mixed reef lagoon

[hobogato]

took a better pic of the yellow corkscrew gorgo i got this week from gabe - really unusual coral
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06554.jpg

[Europhyllia]

nice. I figured these would look great in little groups/clusters :)

[Mr Cob]

those are really cool, so unique looking. They seem very bright....?

[Neptune@gabesfish]

Hurry Rob post again check your post count very scary 6,666

[Mr Cob]

I no likey that number.

Hey Ace, Great Tank!!! lol

[hobogato]

sadly, the radiata was dead today. i never saw it eat, and it had no visible damage from shipping. it also had a nice full body, not a sunken in belly, so i am not sure why it did not live. it was only in the tank for a couple of days, and everything else looks healthy.

[kkiel02]

Those corkscrew gorgs are so cool looking. I almost picked one up from Gabe's the other day but I am not a big fan of feeding my corals so I had to pass. Sorry about the lion.

[Rychek]

sadly, the radiata was dead today. i never saw it eat, and it had no visible damage from shipping. it also had a nice full body, not a sunken in belly, so i am not sure why it did not live. it was only in the tank for a couple of days, and everything else looks healthy.

I'm sorry to hear about the radiata... it was such a beautiful fish.

[hobogato]

thanks guys. yeah, i am pretty disappointed. i thought i had really lucked out finding one that looked so perfect in the lfs...

on a lighter note i call this one "he is always watching"
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06564.jpg

doesnt matter where i am around the tank, with or without the camera, he always has his eye on me :)

[hobogato]

christy got some pics of the fu and bluefin having words with each other last night - just actinics on.

fu approaching bluefin territory
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06577.jpg

the distant standoff
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06576.jpg

fu going home but blue is in his way (copperband is also enjoying the show :) )
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06582.jpg

blue followed but did not go into fu's cave
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06581.jpg

she also got about 7 minutes of video that i will edit this evening and post.

[StevenSeas]

looks like that bluefin is doing well, congrats :)

[RayAllen]

Man that is a cool tank! Love the lions.

[Mr Cob]

Awesome. Can't wait to see the vid of the confrontation :)

[hobogato]

got the video uploaded yesterday, and it said it could not be processed this morning. i redid it from the clips and uploaded again this morning with no music - ill do an audioswap once it is processed.

[hobogato]

having trouble with youtube on that video, but we did bring back this new fish from the coast this weekend

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06591.jpg

[Europhyllia]

is it sitting on the sun coral? waldo?

[hobogato]

yep. it is a sargassum fish

here is a pic for reference. it is not my pic, it is from this site (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/220651/5575/Sargassum-fish)

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/81/11681-004-B02C9189.jpg

[Europhyllia]

wow. so we have that at (our) coast? Or a fish store at the coast?

[hobogato]

they can be collected in the chunks of sargassum seaweed that floats in at the beach.

[Europhyllia]

amazing!

[hobogato]

sad morning.

i have never heard of a lionfish jumping out of a tank - until this morning.

RIP bluefin.

[Europhyllia]

that stinks. so sorry :(

[Rychek]

I'm sorry to hear the bluefin jumped. It's definitely not the most likely candidate for jumping... strange.

[hobogato]

the only thing i can think is that he and the fu were having a territorial dispute and he jumped to get away at some point last night. he was long dead when we found him this morning.

[Rychek]

As natural a response as that may be (more so the fleeing than the jumping) it's still sad to lose such a nice looking specimen.

[hobogato]

couple of pics - first, the fu in actinic only
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06597.jpg

now, the sargassum angler that thinks he belongs in the sun coral - he goes back and forth between this black one and the large orange one i have. no lights, just flash.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06627.jpg

closer
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06626.jpg

[Europhyllia]

That sargassum fish is way cool!

By the way I just got a 23" HD computer monitor for Mother's Day and your pics are still too big even for that. lol

[hobogato]

yeah, sorry. forgot to shrink em. i have done that now, so if you refresh, they should be smaller

[kkiel02]

Ace could you run down an equipment list on this now that fish and corals are in it? Trying to see what everyone is using, for ideas.

