Carey's 40b Reef Build

[deckaman225]

Looks great Carey!!

[carey]

Hey guys, thanks alot! I appreciate it!

I did not get any new fish the other day, BUT I did get 2 new corals. I got a gorgonian and a hydrophora (spelling is off I know lol). The second one is super hairy and they both look to be doing fine. They both fell off their plugs when I put them in so I had to mand handle them a bit to get them glued back on a plug. lol The hyrdophora one is closed in one small section I believe due to that, but I expect it to open up like the rest of the coral.
Here are the photos!

[mr_X]

You know Carey, I'm not convinced that Hydnophora is SPS. I've had both the branching and the encrusting, and they do remind me of large polyp corals. I see they say it's SPS all over the net, but then again, they were doing that for years with Pectinia corals as well, and I see they finally changed that.
The branching type is more SPS-ish, but the encrusting doesn't act like sps at all. Here's what Live Aquaria has to say about it-
Unlike many other SPS corals, Hydnophora sp. corals can consume relatively large meaty items by consuming it outside of the skeleton. Offer zooplankton, brine or mysis shrimp, or other chopped meaty items that are marine in origin to supplement its diet.
Not to mention that the skeleton of the encrusting type is thin like a chalice, and grows over top of rock with gaps under it, instead of growing on it, like a monti or other encrusting sps would.
Just thinking out loud here.

[Rpbustillo]

Originally Posted by carey

Hey guys, thanks alot! I appreciate it!

I did not get any new fish the other day, BUT I did get 2 new corals. I got a gorgonian and a hydrophora (spelling is off I know lol). The second one is super hairy and they both look to be doing fine. They both fell off their plugs when I put them in so I had to mand handle them a bit to get them glued back on a plug. lol The hyrdophora one is closed in one small section I believe due to that, but I expect it to open up like the rest of the coral.
Here are the photos!

Awesome! Hopefully I'll be picking up a piece of hydnophora today, as a late birthday present.

[carey]

Very good information X, I havent seen the encrusting type so I can't really form an opinion either way. I do know that when the coral is closed it almost has a "mat" type of a covering on the limbs, but it also has some stony looking lines that go up and down.
What made me love it so much I had to buy it was the immense amount of polyps, it looked like a little shaggy dog in their tank and I love the look. Some of the polyps are quite large I have to admit and I can imagine they could catch small brine shrimp without much trouble. I'm not a big coral feeder but I will give it a try next time I do feed them. I'm betting it will look amazing.
As far as light demands though, does it behave like an SPS needing high light? I have mine off to the front of the tank, not directly under the leds and it seems to be loving it there. AS you know, my orbit leds are unproven as a high light solution but I guess we will see.

Happy late birthday RPBUSTILLO! I love getting fish and coral as a birthday gift, hope you get a very nice piece. Its an awesome coral.

[mr_X]

It's been a long time since I've kept the branching type, but I believe I used to keep the where I would other SPS. The encrusting type however, I've kept close to the sand bed and it did amazingly well, and grew much faster than any SPS, or maybe I should say other SPS, I have kept.

[redsea]

Carey, were you able to get the stand for the 60g? How is it?

[carey]

LOL Red, the 60g stand is a nightmare.

Would you believe it is too narrow on top to even fit the tank???? He used a marineland tank as a guide and that tank doesnt have a bottom brace so it doesnt fit. :-( The stand has a "cover" if you will running around the top of the stand so you cant see the bottom but I have a deep blue tank so it was a no go. I am bringing it back tomorrow so he can fix it. So far he gave me a $25 gift card for my trouble and promised me another coral for this snafu.
I got the sand today for the 60g as well so I am just waiting for him to fix it and then we can move along. lol
I am going to my fave lfs tomorrow, they are having a 25% off sale on yellow and sailfin tangs so I need to pick one up. I figure a nice sized yellow and a still undetermined other tang. lol This store tends to have like every kind of fish so it will be a surprise as to what i end up coming home with. hehe
Will keep you all posted, with pics of course.
And as a side note, the SPS is still doing well under the orbit lights, looks very promising. If this frag does well i wont hesitate adding a rbta at some point. Maybe a monti cap or two but I will keep the sps count low.

[redsea]

Oooo! Fish shopping is fun as always! Sorry about that stand, it seems like he is handling the situation well though...once that is fixed you will be all set!

[carey]

lol, you know I have no idea really what i want to do with the 60g......

