OP
OP
Yes, especially considering I don’t have much experience with sps lol
Rob’s 30g Tonga Shroom Garden
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TheWB
Valuable Member
Perfect way to get some without having to pay for the coral. Sounds like a winner to me
OP
OP
Tanks are doing good, still dealing with a little bit of ugly stages on the lagoon. I have been blowing off the rocks everyday and taking all the snails and placing them on the rocks, they have to earn their keep . I think I will pick up a few more when I go get my Gobies. Speaking of the gobies they got delayed and didn't come in Friday, he said it should be Tuesday so fingers crossed.
For flow in the lagoon I did have a KPS wavemaker but I just didn't like how narrow the flow was and also the cord in the tank. I tried it on the back wall and the flow was no good and I needed it on one the the sides but towards the front. The screen top I have doesn't have any gaps around the sides for the cord, just the corners. So it was have the cord run all along the side to the back corner or come out the front, tried both and it just looked bad plus I didn't like the flow for this tank. Don't get my wrong its a great pump, small, fully controllable and you can set schedules but its just not going to cut it. I decided to replace it and am going to keep it as a backup.
So I bought a used MP10 from someone online.It came in and as soon as I took the westside apart, I could see the ceramic was cracked. Knew it probably wasn't going to spin right and sure enough it vibrated and was loud. This was an older ES ecosmart model and also the dry side was kinda loud, I don't know if thats just how they are but my other mp10 which is a Quite Drive is a whole lot quieter. Anyway I contacted the guy and he apologized and said he would try and get me a new westside or I could return it, I decided to return it.
Today I ended up finding a local who actually had a brand new Quite Drive model and we worked out a trade for part coral part cash. It was actually manufactured at the end of March 2019 so I am hoping it all ready Mobius compatible when ecotech releases it for the Vortechs. I Have it installed now and flow seems to be pretty good, will probably have to tweak it a bit but overall I am happy with how it worked out and ill probably be better off with the new one.
PICTURE TIME
Today I also went to return the par meter I was borrowing and the guy buys coral wholesale and sells it to locals. I wanted to support him for letting me barrow the meter so I bought a couple corals
Got these Blastos
And this bounce mushroom. It doesn't really have that many bubbles but the green is super bright, it really pops. Hope it gets a ton more.
My collection of bounces is growing
Also wanted the share this Holy Grail Acan, check out how many babies are coming in, so exciting! I feed this guy just about everyday with a bit of Mysis.
. I think I will pick up a few more when I go get my Gobies. Speaking of the gobies they got delayed and didn't come in Friday, he said it should be Tuesday so fingers crossed.For flow in the lagoon I did have a KPS wavemaker but I just didn't like how narrow the flow was and also the cord in the tank. I tried it on the back wall and the flow was no good and I needed it on one the the sides but towards the front. The screen top I have doesn't have any gaps around the sides for the cord, just the corners. So it was have the cord run all along the side to the back corner or come out the front, tried both and it just looked bad plus I didn't like the flow for this tank. Don't get my wrong its a great pump, small, fully controllable and you can set schedules but its just not going to cut it. I decided to replace it and am going to keep it as a backup.
So I bought a used MP10 from someone online.It came in and as soon as I took the westside apart, I could see the ceramic was cracked. Knew it probably wasn't going to spin right and sure enough it vibrated and was loud. This was an older ES ecosmart model and also the dry side was kinda loud, I don't know if thats just how they are but my other mp10 which is a Quite Drive is a whole lot quieter. Anyway I contacted the guy and he apologized and said he would try and get me a new westside or I could return it, I decided to return it.
Today I ended up finding a local who actually had a brand new Quite Drive model and we worked out a trade for part coral part cash. It was actually manufactured at the end of March 2019 so I am hoping it all ready Mobius compatible when ecotech releases it for the Vortechs. I Have it installed now and flow seems to be pretty good, will probably have to tweak it a bit but overall I am happy with how it worked out and ill probably be better off with the new one.
PICTURE TIME
Today I also went to return the par meter I was borrowing and the guy buys coral wholesale and sells it to locals. I wanted to support him for letting me barrow the meter so I bought a couple corals
Got these Blastos
And this bounce mushroom. It doesn't really have that many bubbles but the green is super bright, it really pops. Hope it gets a ton more.
My collection of bounces is growing
Also wanted the share this Holy Grail Acan, check out how many babies are coming in, so exciting!
I feed this guy just about everyday with a bit of Mysis.
