dpoltsdsu Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 I picked up an awesome looking Gonaistrea Coral. I don't see a lot of these so I purchased it in the hopes it would make a good centerpiece for the right side of my reef. I'm going to place it on an overhanging rock and hopefully the coral gets larger and takes up a big portion of the area! Here is a top view of the coral 4 Quote Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 7 minutes ago, dpoltsdsu said: I picked up an awesome looking Gonaistrea Coral. I don't see a lot of these so I purchased it in the hopes it would make a good centerpiece for the right side of my reef. I'm going to place it on an overhanging rock and hopefully the coral gets larger and takes up a big portion of the area! Here is a top view of the coral Oooooh, that is GORGEOUS!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted March 13, 2017 Author Share Posted March 13, 2017 The frag tank is already finishing up its cycle after about 5 days! It was quick since I used some established live rock. I'm going to wait until my fish are out of quarantine and then I will add the filter and heater from the QT tank into the frag tank after I put the equipment into a vinegar bath 1 Quote Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Nice!! So the fish that are in QT will staff the Frag Tank? Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted March 13, 2017 Author Share Posted March 13, 2017 2 hours ago, Weetabix7 said: Nice!! So the fish that are in QT will staff the Frag Tank? The fish that are in Qt will staff the 75 gallon and I will likely get one fish for the frag tank to help with pests. I'm thinking a 6 line wrasse at the moment! 1 Quote Link to comment
fishfreak0114 Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 Gorgeous tank!!! Glad to hear the fish got through the ich and move ok You have some really nice grown out coral, I hope mine get that big someday! 1 Quote Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 12 hours ago, dpoltsdsu said: The fish that are in Qt will staff the 75 gallon and I will likely get one fish for the frag tank to help with pests. I'm thinking a 6 line wrasse at the moment! 6 line Wrasse sounds like a good call!! I've used a Yellow Coris like that in the past with good success, but I think they need a sandbed to sleep in, which most frag tanks don't have. 1 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 Finally got around to taking a couple of pictures of the reef with my phone. A lot of the corals you see at the bottom will be going in the frag tank so the sand should be uncluttered soon. I did have some Cyano that has popped up but a lot of it seems to be going away. The reef seems to be doing well as I am getting good growth and colors from most of the coral in the tank! 8 Quote Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 That's gorgeous, thx for sharing. 1 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share Posted March 16, 2017 20 hours ago, Weetabix7 said: That's gorgeous, thx for sharing. Thanks! I will try to get some pictures with the Nikon later 2 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share Posted March 16, 2017 On 3/13/2017 at 7:56 PM, fishfreak0114 said: Gorgeous tank!!! Glad to hear the fish got through the ich and move ok You have some really nice grown out coral, I hope mine get that big someday! Thank you! I appreciate it. I love the look of grown out colonies. I think they make a tank look more like a natural reef 3 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted March 18, 2017 Author Share Posted March 18, 2017 It's water change day for the reef. I was able to grab about 25 gallons of natural saltwater from Dan Diego on Friday. So lucky to have that resource. 4 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 So the frag tank completed its short cycle at the end of last week and I have put in some hardy corals like Xenia and Kenya Tree Coral to see how they do. Since this tank is in view, I want to make it somewhat natural looking. I have always loved the look of Mangroves so I am planning on making a rock island in the middle of the tank, lowering the water level, and planting some Red Mangroves on the top island. I am then going to get some magnetic rock frag racks and put those on the sides of the tank for the more difficult corals. If I do it properly, I think it can become a pretty unique frag tank. Here it is as of now. There's just some rocks, a couple easy corals, and 2 open brain corals on the sandbed that I am attempting to rehabilitate from a friends tank. 4 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted March 23, 2017 Author Share Posted March 23, 2017 In non-reef news.. Southern California is currently experiencing a huge wild flower bloom from all the rain we have had. The trails behind where I live are incredible right now 6 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 Some more wildflower pics! 5 Quote Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Holy CRAP, somebody please transport me there right now, I just wanna walk around there all day!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 Those flowers are beautiful! So nice to hear you guys had too much rain for a change. I really like the ideas you have for the frag tank, I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out 1 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 23 hours ago, teenyreef said: Those flowers are beautiful! So nice to hear you guys had too much rain for a change. I really like the ideas you have for the frag tank, I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out It was probably the most rain I have seen here over a 3 month period. We sude did need it though!! 1 Quote Link to comment
cowabunga-reefer Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 On 10/15/2016 at 8:19 PM, dpoltsdsu said: My little Acropora colony with a bunch of Clove Polyps at its base. Do you know the name of this acro? I have one in my tank but the color of yours is much deeper purple and bright green. Very nice ? On 3/23/2017 at 11:55 AM, dpoltsdsu said: In non-reef news.. Southern California is currently experiencing a huge wild flower bloom from all the rain we have had. The trails behind where I live are incredible right now Oh how I miss Southern California. Don't ever make the mistake I did and move 1 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 23 hours ago, The-Grim-Reefer said: Do you know the name of this acro? I have one in my tank but the color of yours is much deeper purple and bright green. Very nice ? Oh how I miss Southern California. Don't ever make the mistake I did and move Thanks! Hopefully I dont ever have to move out of this beautiful state Its a Purple Valida Acro! 1 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted March 30, 2017 Author Share Posted March 30, 2017 My 3+ year old Blue Legged Hermit Crab decided to make its home out of an old Turbo Snail shell that has some Kenya Tree Coral growing on it. It makes for a pretty unique hermit crab shell now. 6 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 As I plan on adding some bigger fish soon, I knew that I would have to upgrade the filtration as I'm only running carbon and GFO at the moment. The older the So the hunt for a Protein Skimmer had begun! Most of the skimmers that are rated for my tank size have large footprints and I needed one that would fit in the back chambers of my all-in-one. After extensive research, I have decided to purchase an SC-301 Skimmer for the reef! It should get here today or tomorrow so I will be giving some updates on the installation! 2 Quote Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 Well...... I finally did it. After 4 years in the hobby, I have finally purchased a Mandarin. In order to give the fish the best care I can, I will be culturing Tisbe Copepods and attempting to train it to eat Nutramar OVA. I am going to put him in today so he can begin eating the current pod population in the tank. There are a ton of pods in the system already as I do not have wrasses or any other fish that consistently eat pods. My goal was to buy a medium sized fish Mandarin that wasn't too skinny at the time of purchase. I believe I was able to find what I was looking for. So without further ado, meet the newest member of the reef! 6 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Beautiful! Definitely a fish on my bucket list, I know just how you feel. Congratulations! Quote Link to comment
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