teenyreef Posted October 6, 2015 Author Share Posted October 6, 2015 Your Blastos are looking great! They're a coral I've always enjoyed looking at, but have never found locally... Thanks! I got these pretty cheap from Saltcritters. Hi Teeny I am currently running a Tunze 6020 for circulation on my Fusion 10, the 6020 is not controllable and it blasts some of the inhabitants that are closest, I am considering changing out the pump to a MP10 and I have a Apex Jr. I noticed you were running a MP10, and have an Apex. Are you controlling the MP10 with your Apex, what do you think of the setup? I use the Apex to turn the MP-10 on and off, and I use the MP-10 controller to set the pump speed and pattern. I have to admit that while it was cool to play with all the different modes and speeds for the first month, I eventually set it on reef crest random mode, and leave the speed at 3 all the time. I do turn it up to 5 or 6 when I'm blowing off the rocks and stirring up the sand, just to get everything suspended, but that's the only time I touch it. I would definitely recommend this setup, but since the MP-10 comes with it's controller, you don't really need an Apex as you've already got much fancier control without the Apex. The biggest thing I like about the MP-10 is it takes less room inside the tank, and it randomly changes the flow level up to whatever max speed you set. 3 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted October 6, 2015 Author Share Posted October 6, 2015 The encrusting monti I got from Zia (Seasons Greetings) has overgrown the original frag and started to encrust onto the rocks. It's trying to meet the cyphastrea (Tyree Minefield) in the middle Seasons Greetings Monti by TeenyReef, on Flickr Here are some zoas. The blue ones in the middle are spreading like crazy, but everything else seems to be holding up well. Zoas by TeenyReef, on Flickr 11 Quote Link to comment
reefernanoman Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 The encrusting monti I got from Zia (Seasons Greetings) has overgrown the original frag and started to encrust onto the rocks. It's trying to meet the cyphastrea (Tyree Minefield) in the middle Seasons Greetings Monti by TeenyReef, on Flickr Here are some zoas. The blue ones in the middle are spreading like crazy, but everything else seems to be holding up well. Zoas by TeenyReef, on Flickr Looks like your new Nikon is working really well! 1 Quote Link to comment
MakoMan36 Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Been out of the hobby for over a year now , after going through you thread just make me wanna get back at it again with the nuvo 10g. Very nice tank. 4 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Excellent- your top down shots are always wonderful to look at?. Interesting color on that season's greetings- normally the polyps are red- maybe this is another version? ? 2 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Excellent- your top down shots are always wonderful to look at. Interesting color on that season's greetings- normally the polyps are red- maybe this is another version? ? I am with Sk8n about your top down shots. But then all your pics are wonderful! 2 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 Looks like your new Nikon is working really well! Yes! I'm really happy with it. The live view screen is a huge help for top down shots because there's a shelf above the tank and there's not enough room to fit my head in to look through the viewfinder Been out of the hobby for over a year now , after going through you thread just make me wanna get back at it again with the nuvo 10g. Very nice tank. Thank you! You should definitely go for it! The IM10 is great tank if you are looking for an AIO approach. I am with Sk8n about your top down shots. But then all your pics are wonderful! Thanks Dawn! Excellent- your top down shots are always wonderful to look at. Interesting color on that season's greetings- normally the polyps are red- maybe this is another version? ? Well, they are red...ish. Actually they look like they want to be red but came out kind of brown with a hint of red. In defense of the coral, some of it is the white balance in this particular shot, though. In real life, you can tell that they should be red but are kind of faded. I've been gradually reducing the lighting intensity over the last week. At one point (months ago) I had the storm controller as high as 210/105, which definitely too bright. All the rainbow acans turned a solid reddish orange, and the zoas had very muted colors. Then I ran at 190/95 for a while, which brought back a little color, but I've realized that it was still too much. So as an experiment I've gradually ramped it down to 160/80. I'm going to leave it there for a month and then do some before/after pictures. 4 Quote Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 love the yellow ring zoas. yellow corals are my fav 1 Quote Link to comment
Tioman Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Hi Teeny; Thanks for getting back to me regarding the MP10. I have decided to go ahead with MP10 "actually it is more like my wife decided". Now I have to make a decision on the model. When I purchased the Apex it was with the intent of being able to go away for a few day and not have to worry about feeding, lights, etc. EcoTech makes two different models of the MP10, one with RF comm "W", the other without. Needless to say the W model is more money and a WXM module is also needed if linking it to the Apex, I would prefer not to have the added expense.You mentioned that you ran your MP10 with the OEM controller and the power plugged into the apex, does turning the power off during feeding cause a problem with the programing for the MP10? If you were to do it again what model would you purchase? Cliff 1 Quote Link to comment
owenj Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Tank looks awesome, Teeny! That new camera is fabulous--so crisp . 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 Tank looks awesome, Teeny! That new camera is fabulous--so crisp . Hi Jaime! Nice to hear from you, and thanks Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 Hi Teeny; Thanks for getting back to me regarding the MP10. I have decided to go ahead with MP10 "actually it is more like my wife decided". Now I have to make a decision on the model. When I purchased the Apex it was with the intent of being able to go away for a few day and not have to worry about feeding, lights, etc. EcoTech makes two different models of the MP10, one with RF comm "W", the other without. Needless to say the W model is more money and a WXM module is also needed if linking it to the Apex, I would prefer not to have the added expense.You mentioned that you ran your MP10 with the OEM controller and the power plugged into the apex, does turning the power off during feeding cause a problem with the programing for the MP10? If you were to do it again what model would you purchase? Cliff These are great questions. Besides the obvious convenience, there are a few things you can only do with wireless: 1. If you ever want to have two MP-10's in master/slave mode, they have to be wireless. 2. If you buy the Apex WXM module, you can directly control the MP-10 with the Apex as a master mode. So all the stuff that gets set from the MP-10 controller can be set via the Apex. So, for example, if you wanted to automatically reduce the MP-10 speed during certain feed modes, you could do that from the Apex. Or you could set it to run different modes/speeds during the night and during the day. On the other hand, I never mess with any of that stuff anyway. All I ever do is turn the MP-10 off when I'm target feeding corals so that the food doesn't get blown away. And the Apex handles that just fine If I had it to do over again, I'd probably get the wireless just because it's not that much more money relative to the total I've spent on this hobby, and it would be nice to have the flexibility. But for what I use it for, it's not really a big deal. 1 Quote Link to comment
