My tank is 3 years old (pics!)

[tebstan]

This month is my tank’s birthday! It’s three years old. It’s come a long way, but now that things are really stable I look forward to seeing how much more growth I’ll see in the colonies in the future.

August 2009
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/TheTank.jpg

March 2010
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/TheTank3-8-10.jpg

December 2010
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/FTS12-30-10.jpg

April 2011
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/FTS4-24-11.jpg

September 2011
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/FTS9-11-11withstand.jpg (http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/FTS9-11-11withstand.jpg)

May 2012
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/FTS5-15-12.jpg (http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/FTS5-15-12.jpg)

July 2012
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/ftsD7-21-12.jpg

[350gt]

congrats.... most wont but i like the GSP on the overflow....

[tebstan]

My favorite coral has grown quite a bit.

A galaxy frag August 2010
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Galaxia%20Coral/GalaxyFragactinic8-31-10.jpg

Now a small colony July 2012
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Galaxia%20Coral/galaxy7-21-12.jpg



Another LPS, this one I got at LMAR. A platygyra, or maze brain

October 2010
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Platygyra/PlatygyraMazeBrainsweepers10-31-10.jpg

July 2012
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Platygyra/mazebrain72112.jpg (http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Platygyra/mazebrain7-21-12.jpg)



The LPS are slow growers, so it’s nice to have leathers in there to show some progress.
Palau nepthea January 2011
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Palau%20Nepthea/PalauNepthea1-23-11.jpg

January 2012
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Palau%20Nepthea/PalauNepthea01-27-12.jpg


The fastest growing thing in my tank is dragons breath. It really adds something to the tank, I love it and so do the fish.
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Refugium/dragonsbreathmacro72112.jpg

[tebstan]

I love the GSP! It's so easy to control. It only grows up, so I have a gap between the rocks and overflow, and it never makes it out into the tank.

I decided to try it because I always had a line across the overflow. Look at December 2010. Everytime I cleaned, the coralline died off where it was exposed to air. The obvious purple line looked stupid, so I got the GSP to cover it.

I glued some rubble to the overflow here and there to add more texture. I really like it. :)

[CoryDude]

The growth rate you've gotten on the nepthea is amazing. I had always heard they were slow growers. Love the macro! Very nice mature tank!

[tebstan]

I feed A LOT, but I very rarely target feed. I keep meaning to raise my calcium, but I keep forgetting to dose regularly... for like a year now Cal has been about 320. I also have some really white 6500k bulbs and no real actinic.

So, LPS grow super slow for me, but filter feeders and macro grow like crazy.

I had ulva overgrowing for a while. I got the tang to get it in check, so now its in the overflow and growing on a feed ring as a replenishing snack. (You can't see that one, it's behind the dragons breath.)

I have 6 feed rings at the moment, holding up different chunks of macro. You can't even see them once the algae is grown out, they work great.

I got a pink urchin from Elegant the other day. He found the feed ring with ulva, and hasn't left the spot in 5 days. I may have to do something about that.

[txg8gxp]

:thumbs_up: It looks great

[KING]

NICE... always good to see it go from (( rock tank)) to a reef..

[RayAllen]

Way to go dude! Tank looks great and has clearly matured well.

You should be proud; you can ask around and see there are not many of us who have managed to keep a aquarium going that long.

[allan]

Adriene,

I love the 'kelp bed' look you have with the dragon's breath. I'm going to have to look up feeding ring to see what you're talking about. I also like the look of the swarming GSP on your overflow, I glued a piece onto mine a few weeks ago and it's starting to grow a bit. That lobo or brain that you had in the lower right hand side, is that the one up on the rock now? Big and swollen, all nine month looking?

[txg8gxp]

Yeah, the lobo used to be on the sand bed on the right side. Now she has a big red tracky (i belive thats what it is) down on the sand bed.

Adriene,

I love the 'kelp bed' look you have with the dragon's breath. I'm going to have to look up feeding ring to see what you're talking about. I also like the look of the swarming GSP on your overflow, I glued a piece onto mine a few weeks ago and it's starting to grow a bit. That lobo or brain that you had in the lower right hand side, is that the one up on the rock now? Big and swollen, all nine month looking?

[allan]

thought so, looks beautiful up there on that rock.

I wonder how much of that dragon's breath I would need to grow before I introduce it into the tank and expect it to live past the grazing of my tangs. It's the only thing I hate about Cheato, the tangs don't dig it.

[350gt]

I love the GSP! It's so easy to control. It only grows up, so I have a gap between the rocks and overflow, and it never makes it out into the tank.

I decided to try it because I always had a line across the overflow. Look at December 2010. Everytime I cleaned, the coralline died off where it was exposed to air. The obvious purple line looked stupid, so I got the GSP to cover it.

I glued some rubble to the overflow here and there to add more texture. I really like it. :)


Well I like the look....

Good to see someone sticking by there tank so long and letting it progress..... 3 years is a long time for a reef tank to be up..... I will be wrapping up year 2 in november and hope to see good things finally happening.... I can say I got the basics out of the way, now it's on to learning more about dosing and all that good stuff....

[Louis-210]

All i can say is WOW!!!! very nice :applause:

[tebstan]

I look back at the early pics, and think "ick." I remember being so happy with it at the time! But now it looks so much better. It has been a long journey, but worth the wait. I make it a point to take a FTS every month or two, but I rarely look back on them in sequence.


The lobo and trachy are always puffy now. Back when I had the lobo on the sand, I think I had too much flow on it. I know lobos are supposed to be on the sand, but that flat rock has worked out fine.

I recently decided to experiment with even less flow. I have a sicce 3 on the return, and a wave box hidden behind that dragons breath. I have a k2 and a k3 hidden in there, but I turned them off to see of the leathers will look a little less "pulled." So far, everything is fine and swaying gently from the wave box.

Allan, my tang never eats the dragons breath. The small fish swim in it, and the clown tries to drag it around, but no one eats it. If you'd like to try some let me know. I just pruned it way back, but I generally have a good harvest every month.

[bugj51]

love that gsp