Mark's 40B and 46 bow

[markalot]

Man that pink BN in the first pic is growing out so freaken cool! Totally shows how it got its name!

Lots of encrusting going on up in here! That's my favorite when the SPS starts to grow/spill onto the rock, best feeling ever!

 

That bird is green in the 46. It really needs a little less light than I have in the 40, and a little more than I have in the 46. Supposed to be pink and green, with purple polyps. Still looks cool though, and I swear it grows 1/4 inch a day.

[jack1978]

Nice job with the camera, great improvement. I agree with you on the "Tang" business, many other fish should have considerations as well. He looks great in your tank.

[markalot]

Page break repost, with spoilers.

 

 

 

 

Believe it or not I got the tripod out, turned off all the pumps, and actually took some real pictures with slow shutter speeds and small apertures. I can actually get some decently sharp pictures in the bowfront, as long as I'm a few feet away from the tank. Pretty darn happy with how these turned out.

 

No, I did not make sure the glass was spotless.

 

Corals are sharp, fish are blurry or ghosts.

 

 

Blenny posing up top.

 

 

 

 

FTS of the 40. It's neat how the smaller aperture and slower speed brings out so much more color. You can almost see the different bulb colors. You can also clearly see the lights from the 46 in the glass.

 

 

A few closeups from the 40. Did not turn out as well as the ones from the 46 did, colorwise, but images are sharper.

 

 

 

Next pic ... My $5 unknown pocillopora frag appears to be pink. Really bright pink. Idaho Grape monti lower left, and my very first SPS, the purple stylo.

 

 

 

 

 

[markalot]

Rainbow Stylophora recovery pics. Unlike my previous stylo, an ORA Green, I did not frag this one. Instead I painted superglue on the dead areas to see if it would recover. It's now re-growing nicely.

 

I've read numerous accounts saying small frags of Stylo will not survive. This is incorrect. I have more ORA Green Stylo than I know what to do with. Every frag survived, even one as small as my pinky. I didn't want a bunch of Rainbow stylo frags, yet, so I decided to try the superglue paint.

 

 

 

 

August 15th, just after painting.

 

August 18th, just to document initial recovery.

 

 

September 8th

 

 

 

 

I will get a better picture on the 15th, but the tips have also recovered nicely.

[markalot]

Looks like some Montipora eating nudibranches are either in the 40 or came in on a recent Monti purchase.

 

 

He's under superglue now, and I most of this piece with glue, except for the living parts. This is the second one removed from this piece, if another shows up then I have to believe they are coming from somewhere else in the tank. Joy.

 

I've got a lot of macros of my other Montis and I see no pests or damage.

 

On a brighter note, look how my "strawberry" acro has started to color up. White tips with red around the edges.

 

[FishBrawler]

Looks like some Montipora eating nudibranches are either in the 40 or came in on a recent Monti purchase.

 

 

He's under superglue now, and I most of this piece with glue, except for the living parts. This is the second one removed from this piece, if another shows up then I have to believe they are coming from somewhere else in the tank. Joy.

 

I've got a lot of macros of my other Montis and I see no pests or damage.

 

On a brighter note, look how my "strawberry" acro has started to color up. White tips with red around the edges.

 

That is a great picture of the montipora nudi... too bad the good picture is take on bad circumstances!

[ArabTanker]

Ohh shit. These tanks are sweet. I wish I could keep sps. I may try it again.

 

Could you post a link to that strawberry acro for me? I need a new wallpaper.

[markalot]

Ohh shit. These tanks are sweet. I wish I could keep sps. I may try it again.

 

Could you post a link to that strawberry acro for me? I need a new wallpaper.

 

This tank is a year and a half old and still not very colorful. I don't treat this hobby very seriously, so my tanks tend to suffer from mediocrity, but as I learn more and more and the tank ages things become easier. Yours will get there IMO, just needs more time.

 

Pic link: http://imageshack.us/a/img577/218/bxb0.jpg

[ArabTanker]

This tank is a year and a half old and still not very colorful. I don't treat this hobby very seriously, so my tanks tend to suffer from mediocrity, but as I learn more and more and the tank ages things become easier. Yours will get there IMO, just needs more time.

