The Phoenix - Rising fr the ashes (new pics 01/18)

EagleEyez5 wrote: I have to say.....you have expensive taste.....and a large budget...hope to come check it out some day....

Edited by thebutler4 - September 21 2007 at 12:05pm

Jamison, I missed your wit while away from the board.  The green birdnest is growing well.  Hopefully it will become a big colony in no time at all.

Reptoreef, sorry about your tank.  I can't wait to see your new tank.

EagleEyez, this IS an expensive hobby.  I am just glad that I can afford it.

TheButler4: You're making me blush.  Thanks for the offer; but my tank is pretty full with only a few spots left for some specific ORA and acro species on my wish list.  I am glad that I could help you out in the black and white maxima matter.  They are hard to come by.  How big is your clam?

Chirs, are you a Francophone? There are specific steps that need to be taken in setting up a barebottom tank to avoid algae.  Reefcentral has several threads dedicated to this.  I'll keep you guys updated on my tank.  I am hopeful that it works.

Currently I have:
- Two Lubbock fairy wrasses
- Three orange firefishes
-Six bluestreak cardinals
-One blue tang
-One yellow tang
-One purple tang

I used to have three beautiful pyramid butterflyfish, four ocellaris clowns as well as several more wrasses.  They contracted horrible ich when the tangs were added and died. It was quite surprising to me since my experience was that if the fish is in good health and not under stress, it will get through ich without any problem.  I am waiting to add probably some more wrasses/anthias in the tank.

The currently fish list is small; but I do feed the corals a mixture of golden pearls 5-50 and 50-100 micron size, as well as frozen rotifers.  So far, my acros have been keeping their good color and good growth.


Here are a few more pics:

This is a topdown shot of the A.loripes posted above.  I love topdown pic because it picks up only the most colorful parts of corals, the parts that are exposed to light.  This guy is just gorgeous.  I am very partial to deepwater acro




This is THE brightest coral in my tank; but also the hardest to take pics of.  The bright tips causes the pics to be overexposed.  Did I say that I LOVE acropora millepora




The gorgeous tableforming A.latistella




Very nice blue lipped A.pulchra




The delicate-looking blue bottlebrush A.turaki.  This guy has been on my wish list forever and I finally was able to get a small frag. 






Breathtaking yellow birdnest with green tips.  Well, it doesn't quite take your breath away at this juvenile state; but I am pretty sure that it will when it grows up (or is that grow out). 




Topdown shot of the ORA green cat's paw posted earlier

Jumping in a bit late but welcome back my friend! Your pictures look fantastic.

chris.rogers wrote: Dinkim, yes, I'm francophone.  Did you pick any up through your schooling in Vietnam?

Sshm,

Thanks for the welcome.  Sorry about your tank at work.

I bought corals from many vendors. 

Locally, Aquatica is a top-notch LFS as far as SPS goes.  Shawn's stuffs are very nice, reasonably-priced.  He is a honest guy, always a pleasure to deal with.  I also like Marine aquatics, MSM  but they don't stock SPS all that often.

As far as internet sellers go:
    Reefhotspot.com, fragglereef.com got a lot of my business.  The prices are excellent.  You get free shipping for order 200 bucks and above.   Keep in mind that Fragglereef's pictures always look worse than the actual corals (he did not photoshop his pics at all).  Both owners, Max and Miguel are very personable, very nice guys.

    Reefermadness.us has excellent stuffs, but very expensive, except when there is a sale going on (like at this moment, 40% off).  The pics always look better than the actual corals (Kris swears that he doesn't photoshop his pics; it must've been the difference in lighting).  free shipping for order 200 or more.

    Liveaquaria.com simply has the best ORA coral collection on the net.  All of my ORA are from them.  Their diver's den (WYSIWYG) is very nice.  Overall, the price is higher; but the guarantee is awesome (4 weeks for aquacultured corals, 2 weeks for all other).  Customer service is second to none.  Dead corals are credited cheerfully; no questions asked.  No free shipping

    Drmaccorals.com has very good selection as well.  The several corals I received from them however were a bit bleached.  No free shipping.

    Reefscience.com has very good reputation.  No free shipping but sales happen very often (read:Be patient and wait for a sale, unless there is a coral that you just have to have).

    For a selection of aquacultured frags, not maricultured corals, upscales.com and reefstuff.com are two big farmers/retailers in Oregon.  Their frags are very nice, reasonably priced.  For big orders, you can negotiate to get free shipping from upscales.  You can't get free shipping from reefstuff.com, but Rick will pick for you huge frags and throw in some good free stuff.

Dale, your tank is absolutely gorgeous.  I like the fact that you let the colonies grow out to their potentials.  I am glad that I was able to help you out at the beginning.  It was then that the help was valuable; you hardly need any help nowadays being an expert yourself.  I probably should stop by and admire your tank soon;

If you are ever down this way let me know. You are more than welcome in my home.


Edited by Lyscer - September 24 2007 at 5:29pm

How much do you want for a frag of it?

Dale,
I'll probably price the frags in the 15-20 bucks.  It will take a month or two though.

Mike,
How fast do acans grow?  I don't really target feed them.  Just whatever my SPS eat.  Hopefully that is enough.

please put me down for one, it is beautiful!