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Dr. Felicia's Back to Basics IM14 - Retired 2/25/2020


Felicia

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2 hours ago, Felicia said:

 

Seriously right?!  I already have my new 14 crammed to the gills.  Sorry we didn't run into each other!  Its so hard to find people when you don't know what they look like and only know online user names.  Next time, I'm going to post a photo of myself right beforehand so people can recognize me!

It also doesn't help when we have our heads down looking in frag tanks :lol:.  I occasionally looked up to see if I recognized anyone :D.

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23 hours ago, yoshii said:

RAP was a blast :)
Your ric garden looks lovely, and I can't wait to see how all your zoas look when they open up!

It was!  You got your MACNA ticket for next year right?  I'm excited for all of us to go to that!

 

Thank you, Christina!  That ricordea garden is still looking a bit angry after I glued them all down to prevent any more of them disappearing.  I'm hoping maybe this evening they'll be fully puffed up to get a nice photo.  The zoas were all open on the frag rack yesterday, but I was lazy and didn't get a photo.  I'll get one soon!

22 hours ago, gena said:

It also doesn't help when we have our heads down looking in frag tanks :lol:.  I occasionally looked up to see if I recognized anyone :D.

Very true! :lol: I was oblivious.  Too busy staring at the pretty corals and tanks and equipment.

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Tank Updates

  1. Everything is doing really well!  I realized I haven't had a chance to get a new FTS or any photos of the new gorgonians from KPA.  I'll get on that!  The tank is just a bit of a hot mess at the moment with frags everywhere!  I need to get to placing corals in their permanent locations.
  2. Monday evening I glued all of the ricordea onto the rocks so that no more of them can wander off.  I still can't find the small gold-colored one from KPA.  Now I'm just waiting on the ricordea to get settled into their new locations and stop being grumpy from all the manhandling when I glued them down.  They were most of the way puffed up yesterday, but not quite all the way puffy.
  3. I was really entertained while I was glueing ricordea because at one point, I ended up with the cleaner shrimp, the Pederson's anemone shrimp, and the pom pom crab hanging out on my hand all at the same time.  I wish I had gotten a photo, but I couldn't reach my phone with my arm in the tank.  I'm used to inverts tending to be pretty shy, but I seem to have gotten a spunky group.  The Pederson's anemone shrimp in particular is so fun to watch.  He's always out and about and doesn't seem scared of anything at all.  For being so tiny and mostly clear, he's got a HUGE personality.
  4. Last night I did a quick 3.5 gallon water change.  I'm going to start decreasing the frequency of water changes, but with all the new inhabitants lately I've been trying to do them weekly.
  5. The YWG originally made his burrow under the rocks in the very back of the tank, facing the back glass.  Go figure!  He was super hard to see back there, which was annoying.  The first pistol shrimp I added went MIA, so I replaced it last week.  The YWG and new pistol paired up instantly...the pistol went straight into the YWG's burrow when I added him to the tank.  Last night when I was doing the water change I noticed a new burrow under the front left island rock (the one with the ricordeas off to the right side).  The YWG and pistol shrimp have moved into a burrow under that rock, which has entrances under the front of the island rock and underneath the ricordea garden.  Yay!  I'm glad they moved up towards the front where I can see them better!  Maybe now I can actually get a good photo of the two of them.  The new pistol seems pretty spunky and sure is burrowing away and I hear him clicking all the time.  He was also sure out and about with the YWG last night at feeding time.
  6. Summary:  I am really enjoying watching the antics of all my tiny invertebrates!
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Photo Time! :happydance:

 

FTS October 11, 2017

37616715552_42dc205c4b_c.jpg

 

New Zoanthids and Palythoas

Here are my 7 new zoa and paly frags on the frag rack.  Top row: Blondies (closed in the photo), My Clementines, Goblins on Fire.  Middle row: Cornbread Rainbow Infusions, King Midas, Purple People Eaters.  Bottom row: Bam Bams.

37616711562_d359efee24_c.jpg

 

Inhabitants

Pederson's Anemone Shrimp

37616705662_772c4b3d4a_c.jpg

 

The Pederson's Anemone Shrimp has been cleaning the misbar clownfish by jumping on and riding around while he cleans.  I actually got a few photos of him in action.  I am also working on a tank video that includes a clip of the shrimp riding the clownfish.  So fun to watch!

