Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread - Page 28

melev · 06/30/2006, 10:27 PM

As anticipated, I knew today I would have to adjust the corals on the left side of the reef because they were shifting forward. Little did I know just how badly this would turn out. I'm annoyed, disgusted, and frustrated, but hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

The large A. millepora has been leaning forward more and more. It has been encrusted on the same rock for years, appearing to float above open area. While trying to ease things backwards where they were before, it broke off in my hands.

There was absolutely no rhyme or reason that would allow me to balance it back in its regular spot. I ended up pulling it out of the tank, along with that rock. I used Super Glue Gel and some 2-part putty to reattach it, then put it back in the reef to cure for a couple of hours before placing it back in its horizontal position again.

In doing so, the A. millepora baby was no longer able to be repositioned in its spot that it has been in for the past 2 years. And about 5 more corals were no longer in their spots either.

I made some changes to the layout of the tank, which was the left side all the way to the middle of the tank. The maze brain coral is now near the sandbed, and the Favia is up higher on the left. The Scripps acropora broke in half in my hands, to my disgust. The Acropora nobilis has been rotated to no longer intertwine with the Scripps, and the Green Slimer (which I doubt is even a Slimer now) had to be relocated. I moved the bright green Hammer frag from the prop section to the reef, just to cheer me up.

In the process, I added about 6 frags to the prop section from the massacre I just caused, and now have to get used to the new look of my tank. My poor fish never even got to eat as the lights shut off while I was toweling off.

And to top it off, another MH bulb is cracked!!!!!!!!! I'm going to put eggcrate over the top of my tank to see if that will help reduce the splashing situation. I really didn't want to do that, but I can't afford to keep buying bulbs. This one wasn't even 2 months old.

melev · 06/30/2006, 10:30 PM

A picture under actinics only, with the new look.

melev · 06/30/2006, 10:37 PM

Here is the bottom view of the A. millepora. For a size reference, those are full sized Turbo Astrea snails on the overflow behind it. It is nice to see how the entire base of the coral has healthy tissue in what is fully shaded.

melev · 06/30/2006, 10:38 PM

And the green slimer, with blue tips?! I guess it isn't an A. yongei after all.

melev · 06/30/2006, 10:41 PM

And finally, the speck of Scripps acropora that I mentioned yesterday. Look at the polyp on this thing! Prodibio perhaps?

emilese · 06/30/2006, 10:42 PM

FWIW, you tank still looks great! I have always enjoyed your posts and pics - very informative and inspirational.

Miles

melev · 06/30/2006, 10:52 PM

Thanks Miles.

The Ocellaris · 07/01/2006, 04:27 AM

Wow amazing i just finished reading the whole thing. Ive learned loads from it. I just hope i can get something like this some day

melev · 07/01/2006, 09:45 AM

Thanks Ben, and

To Reef Central

Talk about a huge task, reading this entire thread. Hope it helps you with your own tank.

The Ocellaris · 07/01/2006, 09:49 AM

Yeah it has loads im copying your design for that sump for your 29 gallon i hope you dont mind

selgado · 07/01/2006, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
And finally, the speck of Scripps acropora that I mentioned yesterday. Look at the polyp on this thing! Prodibio perhaps?

Looks more like viagra to me.

Nice pics as usual, Marc.

melev · 07/01/2006, 11:34 PM

Here's a quick shot of the tank the day after the rockslide. It is a tad overexposed, but the corals look pretty good.

melev · 07/02/2006, 01:07 AM

I discovered this little guy two nights ago. I couldn't believe my eyes. I have a Pavona coral, and apparently this guy must be a Pavona crab! He doesn't come out and crawl around, but during the daytime he withdraws more deeply into the coral's protection.

I've looked at my reef a night many times, using a flashlight. I carefully study corals and the tiny stuff that zips about, but coming across this little guy was a surprise. I'll keep watching him to see if anything develops.

