Smaller place, bigger tank...My 200DD build

[eric b 125]

I finally got the QT down to 1.009 today. All of the fish look great and are eating well. I'm really excited about this selection of fish. The angel and midas blenny are both fish that I've wanted for a while.

I noticed a few aiptasia yesterday before work so I got a few syringes and plastic tips from work and nuked them with Aiptasia X. I will definitely be getting a bunch of peppermint shrimp with my invert order.

Some of the frags that were especially questionable because of the lights-out period are making noticeable comebacks. I am very pleased with how the DT is coming along and I'm looking forward to continuing the recent progress.

 

[eric b 125]

 

[eric b 125]

Some of the frags that went through 3 weeks of lights out:

 

[eric b 125]

Some of the new frags:

 

[eric b 125]

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for the weekend. I haven't ordered anything from this site in years, but I'm hoping that there will still be some of the invert specials when I get back on Sunday. If that's the case I'm going to place an order.

 

[eric b 125]

Well, that didn't take long, LOL.. I just placed an order for:

2 porcelain crabs
10 coralline encrusted margarita snails (need to get some coralline growing)
10 peppermint shrimp
1 mexican turbo snail
20 nassarius snails
4 cleaner shrimp

Gonna start getting some life on the rocks!!!

 

[eric b 125]

Heading out for the weekend. Invert order to be delivered on Tuesday. I'm thinkin 5 more frags and a bottle or two of pods on Friday, plus another water change on the DT. I'll probably do a water change on the QT on Saturday, too.

 

[eric b 125]

Picked up 6 new frags today on our way home. Still going to grab some stuff on Friday, but not before getting the CO2 bottle filled for my calcium reactor.

 

[eric b 125]

No love? LOL

 

[reefkeeperZ]

waiting for pics.

 

[eric b 125]

Did those pics not show up? I didn't post any pics of the newest frags. I was sick as a dog earlier so I had to call off work. Something I hate to do. I'm feeling a good bit better now, though, and I'm going stir crazy, so I might head out to a different LFS and see what frags they have available. I will definitely have to get the calcium reactor online this week at the rate I'm adding frags. I'm only at about 21 frags right now, which is nothing for a 200 gallon tank, but the last time I had a calcium reactor online it definitely made a big difference.

 

[reefkeeperZ]

I see the ones of the new acros. I'm always waiting for more pics... lol

 

[eric b 125]

I did a 10 gallon water change on the QT this morning. I'm hoping that the invert order will arrive before I have to get ready for work.

 

[eric b 125]

Here are some pics of the new corals. Keep in mind that I have to take these pictures under whites only...

 

[eric b 125]

 

[eric b 125]

This is one of the frags that is making a comeback after the lights out period. It's a real bright lime green under normal lighting. You can at least see where new polyps are popping-up

I had a DSLR that seemed to have walked-off when my ex moved out...hmmmmm. I'd really like to find a point and shoot that can take decent pics of coral under actinic lighting. I'm not into photography like I used to be and I don't really care to spend a ton of money on a camera just for aquarium pictures.

 

[Tony Jacot]

Hey eric just wanted to say what a sweet project you got going on. My girlfriend and i will be upgrading to a 75 gallon build at the end of the year. Pretty much a noob when it comes to building reef setup's, but i was wondering from your photos if you were to hang the lights "horizontal" vs "verticle wouldn't you get more light coverage? Excuse the noob question but i know this will be something to consider when we upgrade to a bigger tank.

 

[reefkeeperZ]

Those are all nice looking frags. and no worries about lighting during photos, i'm fairly familiar with the appearances of corals under tons of different lighting. I would rather see natural shots than the photos where people "adjust" them for color,

 

[eric b 125]

Hey eric just wanted to say what a sweet project you got going on. My girlfriend and i will be upgrading to a 75 gallon build at the end of the year. Pretty much a noob when it comes to building reef setup's, but i was wondering from your photos if you were to hang the lights "horizontal" vs "verticle wouldn't you get more light coverage? Excuse the noob question but i know this will be something to consider when we upgrade to a bigger tank.

Thanks Tony! I really appreciate the compliment! My lights are only 32" long. My tank is 4ft long and 3ft front-to-back. I hung them this way simply because it was the best fit between these lights and this tank. If the lights weren't practically new (used only a short time on my last tank) then I would have bought two 48" fixtures and hung them in the traditional side-to-side fashion.

At some point, maybe by the end of summer, I would like to upgrade the lights but for now this works out well. For one, I can swing each fixture to the side of the tank so I have full access. Also, it gives me the ability to have higher and lower light corals throughout the H of the tank. The shadow you see in pictures isn't nearly as visible to the naked eye.

 

[eric b 125]

Those are all nice looking frags. and no worries about lighting during photos, i'm fairly familiar with the appearances of corals under tons of different lighting. I would rather see natural shots than the photos where people "adjust" them for color,

Thanks! It would be nice to see some of the color 'pop' in pictures, though.