Little bored this weekend so took some pics...

[richtpe]

Let me first make a disclaimer that there's really not any useful info in this post...more of a little arts & crafts project over the weekend.

That said...the tank is a 55 gallon that I bought as an established tank almost 2 years ago and have since put in some rock, a few fish, bunch of coral, replaced/added plenty of equipment, etc., etc. Currently have about 140 lbs. of live rock, aqua c remora skimmer, penguin bio-wheel, and phosban reactor for filtration. Added circulation by 3 maxi-jet 1200's and 2 micro-jet 450's, which alternate every 15 mintues between the left and right sides. Lighting is Current Orbit 4x65W power compact. All water paramters stay good (with the exception of calcium which I have a tough time keeping up).

Here's a couple of shots of the female clown hanging in the bta. It took about 4 months before she started hosting in this anemone, and now she rarely leaves it alone...
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/14/IMG_0529.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/14/IMG_0536.JPG

Here's the male hanging by the other anemone, which I'm actually not sure what type it is. This anemone was in the tank when I got it, was doing good for a few months, then decided to walk around the tank. Wasn't doing good at all, and it actually shrank to about the size of a golfball, got stuck in the intake screen on one of the maxi-jets and lost almost a quarter its body. I placed the remaining part by a rock and it took and gradually grew back and is now looking better than before.
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/14/IMG_0533.JPG

This would be Mr. Pink (aka pink margin wrasse). He's one of my favorites. The day after I put him in the tank, I was looking into it and he jumped out of the tank and wizzed right by my head. Not sure if he was gunning for me or not. Anyway, I was very glad to be there to put him back in the tank.
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/14/IMG_0546.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/14/IMG_0591.JPG

Before looking at the next pictures, please be aware that I now know that it's not a good practice to house two tangs in a 55, but did not before. I do plan on upgrading to a much larger tank in the next year or so (hopefully a 225), the fish do get along fine, I do have someone with a larger tank that can take them if it ever came to that, etc., etc.
Anyways, here's some shots of the purple tang and the blue tang..
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/14/IMG_0779.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/14/IMG_0785.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/14/IMG_0733.JPG

Here's Ol' Blue with the ruby head wrasse. In the first shot, you can see (besides my camera) my only SPS (acropora), which has some decent color. I've placed it at pretty much the highest spot in the tank I could, but I know it would look great under metal halides (that will be on the dream 225).
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/14/IMG_0560.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/14/IMG_0750.JPG

[richtpe]

Here's Mr. Grimmace Fridmani. In the background of this shot you can see my latest attempts to thwart the hairy mushrooms' not-so-secret plan to take over my tank. When I switched out my dsb a few months ago I replaced the rock so some of the mushrooms would not get any light. They didn't shrink or anything - they just bacame a little transluscent. I recently took two out using the surgical method of sucking them up with a siphon hose during water change and hacking it off the rock with my dive knife. As you can see from the nubs on the left, it's growing back. These things are almost as bad as the xenia as far as weed-like growth.
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/14/IMG_0697.JPG

Speaking of the xenia, here's a decent shot of it. Let's see, put in 5 stalks half a year ago, recently took out 6 stalks to give away, and this is left. I just don't get the math.
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/15/IMG_0601.JPG

Here's the blue spotted watchman goby (aka Rick James). The purple tang likes to believe it's his tank, but everyone knows it's really Rick's.
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/14/IMG_0753.JPG


Here are the clams. On the derasa (the 1st one), you can see a little ridge down towards the base of it's shell. That's how big it was when I got him about 9 months ago. It's now more than twice the size. I believe this guy is mostly responsible for me having a tough time with calcium levels.
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/16/IMG_0518.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/16/IMG_0519.JPG


My prized speciment, the red lobo. It was about half the size and a quarter of it was bleached white when I got it. It's come back very nicely. The second shot is of it feeding at night (turned the light on for a minute to take the picture).
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/15/IMG_0523.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/15/IMG_0722.JPG

The tube anemone. Very pretty, but unfortunately decided it liked it better in the back of the tank, mostly out of sight.
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/16/IMG_0600.JPG

[richtpe]

Here are some misc shots of the left, center, right and overall tank....
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/12/IMG_0693.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/12/IMG_0694.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/12/IMG_0811.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/12/IMG_0797.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/12/IMG_0823.JPG

A few actinic shots...
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/15/IMG_0623.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/15/IMG_0614.JPG
http://www.aquaticphotos.com/data/media/15/IMG_0613.JPG

That's all she wrote. To all those annoyed, sorry for the pointless post. But I do believe that if at least one person was able to waste even 5 minutes of work on a Monday morning, I've helped.

