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Mitten_reef’s IM30L


mitten_reef

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mitten_reef

5 new ricordea Florida from saltcritters. After a day on the frag rack, most opened up nicely. 

 

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I think I got a decent mix of varying shades of yellowish orange. The top right definitely was shown as more reddish/deep orange in their photo.

But overall, I'm pleasantly surprised at how colorful these turned out. I was uncertain about the highlighter glow in all their coral photos. 

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mitten_reef

The tank is about a year old this month!  Getting sick of the frag rack taking up space. 

 

Finally decided to to do something for all the acro frags (old pics, but everyone is still alive)

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Put together this island for the acro frags. Hopefully there's enough room for all of them.

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The cave below is meant for the YWG, Mango, and his pistol shrimp friend, Midas.  

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mitten_reef
9 minutes ago, holy carp said:

looks cool!

Thanks! Now on to the tough part, picking spots for all of them. Definitely want the blue tort front and center. But not sure which side, left or right, of that rock will be in the middle of the tank. Right now I have this giant Monti island with overextending plate to the left of the tank.

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so I feel like that piece should stay where it is, otherwise that giant plate will be in the center of the tank with little room to grow. and keep the acro island to the right of the tank. 

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30 minutes ago, micoastreefing said:

Thanks! Now on to the tough part, picking spots for all of them. Definitely want the blue tort front and center. But not sure which side, left or right, of that rock will be in the middle of the tank. Right now I have this giant Monti island with overextending plate to the left of the tank.

P6220284

 

so I feel like that piece should stay where it is, otherwise that giant plate will be in the center of the tank with little room to grow. and keep the acro island to the right of the tank. 

 

Pretty tank!!

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mitten_reef
40 minutes ago, gogeta said:

Some nice frags you have there!!

Thanks! I'm quite happy with these mostly no-namer frags. 

32 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Pretty tank!!

Thank you! 

 

On on another note, the rock shuffling must have annoyed the already-on-edge rBTA.  (I busted my rBTA rock into pieces and traded in two big ones to LFS last week). So the last one decided to detach and float around the tank and ended up "hanging" on my red dragon acro colony :scarry:. Hopefully I removed it in time before any damage done. 

 

Hope to have some photo update by the end of the wknd. 

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8 minutes ago, micoastreefing said:

Thanks! I'm quite happy with these mostly no-namer frags. 

The second something gets a fancy name is when you over pay for coral. Is that blue/green one a stylo? Nice mix of colors too 

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mitten_reef
10 minutes ago, gogeta said:

The second something gets a fancy name is when you over pay for coral. Is that blue/green one a stylo? Nice mix of colors too 

Haha, I think you might just picked out the one with fancy name. If you're thinking the fuzzy, stylo-like one, it is ORA Bird of Paradise. it's in the birdnest family. It's one of a few non-acro left on the rack. The other one, mostly blue and little bit of green, is a acro tortuosa of some sort. 

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Oh it's a birdnest! Haha I think it picks my fancy because I'm chasing some colour wise in an sps ATM. Don't really care acro, stylo, birdnest whatever just the color!

 

had to be the only one with a name didn't it lol

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mitten_reef

8/1/17 FTS: The scape is undergoing a major renovation. The three rBTA's had been reduced down to one. Except it decided to move under the Sunset Monti :unsure:. The new Acro Island is sitting to the right of the tank. I'm not liking how the height didn't turn out as tall/high as I had hoped. I will have to pull it back out and add a few more pieces to it - maybe not having such a flat tabletop feeling would be good as well. The big Mystic Sunset rock in the middle is probably the next one to go to LFS, might save a few frags for future rock work.

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So my RW-4 decided to "stall out" on me, no amount of cleaning will keep the pump running (cleaned, rinsed, soaked, twice in the last two days).  It'd come on, but later decide to stop, possibly motor issue?  I think it's time to ditch before something bad happens. Hence, 3 Koralias in the tank. The RW-4 is still in view, but it wasn't running any more - and pulled right after taking pics.  

 

Here's the left side of the tank close-up. German Blue Monti had been shooting up about an inch or so since last round of pics. After taking 2 rBTAs to the LFS (breaking up the big BTA rock that used to sit in the center), the lonely one decided to take up a new residence underneath the Sunset Monti. We'll see how long this lasts, and if any intervention is necessary.

