Every few weeks I'll spot this flat gorgonian shedding some skin. It's like a snake, or a bad case of sunburn peel. This is completely normal and coral appears to always look better thereafter. I've seen hermits climb these branches to pick away at the skin, or any other nuisance algae that tries to take hold.
For me, milestones are important. Being able to hit specific goals or maintain something for a measurable time period is always rewarding. If you aren't familiar with the 400g's history, here's the quick recap: February 2011: I started up the 400g dream tank to be my reef for the next decade. 13 months later it sprung a leak. 18 months after that - November 10, 2013 - the 400g and a 60g cube were populated by the livestock waiting in a temporary 215g setup. A lot of work went on ...
'Til I pop the cork on this bottle. In the meantime, here's a new video.
Just put this on ice... the one year anniversary of the 400g is almost here. This will be opened on Monday. I'll be doing some cleaning over the next day to have a nice system to showcase. I'm hoping to record a video summary of sorts.
Here are a few macro shots of some of the corals that I took yesterday. Can you identify the species?