240 gallon mixed reef

[hobogato]

some of you have been following as my tank went thru some unpleasant times. i was really one step away from having a 240 gallon cichlid tank.

even after things started to turn around and i began rebuilding by replacing my fish, things did not go smoothly. black ich decided to take most of my new fish, so out of the 33 fish in my new population, i am now down to 13. the good news is, those 13 seem healthy and ich free.

i did not start this thread to head down pity street again, just thought i would mention that unfortunate stuff before anyone asked "where are all of your fish?" :)

on to the rebuilt reef.

i decided to go mostly softies and lps and kept just a few sps frags after severely dipping them to make sure the tank would be AEFW free. my long term plans included a couple of large acro colonies, but i am definitely not going anywhere near sps dominant. mike had a deal i couldnt pass up, so i am very close now to my new vision for the tank. once i am sure my remaining fish are healthy, i will start looking at new fish again.

for now, here is one fts

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03503Large.jpg

[Jeff]

i was talking to steve just a while ago and he thought it was you that bought mikes stuff. i am glad you decided to keep a few acros and let them grow out, that looks more natural to me anyways. sorry about the ick problem and i hope you never have it happen again, but what you have left will only be stronger. the tank looks great and i hope it is what you are looking for.:applause:

[greenmako]

looks great man, and I wish the best for you hope you have no more problems!

[z28pwr]

Tank looks good Ace, glad you decided to stay salty. That black Ick is horrible I purchased two bangai cardinals from a unamend LFS that had black Ick and they wiped out my 180 at the time :( .

[princer7]

Are those mangroves I see in there? Those will be interesting to see as they mature more... especially with the natural light.

[andysgr]

Beautiful aquascape Ace! Good luck with the changes in your tank.

[ErikH]

My tangs battled it, I dosed vitamin c and it went away, then I bought a cleaner wrasse and it took care of what was left. I hope those frags make you smile man! :D

[BIGBIRD123]

Looks good Ace. Is that the same Eel in the left corner?

S

[cpreefguy]

Are those mangroves I see in there?

Black mangroves?

Love the new look.

[Rychek]

Looking very good indeed Ace! I like the mangroves in the corner. Looks vaguely familiar.... :wink_smile:

[hobogato]

yes, they are black mangroves. i stole the idea from rob and ryan :)

yep steve, that is the same eel.

[Mr Cob]

yes, they are black mangroves. i stole the idea from rob and ryan :)

yep steve, that is the same eel.

Yeah, That's who I saw do it ...Ryan (Rycheck)

ANyways...Ace you should stick some of the ones in your refugium in the main display....the ones down there are big!

The tank looks great Ace...so much swimming room!

[SABOB]

Ace,sorry to hear of your continued problems.The picture of the makeover is awesome.Keep updating with new pictures to show progress.

[gjuarez]

Still looks great ace, i would always keep up with your updated thread.. very inspiring. Hey so what happened to the zoa garden that you used to have?

[hobogato]

we sold them off a long time ago when i went all sps. they were not doing well with the orp staying around 350

i am really excited to be able to keep them again.

btw, good to see you hanging around again jerry

[LoneStar]

Yeah this should be a good fit for another zoa garden! Need to fill the floor with them :) I would also like to see how they fair with the natural sunlight. I bet they will grow like crazy.

[Bill S]

Wow. Looks really, really great. Hope my disaster turns out half as well...

[gjuarez]

Glad to be back! A nice zoa garden with some beatiful ricordeas. Lately i have been really fond of some lps out there. There is some beautiful pieces. It used to be that sps were more expensive than softies and lps, not anymore. Some lps and zoas are ridiculously expensive but very nice though. I will subscribe to this one and enjoy the ride

[hobogato]

i decided to take a few more pics since you couldnt really see some of the best things in the tank in that first one. i think it is coming along nicely. just a few more batches of zoa group orders and a few corals from cali later this week and the tank will be set to grow out coral wise.

this is what the tank looks like to my eyes right now with just actinics and no sunlight coming in:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03507.jpg

the rest of these are with the camera correcting the white balance. i think it does a pretty good job (glad i finally figured out that function :) )
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03516.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03517.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03518.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03519.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03521.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03522.jpg

[jrsatx20]

lookin nice ace.

[jc]

Doesn't the zebra eel eat your snails? If so how do you keep the detritus down?

[hobogato]

no jc, he doesnt eat the few snails i have. i think he did eat my tuxedo urchins tho - i used to have five, and they disappeared without a trace :huh:

the tank has lots of stomatella, small nerite snails and probably a ridiculous number of bristle worms that clean up at night.

[JeffCo]

Looks great, I see you still have that big chalice.

[hobogato]

thanks for all the comments

yep, that chalice is still doing well - it is one of the only things that lived thru the anemone mess.

decided to take the tank in an even more natural direction. cut the return flow down to one mag18 and the in tank flow down to two seio 2600s on a controller. the lps seem to be much happier. i also removed the skimmer and will fill that section of the sump with more macro algae. this means i will be running with no mechanical filtration - just the liverock in the tank, the 150 lbs of rubble in the first section of my sump and a 48" x 15" refugium (half barebottom with macroalgae and half 8" dsb with a red and black mangrove forrest).

current fish list (besides the three clowns that will go back to mike's tank):
purple tang
chocolate tang
yellow eye kole tang
striped dogface puffer
zebra eel
marine beta
flame hawk
two spot candy hogfish
cleaner wrasse
yellow coris wrasse
clown fairy wrasse
radiant wrasse
blue pencil wrasse

took a few new fishy pics tonight
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03574.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03583.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03603.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03606.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03567.jpg

[FireWater]

Looks good Ace, although the tang list looks familiar. That pencil wrasse is amazing

[sm1983]

Great looking tank!

[fishypets]

Hats off to ya Ace for hanging in there. Looks like your new system will be low maint. yet high reward. Keep up the good work.

Clint

[princer7]

Is that chocolate tang from B&B yesterday? Very nice. :wink_smile:

[ErikH]

Looks good Ace! Did my frags die on you? :)

[jc]

Are you going to run anything for calcium?

