First off, my McCosker's wrasse was missing in action the next day. Expensive treat, saw him for a couple of hours and then poof gone. Looked all over the carpet, but just couldn't find him. Whenever I break down the tank, I am sure I will spot him in his perpetual slumber. He was extraordinarily colorful. Plus I feel so responsible for his well being. And since this was my first flasher, no I did not have netting on top of the tank. I feel terrible about his demise. Not like I am sulking but more like I had a moral responsibility to this guy and I failed. It does weigh on me. It seems like I rarely have a fish die or go MIA but I feel bad each and every time.
I guess it is about time I share some metal halide pictures (from this afternoon, and no LEDS at all).
Vivid's Rainbow Delight I fragged a piece for a buddy a while back and it punished me with some loss of color. That is pretty routine for this coral, browning out both frags and mom on cutting. Anyway, it is starting to turn a corner and a hint of what awaits is there, I think.
Z's Blue Floyd Yup, it is still gorgeous under metal halides but you can't see the glowing blue tips without those lovely leds. In my mind's eye, the polyps are redder than in this picture, but if I tweaked the picture, it just started looking funky. So this is the best I could do (but it is not bad)
Purple Monster If you don't have it, you should. It is a classic for so many, many reasons. I had a big colony years ago, cut some frags for fellow reefers, lost it in a crash, but got a frag back of it. I guess this would make this piece the granddaughter of my original mother colony. Although this picture looks oversaturated (promise I never ever adjust saturation), check out the coralline algae, the purple on the algae is pretty spot on and so is this monster.