EithelSirion's 75 Gallon DIY SPS & Gorgonian Reef

[Gumbies R Us]

This coral has started to pop tips out the vertical growth the last couple weeks, and has always looked a very pleasant yellow. I'm sure plenty of people have this in their tanks.

TCK Pikachu!

April 2023 just after shipping:

June 2023:

July 2023:

October 2023:

TCK Pikachu!

Some great growth on it!

 

[EithelSirion]

Some great growth on it!

I agree, this coral has looked spectacular and grown fast since the first few days in the tank. It even detached from where I initially mounted it and fell into another coral for a day and had noticeable growth the next week after remounting. I wish the polyp extension would've continued to be so nice, but that's what I get for getting another angelfish. It has good polyp extension at night.

 

[EithelSirion]

Time to document a few of my corals with a bit more of a saga to their time with me. My earliest Acro I added to my tank, the Tyree Ponape Rainbow (Acropora subulata) came in from shipping that should have arrived on Saturday for saturday delivery, but due to a shipping error I was unable to get the coral until Monday afternoon, 3 full days in the bag.

Here is the frag the day I received it (Oct 13 2022):

A month later, after significant loss of tissue post-stress (Nov 2022):

I fragged a few small tips to save it and here is an image Jan 2023:

March 2023:

May 2023:

July 2023:

October 2023 (The coral was heavily shaded multiple times over the previous 3 months by corals mounted above including a Monti Cap, and had recession and loss of color due to complete lack of light):

And here are two small pieces I remounted in a new location yesterday:

Tyree Ponape Rainbow (Acropora subulata)

 

[EithelSirion]

This next coral I bought a small frag of locally, some unnamed variety of Sunset Millipora. The color of this coral has progressively improved with age in my tank, although the polyp extension has not (my Angel is laughing at me as I type this). It has encrusted for a long time before starting the last month to grow the first branches.

January 2023:

February 2023 (Starting to encrust):

March 2023:

April 2023:

May 2023:

June 2023:

October 2023 (this is post-Lamarck Angelfish who seems to love every Acropora polyp):

November 2023 (Finally starting to pop tips!):

Dec 2023 (Under Blues, and then under 50/50 Blues/Whites without T5s like some of the previous shots):

 

[EithelSirion]

I added a few pounds of Gulf Live Rock nano rocks about a year and a half ago and I remember seeing one specific critter (image in the next post) when it was the size of a dime or smaller. I added the rocks for increased diversity of small critters to balance out the tank as the algae growth with dry rock was very "boom and bust" and I figured that increased numbers of species would limit this monoculture sort of situation. My current hair algae bloom aside, this has been true for the 12+ months after adding these few rocks and even with my current bloom of hair algae, I still have a significant diversity of sponges and other macroalgaes proliferating in addition to maybe 50% of the algae being hair algae, rather than the 95% one species bloom I was having previously.

 

[EithelSirion]

Last night right before the lights went out, I noticed a large frilly blob on the underside of the frag rack, and the montipora digitata frag appearing irritated.

Because of the shape of the dorsal surface, I assumed it was a limpet but the other 3-4 species of limpets in my tank all have hard shells, not a leathery surface.

 

[EithelSirion]

I turned on the whites to see if that would allow me to visualize the creature better. Usually whites show nocturnal creatures clearly enough for quick identification.

 

[EithelSirion]

Here are images under my usual blend of daytime lighting:

 

[EithelSirion]

I'm sure you've all probably guessed by now, but this is an orange frilly limpet. No idea how reef-safe it is, but this creature is in my refugium until I've assessed whether that area of montipora will recover well or not. It is roughly 3" in length. Cool creature nonetheless!

 

[EithelSirion]

Orange Frilly Limpet on frag rack (3”)

Here is a short video of the limpet before being removed from the frag rack.

 

[riche]

Love the build and very detailed measurements

 

[EithelSirion]

Love the build and very detailed measurements

Thanks!

 

[EithelSirion]

This one was a small frag that didn't do so hot in transit. Here are some growth images of the ORA Cali Tort which has never had an ideal placement in my aquascape.

November 2022:

March 2023:

October 2023 (after new placement):

March 2024:

 

[EithelSirion]

This next coral I bought a small frag of locally, some unnamed variety of Sunset Millipora. The color of this coral has progressively improved with age in my tank, although the polyp extension has not (my Angel is laughing at me as I type this). It has encrusted for a long time before starting the last month to grow the first branches.

January 2023:

February 2023 (Starting to encrust):

March 2023:

April 2023:

May 2023:

June 2023:

October 2023 (this is post-Lamarck Angelfish who seems to love every Acropora polyp):

November 2023 (Finally starting to pop tips!):

Dec 2023 (Under Blues, and then under 50/50 Blues/Whites without T5s like some of the previous shots):

Some updated pictures from last night on this sunset Milli:

 

[EithelSirion]

This coral is a more recent addition. BC Vectorman, which arrived in November with my Blue Ghost frag for the contest.

November 2023:

January 2024:

February 2024:

March 2024:

And from another angle:

 

[EithelSirion]

This Acropora I received the same November shipment from BattleCorals as the Vectorman. PC Rainbow!

November 2023:

December 2023:

March 2024:

 

[EithelSirion]

The tank is sorely in need of some trimming but I've been working bad hours and haven't gotten time to do much of anything at home. Most of my R2R posting is happening during required continuing education courses lol.

Here is a good example of the major need for trimming. My Forest Fire Montipora digitata, green Anacropora, TG Amber Sea Fan Gorgonian, and some runaway GSP are in a turf war while they're all slowly being shaded out by the Starburst Montipora capricornis from above. You can also notice the "frags" on the rack in the background.

 

[EithelSirion]

Here's a coral that looks great under full spectrum. Not much under heavy blues, but under whiter lighting it has spectacular aqua tips and a grey/black base color. Definitely a unique color!

CC Dark Knight!