Logzor's Rimless 150g Build
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-Logzor
2500 Club Member
Someone on the coral identification forum said it was Cyphastrea. It was sold to me as Cyphastrea but I wasn't sure. So I'm guessing that's as close of an identification as we're going to get. The polyps are straight up magenta and the base is just that dark color.
Dont know what this one is, but this one needs to be in my tank.
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-Logzor
2500 Club Member
Picked up some awesome corals at a local frag swap in Ohio.
This "Acan" was one of them, never seen one glow this bright green so I had to snag it. Once I got it home I remounted the coral and was surprised when the polyps did not deflate, they were fully supported by a hard skeletal structure, like a dome. You can see how bright it is in comparison with some of my high-end acans.
Here is a close up shot, sorry about the all the blues. To the naked eye it seems it's trying to develop additional colors.
You find amazing corals in sometimes the most unexpected places, if you're lucky enough, it might be in your own back yard. A local hobbyist was selling this coral and I was lucky to get a frag. Needless to say my jaw-dropped when I saw that the small fragment looked just as good as the mother colony. It's surprises like this that keep the hobby exciting! No clue where it originated but half this colony made it to Ohio. I'll get a picture of my actual frag with my good camera sometime this week. This is the mother colony posted by the hobbyist, it is not my picture.
This "Acan" was one of them, never seen one glow this bright green so I had to snag it. Once I got it home I remounted the coral and was surprised when the polyps did not deflate, they were fully supported by a hard skeletal structure, like a dome. You can see how bright it is in comparison with some of my high-end acans.
Here is a close up shot, sorry about the all the blues. To the naked eye it seems it's trying to develop additional colors.
You find amazing corals in sometimes the most unexpected places, if you're lucky enough, it might be in your own back yard. A local hobbyist was selling this coral and I was lucky to get a frag. Needless to say my jaw-dropped when I saw that the small fragment looked just as good as the mother colony. It's surprises like this that keep the hobby exciting! No clue where it originated but half this colony made it to Ohio. I'll get a picture of my actual frag with my good camera sometime this week. This is the mother colony posted by the hobbyist, it is not my picture.
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TruRacr314x
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Wow...awesome score Logan!
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-Logzor
2500 Club Member
I cut up an old CD case to create little squares, the squares are glued to the frame of the netting, they hang over slightly so they catch onto the glass rim of the aquarium.
I'm sure they're more professional ways of accomplishing this. I've seen people glue on pieces of acrylics, i wanted something more low profile, which is why I went with the CD case material. The problem is that the CD case material is extremely brittle, so I need something more resilient like acrylic.
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-Logzor
2500 Club Member
So I just ran a short test with a PAR meter. I wanted to know how much PAR was lost due to my acrylic shield. I run a T5 fixture with 7 bulbs and two Reefbrite XHO's. Only the T5's are impacted by the acrylic shield, the XHO's are external and bolted to the outside of my fixture.
Fixture at 3" - Withshield - 397 PAR
Fixture at 3" - Without Shield - 450 PAR
Fixture at 6" - Withshield - 360 PAR
Fixture at 6" - Without Shield - 400 PAR
So it seems that without the shield I can raise my fixture 3" and have about the same PAR. I'm just not sure that's high enough to protect my reflectors from saltwater splashing onto them.
Fixture at 3" - Withshield - 397 PAR
Fixture at 3" - Without Shield - 450 PAR
Fixture at 6" - Withshield - 360 PAR
Fixture at 6" - Without Shield - 400 PAR
So it seems that without the shield I can raise my fixture 3" and have about the same PAR. I'm just not sure that's high enough to protect my reflectors from saltwater splashing onto them.
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-Logzor
2500 Club Member
Some macro coral shots!
This is my frag of that insane acro I posted awhile back. It's encrusting nicely! Polyps are like a puke your guts out kryptonite green, hopefully the other colors in the base develop. Time will tell!
WWC Pink Duster. Awesome coral! The part with the highlights is new growth, it's encrusting really well, too. It has a delicate blue tint over the pink.
I call this my Alpha Polyp Acro. It's pretty much the boss already in my tank even though it's no where near as large as my other older colonies. Polyps are insanely large, like suck your face off large. Came in as a wild piece about 6 months ago, it's adapted really well. Wish I had a picture of the original colony, it tabled straight out and was only about 3/4" thick. So kind of a flat tabling acropora, if that makes sense. Not like those thick tables that a Red Planet might make, or as seen in the coral skeletons of "shelf rock". The branches were spaced quite a bit too, so not like an efflo. Can anyone help with the species?
This is my frag of that insane acro I posted awhile back. It's encrusting nicely! Polyps are like a puke your guts out kryptonite green, hopefully the other colors in the base develop. Time will tell!
