The VZ Reef

[tims]

good looking tank Chris

[Sndwave80]

Very Nice!

[crvz]

Originally Posted by jrpdriver

Great shots and great growth! I have a frag of the prurple/blue mili, it has great color but I have had it for 4 months and it has just barely finished encrusting the plug it's mounted on

You probably enjoy it as much as I do, then!

So the LFS has an achilles tang, and I was tempted. It goes against my better judgement, though, and it was a bit on the large side, so I passed. Maybe next time, if there's a smaller one available.

[crvz]

I bought a new bulb to replace the one that's burnt out. The LFS carries D&D/Geisemann, and I got the Actinic+. However, I think it's defective. When I spoke with the folks at ATI about my failed bulb, they spent a whole lot of time explaining to me how bulbs work, and this new bulb shows some troublesome traits. During the manufacturing process, some bulbs may not be sealed well. If this happens, the bulb will burn orange at one end (or sometimes both, but then it has two bad seals) right when it fires, a result of having O2 in the bulb I believe. Anyways, this bulb is doing that, so we'll see how long it lasts. For the price I get at the LFS, it's a worthy experiment (it's in a different spot as the original failed bulb, so I'm content that it's not a wiring/endcap issue).

Nothing else has changed recently. I was gone for a week, and my wife did a great job taking care of everything for me! Hurray, wife!! I need to clean the glass, though. Maybe some photos later.

[YLChik]

The Wife should get big hugs for not killing any thing

[crvz]

Originally Posted by YLChik

The Wife should get big hugs for not killing any thing

And presents, for that matter.

[YLChik]

ooo presents are always good

[crvz]

Tested the water today... I had been trying to shoot the alk and calc up a bit, as they normally hover around 7.0dkh and 350ppm. So I dosed to get them up to about 9.0dkh and 430ppm before I left down a week ago, and now they're down to 8.3dkh and 370ppm. Some stuff has really grown, and I don't have any tank problems (though the pH is low), so I'm not going to stress about it, but to help keep the numbers good I'm going to start running the calcium reactor 24 hours a day. I was at only about 18 or so. We'll see how well that works.

Also, something that I've seen sprout out in a few places lately; on a clam shell, on some frag plugs, and in a few places in the rock. This picture is kind of blurry (look right in the middle), but they're are a bunch of poccilipora buds. I think it's pretty neat.

[aquawolf]

I don't know anything about Pocillipora so pardon my ignorance, does this mean that it released or dropped some polyps into the water column to land where they may in order for it to replicate itself? If so then that is pretty cool as I did not know hard corals, I am right in thinking it is an SPS I hope, would do something like that.

[crvz]

I'm not sure if it was asexual budding or sexual reproduction, but yup, they landed where they could and started to grow. That one was pretty big already, so I assume it happened a while ago. I would assume it's budding, and I've seen similar examples in other folks' tanks. But it is an SPS.

Another stony coral that I've seen dropping polyps in my tank is the pavona that I've got. That was much more noticeable, though, as it blistered quite a bit before doing so.

[aquawolf]

Thanks for the information Chris. I had a Pocillapora that I received as a frag from a friend and it was doing great before the dead air conditioner fiasco. I may need to find another one now as I am slowly building things back up again.

[crvz]

Originally Posted by aquawolf

Thanks for the information Chris. I had a Pocillapora that I received as a frag from a friend and it was doing great before the dead air conditioner fiasco. I may need to find another one now as I am slowly building things back up again.

I've really liked the two that I've got, one of them grows really quite quickly, but it's considerably higher up in the tank compared to the other one I've got. I don't think you'd be disappointed.

In other news, I got a couple pictures from my recent trip. Being from the coast, any elevation is usually bad news when it comes to breathing. Here is how I wanted to spend most of my time.



Oddly, I did get up a few times, but seeing as it was my first time to ski, these stints were usually short lived.



We have a frag swap in the local club in the next couple weeks, but I think I'll just be selling stuff. The only thing that may entice me are some ricordia, as I have none, but we'll see how well it goes.

[LadyReefNeck]

Looks like you had a great time Chris! You look pretty comfortable on those skis ... you must be a natural!!

[Hop]

Elevation? I thought you were in New Mexico

Looks like a good time!

[crvz]

Originally Posted by Hop

Elevation? I thought you were in New Mexico

Looks like a good time!

11000 feet is much higher than the 20 feet that my house is at. It was fun, though. And Louise, I wouldnt say I'm a natural, but I had a good time!