Hop · 07/02/2006, 01:14 AM

I dunno... May have been a headache for you, but I really like the left side now. In fact, the angle in the pic shows great depth. I've been studying it for a while now and well... I like it

melev · 07/02/2006, 09:30 PM

Here is more information about the Gall Crab I recently discovered in the Pavona coral. More pictures are in that thread as well.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...55#post7667255

Here's my new hammer frag, already splitting (see the bubble?):

An Ultra Maxima clam, still in good shape a week later.

The orange Montipora capricornis is doing well, and growing out nicely.

And here's a piece of a green tabling Acropora. Originally it was one branch, and because of its position, it still looked like one slightly larger stick. However, during the recent rockslide, I got a new perspective upon it. Really it needs to be reglued to that spot so it is level, but at the time I just wanted it somewhere safe.

Anyone ever get an "anemone in a jar"? Well, here's my crazy LTA. It was hanging out in the prop section for the past week soaking up light from the 150w MH and getting any food that happens to be in the reef-soaked water

and this evening I saw this:

Enderrea · 07/06/2006, 11:31 AM

hooken up to this thread, your stuck with me no Marc.

melev · 07/06/2006, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Enderrea
hooken up to this thread, your stuck with me no Marc.

You've done it now, sir. Now you'll have to set up that saltwater tank.

Enderrea · 07/06/2006, 11:51 AM

Posted on another thread " Need Cash Selling Self For $2,000.00, any Takers?" found a 250 gallon, wife said i could trade her car........... if i bought her a new one........

itstheantitang · 07/06/2006, 11:52 AM

Up in the left top corner of the last two pics, is that grey fuzz just detritus?

Because I have some of that, and am getting rid of it slowly, and it used to make a velvety coating on base rock that I could not get off.

OCDP · 07/06/2006, 12:57 PM

Melev,

I absolutely love your tank. I love the rock work, it's amazing. I've been following your thread for a while now, just not really posting in it. I love your pictures and you are so detailed and we all love that about you. Your thread is very entertaining, always something new going on in your tank.

Keep up the great work... you give me something to work towards one day

melev · 07/06/2006, 01:06 PM

itstheantitang (what a fun name..

) - yes, that is detritus in the sump. I really need to siphon that out in the next few days. It gathers in the return section of my sump which is finally my propagation zone.

OCDP - thanks. The saga is ongoing...

For those of you waiting on a certain podcast, Evan finally got it done yesterday after hours of editing. Then when he tried to access it, all he got was "file corrupted" and he cried himself to sleep.

He should be resuming his task today. I need someone to send me some whips and other torture-related items if we are going to keep him in line.

rdmpe · 07/06/2006, 03:54 PM

So the anemone crawled into the jar on it's own?

TCU Reefer · 07/06/2006, 05:04 PM

Can we get a full shot of the prop section?

It's nice to see that you're propogating bubble algae now. I hear that's the next craze.

Got a mille frag you can give me after the mille massacre?

Also, did you pick up that yuma rock at Frank's? I saw one just like that there that caught my eye.

melev · 07/06/2006, 09:24 PM

Randy - yes, it climbed in there, and then later it climbed back out. It is on the base of the sump now. It moves a lot.

Steve - I feel like I propagate cyano better than anything, lately. The ricordia rock was from DFWMAS day at Saltwater Paradise. The milli never was damaged, nor its baby.

Cuby2k · 07/06/2006, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
An Ultra Maxima clam, still in good shape a week later.

WOW Marc, the color on the maxima clam is brilliant! Is that just from the actinics and color setting on your camera or is he really that deep hue? Do you have any close-ups of him open a bit more? Like maybe a "before the fall" shot?

Awesome display my friend and great documentation which we have all benfited from, in terms of understanding just what can be done and just plain eye candy.

EDIT: I just watched your video from the last page, very cool. Is the music from Braveheart? Excellant water movement too, I'll have to look back and see what pumps you are using.

