Kessil

tribbitt's 20L Nano Build

Invictus said:
From what I can see, I’m guessing that area is fairly low flow and lower par. Comes down to personal taste, but that’s a great area for a little Acan garden.
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Like I mentioned in the post, the reddish zoas (near the nepthea) on the same spot on the opposite side of the tank have stretched to two inches long, and it's extremely low flow. Sponge filter amounts of flow.

I do love micromussa, so maybe it's time to grab some! They are a little pricey, however. Do you know of any good deals?
 
tribbitt said:
Like I mentioned in the post, the reddish zoas (near the nepthea) on the same spot on the opposite side of the tank have stretched to two inches long, and it's extremely low flow. Sponge filter amounts of flow.

I do love micromussa, so maybe it's time to grab some! They are a little pricey, however. Do you know of any good deals?
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Neptune sells single polyp frags for $10. Can occasionally catch some nice ones there. Otherwise, we have the CFM coming up where you might snag a good deal.
 
Some updates! The tank is looking much more filled-out.

Big shoutout to @nlopedota for giving me a Kessil to use. It's beautiful, and does everything I need. The shimmer is unreal. I'm very grateful, and I'm confident it'll draw color out of the corals that were masked by my previous light.

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At @Invictus's recommendation, I got myself an acan from Clear Water aquarium. As a result of shipping stress it's a little bleached, but I've got it on the sandbed and have been feeding it regularly.

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At Saturday's Coral Farmers Market I kept finding really good deals that I couldn't pass up. I got two pieces of Alveopora, a bucket list coral that I've wanted for its really cool texture from before I had a tank. I got a nice green and a lovely warm cream one. The green one hasn't fully opened yet, so here's a picture of the cream one (color rendition isn't as accurate as I'd like, but you get the idea.)

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From the same seller I got this nice Duncanopsammia, which has now taken residence in the bottom left of the tank, adding visual interest and movement to a spot that used to be overshadowed by the hammers just above it.

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Speaking of hammers, I also got this lovely piece from the CFM.

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At Clear Water today I fragged all the large heads off of a colony of splatter hammer, and found a ton of tiny polyps on the skeleton, which I thought was neat. I got it using some old store credit from trading in a leather, which is so worth it.

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On the topic of weird reproduction, I also saw this plate coral, presumably Heliofungia fralinae, which is budding a couple babies on the right-side fringe of its skeleton.

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I've been so wrapped up in this cool coral and that new fish that I haven't taken a breath to just look at how far I've come.

I have Acropora and macroalgae and other things I didn't think I would discover a passion for. And I have so many things that, as a newbie, I saw and instantly fell in love with - Alveopora, when I saw it in an online post. A Banggai Cardinalfish, which caught my eye in a tank showcase. Fox coral which I thought was so puffy, and rainbowy Tequila Sunrise mushrooms lining the sand, both of which I saw the first time I ever stepped into a local fish store.

I can still remember watching my first Coralfish12g video.

Here's an up-to-date picture of my small curated slice of the reef :)

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Post-swap update!

I got many corals that would normally be out of my price range at the swap, thanks to some generous members!!

I took home a bounce mushroom from @DaddyHook and a lobo from @sfsuphysics.
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I was given three nice green maxi mini carpet anemones by @Corallus, a chunky purple stylo from @MichaelB, a bicolor hammer I traded for with @Lullaby, and a nice frag of RRC goldenrod by @ReyDeFarts (I hope I'm tagging the right person). Also snagged some other nice pieces from the swap like this (frankly massive) beach bum. Photo dump!

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Tank update:

I think I have reached the tipping point of stability where things can thrive. Acropora have been steadily growing but recently has taken off + gained new coloration. RR Pink Cadillac has encrusted into the rock and is now pink, and my green mini-colony is now green with orange/pink highlights. The peach hammer has sprouted a new head, my duncan has 2 new small heads

I began dosing Chaetogro as basically an iron supplement + some trace, and immediately all my coral perked up even more. Hammers in particular have opened up more than I've ever seen them, and the orange/blue chalice is now displaying yellow and green.

My macro has gone berserk with its growth. I got a frag on April 12. This is how much I have now, after giving numerous frags back to the club and to some friends. I should go and update the # of frags I have available. When torn into small pieces to increase areas exposed to light + flow + space, doubling time seems to be 4-5 days. Higher flow = compact growth. Growth does have directionality and it creates nice rosettes when it doesn't move/tumble.

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Speaking of dosing, thank you @boun11 for the dosing pump and thank you @Turkeysammich for bringing and then shipping it. It's been calibrated and set up :)

A friend has given me a really sick acanthophyllia in the hopes that I can revive it. If anyone has tips, I'd be glad to hear it! Mouth is slightly open at all times, skeleton has poked through the meat on basically every sharp ridge.

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Here is the obligatory full-tank shot.

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With a bonus top-down!

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Post-Vacation update: things seem to be alive and well. Lots of growth on my SPS and macro has been taking off.

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I got myself a fancy acrylic glowy coral pointer because I was tired of using tongs.

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Here is my green goblin and some other assorted corals. New growth tips all over the anacro, new branches on the digi, etc.

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Here is a full-tank shot:


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And a sneak peek of some pics I took during scuba diving along Miyagi coast and in Ishigaki:


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(File size too large so I screenshotted them, i will be sending a drive link in another post)
 
Tank upgrade updates :)

Equipment upgrade! Thank you @dangalang for finding the skimmer so quickly, it's set up and bubbling quite happily right now. Have it tuned extremely wet right now, but it's pulling out so much gross!

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Invictus said:
Wow that macro really is growing well for you. I was looking out for those Sunkist bounces, nice work getting one!
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Took some pictures today. I gave a bunch away and lost some in a small experiment, but yes. "Growing well" is an understatement :p
I am trying to bring my nutrients down, so maybe not for much longer lol :)

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Zoom in on the macro to show off shroom from 6/1 swap, and RFA I got from @ClearWaterAquarium:

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I really love the yellow/gold, it's a rare color



Another picture of the field of red goodness I have:

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Huge shout-out to @Joseph Lee for giving me a sizable part of his isopod culture of Armadillidum gestroi, which are super cool and active:

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Full reef tank shot (so packed in just 20 gallons):

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And top-down that might fit mobile screens better:

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