jason the filter freak September 15, 2008 Share September 15, 2008 Wow leaps and bounds your tank looks spectacular Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang September 15, 2008 Author Share September 15, 2008 Thanks for the kind words, guys... to be honest, this is right after I cleaned the glass, so it's a bit misleading on how clear it looks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryL September 15, 2008 Share September 15, 2008 Thanks for the kind words, guys! Here's one I snapped a few days ago - Stinky Pete, the Skunk Cleaner shrimp doing his job. Also, everything is starting to purple up, which is a great sign in roughly 30 days since the tank started. It took well over three months for my 10g to do it. Thank heavens for experience and lessons learned i love to see things like this, i had my pb tang just seek the cleaner out and get a good scrubbing yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang September 15, 2008 Author Share September 15, 2008 i love to see things like this, i had my pb tang just seek the cleaner out and get a good scrubbing yesterday. So far, the blenny is the only one who allows it. The other fish get a little freaked out by his exuberance. Now that he's thoroughly picked the blenny clean, he mostly goes for my hand. I feel bad for him, so I jam fish pellets under my fingernails for him to pick off when I have to stick my hand in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onux20 September 15, 2008 Share September 15, 2008 (edited) Very nice! keep the pix coming! Ron Edited September 15, 2008 by onux20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang October 9, 2008 Author Share October 9, 2008 Finally got some photos (albeit not the best) of my new Flame Angel, who my wife named Ember. Sean at AquaCo cut me a deal that I just couldn't resist I'm keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't start nipping. The first day I put him in the tank, he was definitely checking out my coral, but so far, he's completely taken to mysis and pellets, and voraciously picks 'pods off the far side of the glass that I leave a bit of algae on for my lawnmower blenny. He has also started to eat nori off the tang's veggie clip when the tang isn't looking . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang October 14, 2008 Author Share October 14, 2008 It's a funny picture if you imagine that he's saying "WHOOA!" My runner-up shot for this month's macro contest; I probably would have used it, but there are already enough "texture" shots of frogspawn FragFest Xenia. This stuff grew like crazy when I was having problems with hair algae, but it has calmed down considerably since then. It will soon be ready to frag and give away to a newbie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefmontalvo October 14, 2008 Share October 14, 2008 Great shots. I also installed a phos reactor. I use both phosphate absorbing media and carbon in mine. I also change the media in the reactor once a month. I have noticed a huge differnece in the color out put of the corals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang October 14, 2008 Author Share October 14, 2008 (edited) For me, it hasn't been so much of a color thing has it has been an algae thing. As recently as September, I couldn't go five days without so much algae film growing on the glass that it was just about opaque. My last cleaning went three weeks before I finally had to scrape, and even then, I didn't have any of the nasty film at all. I would like to get a proper TLF phos/carbon reactor, as my home-made one tends to not do a stellar job. I have to re-arrange the carbon weekly, or else the water just develops a "tunnel" through it and doesn't get cleaned as effectively. Edited October 14, 2008 by MisterTang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia October 14, 2008 Share October 14, 2008 The tank is looking freally nice. The chalk bass I used to have did that same thing with his mouth. Funny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak October 16, 2008 Share October 16, 2008 Tank looks fantastic I love the massive frog spawn colony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang October 27, 2008 Author Share October 27, 2008 Everyone, thanks for the compliments. I'll never be ToTM, but I still have a lot of fun with it (most of the time). Unfortunately, Chuck the Chalk Basset is gone. Right after this picture was taken, I noticed his stomach was distended. I was hoping that he had just eaten too much, but it turned out that he developed a gut blockage and succumbed. It was my first fish loss in this hobby. I guess I always knew it would happen, I just wish it wouldn't have been my favorite fish to go first :(. Considering the above, it's almost laughable to see the fish I replaced him with: I am a glutton for punishment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoothtriqueter November 4, 2008 Share November 4, 2008 sorry for the loss, it really always does seem to be the favorite that goes first I like the alternative but, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy953 November 7, 2008 Share November 7, 2008 The tank looks great! Lost of nice looking LPS in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang November 13, 2008 Author Share November 13, 2008 It's fragging time! The coral to be fragged. Not sure what to call it... donor? Fragee? Dang Melemele refused to get out of the picture. I actually took ten, and he was blocking the coral completely in most shots. Instruments of torture - I thought I'd be clever and try an egg slicer to make nice and neat cuts. More on this later. Also, I found a nice little tupperware container in our drawer that seemed like it would be well-suited for holding tiny frags. The coral in the container. I used rubble and murdered snail shells as frag surfaces. I think it would be just awesome to see a hermit running around with a 'shroom hitching a ride Ok, as it turned out, the 'shroom was not actually glued to the frag - rather, it was attached to