Watchguy's SPS Addiction (photo intense)

creefer

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Very nice stock you have. Everything looks very healthy. I agree on the full tank shot, too! Let's see one!
 
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watchguy123

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Finally home after a long day at work. Time for more pics. I am surprised by the interest in full tank shots. I must be one of those guys that likes the trees better than the forest. I get enamored and lost in thought as I look at each colony, its color, pattern, growth, polyps, and more. The full tank shot is just ok but i will get one up soon.

So I realize this is an sps thread but how about if I share a few lps.

UFO micromussa
ufo-micromussa.jpg


tyree agent orange, encrusting but the new eyes are not green yet.
tyree-agent-orange.jpg


Sponge bob favia that I got on r2r
sponge-bob-favia.jpg


one of my favorites, space invader pectinia. It is in a back corner so challenging to photograph through thick bowed glass on an angle. I had to decrease the exposure to not make the picture look fake and over saturated. This is really a gem.
space-invader-pectinia.jpg


The favia in focus (and in front) is a PPE facia/chalice. When I got it, it was browned out and stayed that way for many months. It appears to be happy and growing finally.
ppe-chalice.jpg


This was represented to me as a ppe chalice/favia but it is not. I have no malice with the seller (from here on r2r), sometimes we get confused about what frag is what. Nonetheless it is a beauty and I am glad to have it. It may be hard to tell but it is like a micro favia, each head is pretty small.
PPe-chalice-1.jpg


I believe this is a hammer coral. It is reallly frustrating because when non-reefers look at my tank this is one of the first corals they comment about. It is frustrating because in comparison to the sps colonies, this is relatively easy to grow. But it sways and is pretty and bright and kind of big
frogspawn.jpg


Another echinophyllia (did I spell that wrong, pretty sure it looks funny), anyway I got it from another reefer on r2r not too long ago. It is growing and hopefully will add lots more color.
echinata.jpg


gotta love duncans . This started as an inexpensive single head with a baby or two and now it is lots of heads.
duncan.jpg


Candy cane trumpet--neon green. This also started with one or two heads and is now multiple heads and growing.
candy-cane-trumpet.jpg
 

SteezySPS

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is the halloween mille the same one on rocky mtn frags website? Yeah they are a wholesaler but if there is anything you like you can always ask your lfs to pick it up for you.
 
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watchguy123

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Just a few more lps

Another awesome favia, and again I do not remember the name but I have it documented as to what it is--just don't want to go looking for it tonite. I am sure someone will label it for me. It is in focus and behind the ppe favia/chalice.
_--favia-2-.jpg


one more favia that I got from a r2r reefer. Again, need to look up name. Is it a tyree triton? Really do need to look it up.
_--favia-1.jpg


And last lps, atleast until I share my chalices, is a jason fox lepto. I need a top down so you can see what this really looks like and it is really cool. I will take top down photos in a while to share.
jason-fox-lepto.jpg



Oh, wait. I forgot about these two lobo's.
pink-lobo.jpg

lobo.jpg


And I don't even know what this is. But I have tried to kill it two or three times and it is coming back once again.
orange---.jpg
 
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watchguy123

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is the halloween mille the same one on rocky mtn frags website? Yeah they are a wholesaler but if there is anything you like you can always ask your lfs to pick it up for you.

No, it is from a really nice guy in Ventura, CA. He has an online store. I do not think he is a sponsor so I did not want to use his store name. But he calls it the SCC halloween millie, I believe.
 
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watchguy123

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Back to sps:

This is either a frogskin acro or toxic green tort, I got it as a toxic green tort but who knows. It is doing well and it is toxic green. Forgive the little frag on a plug next to it. I literally have no more real estate and I got a great deal at Coral Collection on the browned out tropical punch--have to see how it colors up, I really have no idea what it will look like and I think that is just a store made up name. I guess all names are made up.
frogskin-acro.jpg


This is the most fluorescent pink millie I have ever seen. I took a frag of it and placed it somewhere else in the tank but not so fluorescent in that spot. Glad this is in a happy spot. It really glows as if it were not real.
fluorescent-pink-millie.jpg


