64g Tokyo tank

[Anonymous]

I'm conscious, btw, that I need to find something to keep the sand bed turned over now that both the Nassarius imposters are in the 'fuge. The two strombus do a reasonable job of keeping algae in check, but given the amount of crap they produce, I've hesitant about getting another. My wife is against the idea of a cucumber, but I'm wondering whether it might be the best option. :?

 

[Anonymous]

Meanwhile, here are the latest of my amateur shots.

Couple of shots of the neon green zoa frag from a friend. I love this guy, but can't yet find the perfect positioning for the piece of rock he's on, so that he's both lit up nicely by the light and has as many polyps as possible visible from the front. First under actinics, then under full lighting.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010661.jpg[/rimg]

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010667.jpg[/rimg]

Next up a Turbinaria frag that is going great guns. It's already put on noticeable growth since being added to the tank (bulging areas at the right hand side of the frag, front and back) with new polyps (one I could have sworn released a egg/polyp ball - a pink ball - shortly after having been added to the tank).

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010664.jpg[/rimg]

The orange and blue/purple zoa frag the friend gave me. I'm going to have to experiment a little with placement I think. The blue is nowhere near as clear on this as when he gave it to me, so I've moved it a little lower in the tank. Hopefully it won't look so washed out soon. The contrast between the two colors was much more noticeable when I first got it.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010663.jpg[/rimg]

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010670.jpg[/rimg]

This is another frag from the same friend (all my zoas are from him, as is the Turbinaria - his donations have given the tank a real head start!). This frag was much pinker in his tank, so I don't know why it's gone quite grey in my tank. I've swapped its position with the orange/blue frag above, hoping that more light might bring out the pink.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010665.jpg[/rimg]

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010671.jpg[/rimg]

Latest purchase - the R.yuma. It doesn't have the multicolored attraction of a R.florida, but it's a nice color and came with two on the rock (one large, one very small). I just need to get away from anything with orange in it for my next Ric I think, to get some more contrast in what I hope will be the Ric garden.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010668.jpg[/rimg]

A shot showing the R.florida as well as the orange/blue zoa in its new position. The R.florida is looking a little sad, not particularly expanded, nor particularly bright in color. I've just changed its position though and hope it will start to look a bit happier. It's now front on to the flow, which means it gets blown around less, if that makes sense, as its edge doesn't get lifted up. Plus it should get less sand blown on it now (you can see that the rock has a fair amount on it from its previous position).

Only one donated zoa frag hasn't been doing too great. It's not opening, so I've moved it to a lighter position to see if that gives it the boost it needs.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010673.jpg[/rimg]

 

[Anonymous]

Just ordered some more coral, an Acan, a Favia and an Alveopora Japonica (supposedly much less problematic to keep than other Alveopora or Goniopora). Pictures from the store's website (obviously shot under actinics, I'll have to wait and see what they look like under my light).

 

[Anonymous]

Not a huge amount to show at the moment, but in the interests of keeping a record, here are the latest tank shots. You can see in the third picture a rock in the foreground with sand blown onto it, which has stuck to the algae growing on it. BTW, I've not cleaned the algae off a section of the back glass just ensure there's enough food for the Blenny (though it's actually mostly grazing on the rock and the overflow column).

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010674.jpg[/rimg]

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010675.jpg[/rimg]

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010676.jpg[/rimg]

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010677.jpg[/rimg]

 

[Anonymous]

Looks like the rockscape has been changed around a bit from the last full tank shots, but fwiw I really like it.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you! The slight rearrangement was inspired by your earlier helpful comments. Given coral will come on rock, it will likely gain a little height/width in places, but I might also fiddle a little (not drastically) anyway.

Speaking of ideas you've given me I'm thinking of getting a piece like this (which I think is a Nephthea - there seem to be a lot of aquacultured bright purple pieces like this around) to put on top of the pile on the left, but will need to get some extra rock to put behind the left island to provide more of a base.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds good to me, it's an attractive looking coral and would definitely supply a vertical element.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice start Tom.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Mark! The new LPS arrived this morning and are already in the tank. I'll try and get some shots once the lights are on.

 

[Anonymous]

Some more shots.

Another full tank shot, following another minor reaquascaping.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010010.jpg[/rimg]

The Favia. The centers are pink, but it looks like in full light they're kind of obscured by the dark brick red outer tissue. I will try and get a shot under actinics later, to see whether it looks as good as it did in the shots from the LFS.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010017.jpg[/rimg]

A shot of what I assume is a barnacle. Both the Favia and Acan have come with a few. I like them, but have no idea how long they'll prosper in an aquarium. Click twice for the larger version!

