60G Cube Dream Tank!

[xtlosx]

I like your tank,very nice

Thanks! It's been a lot of hard work, and resisting those newb mistakes like I did on my last tank. I've been doing a LOT of reading, and a LOT of listening to the experts out there.. so it's going much better this time around. Who knew?

Great looking Frogspawn and GBTA!

I got absolutely lucky with that Frogspawn yesterday.. It's even better looking in person, my camera skills are garbage.

I also picked up a couple of SPSs from the fire sale yesterday so I will be asking for IDs at some point.

 

[xtlosx]

So my wife wakes me up on her way out of the house to work, and our GBTA has moved himself to the front & center of the tank right under the lights...

When I wake up (no really I'm still sleeping), I'll target feed him some shrimp to encourage him to stay here.. I only had to move 2 SPS frags that weren't glued down, but I'm still wondering how he got this far and didn't hurt anything else in his path, he had a long way to go.. Maybe he squeezed from back to front through the rocks?

Either way... SUCCESS! Now if only my tank raised percs would go near it. Although, there is a better chance of hosting now because this is an area where they swim through frequently.

I fed it twice today, two little pieces of cocktail shrimp and happily took food from me.... Hoping it decides to stay here, this spot is AWESOME!

This literally puts him front and center in the tank... Much better than having to crink my neck to see him on the back of the rock work like before... What a day, patience paid off!

 

[xtlosx]

Some more updated pics...

We finally hung the LED fixtures this weekend, and this has essentially completed the tank.. I have noticed since we hung the fixtures (which raised them another 3") off the glass, the clam has actually opened up more and he is 24" from the fixtures. I like the way it looks now, it's more... complete!!

BTW, the GBTA has since stayed in his spot, so we're on day #6 and he's happy......

 

[EyeReef]

I love your setup..you call tell you took the pix this morning bc of the snow outside hah

 

[xtlosx]

I love your setup..you call tell you took the pix this morning bc of the snow outside hah

hah.. just another spring in Chicago, snow and all! Thanks for the kind words.. I spend a lot of time and effort on this tank (not to mention $$$), so it's nice to have it appreciated..

My folks came by this weekend and haven't seen it yet, they were just stunned. Their first view of a home reef tank.. The more and more I realize, they are not common! I love my little slice of the ocean.

 

[scotty]

is it that purple with eyesight? if so i think i like that better than a blue hue. i cant wait to see this tank matured!!

 

[xtlosx]

is it that purple with eyesight? if so i think i like that better than a blue hue. i cant wait to see this tank matured!!

Yea, it is a little purple when looking at it. The fixture I am using has Royal Blue & Violet on one power cord, and whites on another... I love it! The lights are now about 6" from the water, and have maximas nice and open 24" down from there still. Love the penetration of these LEDs!

 

[unreal]

Alright... So Saturday, and a credit card at MCF and I come home with this!

Blue Maxima Clam (2.5")

Japanese Green Bubble Tipped Anemone

Thats a nice anemone, however I highly doubt its actually from Japan. Many stores like labeling corals stuff to make them more expensive and anything with the name "Japanese" in front of it seems to double the price. Collecting corals from Japan is ILLEGAL!!!!! So even if it is from Japan the store you are buying it from can get into some major trouble and i'm sure they know that. Labeling corals Japanese is merely a tactic to falsely inflate the price and mislead unknowing consumers. It is unfortunate but imo i would steer clear of stores that are doing this. Who know what else they are misleading you with...... Thats just bad business...

http://glassbox-design.com/2010/5-reasons-not-to-buy-japanese-corals/

 

[xtlosx]

Thats a nice anemone, however I highly doubt its actually from Japan. Many stores like labeling corals stuff to make them more expensive and anything with the name "Japanese" in front of it seems to double the price. Collecting corals from Japan is ILLEGAL!!!!! So even if it is from Japan the store you are buying it from can get into some major trouble and i'm sure they know that. Labeling corals Japanese is merely a tactic to falsely inflate the price and mislead unknowing consumers. It is unfortunate but imo i would steer clear of stores that are doing this. Who know what else they are misleading you with...... Thats just bad business...

http://glassbox-design.com/2010/5-reasons-not-to-buy-japanese-corals/

Keep in mind that it doesn't necessarily mean that it was diretcly harvested from Japan, the GBTA itself might be from a lineage known to come from that region. Either way, MCF is a legit operation and they aren't misleading, but thanks for the comments.

