45 Gallon Shallow Reef Build

[CBonito]

I'm not big on Zoas but those are really something. I just may have to get some someday. I don't dislike Zoas it's just that Zoas and shrooms were always just freebies when you bought a rock or a coral 'back in the day' I have a hard time justifying paying for them.

That's why I never got into them myself. Too funny!

 

[CBonito]

Just tried to buy one of the Battle Boxes at discount. No go.

It was for like an hour Maybe 9-10am or something. I wont act like I'm on the ball either.
I got up this morning and I was just there at the right time. They don't even tell you when the sale starts.
You have to figure it out on your own. Someone clued me in the night before. I had no idea.

 

[tharbin]

It was for like an hour Maybe 9-10am or something. I wont act like I'm on the ball either.
I got up this morning and I was just there at the right time. They don't even tell you when the sale starts.
You have to figure it out on your own. Someone clued me in the night before. I had no idea.

Figured it was something like that. Too bad. I felt like celebrating being over my procedure and it looked like the perfect fit, plus I could try at Battle Corals after all the good things I've heard. Guess you gotta know somebody.

 

[CBonito]

I'm not big on Zoas but those are really something. I just may have to get some someday. I don't dislike Zoas it's just that Zoas and shrooms were always just freebies when you bought a rock or a coral 'back in the day' I have a hard time justifying paying for them.

Those are not my Zoos BTW. If they were, I'd send everyone a few.
I've always given people corals, just for stopping by. I mean, how do you not?

 

[CBonito]

Figured it was something like that. Too bad. I felt like celebrating being over my procedure and it looked like the perfect fit, plus I could try at Battle Corals after all the good things I've heard. Guess you gotta know somebody.

Well yeah because you go on the site and they show all their corals and none of them are available...so you're left wondering if you have to be a member of a secret club to get in the back room.

I was joking about that last night because I made the same observation.

 

[TheWB]

That's why I never got into them myself. Too funny!

I feel exactly the opposite. I could easily fill my current tank with nothing but zoas and be perfectly happy. I have chosen not to do that at the moment but it’s always kind of the back up plan if things ever go really wrong. 50-60 different types of zoas covering everything, I’d do that.

 

[CBonito]

I feel exactly the opposite. I could easily fill my current tank with nothing but zoas and be perfectly happy. I have chosen not to do that at the moment but it’s always kind of the back up plan if things ever go really wrong. 50-60 different types of zoas covering everything, I’d do that.

I like them, but I was instantly drawn to acropora, clams and Lobophyllia. And everything else I never cared about. But I'd rock some zoos if they came my way. I mean, I didnt pursue the ones I have, but I have them.
Now that I have them for a while they're kind of sentimental.

 

[CBonito]

I feel exactly the opposite. I could easily fill my current tank with nothing but zoas and be perfectly happy. I have chosen not to do that at the moment but it’s always kind of the back up plan if things ever go really wrong. 50-60 different types of zoas covering everything, I’d do that.

In my 90, I had mostly lobophyllia. About 30 of them all different colors, and I had a huge powder blue staghorn, a huge green cap, a huge red cap and what used to be an ugly brown digi that turned purple under 14k coralvure halides. It was a great tank. I gave all those lobophyllia away to people because I was getting divorced and kind of figured I'd be moving, so I took the tank down. I never ended up moving. lol I gave my ex money instead so she could get another place and I stayed.

 

[TheWB]

In my 90, I had mostly lobophyllia. About 30 of them all different colors, and I had a huge powder blue staghorn, a huge green cap, a huge red cap and what used to be an ugly brown digi that turned purple under 14k coralvure halides. It was a great tank. I gave all those lobophyllia away to people because I was getting divorced and kind of figured I'd be moving, so I took the tank down. I never ended up moving. lol I gave my ex money instead so she could get another place and I stayed.

Sorry to hear about the divorce, that's always tough no matter the circumstances.
I've never tried to keep a Lobo. 30 of them must have been a pretty impressive sight, got any pics of that tank?

