January 2010 TOTM

Our January meeting was held at the home of D3monic (Mike). Mike has two very different setups in his home. The first is a 75 gal. tank devoted to macro algaes and pipefish. His tank is quite different from most of the coral dominated reef tanks that we usually see.




There are also several very impressive gorgs in this tank.










The equipment list on this tank is quite simple which is a nice contrast from a full-blown reef as well.
Lighting:
48" Odysea ebay special. 54watt X 4
two actinic bulbs and two 12k bulbs

Filtration:

Biological- 45lbs of liverock, 250lbs of live sand.

Mechanial- Filter sock, Filterfloss, Eshopps econoline cone skimmer model number s-200 Rated for aquariums 200-300 gallon in size.

20 gallon sump.

A list of the inhabitants:
2 Yellow multibanded pipefish

1 Dragonface pipefish

1 fire shrimp

20 cerith snails

1 Seahare

1 Tailspot blenny

And a handfull of the Oxynoe

Macro algae list:

C. Mexicana

C. Prolifera

Turtle grass

Shoal Grass

Sargassum (brown Seaweed)

Botryocladia (red grape)

Red Gracilaria

Codium SP.

Watch for the next post detailing the JBJ 28 gal.

[varanus37]

Mike's other tank is a 2008 nanotuners custom JBJ 28gal HQI with a 5 gal. gravity-fed refugium. The tank is lit with 150watt Radium 20k and 18watt x2 pc actinics. Mike uses several types of chemical filtration on this tank including Filterfloss, Chemipure elite, Brightwells phosphat-R and Brightwells Neozeo Media. His method for dosing follows:
Brightwells Liquid Reef 8 drops daily.

Brightwells KoralColor 6 drps daily

Brightwells Replenish 9 drps daily.

Brightwells Iodion 1 drp daily

Brightwells Reef BioFuel 5 drops daily.

As you can see the dosing seems to be doing it's job.






















Check out this crazy little guy.


The fish seemed to enjoy the meeting.






So those are Mike's tanks. Both tanks look great and are growing really well. If Mike can get his macros to fill in the way his corals have then he should have a jungle in the 75 in no time. Mike, thanks for sharing your tanks with us and being patient while the bum in charge of TOTM threads got your thread put up.

Bill

[D3monic]

Very nice shots! I love them. Heres my fav fts of the 75gal

Its changed alittle since the meeting.



What lens did you use for the macro shots? Very nice. Especially of the tongue coral.

[varanus37]

I shoot with a Nikon D40. The lens is an AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm. For some of the crazy close shots I also use a Quantaray 52mm attachment. I'm going to change a few things on my setup after hearing Gary Parr speak at the CMAS swap. Nothing crazy but I am going to look into extension tubes and a remote release. Most of the shots from your tanks were hand-held so there's some blur here and there. When I get some more gear I'll make the rounds again at meetings and get more pics.

Bill

[D3monic]

I just ordered some shutter releases. One is a wired one and the other is a wireless remote. i think the one with a cord was like $12

[funkpolice]

I think using the timer works pretty good as well.

[kenny]

Really nice pics

[varanus37]

The timer does work well, I just like new toys. My fish are always in my pics as well so I think the shutter release will help me in my own tank. I can hit the button when they're not in the way.

Bill

[D3monic]

Its funny. If your trying to get a pic of coral they are all over you. The second you want a pic of them they are hiding like your out to get them

[JPSKI25]

Great shots Bill! man I have to learn how to use my D60!!!! Actually I need to buy a new lens first thanks to the dog knocking my tripod over! Then time to learn it. Been looking at the 24-120mm lens