37616707752_d4de97f4cb_c.jpg

 

37616706752_f451ac9fd7_c.jpg

 

Porcelain crab and the pom pom crab.

37616710732_7851c013ca_c.jpg

 

New Gorgonians from KP Aquatics

37616713792_5ba89dfcc0_c.jpg

 

Yellow Sea Whip

37616714342_bea56491cc_c.jpg

 

Purple Sea Rod

37616713222_9bd1a0ecfd_c.jpg

 

Knobby Sea Rod

37616712552_e86163b5d1_c.jpg

 

Other Corals

Cespitularia

37616712102_788f83d538_c.jpg

 

St. Thomas mushroom and Florida ricordeas.

37616709912_ece06ef6ef_c.jpg

 

Long Polyp Toadstool

37616709182_56208ca563_c.jpg

 

Top-Down Photos

37616702632_d66fb413a0_c.jpg

 

37616701672_24270d87b4_c.jpg

 

37616703512_0f4ee568ee_c.jpg

 

37616704162_1f804ea506_c.jpg

 

And finally, Lily watching the aquarium. :wub:

37616710262_dba6d85b71_c.jpg

 

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Tank. Looks. Awesome.

 

But let's but honest, you know that. Lily the cat, however, is probably judging it, because cats are jerks. I love them (& have Siamese twins), but science has proven that cats are jerks. 

 

I also love your Pederson's shrimp! It may be time to give those transparent fancy-boys a second chance.  My last one, apparently overcome with grief that Fergie and Josh Duhamel had split, determined life was no longer worth living, and decided to stick himself to the glass top. Although gruesome, and maybe a bit over dramatic, I can't really fault him, the stunt certainly had an aspect of morbid flair to it. See you Valhalla little guy. 

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The video I was making took a lot longer to finish than I thought it would (my 7 year old Macbook is starting to really slow down), but its ready now, so here it is!  Make sure you keep an eye out for the Pederson's anemone shrimp jumping up onto the clown and riding around while cleaning him.  Also, make sure you change the quality setting to 1080p!

 

 

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2 hours ago, Cannedfish said:

Tank. Looks. Awesome.

 

But let's but honest, you know that. Lily the cat, however, is probably judging it, because cats are jerks. I love them (& have Siamese twins), but science has proven that cats are jerks. 

 

I also love your Pederson's shrimp! It may be time to give those transparent fancy-boys a second chance.  My last one, apparently overcome with grief that Fergie and Josh Duhamel had split, determined life was no longer worth living, and decided to stick himself to the glass top. Although gruesome, and maybe a bit over dramatic, I can't really fault him, the stunt certainly had an aspect of morbid flair to it. See you Valhalla little guy. 

:lol: Your posts crack me up!

 

Thank you! :flower:  Oh yes, cats are special creatures.  I feel like Lily embodies more of a diva than a jerk, but pretty much. :lol:  I used to joke that she was plotting to destroy the previous aquariums.  However, she seems to actually be enjoying watching this one.  I'm sure she's judging it though :lol:

 

I've never had a Pederson's shrimp and I'm really loving this little guy.  So much personality and not the least bit shy.  He behaves like he's king of the tank.  I am sad that you lost your Pederson's shrimp, but your post cracked me up.  Rest in peace, shrimpy!  I think its definitely time you give another one a try!

1 hour ago, vlangel said:

Wow Felicia, you really get the best pics!  And your tank is amazing.  I love everything about it!

Aww, thank you, Dawn! :flower: I still feel like I haven't gotten the light setting perfect for photos yet.  I want them white, but I feel like they're not picking up all the colors I see with my eyes.  I was used to photographing with the 15K Maxspect fixture, but I'm still working on it with this 10K fixture.  Its VERY white!  I'm glad you appreciate my hot mess of frags everywhere!  This weekend I am going to suck it up and start glueing things down!

53 minutes ago, fishfreak0114 said:

The tank looks incredible already!  But of course it does, you're an excellent reefer!  I love all those gorgs :wub:

Thank you for the kind words!  I don't know about excellent, but I try my best.  Granted, its easier to be good at it when you stick to the easy stuff and stop keeping the finicky sticks.  :lol:  Gorgonians are my favorite!  :wub: I'm glad you like them!

