Change is inevitable

[hmello@bermexin]

Some change history on my tank started 07-Jan-07. 29 gallon Bio-Cube.

07-Jan-07


09-Feb-07


04-Mar-07


04-Apr-07


07-May-07


11-Jun-07


25-Jul-07


On June 17th I installed the 4.36 lighting upgrade. Now have 2 36 watt 10k daylight and 2 36 watt actinics.

[Shooter7]

wow, those are a lot of changes - and that's coming from someone who has changed his 10g setup several times . Any particular look you're going for? Funny watching the coralline take over the back wall.

[hmello@bermexin]

Each time I was looking for something, but I don't know what. This last one I was trying to get a reef valley, but the tank isn't deep enough I think.

[HPD Turbo]

Amazin changes!!!!, god job!!
Very nice rock work, keep it up!!!

[kevin2000]

This should be a "sticky" ... hard to try and explain to anyone starting a tank just how much progress can be made if your just patient.

[Criminal#58369]

Now thats progress! Great looking tank!

[hmello@bermexin]

Yeah I think I have gone pretty slow and stedy. Lost these along the way; 2 fish , the poritie that I didn't have any business putting in so soon, the birdsnest acro is now just one brach fragged didn't have any business putting that in either, and the gorgonian that the LFS told me was photosynthetic, should have done more research on it. I like the new lighting and hope that it will help my acro frag and the new yellow slimer to grow. These are the new experiment to see if 144 watts of PC lighting will be enough for them.
Thank you all for looking and your positive comments.
What a great hobby this is.

[Victor1046]

Wow great progress! looks wonderful!

[Savas]

Tank looks great! I had a similar expereince buying from a local fish store - sold me stuff I was not ready for. I personally like the one wall look the best as it really shows off the corals. Great job.

[drummereef]

Nice progress pics. Funny how the tank looks nice in all of the photos.

[Osmotic Shock]

Very nice timeline. Great to see!

[mildew]

I don't think I'd call that "pretty slow and steady." You've done in 7 months what I haven't been able to do in 2 years; that is have a really nice looking tank. You've done well. Lost some things along the way, but haven't we all.

[hmello@bermexin]

Shot these pics in manual mode with the flash instead of auto.
FTS

Yuma

Trixie and Norton

Torch

Monti

Toadstool

Fox

Darth the Blue Assessor

[Avi]

hmello...it looks great. So, don't take it as any critique, but I notice that the yellow gorgonian didn't make it. I've been tempted to get one for my reef but have always been reluctant because of what I understand to be their heavy feeding needs. Did you feed? If you did, what did you try and how frequently?

[hmello@bermexin]

I must admit I was stupid. The LFS told me it was the photosynthetic kind and did not have to be fed. It was not. It needed to be fed. I read on wetwebmedia.com that they are extremely hard to keep alive (the ones that are not photosynthetic) and should only be tried by experiened reefers, of which my experience is about 7 months worth. I did want one that did not have these feeding needs and took the word of the LFS without doing enough of my own research. I will try a Gorg again but I will make sure I know what I am buying this time.

[Avi]

Thanks for the reply. I think that LFSs are frequently disingenuous on the side of getting some of your money out of your pocket and so, what you've experienced isn't all that uncommon. Figuring out which are non-planktonic is the trick or you have to be willing to commit tofeeding the tank to the point that excess nutrients becomes a threat, is the key when it comes to gorgonians. But, boy, are those yellows tempting!

[hmello@bermexin]

Yeah the yellows and the purples too. I am not ready to go to the excess nutrient point to keep them though so I am not going to try them again. Do you know which types are the photosytnthetic kind?

[Avi]

I really don't know and I'd like some info on that very thing. Maybe someone will post right here so that there's some definitive information that can benefit people that want to keep gorgonians.

[GoingPostal]

A good way to tell is the polyp color, usually they are brown if they live off light and white or bright colored if they need to be fed. Sealifeflorida and liveaquaria both have some nice easier to keep ones, fairly hardy, but still should be fed some form of plankton sometimes. I don't have any yet, but have done some research into them, sorry I'm bad at remembering scientific names.

[hmello@bermexin]

Changed the scape again. Did not really like the last one. What do you think?

[Randall_James]

Originally posted by Avi
I really don't know and I'd like some info on that very thing. Maybe someone will post right here so that there's some definitive information that can benefit people that want to keep gorgonians.

I have one that I have had for about a year. I dose ever other day with either DT's or PhytoFeast. (cost is about $.50 a day for phyto) It has grown only a small amount but is healthy. Certainly not an animal for a "clean" tank. I was dosing only weekly at first and found that the thing could not repair itself of any damages. As soon as I upped the dosing, it covered up a few bare spots and then started to slowly creep out.

Truly a PITA to keep..... I must admit that all the phyto has done wonders for the pod populations and my filter feeding crabs molt every 3 or 4 months....

[hmello@bermexin]

Hey Randall have you got a picture you can show us?

[Randall_James]

You will notice how turbid the water is in this tank (and this is in its more clear of the day state, approx 70G cube)

I kept this piece out of my SPS tank I sold as I doubt it would have survived.


Click to enlarge