My 300 to 294 build and fish room (1 Viewer)

[frankc]

I think it's safe to say my fox flame is fully encrusted. It is about to meet the burning banana stylo - it will be interesting to see who wins, or if they both just stop growing there.

 

[frankc]

Got elkhorn?





One branch grew back on itself to form a loop.


The elkhorn and these mushrooms seem to be getting along surprisingly well.

 

[frankc]

Most of these mushrooms grow in the normal shape, but in this one spot they get really frilly and bouncy.

 

[frankc]

These mushrooms just get crazier and crazier. The one looks like it might explode one day.

 

[frankc]

The strangest things happen when I do water changes. Today I did a 30% change on the reef tank, which left some of the corals out of the water for a short time. It appears that the elkhorn Montipora decided to release some of its florescent green pigments into the water - at least that's my best guess as to what the green sheen on the water is. Even the hawkfish thinks it's cool.

 

[Cody]

I've been to your place a few times, but all were within covid times, so I never got to see your tanks, outside of looking through a window. I need to get up there soon to see them in person! Those mushrooms are very interesting, plus I need to see the last colony of my milli that I know of.

 

[frankc]

I've been to your place a few times, but all were within covid times, so I never got to see your tanks, outside of looking through a window. I need to get up there soon to see them in person! Those mushrooms are very interesting, plus I need to see the last colony of my milli that I know of.

Indeed you do! Plus, I know you'll want to take home a bunch of the free elkhorn.

 

[frankc]

Another interesting I noticed since the water change (no idea if it's related) - my Lobo has gotten some stripes on the outside edge, but only on one side. In the 19 years I've had it, it never had stripes.



Another interesting thing I just noticed today (no way it's related to yesterday's water change, I just didn't notice it before now) is it appears there is a new lobe or "baby" forming on the side of the main coral, between the skeleton and the bottom of the main tissue layer. You can see a ring of tentacles surrounding a new mouth. It almost looks like it's screaming to get out.

 

[Cody]

Indeed you do! Plus, I know you'll want to take home a bunch of the free elkhorn.

Lord knows I have enough of it already!

 

[frankc]

I fear if we had a contest for the ugliest Acro, I might win. The camera actually makes it look a little better - slightly purplish - but in person it just looks brown. This is the fruity pebbles that looked so beautiful a year and a half ago, but the phosphates got too high this summer and it lost all its color. Plus it's growing in a weird way. At least it has good PE.

 

[Cody]

How’s my baby doing?

 

[Bullitt519]

Curious about what lights you are using.

 

[frankc]

How’s my baby doing?

It's doing great. Not growing real fast at the moment, and it is primarily just green, but very healthy.

 

[frankc]

Curious about what lights you are using.

I have three Maxspect Recurve LED lights, which appear to be discontinued already - I only see the regular Razor models for sale now. They're not as intense as the Radions, but they have good spread.

 

[Bullitt519]

I have three Maxspect Recurve LED lights, which appear to be discontinued already - I only see the regular Razor models for sale now. They're not as intense as the Radions, but they have good spread.

Nice, I was thinking maybe the par was the reason for the way your SPS grow but not sure could be the flow. You seem to get a lot of encrusting and I just found it interesting.

 

[frankc]

Nice, I was thinking maybe the par was the reason for the way your SPS grow but not sure could be the flow. You seem to get a lot of encrusting and I just found it interesting.

Yeah, it would seem to make sense to get more encrusting in lower light - more surface directly exposed to the light. My large elkhorn colony definitely grows with taller and more branches on the side that has more light, and the darker side grows flatter and with fewer branches, so that supports this idea. My flow is pretty low - just the returns and one Maxspect Gyre at one end running between 10-20%. I think low flow would encourage more vertical growth, so it looks like lower light wins.

 

[Cody]

It's doing great. Not growing real fast at the moment, and it is primarily just green, but very healthy.

Put me down for the first decent sized frag whenever you’re ready.

 

[frankc]

I finally decided what to do with the 90-gallon tank in the corner of the fish room. I had just been using it as a quarantine tank, but now it is an African cichlid tank. Finally got it running Thanksgiving week. So now the fish room is basically complete, although of course the tanks themselves are never really complete.

Here it is when I first got it running. The reef rocks on the driftwood are just to hold it down until hopefully someday it will become waterlogged enough to stay put on its own.


Here it is today. The driftwood has turned the water yellow/brown, but hopefully some water changes and/or carbon should clear it up. I kind of like it a little colored - it makes it look more like a lake. Between the tanks is the souvenir we got from our Alaska cruise last summer - amethyst geode with quartz carved eagles, and bears carved from Alaskan jade.

 

[RR-MAN]

Frank,

Hows the parrot fish doing in your tank? Is it well behaved?

It’s on my fish list I almost got one but it was a little over sized. I want a small one.

 

[frankc]

Frank,

Hows the parrot fish doing in your tank? Is it well behaved?

It’s on my fish list I almost got one but it was a little over sized. I want a small one.

Sadly, it died a couple years ago when velvet wiped out about half the fish. I did not get to have it very long. There were times I thought it might be eating some coral, but I could never confirm any damage, so it might have just been looking for algae. It sure was beautiful, and never bothered any fish.

Good luck finding a small one - I've never seen one for sale less than 6", or maybe 5.5".