44 minutes ago, gena said:

:wub:

 

Everything looks fantastic! 

 

And those King Midas....LOVE them!

Thank you, Gena!  Yeah I'm really happy I got those King Midas zoas.  The yellow pop on those under the whiter lighting is really nice.  I just need to figure out where to put everything!  I have 13 frags right now that need permanent homes.

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Beautiful photography.  I think the cat is definitely intrigued with the tank.  When talking about natural systems, I have recently embraced cryptic zone filtration.  I have changed out my 25 yr old mud/macro refugium to a mud cryptic zone refugium.  There are so many different ways to maintain a reef successfully.  I choose natural systems for simplicity and ease of maintenance.  I subscribe to the school of “laissez faire” reef keeping.

 

I am a Marine Engineer, but only have one degree.  Sorry, I stole that line from PaulB.  As a deep water Subsea Engineer , I designed and trouble shoot sophisticated underwater blowout preventor systems using multiplexing with both fiber optics and acoustic back up systems.  With 30 yrs of this experience, I stand by the KISS principle.

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9 hours ago, gena said:

Yay!!!!  I've missed your videos :wub:.  I enjoyed that one like all the others. 

I missed making my videos!  I find it fun to take fun video clips and then put together a nice video.  I'm glad you enjoyed it!  I was just so thrilled I got that fun clip of the Pederson's shrimp jumping onto the clown and going for a quick ride.  :)

8 hours ago, Subsea said:

Beautiful photography.  I think the cat is definitely intrigued with the tank.  When talking about natural systems, I have recently embraced cryptic zone filtration.  I have changed out my 25 yr old mud/macro refugium to a mud cryptic zone refugium.  There are so many different ways to maintain a reef successfully.  I choose natural systems for simplicity and ease of maintenance.  I subscribe to the school of “laissez faire” reef keeping.

 

I am a Marine Engineer, but only have one degree.  Sorry, I stole that line from PaulB.  As a deep water Subsea Engineer , I designed and trouble shoot sophisticated underwater blowout preventor systems using multiplexing with both fiber optics and acoustic back up systems.  With 30 yrs of this experience, I stand by the KISS principle.

Thank you!  Yeah, Lily (the cat) seems to really be enjoying this tank.  She seems to especially like the clownfish pair.  The idea of a cryptic zone for filtration instead of the more standard macroalgae fuge is definitely intriguing for the ability to introduce diversity and add filtration.  You will have to tell me how it is working for you once it has had time to establish itself.  You are spot on about there being many different ways to reef successfully.  It also is funny how some things work amazingly for some people but not for others.  Its all about finding the style/technique that works for you and your system.  I definitely subscribe to the "laissez faire" method as well!  I went to Sanjay Joshi's talk at Reef-a-Palooza and he showed a video of his lesser known 29 gallon softie tank (most people know him for his amazing 500 gallon acro system).  He was talking about the fact that the 29 gallon aquarium had been running for about 20 years and it had basically no filtration beyond biological from rock and sand.  He has apparently not done a water change on that system in 3-4 years.  His attitude is that if something doesn't want to live in that tank, then oh well!  He just sticks with the things that thrive in that particular environment and its made for a gorgeous tank.  I was definitely inspired by that tank and his methodology regarding keeping it simple.

 

Wow!  Subsea engineering sounds like a fascinating career!  Definitely doesn't sound like you need anymore than one degree with that experience!  As an engineering myself, I can definitely say that KISS is definitely always good advice!  Its never a good idea to overcomplicate things.  Just stick to the simple solution.  :)

2 hours ago, kimberbee said:

Wow!!

 

With that first FTS, I forgot this was only a 14 gallon tank! It's so pretty! reminding me of what I really want my RFA/gorg tank to look like!! 

Thank you, Kimber! :flower:  I really like the dimensions of this tank.  Its small, but it doesn't feel cramped.  I was debating between this tank or the IM10 originally.  I'm really glad I went with the IM14 because the fact that its a bit wider instead of being a cube really makes it look larger than it is.  Its really a perfect size for me right now!  I'm glad you like it!  Gorgs are the best!  I love the mix of them with the rock flowers!  I thought about getting a rock flower anemone or two for this tank, but decided I didn't want the stress of them moving around in such a small space.  I'm really loving all things caribbean lately!