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010016.jpg[/rimg]

The A.japonica. From what little info there is out there on the web, these are supposed to be a lot more forgiving than other varieties. We'll see.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010019.jpg[/rimg]

The Acan. I like the colors, although one end is much more healthily expanded than the other. Hopefully a bit of good light will help (from the shots on the LFS website, I kind of wonder if the coral there is kept under perpetual actinic/blue LEDs. Might not be enough for the long term...

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010018.jpg[/rimg]

And finally, the decent shot I was finding so hard to get of the neon green zoa frag a friend passed me. One of the polyps actually detached, but I found it and attached on the same piece of LR. It's already opening up, so I'm hoping it detached because it didn't have enough light, but now will do. Again, click for the larger version!

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010679.jpg[/rimg]

 

[Anonymous]

Couple of my specialty amateurish shots.

One of my R.florida putting out a baby. I thought it'd split down the middle when I bought it, as it had two mouths, but instead it's pushed out a small bit of tissue, attached that to the rock and slowly grown that piece of tissue. The linking tissue looks like it'll separate soon. It actually attached to a loose piece of rock, which I had to glue to the main rock, as it was getting blown around. My first attempt at a top down shot, because I couldn't get my camera to focus on it properly from the side. Still not great, but not awful either. At least it's clear what's happening!

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010029.jpg[/rimg]

A pic of a new colony of pink zoas I got for about $10 today from an aqua show in Tokyo. They usually sell for around $30 - $40, aquacultured in Okinawa. A couple of friends alerted me to them before they got snapped up!

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010027.jpg[/rimg]

 

[Anonymous]

Again, just for a record, here's the latest FTS.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010034.jpg[/rimg]

Also, ideas welcome on what I can do with this left-hand side. I'm not sure what to put here. It's relatively, but not quite as bright as the right-hand side (almost directly under the 150W MH). I'm starting to get attracted to the idea of a Euphyllia, either a frogspawn or an ancora, or maybe one of each. But I'm not sure whether to put them here, or find some way of putting them at the back of the tank, between the two islands (which would involve creating some sort of third island at the back - not sure about that.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010035.jpg[/rimg]

 

[Anonymous]

I have no idea why that shot isn't displaying vertically. It is on Photobucket. :?

Other ideas I'm playing with in my mind are eventually putting a plating Montipora on there and allowing it to grow out, or trying to find some small frags of things like T.musica to attach there. Really not sure at the moment.

 

[Anonymous]

I've just cleaned those powerheads by the way.

 

[Anonymous]

I've just ordered some new corals, to arrive on Sunday morning.

This is one lot, ordered from the place I got the Favia, Acan and Alveopora.

A branching Frogspawn.



A very cheap Acan that's got a bit of damage but will be lovely if it keeps its pink coloration.



And a big red chalice that looks like it's got some nice color variation to it.



Just like the last order from this place, they will look considerably different when under my lighting, but hopefully still attractive enough.

 

[Anonymous]

And finally, what looks like could be a Scolymia, though I thought they were solitary polyps and this appears to have three!

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, and to cap it all, I got a lovely range of zoa frags from a good friend of mine here. They've only just gone in the tank, so I'm looking forward to seeing them open tomorrow!

 

[Ben1]

Looks real nice Tom. Getting some nice eye candy in there. That last one kinda looks like a lobo to me but either was it is very nice.

 

[Anonymous]

Looks real nice Tom. Getting some nice eye candy in there. That last one kinda looks like a lobo to me but either was it is very nice.

Thanks Ben. I feel a bit guilty - going through a bit of a splurge at the moment, though most of the coral is (relatively) inexpensive by Japan/coral standards. That last coral is the most expensive so far, though still far less than Scolys go for here, so I was wondering whether it was what the Japanese website claimed it to be. However, it's always a bit difficult to be sure what they're claiming exactly, as generally Japanese names are used, which sometimes can be a little vague and not correspond exactly to species. So this was an "azami hanagata" coral, not a Scoly, as the Latin names are virtually unused here. However that's what it seems to translate as in listings on Google.jp and the listing was marked as "the real thing" (honmono), so I thought maybe, though was a bit unsure, given the three heads. The lobo call might be a good one - I hadn't thought of that, partly as its shape isn't the classic shape of elongated lobes folded in on each other. But following your suggestion I did a search which suggested that juvenile lobos often look like Scolys, so that might well be it.

Whichever way, I really like the coloration and I'm pleased to have got it! I'll take some more pics once I have it.

 

[Anonymous]

BTW, the website I bought it from said it was 6cm (just over 2"), just to give an idea of scale. I'll take my own photos once it arrives on Sunday.