WWC Pink Duster. Awesome coral! The part with the highlights is new growth, it's encrusting really well, too. It has a delicate blue tint over the pink.
I call this my Alpha Polyp Acro. It's pretty much the boss already in my tank even though it's no where near as large as my other older colonies. Polyps are insanely large, like suck your face off large. Came in as a wild piece about 6 months ago, it's adapted really well. Wish I had a picture of the original colony, it tabled straight out and was only about 3/4" thick. So kind of a flat tabling acropora, if that makes sense. Not like those thick tables that a Red Planet might make, or as seen in the coral skeletons of "shelf rock". The branches were spaced quite a bit too, so not like an efflo. Can anyone help with the species?
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-Logzor
2500 Club Member
So I've been thinking a bit about "water polishing". There always seems to be a lot of particles floating around in my display tank, increasing the turbidity of my water.
Aesthetically, crystal clear water is a must on a display tank. The funny thing is, my frag tank has beautiful crystal clear water. Both systems have skimmers, neither systems have sand, the frag tank doesn't have a sump though, so everything is hang-on back style.
The difference between the systems is that my frag tank has a freshwater style Aquaclear powerfilter. This simple filter forces water through a sponge then back into the aquarium. I had this on the system to maintain bacteria when I was QT'ing some fish last year, I decided to keep it on. I regularly remove the sponge and squeeze out nasty brown water and lots of detritus.
Right now I'm experimenting with different types of media in the sump of my display to see if I can also get this water crystal clear. I tried to hook up the Aquaclear powerfilter but the water level in my sump is too low compared to the high on the glass for it to operate effectively. Right now I'm testing a sheet of 1" thick polyester craft foam to see how much detritus I can pull out. I have it located between my sump baffles. I'm concerned the water is just going to find a way around rather than passing through, so I may need to develop something that pump water and forcing it through the foam.
I think it is a misconception that foam trapping detritus will cause a "nitrate factory". When cleaned properly I think it can improve water quality dramatically, as it has in my frag system.
Aesthetically, crystal clear water is a must on a display tank. The funny thing is, my frag tank has beautiful crystal clear water. Both systems have skimmers, neither systems have sand, the frag tank doesn't have a sump though, so everything is hang-on back style.
The difference between the systems is that my frag tank has a freshwater style Aquaclear powerfilter. This simple filter forces water through a sponge then back into the aquarium. I had this on the system to maintain bacteria when I was QT'ing some fish last year, I decided to keep it on. I regularly remove the sponge and squeeze out nasty brown water and lots of detritus.
Right now I'm experimenting with different types of media in the sump of my display to see if I can also get this water crystal clear. I tried to hook up the Aquaclear powerfilter but the water level in my sump is too low compared to the high on the glass for it to operate effectively. Right now I'm testing a sheet of 1" thick polyester craft foam to see how much detritus I can pull out. I have it located between my sump baffles. I'm concerned the water is just going to find a way around rather than passing through, so I may need to develop something that pump water and forcing it through the foam.
I think it is a misconception that foam trapping detritus will cause a "nitrate factory". When cleaned properly I think it can improve water quality dramatically, as it has in my frag system.
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I noticed this too with my QT tank. I used the blue / white filter material in the HOB filter rather than the charcoal filled cartridges that came with it. Water in it is crystal clear compared to my DT that has all the stuff floating around. I had considered using filter socks in the sump but the way it's set up it would be a PITA to remove the socks. I've got a large piece of the filter stuff left over and was trying to figure out the best way / place to put it in the sump to see if it works. Was worried that the force of the water would push the material down between the baffles making it hard to remove. Can you post a pic of craft foam you're using?
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-Logzor
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Yes I'll try to get a picture. I'm in agreement with you, filter socks are such a pain to remove and clean, while a sponge can be cleaned out with a quick squeeze, not to mention, holds a lot more detritus than a filter sock.
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-Logzor
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My Dad owns a small craft store so I picked it up from him, not sure what it's called. I've never seen the same stuff at one of the corporate craft stores that are everywhere.
It's basically like polyfill only in a more rigid sheet form.
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-Logzor
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So my experiment was a success. The material pulled quite a bit of junk out of the water only after a couple days.
This was RO/DI water that I cleaned the material in. I then put the material right back in the sump.
This was RO/DI water that I cleaned the material in. I then put the material right back in the sump.
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-Logzor
2500 Club Member
Wow I desperately need to update with some new pictures! I've recently swapped out three of my Blue+ bulbs and replaced them with Pure Actinic as an experiment. I noticed at first that some corals had die-off under the base due to the drop in PAR. However I increased the light cycle to add several hours, this has stopped the recession I was seeing. Since then I've had a major improvement in color as well as growth in my acros.
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