fort's 57 gallon Rimless Reef Build

[fort384]

[mfdrookie516]

Lookin good man

[Sniperhank]

Wow, that sps is mind blowing.

[EmperorFish]

awesome setup and corals ...

[jjamontan]

Looks great

[fort384]

Thanks all. It is really coming along.

[fort384]

Some new additions tonight:
I added 3 black bar Chromis (they are camera shy still, so no close ups). I also added another SPS (a montipora maybe? ID would be great), some GSP (which aren't open yet so no pics), and a trumpet.

Here is a nice shot of the anthias. The pink has really started to come out a lot more since I put him in the tank.


A couple of the black bars made an appearance in this shot:


The new trumpet, not opened up completely yet:


A nice angle view:

[fort384]

And the token FTS:


The gramma is really coming out a lot more now... still hangs on one side of the tank, but rarely hides any more:


This "red sea" pulsing xenia as my LFS dubs it is doing great:


My banded coral shrimp... doesn't seem to feisty so far. I have seen him nip once or twice at the clowns when they bug him, but other than that, pretty calm... except when I dump in some Rods Reef food anyway...


And the other angle:

[mfdrookie516]

A picture might be helpful in ID'ing that SPS

[fort384]

My terrible attempt at a pic of the black bar chromis:


The new SPS (need ID!) and my blue mushroom in the lower right. The shroom has grown quite a bit in just a few weeks:


The new trumpet and the fauvia. I have been spot feeding the fauvia once or twice a week, and all the tentacles come out. Seems to like that.


The jasmine polyps are doing amazing. They are completely encrusting the rock they are on, and you can see all the new starts in the lower part of the pic:


The frogspawn is still recovering, but it looks 100% better than it did during the worst of lighting disaster. The green zoas in the lower left were also highly effected by the excess light, but they are opening more every day... I thought they were dead initially but now I have hope:




And just a reminder of how far this tank has come in a few months:



Anyway... lovin' my reef so far... can't see ever going back to fresh

[fort384]

Originally Posted by mfdrookie516

A picture might be helpful in ID'ing that SPS

Patience... patience...

[scottayy]

Nice xenia.

I really love my anthelias but it just will not grow very much. I have read that they like dirty water (which I do not have (thumbs up!)). But maybe I should attach it to a rock instead of the sand?

Let me know how that xenia grows for you. Also, hows that one zoa polyp doing that you had?

[fort384]

Thanks scottay! The xenia is already growing, even after a few weeks. There are already a few new heads popping up.

Which zoa head? The original original one that hitch hiked on the live rock? It is still alive, but doesn't ever open. I am sure I nuked it really well since I ran the lights at 90%+ during cycling for several days in a row. But, it still has color, and I can see it hiding down in the rock... it just never extends.

[scottayy]

Cool, I saw this tank where it grew along the entire back wall and looked sweet. I thought I remembered a pic where there was one zoa head that you had. But if that is the case it will come back and start a colony. I've had 3 corals now that have been closed for like a month or longer and come back and thrive. They were all due to my anemones lol.

Anyways, you're looking very reefy!

Seems you do not have any coraline on the glass yet. Are you scraping it off or it just hasn't grown there yet?

[fort384]

I clean the glass every day. I am a little OCD about stuff on the glass.

[redsea]

I am liking the tank fort! Congrats on your new additions!

Do you have any of your FW left? I got rid of my 20g Freshwater this past winter.

[fort384]

I have a very neglected 12L planted tank... it might eventually turn into a nano reef...

[fort384]

Did my weekly water change today and a comprehensive water testing for the first time in several weeks. Tank is looking good... 0 NO3, 0.03 PO4, 500 Ca. I finally have the skimmer dialed in well to skim about 2 cups of goo a week.

I do see 2-3 bubbles of valonia in the tank (you can see it in the last pic). Should I get an emerald crab, or just trying and manually remove it, or what?

Here are some shots from today after the PWC:

[TLTGF]

If you pop the bubbles it'll spread faster... Not sure what to suggest. Your tank is looking phenomenal - kinda depresses me that my tank doesn't look nearly as good after a year of being up!

Awesome photos as usual. I still can't my real camera to take macro shots, or really any shots in the tank - really stinks. I can focus on a license plate 3/4 of a mile away and tell you when the tags expire, but 6" from my face is doomed to garbage

Anyway, keep up the great work!

[redsea]

I really like your fishes, very nice.