64g Tokyo tank

[Anonymous]

Didn't get round to removing the worm this last weekend, but did spend a fair amount of time removing a few troublesome patches of Dictyota, essentially by removing the rocks they were on and not just trimming the growth off, but also scraping the rock clear of any fragments left attached with a cheap knife. There are some other small patches which haven't ever really taken off which I didn't touch because they were on rocks which were less easy to remove. Here's hoping that they'll not now take off.

I'll take some update shots of the tank sometime soon, once I've got a few of the corals that are still on the sand bed puttied into place. I need to get myself some plumber's putty first and life hasn't provided the window for a trip to the LFS yet.

I did manage to buy this last night though. Should arrive on Friday. Here's hoping it looks nearly as good under my lights.

WOW. those are some seriously stunning colors...I so cant wait to get the 65 goin'(put another payment down on it this past weekend). Since the tank o death still has water in it and the filters are still runnin' I went ahead an dropped 4 damsels in it, just to have some movement...at some point later down the line, I'll prolly move this tank elsewhere and redo it for Bernie...

 

[Anonymous]

I know, when I saw those colors, I had to pull the trigger immediately. There is really far much less choice available when it comes to zoas here. Most of them here are the usual range of three or four color combinations (pink are very common for some reason, as are Eagle Eyes) and they're generally seen as a beginner's coral. But I'm beginning to see more interesting colors, hopefully this is the beginning of a shift. There's clearly an untapped appetite for them as any zoa frags with any color sell out extremely quickly (the three frags of this color were gone within a few hours - I got the smallest, cheapest frag).

You're going to have so much fun when you get started seriously. Any reefing buddies nearby? As far as I'm able, once I've got some frags to swap myself, I plan to try and trade for new stuff where I can.

 

[Anonymous]

I know, when I saw those colors, I had to pull the trigger immediately. There is really far much less choice available when it comes to zoas here. Most of them here are the usual range of three or four color combinations (pink are very common for some reason, as are Eagle Eyes) and they're generally seen as a beginner's coral. But I'm beginning to see more interesting colors, hopefully this is the beginning of a shift. There's clearly an untapped appetite for them as any zoa frags with any color sell out extremely quickly (the three frags of this color were gone within a few hours - I got the smallest, cheapest frag).

You're going to have so much fun when you get started seriously. Any reefing buddies nearby? As far as I'm able, once I've got some frags to swap myself, I plan to try and trade for new stuff where I can.

sadly I dont have any friends that are reef keeping - one or three were interested, but they seriously balk at the prices of equipment n such - none of them have ever had a pricey hobby, and just cant seem to wrap their heads around such an investment, although they all love coming over and staring at the tanks...

the new LFS near me so far, is great- so far they have two 8 foot long, 2 foot wide tubs, filled with coral frags and colonies, starting at $19.99 per frag, and up, and they're getting ready to build another 2 frag tubs...plus a wall of tanks holding the larger leather and softy corals...

 

[Anonymous]

Excellent, it really helps to have somewhere nearby that doesn't try to extract as much as possible from every customer. There's one place in Tokyo that specializes in the sort of coral that collectors go mad for (the lastest is Scolymia, which is exceedingly rare here), which is eye-wateringly expensive (scolymia going for $250-$680). Luckily I've found one place that is really reasonable, with some decent stock (though it's miles out of town, so I've not been there, only ordered online). Most coral are in the $15-$60 band.

This Paly frag is actually expensive by Japanese standards (around $50 for what look to be around 11 polyps from the pic on the website). The larger frags (with 30-35 polyps) were about $80. But still quite a bit cheaper than the pricier hard corals.

 

[Anonymous]

Scolymias are getting popular around here too, ranging from $100-250, size and colors depending...Acans never took off here in my area, or at least not that I ever saw(though I have been reefless, I still visited my LFS friends, and seeing what was available..) though the prices for what Acans there was to be had were pricey.

 

[Anonymous]

Acans are cheap here, but not that spectacular for the most part. Though I remember when I last had a tank here and was getting PMs on RC from people desperate for me to start sending them cheap Acans illicitly. :roll:

 

[Anonymous]

Acans are cheap here, but not that spectacular for the most part. Though I remember when I last had a tank here and was getting PMs on RC from people desperate for me to start sending them cheap Acans illicitly. :roll:

:lol: :lol:

I don't get the acan craze, I really never have. But then I don't get the zoa craze or the chalice craze either.

 

[Anonymous]

Acans are cheap here, but not that spectacular for the most part. Though I remember when I last had a tank here and was getting PMs on RC from people desperate for me to start sending them cheap Acans illicitly. :roll:

heh. yeah, I remember seeing your pics before and wnodered if there was any way you could ship some of those specimens...along with some of the unusual fish we cant get eirther..

 

[Anonymous]

:lol: :lol:

I don't get the acan craze, I really never have. But then I don't get the zoa craze or the chalice craze either.

Really? I like all three, because they have such a rich range of colors available and are relatively hardy/easy to care for.

I don't however, really get tanks where they've focused completely on one type of coral and have about 30-40 frags of acans/chalice/zoas lined up with barely any sand showing (no space for growing out whatsoever and looking like a display case, not an attempt to recreate a natural environment). That strikes me as rather odd (though a whole area of rock covered in lots of different types of colorful zoas can look spectacular once grown out).

 

[Anonymous]

Acans are cheap here, but not that spectacular for the most part. Though I remember when I last had a tank here and was getting PMs on RC from people desperate for me to start sending them cheap Acans illicitly. :roll:

heh. yeah, I remember seeing your pics before and wnodered if there was any way you could ship some of those specimens...along with some of the unusual fish we cant get eirther..

