47G SPS...Revamp

Not much to update mate, some corals have coloured up a bit more...some are same. Most of my corals are frags so not much growth either. But I have will provide a growth/colour progression sequence on my Hot Pink Millepora below.


I have one special acro in QT. No details at moment. I found it had Acro Eating Spiders... So it will be in QT for some time until I am sure all is clear. But it should turn out to be a special Acro.


That is a 100% bleached Acro colony my LFS gave to me for free. I dont fancy my chances of it becoming better though.


Sorry mate, I'm not sure which piece you are talking about. Post the image in a new post and I will let you know.

You silly Americans with with your incorrect spelling of COLOUR. :fun2:


I know mate. They spell it color...:crazy1:



Thanks man. Wasnt an easy task. I hated the first few weeks...I thought I'd lose most of the acros and didnt fancy my chances. But as the weeks went by and I somehow managed to keep all the acros alive I felt better and knew I have a good chance to save the acros and kill the bastard AEFW's.



Haha thats my only chalice. Was poo brown and now nice pink.



Hello my friend. Thanks for the compliment. I am looking to get 5 Anthias if funds allow...have too many things going on at moment and fish tank purchases come last.

My light is about 7inches above waterline.

PAR measured with Apogee:
- High = 500+
- Mid = upto 400
- Bottom 90% of the bottom is around 350

So my corals are being hit with some nice PAR levels. I could raise the lights and reduce the PAR but I am hitting the corals with that much light in an effort to colour up some of the brown ones.

The coral you ask if its a Miyagi Tort, kind of looks like one. Here is a link to the Miyagi Tort: http://www.garretts-acropolis.com/Enlarged_picture_pages/acropora_miyagi_Tort.htm
The purple/blue outer/upper most branches and tips have the same colouration.

Here is what it looked like when my PO4 was around 0.07ppm:
DSC_5847_zps10zjanzv.jpg

Closeup:
DSC_5871_zpspvuhlkam.jpg


And there at 0.02ppm:
DSC_6477_zpshhsyzrhg.jpg


If you want I can cut it in half and give the top half to you. But the blue polyps on the outer branches makes me think its not? And it doesnt grow clustered...but it is in a area of the lowest flow in my tank.



Thanks mate. It is likely Echinata, but hard to say since it is too small at moment. I have what I believe a Speciosia as well, and the tips are more cup shaped...hard to tell with these corals when they are small. But I love the delicate branches and the colour on them for sure.


No idea mate. Have you posted in the wrong thread?


Thanks man. I've managed to get hold of some nice pieces, just need a couple of other pieces and I'm not adding nothing else to the tank and just want things to grow.



Thanks mate. I was really disheartened when I found the AEFW's, but it looks like my hard work has paid off and the corals are growing and colouring up mostly.



Well, here is my Hot Pink Millepora Andrew. I know I'll never match your Acro skills, but this is one coral I have managed to make happy:

This used to be a colony. AEFW bastards invaded my tank and went for this coral first. They almost finished it off. I cut 3 of the healthiest branches and dipped to kill the AEFW's. This was also the first coral that I dipped and discovered AEFW...so you can imagine how much of a punch in the stomach it was when I saw 8-10 adult sized bastard AEFW's come off.
3 small brown branches:
DSC_5935_zpsv286jqvq.jpg


Here is again about 6 week after in Jan 2015. Notice the nice growth and start of the pink colour returning after being at the top of the tank:
DSC_6125_zpstzwtbpk8.jpg


Another month or so later and its looking better. I posted this in the last batch of photos: More growth and looking healthy:
DSC_6374_zpsyuw6fpld.jpg


What it looks like now, makes me real happy. The coral most affected by the AEFW's is looking the best. The pink colouration is not just reflective; but fluorescent under Blue LED's. There are lime polyps there as well. The tip face is pink, but the tip sides are lime, but I havent managed to photography well:
DSC_6592_zpsdwghrjon.jpg


Note: this is the best of my tank...the rest are worse. :lol: But seeing the Hot Pink Millepora return to its former awesomeness tells me the tank is heading in the right direction.


Well done with that hot pink Millie . I just picked up a small frag from powderhound with a battle coral linage hope it turns out as nice as your.
Love you pic so clear!
I kinda starting reading on page 15 so can't wait to start on page 1.
Awesome looking tank.
 
Tank has had a bad spell of Cyanobacteria...I just let things run their course and pleased to say the Cyano disappeared. There is some return of diatom looking patch in one corner though. I think the tank is just balancing out.

Will update with some photos in the next week or two. Just crazy busy with things at the moment.
 
Hi Sahin, sorry to hear about your Cyanobacteria. Glad to know it got cleared up.
I want to know more about your rocks. Were those dry rocks? Did you do washes with bleach and then acid first before cycling. When you put them in the vat, I understand you dosed bacteria everyday for 6 weeks. I assume you had a pump and a heater there. Any GFO media needed? Sorry to ask so many questions.
 
