Pisces's Aquatic Evolution

[pisces4u]

Thanks Fate

Here's some growth comparisons shot today. Notice all the timeframes are 2 months or less. Staring at these stony corals every day, it often feels like they aren't growing at all. It's another reason I take so many pictures.
ORA Verde - 2 months growth.

Blue Tort - 2 months growth

Red milli - 2 months growth

Birdsnest - 1.5 months growth. The zoom hides the actual size but this one has doubled.

 

[rng_pw]

the tank looks awesome. I cant wait to see what it looks like a year from today. I love it when a tank is so full that you cant even see the rocks. Nice coral collection. Do you have any ricordias in the mushroom tank?

 

[pisces4u]

the tank looks awesome. I cant wait to see what it looks like a year from today. I love it when a tank is so full that you cant even see the rocks. Nice coral collection. Do you have any ricordias in the mushroom tank?

Yeah, me too. I filled each tank with probably TOO many corals, but I'd rather have it full and trim them as they grow than wait years for large colonies to form.

I have several ricordea florida and ricordea yuma in the mushromm tank, but they can be challenging to photograph between the hex design and leyered tonga branch rockscape.

 

[pisces4u]

Caught the clowns hosting my frogspawn and torches for the first time. Very cool to see them finally doing it in my own systems. Very uncool when they rub off tentacles that become ballistic missiles and burn dead spots into my SPS colonies.

 

[Hungriee]

great pictures ! what kind of mushroom is that in post 37?

 

[pisces4u]

Update:
I work up at 5am to let the dog out and check on the puppies and my 50g was a warzone.
My "Shatterproof, Guaranteed for Life" Marineland Stealth Pro 300w heater has literally exploded in my sump, sending all sorts of metals and pollutants out turning all the water milky white. The skimmer was overflowing from pulling so much out.
At this point, it looks like a total loss. All my SPS are bleached and RTN'ing. Torches are pulling off the skeletons. Chalices are showing skeleton. I've been cleaning and doing water changes for 5 hours now and I set up a hospital tank for corals to try and save some. If any heavy metals were leached as I suspect, the live rock, sand, sump will all be trash.
If anyone has a Sunday contact for Marineland, I obviously want to pursue a large compensation. All of my efforts have just lead to answering machines and emails. I can be reached at (714) 580 9153 - Aaron.

 

[MarvinsReef]

yikes.. sorry to hear about this... another heater issue!!! that stinks...

good luck with Marineland.. hope you get compensated for the losses...

 

[JR's Reef]

Sorry to hear. Ive had 2 of those heaters to go bad. Ill never buy another one

 

[Lytehouse]

Man, I'm really sorry. It's a horrible feeling.

There are long threads about this on forums. From what I have read, Marineland will replace your heater...... that is it.

Best of wishes salvaging some corals....

 

[w0r1d5m1n3]

I have had two of those same heaters fail on me in the last three years, and will not buy another one. I bought a Top-Fin heater five six years ago for one of my fresh tanks and it has never given me a problem. For my salt I use a Jager.

 

[pisces4u]

For those who were interested, Marineland informed me I could file a claim by sending in the defective heater with a write-up on my system information, maintenance schedule, heater use and installation as well as before and after pictures, and a lost livestock appraisal signed by a saltwater specialty store owner. They will test the broken heater for 2-4 weeks and get back to me about compensation.

Here is my before/after collage I am sending as a part of the package. RIP all my beautiful corals.

 

[w0r1d5m1n3]

sorry for your loss. hope to see you back in the game soon.

 

[underwaterfirefighter]

Man I am so sorry to hear of your loss. That is horrible. I hope that Marineland comes through for you. I know no one could compensate for time and efforts. Hopefully you will be back soon bigger and better!
Good luck

Dave

 

[pisces4u]

Well, it's now been 3 weeks since the crash and thanks to the frag swap, a lot of generous local reefers, and a tolerant girlfriend, I've managed to re-stock nicely. Here are some new shots with current stock and after moving some corals and rock around.
Front 11/30/09

back

orange digi

happy maxima

ORA Frogskin. I know, I said I wouldn't go that direction again but I couldn't resist.

ORA Blue Iris, Bellina, Slimer

Unknown acro. Could go blue or purple with green or blue polyps.

Puffy blastos. I think they actually may be bleaching, the center used to be black. I'll move them into the shade tomorrow.

Pink milli. Check out the improvement in polyp extension from the pic on the 22nd.

"Jedi Temple" acro/acropora copiosa. Started to bonsai/prune it into an interesting growth pattern. The right side may be next to go, I like the look of the lone left side and it's curve.

That's all for now, lots more new stuff, but it's all so small I'll need to let it grow a bit before they're photo worthy.

 

[naldopr]

man this heater thing scares me I have a marineland heater to. I'm glad you recover is really sad to see our tank in this situation.

 

[inactive]

Wow, crappy story... amazing come back!

 

[pisces4u]

Thanks Kray.

Haven't updated here in a bit so here are some new pics.

 

[MarvinsReef]

tank looks like it's making a good comeback....

 

[pisces4u]

Thanks mate, i'll have to say I do think it looks better now than it did before the crash. Thanks to all the hobbyists that donated corals to my rebuild. I do miss all the ORA acros I lost, but for a fraction of the price, I've been able to grab some really big wild and cultured colonies.

I added two chalk bass last week, they may be my new favorite fish. They are very colorful, active swimmers, and weren't expensive! Here are a couple pics, sorry for the blur, still trying to master fish photography.

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

Looks great man! Your pics are really nice too...

I cannot believe what happened to your heater! I've used Stealths for a long, long time now (since they came out actually) and have only had one die on me, but just stopped working nothing close to your experience. Marineland replaced it under their lifetime warranty. This is the second time I've seen someone post about theirs exploding, and both have ben recent and here on R2R too. I would glady pay quadruple the cost of your average heater for one that was repliable and worked!