AJ's Growout thread

[AJ :)]

Picked up the frags at the swap.

They seem to be in good shape. One frag could be iffy. Sure to know more this evening.

They are currently in a 150 gallon. with a couple 1100 rio powerheads , a small sump. Tunze 9010 skimmer, and two SE halides.
Kent 2 part is used for supplements.

This will soon be broken down and switched to a 90 gallon.

I'll try to add decent pics of the frags tonight.

[Sir Patrick]

:good_luck:

[AJ :)]

Not much to say right now. Most are doing well, one frag was nearly lost, but is holding.

Dealing with some algae and cyano. Hope to have the switch over to the 90 gallon done this week.

[jimsflies]

AJ you should update with some pics of each frag to set your baseline.

[thefishgirl]

Good luck!!
:we_need_pics:

[AJ :)]

Let's see if I can load these pics!


Here is a pic from Sept 26 when I got the frags home.

There are four frags in this frame.

[AJ :)]

Here is another shot of other frags.

[AJ :)]

Here is another set.

[AJ :)]

As you can tell I struggle with pics for these frags. Every time I get the shot in focus or close, I press the button and the camera tries to focus on something else.

[thefishgirl]

Looking good AJ! I know what you mean about the camera focusing on something other than I want it to focus on.

[Sir Patrick]

You have a polyp count? Looking forward to seeing the growth you had and what you started with.

[AJ :)]

Here is the polyp count for today as of 11-7-11
King midas 0
Aussie Invaders 10
Baboon butts 12
Dexters 5
Almond Joys 2
Egg Drops 7
Mean greens 0
Safecrackers 11

So I have had some issues. But we keep moving on.
I have switched everything from the 150 in a 90 gallon. Added a ASM G2 skimmer. and switched to reef crystals.

[AJ :)]

OK here we are .

Almond joy 3 polyps.

Dexters 12 polyps

Baboon butts 15 polyps

Egg Drop 17 polyps

Safecracker 14 polyps

Aussie invaders 10 polyps

I did change 15 gallons of water this week.

Here are what are supposed to be pics.
I did glue one frag on it's side to give more room to grow.

[AJ :)]

I'm having trouble loading pics. Let's see if i can get this working again. :)http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c333/aj93x/IMG_4362-3.jpg
Here in the middle of the picture are the baboon butts.

[AJ :)]

Success! Here are some more!http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c333/aj93x/IMG_4364.jpg at the middle left are the aussie invaders
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c333/aj93x/IMG_4363.jpg In the middle of this pic are the safecarckers, to the right and slightly higher are the almond joys
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c333/aj93x/IMG_4365.jpg in the middle of this pic are the dexters, all closed up, you can see other frags in this pic as well.

[AJ :)]

and some more.http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c333/aj93x/IMG_4366.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c333/aj93x/IMG_4367.jpg
These show the egg drops. in front of the nuclear greens. the second pic show the new plug arrangement.

[bigbill]

wow they look great GL :thumbsup:

[AJ :)]

LOL they look pretty bad! Just need some aptasia for the complete package.
Looking to pick up a tang to get some of this cleaned up.

Thanks though. :)

[thefishgirl]

Ohh..I have some aiptasia for you.. LOL I just put a tiny copperband in my little tank to see if he can clean up the small ones. And then, I'll be moving everything for a brief amount of time to my 300g... and I will put the Orbiculate Batfish in there to clean up the aiptasia. He has done such a wonderful job in my 300g. I know that 20L is gonna suck for him.... but if I take everything out.. he will have room to swim and hopefully mow down the aiptasia in a day or two.

[AJ :)]

Ohh..I have some aiptasia for you.. LOL I just put a tiny copperband in my little tank to see if he can clean up the small ones. And then, I'll be moving everything for a brief amount of time to my 300g... and I will put the Orbiculate Batfish in there to clean up the aiptasia. He has done such a wonderful job in my 300g. I know that 20L is gonna suck for him.... but if I take everything out.. he will have room to swim and hopefully mow down the aiptasia in a day or two.
So far pepermint shrimp have been doing a good job on those critters for me. Though the peppermints I have been putting in the 180 keep dissappearing ,kinda wondering if the cleaners are taking them out. GL with your copperband!