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6 hours ago, Felicia said:

Wow!  Subsea engineering sounds like a fascinating career!  Definitely doesn't sound like you need anymore than one degree with that experience!  As an engineering myself, I can definitely say that KISS is definitely always good advice!  Its never a good idea to overcomplicate things.  Just stick to the simple solution.  :)

In my early days offshore, I was a rig mechanic on semi-submersibles.  Once while helping the Barge Engineer repair a bubbler water level indicator inside a pontoon, I found a Bonanza.  Normally, the top of that pontoon is 30’ below water.  However, to repair it, the rig had to be ballasted up so that top of pontoon was 3’ above water.  I was lowered to pontoon with a crane.  When I looked down at pontoon, there were thousands of pencil and long spiney urchins.  After completing the job in pontoon, the Barge Engineer was amused as I removed my hard hat and filled it with urchins.  I told him I was going to make an aphrodisiac.

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On 10/12/2017 at 3:18 AM, Felicia said:

Photo Time! :happydance:

 

FTS October 11, 2017

37616715552_42dc205c4b_c.jpg

 

New Zoanthids and Palythoas

Here are my 7 new zoa and paly frags on the frag rack.  Top row: Blondies (closed in the photo), My Clementines, Goblins on Fire.  Middle row: Cornbread Rainbow Infusions, King Midas, Purple People Eaters.  Bottom row: Bam Bams.

37616711562_d359efee24_c.jpg

 

Inhabitants

Pederson's Anemone Shrimp

37616705662_772c4b3d4a_c.jpg

 

The Pederson's Anemone Shrimp has been cleaning the misbar clownfish by jumping on and riding around while he cleans.  I actually got a few photos of him in action.  I am also working on a tank video that includes a clip of the shrimp riding the clownfish.  So fun to watch!

37616707752_d4de97f4cb_c.jpg

 

37616706752_f451ac9fd7_c.jpg

 

Porcelain crab and the pom pom crab.

37616710732_7851c013ca_c.jpg

 

New Gorgonians from KP Aquatics

37616713792_5ba89dfcc0_c.jpg

 

Yellow Sea Whip

37616714342_bea56491cc_c.jpg

 

Purple Sea Rod

37616713222_9bd1a0ecfd_c.jpg

 

Knobby Sea Rod

37616712552_e86163b5d1_c.jpg

 

Other Corals

Cespitularia

37616712102_788f83d538_c.jpg

 

St. Thomas mushroom and Florida ricordeas.

37616709912_ece06ef6ef_c.jpg

 

Long Polyp Toadstool

37616709182_56208ca563_c.jpg

 

Top-Down Photos

37616702632_d66fb413a0_c.jpg

 

37616701672_24270d87b4_c.jpg

 

37616703512_0f4ee568ee_c.jpg

 

37616704162_1f804ea506_c.jpg

 

And finally, Lily watching the aquarium. :wub:

37616710262_dba6d85b71_c.jpg

 

:wub:  Tank looks awesome!  Those gorgs are so pretty and fluffy!  My Pederson's, Jacques, is the same way, he owns the tank.  My husband calls him "Superman shrimp" for the way he goes flying across the tank with arms outstretched. :lol:  I haven't gotten to post about it yet, but I got a porcelain crab again, among other things. :happy:

 

On 10/12/2017 at 10:04 AM, Cannedfish said:

Tank. Looks. Awesome.

 

But let's but honest, you know that. Lily the cat, however, is probably judging it, because cats are jerks. I love them (& have Siamese twins), but science has proven that cats are jerks. 

 

I also love your Pederson's shrimp! It may be time to give those transparent fancy-boys a second chance.  My last one, apparently overcome with grief that Fergie and Josh Duhamel had split, determined life was no longer worth living, and decided to stick himself to the glass top. Although gruesome, and maybe a bit over dramatic, I can't really fault him, the stunt certainly had an aspect of morbid flair to it. See you Valhalla little guy. 

Do it.  Pederson's shrimp are the best!