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Sorry to hear about the divorce, that's always tough no matter the circumstances.
I've never tried to keep a Lobo. 30 of them must have been a pretty impressive sight, got any pics of that tank?

I second this motion for pics!

 

[CBonito]

I second this motion for pics!

I think I do, but I'd have to go through old hard drives to get them. That was like 15 years ago or something now! What's funny was I paid maybe 30-40 bucks each for them back then. Now they're 200-300 a piece or more.

 

[TheWB]

Now they're 200-300 a piece or more.

Which is 1000% the reason why I've never owned one. I'm notoriously cheap with what I buy for my tank. Everything alive gets a Cost Benefit Analysis before I buy and most of the time I end up just saying Nah. I just can't do it. The most expensive things I've ever put in my tank are the two captive bred coral beauty angels I just bought and the only reason I was able to convince myself to do that was because I've always wanted a pair, the ones I got were small enough to try and pair up, and they were on sale for half price at our favorite LFS Barrier Reef. If I was to buy a $300 coral in my head it would wither to nothing in about 2 days.
Can't do it, I'm chicken . Maybe after a lottery win, lol.

 

[CBonito]

Which is 1000% the reason why I've never owned one. I'm notoriously cheap with what I buy for my tank. Everything alive gets a Cost Benefit Analysis before I buy and most of the time I end up just saying Nah. I just can't do it. The most expensive things I've ever put in my tank are the two captive bred coral beauty angels I just bought and the only reason I was able to convince myself to do that was because I've always wanted a pair, the ones I got were small enough to try and pair up, and they were on sale for half price at our favorite LFS Barrier Reef. If I was to buy a $300 coral in my head it would wither to nothing in about 2 days.
Can't do it, I'm chicken . Maybe after a lottery win, lol.

hahaha! I know the feeling.
Same with fish. If I spent 500-1000 dollars on a fish (which I wouldnt) and it arrived dead, I would literally sh...

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Which is 1000% the reason why I've never owned one. I'm notoriously cheap with what I buy for my tank. Everything alive gets a Cost Benefit Analysis before I buy and most of the time I end up just saying Nah. I just can't do it. The most expensive things I've ever put in my tank are the two captive bred coral beauty angels I just bought and the only reason I was able to convince myself to do that was because I've always wanted a pair, the ones I got were small enough to try and pair up, and they were on sale for half price at our favorite LFS Barrier Reef. If I was to buy a $300 coral in my head it would wither to nothing in about 2 days.
Can't do it, I'm chicken . Maybe after a lottery win, lol.

I do the same thing. I had my eye on a Chicago Sunburst Nem at my LFS for months. Every time I went in, I'd ask the price...it was half my mortgage payment...fast forward a few months and I happened to actually run into the owner of the nem as he was pulling all his stock from the store. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse! It is the most expensive livestock item I have ever purchased or ever will purchase!

 

[TheWB]

hahaha! I know the feeling.
Same with fish. If I spent 500-1000 dollars on a fish (which I wouldnt) and it arrived dead, I would literally sh...

Tell me about it. I'm freaking out a little with the angels and they were only $90 each. Not super expensive by any means but I've never spent more than that on one fish ever, this is my record purchase price and I got two of them. Until they start eating good and fatten up I'm gonna be sweating it out the entire time. Every time my Lubbock's Wrasse, who is a big jerk, goes near them I just think, oh no, this is the end. $500 to $1000, nope, not me.

 

[CBonito]

I caught my invisible Melanurus who never shows up on camera today.
If he sees the LED in the camera, he books. I don't know what it is. he's so stupid. lol

He's a fatty and super healthy. He's been really good. No aggression except for the time he killed my solon which I can't explain. Maybe it was just because he was small? I don't know. Never seen him act like that, but he did. he's back to his mellow happy-go-lucky self now. He just patrols around and sometimes when he sees something he'll stop, assess whether it's something he can eat and do so. I've also witnessed how he dives into the sand. He specifically looks around for the spot that has the deepest sand, then he kind of sits there for second, arches himself and then wham, he disappears under the sand. It's cool to watch how easily he does it...and it also makes me understand why a lot of these end up killing or injuring themselves in shipping.

