michellejy's 120 Gallon Mixed Reef - Page 2

michellejy · 02/13/2009, 02:30 PM

Some metallic green pipe organ. I placed this in a spot in the tank where it is pretty much impossible to get a clear photo of.

Another shot of the ORA toadstool frag. I think this shows the color a bit better.

My first (and only) chalice frag. I apparently felt a need to put this in a place where I couldn't get a clear picture too.

michellejy · 02/13/2009, 02:37 PM

One of my first corals, a pale blue candy cane. I had to move it several times before it finally found a place where it was happy.

I just added another trumpet coral to the tank. This one is neon green, but I'm having trouble getting the vivid color to show when I take a photo.

michellejy · 02/13/2009, 03:05 PM

More of the CUC:

One of the three peppermint shrimp.

There is also a fire shrimp in the tank somewhere, but I haven't seen him in months. I only know he is alive because he molted recently.

One of the Turban snails. At least one of them has a barnacle on its shell. I need to get a picture one of these days.

A nerite snail:

My Mexican turbo snail, Jabba:

michellejy · 02/13/2009, 03:10 PM

Another picture of a Super Tongan Nassarius and the sea hare, just because I like them

michellejy · 02/13/2009, 03:13 PM

The Midas blenny is convinced he should be the focus of every picture now.

michellejy · 02/13/2009, 03:16 PM

And finally, a full tank shot:

michellejy · 02/15/2009, 09:51 PM

I came across a couple more photos that show how much the tank has changed since it was set up. These were taken with an iPhone, so you'll have to excuse the quality.

This is why I love my sea hare. This hair algae outbreak was on literally every piece of rock that you see in the full tank shot above.

This is how the ricordea looked when it was first put in the tank. Those tiny shrooms now drape all the way down to the "bridge" below them.

The hammer coral was my only complete failure. It went from this:

to this, literally overnight. After a few more hours, it was just a pile of goo.

michellejy · 02/15/2009, 09:54 PM

Some tank shots from when the tank was originally set up:

michellejy · 02/15/2009, 09:56 PM

More photos of Walter because he was pretty and I miss him:

michellejy · 02/15/2009, 10:00 PM

The MIA creatures in my tank.

See that little yellow dot under the foxface? That's the only photo I have of Goby-Wan Kenobi. As soon as I moved him out of quarantine and into the main tank, I never saw him again.

A blurry photo of my fire shrimp. If he hadn't molted recently, I would have assumed he was dead. I haven't seen him in months.

michellejy · 02/15/2009, 10:03 PM

A few last pictures for no reason.

My foxface in camo mode:

The conch with some hitchhikers:

The male lyretail anthias, just because he is pretty.

ludnix · 02/15/2009, 10:18 PM

What sort of lighting are you using? Did you test your water parameters when you noticed the hammer starting to decline?

Beautiful colors! Your rockwork looks pretty cool! Could you post a bigger picture of the FTS?

michellejy · 02/15/2009, 10:32 PM

I have T-5 lighting. It's actually 7 bulbs rather than 8 because if I put in all 8, I couldn't get my hand inside the tank to feed the fish.

I think the hammer died because my alk was VERY low. I was using an API test at the time, and it won't change color until you hit the next full level (so 4.2 would read as 5, for example). I knew my alk was low at 7, but it was actually 6.2.

I'll have to get on the other computer to do a bigger FTS since the originals of the photos are stored there.

ludnix · 02/15/2009, 10:52 PM

I was having alk problems too with my 120. Once I got a good salifert alkalinity test kit it was very easy to dose baking soda and get it back up in range.

It sounded like you're planning on sticking to LPS now, did the rainbow monti frag you bought die?

blakeorme · 02/15/2009, 11:00 PM

FYI... I put a yellow watchmen goby in my old tank and never saw him for 6 weeks. All of the sudden one day he just appeared and was fine. Hopefully thats the case with yours.

michellejy · 02/15/2009, 11:16 PM

No, the rainbow is actually doing really well. I just ended up wanting a different look for my tank than I originally planned on.

