Almon August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 (edited) I greatly enjoy observing the various animals growing in my reef and I thought I would share some of the pictures with all of you. My reef has seen many changes in the past eight (8) years and has developed quite nicely. I owe much of the credit for recent changes to joining the two organizations WAMAS and CMAS. This is my 1st year (2007) as a participant and have greatly benefited from the knowledge transfer and from the purchases and trades of various corals with other members, and I thank you. Here is a brief history: I set up my 1st aquarium in 1987. It was a 55g freshwater tank "Loaned" to me my by a friend without the space to store it. Over the next 4 years I added several more freshwater tanks (bitten by the bug) and then converted the original 55g to my 1st saltwater aquarium in 1991, fish only. Early in 1999, I decided to move the fish to a much larger tank, so I bought a 220g. I filled it up and moved the fish from the 55g and 1 week later went to Mexico on Vacation. Three days into Cozumel (that's when I got certified for SCUBA), my roommate called and said the tank was leaking. Luckily, he was able to take all the fish to PetSmart (for free) to hold until I got back. Wow, that saved all the fish. At the same time I decided to start a "Reef Tank" in a 40g long. It was all over after that......when I set the new 220g up I made it the reef tank. Woohoo! Additions to the tank were slow, over years, 350lbs of live rock is expensive. The softies did well, much better than the hard corals, and I continued to keep the same fish. The Blue Tang in my avatar was added to the 55g around 1996 and thrives today. Except, I could not understand why I could not keep small fish. I would add them, see them once or twice after that, and that was it...they vanished. Then I figured out that I had a Stomatapod, a Mantis Shrimp. I've seen him in the past, a few times, I thought he was cute, and he's been around for a while, having been transferred over from the original 55g. OMG! He killed all small fish and most crabs and snails. For several years, I did not spend much time with the reef tank, letting it continue and grow as is, with little to no maintenance, except water changes. Lots of water changes. As a result, I have a lot of Pink Sinularia and Green Laser Mushrooms. I also have an XL colony of Heliopora that I received from GARF as a tiny frag that is now my centerpiece, and I am actively propagating my excess corals. I have a piece of Hydnophora that I rescued from the LFS that is now huge and loving life. Now, since joining WAMAS and CMAS, I am re-energized about the hobby. I have added a frag tank, refugium, RO/DI (I have always used tap water), and kalk stirrer. May 2002 February 2005 July 2007 Here are some of my favorite pictures: Coral Banded Shrimp Purple Gorgonian Teal Sarmentosa Acropora Frag Lunare Wrasse Dragon Eye Zoanthids Edited December 26, 2007 by Almon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 Nice history! Where was the hydnophora in the 2005 picture? Did that monster grow in 2 years? I can testify to Almon's sharing of frags. His laser mushrooms parachute all around my frag tank, I have (now large) pink and green sinularia's from his tank, one small finger leather, and one small umbrella leather; all in my frag tank. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 It bugs me that you live right here in Laurel some where and I still haven't seen your tank in person... looks great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 great tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almon August 16, 2007 Author Share August 16, 2007 (edited) The Green Hydnophora is in the 2002 picture. This is right after a purchased it. Look directly above the Blue Tang. It's had two stalks that were only half populated with coral flesh. Also notice the umbrella leather in the top 2002 picture. It is the blurry blob behind and to the left of the Hydnophora and about 3" in diameter. In the 2005 picture, it's clear to see the umbrella leather, it's huge. It had moved to the front of the reef and was beginning to move down and to the left. The Hydnophora is just behind and to the right of the huge umbrella. Originally it occupied only a few square inches of a large rock. Now it occupies the entire rock encrusting over everything. This is the Hydnophora in May 2002 when I saved it from the LFS. This is the Hydnophora in August 2007. Edited December 26, 2007 by Almon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkiCurtis August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 awsome tank and shots Almon.I have also have learned allot from these 2 clubs from only 1 year coming up in october.I do not post much but I do read most of them. WAMAS and CMAS. Curtis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 all I can say is WOW... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 (edited) One more question - the heliopora; is that it in the upper left in 2005 - and the upper right in 2007? Obviously I'm doing something wrong - my frag has grown maybe an inch in 6 months... bob Edited August 16, 2007 by lanman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsarvis August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 Great pics! I love the purple gorgonian. Where'd you get it? How do you feed it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almon August 16, 2007 Author Share August 16, 2007 The Purple Gorgonian came from the CMAS Picnic in May. Geofloors got it somewhere. I don't feed it which may be why it's almost completely dead now. I have moved it to many differents lighting scenarios, but it just fades away. Too bad, it was beautiful. I have another Purple Gorgonian that is much lighter purple with large brown polyps all over it. It ha been thriving in my reef for more than 6 years. I actively propagate that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRehman August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 Nice tank Almon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almon