[hobogato]

Looks good Ace! Did my frags die on you? :)

no, they are doing fine :)

[hobogato]

for grins, i decided to figure out a comparison on power consumption of my tank at its most complicated vs now.

then:

total volume 400 gallons - 240 gal display, 50 gal clam tank, rest in sump/fuge

1400 watts of MH (1250 main tank, 150 clam tank)
800 watts of t5 (580 main tank, 220 clam tank)
325 watts of return pump (mag12 and mag18 main tank, mag7 clam tank
300 watts of circulation pumps (4 seio 2600s in main tank, two powerheads in clam tank)
45 watts calcium reactor mixing pump
12 watts kalk reactor mixing pump
125 watts skimmer pump
300 watts chiller
48 watts refugium light

in the RC calculator, at $.08 /KWh, it said $993 a month - this is totally wrong since my highest monthly electricity bill was right at $600.

now:

350 gallons - 240 display and the rest in the sump/fuge

220 watts if t5 actinics
145 watts return pump (mag18)
110 watts circulation pumps (2 seio 2600s)
96 watts refugium light

in the RC calculator, it said $23 a month

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Texreefer]

NIce,, since the meltdown I have unpluged all lights and going just solar,, looks kinda cool and the 3 chromis I have left are actually showing much more blue color than with the actinics

[Jeff]

i'll bet it would look good as a lagoon type of setting mike.

[hobogato]

ok, so i decided the new way of running my tank wasnt going to be sps friendly, so i found them new homes to make sure i didnt kill em

took some update pics today

FTSs first
back
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03828.jpg
front
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03829.jpg
left to right sections front
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03832.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03830.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03831.jpg
random corals
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03799.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03800.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03802.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03805.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03807.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03809.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03811.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03813.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03815.jpg

what doesnt show up well in these pics is the overall movement of the tank. with the three large anemones, many euphyllia, and over 20 fish, it really looks like a reef again...... i am so glad i didnt make it into a cichlid tank!!!

[OrionN]

"three large anemones" Can you take picture of each of the anemones? I am always an anemones keeper.

[coraline79]

sweet gorgonian! what kind is it? blueberry?

[barderer]

do you think those mangroves will make it to the top? That's a long way up!

[Kristy]

sweet gorgonian! what kind is it? blueberry?
Which one? I spy several...

Tank is looking great, Ace. Funny you should mention that the photos don't really capture the movement, because that's the first thing I noticed about them. Between the blurred fishies and the swaying shapes of the anenomes and gorgonians, lots of movement going on! Bet it's more relaxing to watch than ever.

Sidetrack: Noticed your footnote. Did you guys just lose your namesake kitty? If so, very sorry to hear it...

[hobogato]

minh - there is a long tentacle, sebae, and rbt that are over 6", and then there are also small rbt, sebae and gbt anemones wondering aroung

yes joe, that first gorgo pic is a bluberry

nick - i am hoping they will, since my tank is open top. it would be interesting to see them grow all the way out the top

thanks kristy and mike we are really enjoying watching it again....

yes, Hobo passed away after a long life. he went peacefully, but he will be missed.

[Bill S]

Tank really looks great.

Sorry to hear about Hobo...

[hobogato]

thanks bill

[snfkotara]

I love your tank set-up. Its beautiful!!!! Not to sound dumb but I tried looking up black ick in the books i have and couldn't find anything on it. Is black ick a parasite or bacteria? What and or where does it come from?

[Mr Cob]

do you think those mangroves will make it to the top? That's a long way up!


They will eventually! Look how big the ones at the coast are. FYI: They can also live under water with no problems too.

[Mr Cob]

Ace, the tank looks beautiful. Thanks for not going Cichlids!

[hobogato]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=black+ich&aq=f&oq= :wink_smile:

in my tank it was coupled with normal white ich from a shipment of fish getting too cold. i lost 15 fish in 5 days and a few others in the next few days. i left the remaining fish in the tank without fish additions until all signs of both types of ich were gone. then, i slowly started adding fish again. i am back up to 27 fish and only one has a slight case of normal white ich. he is eating very well and the cleaner wrasse is doing a great job with all of the fish.



I love your tank set-up. Its beautiful!!!! Not to sound dumb but I tried looking up black ick in the books i have and couldn't find anything on it. Is black ick a parasite or bacteria? What and or where does it come from?

[hobogato]

yesterday, icky (the eel) decided i needed to tweak the rockwork a little, so he knocked down the center island and tried to knock down the small island on the left end. here it is all redone - i like it much better now! thanks for the nudge icky (that is not exactly what i was saying to the eel yesterday:angry:)

also, the long tentacle and sebae anemones decided to travel to the center of the tank (from their prospective ends) - i think they were preparing to have war! i moved them each back to their own end of the tank and added the carbon reactor to the sump to try to keep the toxins in the water to a minimum.

left end
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03841.jpg
middle island
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03842.jpg
new fts
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC03839.jpg

[greenmako]

looks awesome man!

[Mr Cob]

Good stuff Ace! Icky is just taking charge of the demolition crew! He was just doing his part!

LOl.....


your tank looks awesome Ace.!

[roscozman]

Looks great Ace. I sure do like those Gorgonians.

[Jeff]

i think the tank looks the best ever and i can't wait to see it in person again.

[CoryDude]

Gorgeous rock work! I now hate my "brick wall". You have given me so many ideas for my next tank.

[Rychek]

I know how irritated I get when my turbo snails knock a frag off of my rockwork. I can't imagine having a whole section of my rockwork knocked over. Good thing you have a big tank and more patience than I. :wink_smile:

[mattymalcolm]

Hate to here about your loss. Your tank is looking awesome I cant wait to see it in a few months.

[gjuarez]

Very nice Ace. I like the gorgonian island, and i see you started your zoa garden again. Love the open space. Great work

[coraline79]

nice Gorgonians, that is my next move-gorgonia garden. I have a yellow/red calus, and I want to aquire a blueberry, and a red w/ white calus one as well!

[hobogato]

took a video today with my old digital camera - quality isnt very good, since there wasnt much light coming in the solar tubes, but i just wanted to show the movement in the tank a bit.....

changed video for one a little better

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/th_Image006.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/?action=view&current=Image006.flv)

[hobogato]

also took this one as i fed the hoard

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/th_Image007.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/?action=view&current=Image007.flv)

[uriah]

Tanks like yours keep me motivated and make me want to keep reef building. The tank looks great and kudos to the keeper:applause:

[hobogato]

thanks uriah

[uriah]

when do the charter members meet and were? I would b interested in becoming a charter member and attending meetings.

[Jeff]

you don't need to be a charter member to attend meetings but becoming a member has its rewards. this months meetings are the tank tours.

[Mr Cob]

Love it Ace! Thanks for sharing!

[hobogato]

took a few pics today now that the sunlight is really starting to get brighter.

some fishy pics:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04012.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04014.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04044.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04046.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04053.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04058.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04061.jpg

center island
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04009.jpg

feeding time - i think i enjoy it more than the fish do :D
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04083.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04088.jpg

next weekend, i will be changing the seios out for a wave box - cant wait!

[gjuarez]

Nice.. Love the wrasses

[aquasport24]

WOW very colorful Ace, how are the wrasses getting along? what camera setting did you use?