Got this from a local reefer that does have connections to wholesalers like occulus. He retails some stuff. It's never quite exactly as he describes unfortunately. This was sold to me as a strawberry shortcake and I have relabeled it as cousin of strawberry shortcake. It has similar growth, pink and green but not the pink and green of the strawberry shortcake. All in all, it is still worthy of keeping and pretty in its own right.
cousin-of-strawberry-shortcake.jpg


Got this from a new store, sps coral store. lots of cool stuff. I will look the name of this up shortly. It is pretty cool looking.
coral-store-frag.jpg


got this from Copps. It is a blue hoeki but kind of fragile. I fragged a small piece at one time and almost lost it all. So this is what survived and it is just starting to grow. The blue color is just remarkable.
copps-hoeki.jpg


This came from Vivid. I live in Southern Cal so lots of stuff has come from LFS, like vivid, aquarium city,reef raft, coral gazers, coral collection, sps store on and on. If you can, note the dark green almost mottled base and then the branches become neon green. I think it is pretty cool.
bright-green-salu----.jpg


Another bright green acro. Looks like it also has a spot light on it. It might be lightning whatever, I will double check where and who I got it from and what its called. Check out the blurred radiant wrasse on the bottom left of the photo under my name.
bright-green-acro-2.jpg


This is from the local reefer that has a great connection to all the best named stuff. I got my red dragon, Mr. Pacman, jason fox lepto and more from him. I believe this is blueberry fields or blueberry fields forever. It is really cool but it does lose when it plays (touches) the cousin of strawberry shortcake to the right of it.
blueberry-fields-acro.jpg


This is an outstanding blue coral but I can't locate what it is. so we will call it a cool blue coral. It is in the far left corner, growing toward the middle of my tank looking for more light.
blue-coral.jpg
 
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watchguy123

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A few more and then dinner:

This is either the aqua delight or aqua jewel. I do not remember the difference between the two but I do have it noted which I own. I just happen not to remember. I think it was greg hiller that use to sell frags of these. I did not get mine from him because I do not believe he had any to sell when I asked. I apologize about not being clear on some of the names but I appreciate these frags/colonies for their beauty and then I forget whatever their name is until I go look at old emails or invoices. Oh and take a look at the multi colored frag on the right, pink green blue. It is the coral collections "not yet famous". I got it some months ago from them (I am not sure they are selling any frags because their colony is about the size of mine, yes that small.) It is a real wow and I will get a top down so you can really appreciate it.
aqua-delight-jewel-and-almost-famous-and-pink-smoothee.jpg


Another cool no namer:
acro-3.jpg


This was an extra ordinary bright pink frag and I got it with a bunch of other corals so I do not know what it really is. It kind of looks like a dull red planet or a dull tierra del fuego but it is not either of those. It is ok. It is high with lots of light and medium flow.
acro-2.jpg


Another cool little frag in a great spot. The coloring on this coral is unusual. Kind of bluish gray. I think it will turn out pretty and unusual but it has taken a long time and is finally starting to encrust.
acro---.jpg


I kind of screwed up on this acro. I have a map of my corals but I got confused on this one, probably moved it and did not relabel. Its kind of green body with pinkish polyps and when I take a top down photo maybe someone can help id it for me. I am sure it was a super expensive named limited edition, well maybe it is. Maybe.
_--lemonade.jpg
 
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watchguy123

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I forgot to include this with my lps, an extraordinary tyree pastel war coral. Just look how pink it is everywhere and the cool red line in the eyes. It is growing like crazy all around this rock.
pastel-war-favia.jpg
 

tinctorus

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Your corals are AMAZING man...seriously just absolutely brilliant!!!

I am looking forward to more pics from you because not only are they really good quality pictures they are of AMAZING pieces of coral...Seriously I dont think I have seen a single coral that I was like "Ehh that piece is ok I guess" LOL

I do have a question though as to why you say you avoid maricultured corals since they are essentially grown specifically for aquariums and not harvested from coral reef's
 
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watchguy123

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Your corals are AMAZING man...seriously just absolutely brilliant!!!