August 17, 2007 Author Share August 17, 2007 (edited) Thanks everyone. Large Clarkii living in really large Umbrella leather (shown in the 2005 picture of post #1) Blue Tang I've had for more than 11 years Pink Tipped Green Frogspawn Sea of Palys Edited December 26, 2007 by Almon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almon August 26, 2007 Author Share August 26, 2007 (edited) Single Pump Design Almon's Reef is located in the basement of my house. There's plenty of room so I have added multiple aquariums over the years. The newest addition is a 55g aquarium for non-reef friendly fish. Each time I add a new aquarium, I add it to the existing system because I believe there are several advantages to this approach. Only one system to test for water quality Only one system that requires water changes Connecting the systems together takes advantage of the biological filtration already in place The total volume of water for the system increases which provides additional benefits of stability The disadvantage is that if something really bad happened to the water in one aquarium, it could affect all aquariums (more reason for quarantine). The Single Pump Design uses one pump to return water from the sump to the main display tank. Gravity siphon overflows are then used to move water from aquarium to aquarium and back to the sump. I considered splitting the return pvc pipe from the sump with tees and valves and return water to multiple aquariums but decided that it might be beneficial to have the nutrients from the reef only aquarium flow into the refugium and have the output of the refugium flow into the frag tank. I invite your thoughts comments, and criticisms. Edited December 19, 2007 by Almon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak August 26, 2007 Share August 26, 2007 Thats a heckuva setup you have planned there and a ton of plumbing, looks cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almon August 30, 2007 Author Share August 30, 2007 (edited) Thats a heckuva setup you have planned there and a ton of plumbing, looks cool. This is the current configuration and there is very little plumbing. I do not like complicated systems and prefer to keep things very simple. The more complicated the system, the more chance of failure. My aquariums are all in the same area area, back to back, or end to end. That makes it extremely easy to move water from one to another. The key is having the aquariums at different heights allowing gravity to do all the work. Edited August 30, 2007 by Almon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller August 30, 2007 Share August 30, 2007 Looks great Almon. How much does the sump rise in a power off situation? It is a neat idea to have the different heights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigJPDC August 30, 2007 Share August 30, 2007 incredible! Do you have a pic of those tanks lined up? YB has a similar gravity thing going with his setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almon August 30, 2007 Author Share August 30, 2007 (edited) Looks great Almon.How much does the sump rise in a power off situation? It is a neat idea to have the different heights. A power off situation would be extremely rare due to the battery backup UPS I have the main pump on, but if that did happen, the level in the sump would rise an additional 6" with ~15 gallons of water, but would not overflow and I would not lose any water. incredible! Do you have a pic of those tanks lined up? YB has a similar gravity thing going with his setup. This is the top view physical layout In this picture, you can see the different heights of each aquarium. Edited December 26, 2007 by Almon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 26, 2007 Share December 26, 2007 Hey Almon, very cool set up. Is each tank run off of a U-tube overflow? From the picture, it looks like you've got an overflow box in between each of the tanks using a U-tube to bring the water out of the tank and then it gravity feeds into the next tank like a hang on back filter return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lletellier December 27, 2007 Share December 27, 2007 that is crazy, very creative with the design there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almon December 30, 2007 Author Share December 30, 2007 I am the king of overflows. The U-tube works great as long as there is enough flow. Air bubbles never collect and the syphon never fails. I have improved the homemade U-tube in the previous picture. The 1st overflow in the middle of the picture that uses two pvc pipes was not getting enough flow because the difference in water levels between the tanks was not great enough. I raised the internal box on the first tank another inch to increase the difference in water levels and now the overflow works great using a single 1/2" pvc tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almon March 25, 2008 Author Share March 25, 2008 I thought I would share a picture of my Fairy Wrasse. Click the picture for a 1440x900 wallpaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowardofNOVA March 25, 2008 Share March 25, 2008 Awesome setup Almon!! Tank Tour! Tank Tour! Tank Tour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almon March 25, 2008 Author Share March 25, 2008 This is one of Chip's RBTAs as a youngster. This is the same RBTA after several months on the reef. It has grown to be quite large. The large Clarkii Clown that I've had for 9 years used to live in a Leather Coral. Now he has better accomodations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almon April 8, 2008 Author Share April 8, 2008 This Green Tort is one of my favorite corals. I received it from 143Gadgets in February 2007. He called it an Orange tipped Green Tort. It has grown fairly well over the past year and I have just recently cut a frag. It has been very difficult to get good pictures due to its extremely brilliant color and it may be the most florescent coral in the reef. This is when I first received the frag in February 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now