[lt1z28]

Beautiful fish! Is that a male Bellus Angel in the 8th pic?

[JKLUSAF]

i like how you set you rock up, different and it gives me more ideas

[hobogato]

thanks for the comments all.

giau, i was using manual settings with a custom white balance (9900k m3 - had the camera set it by shooting the sand). i think those pics were all an F-stop of 2.8 and an exposure of 1/40 using my 100 mm macro lens. iso was on 200.


....what camera setting did you use?

no bernie, the tank has a potter's and a flame.


Beautiful fish! Is that a male Bellus Angel in the 8th pic?

[rocketeer]

Man that's nice. Very zen. I'm going to thin things out a little in my tank. Oh yeah, and get rid of about 2 inches of sand.

Jack

[hobogato]

be sure to do that very slowly. when i took out sand from my tank, i did it by siphoning during 5 gallon per day water changes. it took a couple of weeks, but didnt stir much up into the tank. you will be surprised how much sand a one inch diameter hose will pull out....


.......and get rid of about 2 inches of sand.

Jack

[sharkboy]

nice flame angel! :)

[oceancube]

hey ace does that eel mess with anyfish?? planing on getting one but im scared there mean..lmk and thanks.... tank looks awsome btw!!!!!!

[hobogato]

thanks art :D

rudy, he wont even eat dead ones.... they can be picky eaters at first. i just added a fire shrimp and a harlequin shrimp and he hasnt looked twice at them either. he loves squid or octopus and bait shrimp.

[Bill S]

OOOOH. Ace has angelfish... How are they doing with that clam?

I'm in the middle of moving the live rock from my 55 into the 215... I'll see if I can post some pix.

[hobogato]

no picking so far bill.....

[apedroza]

Looking good Ace, glad you didn't go cichlid!!!

[roscozman]

Looks great Ace. Where did you get the Sohal?

[RayAllen]

Aquarium looks great ACE, lots of Happy fish!

[hobogato]

me too anthony, thanks ray


thanks, i got him at AD - it was a fish someone brought in to their shop.


Looks great Ace. Where did you get the Sohal?

[hobogato]

took a few pics today now that the sun is getting brighter in the tank.

first, a comparison of the guts

this is what it used to look like (this is with the first calc reactor and skimmer, not the newer skimmer and monster reactor i ran for a while):
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/filtration1.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/filtration2.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/filtration3.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/filtration4.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/filtration5.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/filtration6.jpg

and now:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04101.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04102.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04103.jpg

thought this made for a nice pic
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04097.jpg

fts front
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04098.jpg

back
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04099.jpg

sections front
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04113.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04105.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04106.jpg

couple of random shots
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04107.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04108.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04109.jpg

[cbianco]

Swoot Dood!

I may have missed it but did you remove rock from your tank?

Christopher

[hobogato]

lots :)

[cbianco]

lots :)

Thought so...

I know, I'm a bit slow :zzz:

LOL

[OrionN]

What is the collecting area of the three solar tubes you used? Is it enough or do you have to supplement with more light?
Nice tank. Nice rock display for the corals.

[hobogato]

each tube has its own dome the same diameter as the tube. in the summer, it is much brighter than the 1250 watts of MH i used to run. i do have 220 watts of T5 actinic lights to improve the colors in the tank.

[ErikH]

Looks really good Ace. I really like it!

[sharkboy]

Just love the simplicity!!! bet fish are happy with all of that room...

[gjuarez]

Hey Ace, have you ever measured PAR on your solar lights? How have your corals reacted to the lower kelvin lights of the sun? I am sure you get more growth but has it affected the colors in any way?

[hobogato]

jerry, when i had all sps, it cause some color shift - growth was about the same. with the corals i have now, i havent noticed much of a change if any.

well, i finally got the wavebox dialed in.... it is producing a wave a little bigger than 1" and really moves things around in the tank. i wish i had bought one a long time ago :)

i have also decided to try a few pieces of sps since the tank is doing so well. not going to go overboard, just five or six specific types to fill specific places so that it still looks as natural as possible.

[hobogato]

just wanted to show the mods i did on the tank to make the wave action silent and not overflow the tank. i put a piece of acrylic at the end, just in case the wave tried to crest over the end of the tank. i also made inserts for the overflows out of egg crate (two layers staggered to make the holes tiny) so the fish couldnt get washed in. i made the durso pipes longer so the water level was just over the top of the overflow - no water crashing into the overflow when the wave crests.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/Image002.jpg

here is a really bad video - not much light coming in yet, so the camera had a hard time focusing.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/th_Image004-1.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/?action=view&current=Image004-1.flv)

[hobogato]

a couple from the top

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/th_Image006-1.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/?action=view&current=Image006-1.flv)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/th_Image005.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/?action=view&current=Image005.flv)

[seatrueblue]

Is that a tunze wavebox? I have tunze wavebox and I just love it. Not having a dead spot in the tank is wonderful. No more detritus build up in some areas. Skimmer works more efficient. I like what you did to your overflow box. In fact I like everything about your tank.:) Does the strong rocking of the water bother your LPS at all? We have ours set to a smaller wave for our lps and anemones.

[Bill S]

I hope I don't tick you off...

It's a personal thing, but I don't like 1 second waves. 5-8 second waves are more realistic. Is there any way to adjust the waves to a longer period?

[hobogato]

thanks christina, actually, the tank has gone from four seio 2600s to one wave box. the lps love the wave box and are opening up more now than ever. i even lost a few heads of some of the euphyllia colonies because they were in too much flow.

i agree bill, i wish it would work that way. the time of the wave is dependent on the length of the tank. i still like it much better than the violent random flow i used to have :)

[ismvel]

Man I love that box... ;) If I ever get another big tank, that is a MUST!!!!

The day I put it in my tank was the day I just stared at all the corals and fish jus swaying back and forth and couldn't get unglued from the tank... :)

Looking good Ace.

[hobogato]

thanks ismael, i agree, it is mesmerizing :)

[apedroza]

Looking good Ace!!! You just keep amazing me!!

[snfkotara]

Wow, Ace that is great I love your pictures from yesterday.

[hobogato]

thanks for the comments :)

[hobogato]

when i was in B&B dropping off that monster skimmer, he had something i just couldnt pass up. seems to be an S. gigantea, but the color is more vivid than i have ever seen. as you have heard before, this pic really doesnt do it justice.....it is about 8" across right now, but still acclimating. i think it will be much larger (probably about double its current size) once it settles in :)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/Image001.jpg

i wanted a school of fish in the tank, but never could decide - until yesterday. we now have 8 pink skunk clowns (we have enough anemones for them to pair up down the road).