Tioman Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Thanks for taking time to get back to me. 2 Quote Link to comment
crusoe Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Amazing build and thread! I'm currently running 160/90 with my Tide in a standard 10g. My zoas seem like they're growing extremely slow though. So slow that they haven't even expanded past the frag plug, and the tank is a year old. Keep the pics coming! 1 Quote Link to comment
cindyp Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 so gorgeous, john!! <33 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Amazing build and thread! I'm currently running 160/90 with my Tide in a standard 10g. My zoas seem like they're growing extremely slow though. So slow that they haven't even expanded past the frag plug, and the tank is a year old. Keep the pics coming! It's funny, I've found zoas to be the hardest corals to consistently grow. They seem to get so many problems for no apparent reason, and the all of a sudden they start to grow like crazy. I have found that target feeding with reef roids every day or two seems to really help, though. so gorgeous, john!! <33 Thanks, Cindy! It's nice to have you back I got kind of a cool night shot of the blasto merlettis the other night... Night Shot - Blastos and Clowns by TeenyReef, on Flickr 6 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 The clowns have been hosting the zoas a lot lately. It doesn't make the zoas very happy, either. They all stay half closed all the time now. I think there may also be some bacterial or fungal stuff going on. Some of them have kind of a brown coating growing on the stalks. Did I mention that zoas are really frustrating to consistently grow? On the bright side, the GSP is growing like crazy. I cut it into four new frags tonight, and each one is still about an inch across. Clowns in the zoas by TeenyReef, on Flickr PS: Fitzgerald is photobombing in the back, underneath the rocks 8 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Great depth on this shot- so hard to get two clowns in focus- great job! 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Great depth on this shot- so hard to get two clowns in focus- great job! Thanks, Sk8n! Ironically, this one was a quick shot taken with my cell phone camera It really does a great job of focusing and getting good depth of field. I just wish it could save in RAW so I could get the white balance right. 1 Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 The clowns have been hosting the zoas a lot lately. It doesn't make the zoas very happy, either. They all stay half closed all the time now. I think there may also be some bacterial or fungal stuff going on. Some of them have kind of a brown coating growing on the stalks. Did I mention that zoas are really frustrating to consistently grow? On the bright side, the GSP is growing like crazy. I cut it into four new frags tonight, and each one is still about an inch across. Clowns in the zoas by TeenyReef, on Flickr PS: Fitzgerald is photobombing in the back, underneath the rocks Zoas (sigh)...they are fickle, for sure! The Clownfish hosting them is not good, IMO. My one Clownfish has the annoying habit of literally sticking it's nose into the middle of large polyps to watch them close up...which eventually kills them ('Clownfish neurosis', no doubt) I really like the green/purple rim Blasto! Looks like it is doing very well. 2 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Thanks, Sk8n! Ironically, this one was a quick shot taken with my cell phone camera It really does a great job of focusing and getting good depth of field. I just wish it could save in RAW so I could get the white balance right. Dang- that's your phone- very nice 1 Quote Link to comment
DaveFason Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Looking good as normal John! 1 Quote Link to comment
gena Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Clowns in the zoas by TeenyReef, on FlickrI want those merlettis . They would go perfectly with the colony I already have. Mine is mostly pink with green centers...kinda the opposite of yours . 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted October 17, 2015 Author Share Posted October 17, 2015 Zoas (sigh)...they are fickle, for sure! The Clownfish hosting them is not good, IMO. My one Clownfish has the annoying habit of literally sticking it's nose into the middle of large polyps to watch them close up...which eventually kills them ('Clownfish neurosis', no doubt) I really like the green/purple rim Blasto! Looks like it is doing very well. Thanks - they are actually merlettis, though. I've been afraid to try blastos after all the trouble some folks have had keeping them My zoas definitely are suffering from too much loving from the clownfish. Not sure that there's really anything I can do about it other than let it happen and hope enough new polyps develop so they eventually recover. Looking good as normal John! Thanks, Dave! I want those merlettis . They would go perfectly with the colony I already have. Mine is mostly pink with green centers...kinda the opposite of yours . They are some of my favorites and they've been really easy to keep. They love mysis shrimp. If I ever have to frag them I'll reserve the first frag for you 2 Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Thanks - they are actually merlettis, though. I've been afraid to try blastos after all the trouble some folks have had keeping them They are all 'Blastos' (Blastomussa), but you are probably thinking of Blasotmussa wellsi, specifically. As you can see below there are a bunch of species in the Genus: Blastomussa loyae Head, 1978 Blastomussa merleti (Wells, 1961) Blastomussa omanensis (Sheppard & Sheppard, 1991) Blastomussa simplicitexta (Umbgrove, 1942) † Blastomussa vivida Benzoni, Arrigoni & Hoeksema, 2014 Blastomussa wellsi Wijsman-Best, 1973 2 Quote Link to comment
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