Not to mention, I would have bought it no matter where it was marked as coming from. My wife saw it, fell in love, and said that's going into our tank. I certainly didn't buy it because it was labeled Japanese. I actually didn't even know about the lace act and all of that legality until after I got it home and did more research.

 

[unreal]

Not saying you bought just because it said Japanese. It happens a lot out here and you would be surprised how many people think they are really getting one of a kind Japanese corals. Sometimes people do pay a lot more for corals with a Name or location in front of what it actually is and when they find out its not true they feel misled or lied too. Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were buying. I still feel that putting Japanese in front of anything is a joke and merely a ploy to up the price of corals. Thats just my opinion and at least this might save someone for overpaying for a coral that is purposely mislabeled.

 

[xtlosx]

Not saying you bought just because it said Japanese. It happens a lot out here and you would be surprised how many people think they are really getting one of a kind Japanese corals. Sometimes people do pay a lot more for corals with a Name or location in front of what it actually is and when they find out its not true they feel misled or lied too. Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were buying. I still feel that putting Japanese in front of anything is a joke and merely a ploy to up the price of corals. Thats just my opinion and at least this might save someone for overpaying for a coral that is purposely mislabeled.

Agreed. In this case, my wife loved it, and well we got it... She's also the reason we have the bulldozer of an urchin in our tank still...

 

[xtlosx]

Just some more pictures I decided to take... sorry for all of the purple, but the violet LEDs make it hard to not have purple.. heh..

Tongue Coral

Rainbow Lobo (Thanks Tom)

Acan Lord?

How the tank looks now... sorry about the purple!!!

Clown swimming right past the GBTA while not hosting.... grrrr

The RBTA moved to the back of the rock work 2 weeks ago and is now moving back up!

Maxima #2

 

[xtlosx]

OK, so we picked up a little 60\40 Onyx clown 2 weeks ago, and have been raising him in my small 6G Fluval Edge, until tonight... We moved him into the main tank and he is fattening up nicely. To give him any chance of success, I paired him with our big boy GBTA, and so far he's happy as can be just exploring him.. I took a youtube video of him hosting, just ignore the audio, it's me talking to my wife.

Well until I figure out how to embed it, here is a link you can click! YouTube - Our baby onyx clown hosting his gbta

 

[xtlosx]

Now he's hosting in the RBTA that is at the top of the tank... woohoo! What a little adventurous and brave soul.

YouTube - Onyx hosting rbta

 

[xtlosx]

Just wanted to put up some new pictures of the GBTA, and some full tank shots in general...

Some of the additions...

- Tri headed hammer colony
- Blue Mili from Exotic Aquatics
- Highlighter Acro from Exotic Aquatics
- 2x unknown acros... jeff told me the names, but I forgot
- HUGE plate coral on the sand...
- Mounted a bunch of the small SPS that we had...

GBTA w\ Pink tips... Size of a grapefruit whenever it's out, which is always.

An updated FTS......

Left side..

Right side..

Galaxea.... I've always wanted one, and thank you Tom for the frag.. He's in the back right corner bordered completely by live rock and several inches on all sides.. He won't be hurting anything over here!!

Thanks for looking!

 

[xtlosx]

Hey guys... It's been a while since I have posted anything, so here is a youtube video showing my reef and the progress... In general, everything is growing, growing, growing, especially the various SPS colonies I have acquired in the last couple of weeks!!

Sorry about me turning the iPhone on its side, I totally forgot you guys are going to be contorting your heads now... heh... Anyways, hope it's neat to check out the progress.

Check it out, let me know what you think, the tank is now officially 3 months old!

YouTube - ‪My 60G cube reef 3 months old‬‏

 

[MMreef]

cool video,too bad it is sideways,looks like everything is doing great

 

[Tangency]

LOVE that pic!

 

[EyeReef]

your tank is coming along very nicely!

 

[xtlosx]

Just realized I need to post updates... We have added a nice amount of SPS and the RBTA has changed spots (our doing), and is getting much much bigger...

Task for tomorrow, updates!