Fragging

Several years ago, I got a coral from the LFS that I thought was a green slimer. Turns out, it was a Lime In The Sky, so I call it a Limer. It grew from a 1.5" frag into a decent colony about 12" tall over the years, despite what the Shadowcaster tried to do to it. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a white spot on the colony; clearly something/someone had broken a piece off. Looking beneath, I found it perched in the rockwork behind the Sebae anemone, doing quite well.

The new frag system has captured my attention recently. Watching the clean up crew decimate the algae in one day flat was impressive, and the corals pop against the stark barren rock and black background. New tanks can really recharge your motivation, as you set up new clean gear and get everything just the way you like it. 

Here's a closer look at that frag. I love all the dots that make me feel like I'm staring into the universe.

Montipora hispida, I believe.

I've been talking about a new frag tank system all year. It's November and I'm finally getting it done. The frag tank was made a month ago, but I needed a stand. I'd considered a steel stand to match the rest of my setup, but the cost just didn't justify itself.

Yesterday, a friend came over and offered to assist (translation: made me) with the stand build, so we ran up to Home Depot for the necessary items:

You end up with some loose frags. Here's how to secure them to frag plugs. If you haven't heard of pegging, you'll find this interesting.

For about 3.5 years, I've run a small frag tank tied into the main reef to hold small coral fragments, interesting NPS corals and other recent acquisitions.  It's badly in need of being replaced. Not only is it full with corals from end to end that have grown into serious colonies, but there's an onging algae issue that I'm attributing to the aged light fixture hanging above.  A new one will replace it, and it will be stand alone with all the filtration that entails.  Each day I see this mess and I can't wait to replace it, but I need the time to build...

As time goes by, corals grow in.  Even in a frag tank.  My little frag tank holds some special pieces for me, obtained by local hobbyists as well as local events.  I've been waiting for the new 400g to arrive, and the corals are crowding each other in anticipation. This tank was built by me, and holds 10g of water.  It is tied into the main filtration of my reef, and is lit with a Evolution LED fixture from Reefkoi. These pictures were taken under only white LEDs, with the blues turned off.

Here's a nice picture from tonight: Orange Ball Anemone.

I added another Tubastrea colony to my suncoral tank in exchange for a couple of frags. I'll be feeding it along with all the other suncorals & Dendrophyllia, so that hopefully it'll be pretty again one day.

Out of curiosity, I thought I would do a little research on the thread that documents the adventures of the 280g reef on ReefCentral.com

Yesterday was the DFWMAS Frag Swap, and 160 people showed up with coolers and coolers of coral frags and used equipment for sale. At last count, over 600 frags were brought and traded/sold to excited hobbyists.

I ended up with a bunch of new pieces for my tank, which is perfect because I was looking for new SPS to restock the tank. Many of the beauties I had earlier this year died during the PO4 (Phosphate) issues I battled for several months.

So here are the new additions:

The frag tank update. Recently someone asked for some pictures.

Here it is from above. Light reflection and all. All pumps and fan off.

From the front it looks much better.