dshnarw BIOTOPE

[dshnarw]

I'm curious about your natural lighting. Can you snap a picture of it with the window lighting so we can get a feeling for natural lighting? Also, do you think that the T5s are necessary or could your tank continue to thrive on window light?

 

sure, I'll see what I can do. To give a written description - the tank sits about 4 feet from the door to the balcony, with the left side closest to the door (so the front glass is perpendicular to the door). The door has a window in it, south-facing. With the blinds open, that means 3-4 hrs of early afternoon sunlight a day angled from the left side of the tank to the right side.

 

So, I would still need some artificial light source because I don't think it'd be enough photoperiod for the stony corals, and the right side of the tank is still fairly dark, even in "peak" natural lighting conditions. (If you look at the FTS over time, you'll notice that the macro grows more quickly on the left side of the tank, because of this reason IMO).

 

The sump, on the other hand, has done very well on just natural lighting, with macroalgaes and some low-light soft corals.

[dshnarw]

While you're waiting for some sunlit photos, how about a couple moonlit?

 

 

 

 

(I am DETERMINED to be an actual contender for the nano-reef photo contest this month....and the darned Halomitra will be the subject!!!)

[Highland Reefer]

That camera of yours takes some really nice pictures. If you contiue taking as many pictures as you have in your free time, I sure you will get some winning shots.

 

[dshnarw]

That camera of yours takes some really nice pictures. If you contiue taking as many pictures as you have in your free time, I sure you will get some winning shots.

 

 

 

Thanks Unfortunately, my free time is quickly running out...need to spend less time with the camera and more with articles for my research. And a week from now is spring break, so wedding planning

 

I think I have a decent shot this month, so keeping my fingers crossed.

[dshnarw]

Should add the last two shots...

 

 

[dshnarw]

This plate was DOA back in December...now there's about 30 baby plates all over it

 

 

 

Mini carpets in recovery:

 

 

 

 

Clams (stupid piece of detritus!!):

 

 

 

 

Found a nice pink ball sponge under the Heteractis:

 

 

 

And some zoa shots, including some new varieties:

 

green centers, mean greens are new:

 

pink ring, red with green skirts, and green with yellow mouths are new:

 

more new:

 

two new polyps:

 

also new (some of these have orange centers, some are irridescent...very weird):

 

FINALLY!!!!!! bam bams are spitting out babies EVERYWHERE!!!:

 

 

 

And a tunicate:

[lancer99]

Any luck with Halodule sprouts?

 

Are those zoas typical of the biotope that you started out with?

 

-R

[dshnarw]

Any luck with Halodule sprouts?

 

Are those zoas typical of the biotope that you started out with?

 

-R

 

 

I've had a couple of small ones pop up here and there, but nothing to get excited over yet...it's like they're testing the waters before they send out the troops

 

 

 

As for the zoas, some of them I'm certain are similar/the same as the zoas in the area. Others I'm not certain about. One of my biggest issues right now is that there are essentially no closeup shots of the zoanthids in Singapore that I've found (exception being a couple of blog photos), and there has been no research on which species occur there that I've been able to find. Even with some assumption on the species that are found there based on common Pacific/Indo species, the next problem is that I can't ID them down to species level anyway.

 

But, I can make a few statements as to why I put them in - first is coloration. Most are quite similar to colorations I've seen in blog pics of the area. Second is just the overwhelming need to have boulders of zoanthids to really recreate the biotope, because they're just so common.

 

Next week (spring break), I'll work on getting a bunch of zoa pics for comparison.

 

 

*there is one variety in there that I know is NOT biotopic - I have a few Palythoa grandis polyps that have refused to be removed from the rock so far. Generally, they stay on the back side of the middle column, but sometimes pop up through a hole next to the Sargassum.

Edited March 13, 2008 by dshnarw

[dshnarw]

Some zoa pics from the various blogs:

 

[dshnarw]

continued...

 

[Highland Reefer]

What are these corals?

 

 

[dshnarw]

What are these corals?

 

 

 

 

a huge zoanthid colony

[lancer99]

Cool pics!

 

It's amazing how different zoas look in the wild when they grow in huge colonies.

 

-R

[Ziggy953]

What an amazing tank! I am speachless!