I started dosing with baking soda, but the ph swings were concerning me, so I switched to Seachem Reef Builder. The PH doesn't change at all now when I dose.

I like to be optimistic about the YWG, but he was so tiny that I'm worried. I don't have any fish that would harm him, but if he's easily intimidated, I don't know that he would ever come out for food. My butterfly has a tendency to swoop back and forth as fast as he can when there is food in the tank.

michellejy · 02/28/2009, 10:50 AM

Well, it took a while, but here is a larger version of the full tank shot.

IridescentLily · 02/28/2009, 12:42 PM

You're tank is really great.
And your first chalice is bangin', I can't wait for updates on the growth of that one.
I'm a torch coral freak so that really caught my eye.
Your palys lend alot of color and movement to your rock aquascaping, which is great too by the way.
Is that blue anthelia on the top left? Or maybe it's a giant blue tonga mushroom, it's hard for me to tell. Whatever it is it has a very pretty color.
I also can't wait to see what you put on that cool bridge area.

natereinhold1 · 02/28/2009, 06:16 PM

we have some absolutely stunning metallic green star polyps that would look great on your bridge. the polyps tendrils extend about an inch or so, personaly haven't seen any like ours b4. i can send you a piece if you like.

michellejy · 02/28/2009, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by IridescentLily
You're tank is really great.
And your first chalice is bangin', I can't wait for updates on the growth of that one.
I'm a torch coral freak so that really caught my eye.
Your palys lend alot of color and movement to your rock aquascaping, which is great too by the way.
Is that blue anthelia on the top left? Or maybe it's a giant blue tonga mushroom, it's hard for me to tell. Whatever it is it has a very pretty color.
I also can't wait to see what you put on that cool bridge area.

Thanks. The tank drives me crazy a lot of times, but I do love it.

Torch corals (well, all of the euphyllia family) are pretty much my favorites, although I'm partial to dendros as well. I was so sad when the hammer melted and was hesitant to try again, but so far the torch seems to be thriving. It's already developed at least one more branch.

I'm not sure where you are looking as far as the top left. That rock is actually pretty barren at the moment. There is a small pale blue trumpet coral on the lower portion of it, and a neon green cabbage leather on the upper part. There is also a renegade purple mushroom that drifted up there and attached, but I know you can't see that in the photos.

I'm having an awful time deciding what to do with the bridge. At first I wanted all encrusting montipora on it, but I wasn't really thrilled with them. I tried the white xenia up there too, but it just kept shrinking. Right now it has a toadstool towards each end, but that may change again. I know I want a fox coral and some other dendros for underneath it.

michellejy · 02/28/2009, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by natereinhold1
we have some absolutely stunning metallic green star polyps that would look great on your bridge. the polyps tendrils extend about an inch or so, personaly haven't seen any like ours b4. i can send you a piece if you like.

My husband loves star polyps. He tried to convince me to buy some last time we were coral shopping, but I hear so many horror stories about how aggressive they are.

Who is "we"? You said "we have some". Do you have a store?

Elysia · 02/28/2009, 10:49 PM

I love the names of your fish. Buttercup and Wesley are a great couple. And you already know that I love Mulder. Beautiful.

Blastos are one of my favorite LPS, too!

michellejy · 03/01/2009, 04:24 PM

Elysia- What kind of 24 gallon all in ones do you have? I'm considering one for my next tank.

natereinhold1 · 03/02/2009, 11:35 AM

I used to, but I am speaking of me and my fiance. And for aggresiveness... they can be but it is easily remedied, when it starts to grow to close to something, just take a razor and cut the edge , peel it off and give it away or what ever you would like to do with it. This peice came from a display at one of the other lfs, he would not sell anything from it but i did manage to get some from him. 2 months later he sold everything out of it to convert it to a anenome and clown tank, and people were standing in line for his gsp's and they started to "bid" on peices of it, the most they went for was the last peice someone threw $100 down just to get the remaining 3x3 peice not on a rock. I can spare some if you would like it, free of charge. I just like to see other people get cool stuff with out gettting screwed by outrageous price tags like what there is here localy in iowa.

