Lion's Solana Den

[buddythelion]

Thanks, Darwin. Zoas are funny in my tank. When I first put them in they do great, multiply, etc. Then they tend to either just sit there...or, worse, start to disappear. I am losing my 'Hawaiian Tropic zoas, but at least the Speckled F&I and Oxides are still okay.

 

I'd like to maybe trade a few of these baby Yumas for some others when they get bigger. I'd really like to find a nice captive raised rose Yuma!

A red yuma? You and me both! I'm on the look out for more yumas as well but they always melt on me other than these gold ones and the orange ones at 'Tunes.

 

I'm staying clear of hawaiian zoas and PE's from now on. They all grow so well for a month and then start bleaching and disappearing for no reason. So finicky! My Solana's sandbed is filled with frag tiles and plugs because I had to move the Hawaiian PEs over from my frag tank to the display to help them out. Guess they needed lower light and some fish poop. They're making a great come back though!

 

 

 

Yupp, except for the darth maul micros!

You lucky....haha.

Perhaps, I've had them for so long. I am considering keeping them now.

And yup, it's my weekend job. Love being a part of the 'Tunes family!

 

I really love this set up and everything about it! I'm going to switching my nano from a 20L to a 27 cube. Your tank gives me lots of inspiration and I really love everything inside from the zoas to the acans to the rics.

Thanks Eawonko, I'm flattered. Tank's still in its beginning, I hope to be able to improve myself as a hobbyist with this tank.

 

'bout time for a new FTS, don't ya think?

I have too many plugs on the sandbed from trying to recover my Hawaiian PE's, it's very unsightly.

[Nano sapiens]

I'm staying clear of hawaiian zoas and PE's from now on. They all grow so well for a month and then start bleaching and disappearing for no reason. So finicky! My Solana's sandbed is filled with frag tiles and plugs because I had to move the Hawaiian PEs over from my frag tank to the display to help them out. Guess they needed lower light and some fish poop. They're making a great come back though!

 

Yeah, PEs are especially difficult in my tank. They look great for a few weeks, then the Pods would get 'em.

 

Glad to hear the PEs are recovering!

[Deleted User 4]

Ohhh nooo. Hahaha you mean the acans?

 

Btw, I would love to see a closeup fts of the tank!

 

 

 

Rhodactus Corner:

 

Rhodactus Corner, closer:

 

Btw, saw alot of these at rap yesterday. Some were even better in coloration patterns and running at $60 a head.

[buddythelion]

Yeah, PEs are especially difficult in my tank. They look great for a few weeks, then the Pods would get 'em.

 

Glad to hear the PEs are recovering!

That's why having fish to keep them in check is good! Pods tend to go for weak polyps in my experience. Those huge ones are scary...

 

Ohhh nooo. Hahaha you mean the acans?

 

Btw, I would love to see a closeup fts of the tank!

 

 

 

Rhodactus Corner:

 

Rhodactus Corner, closer:

 

Btw, saw alot of these at rap yesterday. Some were even better in coloration patterns and running at $60 a head.

Haha, how can it be a closeup and a fts at the same time? Contradictory.

 

You mean my specific morph or just rhodactus' in general? Mine runs for $100 on Cherry Coral's website. Wish I was at RAP, I would have bought sooo many nice pieces and it sounded like a lot of fun! But I would have had the most fun buying corals, LOL!

[buddythelion]

As an update, I noticed Saphira was missing so I thought she crawled out of the tank.

Luckily I found her in the back chamber chilling. But then a lot of complicated things happened and I thought she climbed up into the lock-line return since I disconnected the return pump to catch her out. So I had to take apart some of my aquascape to un-attach the lock-lines and she wasn't there. I panicked and thought she swam into the return pump since she's so small and left it in a container to see if she would come out. 1/2 hour nothing.

 

So I finally decide to check the area where the water goes to the back chambers and there she is.

 

Gave me a good opportunity to finally get a decent picture of her tail, which is a very bright yellow. Almost like a yellow flame:

 

I also finally caved in after watching this little guy at the store for over a week. I love flameback angelfish and I originally intended to keep one in the 25 once I upgraded from my 12DX, but all the expensive LPS made me think otherwise. It's just too gorgeous of a fish that I decided to take that risk and it is a very lovely addition. I' just love it and how active and colorful it is. Definitely stands out!

 

Here it is before I have to try 100k times to get a good photo:

 

Saphira is already trying to see if he's food, but he's so big she can't do anything and he pretends she's not there.