[dshnarw]

Cool pics!

 

It's amazing how different zoas look in the wild when they grow in huge colonies.

 

-R

 

Yeah...I enjoy how much of a mat it really looks like. Some pics are hard to distinguish zoas from faviids. Very beautiful...wish the size/scale weren't so limiting that I could get that kind of perspective in the tank.

 

What an amazing tank! I am speachless!

 

Thanks Ziggy!

 

 

 

 

 

I think I've decided on my next big biotope project: PATCH REEF!

 

 

The island of rock/coral with sand around it is rather appealing. It won't happen until Amber and I get our own house, except maybe on a TINY scale.

[dtfleming]

You could do it with a 20H, hint hint

[Ziggy953]

You know a 20 High with a mini rock island would be pretty cool!

[dshnarw]

You could do it with a 20H, hint hint

 

 

I was thinking about a 30 cube, but it'll have to wait for several months.

 

In other news - the tank has been looking kinda unhappy. I left for Spring break and some weird things happened while I was gone - Caulerpa died back, spiked phos. So now there's tons of hair algae. I've been waiting for it to stop growing (while doing many small water changes) before I pull it out. Might as well benefit from it pulling all the extra phos out while it's there.

 

Also got a new (to me) light, courtesy of Steveoutlaw:

 

 

 

 

 

so let the photoperiod adjustments begin.

 

 

 

And, to keep up with the aesthetics of the thread, some off topic macros from the rain last night and this morning:

 

 

 

 

[dshnarw]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vaironman]

dshnarw,

 

I hope I remember right that you like to collect different type of pizza anemone. I saw one nice green pattern pizza anemone on www.reefscience.com today. But take my words with grain of salt as I have not seen a whole lot of pizza anemone.

 

Please let me know your opinion on it. Is it typical or a nice one. Thx,

 

KLee

[dshnarw]

dshnarw,

 

I hope I remember right that you like to collect different type of pizza anemone. I saw one nice green pattern pizza anemone on www.reefscience.com today. But take my words with grain of salt as I have not seen a whole lot of pizza anemone.

 

Please let me know your opinion on it. Is it typical or a nice one. Thx,

 

KLee

 

 

It looks like a pretty typical (still quite nice) color pattern, and it has some potential to color up. There's some pink coloration along the edges that may come out better in different light - that would certainly make it stand out. Good price, for that size.

 

Hope that helps out!

[toastiireefs]

looking really nice!!!

[six-line]

dshnarw,

Awesome pictures of zoos and other corals, how about a full tank shot update picture?

[dshnarw]

looking really nice!!!

 

Thanks! How'd those paintings you were doing come out?

 

dshnarw,

Awesome pictures of zoos and other corals, how about a full tank shot update picture?

 

Thanks, six-line!

 

I'll work on a FTS once I get some cleaning around the house and in the tank done.

 

I should preface the upcoming FTS by saying that almost all the SPS were removed from the tank to help make the system more bulletproof during the month I'm gone. As much as I like SPS, I'm less and less willing to deal with the headaches associated with them anyway, so the tank will likely stay SPS-free after I get back. I think it'll be a more realistic biotope without them, and I'm considering the idea of adding a huge leather coral and some more zoanthids and faviids in their place after I get back.

[dshnarw]

Wow...been a long time since I updated. Sorry about that FTS I promised. Better late than never.

 

Looks like all went smoothly, minus a few power outages and emergency water changes while I was gone. A HUGE THANKS to Almon for tank sitting.

 

Now that I've had a bit of time to clean the algae up a bit and wipe down the glass, some new pics are in order. I alluded to it back in May, but I'll restate it now that I'm going a slightly different direction with the tank. Most of the SPS are gone, and I'm trying to get fewer, larger colonies instead of several frags. I think it'll look more natural that way. So I've started moving things around - brain corals in a "pile", zoanthids in a couple of spots, etc. - and will continue moving stuff until it looks a bit less cluttered.

 

I also got a red banded pipefish last week. So far, not a difficult fish at all. Voracious appetite - LOVES cyclopeeze. Has proven fairly bold for a pipefish, not bothered by the wrasse or the clown. Didn't even move when I was cleaning the tank or put the camera in to take pics.