I confess to asking the same of someone here (though I was wondering about licit means, not smuggling...) because I thought they might be able to ship me zoas etc.

 

[Anonymous]

:lol: :lol:

I don't get the acan craze, I really never have. But then I don't get the zoa craze or the chalice craze either.

Really? I like all three, because they have such a rich range of colors available and are relatively hardy/easy to care for.

I don't however, really get tanks where they've focused completely on one type of coral and have about 30-40 frags of acans/chalice/zoas lined up with barely any sand showing (no space for growing out whatsoever and looking like a display case, not an attempt to recreate a natural environment). That strikes me as rather odd (though a whole area of rock covered in lots of different types of colorful zoas can look spectacular once grown out).

never understood that either - my goal, although corals wont be location specific, is to build a complete ecosystem, not justa display of the nicest corals I can fill the tank with

 

[Anonymous]

These might not to be CJ's taste, but I thought I'd post them here first. :wink:

Frag from a good friend. He's passed about four of these frags to me, at least two of which will go back to him when he's set up.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010062.jpg[/rimg]

One of my most recent purchases. This shot is a little washed out - the centers are bluer in person, dark blue.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010061.jpg[/rimg]

Another frag from the same generous friend. These are tiny and a lovely delicate shade of purple, which unfortunately doesn't show up well in this shot.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010060.jpg[/rimg]

From the same friend. I love these - they look great under actinics. I'm hoping they take off soon.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010059.jpg[/rimg]

From the same guy. Really love the translucence of these Palys and their white markings. They've got paler since I got them, but seem to be thriving.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010057.jpg[/rimg]

A colony I got recently. A bit of a washed out shot after I brought it near the glass to take the shot.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010053.jpg[/rimg]

From the same friend as before (I'm going to need to frag the colonies I purchase when I can to start repaying the favor!). Lovely orange color that looks bright, metallic peach pink from below.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010050.jpg[/rimg]

These ones are a little less brightly colored in terms of their centers, but very striking IMO. Another freebie from my generous friend (actually a bit of a mentor when it comes to reefkeeping - he's the one that introduced me to the hobby).

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010048-1.jpg[/rimg]

Bright orange skirts make these delicate zoas really striking in my book. Another friend freebie that I hope starts to grow soon, as I'd like to have enough to share between us.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010047.jpg[/rimg]

Another colony I bought (it came as a set with the green and purple zoas with orange centers above).

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010043-1.jpg[/rimg]

Finally, the latest shot of the first zoas my friend gave me. Couldn't get a great shot this time, but after having lost a few polyps initially, the three remaining polyps have done very well and there are about 3 new small polyps emerging behind them.

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010045.jpg[/rimg]

 

[Anonymous]

nice Tom, really sweet looking!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Tracy! I'm turning into a bit of a zoa addict. Having to restrain myself a little so I don't end up with one of those collector tanks we were just talking about above. I want these to grow out really naturally, but am really havering about where to place them, how near they can be to other corals like Rics etc.

I'll get some shots of those red palys from page 11 when they arrive as well. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

These might not to be CJ's taste, but I thought I'd post them here first. :wink:

I -like- zoanthids. I don't like designer names, or the fact that -every- zoanthid colony now has one. I don't like that years ago you could buy a six by four inch rock covered in hundreds of zoanthids in three dozen color morphs for $30, but now you buy a single polyp for $30 - and there were probably nicer ones on that six by four rock.

I don't dislike zoanthids, I dislike the zoanthid craze.

 

[Anonymous]

These might not to be CJ's taste, but I thought I'd post them here first. :wink:

I -like- zoanthids. I don't like designer names, or the fact that -every- zoanthid colony now has one. I don't like that years ago you could buy a six by four inch rock covered in hundreds of zoanthids in three dozen color morphs for $30, but now you buy a single polyp for $30 - and there were probably nicer ones on that six by four rock.

I don't dislike zoanthids, I dislike the zoanthid craze.

same here- I remember when zoos could be found as hitchhikers on a good many different corals, and you didnt really see them for sale unless they were a colony of hundreds.

The same thing is begining with 'shrooms in my area - when I ran Marine Care, I used to give away mushrooms that werent attached to rock and people asking me how to eradicate them from their tanks- now, I'm seeing mushrooms with special hoitydoity names, with one or two specimens on a rock for $40

 

[Ben1]

Nice Zoas/Palys Tom! The name game aside, there are some awesome morphs going around. I also bought big rocks covered in zoas cheap a decade ago, but this is a different hobby now.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice stuff Tom.

 

[Anonymous]

These might not to be CJ's taste, but I thought I'd post them here first. :wink:

I -like- zoanthids. I don't like designer names, or the fact that -every- zoanthid colony now has one. I don't like that years ago you could buy a six by four inch rock covered in hundreds of zoanthids in three dozen color morphs for $30, but now you buy a single polyp for $30 - and there were probably nicer ones on that six by four rock.

I don't dislike zoanthids, I dislike the zoanthid craze.

Hey, I was just yanking your chain. I know exactly where you're coming from.

Of the three colonies I've bought, one was $30 (2nd picture down) and the two others (6th and 10th, both of which shots only show half or less than half of the colony) cost $40 for both. So we must be in the pre-stupid Zoanthid craze here, though things are clearly changing, given the $50 I'm paying for the red palys on page 11. But that reflects their rarity value I guess.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone else as well. Here's a FTS by way of thanks. Not much to look at, so it's not much in way of a thank you present, but hey. :wink:

[rimg]http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab238/TheEscapedApe/Long%20awaited/P1010069.jpg[/rimg]