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These Acros are ready to go on to the new portion of the scape whenever it's done. All of them had been healing and coloring up months now - some actually got a little duller, but maintenance had not been great due to a one-month old baby duty.

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Close-up's of some of my favorite Acros on the rack.

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Top-down on SunnyD's - it never gets old staring at these guys - amazing colors and patterns. These and Rastas are my only two zoas right now. 

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A no-pic update.

 

The entire Mystic Sunset colony rock (in the middle of the FTS above) was traded in to the LFS, saving myself a small plating piece the size of a quarter.

 

The BTA moved around back of the Monti Island. It's no longer in a position to bother any corals. So I'm just gonna let it be at the moment.  

 

Got another pic featured on NBR's IG, so stoked. :haha:

 

 

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On 8/10/2017 at 11:08 AM, DaveFason said:

Shoot me a few more photos over email that you like. You have a great tank! 

-Dave

Thanks Dave! It means a lot coming from you, because your tank looks great, well, amazing really.  Nanoboxreef fixtures also have been lighting up many of the tanks on here that have inspired me up to this point. 

 

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Since the tank is now a little over a year old. I decided that it's probably a good time to start rearranging/documenting my first post to make it look like I know what I'm doing, but I really don't.  HA :D  That's partly why I don't jump in to comment on ppl with tank trouble; I just comment on nice pics.

 

Anyway, back to what I found while looking over the older FTS. 

AUG 2016 - the Tricolor Monti piece in the red circle that I started out with

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Here it is earlier this month.

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Pics are kind of dark today.  Realized after reviewing all the photos that I forgot to turn the light to "Photo Mode".  Some pics had been "brightened". 

FTS

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The ALL-NEW Acro Island featuring the frags that had been grown to the size of mini colonies

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Top-down Shot, cause I like it.

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BoP, The bird is on its new perch!

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I'm now an Acan fan

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The Sunny D's are glowing in this light setting

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The far right end of the tank; red dragon in the foreground, yellow/red gorg- mid, fiji yellow leather in the back

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Ric's are finally getting the focus they deserve

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blue rim cap

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last but not least

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22 hours ago, micoastreefing said:

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Looks like the really pale one in the middle of the rock is not gonna make it. ? It was looking pretty bad for a few days before I mounted all frags on the rock yesterday. That would make this the third frag I lost since having a baby.

☹️ I really like this one too, I didn't care so much for the other two. Might have to start being more mindful of the tank parameters. 

 

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12 hours ago, ninjamyst said:

I really like the red dragon.  i will need to look for one locally...and i will need a bigger tank soon...hahah

Thanks @ninjamyst!

 

That red dragon has certainly become one of my best looking colonies in the tank. I've always wanted one because of its unique red color.  It was touch-and-go for a little while when I first got it, I eventually lost 2 out of 3 frags that came on a single rock from LFS.  But this one had grown steadily since May of last year.    

 

Isn't your RSR 350 a 4-foot tank?  You need more room already?  I've been going on increment of 6" upgrade, haha.  I went from 24" Nuvo 16 to 30" CADLight Mini.  And now I'm thinking a 36" system possibly Red Sea Reefer 250 - which would require a whole heck of savings ahead.  A non-AIO option will certainly afford me the front-to-back depth that I really want.  But it'll also be a whole new territory for me with having/plumbing a sump.  My other thought was to go with a 40 breeder with a AC110 HOB, similar to @markalot's small system, as my economical alternative.  

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22 minutes ago, DaveFason said:

Tank is looking fantastic. I may have to pick up a cap or two...

Thanks Dave!

 

Monti Caps are definitely "cap"-tivating to watch their growth, haha :D.  I've got the blue-rimmed that is whirling upward nicely into a cup. It has nice colors combo too, silvery green with lighter green polyp, and obviously purplish blue edge.  And the starburst is no slouch at growth, but it's been growing downward for some reasons.  Hopefully its new spot will encourage growth upward. 

 

If you're thinking of the last big red piece, look for tricolor palawanensis, (reef raft nauti spiral or JF slowburn are the possible fancy names for it).   That Monti would look amazing in your system ;)!    

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