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On 10/12/2017 at 9:10 AM, Felicia said:

The video I was making took a lot longer to finish than I thought it would (my 7 year old Macbook is starting to really slow down), but its ready now, so here it is!  Make sure you keep an eye out for the Pederson's anemone shrimp jumping up onto the clown and riding around while cleaning him.  Also, make sure you change the quality setting to 1080p!

 

 

Looking so good!  Love the Pederson's doing it's thing.  Will be interesting to see if the St Thomas will play nice with the Ricorida, or not.  I had two of them, but they got so big and bubbly (they can get up to 8" across), that I had to move them on after a few months.

 

Small nanos are a lot of fun, just so easy to run out of room  :) 

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On 10/12/2017 at 2:18 AM, Felicia said:

Photo Time! :happydance:

 

FTS October 11, 2017

37616715552_42dc205c4b_c.jpg

 

New Zoanthids and Palythoas

Here are my 7 new zoa and paly frags on the frag rack.  Top row: Blondies (closed in the photo), My Clementines, Goblins on Fire.  Middle row: Cornbread Rainbow Infusions, King Midas, Purple People Eaters.  Bottom row: Bam Bams.

37616711562_d359efee24_c.jpg

 

Inhabitants

Pederson's Anemone Shrimp

37616705662_772c4b3d4a_c.jpg

 

The Pederson's Anemone Shrimp has been cleaning the misbar clownfish by jumping on and riding around while he cleans.  I actually got a few photos of him in action.  I am also working on a tank video that includes a clip of the shrimp riding the clownfish.  So fun to watch!

37616707752_d4de97f4cb_c.jpg

 

37616706752_f451ac9fd7_c.jpg

 

Porcelain crab and the pom pom crab.

37616710732_7851c013ca_c.jpg

 

New Gorgonians from KP Aquatics

37616713792_5ba89dfcc0_c.jpg

 

Yellow Sea Whip

37616714342_bea56491cc_c.jpg

 

Purple Sea Rod

37616713222_9bd1a0ecfd_c.jpg

 

Knobby Sea Rod

37616712552_e86163b5d1_c.jpg

 

Other Corals

Cespitularia

37616712102_788f83d538_c.jpg

 

St. Thomas mushroom and Florida ricordeas.

37616709912_ece06ef6ef_c.jpg

 

Long Polyp Toadstool

37616709182_56208ca563_c.jpg

 

Top-Down Photos

37616702632_d66fb413a0_c.jpg

 

37616701672_24270d87b4_c.jpg

 

37616703512_0f4ee568ee_c.jpg

 

37616704162_1f804ea506_c.jpg

 

And finally, Lily watching the aquarium. :wub:

37616710262_dba6d85b71_c.jpg

 

Exquisite photography.  You have a real knack for aquascaping with colors and texture.  I love the shoot of the colt coral.  Very subtle color change with lovely lacy fingers.  The color contrast of the Ricordio.  Nicely done.  

 

 

I can identity with Felix.  For background music, I would have to play “The Blue Danube”.  I danced this waltz with my mother in a fancy ballroom in 1968 West Berlin.  The orchestra had long white wigs and  funny looking tuxedos.  A 20’ chandelier hung over the dance floor.  It was quite posh for this country boy.  I stood tall with my USAF uniform.  While I had never danced a waltz before, my mother helped me flow across the dance floor.  It was a stark contrast to the day before.  While traveling on a train from Frankfurt to Berlin, East Germany military detained me for several hours before releasing me.  Even 20 years after WWII, large section of West Berlin was in shambles.  I can only imagine what it was like on the ground when the devastation of war happened.  It was a stark contrast to that ballroom dancing to “The Blue Danube”.

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On 10/13/2017 at 4:24 AM, Pjanssen said:

Beautiful! So similar to mine and yet...:wub:

Thank you! :flower: I have a weakness for the softies and gorgonians.  You have such a lovely mix in your tank!

On 10/13/2017 at 4:48 AM, Subsea said:

In my early days offshore, I was a rig mechanic on semi-submersibles.  Once while helping the Barge Engineer repair a bubbler water level indicator inside a pontoon, I found a Bonanza.  Normally, the top of that pontoon is 30’ below water.  However, to repair it, the rig had to be ballasted up so that top of pontoon was 3’ above water.  I was lowered to pontoon with a crane.  When I looked down at pontoon, there were thousands of pencil and long spiney urchins.  After completing the job in pontoon, the Barge Engineer was amused as I removed my hard hat and filled it with urchins.  I told him I was going to make an aphrodisiac.

