gizmoody

You know you are a reefer when ...the word "frag" makes sense ...you refer to living things by their scientific names (ie, your corals) and you are not a scientist

3"! Wow, I'll have to watch out to make sure a war doesn't break out. Do you have pics of yours you can share?

I have the exact setup and it has been working flawlessly. Double sensor is a plus. Maxijet pump attachment for hose has a small hole on the side that works well to disturb the water in the 5 gallon bucket when on to top off main tank. This seems to prevent any bacterial bio film formation on the surface of the water in the bucket.

Playful fish. Sleeping fish. Full tank shot, side profile.

Yep, stock lighting except for two short strips of blue LED's for effect that I rarely use because the don't work as they did before...need to fix. Was worried when I got the tank that light wasn't enough but corals are doing great. Check out the Red Planet acropora in the topmost middle of the tank - that white branch grew in 2 months and is larger than the original frag.

You guys are awesome, thank you, much appreciated! I am confused because it's so "hairy" and probably the hairiest cactus like pavona pic on the net (and a coral identification book). I've moved it around over time in the tank and polyp extensions are the same. I've seen some extend up to half an inch. Definitely the strangest coral in tank. Again, thanks.

Can you please identify this coral? It must be old age because I am pretty sure I used to know...especially since it's in my tank. It has a hard and thin plate like skeleton. Thanks!

The left side has a 640 gallon per hour pump shooting water through the nozzle on the rear wall. The right side has a 320 gallon per hour pump. The surface is really active - if I focus the flow lower down, bye bye sand bed. Thanks for the comments. Purple coralline grows everywhere. Gotta scrape the glass once a week.

Hello WAMAS peeps. Just wanted to share a photo of my tank with you guys. It's a stock 65 gallon Red Sea Max 250 with an extra heater, auto top off system and 2 strips of stunner blue LED's. It's about 7-8 months old and has been a significant learning experience plus a pain in the butt sometimes but still an awesome stress reliever in a major way. It's taken forever for most of these corals to grow out (and most still need significant filling out!) because I bought such tiny, tiny frags. Please let me know what you think. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated!

Has anyone seen corals in their tanks adapt to higher temperatures and survive for a long time? Any other observations regarding adaptations in captivity that could help in the wild?

New Scientist post. 10 years to come up with a solution! "TIME is not on our side: we have just 10 years to save the Great Barrier Reef. That's according to Ove Hoegh-Guldberg at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. If we continue to release CO2 into the atmosphere at current rates, within a decade we will reach a tipping point beyond which ocean warming will occur no matter what we do, reducing the reef's chances of survival, he told delegates at the Greenhouse 2011 conference in Cairns this week. Just six years ago the outlook was more optimistic. Biologists had found evidence that corals might cope with warmer oceans by swapping the symbiotic algae they rely on for their energy with versions that function efficiently at higher temperatures. But more recent studies have suggested that this is only an option for the 25 per cent of the world's coral species that host multiple species of algae rather than just one. The remaining species must "migrate their way out of trouble" instead, says Hoegh-Guldberg. His calculations suggest that under current rates of warming, the corals must move southwards at a rate of 15 kilometres per year to stay cool. "Individual coral larvae can travel great distances, but the entire reef system can't," he says. "The uncomfortable conclusion is that we might lose the reef." Lesley Hughes at Macquarie University in Sydney agrees. "There is virtually no evidence" that coral reefs can adapt fast enough to keep up with global warming, she says."

Have you experienced any food clumping with the Eheim? Do you have a photo of the egg crate platform with feeder you can post? Thanks for the advice.

Anyone used an automatic fish feeder (yep, vacation time) on a Red Sea Max 250 tank or a closed hood system that you can recommend? I am currently looking at the Eheim 3581 but not sure if it will fit without leaving the front opening of the hood open. Also I use frozen and pellet foods to feed. Any recommendations on the best type of food for auto feeders (pellet, flake, dried, etc). Any advice would be much appreciated.

These are awesome zoas and photos! I love zoas but after seeing your photos I love them even more. How did you go about acquiring such a diverse collection?

Very nice. Kind of inspiring to look at and by the way, great shots!

65 gallons (not counting the 2 gallons i manage to spill every week ).

Welcome! Recently joined (also in Rockville) and this forum (and meeting) has been great. Don't miss the meetings.

There has been no electricity in my area in Rockville for the past two hours. I don't have any backup plan but will have to wait it out and hope for the best. Thought I had more time to figure out a backup plan (5 month old tank). Anyone solarize their house with marine batteries as storage? That seems like a better backup than a generator and greener, not that a conventional home reef is green energy-wise. If you have, please let me know. Your thoughts and evaluation of your system would be really helpful.

This winner is very happy. Thanks John!

I won one of the chalices at the WAMAS meeting this past Saturday from BRK. I picked it up at the BRK store and what an awesome piece it is! I have to thank John for adding this piece to the raffle and for being such a great guy in person. He runs an amazing operation in VA and if you haven't been there yet or interacted with John, you should start now. Trust me, I'm not just saying this because I got a chalice. Really glad I joined WAMAS and I'll be trekking out to BRK often. Crappy pic of chalice with iPhone is attached. I'll take a better one when I can find my camera but it's about 5ish inches in diameter and very fragile.

Congrats dude!

I have noticed that my zoas with only 3-10 polyps (including a red hornet!) are sometimes damaged by something in my tank. I have some large red and blue legged hermit crabs that are usually in the area. I also have an emerald crab. I am pretty sure fish are not doing it. Are hermit and/or emerald crabs known to do this? Are hermits necessary as a part of the cleanup crew? Thanks!

Thanks! You got me...I should have a pic up. I've been slacking on the blogging of recent. Another forum member PM'd me that it could be the flow or light and it makes sense. I'll test it but I'll still try to get a pic up soon. Frogspawn is in the upper right of tank in front of the torch in the slide show on my site (sorry, I can't post to gallery on this forum yet). It was tiny and in terrible shape (brown) when I got it and it has recovered and is splitting into 3 short heads. I am really glad you all liked the website. Marine life is beautiful and classy compared to most and I really wanted a site with a bit more style out of respect for that life. By the way, this forum's functionality and looks are really refreshing compared to most of the others out there. Thanks again!

Hey, Perfect timing, I was just about to make some Richoridia purchases. I would like to take all of your Richordias for a Richordia garden if they are in good condition (pics would be nice, but I'll PM you). Thanks.

Just wanted to say hi. Will become a WAMAS member and I look forward to interacting with reefers in the area. I am not very experienced in this hobby and started my 65g Red Sea Max 250 tank in Aug 2010. Very addictive and relaxing to build this type of ecosystem. If only I were still a marine biologist, this would be much easier! My first question is: I have a green torch coral and the tips are starting to look deformed (like gas pump handles), some with new tips forming like a reproducing frogspawn. Does anyone know if this is normal or how these things form new tentacles? The coral seems really happy so it must not be bad but I am still a bit anxious. Thanks!