[Nano sapiens]

Great that your eel is okay. I like all Pygmy Angelfish and Flamebacks are right up there at the top. Fingers crossed he/she doesn't take a liking to the corals (keep it very well fed).

[buddythelion]

Great that your eel is okay. I like all Pygmy Angelfish and Flamebacks are right up there at the top. Fingers crossed he/she doesn't take a liking to the corals (keep it very well fed).

 

I'm very glad too, I was getting very heart broken that something might have happened to her. I've grown very attached to Saphira.

 

The flameback has been grazing a lot, like Centropyges do. He nipped at the algae around the corals, hoping he doesn't get a taste for them. But he's definitely a great addition and fits what the tank has been missing all along in terms of fish, which was an active grazer who's goes in and out of the rock work.

 

Haven't taken photos of the tank for awhile, so here's some photos:

 

Saphira, glad she's safe and being herself again:

 

New Flameback, name yet to be determined (I spent an hour or two trying to get a photo of him around coral, and this was the only decent shot I got ):

 

Metallic red rim, dark blue center, and metallic blue ring blasto:

 

Weeping Willows:

 

Reach:

 

Crook:

 

Close Up:

 

Tangled:

 

Red Hornets:

 

Yellow Ricordea:

[buddythelion]

So since there's no FTS, I decided to make a video tour instead!

 

Covers equipment and all livestock and my commentary of my tank. All fish were out, which was awesome and the flameback and her were saying hi for the first time, pretty cool!

 

October 22nd, 2012 Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4u5Z5xAn04...eature=youtu.be

[owenj]

Great shots of your tank!

[jball1125]

Great video dude, that flameback is gorgeous!

[Deleted User 4]

Mmmm the ones I saw were very bright yellow/orange in the center...man!! I tried finding it online but can't seem to spot it. Cherrycorals were at rap too lol and I saw your moracious rhodactis there.

 

Yeah, you would of liked the stuff there. I mean the event was soo big, I got there at 10:30am and the line was still too long. They didn't let people in until 10:45am lol.

I brought my camera to take pictures but totally was stunned by the corals/booths there that I end up forgetting the pictures.....lol.

 

Love the new blastos. Hopefully your angel doesn't take a peck at it.

[buddythelion]

Great shots of your tank!

Thank owenj.

 

Great video dude, that flameback is gorgeous!

Thanks Jball! Here's to crossing my fingers it wasn't a mistake, LOL! But the flameback (which I now named Comet) and Saphira are best buds. They are always interacting with each other. So nice to have a fish that actually swims everywhere unlike the eel that chills in the rocks or the clowns that stay near the anemone.

 

Mmmm the ones I saw were very bright yellow/orange in the center...man!! I tried finding it online but can't seem to spot it. Cherrycorals were at rap too lol and I saw your moracious rhodactis there.

 

Yeah, you would of liked the stuff there. I mean the event was soo big, I got there at 10:30am and the line was still too long. They didn't let people in until 10:45am lol.

I brought my camera to take pictures but totally was stunned by the corals/booths there that I end up forgetting the pictures.....lol.

 

Love the new blastos. Hopefully your angel doesn't take a peck at it.

Orange in the center? Sounds pretty awesome! Were they like any of these?

http://bluewatertropicals.com/index.php?cP...e0b0c23a6bb5ac4

 

Lol, good to hear the mordacious is still being sold! I love mine. I heard that LFS owners get to go in for free. I wonder if that only applied to SoCal LFS or any LFS. Man... an event full of cherry picked corals... and then I get to cherry pick those already cherry picked corals... Cherry picking the cherry picked. Oh well, next time! Would have been cool to meet you, should have taken pictures so people that missed out (like me) could see RAP!

 

Yeah, that's the 2nd blasto that I got along with my rainbow one. I'm hoping too. Looks like Comet is too preoccupied with eating the pods in the tank since the other fish in my tank don't. Pod buffet!

[Deleted User 4]

Nope, nothing like those on that link you shared. The ones that caught my eyes were much more detail oriented with really tight texture patterns...hard to explain but only one or 2 booths out of 20+ booths had it soo I must've assumed it's rare.

 

Yeah, like I went through all the booths and that took me almost 2 hours. Then 2nd round I only went to the half of them for the bargaining better prices ahha. As soon as I exit out, I started to wonder what I was missing. I realized it was the photo taking I forgot to initiate on by the time I got in my car.......