I bet that was an exciting job.  Uni is pretty gross looking but surprising tasty as sashimi and in sushi.  :D

On 10/13/2017 at 7:36 PM, Lula_Mae said:

:wub:  Tank looks awesome!  Those gorgs are so pretty and fluffy!  My Pederson's, Jacques, is the same way, he owns the tank.  My husband calls him "Superman shrimp" for the way he goes flying across the tank with arms outstretched. :lol:  I haven't gotten to post about it yet, but I got a porcelain crab again, among other things. :happy:

 

Do it.  Pederson's shrimp are the best!

Thank you!  The gorgs seem really happy so far.  I've been thrilled with how puffy they are.  Yeah, "superman shrimp" is about right!  They're long front arms are so funny and they sure do go flying around.  Mine is a ham and owns the whole front center portion of the tank.  You got a new porcelain crab?  How exciting!  They're so cool!  I just love the fascinating little inverts.

On 10/13/2017 at 8:05 PM, Nano sapiens said:

Looking so good!  Love the Pederson's doing it's thing.  Will be interesting to see if the St Thomas will play nice with the Ricorida, or not.  I had two of them, but they got so big and bubbly (they can get up to 8" across), that I had to move them on after a few months.

 

Small nanos are a lot of fun, just so easy to run out of room  :) 

Thank you! :flower: The Pederson's is a hoot!  The St. Thomas so far is touching one ricordea and not bothering it.  I'm hoping it won't get too big and shade any of them.  8" across is HUGE!  I had a couple in my seahorse tank that stayed reasonably small, so maybe there are different varieties?  Hopefully this one won't get that large.  Its super bubbly and I love the colors on it!  Also the Pederson's shrimp and the pom pom crab seem to think its an awesome spot to hang out.

 

I was worried I'd be out of room and get bored quickly with this tank, but I had forgotten how much I love watching small inverts.  I can sit and watch them for ages!  I spent a good amount of time this evening watching the pom pom crab do his thing and it made me so happy!  Video to come shortly. :)  In terms of space I'll just have to take a page out of your book and spend time fragging, rearranging, and removing some things to add new things over time.

On 10/14/2017 at 5:44 AM, Subsea said:

Exquisite photography.  You have a real knack for aquascaping with colors and texture.  I love the shoot of the colt coral.  Very subtle color change with lovely lacy fingers.  The color contrast of the Ricordio.  Nicely done.  

 

 

I can identity with Felix.  For background music, I would have to play “The Blue Danube”.  I danced this waltz with my mother in a fancy ballroom in 1968 West Berlin.  The orchestra had long white wigs and  funny looking tuxedos.  A 20’ chandelier hung over the dance floor.  It was quite posh for this country boy.  I stood tall with my USAF uniform.  While I had never danced a waltz before, my mother helped me flow across the dance floor.  It was a stark contrast to the day before.  While traveling on a train from Frankfurt to Berlin, East Germany military detained me for several hours before releasing me.  Even 20 years after WWII, large section of West Berlin was in shambles.  I can only imagine what it was like on the ground when the devastation of war happened.  It was a stark contrast to that ballroom dancing to “The Blue Danube”.

Thank you!  I do all my photography with my iPhone, so not sure there's much skill involved so much as good technology. :happy:  I'm not as much for the bright neon/fluorescent color pops, but instead I like the more muted colors combined with a mix of different textures.  That colt/leather coral is a wonderful example.  Its not fluorescent at all, but I love its subtle color and the fuzzy texture.

 

Its too bad ballroom dancing isn't as popular anymore.  I have taken a few ballroom dancing lessons over the years, but never got very good at it.

 

 

 

 

The pom pom crab was sure out and about this evening!  I was having blast watching him wander all around the tank waving his anemones.  I took some quick video clips for you guys and put together a short video.

 

 

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I love ease dropping on this thread.  So many different artistic ideas.  Much food for thought and much humor.

