Samhain's 10 Gallon Contest Tank!

[Samhain]

Here's my 1st post for the contest, although my tank has been up since February 22, 2012.

Params as follows:
pH 7.9
Ammo 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Temp 77 deg Farenheit
SG 1.026 via refractometer

Stock List: a pair of percs (Nemo and Dagny)
CUC: 1 nerite, 10 nassarius, 10 dwarf ceriths
Corals: 1 Acan, 1 Monti Digi, 1 Monti Cap, 1 Chalice, 1 ORA Green Birdsnest, 1 Tyree Ponape Birdsnest (and two little broken bits that I'm trying to grow out instead of throw out), 1 Favia, Green People Eater Palys, 1 Green Bay Packers zoas, 1 Dragon Fire zoas, and a mystery coral from saltcritters!
Equipment: Finnex heater, Odyssea T5 20" lights with stock bulbs (although I may be switching to LEDs before contest end), AquaClear HOB DIY Fuge with chaetoball, 2 Koralia 240 powerheads

Future plans: I may or may not add a hammer and/or an open brain, but that's about it for additions. Other than that, I'm just going to let things grow out!

Photos to follow...

 

[Samhain]

FTS as per the rules.

And a few others.

 

[chichimom79]

I'm sorry- the left side of your tank is covered with a wine bottle. Pic no good! Just kiddin'! Looks great!! :Cheers:

 

[R3verb]

Looks awesome! Contest starts soon so you will get full points for your first week!

 

[Samhain]

Update time! I've been taking a Fifty Shades break for the last week, but I'm back. Tank is having some algae issues, but other than that, things are going swimmingly!

Params
Temp: 78 degrees Farenheit
Salinity: 1.026 via refractometer
pH 8.2
Ammo: 0
Trite: 0
Trate: 0
Phos: registering 0, but I know this isn't true (that algae tattle-tales every time!)

I'm seeing impressive growth on my SPS, mostly the monti cap, although I've noticed expansion on both types of birdsnest too. I also have growth on the pavona, although it's less noticeable. And there are baby GBP zoas popping up too. No noticeable growth on the monti digi. The favia, chalice, and mystery coral are all flourishing, and while my acan hasn't added any new heads, the heads it has are gaining size nicely and the acan overall looks plump and happy.

Picture time!

FTS

Monti Cap This Week

And a couple weeks ago

Birdsnest This Week

And a couple weeks ago

And some pics of Dagny, since Nemo was being camera shy

 

[chichimom79]

Nice coral growth!

 

[Samhain]

Params as follows:

SG 1.026
Ammo 0
Trite 0
Trate 0

FTS

And Nemo and Dagny

My new Watchman, Edward, is being very shy and unproductive. He decided to have a burrow within the rocks on the lowest side of the right of the tank, and he dug all the sand out of that little hole, but other than that has done NO sand clean-up whatsoever. He just hangs out in his little rock burrow all day long. Oh well. We can't dictate what our critters do, just watch and hope!

 

[Samhain]

Params as follows:

Ammo 0
Trite 0
Trate 5
SG 1.026
Temp 78

FTS

Algae issues are abundant at the moment, but I'm having some impressive coral growth too. So I can't complain too much. Water change, water change, water change!

 

[FishyReef]

Wow, that one coral in the back top middle-right of the tank shows amazing growth!! Is that a birdsnest?

 

[Samhain]

It's a Tyree Ponape Birdsnest. It has benn really sprouting the last month or so. It was really fragile and fragged itself during shipping, so I actually have 3 frags of it in the tank. The smallest started out maybe a quarter of an inch long; now it's about 1/2 inch and branching! I'm considering relocating one of the frags to my big tank once the contest ends, or perhaps trading/selling it.

 

[Samhain]

Params:
SG 1.026
Ammo 0
Trite 0
Trate 5
Temp 78

Edward the Elusive

Dagny (Nemo's still in the tank; he was just camera shy this time)

FTS

And Coral Growth Shots!

 

[Samhain]

Short note. I think my tank has been overrun by bryopsis. I'm not entirely sure how to treat this, given that it's an SPS heavy tank. The frags are attached, and sometimes grown over/into the rocks, so taking them out and scrubbing them is a no go. Starving the tank of light will kill my corals. I'm not sure how megadosing with magnesium will affect the coral. Best I can try right now is daily water changes to starve it out, but I've read that it is very good at surviving nutrient deprivation. Any suggestions would be appreciated, but right now I'm just changing water and manually removing what I can.