TheWB
Valuable Member
That Holy Grail picture is simply stunning. You are not having very good luck with the on-line purchases recently, are you? At least you were able to get that MP10 returned.Tanks are doing good, still dealing with a little bit of ugly stages on the lagoon. I have been blowing off the rocks everyday and taking all the snails and placing them on the rocks, they have to earn their keep
For flow in the lagoon I did have a KPS wavemaker but I just didn't like how narrow the flow was and also the cord in the tank. I tried it on the back wall and the flow was no good and I needed it on one the the sides but towards the front. The screen top I have doesn't have any gaps around the sides for the cord, just the corners. So it was have the cord run all along the side to the back corner or come out the front, tried both and it just looked bad plus I didn't like the flow for this tank. Don't get my wrong its a great pump, small, fully controllable and you can set schedules but its just not going to cut it. I decided to replace it and am going to keep it as a backup.
So I bought a used MP10 from someone online.It came in and as soon as I took the westside apart, I could see the ceramic was cracked. Knew it probably wasn't going to spin right and sure enough it vibrated and was loud. This was an older ES ecosmart model and also the dry side was kinda loud, I don't know if thats just how they are but my other mp10 which is a Quite Drive is a whole lot quieter. Anyway I contacted the guy and he apologized and said he would try and get me a new westside or I could return it, I decided to return it.
Today I ended up finding a local who actually had a brand new Quite Drive model and we worked out a trade for part coral part cash. It was actually manufactured at the end of March 2019 so I am hoping it all ready Mobius compatible when ecotech releases it for the Vortechs. I Have it installed now and flow seems to be pretty good, will probably have to tweak it a bit but overall I am happy with how it worked out and ill probably be better off with the new one.
PICTURE TIME
Today I also went to return the par meter I was borrowing and the guy buys coral wholesale and sells it to locals. I wanted to support him for letting me barrow the meter so I bought a couple corals
Got these Blastos
And this bounce mushroom. It doesn't really have that many bubbles but the green is super bright, it really pops. Hope it gets a ton more.
My collection of bounces is growing
Also wanted the share this Holy Grail Acan, check out how many babies are coming in, so exciting!
OP
OP
Yea right lol. I guess you win some you lose some, it is frustrating. At least whenever I have had an issue people seem to be really nice about it and do the right thing. With any of the defective products and any corals I got that didn't arrive in good shape, I have always be taken care of. Im really amazed by all the awesome people and companies in this hobby.
Just_Pete
Well-Known Member
Sorry if I missed it somewhere but what camera/filter are you using?Tanks are doing good, still dealing with a little bit of ugly stages on the lagoon. I have been blowing off the rocks everyday and taking all the snails and placing them on the rocks, they have to earn their keep
For flow in the lagoon I did have a KPS wavemaker but I just didn't like how narrow the flow was and also the cord in the tank. I tried it on the back wall and the flow was no good and I needed it on one the the sides but towards the front. The screen top I have doesn't have any gaps around the sides for the cord, just the corners. So it was have the cord run all along the side to the back corner or come out the front, tried both and it just looked bad plus I didn't like the flow for this tank. Don't get my wrong its a great pump, small, fully controllable and you can set schedules but its just not going to cut it. I decided to replace it and am going to keep it as a backup.
So I bought a used MP10 from someone online.It came in and as soon as I took the westside apart, I could see the ceramic was cracked. Knew it probably wasn't going to spin right and sure enough it vibrated and was loud. This was an older ES ecosmart model and also the dry side was kinda loud, I don't know if thats just how they are but my other mp10 which is a Quite Drive is a whole lot quieter. Anyway I contacted the guy and he apologized and said he would try and get me a new westside or I could return it, I decided to return it.
Today I ended up finding a local who actually had a brand new Quite Drive model and we worked out a trade for part coral part cash. It was actually manufactured at the end of March 2019 so I am hoping it all ready Mobius compatible when ecotech releases it for the Vortechs. I Have it installed now and flow seems to be pretty good, will probably have to tweak it a bit but overall I am happy with how it worked out and ill probably be better off with the new one.
PICTURE TIME
Today I also went to return the par meter I was borrowing and the guy buys coral wholesale and sells it to locals. I wanted to support him for letting me barrow the meter so I bought a couple corals
Got these Blastos
And this bounce mushroom. It doesn't really have that many bubbles but the green is super bright, it really pops. Hope it gets a ton more.
