At Aquashella Dallas, my plan was to pick up some ricordea and zoanthids for Caitlin's Reef. Here are the frags from the first day. The following day I came home with 7 more, making it a total of 18 new items for her little tank. This tank has dirty water compared to an SPS reef, and I expect soft corals to do well. They aren't light demanding, and can tolerate minimal filtration.
Over the weekend, I picked up a new lens and a couple of attachments, and yesterday I got a chance to try them out. I'll be posting more images soon.
I purchased a 15mm wide lens for my Nikon D500, and a couple of Raynox magnifiers that fit most of my lenses.
Lens: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A9V8ZOC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Here’s how I set up a brand new 27 gallon Marineland aquarium using live sand and live rock. The equipment is simple, and maintenance will be as well, just how Caitlin would have wanted.
The cycle was 14 days, then the first fish was added. A week later, I moved the Japanese Pygmy Angelfish in as well.
This tank has a heater, air bubbler, Nero 5 pump, and AI Prime 16HD.
These pictures were taken under Neptune SKY lighting in Coral Growth mode. I cleaned up the images in Lightroom.
The reef has been doing well lately. I've been staying on top of water testing, and of course daily glass cleaning duty. Some of the other things I've done lately:
Dosed Prodibio
Changed the RODI filters
Cleaned the Nyos 300 skimmer's collection cup and squeegee assembly
Cleaned and re-set the algae turf scrubber, pulling out over 2 lbs of green hair algae.
Sent off and received a current ICP test.
This fish had a back story, so I made a video about it. It's a rare fish, and considered reasonably reef safe. When I first saw it so long ago, I was blown away and always wished I could get one. C. interruptus is usually wild-caught, but I was able to get this one from a fish breeder who raised it from eggs. It's still a juvenile, at 9 months old.
Hatched Sept 7, 2021, "Flare" has a new home with me. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMJ6avhG6Rw
I've always preferred live rock when setting up an aquarium. When I bought used aquariums, careful consideration included what type of rock I was getting. It added to the price of the sale, but was totally worth it for me. Over the years, I acquired hundreds of pounds which are all in use in my current systems.
The weather was in the 70's today, so I made the time to test the new generator I'd purchased a year ago. Fortunately, I haven't needed it, but you know when you do need it, the wind is howling, it's pitch dark, it's cold and wet...
Acropora sp. - |LF|a-cro-POH-rah; alternate: a-CROP-o-rah|RF| - a species of calcium-based coral that causes frustration and loss of expendable income but brings joy and exuberance to the more detail-oriented caregivers.
