Llj's 8G... Yuma/zoanthid Garden

[Man of fish]

That's looks fantastic!!! Wish I could do something like that!

 

[Biulu]

That is simply stunning! What is the white hair type/finger type stuff?

 

[lljdma06]

Just ... wow.

Thanks.

That's looks fantastic!!! Wish I could do something like that!

Marine tanks are great. Hard work sometimes, but great.

That is simply stunning! What is the white hair type/finger type stuff?

Hi Biulu! Thank you. The Royal Gramma is a risk. But it was also a $10 risk (on sale) and my risk to make. I've had him for about a month, but didn't want to post anything here until I knew which tank he was going to end up in. If he had caused problems or wasn't doing well, he would've been moved to the 36g, as he's also from the Caribbean. But so far, he's doing very well. He eats mysis, pellets, plankton, pretty much anything I put into the tank. I was agonizing over fish choice for a while in this tank. Originally this tank was going to have a Yasha haze/pistol pair and an orchid dottyback. The yashas would jump, despite me having a lid, and orchid dottybacks are just VERY hard to come by in Miami for some reason. I'm also super, super picky about the quality of my fish and didn't want to order one online. I had done some reading on royal grammas before and always liked the fish, but other hobbyists told me that they hide and are never seen. Others say it depends on the personality of the fish. I think I got lucky. He's a great little fish. And the watchman is great too. They get along and they are hardy, no-hassle fish. Only time will tell though. Haha, I feel like I say this with every post I make. I guess because I know people with 6 year old reefs and mine are still so young & I've been very risky with them. I'll be happy if everybody's still a live a year from now. Until then, I'm a paranoid reef-keeper always wary of impending disaster.

L

 

[SaltNoob]

So prettty =)

 

[MBOU]

Wow, its looking amazing! I love your zoas so much, how come they are just so neat and tidy!! Next i know you'll be creating frags and they will be in neat rows!!

How ironic, the shimp goby pair is identical to yours!!

 

[Biulu]

In what sense the Gramma could have caused problems? Sorry for my ignorance.... Could you please tell me what the white hair/finger type coral is?

 

[MBOU]

Im not sure about the gramma, i think they get over rated for being aggressive, i just dont see it, they are really territorial of their cave areas i suppose but clowns are so much worse!

Grammas are gorgeous, i dont/wont have space for one, shame because they are lovely! Far far FAR nicer than the Royal Dottyback (in the same colours) thats flooding the market here, nice little psychotic streak they have! Mind you, so do most dotties.

I think the coral you are looking at Biulu, is the Green Star Polyps?

 

[lljdma06]

In what sense the Gramma could have caused problems? Sorry for my ignorance.... Could you please tell me what the white hair/finger type coral is?

So sorry Biulu, yes, they are green star polyps. I've got two chunks of them.

Im not sure about the gramma, i think they get over rated for being aggressive, i just dont see it, they are really territorial of their cave areas i suppose but clowns are so much worse!

Grammas are gorgeous, i dont/wont have space for one, shame because they are lovely! Far far FAR nicer than the Royal Dottyback (in the same colours) thats flooding the market here, nice little psychotic streak they have! Mind you, so do most dotties.

I think the coral you are looking at Biulu, is the Green Star Polyps?

It's funny, I've heard that rap too and it's what discouraged me from them in the first place. People also said that they were very messy eaters and take food into dark crevices to store for later and that caused nutrient spikes. I've never seen my gramma do this. He eats very cleanly. If you didn't have the clowns, I'd totally say get a gramma. Hehehe What they do need is the cave or crevice to feel secure. My tank has a bunch of these spots and the only other fish is the watchman who doesn't bother him. So I guess he feels pretty safe and secure.

L

 

[Shovelman]

This ones perty too

 

[lljdma06]

This ones perty too

Thank you. This tank gets a water change today too. Haha, I'm always doing water changes. I've given some thought about switching the blue mushroom rock in this 8g with the green star polyp rock that's in the 4g. I like green star polyps in the 8g for some reason and the MH shows them off way better. While the mushies look very nice in the dimmer LED lighting. The rocks are similar sizes so it won't compromise the overall scapes too much or compromise LR load. May be something to try. Haha, gotta save money, so it's like getting a new tank without actually have to buy anything.

L

 

[Shovelman]

This ones perty too

Thank you. This tank gets a water change today too. Haha, I'm always doing water changes. I've given some thought about switching the blue mushroom rock in this 8g with the green star polyp rock that's in the 4g. I like green star polyps in the 8g for some reason and the MH shows them off way better. While the mushies look very nice in the dimmer LED lighting. The rocks are similar sizes so it won't compromise the overall scapes too much or compromise LR load. May be something to try. Haha, gotta save money, so it's like getting a new tank without actually have to buy anything.

