Check out my updated coral page!

[RWD]

Hi All,
I have added a new page to my site to show the growth of some corals. Click the link below. Bob

[dark horge]

You are SUCH a show-off...

[Doug1]

Very nice Bob. They seem to do very well esp with all the octocorals nearby. Then again there is a lot to be said for volume and circulation. Very good, I hope mine is half as nice when it grows up

[Alice]

Wow, very nice Bob. The Bird's nest and the pocillopra are beautiful. Good work!

[RWD]

Thanks guys (even you Horge )
I just wanted to point something out.
Below are 2 pics of the same birdsnest frag. They were taken a week apart! Notice the new growth:

[Rick O]

Nice pics Bob. It's amazing how fast your stuff grows. I must be doing something wrong.

Rick

[Doug1]

A real wet thumb

[Drew]

Wow, those corals are really beautiful! The birdsnest is amazing!

[DaveJ]

Bob,

I am way impressed!! All that plumbing and setup must have taken forever with lots of planning. Just the setup alone would be an impressive feat, but the growth and deversity of your livestock is wonderful too. I am sure you will hear from me when I get to setting up a refugium of some sort.

Out of curiousity, you said that you had a ton of worms and pods in yours. How do they get into the tank as a whole or do they? The worms probably stay, but what about the pods? I didn't see any pump in the refugium, it looks like its drained into the sump then pumped into the tank. Do you lose some into the pumping process?

[RWD]

Dave,
It did take quite a while to put the whole thing together. 11 months from start to finish.The refugium is fed from some of the water from the left corner overflow. A ball valve controls the flow. Water drains from the refugium into the sump where it is pumped back to the tank. I would think some critters would pass through the pump unharmed but there is no real way to be sure. Since I seeded both the tank and refugium with live sand, they both have large populations of pods and worms. With a low flow-through rate in the refugium the pods are not fighting a lot of current so they are not washed away. I estimate 200-300 gal per hour through the ref. which would be about 1 turnover an hour. If some pods were chopped up in the process this would still be considered coral food

[DaveJ]

Bob,

So your refugium is really for additional filtration and such, not to provide a safe haven for pod food for your animals?? I suppose you could harvest the pods and such, but it sounds like your main tank has plenty so that's not needed.

I can probably do something similar. I could re-direct my overflow, or split it into the refugium, then pipe a drain from it to the sump. I was looking for someway to continually feed the pods to the main tank though. I'm not sure I can do that with the tank I have. If I had a larger tank, I could section a portion off and using a plexiglass divder with small holes for filtration and water movement, but small so no fish could make it through. Other than a hangon, which I can't do in the back (I didn't think of that before I set my tank in place DOH!) it's too close to the wall.

[RWD]

Dave,
The refugium does provide some additional filtration but it's main purpose is protection from predators. The live rock and sand make a great substrate for the pods and worms to live and multiply. I also have some caulerpa in there to. The pods crawl all through it. The idea is to have a safe haven for the pods to multiply repopulate the main tank as they make their way through the system. Every so often some of the pods will leave the refugium through the drain and back to the tank. Since the refugium is not seperated from the main tank the pods will eventually end up there. Bob

[DaveJ]

Ohhh okay.. I thought they would get chopped up in the pumps on the way back up into the main tank.

[Spanky]

Bob, your site and pictures are wonderful. I can't thank you enough for sharing the growth pictures. That is what I like and they are the hardest to find.
Keep it up,
Thanks again
Jerel

[RWD]

Jerel,
Thanks a lot! I do have some more to be added soon (when I can find the time). Bob