[justahobby]

:hypnotyized::what_smile::cry_smile: ........That is one BEAUTIFUL anemone!!!!

[gjuarez]

I have never seen an anemone like that one, very nice. Do you have any clowns to host it

[hobogato]

8 pink skunks :) only one has taken to it, but i have several other anemones too.

[gjuarez]

Cool, its a nice piece. Sent you a pm to get your opinion on something

[phrog]

So, after the conversation about dyed anemones from a different thread, is there any chance this one is dyed?

Awesome color! I look forward to a pic when it is fully acclimated.

[hobogato]

i dont think so, the foot and body are white. only the tentacles are purple.

[stoneroller]

Looking great as always. How's that pagoda doing in the wavvvvves? I bet that might look cool. Video?

[hobogato]

Looking great as always. How's that pagoda doing in the wavvvvves? I bet that might look cool. Video?

much happier now than it was with the seios - actually has grown some.

[hobogato]

this morning, it is about 12" across - still not quite fully opened tho.....got a better representation of the color on this pic as well :)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04119.jpg

[fishypets]

That thing is freaking awesome Ace, nice score. What do you plan on feeding it?

[hobogato]

for now, krill. still have some research to do....

[seatrueblue]

Hi Ace, beautiful anemone. I am really good at IDing host anemones, I would love to see it in person and help you get a positive ID. That is if you can't get a good picture of its foot.

Does this mean you don't want the neon green e.quadricolor anymore? :p

[hobogato]

you are welcome to come by, i would appreciate it as i am no where near certain as to the species. the foot is well concealed under the sand, the verrucae are light purple, and in lines. the tentacles are uniform in lengths and VERY sticky, but do not sting the back of my hand. it has not opened up enough see the oral disk, but it appears the tentacles stop a small distance from it. the tentacles are all about 1 cm long and are thinner at the base than at the end, but then they have a slight point on the end. going by this(link) (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/carpetanemones.htm) on wwm, it seems to have characteristics of each of the three Stichodactyla species :confused:

[Texreefer]

I am quite confident it is a Gigantea

[seatrueblue]

No offense Tex, you were quite confident your lta was a magnifica at one time:wink_smile: :p just picking on ya ..don't get mad. It probably is a gigantea, but it doesn't hurt to get a better look.( plus I would love to see this one in person..oo la la) its pretty! The part that throws me off is you said the foot is white? Is it blue, or grayish foot with a purple verrucae? If so then it is a gigantea.

[Texreefer]

No offense Tex, you were quite confident your lta was a magnifica at one time:wink_smile: :p just picking on ya .....
:cry_smile: you hurt my feelings............Not.... I have been know to be wrong on occasion but just to clarify so others don't think i'm nuts.
I had ordered Mags and when they came in, they were clearly NOT mags. I posted them as mags to see if it was as plain to everyone else as it was to me that they were not.. couldn't believe this retailer would could be that dumb,,, but after dealing with them, I confirmed it!.. I don't even know how they are smart enough to be in business as they wanted to argue with me that what they sent me WAS Mags.. anyway, back to your regularly scheduled program..:)

[hobogato]

it is possible that the foot is light blue/greyish in color, but it is very light. it was shipped to B&B as H. crispa i believe. when i first saw it (without looking very close bc i was distracted by the color :) ) i would have believed M. doreensis or H. crispa that was just closed up, but it is now almost flat except for a few folds and doesnt look like either of those.

[seatrueblue]

I am very sure h. crispa don't have colored verrucae. What you just described is a gigantea.:D

[Mrs. z28pwr]

Ace how is your BEAUTIFUL anemone doing? Did it get bigger? What does it eat?

[OrionN]

It is very beautiful, but does not clearly look like a S. gigantea. They usually do not dig into the sand like this anemone. I have a H. malu that look just like this anemone minus the intense color and stickiness of the tentacles and much smaller.
Does the tentacles move around very much? Once you see the vibrating tentacles, there is no mistaking it in ID it as a S. gigantea. Sometime in very high water movement and ling tentacles, we cannot see the movement of the tentacles. (Turn water movement off for a few minutes to confirm.)

Updater picture would be great, but nothing beat seen the animal in person

[seatrueblue]

Yeah, I looked at that too and was thinking h.crispa but didn't Ace say it had colored verrucae? If its verrucae isn't colored it looks more like a H. malu or crispa. Aces anemone looks alot like this one( tentacle and shape wise in the first picture) but a much healther purple of course.

This is a H.Malu I bought from DiversDen a year ago. It didn't do well.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb23/wicked_nacl_h2o/Picture202880.jpg

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb23/wicked_nacl_h2o/Picture202858.jpg

I agree with you Minh.. In the photography section in this forum some one posted a picture of it where I could see a bit of its foot. Look at this thread http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=49419 Now I am thinking its a crispa or malu.

[OrionN]

I guess some of us are really into anemone on this board.
Ace good luck with your beautiful anemone. I got a green and a purple Malu in the same tank right next to each other and hosting my breeding pair of Onyx A. percula. My purple anemone looks very much like Ace's anemone but color not as intense and not anywhere near as bid. I am getting a new Cannon Rebel SXi, ordered form Costco, today. I will try to post a picture of this group of animals over the next day or so.

On another topic,
Anybody around here breeding clownfish that any of you know? I love to get some start culture for rotifer and green water and try my hand at raising the babies form this beautiful pair. Either that or let them have the eggs of this pair to raise. IMO, they are about the best Onyx pair that I have ever seen. The babies should be valuable and should make it worth their while.

[hobogato]

hmmm.... this may throw more confusion into the id game.....

apparently the anemone came from bali - i thought H. malu was a Hawaiian species.

verrucae are light purple and it has decided it does not like to be deep in the sand - rather on rock that is buried in the sand with just the top surface at the top of the sand. when i turn off all of the current, its tentacles jerk around a little but i wouldnt say vibrate.

again, i am no expert and am happy with it whatever species it is :)

[hobogato]

took some new pics just now

this is top down with my point and shoot, no custom white balance so please excuse the blue
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/PDRM3765.jpg

here is one with the good camera thru the glass
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04125.jpg

[OrionN]

It looks less and less like S. gigantea and more like H. crispa or H. malu. If this guy is more that 6 inches, the chance that it is a H. malu is small.
How sticky are the tentacles, Gigantea tentacles are sticky enough that some of the tentacles will come off if it stick to a net or even our skin. Verucae of Crispa or Malu can be lightly colored.
How big is this anemone now that it settles in? From the picture, I would never guess that he is larger than 6 inches.
Any clown in this anemone now? What clowns, and how many are in the tank? What other anemones are in the tank?
Sorry for tons of questions

[hobogato]

It looks less and less like S. gigantea and more like H. crispa or H. malu. If this guy is more that 6 inches, the chance that it is a H. malu is small.