 

Dude, I bet you would've bought alot there haha. I just have a limit amount of money so I had to make some really wise decisions. Would've been nice to see what you came back with, from there ha.

 

haha.

[1.0reef]

Looks great!

Can you make a video on my b-day please (10/25)

[Deleted User 4]

Looks great!

Can you make a video on my b-day please (10/25)

 

My bday is 3 days after yours lol.

 

What's up scorpio.

[HVani]

I love your eel

[buddythelion]

Nope, nothing like those on that link you shared. The ones that caught my eyes were much more detail oriented with really tight texture patterns...hard to explain but only one or 2 booths out of 20+ booths had it soo I must've assumed it's rare.

 

Yeah, like I went through all the booths and that took me almost 2 hours. Then 2nd round I only went to the half of them for the bargaining better prices ahha. As soon as I exit out, I started to wonder what I was missing. I realized it was the photo taking I forgot to initiate on by the time I got in my car.......

 

Dude, I bet you would've bought alot there haha. I just have a limit amount of money so I had to make some really wise decisions. Would've been nice to see what you came back with, from there ha.

 

haha.

 

My bday is 3 days after yours lol.

 

What's up scorpio.

Dang, it sure sounds like a really nice rhodactus! Wish you would have taken a photo, since I'm sure there's no way I'd know what it is until I see it. Happy birthday to you Ben (If memory serves me right, that's your name. Lol!)!

 

Looks great!

Can you make a video on my b-day please (10/25)

Agh, sorry! I didn't reply soon enough to this comment. You've been missing for awhile! I'll make a shout out to you in my next tank video, is that alright?

 

I love your eel

Thanks Hravanii, I love her too. Looks like a twin to yours, haha!

 

 

 

So here's an update guys:

 

New Indo-Gold Torch:

 

Torch Island:

 

For some odd reason, they're all indo torches. I suppose that I just prefer the long tentacle variants that come from Indo than the australian morphs.

 

Japanese Acan:

 

Vampire Paly:

 

Orange Fungia with purple and green splatters:

 

Florida Oranges:

 

Rasta Growth:

 

Spiderman Zoas:

 

Indo Golden Rainbow Yuma:

 

Radiant Tangerines Growth:

 

Lizard Skin Chalice (It's one of the first blue chalices I've run into.)

 

 

Saphira was photo bombing a good amount of photos.

[Spirofucci]

Great pics as always!

 

LOL, I call my motorcycle Saphria.

[owenj]

Loving the new shots. After seeing those gorgeous torches I may need to figure out spot for one in my tank...

[jgpico]

Thats it...I need one of those eels now! That thing is awesome. I absolutely love this tank, awesome corals!

[buddythelion]

Great pics as always!

 

LOL, I call my motorcycle Saphria.

Thanks Spirofucci, appreciate the comment!

 

Is your motorcycle Saphria or Saphira? What's the story behind the name?

 

Loving the new shots. After seeing those gorgeous torches I may need to figure out spot for one in my tank...

Thanks Owen! You should, I love torches. But be careful, they don't play nice with other euphyllias usually.

 

Thats it...I need one of those eels now! That thing is awesome. I absolutely love this tank, awesome corals!

Haha, thanks jgpicodope009. I can't wait to see this tank filled with corals all nice and grown out with my favorite corals. It's getting there!

[Spirofucci]

Lol, I'm sure I mispelled it. I named my blue Yamaha, Road Star Warrior after the dragon right after the book came out many years ago. My son and I read the series together. Great series!

[buddythelion]

Lol, I'm sure I mispelled it. I named my blue Yamaha, Road Star Warrior after the dragon right after the book came out many years ago. My son and I read the series together. Great series!

I remember you telling me about that! I'm still in the early chapters of the last book. Haven't had the urge to pick it up yet vs doing other things with my time. You've made me want to finish it off now!

[Spirofucci]

I remember you telling me about that! I'm still in the early chapters of the last book. Haven't had the urge to pick it up yet vs doing other things with my time. You've made me want to finish it off now!

 

I forget the authors name, but he was only 19 when he wrote the first book.

[Deleted User 4]

Dude, nice update man!! Dude, I use to have those red/rainbow blastos back when I had my 24g nanocube hahaha. Yeah, my name is Ben everyone. And thanks! Btw, kinda forgot your name...lol I remembered it couple weeks ago...sad thing I know, short term memory ha.

 

Anyways, nice looking new chalice!