[hobogato]

kevin, this tank has no mechanical filtration. it is just the tank with a closed loop and wavebox. for lights i have the solar tubes and 4 t5 bulbs.

[txg8gxp]

I love your simple "no accessories needed" setup.

[hobogato]

seems to be working pretty well so far, except these darn aiptasia are getting the better of me right now. i have tried to inject them and that made the spread worse than i have ever seen. i have lost some small frags to them, and they are now threatening some of the bigger corals. i have a copperband(3 weeks) and aiptasia file fish(< a week) as well as 15 peps that i caught last weekend. hopefully they will get them under control

[txg8gxp]

well, hopefully the fish and new shrimp will take care of it. What other options are there, any safe aquarium additive's or anything?

[Europhyllia]

I've been keeping reef aquariums for over a decade now and I used to be so relaxed/it's all natural but I can tell you this: the first time I see any aiptasia or caulerpa or anything that can't be eaten by common snails I'll take the bone cutters to that rock and amputate the whole chunk.
Stuff like that can really destroy a tank more than I ever expected.
Sorry about your aiptasia.

[hobogato]

i have tried joe's juice, kalk paste, lemon juice (injected into them) in the past. after those didnt work well, i switched to aiptasia X and it worked great. on this tank, i have only tried the aiptasia X, and it just seemed to make them multiply like crazy! hopefully the critters i have added recently will work.

[txg8gxp]

hahaha that's wrong.... You tried aiptasia X, and they multiply more. Hopefully the shrimp will take care of it.

[hobogato]

ok, the critters seem to be making a difference in the aiptasia except on the top of the rock columns, so i nuked those with the rest of the bottle of aiptasia x that i had (about 3/4 of a bottle)

here are pics of my snow covered plateaus after the dusting of the monsters
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06628.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06629.jpg

[hobogato]

this is not what you want to see when you walk in the front door...
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06634.jpg

in case you were wondering, the forty gallons of water not in the tank was spread all over the floor - thank goodness for tile! (i had already added 5 gallons of new water when i took that pic, the water was shooting over the top of the tank and directly onto the lights that were still on when we walked in the front door).

apparently, the return tube from the carbon reactor i have on the tank for a couple of days did not like its place in the tank and preferred to be on the floor. on a positive note, i guess i dont have to do my 5 gallon water change on Sunday :lauging:

took a quick check of all electrical equipment, and all is well. i was really worried about the wavebox since it was nearly out of the water, but it is working fine.

after some quick water mixup, here is the tank now. surprisingly, everything looks ok... we shall see in the morning.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06635.jpg

[hobogato]

on a positive note, my aiptasia farm is almost aiptasia free :)

[Europhyllia]

Oh Ace don't you love tile? I find that saltwater also cleans much better than regular water. Only that is leaves a kind of slippery residue.
Glad the aiptasia is almost gone. I guess the x-treatment followed by drying it out did the trick! ;)

[Rychek]

Now that is a heart attack pic if I've ever seen one! I'm glad to hear everything is doing well so far.

[txg8gxp]

Wow, that looks like a panic attack for sure. I'm glad everything is looking good.

[hobogato]

lol

here it is this morning, everything looks good except the hydnophora and the red sea fan - both of which were out of water the longest. hopefully they will pull thru tho
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06639.jpg

[hobogato]

btw jack, i think the anemone really likes the wavebox - thanks again!

[rocketeer]

Cool! Is that him in the middle?

Funny, we were just talking about water on the floor episodes.

Jack

[Mr Cob]

I see you are going for the really natural reef....real sunlight, waves and now the implementation of low-tide! That's awesome!

I would have cried Ace! Amazingly enough the tank looks great!

