Duane - your unidentified corals (all three of them) are Pocillapora. The first one (the biggest of them) looks a bit bleached out towards the bottom. It was probably not getting enough light wherever it was before. Pocillapora is a super beginner's SPS. It's quite forgiving, grows actually at a good pace and if it releases polyps they usually recover quite quickly again. One thing to also take care of is, they break apart easily as well...my original piece is now three different ones in my tank, due to it breaking several times when I was handling it.
Depending on the light, sometimes they'll have either a green haze or a pink/purple haze to them. I really like the Pocillaporas. I love how you can see all the fuzzy polyps on them. You'll enjoy them!
and don't fret too much about your Monti breaking...it just means you've got more pieces to grow into bigger ones. you already saved yourself the pain of fragging it in the future. maybe now you've got a few pieces that you can trade with in a few months time!
thanks for the ID reefbaby. I will do some reading on that species and see what I can learn!
I am growing somewhat concerned about my anemone still. He seems to have his oral disk exposed most of the time as it he is sprawled out over the rock. He has never detached himself, but his disk is becioming massive and I noticed he dropped a few tenticles in the past 24 to 48 hours.
For those who have never seen it, this is what a leather looks like when it sheds. Since I got mine it has shed at least twice. I freaked out the first time I saw it as I didn't know they did this.
Duane, Im not sure whats going on with your BTA and i dont want to get your hopes up, but after seeing those pictures i remembered that mine looked somewhat like that just before it split.. I wish i had a picture to show you, but the simptons of mine were. My clown stayed on the outside of it never trying to get into it and was very pertective over it.. also my BTA looked very bloated in the oral disk and in the rest its body.
I cleaned out my sump, return pump and skimmer last night. After getting everything cleaned up I decuded to attach a valve and air pump to the air intake tube of the TurboFloter skimmer to see if I got any more skimming out of it. With the valve way open it is very noisy and I think that may be the pump cavatating. I backed it down a bit ang there is a definate difference in bublles in the skimmer. I will see what happens.
My anemone seems to be doing better. He is still very large (probably 6"x4"), but he has not dropped any more tentacles. I have reduced my target feedings to him and I have alos increase flow a bit. From talking to others, I think he is just big and getting ready to split, but I am just guessing.
I made a purchase online of a 250 Watt metal halide setup from a private seller on reef central. I got the following:
It was used for 3 days on a new frag tank setup, then the owners wife said "NO MORE!" So I got it and a mini bio-wheel filter, heater, maxi-jet 600, mini-jet, a 9" fan and a power strip. All for less than the price of a new pendant and bulb. I should have it Tuesday!
Also found a new lil guy in the tank last night. I have not gotten a positive IDD, but it could be a Black Stomatella, or maybe a blask nudi. I will extract ASAP and get a positive ID. Here is a recent photo of the tank.
Thanks Dana, and good question. I think I am going to replace my current lighting with the MH unit and then replace my PC bulbs and try to set up a frag tank. I am not sure, but I would think that the 36" 4x96watt bulbs would allow me to grow some SPS in a 30 Gallon breeder tank that is on 12 inches deep.
I would like to grow some of the other corals in my main display and I also like the look that MH gives to the tank. One concern I do have is that I only have about 26" betweeen the top of my tank and the suspended ceiling in my basement. I will need to determine how high I need the light and give consideration for the heat on the ceiling itself. If need be I can remove the ceiling above my tank and build a custom sofit above the tank to give me 4 more inches of space, or install a small fan.
What I do not know if how hot the top of the lights themselves get as I have never studied one.
Been Busy!
Between the new baby and my new ideas, I have been very busy. I finally got my new 250watt MH light and took the time to remove my suspended ceiling above my tank, add bracing, mount the light and then figure out that there was not enought light for my tank. How I planned all of this with one 250 watt halide I will never know! According to PFO, I need 2 MH lights (one per 24x24 area). So, I decided to go with plan "B".
Plan "B"
I decided to keep my existing PC lights, so I replaced all the ceiling area that I removed and cleaned up the mess. Then I decided to use the MH on my frag tank, which is what I wanted to setup all along. So I got online and put up a post on the CORA (central Ohio Reef Aquarists) forum looking for a 20 log that was cheap. Someone one PM'd me with a suggestion to visit a LFS that recently moved as they had a bunch of used tanks. I picked up a 30 Gallon Breeder (24X18X12), that was drilled with a DYI corner overflow for $15. I also picked up a 10 gallon for $8.
I went to work measuring all of the unfinished portion of my basement as I would need more room. I spent the next 18 hours moving shelving, boxes, storage stuff, etc to make myself a better place to setup a system. I cleaned up the tank, and finally, 48 hours after deciding what to do, I have a brand new "Fish Pit" as my oldest daughter calls it!
As you can see, I have moved my phyto farm, and I have a new innocutation of nano, that Wes and I went halfs on. It is hard to see, but the 10 gallon is below and I need to pickup a pump to move the water, and finish the plumbing. I don't have a skimmer, but I do have a bio wheel filter, heater, maxijet 400, and fan unit.
Some outstanding questions...
Do I need to put some LR in this system somewhere?
What are the downfalls of not skimming?
Should there be any cleanup crew in there?
Do I need to cycle the system (I assume so).
Will my phyto grow under that 20000k light?
Project DIBS
When Wes and I met to split the phyto, I delivered Wes his livestock from Project DIBS. I am breeding Turbo Snails, Micro Brittle Stars, Annelids and hair worms. I have not had much time to keep up with all of them with all that is going on, but things will slow down this week.
Levels
I have to admit my levels are very good. I have not checked them in sometime and I think once a month will suffice now.