It will have the radion led over it so I was toying with, just thinking "maybe" I would do an SPS tank. I plan on cementing the rocks together so I can make a very tall rockscape as the tank is two feet deep and has a really good footprint. Then I thought I could glue all sorts of sps frags on the rocks going all the way up to the top. It wont look like much at first but if it takes off it will look awesome one day. LOL

[redsea]

Originally Posted by carey

lol, you know I have no idea really what i want to do with the 60g......

It will have the radion led over it so I was toying with, just thinking "maybe" I would do an SPS tank. I plan on cementing the rocks together so I can make a very tall rockscape as the tank is two feet deep and has a really good footprint. Then I thought I could glue all sorts of sps frags on the rocks going all the way up to the top. It wont look like much at first but if it takes off it will look awesome one day. LOL

There is a possibility! So many options!

[carey]

Big day today!
Picked up a nice medium - large yellow Tang and a large orange shoulder tang!!! They went into the 180g this evening, had to shut the lights down as the tomini was chasing the poor yellow. :-( The orange shoulder ate like a pig minutes after being added though and no one seemed to bother him so thats a good thing.

Also picked up a HUGE lobo, its red and was only $40, they had a half price sale today only so I just had to get it.

Pictures to follow tomorrow after the lights come on.

Thanks for reading my endless posts guys!

[redsea]

Originally Posted by carey

Big day today!
Picked up a nice medium - large yellow Tang and a large orange shoulder tang!!! They went into the 180g this evening, had to shut the lights down as the tomini was chasing the poor yellow. :-( The orange shoulder ate like a pig minutes after being added though and no one seemed to bother him so thats a good thing.

Also picked up a HUGE lobo, its red and was only $40, they had a half price sale today only so I just had to get it.

Pictures to follow tomorrow after the lights come on.

Thanks for reading my endless posts guys!

I still can't get over how things have changed with the Tomini, she has gained lots of confidence! I am sure she will come around. That is so exciting about the new Tangs, I can't wait to see the pictures (orange shoulders are so cool too!). It sounds like a good day overall!

[carey]

Found the orange shoulder wedged in the rocks just now. :-(

The yellow seems to be fine.

I acclimated for almost an hour too, no idea whats up with the one that died. Not an especially hard tang to keep, but after talking to the store I got him at they said he can be a more difficult tang, almost as bad as the powder blues as they are in the same family.

[TheTodd]

That is a quick turnaround though. Especially if it was eating right away. I've never had one, but I didn't think they were that difficult.

[carey]

I've been thinking about this tang issue for awhile now....I think I may set up the 25 tall I have and get another tang and qt his butt first.
I've also been thinking I may not have enough hideyholes for this many big fish. I have about 30lbs of base rock which I think i may add to make some more caves. I will lose the open space behind the rock formation though and I really liked that they had a raceway to swim in behind the rocks, but I really dont know what else to do at this point. I am getting really tired of losing these expensive fish not to mention the fact that I am killing them somehow.
Think I am on the right track with my thoughts? Let me know....

[redsea]

Originally Posted by carey

I've been thinking about this tang issue for awhile now....I think I may set up the 25 tall I have and get another tang and qt his butt first.
I've also been thinking I may not have enough hideyholes for this many big fish. I have about 30lbs of base rock which I think i may add to make some more caves. I will lose the open space behind the rock formation though and I really liked that they had a raceway to swim in behind the rocks, but I really dont know what else to do at this point. I am getting really tired of losing these expensive fish not to mention the fact that I am killing them somehow.
Think I am on the right track with my thoughts? Let me know....

Hmmm, tough question. It isn't really possible for them to be getting stuck in the rock, is it? So, you were thinking about quarantining this guy to make sure he doesn't die of a disease? And if he comes down with one, you could treat him in that tank. The only thing is....do you think a QT tank would stress a big fish out? People QT big fish all the time though, so it could be okay.

Sorry I wasn't much of a help! I was just typing all my thoughts into a post as they came, lol.

Is the Yellow doing alright?

[carey]

Hey Red...

Yep, so far so good with the yellow. No more chasing or any aggression, he eats well and seems ok. I am optimistic, I hope this doesnt jinx it. lol

I was thinking QT to make sure it isnt any disease killing the tangs, but the yellow is fine so I have no idea what to do next.

Waiting on the stand for the 60g to come back to me, it was dropped off last week to get it made larger on top so hopefully that will be done soon.

Other wise all the tanks and fish are doing well, no issues other than a little red slime in the 40b which I am working on,. lol

[redsea]

Yes, hopefully the stand will arrive soon! I'm am so glad Mr. Yellow is doing well, they are such beautiful fish!

[redsea]

How is everything going with the tanks?
Is that stand treating you well?