 

I remember the first MAST conference that I went to.   It was in Dallas, Tx.  Anthony Calfo,  Julian Sprung and Erick Boreneman were some of the guest speakers that I was interested in.  I had just read Anthony Calfo’s book “How to Grow Corals in a Greenhouse” and I was pumped up.  Living on 20 acres, I had room for greenhouses.  I had already built a surprise birthday present for a friend.  A 30’ by 50’ arched dome greenhouse, that stood up to 100 mph winds from Hurricane Rita.  Anthony and I exchanged emails prior to the conference.   The conference was held near a large speedway track for race car enthusiast.  We were the only building in 10 miles beside the race track.  Don’t ask me what year.  I graduated from high school in 1966.  I am surprised that I remember that.  While drinking morning coffee on the second day there, One of the servers commented how friendly and jovial of an athmosphere the reefers had brought to there convention hotel.  Some few minutes later, Julian Sprung sat down at a table next to me.  As he was sitting alone, I asked if I could join him and was amazed to hear certainly.  What a groupie I was.  We talked and laughed for an hour.  I soaked up a lot of knowledge and had much fun.  He clarified something for me.  I was a caretaker for a 29G reef tank on the Discoverer Seaver Seas, a dynamically positioned drillship owned by Transocean.  In working with the maintenance supervisor, we piped seawater into this tank to flow 24/7.  Being the deep water pacesetter, we were always in deep blue water that constituted “The Gulf Stream”.  The tank was placed in the galley on an end where few people sat.  As this tank matured, it became a central morale builder for the crew.  It became quite a show piece, one of the nicest invert tanks that I have ever had.  I got some Shell company representative of the environmental engineering department interested in doing a public relations video to demonstrate our environmental footprint.  Unfortunately, we went to work for another company, but worse than that, the tank crashed after two years.  A friend from Oceaneering, collected a crab from 3000’ and put into tank.  While I was not there, I was told it happened in just a few overnight hours.   After telling the story to Julian, he informed me that deep water bottom dwellers had high levels of copper.  Mystery solved.

 

I have always enjoyed and been amazed with nature.   Working at sea was a unique time in my life.  I enjoyed the comradary of crew mates and the beauty of many a sunrise and sunset.  Some of the deep water sailors that I worked with had an old saying, “Red sky at night, sailors delight, Red sky in morning, sailer take warning”.   When Hurricane Ritta formed in the Gulf of Mexico, the morning we evacuated a Noble Drilling semi-submersible, I saw the most spectacular sunrise, that changed to a red glow.  It was very foreboding.  As things turned out, a Category 5 hurricane eyewall captured our drilling rig.  All eight anchors were broken.  Each anchor at 50 tons with 5000’ of chain of which each link weighed 200lbs.  With this rig Noble had allowed the USCG to monitor our transponder data as well as wind speeds.  At 200 mph, the wind gauge broke, but transponder kept working.  In Washington, the Coast Guard followed our rigs path across 200 miles thru gas production platforms to be beached off the coast of Cameron, La.  For me, the excitement continued.  Instead of going to a hotel to stand by with the rest of the crew, I drove home to DeRidder, La.  The eyewall of Rita came over my 20 acres, with 200 year old hard wood trees falling different directions when wind changed direction.

 

While working offshore, most days were not like that.   I really enjoyed the tranquility of a sunset at sea.   One evening, as the sun was in it’s last hour.   On the main deck, we were at most 10’ above the water.  Often I would see patches of Sargassum Seaweed float by, I recall netting some interesting fish and shrimp to go into the tank.  I have always been amazed at how nature manifest itself.  One day toward the end of a 14 day work hitch, I observed numerous Portuguese Men of War floating by.  The top portion of these small “men of war” was blue and then translucent at the base.  They all seem to be floating together, then one drifted further off.  To my amazement, he lifted a purple sail and moved back to the “men of war” school.  Once together, the whole school lifted their sails simultaneously.  What was that all about?   These jelly fish had a common conscienness.   

 

Sometimes, I ramble.

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Legendary Corals

I know you asked me to show you a photo when I took one, so here it is. It might be a kenya tree? It's definitely not a carnation coral, it's been alive and growing too well to be one lol.

 

37804448281_a4b2a55569_b.jpg

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Those videos were so awesome :lol: I really miss having a pom pom crab, I got mine when I had my old BC29, saw him periodically and then he disappeared only to reappear 4 months later... weird inverts for sure, but they're so pretty :wub:

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