[hobogato]

yep, that's it jack.

rob, i was really proud of myself, i didnt even say one curse word :)

[Third Coast Tropical]

i didnt even say one curse word :)

C'mon...really??? That is worthy of at least five or six....lol

[Mr Cob]

lol, good job! Not sure I could have contained myself...that's a test in itself. I about flipped recently when I saw a couple of inches missing from my foam from the surface down.....my new pencil urchin was eating it....he was literally digesting the foam and I was watching tiny pieces floating from him. I was pretty ticked. He's in the sump now with my SPS munchin urchin.

[hobogato]

really, and the kids werent even here, so i wasnt holding my tongue for them. it was a surprisingly calm affair,

1. unplug chords
2. put salt in buckets
3. start water in first bucket
4. open bottle of wine
5. add water after each bucket fills/mixes

between steps 4 and 5, also tested each electrical device after drying non-submersible components of course, and sucked up the water off of the floor with a shopvac

by the time all that was finished, i still had almost a glass of wine left to sit and enjoy :)

[Mr Cob]

LOL! That's awesome! That's definitely a red wine occasion...only thing missing was step 6. Premium Cigar

[hobogato]

maybe a few years ago, but it would have been tobacco in pipe for me. now, no smokey - bad example for the little ones :wink_smile:

[hobogato]

sargassum sighting! first time i have seen him in three weeks - i was beginning to wonder if he was still with us...
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/sargassumfish.jpg

[hobogato]

well, some mixed news on the tank.

when we came back from the trip from the coast, our volitans lion was missing his tail and dead on the bottom. i think he may have overeaten while we were gone, because the last four full sized mollies are all missing and he is the only thing that eats them. everything else in the tank is doing great.

the tank was staying around 85 degrees because of the pump i had on the closed loop, but thanks to gabe, i now have a sicce pump on the tank and it is staying at 80 degrees with slightly more circulation :)

also added an icecap moonlight bar, and here are a couple of pics

fts
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06660.jpg

a new torch i got from reefs2u - in the actinic and moonlight it really is orange with lavender tips like in the pic
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06661.jpg

[txg8gxp]

Wow, looks great. How do you like the moonlight bar?

[txg8gxp]

How do you have the led bar mounted? On one of the side t5 fixtures?

[hobogato]

i like it a lot. those pictures are a tad overexposed, it is just a little darker than that. yes, it is mounted to the inside edge of the front t5 fixture.

[Europhyllia]

the tank was staying around 85 degrees because of the pump i had on the closed loop, but thanks to gabe, i now have a sicce pump on the tank and it is staying at 80 degrees with slightly more circulation :)
Cool! I am glad to read this since I was planning to use a Sicce on my set up as well. :)

[hobogato]

family vacation, the reef tank's worst nightmare.

so, we had to cut our vacation one day short to come home and deal with a partial crash. lost all fish but the cbb, filefish, sohal and eel. also lost all oysters and last clam. large encrusting gonio is on its way out and we also lost the wall hammer.

some times this is not much fun.

[aquasport24]

Sorry to hear that Ace, as long as you and your family had fun,that's all is matter.You can replace all that reef stuff later on. What do you think had happen?

[allan]

Sorry to hear this ace. I hope you get a speedy recovery.

Update though, have like eleven left, three sloughed away. Light lime green and bright pink still looking really good and eating.

[Pennies2Cents]

So sorry to hear this Ace. If u need anything please feel free to call us.

[txav8r]

Hate to hear that Ace. Call if you need anything.

[Europhyllia]

That's terrible! What happened?

[Kristy]

You're right, pretty much the reefer's worst nightmare. For some reason, I've been worried about your tank all week. I even said to Mike, "who do you suppose it watching Ace's tank?"

Call us if you think of any way we can help. Sorry to hear this.

[kkiel02]

Man that sucks. Was anyone watching the tank? Well once you get back on track Ill shoot you some lps.