Anemonebuff · 03/02/2009, 12:09 PM

The tank looks great. Once they all grow in it will look stunning. Good work.

02/13/2009, 02:30 PM	#26
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	Some metallic green pipe organ. I placed this in a spot in the tank where it is pretty much impossible to get a clear photo of. Another shot of the ORA toadstool frag. I think this shows the color a bit better. My first (and only) chalice frag. I apparently felt a need to put this in a place where I couldn't get a clear picture too. __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/13/2009, 02:37 PM	#27
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	One of my first corals, a pale blue candy cane. I had to move it several times before it finally found a place where it was happy. I just added another trumpet coral to the tank. This one is neon green, but I'm having trouble getting the vivid color to show when I take a photo. __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/13/2009, 03:05 PM	#28
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	More of the CUC: One of the three peppermint shrimp. There is also a fire shrimp in the tank somewhere, but I haven't seen him in months. I only know he is alive because he molted recently. One of the Turban snails. At least one of them has a barnacle on its shell. I need to get a picture one of these days. A nerite snail: My Mexican turbo snail, Jabba: __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/13/2009, 03:10 PM	#29
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	Another picture of a Super Tongan Nassarius and the sea hare, just because I like them __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/13/2009, 03:13 PM	#30
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	The Midas blenny is convinced he should be the focus of every picture now. __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/13/2009, 03:16 PM	#31
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	And finally, a full tank shot: __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/15/2009, 09:51 PM	#32
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	I came across a couple more photos that show how much the tank has changed since it was set up. These were taken with an iPhone, so you'll have to excuse the quality. This is why I love my sea hare. This hair algae outbreak was on literally every piece of rock that you see in the full tank shot above. This is how the ricordea looked when it was first put in the tank. Those tiny shrooms now drape all the way down to the "bridge" below them. The hammer coral was my only complete failure. It went from this: to this, literally overnight. After a few more hours, it was just a pile of goo. __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/15/2009, 09:54 PM	#33
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	Some tank shots from when the tank was originally set up: __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/15/2009, 09:56 PM	#34
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	More photos of Walter because he was pretty and I miss him: __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/15/2009, 10:00 PM	#35
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	The MIA creatures in my tank. See that little yellow dot under the foxface? That's the only photo I have of Goby-Wan Kenobi. As soon as I moved him out of quarantine and into the main tank, I never saw him again. A blurry photo of my fire shrimp. If he hadn't molted recently, I would have assumed he was dead. I haven't seen him in months. __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/15/2009, 10:03 PM	#36
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	A few last pictures for no reason. My foxface in camo mode: The conch with some hitchhikers: The male lyretail anthias, just because he is pretty. __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/15/2009, 10:18 PM	#37
ludnix Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: California Posts: 3,031	What sort of lighting are you using? Did you test your water parameters when you noticed the hammer starting to decline? Beautiful colors! Your rockwork looks pretty cool! Could you post a bigger picture of the FTS? __________________ -Eric Sutter Current Tank Info: 14g Biocube

02/15/2009, 10:32 PM	#38
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	I have T-5 lighting. It's actually 7 bulbs rather than 8 because if I put in all 8, I couldn't get my hand inside the tank to feed the fish. I think the hammer died because my alk was VERY low. I was using an API test at the time, and it won't change color until you hit the next full level (so 4.2 would read as 5, for example). I knew my alk was low at 7, but it was actually 6.2. I'll have to get on the other computer to do a bigger FTS since the originals of the photos are stored there. __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/15/2009, 10:52 PM	#39
ludnix Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: California Posts: 3,031	I was having alk problems too with my 120. Once I got a good salifert alkalinity test kit it was very easy to dose baking soda and get it back up in range. It sounded like you're planning on sticking to LPS now, did the rainbow monti frag you bought die? __________________ -Eric Sutter Current Tank Info: 14g Biocube

02/15/2009, 11:00 PM	#40
blakeorme Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Asheville, NC Posts: 350	FYI... I put a yellow watchmen goby in my old tank and never saw him for 6 weeks. All of the sudden one day he just appeared and was fine. Hopefully thats the case with yours.