All I did to get everyone's attention for this shot was to hold the food cup in front of them.
They're not stupid. There's a certain degree of intelligence there.

I've been spending a lot of time sitting here with the lyres because I wanted to ensure they would be ok here.
They're doing great. But all the time sitting there with them builds sort of a trust. I can put my hand in the tank and they don't run from me. It's like they know I'm not a threat which is cool. They're very curious. I think I'm adding a couple females tomorrow. I just cant have one. I need 2 more. Long as they're bigger than the red belteds they will be fine.

 

[tharbin]

I caught my invisible Melanurus who never shows up on camera today.
If he sees the LED in the camera, he books. I don't know what it is. he's so stupid. lol

He's a fatty and super healthy. He's been really good. No aggression except for the time he killed my solon which I can't explain. Maybe it was just because he was small? I don't know. Never seen him act like that, but he did. he's back to his mellow happy-go-lucky self now. He just patrols around and sometimes when he sees something he'll stop, assess whether it's something he can eat and do so. I've also witnessed how he dives into the sand. He specifically looks around for the spot that has the deepest sand, then he kind of sits there for second, arches himself and then wham, he disappears under the sand. It's cool to watch how easily he does it...and it also makes me understand why a lot of these end up killing or injuring themselves in shipping.

All I did to get everyone's attention for this shot was to hold the food cup in front of them.
They're not stupid. There's a certain degree of intelligence there.

I've been spending a lot of time sitting here with the lyres because I wanted to ensure they would be ok here.
They're doing great. But all the time sitting there with them builds sort of a trust. I can put my hand in the tank and they don't run from me. It's like they know I'm not a threat which is cool. They're very curious. I think I'm adding a couple females tomorrow. I just cant have one. I need 2 more. Long as they're bigger than the red belteds they will be fine.

Beautiful shot! Your tank is looking super.

 

[tbrown]

I caught my invisible Melanurus who never shows up on camera today.
If he sees the LED in the camera, he books. I don't know what it is. he's so stupid. lol

He's a fatty and super healthy. He's been really good. No aggression except for the time he killed my solon which I can't explain. Maybe it was just because he was small? I don't know. Never seen him act like that, but he did. he's back to his mellow happy-go-lucky self now. He just patrols around and sometimes when he sees something he'll stop, assess whether it's something he can eat and do so. I've also witnessed how he dives into the sand. He specifically looks around for the spot that has the deepest sand, then he kind of sits there for second, arches himself and then wham, he disappears under the sand. It's cool to watch how easily he does it...and it also makes me understand why a lot of these end up killing or injuring themselves in shipping.

All I did to get everyone's attention for this shot was to hold the food cup in front of them.
They're not stupid. There's a certain degree of intelligence there.

I've been spending a lot of time sitting here with the lyres because I wanted to ensure they would be ok here.
They're doing great. But all the time sitting there with them builds sort of a trust. I can put my hand in the tank and they don't run from me. It's like they know I'm not a threat which is cool. They're very curious. I think I'm adding a couple females tomorrow. I just cant have one. I need 2 more. Long as they're bigger than the red belteds they will be fine.

Mine hates his picture taken as well.

 

[CBonito]

Mine hates his picture taken as well.

I don't know what it is. I can never get a picture of him. Soon as he sees my phone he's like "Nope! see ya!!!"

 

[tharbin]

I don't know what it is. I can never get a picture of him. Soon as he sees my phone he's like "Nope! see ya!!!"

My camera-phobes are my Foxface and Blue-Lipped Bristletooth. My Yellow Wrasse constantly photobombs and the Yellow Banded Possum doesn't even know I have a camera. The firefish only comes out when he smells mysis in the water and couldn't care one way or the other about the camera but he knows its there.