Big Update

The powdered sugar fish that decorated my birthday (July 18th) cake made by my sister.

Wow, this update has been long overdue! If you have been following my Twitter Updates (follow me if you have an account {my user name is henryreef} or read updates on this site or my twitter home page: http://www.twitter.com/henryreef) I have been trying to get a post out but have been delayed on numerous occasions. Here are 2 screenshots to help you out:

The Twitter Feed on my site (outlined in red)

My Twitter Homepage


The tank has been looking great the past several days! I am very happy with the way everything is growing and the general aura of the tank. The only major update is that the tang got into a fight with one of the Damsels and tore up its fin, I am giving it some extra TLC and making sure to feed it often. It should make a full and speedy recovery. Here are some various tank shots:



I performed a 27 gallon (about 50% water change) and the tank looked even better. That is all for now, but I will be releasing some big new posts coming out soon. Here are some of the topics:

• A New Domain Name
• The possible big upgrade
• Camera Upgrade
• Reef Central News
• Water Changes

The Return-Home Update

My suitcase full of Pickling Lime one of the benefits of my journey

I just got back late last night. I had a great 4th and I hope everyone else did also. I also was able to get several updates out this weekend (thanks to wi-fi and several portable programs example: portable photo editor on my flash drive). The tank looks amazing and I am happy to see that everything did great while I was away. I will try to get another post out soon with test results. As for now here are some tank photos.

The Tank Upon Arrival:
Close-up On The Amazing BTAs:

The New Additions

Well at the MMC conference I picked up much more than just a few dry goods. I went coral shopping :). I purchased my corals from Paul's Corals, he had a nice display and all his corals looked outstanding and were moderately priced. Best of all he brought so many, he had crates and crates of corals waiting to be sold.
Here is what I brought home:

1. Green Slimer (Acropora yongei)
2. Blue Tort (Acropora Tortuosa)
3. An unknown montipora ( I think Montipora Sponodes)
4. Green/Brown Zoas (Zoanthus sp.)
5. Brown/Red Zoas (Zoanthus sp.)
6. Green Milli (Acropora millepora)

I floated the bags in my tank to temperature acclimate them and then got to work and placed them in my tank.


Now for the Pictures!!!
The Green Slimer - Already looks great in my tank (pic 1 day after adding)
Blue Tort - A slower growing coral that is more dificult. (pic 1 day after adding)Unknown Montipora, I am calling this one 'the blob' is green but covered in brown polyps, seems to plate but branch too. (pic 1 day after adding)
Greenish/brown Zoas -- Just another pleasing variety for my tank! I have remounted the plug as of this picture (pic 1 day after adding)

Brown/Orange/Red Zoas -- Like the other variety I picked up, interesting and this specimen really pops under my actinics
Green Milli -- A hairy cool looking yet beautiful coralI am very happy with all my new additions to my 55g mixed reef. I personaly love the Slimer and the Milli. I lately have been noticing good polyp extension, especially at night by my Blue tort. I think it is trying to feed but I am not sure. As for the 'blob' I am still trying to get a scientific name but I am thinking it is Montipora Sponodes, If anyone knows for sure just comment on this post, Email me @ henryhockey101@gmail.com or PM me (for RC) my member name is Henryreef.

Tank Update

A general tank update has been long overdue. Overall the tank has been doing great, but there are several areas in which i need to either improve or eliminate.

1. The Skimmer is really making tons of micro bubbles so I only run it at night. This problem will be fixed once I install my sump and upgrade skimmers (hopefully very soon) more on this next weekend
2. I really need to add some more LR I talked about this earlier. I need more LR mostly for coral growing space.
3. The sand is littered with shells and general rock derbies. It does not look very white either. I think once I add the Live rock I will dump a nice big bag of crushed aragonite (sand) in and pick out all those rocks so I get a better look. Until then this is relatively minor.

On the plus side of things my water parameters have been looking nice, to the point that I don't test weekly anymore. I think I will test today, and post result later today or tomorrow. I am also doing a water change today, probably a large one. Also the BTA anemone and most of my corals have been looking great. I think I will create a page that details "A day with my BTA" where I will take a picture of it every hour or two for one day, so you can see how it looks at different times of the day.

Next week I won't been in town as I am going to Washington DC !!!!! I will have my Dad manage the tank. Hopefully he won't kill everything! Also many updates will come out this week. You can read about them in detail if you scroll down to the end of the last post. I also have been subscribed to Google Anaylitics which is a really cool program that analyzes the usage of your site. I would highly recommend it, and I will post more about this sites usage when the numbers come in.

This site also has been changed slightly and I added a hit counter at the bottom of the page. I changed the logo slightly and more changes are coming. I really need to get around to setting up my own domain and creating my own website.

Finally here are some shots from my tank:
The BTA tentacles :)
Now for a quick M. Setosa update: It has been doing awesome and has really colored up.

Now for a quick teaser: Find out whats in the bag (this is the livestock i brought home from the MMC) later this week!!
I will probably update this blog with my test results later today or tomorrow, but until then see the last post for schedule.

New Ideas

Over the past couple days I have decided I want to add about 50 or so pounds of live rock as this will both increase my ability to handle nitrates and provide more surface area for corals to grow on. I will keep the rock in a holding tank (aka a big brute trashcan with heater and powerhead) and add a piece a week so as not to overload my system. I have not purchased any rock or set this up so more updates are on the way.

The sump and culture projects are still moving along, but at a slow pace as I don't have the capital to complete them (feel free to donate ;) ). I am mostly in the planning stage still, but I have made good progress on the phyto setup.

I also have reached a very balanced Ca -- alk ratio. I don't really buffer at all, except the Kalk i top off with. I have not tested water in a while and don't intend to as everything looks great and i am confident my alk and ca are where they need to be.

The M. Setosa has grown noticably and colored up. It has taken on a orange color and you can see the polyps. It is amazing how much it has grown in only a few weeks. Here is a photo (very blurry as it is still too small for my crumy digital camera to get.The left side of the tank is still very barren and does not have many rocks (note: this is one of the reasons i want to add live rock) here is a Pic of the left side. NOTE: m. setosa
Here are some general shots of the tank: