illemonati - Reef Casa Tide 12 Shallow Macroalgae Setup

[illemonati]

I love the top down photo!

Thank you!

Still stunning! These tanks really do display better top down.
Is part of your scape above the water line?

Yeah they’re incredible for the top-down view. Yes it is! There is a decent amount of rock above the waterline, I had always wanted a crab that would utilize it, so figured why not lol

 

[nickscorals]

What do you use to take your photos?

 

[illemonati]

What do you use to take your photos?

I was using a Sony a7ii with a Sigma 105mm macro lens, as my Sony kit lens had stopped working. I honestly couldn't justify spending money on new lenses, so I actually got a few lenses to use with my iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The latest photos were taken in the ProCamera app, edited in Lightroom, and used the Beastgrip 1.33 anamorphic lens for the full tank shot and the 1.7 telephoto lens for the top-down shot. I have a few more goodies on the way, including the 120mm macro lens, Snorkel MKII, and pro lens kit all from Oceanbox Designs.

Once I get my bearings a bit more with the app and equipment, I'll post up my feelings.

 

[illemonati]

I posted these photos in a thread in the Photography forum, but wanted to share them here as well. No real updates to share for the time, so enjoy!

Angel Eyes Favia.

Fire and Ice Micromussa.

Magic Carpet Mushroom and a little baby Golden Gonzo Bounce Mushroom.​

Pretty RFA.
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Absolute favorite TieDye RFA.
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My little Candy Cane Goby.
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My Exospheres that haven’t grown a single polyp in 4 months.
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Golden Hammer.
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Teal Hammer.
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Rainbow Hologram Frammer looking good.
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Blue Lagoons.
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Seduction? And a little Aiptasia friend.
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Bicolor War Coral, which will move to the Waterbox once it’s ready.
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Blastos and Clove Polyps.
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One of my newer Micromussa.
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Jawbreaker a little shriveled up from cleaning the glass.
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Baby Stratosphere with a tiny feather duster pal.
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Spaghetti worm having a grand time.​

 

[illemonati]

A few shots from tonight right before lights out.

 

[illemonati]

I neglected to document my tank for a while, but things were going quite well for a bit and then suddenly took a major turn. Although my water was testing well, I began having issues with the coral specifically, losing multiple pieces of coral all of a sudden over the last month or so. I thought it might be due to a pretty serious infestation of red planaria, which I was attempting to get rid of using Flatworm Exit (and now am using natural predators on), as they were covering almost every surface. It turns out that the actual issue was rust from my Eshopps frag rack breaking and exposing the interior magnet. I couldn't see it with the exterior magnet covering it, but when I did discover the issue the rust was so bad it had stained the glass.

I had only found this issue as I decided to remove the coral and put it into another tank, with the intention of turning this into a macroalgae setup. I decided to follow through with this idea as I had already ordered a bunch of macroalgae, so here goes!

The macroalgae arrived two days ago, but I am still waiting on a few more pieces. For now, here are my additions:

• Caulerpa lentillifera 'Grape Caulerpa'
• Caulerpa prolifera 'Leafy Caulerpa'
• Corallina sp. 'Thin Branching Coralline'
• Cryptonemia crenulata 'Gorgonian Encrusting'
• Unknown sp. 'Crimson Heart'
• Unknown sp. 'Rusty Ribbon'
• Fauchea sp. 'Purple Fauchea'
• Gracilaria sp. 'Cherry Tree Gracilaria'
• Laurencia sp. 'Purple Intricate Laurencia'
• Laurencia iridescens 'Color-Shifting Laurencia'
• Bryothamnion triquetrum 'Red Razor'
• Galaxaura sp. 'Bramble Thicket'
• Digenea simplex 'Fuzzy Antler'
• Laurencia sp. 'Corky Brown Laurencia'
• Laurencia sp. 'Flat Purple Laurencia'
• Laurencia sp. 'Purple Asparagus Laurencia'
• Hypnea pannosa 'Blue Hypnea'
• Haliptilon sp. 'Red Fern'
• Botryocladia occidentalis 'Red Grape'
• Udotea sp. 'Mermaids Tail'
• Cymopolia barbata 'Jointed Tuft'
• Halimeda opuntia 'Carpeting Halimeda'
• Unknown sp. 'Brittle Sea Lettuce'
• Chaetomorpha sp. 'Seagrass Chaeto'

I am still waiting on:

• Halymenia stipitata 'Orange Galaxy'
• Lobophora sp. 'Brown Ruffles'
• Dictyosphaeria cavernosa' Mosaic Snakeskin
• Sargassum sp. 'Pseudo Kelp'
• Heterosiphonia gibbesii 'Flamingo Feather'

I'll post photos up of everything when I can, but for now I'll share the blue hypnea, since I was trying to document the coloration once I received it vs what it will look like as it colors up better:

I also added a few inverts lately, and two mangroves which I am hoping to train a bit like bonsai:

Decorator Arrow Crab

Chiton

Two Feather Dusters

Red Mangroves

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Stay tuned for more updates, I think this will be a fun direction for this setup.

 

[bubbgee]

Looking amazing. It’s kinda like a new tank!

 

[CaptainScuba]

Any updates on the tank? I'd love to see how the macro algaes turned out so far.