?maybe so?

How sticky are the tentacles, Gigantea tentacles are sticky enough that some of the tentacles will come off if it stick to a net or even our skin.

VERY sticky - more so than any other anemone i have. they do not however irritate my skin on the back of my hand like the H. magnifica does.

Verucae of Crispa or Malu can be lightly colored.
How big is this anemone now that it settles in? From the picture, I would never guess that he is larger than 6 inches.

when there were no rocks for it to grab, it was about 13" in diameter. now since giving it rocks to hold onto, it isnt flattening out as much as it was, so it is about 8" in diameter, but about 6" tall.

Any clown in this anemone now? What clowns, and how many are in the tank?

none now :( i added some pink skunks that apparently had brooklynella, and lost all of my other pink skunks and percs. one pair of the pink skunks was hosting in it and the percs were in the bubble tip before they got sick. in a week or two i will start looking for new clowns.

What other anemones are in the tank?

you arent gonna like this answer.... E. quadricolor (rose), M. doreensis, H. crispa, and H. magnifica. all have found spots now and are not moving and are evenly dispersed along the 8' tank. i am changing carbon every two weeks to try to keep chemical warfare to a minimum.

Sorry for tons of questions

no problem, i know you know a lot more about anemones than i do :)

[OrionN]

We just wait and see. From what you wrote, I think it is a H. crispa, not S. gigantea.
About multiple anemones, and multiple clowns, what ever works. I got a 8' tank 450 g once upon a time, I got a few species of anemones and clowns in it. I don't know for sure that there is chemicals fight going on. Anemone are dificult creatures to keep and they can died due to various reasons. Maybe by just call it chemical fight and then we don't have to find the possible real reason why they are not doing well.
I do keep all the host anemones sucessfully at one time or other except S. gigantea. This is the only host anemone species I have attemped but not able to keep one. They all died within 2 weeks of arriving to my tank, all mail ordered.

[OrionN]

Here is the picture of my two H. malu and my pair of breeding Onyx. You can see the black eggs near the male clown
http://home.grandecom.net/~mnguyen/IMG_0037.1.jpg

[Jarob]

Cant wait to get an anenome! Beautiful tank Ace, probably the best looking tank ive seen... I am in love with the natural lighting setup and the openness

[hobogato]

thanks for posting the pics minh :)

thanks for the comments jarob

[ErikH]

:) So niceeeeeeeeeee. I am chomping at the bit over a new tank!

[hobogato]

took a few new pics today. i miss the sun!

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04161.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04160.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04156.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04154.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04149.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04147.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04146.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04142.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04141.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04135.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04131.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04129.jpg

[cpreefguy]

That Dendro shot is nice!

[hobogato]

thanks sean

minh and christina, i got this pic just now when the anemone was expelling some waste. the verrucae really do not look like the ones on the H. crispa (pictured above) in appearance or arrangement

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC04162.jpg

[seatrueblue]

It still doesn't look like the underside of a gigantea. Looks sebae..more like a crispa.

[hobogato]

ok :) just checking.

[OrionN]

It does look like H. crispa to me too. S. gigantea have verrucae in vertical rows.

[hobogato]

they are in vertical rows when it is turgid. they also go much further down toward the basal disk than the ones on the other H. crispa do.

[Mr Cob]

Really nice pics Ace!

[OrionN]

Here is a picture of one of the S. gigantea (not mine)
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u120/RyDogg12/PC080393.jpg

[OrionN]

Here is another of Gary Majchrzak's picture of his S. gigantea
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y270/gary334/nov_perc2.jpg

[OrionN]

Ace, very nice anemone. I wish I can luck into of one like your's

[hobogato]

yep, when turgid they are in straight lines like in this pic (came up on google as S. gigantea)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/01nemo.jpg

not staggered in lines like in these pics (H. crispa on google)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/Picture575.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/Tankshots074-1.jpg

[hobogato]

took some quick anemone - clown vids this morning. pardon the blue, not much sunlight yet this morning. i didnt get one of the rbta since he is under a rock ledge and hasnt opened up yet for the day. got eight new clowns (7 pink skunks and one orange skunk) from B&B a few days ago, and they seem to be doing well.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/th_Image001-1.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/?action=view&current=Image001-1.flv)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/th_Image002-1.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/?action=view&current=Image002-1.flv)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/th_Image003.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/?action=view&current=Image003.flv)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/th_Image004-2.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/?action=view&current=Image004-2.flv)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/th_Image005-1.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/?action=view&current=Image005-1.flv)

[hobogato]

not sure what species the purple anemone is - H. malu or H. crispa, but it is doing well. i am pretty sure it isnt an S. gigantea, because it doesnt really look like this new one :D

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/th_Image001-2.jpg (http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/?action=view&current=Image001-2.flv)

had to somewhat dismantle the rockwork last night to clear some space for this anemone and to catch my potters angel who was nipping my lps. when the zoas and other corals open up all the way later this afternoon, i will take some new tank pics

[hobogato]

well, here are some new pics. many of the zoas and none of the gsp are still closed from being moved around last night and this morning, and the purple anemone is still a little ticked off at me....

fts
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04185.jpg

random sections
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04189.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04190.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04191.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04193.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04194.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04195.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04204.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04205.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04208.jpg

a few coral/anemone closups
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04196.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04197.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04198.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04201.jpg

[gjuarez]

Did your maze brain die?

[hobogato]

it isnt looking good, i think that potters angel was munching on it. i moved it to the bottom in an attempt to get it to come back. it may have been getting too much light also. all of my lps have opened up more today than they have in weeks - i think that fish was using them for a buffet :angry:

[seatrueblue]

Where did you get the gigantea? Quit playing, you know what it is:p. you see the difference now?

Edit: never mind you got it from B&B ..wow, you are lucky!

[gjuarez]

I hope it makes it. Thats one of my favorite pieces. Nice meats.

