Rene Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 Ah, and in still trying to get frags off the sandbed. I hate that look. In the new FTS you can see a SCA creamsicle Cyphastrea and a burning banana Stylocoenellia that I've had for close to a year but had tucked behind the rocks. 2 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Wow, it looks great! I love how you have made it a biotope! The rose coral you sent me was getting stung by a frogspawn frag but is recovering well, not that the frogspawn has been relocated. Also the blue-ish coral with the pretty yellow polyps is doing well. Sadly the last coral that only had 1 polyp didn't make it. 1 Quote Link to comment
pappadumplingz Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Everything is looking great! Funnily enough, my tank is also a gbr biotope, because of the law of all things . Are you trying to get corals that we’re sourced from the gbr, or are you fine with getting any of the same species as on the reef that are from different countries? Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted February 25, 2018 Author Share Posted February 25, 2018 On 1/25/2018 at 7:31 AM, vlangel said: Wow, it looks great! I love how you have made it a biotope! The rose coral you sent me was getting stung by a frogspawn frag but is recovering well, not that the frogspawn has been relocated. Also the blue-ish coral with the pretty yellow polyps is doing well. Sadly the last coral that only had 1 polyp didn't make it. Your contest tank is looking so good! Everything in there is just trucking along so smoothly now that you got the chemical warfare figured out. I wasn't worried about the rose coral, that thing is a beast and will take all kinds of punishment. Glad to hear 2 out of 3 did well for you. On 1/25/2018 at 6:59 PM, pappadumplingz said: Everything is looking great! Funnily enough, my tank is also a gbr biotope, because of the law of all things . Are you trying to get corals that we’re sourced from the gbr, or are you fine with getting any of the same species as on the reef that are from different countries? Yes, your legal situation makes for a unique challenge! With native Atlantic corals, we have almost the opposite situation. They are illegal to collect unless they show up on aquaculture rock so they are absent in the hobby. I've done a lot of reading and I decided to do my best and split the difference and just get frags of whatever "looks right". So I'm doing my best to get the correct species and if a color morph (like the prism favia) is known for being from Australia, I will try to include it. But I'm not too worried about making sure all my frags are originally from the GBR as long as I'm keeping to the species lists I have for the Cape Tribulation area. Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted February 25, 2018 Author Share Posted February 25, 2018 So who wants some Galaxea? If you are in the Houston area, PM me and it's yours! I really shouldnt be surprised. Today was spent dealing with the consequences of aggressive corals in a tiny tank. The Galaxea had been moved down to the sandbed but were in a high flow area, which caused them to generate sweeper tentacles. They stung the teal chalice, they stung the fathead dendro, they stung the orange litho, and one of the sweepers detached and landed on and killed the creamsicle Cyphastrea. I moved the Galaxea behind the rockwork for now where there's less flow...and I don't have to look at my poor decision. While I was doing that, I figured why not bother the rest of the tank, so I moved the teal chalice out where it will get more light, moved some rhodactis, trimmed the Halimeda (this tank can grow Halimeda) and finally took the plunge and glued down the itty bitty NPS. I've been feeding in the tank for a while. I won't say it's been 100% successful, I have had a flatworms outbreak (the bad ones) but I know what's causing it and how to fix it so I'm just not that upset about it. If I were more aggressive with nutrient export, I would not be having this issue. ....better wait on picking up the Galaxea. Let me get a handle on the flatworms first. Ain't nobody got time for that. I ran out of super glue. I have one coral on the sandbed, other than the Galaxea, so maybe in a few days I'll find a chance to get that moved and then leave the tank alone for another few months. And maybe I'll get more pictures soon. All considered? Tank looks good. I still want macroalgae. 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Rene, what macro algae do you want? I have some and would love to send you some, (to return the favor). I have feather and grape caulerpa, both of which might be too aggressive for a small tank. I also have red titan, dragon's breath, gracilaria, and red grape caulerpa. I would be happy to send you any of those, just pm me your address. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 17 hours ago, vlangel said: Rene, what macro algae do you want? I have some and would love to send you some, (to return the favor). I have feather and grape caulerpa, both of which might be too aggressive for a small tank. I also have red titan, dragon's breath, gracilaria, and red grape caulerpa. I would be happy to send you any of those, just pm me your address. Dawn, would you? That would be amazing! I was hoping to add dragon's breath or Gracillaria especially but I'd be happy to try any of the reds you care to send my way since I'm not really sure what will grow or where I went wrong last time. I will PM you. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 Y'all, I GOT ALL THE FRAGS OFF THE SANDBED! Happy dance! Except for the Galaxea. No one likes that guy. Pictures in a day or two when the tank clears up. Seriously. Frags in the sandbed were killing me. It's like dirty laundry on the floor. Put it away! 2 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 18 hours ago, Rene said: Y'all, I GOT ALL THE FRAGS OFF THE SANDBED! Happy dance! Except for the Galaxea. No one likes that guy. Pictures in a day or two when the tank clears up. Seriously. Frags in the sandbed were killing me. It's like dirty laundry on the floor. Put it away! I look forward to seeing 'the laundry folded and put away!'. Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted February 28, 2018 Author Share Posted February 28, 2018 New FTS after moving some corals around the other day. I moved the blue-gray chalice on top of the right island and put some of the green rhodactis in front of it. The Halimeda has been trimmed probably twice since the beginning of February, some fell onto the sandbed and I liked how it looked so I left it there. Thanks Galaxea lives behind the left island now. It stung the orange and black leptoseris that lives on the bottom of that rock so I fragged that, glued the bits to the right island, and put up a rubble barrier to protect the remainder. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted February 28, 2018 Author Share Posted February 28, 2018 I have never really shown what this tank looks like from the sides, and I do view it from there. Here's the right hand side. I have a lot of space around the rockwork. You can see the poor, stung lepto bits on the bottom. Poor thing has not been a fast grower for me either. 2 Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted February 28, 2018 Author Share Posted February 28, 2018 Here's the left hand side with bonus flatworms and rowdy Galaxea. Nothing comes within even an inch of touching the walls...you'll have to trust me because the camera lies. I decided while I was working in the tank the other day that it was time to do something about the blue-grey-green Psammacora that is encrusting the rockwork at a rapid pace. It's the fastest growing and sadly, ugliest, coral in the tank. It has never really lived up to my expectations color-wise and space is at a premium in here. I reluctantly made the decision to start glueing over it with super glue and rock rubble since there's not a simple way to remove it, so that's what's going on here. 4 1 Quote Link to comment
Myka Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 I LOVE your mini rockscape! 1 Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 12 hours ago, Myka said: I LOVE your mini rockscape! Thank you! I put a ton of work into it. The two islands are about 5 or 6 mini-chunks of live rock cemented together. I have a bunch of caves, tunnels, and overhangs but I'm not sure you can see more than one or two in any of these photos. Boo. 3 hours ago, vlangel said: Looks amazing! Thank you! 2 hours ago, k4ndyk1ng said: Looks so good man! Hey, thanks! I've been pretty happy with it so far Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 I have a poor-quality cellphone camera as my photo gear. My disposable income is limited so I'm working with what I have. I also have a jeweler's loupe that I keep next to the tank to spy on tiny aquarium life. Hmm....both of these things have lenses. As it turns out, the jeweler's loupe makes a pretty sweet macro photo kit for a phone if you are patient. 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 8 hours ago, Rene said: I have a poor-quality cellphone camera as my photo gear. My disposable income is limited so I'm working with what I have. I also have a jeweler's loupe that I keep next to the tank to spy on tiny aquarium life. Hmm....both of these things have lenses. As it turns out, the jeweler's loupe makes a pretty sweet macro photo kit for a phone if you are patient. Necessity is the mother of invention. Quote Link to comment
Myka Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 11 hours ago, Rene said: Thank you! I put a ton of work into it. The two islands are about 5 or 6 mini-chunks of live rock cemented together. I have a bunch of caves, tunnels, and overhangs but I'm not sure you can see more than one or two in any of these photos. Boo. Picos are difficult to photograph! Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 6 minutes ago, Myka said: Picos are difficult to photograph! It gives me a whole new level of appreciation for the photos everyone is taking for the creative container pico contest. 2 Quote Link to comment
Cintax Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 I love the rock work! What is that red and purple coral encrusting the right middle of the right side rock? A montipora? 1 Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 1 minute ago, Cintax said: I love the rock work! What is that red and purple coral encrusting the right middle of the right side rock? A montipora? Thank you! That's a Stylocoenellia. That color morph is often sold as "Spiderman" or "Superman". It's very hardy and does well in lower light too. I am not sure why that whole genus isn't more popular, they come in a huge variety of colors. Quote Link to comment
Cintax Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Thanks for the info. I am really fond of encrusting corals. I just did an image search for Stylocoeniella and I see that there are many gorgeous morphs. I don't know what I have ever seen them for sale at a store in my area. Maybe Canada Corals but I probably thought it was a Montipora. Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 They do look a lot like an encrusting Montipora. I am not sure I would br able to tell the difference. They have little sharp "spicules" that are a genus characteristic (tiny spikes that project up from between the polyps) but they aren't obvious on my colonies. 1 Quote Link to comment
Cannedfish Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Well knock me down and steal my teeth, tank's lookin' good! 2 1 Quote Link to comment
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