finally beginning my 480g 5'x5'x30" SPS Reef Tank

[jnarowe]

Well, I think they will attached to coraline algae fairly well, but I don't have any proof of that. My initial implementation is on small rocks on the bottom in the theory that they will overgrow the rocks and move across the bottom. I have seen them attach to glass before, so I think it's entirely possible. I already have some planted in my tank.

[jnarowe]

Hey there, what's happening? Any luck on getting back over here? How are your tanks?

[thirschmann]

Good to hear from you Jon... I couldn't find my thread so I have been not been able to provide any updates. I got back from India a week ago, awesome by the way (check out web.mac.com/sbhfl for all the pictures and info). Then headed off to the Bahamas and just got back this morning to England.

On the visa front I have no update, I was following a lead that turned out to be nothing and wasted 3 months of my time... so that really sucks. But I'm actively going in another direction so it should be all good relatively soon though.

So my tanks.... my 120g has been broken down and I had to sell off all of my happy little critters, corals and rocks, so that was really depressing as I have had a lot of the animals and corals since I started this hobby. My "UK nano reef" is doing great. I have some pink zoo's that are taking off over the bottom of the tank (coralline not neccesary, they happily attach directly to the glass). While I was in India I did lose 2 baby clams and 3 small acro colonies but everything else is flourishing and doing great. I'm pretty happy with the way things are shaping up all things considered.

Hope all is well with your tank and things are recovering nicely, I'll have to catch up on my reading and your thread is #1 on my list.

[thirschmann]

Here is a taste of the my India pictures... I'm really happy with this one

[pcostanzo]

Hey Tom, glad to hear from you. The pictures look great. My neighbor and yoga guru came back from India not to long ago. Lots of history there. I would love to see everest one day.

[jnarowe]

excellent pic Tom. My tank has fully recovered from the dinos and is looking really good right now. It set me back but I was able to save frags of many of the doomed colonies.

I have about 15+ colonies of zoanthids that I am ecouraging to grow on the bottom of my tank. You think I could get them to grow into a design like my initials or a flag?

Something is eating my shrimp though, and at $20/shrimp, I need to solve that problem! I upgraded my skimmer a bit and recently installed a pre-filter floss box. That is helping a lot with clarity and even a bit with ORP.

[thirschmann]

First and foremost... no progress on the VISA front and I do realize that my current tank does not belong in this forum but I already have this thread so I'm keeping it alive, though barely... anyway.

I'm finally back again after a week long diving trip in the Red Sea... I highly recommend Hurghada Egypt for diving, truly excellent. I was glad to discover that my preparations for my mini UK reef and worked out and everything was doing very well on my return. I have posted some pictures below.

pcostanzo - thanks for the kind comment on the picture, I was very happy with it. I was lucky to get some good pictures in Egypt as well, perhaps I'll post those later. I highly recommend India, its still a wonderful place to visit but the number of tourists in the popular places is usually a drag... I'm assuming this will only get worse so the sooner the better. I'm looking forward to going back soon and possible visiting Nepal his time.

Jon - I checked your thread and I'm glad your tank is under control but I'm sorry to hear about that Vortec problem you had. I'm have an idea as to how your could grow your initials in zoos. You could create a ridge of rocks in your initials and drop one color zoo on it, while growing a large flat carpet of zoos in another color. Once the initials are overgrown you can place them on top of the flat carpet and with some trimming you could probably keep the initials fairly clear, probably one of the dorkier ideas in modern reef keeping but good luck..... BTW i have way to much time to think about this kind of crap.

[thirschmann]

Some before and after shots and closeups
This coral had been badly damaged in shipping and then held in a substandard tank at a store here



The edge was very damaged when I got this chalice and it was blotchy orange



You can see how bland this milli was before and now it has purple tips



This birdsnest was very pale and had a number of dead and dying spots due to the bad water movement it had before... I would say it has improved a significantly and is showing signs of nice growth

[thirschmann]

damn ill figure out what's wrong later... sorry

[jnarowe]

Good to see you back Tom!

[thirschmann]

first set of pictures

[thirschmann]

Some before and after shots and closeups
This coral had been badly damaged in shipping and then held in a substandard tank at a store here



The edge was very damaged when I got this chalice and it was blotchy orange



You can see how bland this milli was before and now it has purple tips



This birdsnest was very pale and had a number of dead and dying spots due to the bad water movement it had before... I would say it has improved a significantly and is showing signs of nice growth

[thirschmann]

Thanks Jonathan its good to be back...

[jnarowe]

Good work Tom.

[thirschmann]

and finally two more corals... the look better in person

a very fussy looking SPS with purple arms and neon purple/blue tips


A brownish acro with purple tips and white polpys and the rock had 3 other small colonies of different SPS growing on it, hard to tell in the picture

[thirschmann]

Thanks for the support Jon!

[erics3000]

SOunds like you have been living the good life for a bit..Welcome back bro.