[hobogato]

couple more pics tonight - white balance corrected with the camera because there was little sunlight coming in. i actually adjusted the color saturation down on the computer to make them look like they really appear right now in this lighting

i still dont have a positive id on this purple anemone, it just really doesnt look like the H. crispa or the S. gigantea at all. it is eating reluctantly (not quite as well as the other anemones) and seems to like being in the rocks much more than being in the sand.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04213.jpg

S. gigantea - in the full sunlight it is peach oral disk with light yellowish tentacles with purplish blue tips - really cool effect with the wavebox. it seems to have settled in well and is eating bits of food every time i feed the fish. it spread out to about 14" in diameter, but wraps around the rock it is on.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04216.jpg

H. magnifica - not a great pic, but i wanted to show how much the base has spread out on this tonga branch rock. it is eating well too and showing slight growth.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04218.jpg

H. crispa - had a hard time getting this one to settle in for a few weeks when i first got it. as a consequence, it lost some color and size. now, it has been stationary for a few weeks and is regaining some color and appears to be gaining some size back. it is also eating well
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04217.jpg

Dendronepthya sp. and Scolemia sp. (i think - apparently lots of difficulty identifying these types of corals)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04219.jpg

some zoas in the middle of gorgo island
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04220.jpg

this T. crocea that i got from tony is doing well
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04224.jpg

[cbianco]

Some great colors on those sunlit corals!

Looking great Ace.

[gjuarez]

Thats a scoly... A nice one too.. Nice looking anemones, too bad i have such a small tank for one. I like the eagle eyes, thats a very nice size colony. You dont see them nowadays being sold that way, got to buy them by the polyp

[hobogato]

took some top down pics today with my 3.3 mp camera (still dont have the guts to use the nice camera up there). these pics are taken with the wb on the camera set on sunny day - never done that in a tank b4 :)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/PDRM3778.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/PDRM3776.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/PDRM3775.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/PDRM3774.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/PDRM3772.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/PDRM3768.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/PDRM3773.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/PDRM3770.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/PDRM3769.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/PDRM3777.jpg

[gjuarez]

I like the bleeding apple scoly. Those things are expensive man. THe one on top looks more like a cyanaria than a scoly, i think. What are those big orange palys? Great shots by the way

[Troutmasters02]

The tank looks fantastic!

[hobogato]

thanks for the comments guys


... What are those big orange palys? Great shots by the way

not sure, they originally came from felipe at fa a long time ago. i got rid of my colony when i went all sps, but was abe to get this frag back from erik h. a while back.

[Rychek]

The palys are Lunar Eclipse. They are the same palys Rob and I have. Fast growers and cool colors. :)

[hobogato]

a few more this afternoon

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04266.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04265.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04263.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04262.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04261.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04259.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04257.jpg

[hobogato]

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04256.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04255.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04254.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04253.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04251.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04246.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04245.jpg

[Troutmasters02]

What kind of camera are you using?

Again, nice tank.

[hobogato]

sony alpha - these were all taken with a 100mm macro lens, tripod and timer. white balance custom set to the white sand in the tank.

[Bill S]

All I can say is WOW. Love that big anemone.

[princer7]

Tank looks great! Really liking those chalice especially this one... :hypnotyized:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/PDRM3768.jpg

[gjuarez]

I like the bleeding apple. The dendro's polyps really extend, mine dont as much. Two thumbs up for the gorgonians

[Texreefer]

That Gigantea is looking good

[OrionN]

looking great

[hobogato]

thanks for all of the comments...

new addition yesterday - crinoid or feather star (has stayed open and feeding since adding it last night. did not close up at all today) :)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04269.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04273.jpg

i put it on a rock outcropping yesterday evening, but it moved to this higher flow area in my purple sea fan over night.

[princer7]

I would imagine with the natural light and all the critters it produces, you will have great luck with the crinoid. Look forward to hearing about its progress in your tank.

[thedude]

I have to say guys that although I know you intend the best for this creature Ace, this is really really one of those things that needs to be left in the ocean. You're never "saving" an animal that has already been brought in to a LFS, you're encouraging the collection of more of them.

I sincerely wish you the best with this guy and hope he does well for you but these deserve to stay in the ocean.

John

[Bill S]

John,

Normally, I'd agree with you. However, if the experts took that approach, the hobby would still be in its infancy, like when I started in the early 70's. We could barely keep damsels and clowns alive... The thought of even putting stoney corals would have been mind blowing (remember, I'm a child of the 70's!). Now they are actually sustainable in the hobby.

Ace has been at this a while. He's a high school bio teacher, that also teaches the Aquatic Sciences classes - which I think are the only ones in the entire school district - one of the largest in the state. He's a very experienced reef keeper. He's also been GREAT about sharing his experiences - good and bad - in keeping difficult species. Also remember he's a teacher - and his wife doesn't work outside the home. That means he doesn't have money to waste. He wouldn't have brought it home UNLESS he thought he might be successful.

But, like you, I'd prefer if these weren't collected and sold to the general public. I DO remember the guy who sold me a flowerpot about 5 years ago, and told me I wouldn't have any problems with it. I got it home and THEN found out how hard it was to keep. I don't shop there anymore.

[hobogato]

thanks for the support bill.

john, i agree with you. in a tank that is conventional by today's standard, these do not do well. in how many of those kinds of tanks do gorgonians and carnation corals feed day and night? not many, yet people buy them and kill them all of the time because they starve. how often have you heard of a blueberry gorgonian living much less growing?

if my tank were that type of setup, i would have never considered it. since removing the skimmer and feeding the fish/corals four times a day, these "impossible" species have begun to thrive. my blueberry gorgonian has actually grown about 1/2" in less than three months. it was on this type of success that i decided to try this VERY difficult to keep species. i also will be the first one to admit i was wrong should it not work out.

i still agree that in most tanks, this genus will slowly starve and die.

[fishypets]

Looking good Ace! What do you enjoy looking at more? Soft coral tank or SPS tank?

[hobogato]

tough call clint. i really liked my tank when it was full of thriving sps and still drool over brian's and bernie's tanks. i really enjoy all of the movement and activity that i have now tho.

[hobogato]

walked by the tank last night after midnight and caught these two feeding.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04274.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04278.jpg

[OrionN]

I agree with Bill, and nothing else I can post in additon to his very well phrase post.
One look at the picture of Ace's tank, and I can tell that it is not a typical reef tank.
Best of luck with this animal and with your tank.

[Mrs. z28pwr]

Wow Ace thats a nice pic!!!

[Troutmasters02]

Very nice! You get those guys at BB?

[Jeff]

the tank looks great ace, ireally like the fact that you have hard to grow species that are thriving. are you still doing less work to the tank now than you were when you had all the equipment and sps?

[hobogato]

thanks for the comments all :)

jason, i got the scolys at TMAC

jeff, my regular maintenance consists of:

change 5 gallons of water twice a week and 15 gallons once a month to siphon three areas of detritus buildup (total of 50 gallons a month - 15% )

clean glass with magnet cleaner once or twice a week and with scraper once a monthe to clean top and bottom edge that the magnet doesnt reach

feed the fish 3 to 4 times a day

[hobogato]

the feather star has moved to a much more solid place and can now open up nicely - looks like the small points in the middle are already starting to grow into new arms :)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC04285.jpg

[cpreefguy]

Beautiful...