L

Id try it out. Personally from looking at tons of reef tanks, i find groupings of the same coral or species absolutely stunning, versus small tid bits of poop loads of corals all randomly placed next to one another.

 

[lljdma06]

This ones perty too

Thank you. This tank gets a water change today too. Haha, I'm always doing water changes. I've given some thought about switching the blue mushroom rock in this 8g with the green star polyp rock that's in the 4g. I like green star polyps in the 8g for some reason and the MH shows them off way better. While the mushies look very nice in the dimmer LED lighting. The rocks are similar sizes so it won't compromise the overall scapes too much or compromise LR load. May be something to try. Haha, gotta save money, so it's like getting a new tank without actually have to buy anything.

L

Id try it out. Personally from looking at tons of reef tanks, i find groupings of the same coral or species absolutely stunning, versus small tid bits of poop loads of corals all randomly placed next to one another.

I ended up doing this Shovel, to a really good effect, for both aesthetics and overall coral health.

First upgrade, changed the fuge lighting to that LED fixture that's the display lighting in my 4g and all I can say is... HOLY CHAETO, BATMAN!! I gotta chuck stuff, and make room. Need a bigger fuge? I'm obsessed, can see myself doing the AC 70. Oh brother! Nutrient export is soooo massively important, guys.

Everything is still alive in this tank. Purty Flower, the giant pumpkin yuma, was still wreaking havoc. She like practically nuked the yellow polyps, the new gsp, and the new zoanthids, and tried to nuke my fire and ice zoas. Only coral left to combat a yuma? Another yuma and maybe something meaner... Something that tries to eat porcelain crabs perhaps... Rhodactis...

New Yuma position. Ok, Purty flower has now really been contained.

Really bad fts, promise will do it some HD justice this weekend. I like the new arrangement. The corals are doing so much better now. Fight fire with fire. She needed to be contained a bit, otherwise, you'd have a tank where nothing would grow near her. Not good.

And another porcelain crab video. This is a Caribbean one. I think I've got a hitch hiker Caribbean in my 36g too. I know Reefcleaners sent me green ones, but I keep seeing a random one in the 36g that looks like the one below.



Thanks for looking. Sorry was due for an update. Had work.

L

 

[GrayScale]

Your zoas make my eyes water everytime I see them. They look so bright and healthy!

I've been meaning to ask you, what kind of light cycle do you do with your tanks? Blue, both, blues, off? Or just all and off?

 

[lljdma06]

Your zoas make my eyes water everytime I see them. They look so bright and healthy!

I think part of it is that I feed them and the other thing is that I'm keeping Zoanthids under a metal halide. A lot of people treat the zoa like it's hardy, and don't get me wrong, it is a pretty tough coral for the most part. But a lot of people keep them in lower light levels and don't feed them. What happens, at least what I think happens is that over time, zoanthids kept under those conditions accumulate too much of the symbiotic algae, which can make the coral look duller. Whereas, I feed mine and I keep them under higher light conditions, so you don't need as much symbiotic algae and the colors stay pretty bright. I may be totally wrong, though.

I've been meaning to ask you, what kind of light cycle do you do with your tanks? Blue, both, blues, off? Or just all and off?

Like I said, this is a metal halide, so I don't really have a choice regarding what goes on. The blue light pictures that you see are done with the borrowed actinics from my 36g. I don't normally have those lights. Only the metal halide. I have a 9 hour photo period and that's it. Now, I do have my refugium on an opposite photo period. When the main lights are on, the fuge is off and vis versa. Has done wonders for the refugium. See...

When I first installed the new light...

The fuge now...

Yeah, I need to prune some. But rather than do that, why not just do this?

Oh yea, it's hardcore fuge action now. I just have to move the tank a bit more forward when I do the water change today to accommodate the new fuge's space. Never fear, though, the old fuge will go to the 4g. Things are never wasted, though. The old 4g fuge will go into storage until it's needed again. Hehe, knowing my mts problems...

L

 

[lljdma06]

I upgraded the to the Aquaclear 70 and I'm very pleased. I've got enough chaeto to spare and it's nice giving it to friends.

I'm doing a happy dance...

I'm getting my hands on some lovely frags from a fellow hobbyist.

1 green implosion paly
1 rainbow pocillopora
1 montipora undata

Hehe, me happy. My first sps in this group. Granted beginning sps, but sps. Also, I moved Bandolero (scarlet cleaner) over to this tank. He was robbing the suns of food. Bad cleaner shrimp and this is after I've fed him. Pig.

L