinity took a dip, so I've started dosing C-Balance. I think the only other major changes since February are that the yellow tang and red fromia are gone. I was "renting" the tang for a couple months to eat some bryopsis. He did a stellar job and after I raised my Mg for a couple weeks to make sure it was 100% dead. I decided to give the red fromia to the yellow tang owner (a local reefer) because I was really worried about him around the mp10s.

 

I'm probably going to have to get rid of this royal gramma. He's about 3 inches now and an absolute turd. When he was smaller he was only aggressive if someone came to his cave, but now he just hates everyone and really harasses my poor firefish. I might replace him with a smaller fairy wrasse of some sort, or maybe try and find a lady Banggai.

 

I replaced the bulbs, before I had 2 ATI Aquablue Special and 2 BluePlus but I've switched to 2 BluePlus and 2 CoralPlus. It gives the tank more of a blue hue and the corals fluoresce a bit more, I really dig it. I tried my hand at fragging, hopefully I don't kill everything in the process.

 

Anyway, 1 year update pictures!

FTS before fragging w/ old bulbs

FTS after fragging w/ new bulbs

 

I really only trimmed off the 2 Birdsnests to the top right, and a couple zoanthids. I wanted to start by fragging the corals that I can bear to lose.

 

Here's some other pics.

 

 

Thanks for looking! I still can't believe this tank is a year old. I have a 65 Gallon sitting in my basement... maybe it's time to start working on that....

[Anna576]

Holy cow, that is gorgeous. I mean wow.

 

Might want to try Purple+ as well, I really like those bulbs.

Thank you! I really wish I had opted for a 6 bulb fixture. This one works okay, but it would have been nicer to have a better range of bulb combos.

[markalot]

Thank you! I really wish I had opted for a 6 bulb fixture. This one works okay, but it would have been nicer to have a better range of bulb combos.

 

I had 2 - 4 bulb fixtures and married 3 of them together to make a 6 bulb. It's a lot of light for a 40 ... I have a screen I use to create a dimmer area for corals that are getting too much light. Honestly, If I dumped my acros I would probably go back to 4 bulbs and be happy. There's a lot to be said for darker areas in front for lower light corals, IMO.

 

Right now I'm alternating Blue+ and Purple+. I've tried Coral+ and AB Special and just way too white for me.

[Anna576]

I had 2 - 4 bulb fixtures and married 3 of them together to make a 6 bulb. It's a lot of light for a 40 ... I have a screen I use to create a dimmer area for corals that are getting too much light. Honestly, If I dumped my acros I would probably go back to 4 bulbs and be happy. There's a lot to be said for darker areas in front for lower light corals, IMO.

 

Right now I'm alternating Blue+ and Purple+. I've tried Coral+ and AB Special and just way too white for me.

What schedule are your lights on?

[markalot]

Blue comes on at 6AM (just a stunner and hidden LED strip, nothing bright), off at 10PM.

2 bulbs (blue+, purple+) come on at 2PM, off at 9:30PM.

Remaining 4 bulbs on at 3PM, off at 9PM.

 

I have cheap outlet timers for my lights and wires everywhere, and arrived at that schedule by chance.

 

Your tank looks better than mine, so I wouldn't change a thing. Heck, I'm thinking of going back to 4 bulbs now so I can grow some Zoas without bleaching them and get more color in my birdsnests.

[Anna576]

Your tank looks better than mine, so I wouldn't change a thing. Heck, I'm thinking of going back to 4 bulbs now so I can grow some Zoas without bleaching them and get more color in my birdsnests.

 

My birdsnests have no problem with just 4 bulbs, but I've always been a little intimidated to add any other acropora corals. I just worry that they wouldn't get enough light with only 4 watt/gallon. But then I worry about all my zoas if I did go to 6 bulbs. I had an RBTA for a couple months and it was eating fine but died because it wasn't getting enough light under the 4 bulbs. So who knows, maybe I'll win the lottery and just buy a couple radion pros.

 

Also, I had to tear the entire tank apart last night to catch the Royal Gramma, but I finally got him. The other fish seem happier for it, now they can swim in peace. I put him in the fuge for now, going to take him to a LFS tomorrow. I have a new guy in the QT tank, hopefully he'll be nicer than the Royal Gramma.

[gena]

Oh....so pretty! I can't believe I missed this tank!!!!! Your blenny is going to fit in there perfectly!!! How much longer is quarantine?

[Anna576]

Oh....so pretty! I can't believe I missed this tank!!!!! Your blenny is going to fit in there perfectly!!! How much longer is quarantine?

 

Thanks! I'm adding him in tomorrow, hopefully he makes nice with the other fishies!

[markalot]

Any updates?

 

I've been flipping bulbs around like crazy, trying to get a more natural look and still have enough blue. I'm going to take back what I said about the purple+ bulb. i still use one of them, but the coral+ blue+ combo seems to work better. In my 46 I tried the AquaBlue special blue+ combo and achieved that look you had with the same combo. I really like it.

[markalot]

Updates!

[BattleAthletics]

Damn so much growth in a year, looks great!