Joe's Boneless Pico Reef

[Joevember]

So I went over to my lfs to pick up a paly frag that I've wanted to put in this tank, but they had something I couldn't pass up on... It's not exactly a frag, but it was pretty much the price of one. 

It's almost fist sized, well over 50 polyps of a couple kinds of zoas, and I couldn't pass up on a deal that good. I will be moving it soon because it's taking up a ton of the rockwork just sitting there. I'm going to put it where the green rhodactis and RFA are. 

I've also mounted the pink zippers to the scape. Couldn't figure out a way to take a picture of its pinkness.

 

Here's some shots I took

[ReeferBray]

Starting to take very nicely shape. No signs of Dino anymore? 

[fissues]

Diggin' the setup. Looks great!

[Joevember]

59 minutes ago, ReeferBray said:

Starting to take very nicely shape. No signs of Dino anymore? 

Thanks, haven't spotted any the last few days.

 

42 minutes ago, fissues said:

Diggin' the setup. Looks great!

Thanks! Nice name by the way 😂

[Joevember]

Just moved some stuff around half an hour ago, most of the zoas have opened up. Lmk where you think I should mount the utter chaos 🤔

[WV Reefer]

20 minutes ago, Joevember said:

Just moved some stuff around half an hour ago, most of the zoas have opened up. Lmk where you think I should mount the utter chaos 🤔

Looking good in there. 😃

[ReeferBray]

Looks great and on the zoas placement maybe left bottom rock 

[Joevember]

Got a new crab buddy for the tank yesterday when I was getting more phyto. Can't pass up on a pom pom.

[Joevember]

I didn't see the pom pom since I first added him the first night, and I wasn't going to stop looking for him till I saw something. So after a several minutes of searching I found his head peeking through a crevice smaller than his body. He somehow crawled through a tiny tunnel that leads under the scape where he is currently chillin. It's always a mystery trying to find your crabs. The porcelain is sitting proud at the front of the scape most of the time.

[Wingy]

They can fit into some tiny spaces.  

[Joevember]

Found the stomatella scootin around the back glass. I think I may have three total, but it's hard to tell because they disappear so often. It has definitely grown since the last time I've seen it though. Almost an inch long.

Speaking of growth, almost all my zoas are sprouting new heads. My magician paly started out as 3, and now it's 5 heads. I didn't count any others so I can't give an exact head count on them, but I can tell that there are more. 

I also saw a lone utter chaos polyp detached from the frag plug. I'll mount it up somewhere cool next to a different zoa frag soon... same with the mother frag... eventually. 

Toadstool looks cool now. Like a hundred tiny hands waving in the current.

 

 

Also, expect better pictures by friday. I'm upgrading my phone from the s9 to the note 10, and better camera=better zoa pics!

[caas1496]

7 hours ago, Joevember said:

Found the stomatella scootin around the back glass. I think I may have three total, but it's hard to tell because they disappear so often. It has definitely grown since the last time I've seen it though. Almost an inch long.

Speaking of growth, almost all my zoas are sprouting new heads. My magician paly started out as 3, and now it's 5 heads. I didn't count any others so I can't give an exact head count on them, but I can tell that there are more. 

I also saw a lone utter chaos polyp detached from the frag plug. I'll mount it up somewhere cool next to a different zoa frag soon... same with the mother frag... eventually. 

Toadstool looks cool now. Like a hundred tiny hands waving in the current.

 

 

Also, expect better pictures by friday. I'm upgrading my phone from the s9 to the note 10, and better camera=better zoa pics!

I  have been thinking about upgrading to that phone as well and had much of the same motivation haha!  You have some incredible colonies. What are the bright orange ones at the top of your scape?

[Joevember]

43 minutes ago, caas1496 said:

I  have been thinking about upgrading to that phone as well and had much of the same motivation haha!  You have some incredible colonies. What are the bright orange ones at the top of your scape?

Lol ikr. Those are armor of god zoas.

[caas1496]

5 minutes ago, Joevember said:

Lol ikr. Those are armor of god zoas.

Cant wait to see what kind of pics you can get with the new phone. Might just have to follow your lead. I also have some zoas that I thought were Armor of Gods but yours are much more orange than mine. Hmmm maybe a different morph or I just guessed wrong at the name.

[Joevember]

Well, I've been pretty lazy for the past week. I either went and did something and come back when the lights are out or just forget to take pictures at all. Finally went down to get some today... over a week after I said I would.

Only thing to say about the tank is that it desperately needs to have the sandbed cleaned.

I took some pics without the orange filter, they are the blue-er ones.

The colors are more similar to the filtered pics in real life. No filter doesn't get all the colors. The new phone seems better at getting macros too.

[Wonderboy]

Looking fantastic!

[Joevember]

Finally did a water change, tons of detritus and crab molts in the sand. The particle size is a little too big for the tank, not too many sand dwellers can live down there. I also found a ton of turf algae growing on the bio spheres. I'm just going to say it's another method of nutrient removal since it's not in the display. 

The utter chaos got mounted too. I split the frag in half and glued them at the top, and I put the single head next to the rastas. 

Sandbed finally looking clean. 

[debbeach13]

I do love how this tank has progressed (visited page one again). What do the club members say about it? 

[Joevember]

6 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

I do love how this tank has progressed (visited page one again). What do the club members say about it? 

The students in the club were interested in the crab more than the corals... a few people said they thought corals were plants... but I think I got a couple people more interested in marine biology and coral conservation. Everyone liked the colors on the zoas.

I'll be handing the tank over to the school when I'm away in college. I'm probably gonna take it back and forth during their breaks though. I think they'll have an easy time taking care of the tank; they only gotta refill the AIO resivoir every month or so, put in phyto daily (weekends aren't much of a problem without dosing, it can look good for a while without phyto), and feed the crabs every other week (just a piece of mysis).

I think they will enjoy taking care of it and learning about corals. I just have to make sure they send me good pictures so I can put them here and stay in the contest. If I'm a finalist I think I'll donate whatever I get to the school for more reefing. 😄

[Joevember]

FTS post clean up

 

[WV Reefer]

1 minute ago, Joevember said:

FTS post clean up

 

 

Looks great. 😀

[Joevember]

Saw the pom pom at the top of the scape and took out the camera immediately. Got 1 good pic before he slinked away into the rocks. He's also got 2 nems now, only had 1 when I got him so he must've split it.

[Joevember]

Just dropped the tank off at the school. They'll be sending pictures to me, and I'll put them up here. The move went pretty smoothly, not too far to cause much stress. I found a new hitchhiker starfish in the bottom of the moving bucket too. It was a white brittle star, and it almost looked translucent. 

 

I'll be making a document with info on all the organisms in the tank that the students can read. I'll put that up here so you guys can check it out and also so you can correct me or make suggestions on additional information.

[Joevember]

They're taking good care of the tank, makin' me proud! Pics could be much better though... orangy

[OBXReef]

Nice and clean little setup.