Cali Kid Corals

Diver's Paradise: Take Two!

Spoon said:
OMG!

Your tank is bad ass. I love your gardens..I especially love the Orange Gorgonian. That's one of my favorite NPS. I tried keeping one years ago..but I failed.

How long have you had it? Growth? Tips!?

Also, I may have missed it earlier, forgive me. But I saw your "only SPS left", is there a reason you kept the Undata? It's very pretty.
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Thank you so much! The orange tree gorgonian came from Baja Reef in Union City. I haven't had good luck with NPS gorgs, but I was told the orange tree gorgs they were getting in are aquacultured, so if someone is able to grow them out and sell them, they must have a pretty hardy lineage. Also, it was only like $30 plus a 25% off sale, so it was worth giving it a try. I've had it for like a month and a half, and so far its been doing really well for me. I'm not 100% sure if its growing, but it looks like it is. I need to compare some photos to be sure. I know they like high flow and then I've just been feeding it every day. I make sure to add some Marine Snow once a day and then every couple days I also add some Phytoplex and Coral Frenzy. Also, I've notice it snatches mysis shrimp during feeding time and eats some of those. I'll keep you updated on it :)

I lost the majority of my SPS in the crash, so it wasn't so much a choice to get rid of them, but then I decided I just wouldn't buy new ones and take this set-up in a different direction. I had some small frags that I gave away because I wasn't really interested in this tank being covered in frags and waiting for them to grow out. Considering this tank was a very full, mature 2 year old tank when it crashed, it was hard to go back to starting with a bunch of tiny frags. I also had a big red monti left, but I just didn't have a good spot for it on the new scape and it was nothing special, so I fragged it up for the new member event. After that, it was really just the undata left. I grew it out from a tiny frag and have fragged it several times myself, so I'm a bit attached to it. Also, I had the perfect spot for it on the scape, so I figured it could be my one SPS coral. Its still not back to its former glory (it browned out REALLY bad during the crash), but its starting to look good again :)
 
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Awesome tank...I like how open your scape is. I love your nem collection, especially the flower rock(gorgeous! ) and Tube anemones. Not too many shops carry rock nems anymore, which is unfortunate because theyre so dang pretty. All your leopard wrasses look fat and happy too...they are among my favorite fish!! Great job and happy reefing!
 
I always looking forward to seeing your updated photo's and video's - everything is just so beautiful!

I love your BTA's (since I haven't had any luck with those)! (Didn't you have more than one clam or were they in your seahorse tank?!) Anyway, stunning and thanks for taking the time to share!
 
Drippy_fetus said:
Awesome tank...I like how open your scape is. I love your nem collection, especially the flower rock(gorgeous! ) and Tube anemones. Not too many shops carry rock nems anymore, which is unfortunate because theyre so dang pretty. All your leopard wrasses look fat and happy too...they are among my favorite fish!! Great job and happy reefing!
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Thank you! My previous scape was really cluttered, so I wanted to go for a more open look this time around. I love how much better it looks with some negative space. I had absolutely no anemones up until a couple months ago and now I am so hooked. I'm glad you like my collection :) You're right that not too many local shops carry the rock nems, and I agree that its too bad. They're very easy, hardy, and beautiful. I had to order all but one of mine online. Even then, there are still only a few online vendors for them. The leopard wrasse is my absolute favorite fish now. She is insanely fat! I was worried she'd be hard to feed but she eats like a pig and is never shy. :)
 
Geneva Wong said:
I always looking forward to seeing your updated photo's and video's - everything is just so beautiful!

I love your BTA's (since I haven't had any luck with those)! (Didn't you have more than one clam or were they in your seahorse tank?!) Anyway, stunning and thanks for taking the time to share!
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Thank you so much, Geneva! I'm glad you enjoyed the photos and video :)

These are my first ever BTA's but luckily they seem to be doing really well for me. Not sure what the trick is, but I'm glad they seem happy and healthy. I had 3 clams, but I'm down to 2 now. Unfortunately, my blue maxima that was almost a year old developed a case of pinched mantle during the stress of the crash and being transferred to the holding tank and then back into this tank. I was hoping it would recover, but unfortunately it died a few weeks ago. Luckily my squamosa and derasa are both doing awesome and growing like crazy. The squamosa is right behind the derasa, but it may not have been visible in the photos.
 
FeliciaLynn said:
Thank you so much, Geneva! I'm glad you enjoyed the photos and video :)

These are my first ever BTA's but luckily they seem to be doing really well for me. Not sure what the trick is, but I'm glad they seem happy and healthy. I had 3 clams, but I'm down to 2 now. Unfortunately, my blue maxima that was almost a year old developed a case of pinched mantle during the stress of the crash and being transferred to the holding tank and then back into this tank. I was hoping it would recover, but unfortunately it died a few weeks ago. Luckily my squamosa and derasa are both doing awesome and growing like crazy. The squamosa is right behind the derasa, but it may not have been visible in the photos.
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Sorry to hear about your clam - my new clam lasted only 4 weeks - so I'll just look at yours!​
 
Geneva Wong said:
Sorry to hear about your clam - my new clam lasted only 4 weeks - so I'll just look at yours!​
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Thanks, Geneva. The maximas are supposed to be the hardest to keep. I was honestly surprised mine did so well for as long as it did, since a lot of people have them die much earlier. If you ever want to give another clam a try, I'd suggest a derasa or a squamosa. They're both supposed to be much easier to keep.
 
Ok, I officially have a problem. I need to go to Rock Flower Anemone-holics Anonymous meetings
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I bought 2 new rock flowers today
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I got a little pink striped one and a little red one. Here they are right after going into the tank. They're not open all the way and they smushed into each other. I'm sure they'll walk to get some more space once they settle in. The red one is on the left and the pink one on the right.
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Here's another shot of the red one. I love its white tentacles mixed in with the red.
NewRockFlowers.jpg
 
Hahaha! I thought those looked familiar! I was there between 2-3pm or so. I picked up a really nice red planet acro...and a nice eco-gorg for my friend's atlantic/softy/gorg tank...I forgot to get him a bday present so I made it up to him with that haha.
 
Drippy_fetus said:
Hahaha! I thought those looked familiar! I was there between 2-3pm or so. I picked up a really nice red planet acro...and a nice eco-gorg for my friend's atlantic/softy/gorg tank...I forgot to get him a bday present so I made it up to him with that haha.
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Oh ok. I was in at like 4:30. Sounds like you got some nice stuff. I have a couple eco gorgs from them. Which type did you get for your friend?
 
I got him a Plexaura flexuosa based on my research...He has a few different types. This one was particularly unique because it had reddish tissue with yellow/gold polyps...I'd never seen one like that so I had to snipe it...He is going to frag me a piece. His tank grows these like weeds...I'll post a pic.
 
Drippy_fetus said:
I got him a Plexaura flexuosa based on my research...He has a few different types. This one was particularly unique because it had reddish tissue with yellow/gold polyps...I'd never seen one like that so I had to snipe it...He is going to frag me a piece. His tank grows these like weeds...I'll post a pic.
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Oh nice! That sounds like an amazing find. I have most of the varieties of eco gorgs at this point, but I don't have one of those. Those eco gorgs are easy and grow really well, so I'm sure you'll get a frag pretty quickly!
 
Awesome pictures as usual! I have a Orange Tree Gorgonian that I got from Baja about a month ago as well.

Seems to be doing good as well. I haven't noticed any growth either. I haven't taken pictures of it so I can't compare it to anything.

Looks happy though.
 
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