[Mrs. z28pwr]

Wow Ace what a beauty!!!!! Everything does so well in your tank!!!

[Mr Cob]

Yes, very awesome!

[clone]

ok how many of ya'll tryed to wipe that fly off their screen?????....

[Mrs. z28pwr]

The fly is driving me crazy:at_wits_end:................lol

[Noober]

gotta admit i tried to wipe it off too lol, nice pix

[OrionN]

ok how many of ya'll tryed to wipe that fly off their screen?????....

I was about to then notice that it move with my scrolling down the page. That was what save me.
Neat fly Ace

[gjuarez]

I had never seen a feather duster of that kind. Based on the info that i have heard from this thread, the only thing i know is that they are difficult to keep. What would you say would be the main requirements? You did mention something about not having a skimmer helps

[dustint21]

Love the tank man!

Ace how do you like your sony alpha? I have the A300 and wanting to get a macro lens for it. What brand lens are you using?

[gjuarez]

Hey Ace, I came across a thread on RC. I saw that your H. Crispa died. That sucks, it was a beautiful Nem

[Hamp]

Beautiful tank. Are you adding phyto? If so I would really like to know how much and how often you are dosing. Thanks for the inspiration.

[hobogato]

thanks hamp - not adding pyto, the tank produces its own now that i have no skimmer :)

jerry - yes, that purple beauty died. not sure what happened, but it never could find a spot it liked.

also, the blue S. gigantea is struggling for its life. i knew things were going too smoothly, because it never seemed to go thru the acclimation struggles that others (even successful keepers) have noted - until now

about 4 days ago, it started deflating and letting its mout open. two days ago, i was ready to pull it out, but it was well attached to the rock and grabbed my hand when i messed with it. so, i let it be. i did take a couple of pics then - you can see that the mouth is open and there is a hole about the size of a quarter all the way thru the foot

4/16/09
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04279.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04280.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04281.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04282.jpg

yesterday it let go of the rock it was on, and i thought it was finally giving up, but when i moved it to a new rock, i notice the hole in the foot was now less than 1/4" in diameter and had no fraying edges - maybe it is healing

today, it is still where i placed it yesterday - grabbed the rock instantly and didnt want to let my hand go. its mouth is closed and it is reinflating. i know it is an uphill battle, but this guy doesnt seem to want to give up, so i will keep hoping....

4/18/09
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04286.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04288.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04287.jpg

i have turned the wavebox to its lowest setting and aimed two return lines in its direction. my thinking is that will keep plenty of flow going to it, but it is more gentle flow. also, i am being very carefull when i feed the tank to put the food far from the anemone as i dont want it eating now and complicating the issue.

i think if it were not for the pink skunk clown hosting it and cleaning the dead material from inside the mouth, it would have died already.

[hobogato]

thanks dustin. i like the camera alot, but would like a better all purpose lens than the one that came with it. for macro shots i am using a minolta 100mm macro lens


Love the tank man!

Ace how do you like your sony alpha? I have the A300 and wanting to get a macro lens for it. What brand lens are you using?

[hobogato]

three hours since the last pics, and it continues to look more like it used to - this is the best it has looked in 5 days....

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04289.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04290.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04291.jpg

[gjuarez]

Cool. Good to see that its doing better. Its a nice species. I just started learning about Nems myself, got an Flame RBTA that had just split into two. My clown loves it

[Mrs. z28pwr]

Ace, I hope he makes it. It seems to be around the 30 day mark when they start having problems. I wonder or is it just a coincidence.

[seatrueblue]

You say you're not running a skimmer... Ok, are you still running carbon? I hope anemone gets better for you. Successful gigantea keepers say, there must not be any other species of anemone in the aquarium with a gigantea. This might be one of your problems.

Yes, I have two different species of anemones together. They seem to get along fine but I wouldn't attempt the same if I had a gigantea. Mertensii's ( the carpet I have) are known to be one of the more hardy carpet anemones and handle shipping much better than any other carpet. This is probably why it does well with my purple LTA.

Remember when I was selling my pretty green bta? It was making my plta and mertensii very unhappy. The green BTA was living in my 24g. I had to move it to the 120g when I got my mimic blenny. I was afraid of the bta eating or stinging my blenny. The next day, I noticed my Mertensii wasn't taking over half of my tank like it normally does. My purple lta was acting the same way too. They didn't start this untill after I added the bta. I thought maybe they were having a bad day.. couple days went by...still looked the same. I was like..OK the bta has got to go! This is why I sold my green bta. Not that there was anything wrong with the bta. It must of been throwing off some kind of chemical, annoying my two other anemones. Once the bta was out of my tank, the very next day, the two anemones went back to looking big and beautiful. The moral to my story is, I do believe different species of anemones in one tank will have chemical warfare. Carbon helps but I think giganteas are much more sensitive to this.

[OrionN]

Sorry to hear about your S. gigantea problem. I hope he pull through

[hobogato]

thanks for the thoughts christina, i do run carbon and change it every two weeks to make sure it never gets exhausted.

the carpet is inflated to full size again and keeping its mouth shut, so there is still hope....

[ReefCube]

tank looks great ACE!

[hobogato]

thanks richard

the anemone is still with us and has been following a bit of a daily schedule now -

morning - mouth open and somewhat deflated

late morning to late afternoon (when the sun is shining in nicely) - closed mouuth and inflted

late afternoon to early evening - somewhat deflated, but closed mouth

all night - mouth closed and reinflated.

my actinic lights come on at 6am, so i am wondering if they are triggering the open mouth period in the morning.
the sunlight decreases in the late afternoon, so i think that triggers the deflation period then, as my H. magnifica has a similar slight deflation period at the same time from late afternoon to early evening.

i am getting new actinic bulbs today (old bulbs are nearly 2 years old) and switching to geissman aquablue from uri super actinic. i am going to reset the light timer so the actinic lights dont come on in the morning until 9am. this will allow for a gradual increase in light in the morning with the sunrise. i will keep the 10pm shutoff time for the actinics.

[Hamp]

Have you tested your ph at those times. My sebae seems sensitive to swings.

[hobogato]

makes sense hamp, pH tends to swing a bit when lights get brighter or less bright.

unfortunately, the anemone gave it up today.

i did get the new actinic bulbs i have been waiting for tho, here are a couple of pics - they are without any sunlight, only t5 actinic (186 watts of ati blue plus)

white balance corrected in camera
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04303.jpg
as the eye sees it
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04305.jpg

[manhorsedog]

fantastic! thank you for sharing

[OrionN]

Sorry. Best of luck next time

[Texreefer]

Ace, gimme that chalice before that BTA kills it!:bigsmile:

[hobogato]

he seems to be doing his best to take it out, one edge at a time huh


Ace, gimme that chalice before that BTA kills it!:bigsmile:

[hobogato]

came home for lunch and had to snap a picture with the sun - i love these new bulbs!

