[petlover516]

hi everybody! yesterday i went to the Manhattan Reefs Summer Frag Swap at Atlantis Marine World and obtained my first 2 corals:

for 20$, we got about 25 brown-and-turquoise zoanthid polyps. it was sold to me in a petco bag, so i quickly shifted to the next frag table and had it placed in a plastic container. the man there was also nice enough to give me a FREE monti cap. so now the zoanthids have been placed, slightly buried, snug next to a piece of LR. the monti cap has been placed (temporarily) onto the top of an internal power filter, close to the light, as we build more reef foundation into the tank.

this was also my first frag swap, and i was amazed by all the frags in the frags in the tank, and i was given a tour of Atlantis's 20,000gallon reef tank*pc where i saw all the amazingly divine equipment, including a protein skimmer that was about twice the size of me!!!*o2

 

[jrodriguez]

Wow...are you talking about the ocean...lol

 

[phil_pl]

sounds like a good start, better than mine
i cant wait to see some pictures
all i can say about that monti is keep it as close as you can to your lights, mine bleached and died from not having enough light

 

[softiegirl]

Congrats! welcome to your new pocket drainer!

 

[phil_pl]

Congrats! welcome to your new pocket drainer!

+1
i just spent my whole paycheck at a swap...good thing i put back gas money

 

[ladyonyx]

Aaaahhh...frag swaps.....they magically make pay checks disappear out of your pocket. They're the best way I can think of spending money though.

 

[petlover516]

yeah at this one the full cost was about 70$-$25 for me, $25 for mom, and $20 for the corals.

but now the funs over and were getting down to business. the tank is a 125gallon with a 48"35W fluorescent strip light over a glass canopy. it has Crushed coral as a substrate and 1.5lbs of LR(more on the way of course!). the tank is run by 3 fluval canisters(304; 104; and 105), 1 cascade 3000 internal filter, 1 sandshark internal filter, and 2 corner filters.

this weekend we will be getting some coral supplements and purple up.

 

[MediaHound]

My advice Tyler - get a better light ma man.
You have a 48" 40w right? or its really 35w?

Congrats on the new corals by the way but your #1 priority right now should be thinking about long term with that tank now that you committed to small polyped stony corals (SPS).
What are your plans for supplementation?

 

[petlover516]

o i was thinking one of those reef packs with iodine, calcium, and magnesium bottles.

 

[MediaHound]

and the light? is it a 40w or a 35?

 

[petlover516]

35

 

[petlover516]

i just saw one of the zoas open-and wassurprised to see a fluerescent green center rather than the turquoise i saw when it opened in the sunlight outside the aquuarium.

 

[salth2o]

Congrats!

 

[MediaHound]

ics:

 

[Imaexpat2]

Good luck with the new additions and congrats on a new start! Monti Cpas are wonderful corals and one of the better SPS corals to start out with. They can quickly under porper lighting and tank conditions be a center piece. Zoanthids are always a personal favorite and often are pretty bullet proof.