I think that tub is a great way to fill your reef keeping jones - but I suspect there will be a DT build thread soon. You just can't fight it!
From whom did you order/buy your frags?
Oh yes. There is a DT in the works as well. I've been planning it for a couple years. I'm hoping to grow out frags to build up the DT with my favorite stock.
Update 2011.09.18
Well. That was fast. My new ricordea attached itself to the rock already. It photographs much nicer on the rock than under a potato bag mesh.
Also, I got my 10 watt halogen fuge light from InTank today. I can now have the chaeto growing at night without flooding the apartment with light.
A local reefer friend took me to the nicest LFS I've ever seen this past weekend. Midwest Coral Farm. It's a good thing he took me there because I would have never found it. LOL! They had a beautiful SPS tank and they cut me a frag right off on of the main colonies. I got something that looks like a candlelight acro (left). In an SPS frag tank, I found this yellow thing (right). I have no idea what it is, but It glows like crazy under RB's! Finally, I got this beautiful pearlberry from my friend (middle). My old iPhone really doesn't do these corals any justice.
I also picked up these awesome green/blue and pink ricordea as well as and a couple zoa frags.
One of the zoa frags looks like a bunch of Fruit Loops (left) and the others (right) look like yellow LA Lakers, but the colors are a bit more intense and the LFS guy recommended I keep them in lower light. I think they're some sort of deep water variety.
I made one change to the setup. The SPS that I started with started loosing a little color. So, I brought my LEDs down and set them up on some egg crate. I've noticed an improvement already.
Also, I've noticed a bit of briopsys algae growth. I added some chemipure and have backed off on feeding this week. I'll be doing a 15-20% water change and might add an emerald crab. The funny thing is that my rocks look really clean. All the algae is on the egg crate and the frag plugs. I guess the CUC is having a hard time getting up there. D'oh!
I'm going to the frag swap in the Discovery World along the lake shore of Milwaukee. This scientific educational facility cultures their own corals and will be selling them at the swap as well. I can't wait to see what this swap has in store. There should be lots of vendors and I've haven't seen this place since they moved into this new building. They used to be located downtown with the city library.
Okay, so the swap was two weekends ago, but I finally got around to grabbing some pics. I've had some casualties which has kinda bummed me out. I bought some candy apple reds. I've been wanting those for a couple years now. Unfortunately, they melted on me. I also got this awesome yellow and orange monti:
Unfortunately, this one succumbed to RTN over the weekend. It's a shame because it was an amazing specimen. I'm just glad I got a good pic before losing it.
On the plus side, my LPS and SPS is really starting to take off. I've been adding B-Ionic part two (Calcium) on a daily basis. I don't think I need part one because my Alk is always high (like 10 or 11). I think the added calcium has been making a difference. I've noticed coraline starting to form and the some encrusting from the SPS.
I'm still fighting algae, but I think the situation is starting to improve. It's still only on my frag rack, frag plugs, and sides of the tub. I've been keeping up with water changes which has been helping. I also started a new strategy of moving around my blank frag plugs. I put them on top of the algae which blocks the light and stops it from growing. I pick them up and find no algae beneath them. Then, move them to another area of the rack where the algae is picking up. I've also noticed that the crabs have been finding their way up to the top more often. Finally, I picked up a small emerald crab at the swap hoping that it'll help out.
I got a couple more zoas at the swap. Starting on the left are some BamBams. These are a classic favorite of mine. The last ones I had eventually got neon pink centers which really contrasted nicely with the orange skirts. I'm hoping to achieve the same success with these. In the middle is a small colony of Hawaiian Ding Dang People Eaters. These are pretty funky. I thought they were pretty cool to find considering alohacorals has been down for so long. The final pic is of my old Happy Samheims. They're getting bigger and bigger which is saying a lot for these tiny guys.
The frag swap was really nice and clean. The Milwaukee Discovery Center is really a beautiful place. The tanks were cleaner than the public displays at the Shed Aquarium. As I said in my previous post, the center itself cultivates corals and were selling them. I picked up an ORA Derasa clam from them for a steal of a price. I wasn't planning to get a clam, but it's the first thing in this hobby that I've seen my wife get excited about. So, it's made the hobby a lot more fun to share it with her. This pic was taken shortly after acclimation, but it keeps looking happier everyday. I love the rainbow contrast between the orange center and the blue/green tips.
Finally, my favorite find at the swap are these beautiful yumas. This is probably the most, "red" coral I've ever seen. It has an amazing glow under actinics, and under daylights is just as breathtaking. The base of the yuma is an intense purple/blue and the mouth is neon green/yellow. The color representation is pretty close in this pic if not more subdued than reality. They've been spreading already. So, I'm hoping to see some new ones soon. At the swap, I came across this specimen in a vendors tank while several people were picking about. I took one look, poked my head in between the other hobbyists, and without hesitation looked at the vendor and told him I'd take the yumas. Probably the fastest purchase I've ever made. These will go in the DT when I get it going (which is coming along BTW).
Yeah, I'm pretty excited about propagating these corals. It's nice that once my display tank is ready for corals that I'll be able to stock from my frag tank. It'll be like my own private LFS. LOL!
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Originally Posted by larryandlaura
Hi my name is Larry and I'm a coral addict!
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