AlexReef » corals

MACNA 2010- Orlando Photo Links

Alex — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:20:20 +0000

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend MACNA, held in Orlando, this year. Below are some forum/photo links showing some nice pictures people took. Enjoy!

http://s229.photobucket.com/albums/ee246/GeekPhysique/Macna%202010/?start=0

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1901368&highlight=macna

http://www.njreefers.org/forums/index.php/topic,25753.0.html

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1902144&highlight=macna

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Zeovit.com’s Third Dream Tank of the Quarter 2010

Alex — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:11:29 +0000

Check out the Third Dream Tank of the Quarter 2010 on Zeovit.com website. Although there are still skeptics out there, who think Zeovit is worthless, how can anyone argue these results?

http://www.zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20690

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Aquatek- Austin, TX

Alex — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:17:40 +0000

There are a few local fish stores in Austin, but the one that probably impresses me the most is Aquatek on Burnett. The main reef display tank, as you walk into the store, is a sight to see. Bruce, the owner of the store, is one of the most knowledgeable people you will ever talk to. Ask him a question, and he will explain to you in a very detailed and scientific manner, quoting specific measurements, all off the top of him head. His display tank uses the Polyp Lab Reef-resh system which he strongly believes contributes to the intense colors he gets from his corals. The colors are very similar to the colors seen in full blown Zeovit tanks. This makes perfect sense because both systems are based off of low nutrient, bacteria driven processes. Another plus to the store is their strong ties w/ Tunze and many of their products are stocked here. Below are some pictures of the display tank taken w/ my iphone.

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Zeovit.com’s First Quarter Tank of the ‘Month’- Wow!!!

Alex — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:37:32 +0000

Zeovit tanks achieve the best colors of any tanks I’ve ever seen. Although my experience w/ Zeovit was just ok, there are people out there that have had great results (My suspicions are that they’d have great results without Zeovit). Here’s Zeovit.com’s 1st quarter tank. If I could only get those colors in my sps!!!

1st Quarter Zeovit.com Tank

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New Acan Frags from Cherry Corals

Alex — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:19:24 +0000

Acan Lords were a big hit at MACNA. It seemed like everywhere you looked, someone was sell huge colonies of Acans for hundreds of dollars. Fortunately, there were also a lot of vendors selling frags for very reasonable prices. I got my Acans from Cherry Corals , 5 for $100. They also had some sweet Dendro frags for $15 a head so I picked another one up. Here’s some pictures of my score. Pictures taken in my frag tank.

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MACNA 2009- ORA Displays

Alex — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:39:57 +0000

ORA had awesome displays at MACNA NJ. They were displaying their aquacultured corals and fish. The colors were amazing, especially considering they were using standard Current USA fixtures w/ standard bulbs. Unfortunately they weren’t there to sell corals and fish, which saved me a lot of money! Here’s some videos I shot:

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MACNA 2009- AquaticLife Light Fixture Video

Alex — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:25:31 +0000

Here’s a video of the AquaticLife Life Fixtures. These things are pretty cool because they use the latest 150w HID bulbs. What makes these so special is that the bulbs are so small and they’re designed for parabolic reflectors giving a spotlight effect. The fixture allows the reflectors to swivel to point the light where it’s need. Supplemental t5′s round this fixture out. another cool feature is that the ballasts are mounted on the fixture but there’s space between the ballasts and the reflectors to vent the heat upward. Also the glass shield on the reflectors have slits that allow air to pass though for cooling. Like I said, cool fixture indeed.

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MACNA Video- Dr. Mac (Pacific East Aquaculture)

Alex — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:47:51 +0000

I took some videos while I was at MACNA 2009 this weekend. Here’s a video of Dr. Mac, owner of Pacific East Aquaculture. He had some crazy deals on coral frags and his display is always impressive. Thanks for your support of NJReef!

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Fish and Coral Feeding

Alex — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:47:14 +0000

I like to feed my fish and corals a mixed diet of dried and frozen foods. I feed frozen mysis(mysid), freeze dried cyclopeeze, small pellets (Oceans Nutrition Formula 1 & 2), flake (Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef), nori (dried seaweed), DT oyster eggs and cut up raw shrimp. I don’t have a set schedule on what gets fed, just whenever I feel like it. In general, only pellets and flakes get fed daily. When I feed the other foods, I feel like it makes my water dirty, so I time these feedings with my water change schedule. I’ll feed the ‘messy’ foods and then I’ll do my weekly water change, about an hour later.

I also use an automatic fish feeder because I keep anthias, which like to be fed a bunch of times a day. This feeds a mix of pellets and crushed up flakes twice a day. The best feeder I’ve ever used is the eheim 3581. It’s on sale on Drs. Foster right now for $33. Best price you can get for these. Here’s a link: Eheim fish feeder.

My acan lords (LPS) get spot fed w/ cyclopeeze and mysis a couple of times a week and my anemones get fed raw shrimp, once every few weeks. I also use some Zeovit suppliments for the corals, such as amino acids. Other than that, I’ll feed the tank whatever I have lying around. If I have fish roe (eggs) for my sushi, I’ll feed the tank this as well.

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Dendros, Duncans, & Sun Corals

Alex — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:14:32 +0000

I love Dendros (Dendrophyllia), Duncans (Duncanopsammia axifuga) & Sun corals (Tubastrea). These LPS are so colorful and add alittle movement to my tank. They all readily eat mysis shrimp and cyclopeeze. These corals vary greatly in price. If you had $50, you could get 1-2 heads of Dendros, 4-5 heads of Duncans or a 20-40 heads of Sun coral.

For me, the Duncans have been very easy to keep. I don’t necessarily feed them, but if I do, they seem to sprout new heads all of the time. I believe they are also photosynthetic, so they do require some medium density lighting (don’t quote me on that!). I started with about 5 heads and now count over 30.

Original frag, 5 heads.

Old picture in the frag tank. Currently about double the size from this picture. Definitely a center piece in my display right now.

The Dendros are also easy, but I make sure they get feed often. These corals also sprout heads all the time, but grow much slower than the Duncans. I’m not sure if they’re photosynthetic, but they do stay open when the lights are on.

Large polyp Dendro feeding on mysis. Started with a one polyp frag.

Another different type of Dendro.

The Sun corals are the most difficult to take care of because they are not photosynthetic. They only open up when the lights go out. Some people have trained they to open during the day, but it’s not worked for me. They need to be fed all of the time. The pictures below are from a while back. I wasn’t keeping up w/ feeding them all of the time and decided to trade then in at the LFS. As beautiful as they are, feeding all those heads individually is a pain in the butt!

Beautiful, health Sun coral. When the tissue is connected between the heads, they may share nutrients. Otherwise, feed each head individually!

Guess which one is the Dendro?

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