[mogurnda]

Annoyed? That tank looks fantastic! All that under PC lights, wow! Great job.

[sublime1184]

The things you can do when you're bored! Those pictures are awesome and the tank looks great!

[frobie]

*definitely in the office today, definitely monday morning, definitely spent more then 5 minutes wishing I that my FWOLR would sprout corals while im working today :) *plants magic beans


GORGEOUS TANK

[richtpe]

Thanks all for the kind words. I'm very happy with the tank these days, although I do find myself constantly fighting the urge to upgrade to metal halides....must...wait..for..bigger...tank.
Frobie - glad I could help make Monday at the office a little better. I have to admit that I've killed about 20 minutes today looking at these photos again, but between being an accountant and it being Monday, I don't think anyone could blame me.

[wattsd]

Thats a GREAT looking tank!! Everyone looked so healthy and happy!! Beautifull clowns!

[LordsSoilder]

AWEsome...

That Is what I want... One day i'll be there, just not today...

Pass the magic beans this way :cool2:

[telecubby]

spectacular

[richtpe]

Thanks again.


That Is what I want... One day i'll be there, just not today...
I'm sure you'll get to where you want. I attribute mine to lots of luck, lots of patience, and lots of information from this forum that helped correct a lot of the "expert" advice I was getting in the beginning (for instance, the actinic lights are not the same as moon lights and should not be kept on 24/7, putting a 45 lb. piece of uncured live rock in an established tank is not a good idea - boy, do I miss my coco worm - etc., etc.

[frobie]

*passes magic beans,

When I get older and find a career job, and live in the same house for more then 2-4 years then I'll definitely seriously consider a reef tnak, but for now, its a salt FWOLR and piranha tank ;)

[Zev]

what is your expirience with the clams on the sand bed....I have the same spects as you for tank and lighting and was under the assumption that I could not have clams under that lighting......really want clams but same as you decided to wait for halides untill a larger tank......The pics and livestock look incredible

[Swimfins]

very wonderful job!!! inspiring! a well wasted boring day lol :)

[Genji]

All I can say is AWSOME and truly inspiring! I'm on my first tank that I started in March. It's a 29 gal. freshwater, mostly semi-aggressive, but a few community. My 15 fish are beautiful and healthy, and I am absolutely loving this hobby! I said my "first" tank because I'm almost ready to add to my aquatic family with another, larger tank! Thanks for sharing your magnificant pics!!

[richtpe]

what is your expirience with the clams on the sand bed
The derasa has been great since I got it, and has always been on the sand bed. As I mentioned above, it's grown a ton since I put it in the tank. I think that derasas have somewhat less of a light requirement than the crocea (the other, larger clam I have). Regarding the crocea, I've always tried to place it somewhat higher in the tank to try and get it as much light as possible. It has not grown that much and I'm sure the colors would be more brilliant if I had metal halides (as I'm sure the derasa would also), but it is healthy. If I had to do it over again, I would probably get another derasa rather than a crocea.

Genji - you should go with a large reef tank for your next venture. They're a piece of cake... :rolleyes: ...well, at least there's rarely a dull moment with them.

[Blinky]

I'm drooling... gorgeous tank, beautiful pics :D

[ibanezgfx]

my 1st post!
that tank looks amazing! i want a SW tank so bad. lookin on this site to find out where to begin.
anyways, great tank!

[CharlieV]

what a tank! - Stunning absolutely stunning
Am in process of getting all my info together to convert my 30g - wish it would look like that!