Mark's 40 gallon breeder

[markalot]

I added my final large rock (pukani from BRS). I think it looks better, but I'm not the greatest at aquascaping. I get a small valley out of this plus a few more shaded areas for lower light corals.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Looks good!!!

 

[markalot]

Looks good!!!

Thanks!

 

[markalot]

Latest FTS. Still improving and adding more little frags here and there.

http://imageshack.us/a/img571/184/2013022240fts.jpg

 

[markalot]

Belated update.

Turning this into a thread for both my tanks. Specs updated in first post.


Latest pics of both tanks:

http://imageshack.us/a/img707/8765/dsc0135edit.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img853/9529/dsc0137edit.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img836/4723/dsc0141edit.jpg

The 40 has come a long way since my first mini-crash. The only real negative is the discovery of AEFW and having to discard a couple of corals and learn to live with them. I've basted my few remaining acros each water change and haven't seen anything come off.

The 46 is a result of attempting a true nano, a 20 long, and then growing tired of my freshwater planted in the 46 and thinking how it would make a nice reef tank. The main negative with the bowfront, for a reef, is lack of clarity when trying to view small details. As a result most of my montis are in the 40, and this tank is reserved for corals that don't require small details to be enjoyed. The green slimer was moved as soon as AEFW was discovered on a new coral, and so far has done nothing but grow and look good. A couple of other acros destined for the 40 ended up in here for the same reason.

Thanks for looking.

 

[markalot]

Added some additional rock to my 46. The left side is inaccessible since the tank sits in an alcove of sorts so I took advantage of not needing to clean the left side in order to place a new huge rock and get my grumpy (tries to sting everything) Toxic hammer off the sandbed.

Some other coral pics from my 40B

Newly acquired Chili pepper monti cap.

The rarely seen Rusty Goby who, thankfully, makes his home near the right side of my 40 where I can see him.

Some new Zoas I bought from a local reefer along with the Chili Pepper monti.

This is a large Montipora of some type, bought from a LFS. Came with a bad crab that was nice enough to show himself so I could remove him.

These were darker red when I first got them.

This brain was a hitchhiker on live rock added 8 months ago to the 40B. It was a tiny spec that's grown to this size in those 8 months. Any ID on species would be much appreciated. I'm guessing a Favia of some sort.

Thanks for looking!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Looks very nice buddy!

 

[markalot]

A few belated updates. Working through a caulpera outbreak due to some nutrient issues. These pics taken soon after a peroxide treatment (rocks out, treated, replaced).


40

46

 

[Mrfresh]

Wow very nice sorry about the crash but good documenting on the comeback

 

[markalot]

It's been a long while so I'll post a couple of updated pics.

The 40 gallon, 2.5 years old and just now growing some new acros ... except for the slimer, which has continued to grow nonstop for over a year now.



The 46, which is a little over a year old now.

 

[markalot]

I got tired of the out of control birdsnest on the right so I removed it, scattering pieces to my other tanks. Maxspect Razor is dimming down for the evening so these colors are a little intense.



Under the mess of birdsnest was bubble algae, a ton of dirt, and red turf algae, the Tangs favorite meal.

 

[Pete polyp]

I'm really digging this 40 you have. I really hope to have my 40 at least resemble it one day

 

[markalot]

I'm really digging this 40 you have. I really hope to have my 40 at least resemble it one day

Thanks Pete. Take your time, don't make as many mistakes as I did, and you should have no problem. :)

 

[Pete polyp]

Thanks Pete. Take your time, don't make as many mistakes as I did, and you should have no problem. :)

Oh, its been a disaster from the start! Haha

 

[markalot]

Pictures of my 46. This tank is the bane of my existence. The bowfront makes it impossible to get good clear closeups so naturally everything in here colors up well.

 

[markalot]

Playing around with my new macro lens I took some pics of some frags I moved into my 29 gallon. Yea, 3 tanks ... I can quit any time I want!

My 29 gallon



With my old eyes, from a distance, this is a nice purple with dark skin, but up close this thing looks fantastic.



A new Pink Poci with green showing on the polyps.



Mushroom rock with a few assorted shrooms.



Blenny :)

 

[markalot]

The 40 is getting difficult to take pics of due to lights from the other tanks and reflection off the back door. Anyway, here's the latest. I'm pleased with how things are going. Feeding two pinches of reef roids every evening and a cap of Acro Power around 4PM when I get home.

I now have my Razor ramping up to 100% blue and white at 5PM where it stays for about 15 minutes before slowly ramping back down for the evening. Total white light time around 8 hours. My random frags are starting to color up and a couple of them look really unique. The frags from Unique Corals have held their color but are still settling in.





I've managed to hold KH between 7.7 and 8.1 over a week while Calcium has stayed fairly steady around 420.

 

[markalot]

I haven't updated this thread in forever. :) I combined my 40 and 46 into a 150.

Still a work in progress. I'll start a new thread when I have some time.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I haven't updated this thread in forever. :) I combined my 40 and 46 into a 150.

Still a work in progress. I'll start a new thread when I have some time.

That's a beauty Mark! Found this thread while looking around! You still got it going?

 

[markalot]

That's a beauty Mark! Found this thread while looking around! You still got it going?

Howdy,

yep, still on the SPS learning curve but it's going.

This was probably when it looked the best but those seafoam pallys gotout of control and I believe started to pollute the water because I kept having odd issues with SPS while params were steady. The slimer grew just a bit, and the blue stag, wow, really lucked out with that one.

It now looks like this, in the middle of slowly eliminating all of the pallys.

I did start a new thread here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/marks-150-gallon-sps-heavy-reef.199807