My collection of bounces is growing
Also wanted the share this Holy Grail Acan, check out how many babies are coming in, so exciting!
OP
OP
My older pictures were just with an iPhone 6 and truvu filter. The newer ones are shot with an Olympus TG-6. Its pretty much just a water proof point and shoot camera. I was debating on getting a DSLR but I heard they take a bit of learning to use and I was a bit intimidated, not to mention the bigger price tag. Also figured if I ever went snorkeling or diving it would be nice to have the water proof one. Very happy I went with the TG-6, its so easy to use and takes great macros. I am not using a filter at all, just the camera with no after editing. It has a white balance setting which I turn all the way up to 14k. Then I just set my Ai Prime lights to 20k and shoot. I found with the lights at 20K and that white balance setting the coral's colors come out accurate and really pop while eliminating most of the blue hue.
Last edited:
Just_Pete
Well-Known Member
Thanks
OP
OP
Got my fish today!!! Unfortunately one didn’t make it before I picked it up so I just got the three green banded and not four. Pretty disappointed but I can always get another one or two down the road. The shop was awesome and acclimated them to reef salinity before I got them. They are in the tank and happy now with a full belly from eating.
Sold a bunch of coral to the shop and picked up the fish, some snails, two acans and a really sweet chalice. The acans aren’t really opened much I’ll have to get pictures later.
Also have a lot of coral coming in soon. The fella I borrowed the par meter from has a business license and asked me if I wanted to go in on a wholesale order with him so he could meet him minimum. Ended up getting 12 micro acans, two Montis and a yellow clove polyp. Really pumped about the micros as they are hard to find. It wasn’t WYSIWYG so I’m crossing my fingers I don’t get too many doubles, he did put in the notes asking for different ones if possible. Hoping Friday he should get them.
Also caught a live sale at calikids corals. Got 3 killer chalices and a really nice micro acan. One of the chalices was a cut to order that I added on so I’m waiting for it to heal before they ship. Then I have an order from strictly fish Miami for 5 regular lord acans, also waiting for them to heal. So pretty much I’m going to be loaded up lol
New chalice from the LFS. It’s the green convict, check out how bright it is even compared to the rainbows. It may just be my new favorite.
Sold a bunch of coral to the shop and picked up the fish, some snails, two acans and a really sweet chalice. The acans aren’t really opened much I’ll have to get pictures later.
Also have a lot of coral coming in soon. The fella I borrowed the par meter from has a business license and asked me if I wanted to go in on a wholesale order with him so he could meet him minimum. Ended up getting 12 micro acans, two Montis and a yellow clove polyp. Really pumped about the micros as they are hard to find. It wasn’t WYSIWYG so I’m crossing my fingers I don’t get too many doubles, he did put in the notes asking for different ones if possible. Hoping Friday he should get them.
Also caught a live sale at calikids corals. Got 3 killer chalices and a really nice micro acan. One of the chalices was a cut to order that I added on so I’m waiting for it to heal before they ship. Then I have an order from strictly fish Miami for 5 regular lord acans, also waiting for them to heal. So pretty much I’m going to be loaded up lol
New chalice from the LFS. It’s the green convict, check out how bright it is even compared to the rainbows. It may just be my new favorite.
TheWB
Valuable Member
Glad you got the gobies, too bad about the one that didn’t make it. At one point I was interested in a trio of those and might still be but I need to let things settle out since I added that Tang. Even a small one adds a ton to the bioload. Pop up some pics of the gobies when you get a chance. You are out of control on the coral acquisitions ( in a good way ) I’m jealous. That Chalice is stunning, I’ve never seen one like that before. Thats a great haul you got there.Got my fish today!!! Unfortunately one didn’t make it before I picked it up so I just got the three green banded and not four. Pretty disappointed but I can always get another one or two down the road. The shop was awesome and acclimated them to reef salinity before I got them. They are in the tank and happy now with a full belly from eating.
Sold a bunch of coral to the shop and picked up the fish, some snails, two acans and a really sweet chalice. The acans aren’t really opened much I’ll have to get pictures later.
Also have a lot of coral coming in soon. The fella I borrowed the par meter from has a business license and asked me if I wanted to go in on a wholesale order with him so he could meet him minimum. Ended up getting 12 micro acans, two Montis and a yellow clove polyp. Really pumped about the micros as they are hard to find. It wasn’t WYSIWYG so I’m crossing my fingers I don’t get too many doubles, he did put in the notes asking for different ones if possible. Hoping Friday he should get them.