I am looking forward to more pics from you because not only are they really good quality pictures they are of AMAZING pieces of coral...Seriously I dont think I have seen a single coral that I was like "Ehh that piece is ok I guess" LOL

I do have a question though as to why you say you avoid maricultured corals since they are essentially grown specifically for aquariums and not harvested from coral reef's

thank you. short answer about maricultured corals is they always look beautiful but... They are grown in the ocean and our tanks usually can't replicate the flow, lighting and food supply. So bottom-line, they croak or turn brown or both. They rarely color back up to what they looked like initially. So after buying lots of mariculture pieces, I think it is wiser to buy exactly what looks great from a tank raised or a mariculture frag (not colony) that has been grown in a tank for a long time and fragged successfully repeatedly. It is just too risky and dissappointing and expensive to take a stab at maricultured colonies. Atleast this is true for me. Others may have different and more positive experiences. I know everyone wants to find that gem, that future limited edition but i find it more cost effective to just pay for the limited edition if that is what I want rather than trying to find a maricultured colony with potential. We all take different approaches to this hobby but i am definitely not for buying new mariculture colonies or wild colonies, just not the kind of expense or success (or lack of success) I want. Hopefully no editorials against my position. I simply prefer tank raised frags as a more predictable course and eco friendly.
 
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watchguy123

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Well, I have a few chalices so maybe I can share one or two this evening.

Got this from Fins and Critters, they said it was the original tyree watermelon. It was a pretty nice frag and then it fell over or fell on something and lost half of it. But it has come back with a bang. You can still see some of the old skeleton.
tyree-original-watermelon.jpg


I think I got this from Coral gazers ( I hope it is not a problem using store names, not clear on r2r policy) it is a no namer as far as I know. It has a yellow rim and the body is more copper/orange/red than pink but the color of the photograph is close but not quite right--sorry. It is nonetheless pretty bright and the orange bumps are a cool contrast. Not the fastest grower but sometimes chalices grow slower when not mounted flat and horizontal on a solid base.
yellow-rim-chalice.jpg


I believe this is tyree mango sherbet, got it from a store in hawaiian gardens. Yes, there is a city called hawaiian garderns. Anyway, cool chalice. Supposed to be fast growing but not mine--don't know why. I do not specifically feed any corals, sps or lps, I just feed my fish.
tyree-mango-sherbet-chalice.jpg


Cool chalice that I got from a fellow reefer who just got tired of it. It is called space ---------. I am sorry, I do not remember. Someone should recognize it and help out.
space----chalice.jpg


This is not a chalice but my rose anemone. It also survived my tank crash. I have only ever had one crash which was about a year and half ago or longer. Tank was doing great and got excited about trying carbon dosing. Moved on to biopellets and then kapow. I am not blaming the biopellets (although it is the biopellets that caused it). I developed some issues with carbon dosing and reacted too quickly and too aggressively and continued to do that until I had a massive tank crash. The whole thing never should have happened for many reasons. One of those occasions when everything is going so well, you come up with somet way to wreck it all. Anyway, the rose anemone survived but shrunk down to a tiny nub, really just a tiny nub. I let the tank sit fallow otherwise for a while, continued water changes and maintenance for many months and then it finally started to get robust and growing. That is when I started adding more coral once again.
rose-anemone.jpg


This I believe to be the tyree red watermelon or the tyree pink watermelon. Truthfully, I can not tell them apart.
red-chalice----.jpg


This is whatever the previous one is not, so it is either the tyree pink watermelon or the tyree red watermelon or I just got duped. But the reefer is really nice so that counts for a lot.
pink-watermelon.jpg


I recognize the colors on the following coral are goofy. But the frag was sold to me by a reliable local reefer so I believe him. Purple erkle (unless the reefer got it wrong and then I would also have it wrong) I do not have a lot of expertise of chalice id's. I just think they are gorgeous. I do not have the latest greatest chalices, just pretty ones.
purple-erkle-chalice.jpg


I believe this is the vivid pink ******* but I got it from the guy who gave my the tyree pink and red watermelon so could be wrong but hopefully not. It is huge about 3 or 4 inches in diameter and a beauty. I will get a top down soon and let this thing bedazzle you.
http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg481/watchguy123/10-22-12 corals/pink-*******-chalice.jpg