a tiny piece of rock that was glued to the frag. I had been assuming all this time that the shrooms were literally glued down, but they're not. I checked the other 5 'shrooms in my tank, and sure enough, only one of them is actually glued onto the frag, and that was a ricordea. Also, my clever egg-slicer idea was not so clever. After having the 'shroom flop through the wires a couple times, I decided that it was time for some razor-sharp action: The resultant carnage - I made about 10 distinct pieces, but I think two of them will not survive because they kinda got liquefied during the removal. It's hard to explain, but it's like certain pieces just came off as mucous. I will keep half of whatever results from this fragging, and give the other half to WAMAS members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami November 13, 2008 Share November 13, 2008 Cool. Now put those little chunks into that tupperware container with some crushed coral or other substrate, cover with some wedding veil, and place it in a place with some reasonably decent flow (but not so much that the frags don't settle). In a few days you'll know if things are going well, and in a few weeks, you'll have new 'shrooms that will be attached to bits of substrate that you can glue to other rocks and to frag plugs (I suspect that this was the same process that your frag went through since it was actually attached to a small bit of rock that was subsequently glued to your frag plug.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang November 13, 2008 Author Share November 13, 2008 And some new AquaCo additions: Braa-a-a-a-a-ains I actually don't remember what this is called Kenya tree is more like a "Kenya forest". The pieces don't grow very tall, but they seem to pop off daily! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schulzjp November 13, 2008 Share November 13, 2008 Are you running 4 bulbs over your tank? What spectum are they? Also, it looks like your have your fuge before your skimmer? Is this the case? Nice progress by the way. That frogspawn is huge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoothtriqueter November 13, 2008 Share November 13, 2008 Thanks for posting the whole thing. Let me know how they turn out and put me down for one! If it works I will try and return the shroom! Beautiful new stuff I always love their corals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang November 13, 2008 Author Share November 13, 2008 Are you running 4 bulbs over your tank? What spectum are they? Also, it looks like your have your fuge before your skimmer? Is this the case? Nice progress by the way. That frogspawn is huge. Yep, four bulbs. 2X daylight, 2X actinic. I don't know the actual spectrum, mostly because I don't care how purple it looks, because I'm colorblind I do have my fuge before my skimmer. This has created a bit of a problem with detritus, but nothing some crabs can't handle. In fact, the 'fuge is where crabs that have gotten too big for the main tank (any seen murdering snails) go for the rest of their aquarium existence. Would I change it if I could? Yes - but I haven't because it has a DSB that the previous owner established, and I felt like it would be more detrimental to disturb it than to rearrange it. Thanks for the comments. triqueter, you'll be the first on the list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capsfan November 14, 2008 Share November 14, 2008 Your tank is niiiice. Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schulzjp November 23, 2008 Share November 23, 2008 How is that GSP doing? Not taking over your whole rock? Keep an eye out on that. I bought a $5 plug of that for my 20 gallon and it now owns 1/2 of my rock structure. Make sure to keep that stuff under control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang November 23, 2008 Author Share November 23, 2008 How is that GSP doing? Not taking over your whole rock? Keep an eye out on that. I bought a $5 plug of that for my 20 gallon and it now owns 1/2 of my rock structure. Make sure to keep that stuff under control. It's getting there. I'm not too worried about it, though; when the time comes, I'll just take my X-acto knife and peel some off for other WAMASers. I still have about four months before it would touch anything nearby. I actually kinda like the "field grass" look of it, and I actually get more comments on it than my $100 corals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang November 25, 2008 Author Share November 25, 2008 (edited) This time of year, it's important to give thanks... thanks to the reef tank gods, who have let me go another day without crashing my tank My favorite zoanthid colony. I got this as a small frag at AquaCo, and it has exploded! My nifty new scissortail gobies - Larry, Moe, and Curly. I got these because I wanted schooling fish. Also, if you look at the clown on the left, it looks like he's giggling. OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM Melemele picks at the little tupperware cup holding my 'shroom frags, looking for pellets that might've slipped by him. Manny the Mandarin is finally mellowed out enough to come up to the front of the tank when I'm there. Next step - frozen mysis! Edited November 25, 2008 by MisterTang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterTang December 19, 2008 Author Share December 19, 2008 I've been practicing some photography tips I got from here and ReefCentral. Some turned out ok, but I have a long way to go. Does anyone know what this is? I forgot the name. Two new mouths this week alone! One of the rics from the recent group buy: Shooting Star Astrea: Green Briarium, getting out of control: Favorite zoanthids, also showing some nice growth in two or three weeks: Fragfest Galaxea - this piece was a "castaway", as most of the polyp skeletons were broken when it flipped off the fragging saw. It has since regrown, and has actually grown onto the adjoining rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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