02/15/2009, 11:16 PM	#41
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	No, the rainbow is actually doing really well. I just ended up wanting a different look for my tank than I originally planned on. I started dosing with baking soda, but the ph swings were concerning me, so I switched to Seachem Reef Builder. The PH doesn't change at all now when I dose. I like to be optimistic about the YWG, but he was so tiny that I'm worried. I don't have any fish that would harm him, but if he's easily intimidated, I don't know that he would ever come out for food. My butterfly has a tendency to swoop back and forth as fast as he can when there is food in the tank. __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/28/2009, 10:50 AM	#42
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	Well, it took a while, but here is a larger version of the full tank shot. __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

02/28/2009, 12:42 PM	#43
IridescentLily Editor-Reefkeeping mag Join Date: May 2008 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico Posts: 3,858 Blog Entries: 5	You're tank is really great. And your first chalice is bangin', I can't wait for updates on the growth of that one. I'm a torch coral freak so that really caught my eye. Your palys lend alot of color and movement to your rock aquascaping, which is great too by the way. Is that blue anthelia on the top left? Or maybe it's a giant blue tonga mushroom, it's hard for me to tell. Whatever it is it has a very pretty color. I also can't wait to see what you put on that cool bridge area.

02/28/2009, 06:16 PM	#44
natereinhold1 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: columbia il Posts: 411	we have some absolutely stunning metallic green star polyps that would look great on your bridge. the polyps tendrils extend about an inch or so, personaly haven't seen any like ours b4. i can send you a piece if you like. __________________ "It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get back up." -Vince Lombardi I collect hermits Current Tank Info: 28 gallon nano cube, xr15w pro radion, mp10, RW-4, apex gold, refugium mod, 2x media reactor (gfo/chemi-pure elite:blue/purigen), programmable 4 channel dosing pump (kalk/vinegar and auto water changes), moded skimmer, hydor smart ATO

02/28/2009, 10:49 PM	#47
Elysia Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Central PA Posts: 1,718	I love the names of your fish. Buttercup and Wesley are a great couple. And you already know that I love Mulder. Beautiful. Blastos are one of my favorite LPS, too!

03/01/2009, 04:24 PM	#48
michellejy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: OH Posts: 1,076	Elysia- What kind of 24 gallon all in ones do you have? I'm considering one for my next tank. __________________ Michelle Current Tank Info: 30G FOWLR Clownfish tank soon to be replaced by JBJ 28 Gallon Nano

03/02/2009, 11:35 AM	#49
natereinhold1 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: columbia il Posts: 411	I used to, but I am speaking of me and my fiance. And for aggresiveness... they can be but it is easily remedied, when it starts to grow to close to something, just take a razor and cut the edge , peel it off and give it away or what ever you would like to do with it. This peice came from a display at one of the other lfs, he would not sell anything from it but i did manage to get some from him. 2 months later he sold everything out of it to convert it to a anenome and clown tank, and people were standing in line for his gsp's and they started to "bid" on peices of it, the most they went for was the last peice someone threw $100 down just to get the remaining 3x3 peice not on a rock. I can spare some if you would like it, free of charge. I just like to see other people get cool stuff with out gettting screwed by outrageous price tags like what there is here localy in iowa. __________________ "It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get back up." -Vince Lombardi I collect hermits Current Tank Info: 28 gallon nano cube, xr15w pro radion, mp10, RW-4, apex gold, refugium mod, 2x media reactor (gfo/chemi-pure elite:blue/purigen), programmable 4 channel dosing pump (kalk/vinegar and auto water changes), moded skimmer, hydor smart ATO

03/02/2009, 12:09 PM	#50
Anemonebuff Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: LI,NY Posts: 3,877	The tank looks great. Once they all grow in it will look stunning. Good work.