[hobogato]

thanks for all of the concern. the tank actually looks great this morning and some good news - the red coris apparently made it thru as well :)

my dad was taking care of the tank twice a day while we were gone, and he was very upset. thursday evening, he came over and fed the fish and they all ate. friday morning when he walked in, dead fish everywhere. luckily, his quick thinking saved everything else. he caught the three barely living fish he could see and took them to his tank at his house. then he came back and fished out the dead ones. he didnt know what fish or how many he fished out other than noting that both lionfish had died. had he not done what he did, i have no doubt it would have been a total loss as we were an 8 hour drive away.

when i got home expecting the worst - things werent so bad. the eel was alive to my surprise - dad wasnt able to get it out of the tank bc it was in the rocks. i noticed both large oysters and the big crocea clam open and cleaned out. i also noticed that the closed loop was barely moving and on closer inspection found the huge sponge filter on the intake was nearly completely clogged up. there was a pretty heavy film on the surface of the water also. i think that the heavy film on the surface of the water coupled with the low circulation caused low DOC and that is why the fish died. not sure what happened first, i am just thankful my dad was able to do what he did.

[Mr Cob]

crazy...glad it didn't get the best of you.

I had a very tiny flood lastnight.....I had macro algae clogging one of my drains from one chamber to the next in my sump and it caused the water level to rise above the rim. Was sitting on the couch when we heard water trickling....caught it within minutes so no biggy. Glad I was home.

It amazes me how fast something can go bad or take a turn for the worst with reefkeeping.

[jroescher]

Nearly the same thing as Rob. Heard the water trickling and found a snail trying to crawl into a return outlet diverting the water up over the edge of the tank.

[wolff809]

dang sorry to hear that ace and i was just goin to ask you how that new fish of yours was doing was he one of those that made it through

[hobogato]

nope, he didnt make it randy. everything that did make it seems to be doing fine tho - when are you gonna post some pics of your tank?

[rocketeer]

Wow! Sorry to hear that Ace. I was wondering if the clogged filter and the film were the result of the crash. But then what could have caused it? Bad food? It was awful fast.

Jack

[hobogato]

jack, just a guess on my part, but i think that something stirred up the sand (probably the eel) which clogged the sponge filter. this decreased circulation which led to the low DOC in the tank bc of the film on the top of the water. there is usually no film on the surface bc twice a week i do a small water change and remove any surface buildup at that time and the closed loop pushes lots of water right at the surface keeping it churned up and clear. rather than have my dad do those water changes, i just did a large one before we left. i think i will build a small skimmer that can be added to the tank any time we are traveling to keep this from happening again.

[hobogato]

thought the new thread title fit since the fish list has taken that direction

these fit the title:
pink skunk clowns
red coris (aka clown coris)
twinspot wrasse (also aka clown coris)edit: red coris wont allow him to stay :(
harlequin tusk
clown trigger (one of my all time favorite type of fish, and this is the first one i have ever had)

also still have the eel, cbb, sohal, and filefish

[Europhyllia]

Interesting!
Sort of scary that things go wrong even for experts like you. :( It means that any kind of horrific thing can happen to anyone at any time...

[wolff809]

i still need to look at how to add pics, i have a few on my iphone i want to add and its coming along great.
those fish sounds cool i cant wait to see some pics of them

[wolff809]

i also wanted to ask what DOC was????

[Double-O-Zilch]

i also wanted to ask what DOC was????

Dissolved Oxygen Content. I think.

[hobogato]

yep

[StevenSeas]

ok glad thats what it means. I was thinking DOC meant dissolved organic compounds and was totally thrown through a loop. Why would it be bad that they were low? Why would the filter not working cause them to be low? Now I understand, you flipped my world upside down LOL

Sorry to hear about your losses, seems like sometimes we can't catch a break.

[RayAllen]

WOW, im just now reading what happened. Sorry about your losses. Glad you at least had your dad there so it was not a complete loss of everything.

New list is pretty cool. "Jester" Without out the lions you do not have to feed as much.

