View Full Version : AIDYS REEF
Here are some recent photos taken of my 55 gallon Zoanthid Reef. Have had a couple really unusual and colourful new Zoos added recently. :)
This new colony is SO out of this world I would think it were fake if it wasn't in my tank. There are so many different patterned/coloured tiny polyps tightly grouped together, yet they all have something overall in common. I haven't at all messed with any of the photos of them. Except a possible slight nudge of brightness on one or two. The colours are even more intense in real life. What the photo doesn't pick up very well are the blue,purple,green or yellow shades that some of the polyps have.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Once again to Mr & Mrs ZIGGY of CORAL GARDEN AQUATICS for sorting this gem out for me.
you have more zoanthids than my nearest 3 lfs put together! and better colours too!!!! awsome mate :D
This was taken with the flash on.
Meet 'RC' my Royal Gamma.
Look close to the right of the red zoos. RC my Royal Gamma likes to hide in these particular Zoos. You can just make out his purple body!! :rolleyes:
Close up pic of RC hiding in his favorite colours. :D
My Most Favorite Fish - Ever!!!
'BEAKER' Copperband Butterfly
>>Marine<<
27-09-04, 09:10
Lovely colours...!!! Lovely Pics...!!! What are the tank specs..?? :wub:
Bachlum Chaam
27-09-04, 09:34
What a great tank well taken pictures too love the different coloured zoos
Tim
I am in lust! I am sooooo jealous... I struggle to find zoo's of any real variety of colour up here....
if they ever over run your tank... I know a man that can help liberate you ;)
Looks fabulous
M
Valley Boy
27-09-04, 15:15
Yes, Maffu. Very rarely do we se any colour varietions either! :(
Fan-bloody-tastic as usual Aidy...all i need now is the invite to come and view it in person :whistling: :blush: :lol:
Fantastic as always :wub:
Ditto all of the above, always a pleasure to see your tank. It just gets better & better.
Just one suggestion, can you please start a prop system. I'm sure there's more then a handful of us up here that would love to introduce such beauties into our tanks.
Suk
:D :thumbsup:
Originally posted by Suk@Sep 27 2004, 20:08
I'm sure there's more then a handful of us up here that would love to introduce such beauties into our tanks.
Yes!! I would love a few polyps of those green fringed ones in the top right hand corner of the last picture. :wub:
Any chance of a frag? :D
jamie reefer
02-10-04, 00:25
very nice pics just love the butterfly cheers Jamie
What lighting do you use? :thumbsup:
Garry thomas
02-10-04, 13:09
yes what lighting? is it the standard flors? looking really good.
craighuckins
06-10-04, 11:26
FRAG 'EM! I think demand would be enormous! I love zoa's. Just goes to show that you don't need to go the sps/lps route to get an impressive tank. simple to keep and exquisite to view. Fantastic! :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:
Obsessive - but you can understand why seeing the pics! :thumbsup:
Well impressed.
Keith
Hey, thanks for all the great comments guys. Thats really nice.
Sorry it's taken so long to reply to some of your questions but I've been out of town and away from ZooLand and my comp for a while.
Its really exciting to see more and more people here in the UK showing an interest in Zoanthids. The infinate variations of colours, patterns, sizes and shapes really make for pretty viewing. Especially as they are quite happy under the most basic floro lighting. In fact, it is this lighting that best shows all the colours. The larger polyped type grow extremely fast but generaly aren't the most colourful. The smaller polyped ones like Fiji-polps ect. tend to take a bit longer but are still easy to care for. They are extremely tolerant of almost everything. Even being sent in the post from Fiji arriving wrapped in wet news paper rather than water. As some of you know, and as 'Jacksok' rightly points out, I have been obsessive about them since my first set-up. It is my future plan to set-up a prop tank (SUK) so that I can start selling some of these really colourfull Zoos. It was my aim to have had this up and running a long time ago but I need to up-grade my main tank first. Just need to win the lottery first. You know what its like!!!
Maffu & Valley Boy - It's true the really colourful Zoos ARE hard to find but they do crop up. When you do see zoos in the LFS, they generally look pretty boring and colourless. They only really colour up when you get them home and settled in. Depending where you put them in the tank can dictate what colour they will be too. If you see any polyps that look like they might have more than one colour either around the skirt or on the polyp itself, take a chance. These almost always colour up really well within a week or so.
Marine - My specs are really basic. My tank is approx 55 gallons. I have 1x 250w M/H with 2x Compact Floros. .Just a basic Fluval 405 external filter. 6 different mini power heads. I have no idea just how much live rock is in there now as I've added bits over time. There's quite a bit though. Thats it! I do carry out 10 gallon water changes every 10 days, always. This seems to suit the tank.
GT & Shinkin - My lighting is as I've mentioned above. When I'm taking photos though I turn my halide off and add two T5's one white one actanic. This gets the best results with the colours. Have to use a tripod though. GT, like your new set-up. Blew me away you went for a Hex as well. Mine came from the states too.
Anyway, here are a few more pics. I'll post some taken with the halide on. This way you can see that the zoos really are that colourful and I haven't messed with the pics as someone accused me of recently. GRRRRR. I have a Mac comp with no photoshop. I can only adjust brightness and contrast.
Thanks again for your comments everyone.
Cheers
aidyb
OKAY, THE NEXT FEW ARE TAKEN WITH THE HALIDES ON. :D
aidy mate! B)
i keep comeing back to these pages and wait what seems hours to load up (damn dial up <_< ) to see your amazing photos!!!! you've really inspired me to go for zoa's and mushrooms (i love mushys) as you've easily proved that you don't have to have the biggest set-up to have one of the best :D
went out the weekend and bought a large pink button coral which is amazing! its grown on an old hard coral skeleton,looks very unusal and should be for how much i paid for it :lol:
just a quick question which hopefully will be a huge help to me! most zoas i see are usually half egg shaped and i find them very hard to place near each other or on any rock work :unsure: so any tips on how you've done such an amazing job would be hugely appreciated :bow:
Hi PEACHYS!!
Thanks very much for the comps. I'm chuffed you think I've been an inspiration. I'm only sorry its taken so long to reply to your questions. I've had so little time to play on the comp recently and I'm only just catching up.
I think you mean when you say egg shapped you mean the rock or whatever the zoos are attached to. Are you also asking with regard to getting different colonies next to each other to create that mat effect? Most zoos spread really quickly and will attach themselves to anything they are put on or next to. Once in place and left alone its not long before they meet up. If it were only that simple though. It is very much like a jigsaw and whenever I get a new colony I know I'm gonna need a drink before trying to fit it in somewhere. Especially as my tank is so full. The new bit never just slots in where you want it and I usually have to move quite a bit about to fit it in. Having a full tank can't stop the purchase of a colour morph you haven't got yet. Addict. LOL
When I first laid out my rockwork in the tank, I left most of the middle and foreground as flat as I could so it would be easier to fit odd shapped bits in. There is always fraging but I haven't had to do this yet. The large polyped zoos grow much quicker that the small more colourful type. The large polyped ones when placed lower in the tank in the dimmer areas will streach out and take up more room. This is good if you need to fill a gap. If your going to start collecting lots of mushies and zoos then I don't suggest attaching any colonies permanently to anytrhing until your picture is complete.
Hope that answeres your question. If indeed that was what you asked. LOL If you need any help don't be afraid to PM or e-mail me anytime.
How's your purchase by the way?? Sounds different. Would love to see a pic!!
Got some more pics so here goes....
As usual, a BIG posting. I do get carried away.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
stunning-i love it :wub: :thumbsup:
Really nice pics, do you feed any of your polyps directly?
martyn.cook
08-11-04, 12:16
Fantastic - what do you feed them.
thanks for the info aidy :thumbsup: i forgot where i posted that to you :rolleyes:
great help B)
Thanks again for thr comps guys. Means a lot. :D
Martyn-Cook & Danny; No I don't feed any of Zoos directly. There's no need with Zoanthids. However I do add to the tank Kent Marine ChromaPlex, Essential Elements & Iodine. Also I have been using Kent Zoe & Zoecon recently. These are not just for them but for the other corals also. Zoanthids don't really need any special feeding as such.
:D
aidyb
Stunning pics mate where do you get your zoo's from only ever seem to get your bog standard ones up here :angry:
p.s just out of interest what camera are you useing
Cheers Billy
Hi Young 68 - Most of the Zoos are from LFS. My camera is a FujiFilm 3800
Took these pics this morning before any lights in the tank had come on. Natural light from outside had started to open most of the corals already. I took these photos using the flash on the camera. Thought it gave a different perspective of what you've already seen. They also show what the tank looks like without any of the normal lighting.
aidyb
Here are a few other pics taken without the flash under the tank lights.
Same Zoos as above but pic taken with halide on. These have a metalic red look. Got these last week.
Fiji Blue Devil - Damsel.
Check out his blue eyes!!
Superb pics mate. How easy it is to overlook Zoos and also the common damsels. What a stunning fish they are.
Top job.
Mark.
Aidy your copperband and that star are stunning!! :wub:
What camera are you using?
Reefer Madness
07-03-05, 18:08
Great tank mate :thumbsup: :bow: :bow: :bow: , your tank has given me the inspiration to go down the Zoanthid route, now the problem is finding them :huh:
:cheers:
Peter.
ryanjohnstott
08-03-05, 20:14
Ditto previous comments! Nice to see a themed tank that isn't sps!!! The polyps look better under the tube lighting, the blue tube is the reason for this so have you considered using a 20k haldide bulb as the blueness of that had a great effect in my previous tank and i only removed it cos the sps didnt do so well under it although the zoo's looked great. :cheers:
bristlebasher
09-03-05, 10:34
Very nice - agree with previous comments.
I will also use this as inspiration for a non sps tank - sps impossible to get here.
So will theme my tank in some other way - not sure yet :wacko: .
Again - very nice Aidy - can be proud :thumbsup:
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