Also caught a live sale at calikids corals. Got 3 killer chalices and a really nice micro acan. One of the chalices was a cut to order that I added on so I’m waiting for it to heal before they ship. Then I have an order from strictly fish Miami for 5 regular lord acans, also waiting for them to heal. So pretty much I’m going to be loaded up lol
New chalice from the LFS. It’s the green convict, check out how bright it is even compared to the rainbows. It may just be my new favorite.
OP
OP
Still dealing with the algae on the 25 lagoon. Its quite a bit and I think it has to do with me using some old pukani rock that I had when I was in the hobby years ago. I did bleach and vinegar soak it before using. Also I'm getting all kinda of sponges and stuff really quickly, not sure how that works. On my 30L I used stax rock and dint have the algae as bad. I decided to start dosing some vibrant to help it along, hope it works well.
Got a bunch of corals today. All of them all doing well except one frag of clove polyps. It never really opened, crossing my fingers it comes around. I didn't get too many good pictures but got a couple of my favorites.
Micro Acan
HyperNova Monti, its the one of the rack, the bigger one is the beach bum. The beach bum doesn't look the greatest on the edges, not sure what's going on. Im guessing maybe not enough par but Im not really sure.
Really getting into the rainbow montis. This is a Crazy T I got in a local trade about a week ago. It didn't look the best when I got it but it has been coloring up.
Ok now for the new gobies. They have been doing really well and and eating like champs. I only got pictures of two of them, Aren't they so cute! Also those are a couple of some of my other new micros. I will get some better pictures of them maybe sometime this week.
Got a bunch of corals today. All of them all doing well except one frag of clove polyps. It never really opened, crossing my fingers it comes around. I didn't get too many good pictures but got a couple of my favorites.
Micro Acan
HyperNova Monti, its the one of the rack, the bigger one is the beach bum. The beach bum doesn't look the greatest on the edges, not sure what's going on. Im guessing maybe not enough par but Im not really sure.
Really getting into the rainbow montis. This is a Crazy T I got in a local trade about a week ago. It didn't look the best when I got it but it has been coloring up.
Ok now for the new gobies. They have been doing really well and and eating like champs. I only got pictures of two of them, Aren't they so cute! Also those are a couple of some of my other new micros. I will get some better pictures of them maybe sometime this week.
OP
OP
Took tons pictures today of the new acans, sorry for the overload lol. Some are not the greatest pictures, I was having a hard time getting good shots
Some of them look pretty similar but it was a pack deal. Im happy I got a couple cool ones, especially the orange one.
Closer ups
I got a Goni as well. This is my first one ever and I really like it. Would like to maybe get a couple of the rainbow ones.
Some more acans I got awhile ago that I took pictures of but never shared. I least I don't think.
Current FTS, See all the algae I'm getting. Really hoping it doesn't get too much worse. My Nitrate and Phosphate levels are in range.
A pretty decent shot I got of some of the fish. Uggh the algae lol
Some of them look pretty similar but it was a pack deal. Im happy I got a couple cool ones, especially the orange one.
Closer ups
I got a Goni as well. This is my first one ever and I really like it. Would like to maybe get a couple of the rainbow ones.
Some more acans I got awhile ago that I took pictures of but never shared. I least I don't think.
Current FTS, See all the algae I'm getting. Really hoping it doesn't get too much worse. My Nitrate and Phosphate levels are in range.
A pretty decent shot I got of some of the fish. Uggh the algae lol
OP
OP
More corals came in today, really happy with these ones. I was waiting about a week for them to heal until they could ship. Last night I had him add the rainbow Goni because I like my other one so much.
Just some mediocre cell phones shots. I’ll get the good one out here in the next couple days.
Just some mediocre cell phones shots. I’ll get the good one out here in the next couple days.
OP
OP
I couldn’t wait, I was too excited . Really enjoying this photography. Wonder when then are going to put the picture of the month vote up. Curious if I made it and how I’ll do.
TheWB
Valuable Member
Those all look really great. What’s the first one?, it has amazing color. I’ve never seen a Rainbow Goni before either. Very nice pics as usual.I couldn’t wait, I was too excited . Really enjoying this photography. Wonder when then are going to put the picture of the month vote up. Curious if I made it and how I’ll do.
OP
OP
Its just a normal rainbow acan lord. Im always kinda of nervous about the rainbows morphing to all orange or red but they said they have had them for a few months and they haven't changed so I took a shot. Got this lot from Strictly Fish Miami.