[hobogato]

pretty happy with the way the tank looks now with the various euphyllia that have been added and thought i would share a pic

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06824.jpg

[Europhyllia]

a masterpiece! (as usual)
Just saw a cool PBS special on cuttlefish. Are you sure you don't want to try once more?

[hobogato]

oh, i want to, but i know it isnt the right thing to do.

[allan]

Ace, did you lose the box fish as well?

[hobogato]

lost that one a while back - never saw it eat :(

[allan]

That's too bad ace it was beautiful.

[hobogato]

here are a few coral pics i tool the the other day that i didnt post in that biofluorescence thread

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC06990Copy.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC069631280x768.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC069551280x768.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC069431280x768.jpg

[ballardjr2000]

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME I'm so jealous (sits in corner and crys) lol great pics

[Mr Cob]

Ace, looks great. Those Joelb Rainbow Echinatas really color up after some time don't they? Man...every week mine gets some new colors on it. I put mine up off the sand and in a little more light now and it seems to really like that. It's still at the bottom quarter of the tank though (29" deep tank and maybe about 6" off the bottom).

Where's yours at?

[hobogato]

1/3 of the way up on a 29" deep tank

[hobogato]

been a while since i updated this thread, so i took some new pics this evening.

fts and sections as it appears with actinic lights only

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07091.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07092.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07094.jpg

the rest are camera white balance corrected (with the saturation reduced in processing to make them look like they do to when looking at the tank)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07096.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07098.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07099.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07100.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07101.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07102.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07103.jpg

[hobogato]

one more batch:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07117.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07118.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07120.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07121.jpg

you can see how much this has grown, tight curls are original, funky shape on top is growth in my tank
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07122.jpg

top down
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07116.jpg

couple of fish with the flash

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07109.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07104.jpg

this guy was only a couple of inches long when i got him - about 5" now
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07106.jpg

[hobogato]

you will notice that some of the lps have receded around the edges, especially the chalices. caught the longhorn cowfish and the aiptasia eating filefish taking turns sampling the corals, including the duncans and a frogspawn. they have been banished to my classroom display tank, so the corals should recover eventually...

[hobogato]

one more with just the moonlights

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07126.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Beautiful pics Ace. I love this tank.

[hobogato]

i miss the 240. this one is much easier to take care of tho...

[aquasport24]

The tank looking good Ace, and the pics. are awesome too.

[Europhyllia]

It's beautiful! Some big changes there. :)
Hey where's shaggy?

[hobogato]

shaggy stopped eating and then withered away sadly. last time i saw it with polyps out was before the crash when we were on vacation. not only did i lose almost all of my fish, i also lost a few corals in the 2 months after - most of my nps corals. i think the low oxygen levels effected them more than the photosynthetic corals for some reason.

[Europhyllia]

Oh no :( The corky finger was so awesome in your wave! I thought they were photosynthetic though!
Do you want a frag and start over?

[ErikH]

wow I totally missed this!?! I had no idea. Sorry for your losses, looks like a bit of murphy's law.

[ShAgMaN]

Who was shaggy...the gorgs ok

[Europhyllia]

corky finger gorg -the center piece. :(

[hobogato]

all the gorgos i got from you are doing great terry.

yes karin, if you ever cut your shaggy, i would love to have a frag

caught a glimpse of the tank this morning and had to take a pic. this is with the actinic t5s on and dim morning sunlight - really give the corals some vibrant colors top down

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07242.jpg

a little closer

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07241.jpg

[Gseclipse02]

some very nice colors

[Mr Cob]

insane colors Ace, so beautiful....I want to dive in.

[stoneroller]

Hey Ace, looking great. What's the red branching "coral" left of the orange Euphyllia (?)

[hobogato]

that is a rose bta i got from bill - brightest one i have ever seen!

[ErikH]

Vibrant! Looks really nice!

[stoneroller]

Wow, nice anemone.

[hobogato]

thanks kevin

did a little rearranging yesterday, here is a new video

AigWi8INP70

[cbianco]

:thumbs_up:

Looking good! Thanks for sharing the video.