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04309.jpg

[Texreefer]

:bigsmile:

[DSAfanatic]

Wow!!! Those look really good.

[hobogato]

thanks, it is really starting to look like a reef again :)

[vman181]

I really like how the rocks cast a shadow. I feel it brings a more natural look to the tank.

[Bill S]

Ace,

Your next anemone:

http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=2&pid=1085&cid=74

[hobogato]

its a beauty, but it will not be mine. i have four happy anemones and that is plenty :)

[OrionN]

common, you got to have a nice carpet.;-)

[gjuarez]

I really like the sponges, they give a lot of color to your tank

[Firstman]

I like the sea fans this tank is really cool.

[JeffCo]

Nice job Ace, I really like the diversity of livestock in your tank.

[hobogato]

thanks guys, here are a few new pics with the new lights

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04329.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04337.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04330.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04349.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04348.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04347.jpg
this one bleached after the H. mag stung it and it went on the run for a couple of days, but it is slowly regaining its color
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04346.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04345.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04343.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04342.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04341.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04338.jpg

[greenmako]

Wow looks amazing!!! Congrats

[hobogato]

thanks brian

[hobogato]

well, things are still going well with the tank. the only major problem recently was the discovery of the lps eating tendencies of my coperband bfly - three scolys too late :(

with the new idea if trying to breed marine bettas, i wanted to incorporate a fry rearing chamber inside my stand tied into the main sump. i have decided to modify the sump so the first chamber (now filled with live rock rubble) will function as the rearing chamber.

after some research, i have also decided to incorporate an algae turf scrubber to aid in keeping the tank clean in spite of heavy feeding of the fry and the non photosynthetic corals that i have in the display.

the footprint of the ats and rubble pod growout chamber will be 33"x8"X8" with a water depth of 5" and the vertical algae screen extending up 8" above the acrylic chamber. that will give it a screen size of 11"X24". more details soon as i work them out.

[clamgal]

Great pics! Where did you get the ritteri, and what tips can you give me? That is my dream anemone.
Adriana

[LittleReef]

Very nice! I love the variety of corals you have.

[hobogato]

thanks littlereef


thanks, it came from B&B. i think the most important (and hardest) thing is to find a healthy one to begin with.

Great pics! Where did you get the ritteri, and what tips can you give me? That is my dream anemone.
Adriana

[LittleReef]

So Ace, I've got to ask why there is such a steep price on the Scollys? Are they are rarity? I figured you might be the one to know, haha!

[hobogato]

very funny! not sure why they are so expensive, just part of the game i guess. luckily i didnt pay anywhere near what they should have cost....

got the acrylic part of the ATS done - should be able to do the plumbing tomorrow

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC04451.jpg

[gjuarez]

Some of the scolly's are hard to find, bleeding apple for example are considered a little rare.

Tank is looking nice Ace. Keep up the goodwork

[RayAllen]

looking good ACE!

[hobogato]

thanks ray - just a couple of pvc parts away from finishing and installing this ATS. for those who dont know what this is, it is a way to clean N and P out of your water by growing and harvesting algae in a high light exposure situation. the water will pour down the plastic canvas and the algae will grow on the canvas (like the algae that grows on any ocean shoreline rocks/structure). this algae grows very fast and takes lots of inorganic nitrogen and phosphate out of the water.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC04452.jpg

the bottom section will be full of live rock rubble to encourage pod growth and the pvc drains will come thru the front and drain down into two sections of the sump (one of which will eventually serve as a rearing chamber for pink skunk clowns or marine bettas.

[sharkboy]

Might have missed it but is that a special screen or one of the window nature? also what kind of light will you be using?

[hobogato]

it is plastic canvas from the craft store. i will be using four 24" NO fluorescent plant grow lights - two on the front and two on the back.

[ErikH]

I was wondering how to set one of those up! Looks really nice with those new actinics!

[hobogato]

thanks erik

got it all installed and it is running very well. here are some pics - notice the first chamber is cleaned out and ready for some fish rearing :)

before
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC04455.jpg
installed and running - still havent put the stand brace back in
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC04458.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC04457.jpg

[Firstman]

Man it is cool, I have to try this method. It was even better in person, thanks for having us over and your tank looks great.

[Mr Cob]

Just keeps getting better man! I remember your tank full of SPS and I have to say you have done a great job keeping up with your past accomplishments but with a different flavor! Very nice.

I saw a dude in Austin implement the algae water fall concept but with acrylic and lots of holes drilled into it. I suspect your canvas will work better since it has many more holes.

[hobogato]

here is a quick update on the ats - 9 days running

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04653.jpg

also, nice surprise this morning. i got a chili coral a while back and cut it in half to put it in two different locations in the tank. needless to say, it wasnt too happy with me and looked pretty rough for a while. this morning, like a switch, both pieces decided to perk up :)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04652.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04651.jpg

[hobogato]

picked up these three yesterday - should be interesting to see how they do...

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04655.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04656.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04657.jpg

[Bill S]

OH NO!!!! Back to "the dark side"!!!

[Texreefer]

:bigsmile:

[hobogato]

not totally bill, just a little syth blood in me :)

when giving the fish their fourth meal of the night, i noticed the colors looking from the top and the camera was in reach. this is with the camera adjusting the white balance - proved to be a little difficult for it tonight. i even decreased the saturation on the computer so they would look realistic

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04662.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04663.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04664.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04665.jpg

[hobogato]

here is what it looks like thru the glass with just the actinics - no white balance correction

front
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04669.jpg
back
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04668.jpg

[Rychek]

One day... one day. :hypnotyized:

[hobogato]

thanks ryan

hahaha i just noticed alex's car lineup - the boys would swear i built that molding like that just for them :D

[akm]

Wow Ace, since when did you go softie? It's definitely looking great, I think it looks better than it used to. Sps is cool and all but I don't think it beats the variety and more natural look of softies.

[clamgal]

Now, you're just showing off ;)

[apedroza]

Awesome job Ace!!! Your ingenuity never ceases to amaze me.

[hobogato]

thanks all, took a couple of feeding behavior pics tonight.

first, one of the sponges
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04673.jpg
a gorgo i got yesterday at ad
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04676.jpg
Millepora alcornis (fire coral - yes, it burns alot when you touch it with these polyps out)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04680.jpg
and the big betta was posing so i got her as well - that orange monti in the background was just a white spot on the gsp rock when i got it, it is recovering nicely in here :)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/240/DSC04678.jpg