 

Pic link: http://imageshack.us/a/img577/218/bxb0.jpg

 

Thats a sweet tank for someone who doesn't take it seriously! And yeah. I hope so.

 

Thank you sir.

 

http://s172.photobucket.com/user/coipo/media/IMAG1139.jpg.html'>

[markalot]

Thats a sweet tank for someone who doesn't take it seriously! And yeah. I hope so.

 

Thank you sir.

 

Wow, you're welcome.

 

Here's another shot of my Bird of Paradise. Did the store not know what the coral you bought was? The only other thing I can think of is pink pocillopora, second picture below, which was brown for a couple of months before it started to color up.

 

I took these at higher ISO when only the evening lights (blue+, purple+) were on.

 

 

 

 

 

[ArabTanker]

I bought it from a local actually. I rarely buy coral from my lfs. Too expensive.

I think me and you decided it was a Green Pocillopora.

 

Ermygawd. Link to third picture! What is that?

[markalot]

I bought it from a local actually. I rarely buy coral from my lfs. Too expensive.

I think me and you decided it was a Green Pocillopora.

 

Ermygawd. Link to third picture! What is that?

 

That is a green birdsnest from Pacific East Aquaculture.

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img209/7619/xx6d.jpg

 

ORA has their own green and I'm not sure if it's brighter or not.

[gena]

Wow, Mark! Everything looks really healthy. So much polyp extension.

[markalot]

Wow, Mark! Everything looks really healthy. So much polyp extension.

 

Hi Gena! Thanks for visiting. It' all getting there, slowly.

[Veng]

Nice to see you breaking the tripod out! Those pics look great!

[markalot]

Working on my tablet. Nothing is as easy as a PC, I tell ya.

 

Visited my local store and was pleasantly surprised to find some new corals, including a damaged stylophora with brilliant green polyps. For $10 I can't resist.

 

[Veng]

It's hard to pass up any hard coral that's 10$!

[metrokat]

Looking good Mark. I love how knarly your birds nest is. I want my SPS to be that wild looking. The flow is what determines the growth pattern. What do you have for flow in the tank and how high is it powered up? Thanks.

 

[markalot]

Looking good Mark. I love how knarly your birds nest is. I want my SPS to be that wild looking. The flow is what determines the growth pattern. What do you have for flow in the tank and how high is it powered up? Thanks.

Mp10 reef crest, full blast on the left, wp25, wave mode, on the right side, near this coral. Lots of polyp motion. This is supposed to be green and yellow, which it is in my 40. I love the color, but I wonder if brightness figures into the growth at all? Extremely fast grower.

 

I double checked my receipt ... This is the one. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+2341+2511+2962&pcatid=2962

[markalot]

Here is the same coral in the 46. Still a lot of flow up there, but not as much, and a lot less light.

 

[markalot]

Rainbow Stylo recovery. This is similar to my experience with the Green stylo I bought from Live Aquaria that did not ship well. After about 3 weeks of recovery new growth really starts in earnest and is rapid. Here you can see significant encrusting in just 7 days.

 

This coral is located high in the tank, directly under T5's and very near a MP10. High flow, high light.

 

Also note the algae on the lower left stub in the first picture. I have not touched the coral and it has killed the algae and encrusted over the area.

 

Sept 8th

 

 

Sept 15th, one month after suerglue treatment.

[markalot]

I moved this Monti so I can keep a better eye on it for critters. It browned significantly with just a small amount of peroxide in the tank, but is finally recovering. Bumps used to be yellow but now I'm seeing some green. Those blue polyps are blinding.

 

[Sunar357]

Love the polyps on that monti.

[markalot]

More pics.

 

A better quality pic of the new Green Stylo. Man I hope these stay that neon green. And it appears it was not as dead as it looked at the LFS. Many of the branches missing skin still have polyps.

 

 

This is Reef Gardener Apple Berry, or Blue Berry. Green with purple polyps anyway. It's coloring up and growing nicely. On the left is a tiny frag of that blue polyp Monti that broke off when I removed a crab hitchhiker. It hates light, and half died, but it has been holding its own of late. Aren't those flatworms pretty.

 

 

Here is my German Blue Digitata. It wants really bad to be blue, but so far this is as close as it's gotten.

 

[ArabTanker]

stop it and give me your sps.