I got this from nick on r2r. I have the name written down from our original emails but I do not remember the name. Its pretty cool.
Nicks----chalice.jpg


I am not sure if this is the emerald mummy eye or bubble gum monster, I think it is the former. Does not really matter, it is gorgeous. I had it on a large disk and now it is finally encrusting on to rock work but it needed a lot of vertical growth to get there. If my id is wrong, please correct me. I am far from perfect on names and id characteristics. maybe it is just a mummy eye. Heck it does not need a name, it is gorgeous.
mummy-eye-chalice-2.jpg
 
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watchguy123

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Here are just a couple more:

Miami hurricane
miami-hurricane-chalice.jpg


Cool bright red chalice, looks like lava.
lava-chalice.jpg


I believe this is cornbread mummy eye. Brightest thing ever.
cornbread-mummy-eye-chalice.jpg


ok, one last one for tonite. Bubble gum monster. It had fallen over just before picture, and so I had handled it with my fingers and it obviously was not happy.
bubble-gum-chalice.jpg
 
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revhtree

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Very nice corals!
 

Acro76

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. I have a 180 bowfront with a 20 gallon refugium or so and a 30 gallon sump. I have three 250 watt 20 k metal halides and two t5 actinics supplements. Flow is awesome, I just replumbed with a reeflo dart hybrid to replace three other pumps I was using. In addition I have two tunze powerheads, I think 6105's . I have a calcium.reactor and a bubble king skimmer. A dozen plus fish, I will start taking some pics of them as well. Oh and I have a chiller, those halides run hot. I periodically add mag, aim for 10 gallon water changes weekly and that is it. Oh and thank you for the compliment.

Love it when people keep it simple instead of every new technique that is the "latest and greatest"... keep up the good work!
 
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Oldude

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Lots of great looking stuff loaded with potential. Nicely done!
How about a FTS?
 
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watchguy123

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Good morning: time to finish the chalices and then I can get back to sps


Bazooka joe chalice, I have two and one is easy to get from the front, the other not so easy.

bazooka-joe-chalice-2.jpg


bazooka-joe-1-chalice.jpg


cool color combo on this one
_--chalice.jpg


no name to this one as well, started off grey, ya it was grey and now slowly adding a little purple to its overall body color. And off to the left, is a mummy eye which is going through that weird morph that is commonly seen to some orange in the body. Hard to get a better picture of the mummy eye because the reef tek starburst is in front of it.
_--chalice-15.jpg


No name to this one but it really is a wow.
_--chalice-14.jpg


This has a green body and kind of looks like a superman, kind of. It never really was happy in my tank and I kept moving it around and around. The glue kept building up on the base and I can't get the glue off without a saw, my bone cutters just won't do it. So now the base is a sky high and this will mean lots of vertical growth before it can expand horizontally. It is finally getting happy after months of threatening to bleach out.
_--chalice-13.jpg


Underneath the tang is a really pretty chalice that I have the name of, atleast somewhere I have the name of it. Its pretty.

_--chalice-12.jpg


Probably too much light, the growing edge is pretty bleached but it is encrusting nonetheless.
_--chalice-11.jpg


love this:
_--chalice-10.jpg
 
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watchguy123

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alright, a few more to go and then I will get back to sps,


_--chalice-9.jpg


_--chalice-1.jpg


_--chalice-8.jpg


_--chalice-4.jpg


_--chalice-6.jpg


_--chalice-5.jpg


Hope all have been enjoying. I thought there might be more input and certainly some corrections to any misidentified pieces. I will start on some top downs and finish the through the front glass shots of more sps.
 

Bubbles, bubbles, and more bubbles: Do you keep bubble-like corals in your reef?

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  • I don’t currently have bubble-like corals in my reef, but I have in the past.

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  • I don’t currently have bubble-like corals in my reef, but I plan to in the future.

    Votes: 24 30.8%
  • I don’t currently have bubble-like corals in my reef and have no plans to in the future.

    Votes: 14 17.9%
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