Maroon Lagoon V3.0

[Zuma]

Great looking reef, love all the angel fish in there.

 

[gig 'em]

I am getting a little more experience with the DSLR. Still can't capture blues under blue lighting very well. But it's a work in progress. Vivid's Borealis and Gig's Mothra Mille

 

[gig 'em]

Some anemone shots:

 

[montethemoster]

Fantastic tanks, and amazing fish room! One of the best setups I have seen!

 

[gig 'em]

Fantastic tanks, and amazing fish room! One of the best setups I have seen!

You’re too kind! It’s a constant work in progress, but I appreciate the compliment

 

[najer]

Looking very nice.

 

[gig 'em]

There are a few frags I'm growing out that I'm pretty pumped about. I can't wait to see them as full colonies!

BC Gilligan

Gold Member Echinata. This thing is just insane, I can't wait to see it as a full colony

Gig's River Styx

BC Pink Flamingo

 

[chizerbunoi]

Tank is outstanding. Are the two frag tanks only getting flow from the return pump?

How do you have your tunze pumps setup on the main display for alternating flow?

Do you have to duck under the tablet everytime you go into the room?

 

[gig 'em]

Tank is outstanding. Are the two frag tanks only getting flow from the return pump?

How do you have your tunze pumps setup on the main display for alternating flow?

Do you have to duck under the tablet everytime you go into the room?

The frag tanks have their own power heads and I’m working on putting Tunze pumps in them and controlling them with the Apex as well.

The Tunze’s are all controlled by profiles on the Apex. Cycles through wave action, surges, and periods of still.

Haha, sometimes I do have to duck. The tablet arm swivels and folds in several directions, so it’s easy to turn it, push it up, or direct it in whatever direction I need it. I have bumped my head on it a couple times when I forget that it’s all the way down during maintenance activities.

 

[gig 'em]

I was playing around with my camera this morning and decided to take some actinic/daylight shots of this mille. Really hard to capture the baby blue tips with blue lighting, but it's still a jaw dropping coral.

 

[gig 'em]

And some other shots from around the tank...
Ultimate stag

Pink Floyd

Z's Blue Floyd

Classic Green Slimer

This lovely lovely goniopora from @FarmerTy

 

[gig 'em]

And time for a growth comparison of the Greg C Efflo.
March 2020

July 2020

 

[Coling]

Tanks looking great! I need to come check it out, post pandemic of course. Looking forward to you fragging some these of beauties in the future.

 

[chizerbunoi]

The gold torch looks very nice in the mix with the colourful acros.

 

[gig 'em]

Just some weekend morning photos

 

[gig 'em]

If I haven’t mentioned already, I’m involved in a research project with the University of Texas to spawn coral. I have a green house on campus where we hope to have corals spawn from the seasonal cycles of the sun, moon, and temperature. Because it’s downtown Austin with building shadows and light pollution, I decided to run seasonal schedules on my aquarium at home in hopes of spawning my corals so the research project can proceed.

My temperatures have been regularly reaching 85 degrees lately with the summer temps. The high temperatures have certainly taken there toll on some corals, while others don’t seem phased at all. Some of the researchers at the university tell me it has to do with the zooxanethellae and which ones can handle the heat better than others. My Z’s Blue Floyd doesn’t seem to mind the heat while my Pink Floyd is quite bleached now.

I was pleased this morning when I witnessed my fungia plate spawning. This week is when some corals in the northern hemisphere are spawning and apparently my fungia joined the fun (I did not capture the largest egg expulsions, but this is what was left over afterwards). It’s a good sign that my schedules are working and the bleaching corals may not be in vane.

 

[gig 'em]

Some other coral shots from the tank today:

UC Teal Tort

I love black clams. Something about the contrast is mesmerizing

These two gigs.... they have my heart

 

[drawman]

That's cool. Ever think of going the Jamie Craggs route and blocking out the tank from room light, etc? Would be a lot easier at the school of course.

 

[gig 'em]

That's cool. Ever think of going the Jamie Craggs route and blocking out the tank from room light, etc? Would be a lot easier at the school of course.

The fish room at home is pretty well insulated from light. The display tank gets some light from the living room in the mornings, but that’s about it. The green house... not so much. I suppose that could help narrow down how much of an impact lunar light has on spawning, since downtown Austin is heavily polluted with light at night.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

I've missed your last few posts and had to get caught up. Really amazing, John, and so good to see how healthy everything is after the trouble with the last tank. Hope you and the family are doing just as well.