07/01/2006, 04:27 AM	#683
The Ocellaris Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Northampton Posts: 4	Wow amazing i just finished reading the whole thing. Ive learned loads from it. I just hope i can get something like this some day __________________ Ben Current Tank Info: 30 gallon mixed reef

07/01/2006, 09:49 AM	#685
The Ocellaris Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Northampton Posts: 4	Yeah it has loads im copying your design for that sump for your 29 gallon i hope you dont mind __________________ Ben Current Tank Info: 30 gallon mixed reef

07/02/2006, 01:14 AM	#689
Hop Carpe Noctem!!! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Western Colorado Posts: 8,548	I dunno... May have been a headache for you, but I really like the left side now. In fact, the angle in the pic shows great depth. I've been studying it for a while now and well... I like it __________________ Hop Current Tank Info: 300-gallon in-wall system (mixed reef)

07/06/2006, 11:31 AM	#691
Enderrea Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Shoreline, Wa Posts: 235	hooken up to this thread, your stuck with me no Marc. __________________ 101st Screaming Chickens! God Bless those still in Harms way. James Current Tank Info: 80 gallon Lake tanganyika

07/06/2006, 11:51 AM	#693
Enderrea Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Shoreline, Wa Posts: 235	Posted on another thread " Need Cash Selling Self For $2,000.00, any Takers?" found a 250 gallon, wife said i could trade her car........... if i bought her a new one........ __________________ 101st Screaming Chickens! God Bless those still in Harms way. James Current Tank Info: 80 gallon Lake tanganyika

06/30/2006, 10:27 PM	#676
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	As anticipated, I knew today I would have to adjust the corals on the left side of the reef because they were shifting forward. Little did I know just how badly this would turn out. I'm annoyed, disgusted, and frustrated, but hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. The large A. millepora has been leaning forward more and more. It has been encrusted on the same rock for years, appearing to float above open area. While trying to ease things backwards where they were before, it broke off in my hands. There was absolutely no rhyme or reason that would allow me to balance it back in its regular spot. I ended up pulling it out of the tank, along with that rock. I used Super Glue Gel and some 2-part putty to reattach it, then put it back in the reef to cure for a couple of hours before placing it back in its horizontal position again. In doing so, the A. millepora baby was no longer able to be repositioned in its spot that it has been in for the past 2 years. And about 5 more corals were no longer in their spots either. I made some changes to the layout of the tank, which was the left side all the way to the middle of the tank. The maze brain coral is now near the sandbed, and the Favia is up higher on the left. The Scripps acropora broke in half in my hands, to my disgust. The Acropora nobilis has been rotated to no longer intertwine with the Scripps, and the Green Slimer (which I doubt is even a Slimer now) had to be relocated. I moved the bright green Hammer frag from the prop section to the reef, just to cheer me up. In the process, I added about 6 frags to the prop section from the massacre I just caused, and now have to get used to the new look of my tank. My poor fish never even got to eat as the lights shut off while I was toweling off. And to top it off, another MH bulb is cracked!!!!!!!!! I'm going to put eggcrate over the top of my tank to see if that will help reduce the splashing situation. I really didn't want to do that, but I can't afford to keep buying bulbs. This one wasn't even 2 months old.

06/30/2006, 10:30 PM	#677
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	A picture under actinics only, with the new look.

06/30/2006, 10:37 PM	#678
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Here is the bottom view of the A. millepora. For a size reference, those are full sized Turbo Astrea snails on the overflow behind it. It is nice to see how the entire base of the coral has healthy tissue in what is fully shaded.

06/30/2006, 10:38 PM	#679
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	And the green slimer, with blue tips?! I guess it isn't an A. yongei after all.

06/30/2006, 10:41 PM	#680
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	And finally, the speck of Scripps acropora that I mentioned yesterday. Look at the polyp on this thing! Prodibio perhaps?

06/30/2006, 10:42 PM	#681
emilese Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Taiwan (formerly, Atlanta area) Posts: 199	FWIW, you tank still looks great! I have always enjoyed your posts and pics - very informative and inspirational. Miles

06/30/2006, 10:52 PM	#682
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Thanks Miles.

07/01/2006, 09:45 AM	#684
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Thanks Ben, and *To Reef Central* Talk about a huge task, reading this entire thread. Hope it helps you with your own tank.

07/01/2006, 11:34 PM	#687
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Here's a quick shot of the tank the day after the rockslide. It is a tad overexposed, but the corals look pretty good.

07/02/2006, 01:07 AM	#688
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	I discovered this little guy two nights ago. I couldn't believe my eyes. I have a Pavona coral, and apparently this guy must be a Pavona crab! He doesn't come out and crawl around, but during the daytime he withdraws more deeply into the coral's protection. I've looked at my reef a night many times, using a flashlight. I carefully study corals and the tiny stuff that zips about, but coming across this little guy was a surprise. I'll keep watching him to see if anything develops.

07/02/2006, 09:30 PM	#690
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Here is more information about the Gall Crab I recently discovered in the Pavona coral. More pictures are in that thread as well. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...55#post7667255 Here's my new hammer frag, already splitting (see the bubble?): An Ultra Maxima clam, still in good shape a week later. The orange Montipora capricornis is doing well, and growing out nicely. And here's a piece of a green tabling Acropora. Originally it was one branch, and because of its position, it still looked like one slightly larger stick. However, during the recent rockslide, I got a new perspective upon it. Really it needs to be reglued to that spot so it is level, but at the time I just wanted it somewhere safe. Anyone ever get an "anemone in a jar"? Well, here's my crazy LTA. It was hanging out in the prop section for the past week soaking up light from the 150w MH and getting any food that happens to be in the reef-soaked water and this evening I saw this:

07/06/2006, 11:52 AM	#694
itstheantitang Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 477	Up in the left top corner of the last two pics, is that grey fuzz just detritus? Because I have some of that, and am getting rid of it slowly, and it used to make a velvety coating on base rock that I could not get off. __________________ Ignore the smoke and smile...

07/06/2006, 12:57 PM	#695
OCDP Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Eh? Posts: 2,759	Melev, I absolutely love your tank. I love the rock work, it's amazing. I've been following your thread for a while now, just not really posting in it. I love your pictures and you are so detailed and we all love that about you. Your thread is very entertaining, always something new going on in your tank. Keep up the great work... you give me something to work towards one day __________________ aaaaaaaannddd.......... I'm broke. Current Tank Info: 20g Mixed Reef / 130w Coralife PC's / Koralia, Seio PH's / AquaC Nano / AC50 /

07/06/2006, 01:06 PM	#696
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	itstheantitang (what a fun name.. ) - yes, that is detritus in the sump. I really need to siphon that out in the next few days. It gathers in the return section of my sump which is finally my propagation zone. OCDP - thanks. The saga is ongoing... For those of you waiting on a certain podcast, Evan finally got it done yesterday after hours of editing. Then when he tried to access it, all he got was "file corrupted" and he cried himself to sleep. He should be resuming his task today. I need someone to send me some whips and other torture-related items if we are going to keep him in line.

07/06/2006, 03:54 PM	#697
rdmpe Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Central Florida Posts: 3,737	So the anemone crawled into the jar on it's own?

07/06/2006, 05:04 PM	#698
TCU Reefer Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 1,044	Can we get a full shot of the prop section? It's nice to see that you're propogating bubble algae now. I hear that's the next craze. Got a mille frag you can give me after the mille massacre? Also, did you pick up that yuma rock at Frank's? I saw one just like that there that caught my eye. __________________ Steve - DFWMAS Member Click on the red house to view my build thread Current Tank Info: 215g starboard SPS in-wall, AC Jr, 3 x 250w MH's, 10k Reeflux, 320w VHO actinics, closed loop w/ Sequence Dart and OM 4-Way, Tunze wavebox, VorTech, 2x modded MJ 1200's, ASM G4 recirc/meshwheel, Geo 618 Ca reactor, custom Melev sump, Mag 9.5 return

07/06/2006, 09:24 PM	#699
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Randy - yes, it climbed in there, and then later it climbed back out. It is on the base of the sump now. It moves a lot. Steve - I feel like I propagate cyano better than anything, lately. The ricordia rock was from DFWMAS day at Saltwater Paradise. The milli never was damaged, nor its baby.