Just a few Pics

[mwladdicted]

Originally Posted by MUCHO REEF

Did you experience any initial polyp retraction, bleaching or color shifting with the new 400 watts MH's?

Those purple polyps are known for browning out under intense lighting is why I asked above.


Mucho Reef

PS. I've only known 2 people who have ever ran 400's with zoas and plays. The coloration is/was stunning to say the least, but height of placement was vital.

At first there was a few issues, but, like you said placment is crucial with the 400's. Some did ok higher up in the center, mainly zoa's. my palys never did good higher up. I would say 90% are in the lower 2/3s of the tank and thats where I see the best results as far as growth and color.

Originally Posted by Circleofdocs

Wow!! Those are some killer shots... What's ur suggestions for shooting zoos?

First, I'd say you need a good macro lens, 60 or 105mm. I use a 105 but everybody is diffirent.

Also, always use a tripod and never shoot at an angle, shoot with the camera level to the subject and directly in front of it. That makes all the difference for me. Oh, and shoot in raw mode.
Cheers,

[sssnake31]

Great looking zoa's and pictures, Did you use a Tripod to take them?

[MUCHO REEF]

Originally Posted by mwladdicted

Yeh, no worries,
Lets see here
As far as my parameters go,

SG-1.025
Nitrate-5 ppm or less
Calcium-about 410 at the moment
Alk-8 dkh
Mag-1350
Phosphates- 0
PH- 7.8-8.2

I use 2x 400w 20k Radiums. The radiums are on for 6 hours a day. 10-4pm
Also, I use a 48" 3w reef bright LED strip for my actinics which is on from 8-7

Current- 2x vortech mp40es and a Dart for my return

Before the switch I had a 30 gallon fuge that I loved! but after the transfer got rid of it and I'm regreting it now. Iplan a deffinatly gettin one again in the futurei.

What I've learned in keeping zoanthids and paly is the faster you try and make them grown the longer it seems to take. If you are patient and leave them be with stable parameters they grow like weeds. Some people say some grow faster than others but I see the same rate all around. could just be me though.

I use lamote test kits. They a little complicated but worth it for there acuracy.

The macro shots are daylight shots. Heres some others. I don't like actinic shots cause I cant take them to save my life lol
Cheers,


My wierd polyp in poylp purple death

Hey Tom, how's it going? Any updates on your system? Still loving your tank man.


Mooch

[jdhardy]

Really nice tank.

[Gtownguy487]

Mucho would you mind looking at my thread? I need your help

I tried to send you a message but couldnt

[solracju]

The first pic is called fire and Ice

[MUCHO REEF]

Tom, how's it going? Update?

[mwladdicted]

Mucho whats up man was wonderin were you went for a minute. I was accualy about to post some new pics. I just moved and had to downgrade to a 120 because the 180 wouldnt fit in my new place. My wife was nice enough to allow a fish room which has made things alot easier. Ill post up a couple pics later tonight.

[mwladdicted]

here are a few i had uploaded already. had some decent growth in the past couple months. had 2 tank crashes since then to unfortunatley, chiller hose busted off and drained my tank. everything is slowly coming back though





added a few fish as well


More to come tomarrow when the light comes back on.

[mwladdicted]

Natural sunlight


and one actinic

[MUCHO REEF]

Just curious, how much time elapsed before you realized the hose malfunctioned?

How much livestock did you lose?


Mooch

[mwladdicted]

I lost I'd say 95% of my lps and 1/3 of my zoas. They tank was about a week with only 2/3 of the water in the dt and 1 vortech still kickin a the stuff that did survive is comin back really well though. I also switched to 250w halides.
Happy st Patrick's day
- tom

[MUCHO REEF]

Two thumbs up on the switch to the 250's. Those 400's can produce some crazy stunning colors but at a major cost as I'm sure you know.

Did you go with DE or SE?

[A. Grandis]

Wow! Good shots!!
And they get natural light too!!!
Love the colors.
keep the good job!

Grandis.

[MUCHO REEF]

Originally Posted by MUCHO REEF

Two thumbs up on the switch to the 250's. Those 400's can produce some crazy stunning colors but at a major cost as I'm sure you know.

Did you go with DE or SE?

Tom, I see you logged on and maybe you missed this.

[mwladdicted]

Originally Posted by mykol reef

nice tank

Thanks for the kind words

Originally Posted by A. Grandis

Wow! Good shots!!
And they get natural light too!!!
Love the colors.
keep the good job!
Grandis.

yeh its my favorite time to see the tank, almost makes me want solar tubes.... almost. and thanks!

Originally Posted by MUCHO REEF

Tom, I see you logged on and maybe you missed this.

I guess I did! But yes, the 400's were nice but not so cost effective, I was also tired of having to worry about placement so much, I have alot more options now.(SE BTW) I added a couple more polyps yesterday and a little refugium! will take some pictures in the morning. I've just about used up every available space in my tank so now I get to just sit back and watch it grow!!

~Tom

[MUCHO REEF]

That's great, sounds like you dodged a bullet. Glad everything is coming around for you. Make sure you thank the wifey for the fishroom

[MUCHO REEF]

You said, "a little refugium", did you mean that literally?

[mwladdicted]

Yeh its a little one, just drilled an extra 10 gallon I had laying around. Been gettin some really good growth lately so I figured I would post a few pictures. I dont know what it is but all my polyps just exploded; babies everywhere!! Anyways....

[MUCHO REEF]

And I see that you're just letting them grow and not fragging them.......good for you man.

To what do you attribute the sudden growth spurt? Done anything different?

My friend, I am highly, I mean highly concerned about that Hippo Tang you have. We never talk about it much in this forum, but that Hippo is a known zoa polyp eater. I have even experienced it myself back in the day. Watched him swim up and pop off a head and believe me I kept him fed with alternative food. Others here and all over the net have experienced this as well. As much as I love surgeons ( Tangs ), I would never put one in with a tank full of zoas. Not telling you what to do by any means, just a heads up. Sooner or later, it may take a month or years, but they will decided to eat one and once they get the munchies, it's all over. Just keep a serious eye on him.

Check out this link and click on all the links inside this thread below.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...+tang+eat+zoas

Good to hear from you man. Hope you and the wife are doing well and as always, thank you for your service to our country.

Mucho Reef

[mwladdicted]

I did notice an earlier thread mentioning Regal tangs eating polyps. I have been meaning to get him out since he is getting to big for my tank anyways. However, he is a quick little bastard! Luckily, I haven't seen any zoa munching yet. One thing that i did recently was scrape all my polyps I had on plugs off and just superglued them to the rock work. A week later my polyps double and even triple, if I had a 4 polyp frag it had 8 babies around it the next week. Maybe in healing it spurred new polyp growth? What ever it is I'm happy with it!! How is your tank doing mucho? I think its about time you update!!
Cheers

[eyeluvcoral]

Nice pictures! Everything looks really healthy.

[miamiaquarium]

really nice set up and pictures

[mwladdicted]

Thanks for the kind words!

[jvdub20]

Looks great!