20 Gallon High

[blastprimo]

I figured since my tank is starting to actually house
live rock and sand, I can move it from the beginner
into here. So now pics of my tank and sump:

oh yeah, I am planning on adding more rock to both the sump and main tank as well.

 

[incysor]

It's looking really fantastic. Thanks for posting pics of your progress.

B

 

[blastprimo]

Thanks again. Now here is another pic after 10 more lbs of live rock
from a local reefer.

Now comes more waiting and testing to see when I can add more things.

 

[djconn]

I like it. Nice work with that big cave in the middle! :thumb:

 

[blastprimo]

It has been a while...Here are the updates.

I got a new light a while back (CoralVue 10K)

Then on Friday, I picked up some Zoa frags from my LFS. Here is one of them. Orange Skirts with more of a light blue center. Obviously, there is a couple yellow ones mixed in on this little frag. The other frag is more common green skirts.

And I also got my first fish. I went with a really healthy looking chalk bass.

He is doing good and has been eating like a pig yesterday and today. He is more colorful then I expected after looking at pics of them online and in books. It took him a while to get used to coming out into the light. I guess the MH is a little bright for a while.

 

[shaggydoo541]

Looking good... I especially like the addition of the new rock makes the tank look a lot better. Keep the updates coming.

 

[blastprimo]

New Frags

I recently got some new frags from a fellow michigan reefer so here are some update pics.

Here is the small pieces of Purple Monti. digitata

Here is a chunk of the Orange Digitata

and finally a small frag of red Zoas

 

[djconn]

I might need a frag of those red zoas once they take off. Nice frags you picked up there.

 

[blastprimo]

Hopefully those bad boys can get growing. I recently lost a small frag of green zoas but the orange and yellows in the tank are doing amazing. The reds still look good and I think the green had some bacterial problem. I tryed the fresh water lugols dip but I think I was a little late to get that dip going. Oh well. Thanks for the compliment though.

 

[YMCA]

Digitas are by far my favourite SPS. Tobad we only see them like once a year here

Josh

 

[ghostbear29]

I agree with the digis. I have the same kind. Way cool and way hairy. That rock has totally matured. I love the coloring. How long do you expect the digis to start growing. I read alot of literature and to no avail. Are they pretty slow?

 

[blastprimo]

I don't know about growth rate. I know it depends on water quality and trace elements but what I can tell you is that I am not seeing much visable growth yet. In my 75 gallon, I could see some serious encrusting at the base and new arms of my digitata at about 2 months. So I am assuming about the same here. We will see.

 

[blastprimo]

I added a pair of nigripes clowns this weekend. That will end the fish stocking of the 20 gallon. Here is a quick pic that makes them look a lot bigger then they are.

 

[ghostbear29]

nice clowns you got going there. Where they sold as a mated pair?

 

[blastprimo]

Na, they were just in the same tank and looked to be almost paired up naturally. One was a little smaller and so far in my tank they have been sticking very close togther so I am pretty excited. Now if I could just get them to come out in the open a little more. They are still a little shy and it is tough to feed them because my chalk bass eats everything in the water.

 

[blastprimo]

New Montipora

Yesterday while I was feeding the tank I decided to take a quick top down photo that shows the new montipora danea (pretty sure on that one but not positive) and the orange digitata.

and I saw that my red zoas now have a 7th polyp forming (this is kind of like watching corn grow but I am excited)

 

[ghostbear29]

looking good. I have the same problem with my clown except opposite from you. MY clarkii is the pig and my chromis is the beleagured one. I end up putting the a/c30 on high flow to mix the food around better or I put food in two different places on the surface.

 

[blastprimo]

NEW photos

Allright, a local reefing friend gave me some cabbage and a large frag of sinulara (finger style). Then this weekend I picked up a small colony of the green ORA birdsnest. I took a pic and it turned out really cool so need to post it.

Here is the overall tank and then a pic of the birdsnest

 

[mihkaail]

Hi

Just wanna say your tank is awesome. Really like the aquascaping, the cave looks great. The sps seems to be doing real well, especially the birdnest. What are your water parameters?

One last thing, are your clowns hosting anything? Im setting up a new tank soon and wanna see how clown pairs behave in other tanks.

 

[blastprimo]

The tank is doing well and thank you for the comments. The SPS are doing good but I can not take credit for the birdsnest as I just purchased it today from a local reefer.

My parameters are as follows (just did the weekly chemical experiment)

• Salinity: 1.024
  PH: 8.2 to 8.4
  Temp: 79 degrees F
  Alk: approx 2meg/l
  Nitrite: 0
  Nitrate: 0
  Ammonia: 0
  Phosphate: 0.1
  Calcium: 440
  Iodine: 0.05

Thats about all I am testing for now. I feed cyclop-eeze and DT's oyster eggs for the corals and a mix of frozen prime reef, formula 1 flakes, and frozen mysis shrimp to the fish.