Christopher :)


AigWi8INP70

[Jarob]

Everytime I see that Orange Torch I want to buy one.. One of these days, its beautiful!

[Mr Cob]

love the video Ace. Looks great! Very cool to see all the animals swaying with the current.

[Europhyllia]

beautiful. I also like the choice of music. Is it possible to slow the wave down?

[hobogato]

no, the period of the wave is determined by the length of the tank.

[BSJF]

So, are you saying you need a bigger tank :)

Very nice.

[hobogato]

haha! if i get a bigger tank, i have to make sure it is big enough for me to live in it too :lauging:

[BSJF]

Right there with ya!

[Scream311]

If that was a sales pitch for the Tunze Wavemaker I am SOLD on it lol. Very Nice Setup Mr Ace

[stoneroller]

Fast pace on the wave -- gotta keep things moving. I also like how the lionfish cooperated at about 3:30...

Is that the pagoda from my tank? Also, you should see stick polyps (Acrozoanthus spp.) in the current -- they would look great in your tank. They are the "waviest" specimens I have seen.

[hobogato]

yep, he was hamming it up a bit.

i think the pagoda i got from you was in the 240, dont have it anymore regardless. that one came from AD. i will have to look for some stick polyps, any ideas where i could find some?

[Big_Pun]

great video, your reef is looking good, i still have the nicely incrusted baby blue mili the color is at 80%, a whole lot better than a couple months ago.

[stoneroller]

Check the Dome's sponsor page. I have a pic up there. There were atleast two "units" left when I departed Saturday.

[hobogato]

cool! thanks kevin

[txg8gxp]

awesome video. Thats cool, the wavebox almost matches the musics time signature perfect.

[CoryDude]

Like the pogoda cup. Very nice looking tank. Can't believe you weren't on the tank tour this year.

[copperband]

Have you thought about adding maybe a couple of yellow pyramid butterflyfish it would really add some more movement and even more color just an idea

[Gseclipse02]

Have you thought about adding maybe a couple of yellow pyramid butterflyfish it would really add some more movement and even more color just an idea

"Yellow Pyramid Butterfly may occasionally pick at Xenia or other soft corals. Feeding several times daily is recommended "

[fjr_wertheimber]

"If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the precipitate."

ROFLMAO! Does it make me a science geek that I not only got that joke, but literally laughed out loud when I read it? LOL

[hobogato]

yes, i am sorry to say, you are aj :lauging:

thanks for the suggestion copperband, but i dont think i want to risk it. i would like to add a couple more fish tho.

[hobogato]

morning fishy lineup - they do it every morning and evening when i put the newly hatched artemia in. only the moonlights are on, so these are with the flash

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07319.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07320.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07318.jpg

[aquasport24]

Some brave Chromis...lol.. what kind of trigger do you have there?

[hobogato]

niger - four of them

[Europhyllia]

What an interesting combo of fish!

[Rychek]

Your tank never ceases to amaze Ace! Love the lineup. :)

[hobogato]

thanks :)

darnit ram, you jinxed me yesterday when you asked about how my rocks were held together! :lauging:

woke up today to a large coral on the bottom of the tank - two tubes of glue later i had it back in place. apparently, in doing so i threw off the balance of the tower it was attached to, and when the wavebox came on it all came tumbling down. have finished with the damage control and now waiting for christy to get back with some glue to put things back together. i think i will change the rocks a bit while i am at it...

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07327.jpg

[Europhyllia]

Oh no :(
Good thing you are taking it so well! :)

[RayAllen]

Ace has been doing this to long to let a rockslide get him down in the dumps.