OP
OP
Things are going good, still dealing with algae though. Mainly in the new tank but found a patch growing in the 30L. Have been removing as much as I can manually and continuing with the vibrant 2x a week only in the lagoon. It seems to be getting a little better but will probably take some time.
I’m might go to go to the fish store either this weekend or next. I really want to get a Midas blenny and thought I would get a ton of snails. I have had a few die in the new tank which is weird as I haven't really had any die previously. Plan for the snails was maybe to get 30-40 and let them clean the new tank really well then take maybe like half of them down to school for the frag tank.
I have some bad news . I found one of my green banded gobies dead. He was fine and eating for awhile so I don’t know. Although a day or two before I found him I was scrubbing my rocks and things shifted a bit. I’m thinking it might be possible he got squished by the rock. I hope it wasn’t me that killed him. Then again one of the four I ordered was dead by the time I picked them up so maybe they weren’t the healthiest. I may add a few more down the road.
Been slowly moving acans over to the new tank. Got pretty much all of them moved expect one rainbow and most of my Asian acans. A few weeks ago one of my Asian acans stopped opening. Tried a few dips but nothing helped. It wasn’t a huge deal to me as it wasn’t one of the nicer ones but still sucks. Well one of my favorite ones stopped opening all the way as well. This one used to sit right next to the other one on the rack. Not sure if it caught some problem or what. I moved it to the new tank away from the others and I’m going to try more dips. I haven’t tried it yet but I think tonight I’ll try a dip in aminos. Couldn’t hurt right.
I caught a live sale calikids had a few weeks ago on FB but have been waiting for a chalice to heal before it shipped. Then last week I decided to add another micro acan so now I’m waiting for that one to heal as well. I’m hoping to get that order Tuesday.
Cell phone shot of the Acan tank
I’m might go to go to the fish store either this weekend or next. I really want to get a Midas blenny and thought I would get a ton of snails. I have had a few die in the new tank which is weird as I haven't really had any die previously. Plan for the snails was maybe to get 30-40 and let them clean the new tank really well then take maybe like half of them down to school for the frag tank.
I have some bad news . I found one of my green banded gobies dead. He was fine and eating for awhile so I don’t know. Although a day or two before I found him I was scrubbing my rocks and things shifted a bit. I’m thinking it might be possible he got squished by the rock. I hope it wasn’t me that killed him. Then again one of the four I ordered was dead by the time I picked them up so maybe they weren’t the healthiest. I may add a few more down the road.
Been slowly moving acans over to the new tank. Got pretty much all of them moved expect one rainbow and most of my Asian acans. A few weeks ago one of my Asian acans stopped opening. Tried a few dips but nothing helped. It wasn’t a huge deal to me as it wasn’t one of the nicer ones but still sucks. Well one of my favorite ones stopped opening all the way as well. This one used to sit right next to the other one on the rack. Not sure if it caught some problem or what. I moved it to the new tank away from the others and I’m going to try more dips. I haven’t tried it yet but I think tonight I’ll try a dip in aminos. Couldn’t hurt right.
I caught a live sale calikids had a few weeks ago on FB but have been waiting for a chalice to heal before it shipped. Then last week I decided to add another micro acan so now I’m waiting for that one to heal as well. I’m hoping to get that order Tuesday.
Cell phone shot of the Acan tank
TheWB
Valuable Member
Looking good as usual. Once those rocks are covered with Acans it’s going to look spectacular.
Sorry to hear about the goby, that would be a bummer if you got him with the rock but it happens. I killed my conch that way a couple of weeks ago. Took a rock out to clean it and put it back in on top of the conch without noticing. Pinned it under there and it died.
You‘re bound to lose a coral or two every once in a while when you have so many frags in a confined area. Either they were fighting with each other or one had a problem and gave it to the other. Stuff happens. Good that you segregated and are dipping. Maybe it’ll make a comeback. Hope it works out, especially if it’s a favorite.
Sorry to hear about the goby, that would be a bummer if you got him with the rock but it happens. I killed my conch that way a couple of weeks ago. Took a rock out to clean it and put it back in on top of the conch without noticing. Pinned it under there and it died.
You‘re bound to lose a coral or two every once in a while when you have so many frags in a confined area. Either they were fighting with each other or one had a problem and gave it to the other. Stuff happens. Good that you segregated and are dipping. Maybe it’ll make a comeback. Hope it works out, especially if it’s a favorite.
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