Starting my own reef build

ontop27 · Oct 13, 2009

Not much new still cycling...im going to penn state for homecoming this weekend. Hope I come back and its done. In the meantime I picked this up because I thought I might help when I turn my filter on because Im not running a skimmer. Its called a surface skimmer and it attaches to the filter so it sucks in the crap around the top of the water. Thought it would be worth a shot for like ten bucks.

ontop27 · Oct 22, 2009

yey so cycled ended at the beginning on the week. So I threw in some pieces from my other tank that weren't doing so well and they started to open. A few different zoas, a next to dead hammer, and a melted piece of xenia. Ill wait till they grow back to show pics because I wanna make a post that shows how much they improved, I've been taking pics everyday. On a side note I believe that my coral all crashed in my other tank because of bad pyhto that my mom was dosing while I was away in Cali for a month or that she accidentally dosed Iodine, I guess Ill never know. But my fish, my leather, feather duster, and kenya are all doing very well in there. So anyway today I went out and got frags, a hammer and a candy cane (regularly 10 each but they gave them to me for 7.50 a piece) and I went to another store and got a piece which they said was galaxia but I'm not sure it kind of looks like a type of montipora (for ten bucks I thought it was worth it) but Ill let you guys be the judge of that. Pics will be up after acclimation.

ontop27 · Oct 23, 2009

pics I promised, and am going back to the store later to get more

they look pretty happy in their new home
any ideas on the last one? they said galaxia, but I dont think it is because they is pretty much how big it was open at the store as well

ibefishy · Oct 23, 2009

It doesnt look quit like a galaxea to me. It looks kind of like a GSP but it is hard to tell from that photo. Here is a pic of my galaxea.

ontop27 · Nov 24, 2009

figured I haven't updated this thread in a while so I'll post how good all of my corals have been doing. The only thing I lost in this tank was a birdsnest. I dont know if it was because I cut the base of it to get rid of the plug or just not enough lighting. ( I had it at the very top under 2 24 watt t-5s)
xenia when it went into the tank

xenia now

hammer when it went in

hammer now (look at all the new buds growing on the sides )

ricorida 1

acan

ricorida 2

favia

zoas (and cool macro algae growing on it, and a little bubble algae)

more zoas

another hammer

favorite zoas

still no ID but its happy

green star polyps

gonipora

candy cane

fire fish

my pods are getting huge, might get a mandarin or blenny

frogspawn

full tank shot

tell me what you guys think, not bad for two months work