[hobogato]

i have to admit i was far from happy that it fell, but had been thinking of rearranging for a while - just couldnt justify the expense of all of that glue (18 tubes of loctite 10 oz tubes was the final total)

got it back together and most of the corals are open like nothing happened

from the end

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07335.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07336.jpg

new and improved column

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07333.jpg

redone main island - notice the gold rim and blue eye tangs can now get to the halmeada growing on that top rock

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07332.jpg

all together now

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07329.jpg

[Europhyllia]

Is that Lionfish sleeping in that 'basket'? :)

[hobogato]

:D he thinks i rearranged just for him

[Europhyllia]

Merry Christmas happy little Lionfish. Sweet dreams :D

(and congrats to the tangs too!)

[Jarob]

That looks great! So you apply the loctite to the rocks inside or outside the tank? Hows that process work because I love it!

[hobogato]

thanks jarob, i stack the rocks without glue first in a way that they are pretty solid. then, i take them out and put a ridiculous amount of glue on the top rock outside of the water and then apply it to the rock underneath it which is already in the tank. once they are together, i scrape them together a bit to get the glue to start sticking to the rock in the tank and then hold them still for a while to let the glue set.

i actually took out a bit more rock a couple of weeks ago and am finally satisfied with the way it looks. here are a couple pics tonight under actinic lights only.

as it appears
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07431.jpg

white balance corrected in camera
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07429.jpg

[Mr Cob]

amazing tank, as always Ace. All of your tanks have been inspirational. Whatcha gonna do next dude...???

[Europhyllia]

That yellow polyp gorgo is awesome. Do you know what kind it is?

[hobogato]

i dont, i havent had a chance to try and id it. it is one i got at aquarium designs about a week ago. jason said he thought it was carribbean.

[wolff809]

Ace it was so good seeing your tank in person. It's alot better than the pics I have been looking at for over a year now ha

[Europhyllia]

jason said he thought it was carribbean.
Nice find. I am sure it will do well for you with your frequent live foods.
I only could find one match in my dive guide:
Golden Sea Spray (Heterogorgia uatumani)

[RayAllen]

Wow, the tank looks amazing Ace.

[cbianco]

Ace it was so good seeing your tank in person. It's alot better than the pics I have been looking at for over a year now ha

I always enjoy my opportunity to go to Ace's house. His tank is awesome! It seems as if I never tire of watching it. As well, I always seem to notice something new in the tank.

The best spot in the house is either wing-back chair next to the tank. IMO, they make for perfect viewing.

Christopher :)

[Scream311]

Absolutely Breath Taking. I've been Eagerly awaiting my chance to View Aces tank and my chance was yesterday !

I felt like a kid with ADD I couldn't keep my eyes on just one spot of the tank and asked a bunch of questions I'm sure ace has heard over and over again but he was very polite and patient with me and answered them all. (Even with his young boys running wild) jk lol

Thanks for welcoming me into your home. Wish I could have attended the meeting as well

[hobogato]

thanks guys, here are a few top down shots with all the pumps off

actinic lighting only with custom whitebalance in camera

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07446.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07449.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07448.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07450.jpg

[polarbear]

What is the orange thing in the last picture?

[hobogato]

it is a torch coral. i think it is more specifically a golden torch from australia

[cbianco]

Ace...

...how's the cap doing?

Christopher :)

[hobogato]

seems to be doing ok christopher, getting a little bit of the green coloration back and has some of its blue polyps out.

[cbianco]

seems to be doing ok christopher, getting a little bit of the green coloration back and has some of its blue polyps out.

:thumbs_up:

I have faith, even if your tank is only lit by the sun. :angel:

:D

Christopher :)

[Jarob]

Whats the exact epoxy you use? Im gonna go grab some tomorrow for a new little project thanks to you.

[hobogato]

it is loctite superglue gel solid blue 10 gram tube. they carry it at lowe's.

[Jarob]

perfect thank you!

[hobogato]

here is a fts as you requested erik. doesnt look too bad considering i chased the lionfish around for a bit to get him out.

actinic lights only, white balance corrected in camera.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07524.jpg

[Europhyllia]

Gorgeous!