[AJ :)]

Update time! :)
Here are pics of the Baboon Butts ( forground) and the safecrackers (background)

I have mounted the plugs on their side, attached to rubble rock or dead coral. Hopefully encouraging space for future growth.

My polyp count for the two frags is, Baboon Butts- 16 and Safecrackers - 16

[AJ :)]

For the second pic we have Dexters front center, and Egg Drops middle center.
Polyp count, Dexters-11 Eggdrops- 26 !
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c333/aj93x/IMG_4402.jpg

[AJ :)]

The third pic has the Aussie Invaders. they are the squashed looking plug in the middle.
Polyp count for the Aussie Invaders is--12

It looks like I need to go back and get a pic of the Almond Joys. There are 4 polyps of those.

Things I have done to the tank are gone to one circulation pump. MP60, added some Kent Tech M, and mixed a little brew of Kent marine buffer and some calcium chloride. Also put a grate in the sump to hold some chaeto I'm hopimg to grow, with a small no light on at reverse schedule. Bobbie got me an awesome Desjardini tang from Sea Dwellers in Angola!
There is also an emerald crab, and i'm starting some GFO in an aqauclear 500.

[AJ :)]

Here is the pic of the Almond Joys. Polyp count - 4

[thefishgirl]

Hey AJ... everything is looking great!

[bigbill]

Update time! :)
Here are pics of the Baboon Butts ( forground) and the safecrackers (background)

I have mounted the plugs on their side, attached to rubble rock or dead coral. Hopefully encouraging space for future growth.

My polyp count for the two frags is, Baboon Butts- 16 and Safecrackers - 16

looking good

[AJ :)]

Update time again! I switched everything to the other side of the tank. Somehow the bulb got splashed and the glass on the bulb broke! The lamp still was burning, but it seemed unsafe, so I shut that ballast off.
I did do a 20 gallon waterchange also.

On to the good stuff. Polyp count!
Aussie invaders 29

Baboon Butts 22

Dexters 29

Almond joys 11

Egg Drops 50

Safe Crackers 23

BTW counting the egg drops is a real PITA!

[AJ :)]

More pics.

[AJ :)]

Again pics.

[AJ :)]

baboon butts, being difficult.

[AJ :)]

Safe Crackers.

[bigbill]

Looking good bud hope the.egg drops get drawn as the frags will be close had 49 on the 6th will be.close if its the frag gl on the last month :thumbsup:

[AJ :)]

Thanks! I hope it does keep things close! Makes it a bit more exciting.

[AJ :)]

Okay, here we go with the final count for the month and the contest!

This was a fun,and interesting contest. I hope there will be another for 2012.

I changed the bulbs to 20K twin arcs. Also added some dry rock to seed the 375 build. There are two new tangs in the tank, a small yellow and a tiny purple.

I'm only running one light at a time right now to reduce heat.

[AJ :)]

This rock has a shot of the egg drops.

[AJ :)]

This rock has a shot of the egg drops.
As you can see the frag came off the disc and I re-attached it to a different spot on the rock.
This is another shot of the same frag.

[AJ :)]

This frag is the baboon butts. They were a pain to count, probably did it six times! Feeling a bit cross eyed now. :(

[AJ :)]

Here is another shot of the same frag.

[AJ :)]

The almond joys are in this pic and you can also see them in the earlier pic with the baboon butts.

[AJ :)]

Another shot of the Almond joys.

[AJ :)]

This frag shows the safecrackers.

[AJ :)]

The dexters, and the aussie invaders.

[AJ :)]

So in the end our polyp count stands at.
Almond Joys -- 16 polyps.

Safecrackers -- 28 polyps.

Dexters -- 34 polyps.

Aussie Invaders -- 37 polyps.

Baboon Butts -- 42 polyps.

Egg Drops -- 55 polyps.

Mean greens -- 0 polyps.

King Midas -- 0 polyps.


Thanks to everyone for putting this comp together and to all the entrants it shows that all too often things do not always go quite like we plan.

[thefishgirl]

Nice job AJ! Good luck!

[AJ :)]

Nice job AJ! Good luck!
Thank you! Thanks for playing along with us, it was fun!