40b mixed reef build

Sm51498 · Oct 3, 2016

Egalindo2240 said:
I too have been eyeballing the tbs for awhile . The idea of being able to watch a tank for hours and still discover new organisms sounds like it can't be beat.

I'm loving it. I still have a lot of stuff I haven't posted about because I haven't gotten a good picture yet. There are some awesome cup corals among other things on there :)

blank · Oct 3, 2016

Sm51498 said:
Do it! Just post pics so we can all drool over it.

I don't know how jealous you would be if I posted a fts. My sand is a pretty nasty brown right now.

ooo Let's see it! :D

Sm51498 · Oct 3, 2016

Behold!

Actually looks better in the picture because it's blown out.

blank · Oct 3, 2016

Sm51498 said:
Behold!

Actually looks better in the picture because it's blown out.

Looks good :3 imo love the simple minimal rockwork

Sm51498 · Oct 3, 2016

Thanks!

The plan is to fill that extra space in with birdnest, montis, duncans, candy cane and euphylia. Maybe some other lps. I'll try to get better shots when it clears up. I chucked a few frags in my friend gave me. The candy canes and duncans are happy. Not so much the monti frags but no shocks there really.

Sm51498 · Oct 5, 2016

Caugh a quick pic of this little guy on the glass:

I also sumped a gorilla crab the size of a dime. Super duper hairy. Cool critter, I hope he grow monstrous down there :p. The brown out is improving slightly so I can hope that will fade in a week or two.

The tank has been consuming a fair amount of alk and calcium. About a degree of kh a day. I may need to get my calcium reactor going soon. In the mean time I'm dosing two part every day to keep it up. About 9ml a day of each part. Pretty impressive for just some algae and frags.

Sm51498 · Oct 5, 2016

Bonus pic: decorator crab on a green cup coral.

Sm51498 · Oct 12, 2016

Not much to report. I'm continuing to catalogue the amazing variety of life on the rock. I saw a tiny black and white, super cool looking xanthid crab that will have to get sumped but also, there has been an explosion in the pod population which is a good sign of a maturing tank, the ugly brown stuff is fading and new algae coming in. My decorator crab has molten and seemingly doubled in size and has covered himself with trunicates which is awesome looking. I'm hoping he comes around front so I can get a good pic.
First a full tank shot:

Ignore the thermometer, I just turned the heat on in the house and I want to quickly see if the tank gets too hot.

Then this more reef appropriate crab here:

No crab is reef safe really but some are better than others. This one has cupped ends on the claws and they are pretty smooth so not super good killing claws. This one is a wait and see crab. You can see my big fat curly cue anemone in this pic. They are in the same family as the well known aiptasia but reputedly don't spread as fast. This is a wait and see critter too. It is super cool, so I don't really want to kill it but if it starts throwing off babies, it will have to go.

It can be difficult to distinguish a curly cue from the common pest aiptasia. I only know this is a curly cue because it came in from tampa bay saltwater.

Steadyreef42 · Oct 12, 2016

Congrats on the pod population boom

blank · Oct 12, 2016

Did you add any other CUC like snails? Your glass is so clean q.q I'm having some film algae problem on my glass.

Sm51498 · Oct 12, 2016

No snails, I just cleaned the glass yesterday though so it's is still clean from that. I think the pods are helping to keep it clean too because they are all over it and have to be eating something, it is crazy how many there are with no fish to eat them :p.

Only clean up crew I added was hermits, because I love hermits. There are still a number of whelks in the display and they would probably kill any snails, though my keyhole limpets seem safe as they are thriving so maybe snails would be safe as the whelks can get easy food from when I feed the corals.

Paul87 · Oct 12, 2016

Welcome to the 40 breeder club! Things look good, love all the little life on those rocks. Tagging along.

Sm51498 · Oct 13, 2016

I'm not sure who this guy thinks he is fooling with his ridiculous new orange suit.

Paul87 · Oct 13, 2016

Sm51498 said:
I'm not sure who this guy thinks he is fooling with his ridiculous new orange suit.

He's pretty cool. [emoji106]

Sm51498 · Oct 16, 2016

Full tank shot:

Couple of additions today a nice fat blasto frag. Blastos just make me happy for some reason.

And an acan, quickly becoming a fan of these. I did not understand until I saw them in person. It blew up nice and big and put out feeder tentacles pretty much immediately.

Another that I didn't think I wanted till I saw. This leptastrea.

The colors on these are so much better in person.

Paul87 · Oct 16, 2016

Sm51498 said:
Full tank shot:

Couple of additions today a nice fat blasto frag. Blastos just make me happy for some reason.

And an acan, quickly becoming a fan of these. I did not understand until I saw them in person. It blew up nice and big and put out feeder tentacles pretty much immediately.

Another that I didn't think I wanted till I saw. This leptastrea.

The colors on these are so much better in person.

Nice frags! I love micros (formerly acans) and blastos!

Sm51498 · Oct 16, 2016

Paul87 said:
Nice frags! I love micros (formerly acans) and blastos!

Appreciate the reminder on the name. I had forgotten it had been corrected and they still get called the wrong name so often that I'm not often prompted. To me, blastos and micros have almost a personality, the way they move and extend feeder tentacles.

Paul87 · Oct 16, 2016

Sm51498 said:
Appreciate the reminder on the name. I had forgotten it had been corrected and they still get called the wrong name so often that I'm not often prompted. To me, blastos and micros have almost a personality, the way they move and extend feeder tentacles.

I still call them acans... lol. Got so used to it over the years.