[ErikH]

Truly spectacular, can't we nominate you for TOTM? :)

[Europhyllia]

I tried. lol
But he's not eligible because he's on the BOD ;)

[JpNuss]

It's beautiful. It's just nothing that I hoped it was going to be when I began this thread. Oh well.

[hobogato]

i know what you mean, i really wanted to keep those cuttlefish. in the end tho, it did not make sense to me to continually take them from the wild once a year since i was unsuccessful in raising them.


It's beautiful. It's just nothing that I hoped it was going to be when I began this thread. Oh well.

[cbianco]

What time of day was the picture taken?

The colors in your tank are amazing!

Christopher :)

[hobogato]

it was taken at 7:30 in the morning, so almost no sunlight and actinic lighting was all that was on at the time. i also had a custom white balance set in the camera to remove as much of the blue as possible

[cbianco]

it was taken at 7:30 in the morning, so almost no sunlight and actinic lighting was all that was on at the time. i also had a custom white balance set in the camera to remove as much of the blue as possible

Those colors really show, especially with the blue gone.

Christopher :)

[BSJF]

But he's not eligible because he's on the BOD ;)

Actually, BOD's are eligible, but Ace is an exoficial TOTM committee member because of his role as Pres.

[Europhyllia]

I'd love to see the same picture side by side without the white balance thingy (but that might be more of a thing for the photography section)

[hobogato]

here ya go karin

camera white balance set to 9900k G3 (blue tint isnt quite right and the corals are more colorful than they appear in photo)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07567.jpg

camera custom white balance removing blue hue and then blue tint added on computer (much closer to actual appearance, but not quite right either)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07566.jpg

camera custom white balance removing blue hue (very close to actual coral colors under blue light)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07564.jpg

and then, here are some coral shots:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07559.jpg

new blueberry - since i have had the first one about a year and it has grown a little i (actually christy) couldnt pass this one up

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07558.jpg

new yellow hammer - not quite opening up all the way yet, but should be something else when it does. lime green on the inside with lemon yellow tips

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07557.jpg

[justahobby]

Can't wait to see the yellow hammer open!

[stoneroller]

Hammer Time!

[ErikH]

I have a clam for you Ace. Free 99

[hobogato]

thanks again erik. it is already opening up nicely next to its new hippopus buddy :)

[hobogato]

here are some coral pics from today - all lights on including fairly bright sunlight

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07610.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07604.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07608.jpg

thanks again julia, seems to be pretty happy already
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07601.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07593.jpg

thanks again erik - there is no distortion in this pic from the glass, i have never seen a clam grow this flat and wide!
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07588.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07587.jpg

thanks for this too erik, started as a single polyp when i was just getting back in with this tank
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07586.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07584.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07583.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07581.jpg

this is now the brightest coral in the tank - thanks again mrcob. it is so bright, i had to increase the shutter speed just to get it to keep from overexposing.
it is ridiculous in actinic only lights
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07605.jpg

[ErikH]

It used to be at the top of my tank. :)

So are you spot feeding that blueberry or what is your secret?

[hobogato]

no, but i do have two artemia hatcheries going. i feed artemia in the morning and at night, not to mention live rotifers and live phyto. every other day the frozen fish food includes coral frenzy and phyto a and b. also, with no skimmer and sunlight, the tank has a plankton bloom every night - not sure if it is phytoplankton, zooplankton or bacteria (or a combo of all), but the water gets a little cloudy every night. the one in that pic is the new one, but the other one in the tank has been in there about a year and has grown at least 1/2" on all branches.

[ErikH]

That's some amazing dedication!

[hobogato]

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/aggressive%20reef/DSC07665.jpg

this tank was fun to have and i learned alot. now i am looking forward to a new adventure.

[cbianco]

:(

What a tank it was!

Christopher :)

[rocketeer]

Huh?!?

[cbianco]

Huh?!?

new adventure - 250 gallon captive reef

http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?65792-new-adventure-250-gallon-captive-reef

Christopher :)