My tank is starting to look better, I think

[Poseidon]

Looking GREAT! Did you save the originals this time? I WANT that clown fish one!!! ;)

[zhenya]

Thnx guys!

Mike, I do have that file and can send it to you. I also have some interesting shots of some critters I discovered living under my zoanthiids colony. Can you identify those?

[zhenya]

I forgot to add a picture of the green hammer coral that I got a while back, through all the hard times with this tank this coral lived and did well for me. A bright spot in the dark, so to speak. ;;


At this time it is a host for my A.perideraion (also known as a skunk clownfish). Neither one is worse for the wear as the clownfish has been real gentle and never really buffeted in the polyps. She's simply living among the branches and retreats under them as soon as she sees me coming closer tot he tank (if I don;t hold glass with food in my hand that is).
I hope you can see her in this image...

[charlie]

Bottom center, I think???????

[zhenya]

Yep, she's there right under the coral, trying to blend with the seagrasses...

[charlie]

I had a pair that hosted in my big sinularia at one time. I think it just gives them a security blanket.


How bout them Bears.

[zhenya]

I had a pair that hosted in my big sinularia at one time. I think it just gives them a security blanket.


How bout them Bears.

I can tell you one thing, I am very impressed with the Bears and how they overcame stagnation in the third quarter. Every team goes through it and only great ones get over the hump and finish the job the way Bears did it.

I guess I'm getting old but I was really pleased that it is Colts that made it in AFC. I have a soft spot for Peyton and think he deserves at least a shot at the championship in his career. His brother is a woos but Peyton is something special and I was happy to see him getting a chance at the big dance. ;;

Now, the getting old thing... I think I need to ask everyone as to when one realises that there is such thing as time... first thing is when you notice something like this Stomatella snail and think it is cute...



And then you realise that your tank is also getting old because you find things that you thought were dead, but they are making comeback?

[zhenya]

Here's more of the things that I thought were dead a while back.

Like this branching blastomussa, I thought I lost it completely but it is now almost regrew every polyp


Or this Acropora, for example. It not only survived it is actively making a claim on the real estate.

[charlie]

That's great Gene, what did you do, move some stuff around??? That little guy with the lite purple polyps is just great.

I agree witht you on you Peyton Manning thing, they just don't make players like him anymore, do they? Honor a contract????????????????????????? I don't think it is getting old Gene, it runs down to common sense!!!!!
I see where Indy is already favored by a touchdown, I find that hard to believe!!!!

[zhenya]

That's great Gene, what did you do, move some stuff around??? That little guy with the lite purple polyps is just great.

I agree witht you on you Peyton Manning thing, they just don't make players like him anymore, do they? Honor a contract????????????????????????? I don't think it is getting old Gene, it runs down to common sense!!!!!
I see where Indy is already favored by a touchdown, I find that hard to believe!!!!

Charlie,

I haven't touched anything in a while, the shot you referring to is simply a fun shot I took while looking at the tank through macro lens (EF-S 60mm). I swear I could see so many things that i thought were dead and gone...

Colts favorite by a touchdown? Hmmm, I hope they are not serious... Unless they know something I don't, like Bears defense had contracted a cold and unable to play... Give me a break!

I will talk to you about predictions in about a week, after all the dust settles a bit and all those "know it all" stop talking for a spell.

[charlie]

Heck, if they had a cold, they still got 2 weeks to get rid of it!!!!!

[reef_obsessed]

Amazing pictures, tank looks great!!

[zhenya]

Thank you, reef_obsessed!

It's been awhile since my tank looked and did well, so I'm juced that it is on the up again...

[zhenya]

I've tried using that top down box that melev made for me to take pictures but failed to get anything decent looking. The problem lies in that my canopy is too low above the tank and my camera don't fit into the box when my battery grip is attached.
Here;s couple of samples, you can see in this first picture that if camera's lens is not up against the bottom piece of glass you start getting weird looking reflections of corals.



You can trim it, of course, like I done in this picture below but I wanted to be able to get a wider view through the box with my wide engle lens like my 17-40mm. I need to work on this to see if I can utilize some other lens.

[zhenya]

Also, an updated pix of the tank..



And this is a picture of the small comensal crab living in one of the acropora colonies.

and a bit closer look at the coral he lives in...

[reef_obsessed]

Gene,
Those pics you had asked to id......are those possibly 'sea squirts' or tunicates? If so, I have a boatload of em. Are they bad??

[zhenya]

Gene,
Those pics you had asked to id......are those possibly 'sea squirts' or tunicates? If so, I have a boatload of em. Are they bad??

I wasn't really asking for an ID, it was a joke of sorts between Mike, Charlie and I. I'm pretty sure I know what those things are, and yes, one of them is a tunicate( in the middle picture) and with it you can just make out eyes of the mysid shrimp. And for your question, no they are harmless and some species are rather breathtaking in colors and shapes. I had some tunicates in the back of the tank that I could just make out looking through magnifying glass, they were purple in color and a good size colony. Unfortunately they were lost when I did the rearranging of the rockwork.
Post a picture of yours when you have a chance, I would love to see what you have. ;)

[reef_obsessed]

Alright,
I'm no photographer at all, but if you can id these (I believe to be sea squirts) as not a threat to the tank I'll rest ez....
Thanks,
David

[zhenya]

Alright,
I'm no photographer at all, but if you can id these (I believe to be sea squirts) as not a threat to the tank I'll rest ez....
Thanks,
David

David,

I can't quite make out what those things are, the flash is simply too bright and any contrast that was there got lost. However, I haven't seen anythig threatening on that rock either, so I think you are safe.
If you have a full resolution file saved I can try and work on it a bit in Photoshop, perhaps we can ID those critters then. ;)

[vtec si]

Gene, Your tank is looking good! Keep up the good work!

Martin