Hi Sahin, sorry to hear about your Cyanobacteria. Glad to know it got cleared up.
I want to know more about your rocks. Were those dry rocks? Did you do washes with bleach and then acid first before cycling. When you put them in the vat, I understand you dosed bacteria everyday for 6 weeks. I assume you had a pump and a heater there. Any GFO media needed? Sorry to ask so many questions.

Absolutely no apologies needed. Ask as many questions as you need to. :)

Cyanobacteria; at least the red slime has gone...it has been replaced by a slight film of brown dusting...maybe diatoms who knows...I am just going to let it run its course. Its no way as bad as the Cyanobacteria was.

Rocks:
Rocks were dry plate and branch type rocks. I soaked the rocks in RODI water. After 24-48 hours whilst in the vat, I scrubbed the crap outta the rocks with a stick brush. I also swished etc etc, then washed down with new RODI water before placing in a vat again. The vat had a pump in there only to move the water around so that the RODI water got deep into the pores etc.

At first the water was brown and murky...however after each successive RODI change the water began to clear.

I did not use any bleach or acid. I used both bleach and acid some years back...that was when I was scared of PHOSPHATE.

Once the water was fairly clear despite scrubbing etc I stopped and transferred rocks to display.

The display had additions of bacterias to seed; as well as a small piece of liverock.

I did run a large amount of GFO and GAC at first. However, for the past few months I've not run either.
 
How's the tank going mate, well i hope. :beer:

There better be a bloody update soon or it's highly likely someone will do their nut............
 
I think that the T5s can provide the right intensity and coverage for the majority of SPS, but there are some corals, especially the wild ones, that need that extra oomph that the halides bring. I'm not willing to deal with the heat and I like the hanging pendant type light, so Im not willing to switch for those reasons, but it seems undeniable to me that the halides are still the king when it comes to coloring coral...

Food for thought..........400w radium overdriven with HQI is 147 at 24". I've measured(Apogee) 6x48 T5 at 200 at 24". My overdriven 4 bulb T5 is 200 at 24" also.

400w 10k bulbs can run about equal or slightly above par vs. a bank of T5s and the only bulb I know that has substantially higher par is the 400w 6500k Iwasaki.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/2/aafeature2

As far a rendering of colors the only way you're going to know is by using a correct setup of T5 for a good year for comparison. In your case........you are using 24" Sunpower, they don't have the same potency of the 54w bulbs. I miss the halide shimmer, but T5s have given me color that is incomparable on some acroporas that I could never produce with 10 years of running halides.

To get that over the top look halides need supplementation...............T5 just need the right bulb combo.

Just my experience..............both are great at what they do.
 
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Food for thought..........400w radium overdriven with HQI is 147 at 24". I've measured(Apogee) 6x48 T5 at 200 at 24". My overdriven 4 bulb T5 is 200 at 24" also.

400w 10k bulbs can run about equal or slightly above par vs. a bank of T5s and the only bulb I know that has substantially higher par is the 400w 6500k Iwasaki.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/2/aafeature2

As far a rendering of colors the only way you're going to know is by using a correct setup of T5 for a good year for comparison. In your case........you are using 24" Sunpower, they don't have the same potency of the 54w bulbs. I miss the halide shimmer, but T5s have given me color that is incomparable on some acroporas that I could never produce with 10 years of running halides.

To get that over the top look halides need supplementation...............T5 just need the right bulb combo.

Just my experience..............both are great at what they do.

I visited a buddy over the wekend who lives near Scotland (went to a reef festival before that on Saturday).

My buddy runs ATI LED Powermodule. His Acro colours are AMAZING. I got some awesome frags from him. The colours are HIGHLY saturated.

His tank runs high phosphate like Ed's tank:
0.4ppm Phosphate
0.02ppm Nitrates.

Runs a Dastaco Calcium Reactor and a refugium. After seeing his tank, there is no way I will continue to believe Radiums are only way to get super SPS colours. I have been enlightened.

Now I just need to replicate his results. He feeds his tank a TON of homemade foods. Something I dont do.
 
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What up what up?............
Hey buddy. I took a bunch of coral shots last week, but havent been able to find time to download them from camera etc etc.

Will try and find time. :)

Please don't make us beg, update in the near future?

I wish I had as much time on my hands as I used to. I'll try and post up soon.

Here we go again waiting for an update lol
:lol: See above.

How's the tank going mate, well i hope. :beer:

There better be a bloody update soon or it's highly likely someone will do their nut............

Nice to see you back to posting. Will post photos soon.

Andrew; You have some nice Acros and knowing how sneaky you are, I bet you bought a load of rare Aussie acros...well, your not the only one up to sneaky acro acquisition...I just scored on 10 amazing Acro frags which include:

2 different Orange Passion looking frags.

Bubblegum Milli - looks awesome! My buddy have a colony; awesome pink with blue tips.

Red Dragon

Blue Hoeksemai

Sarmentosa

Pearlberry look-alike.

Green with Yellow Sunset Milli
 
Camera broke? :)

But seriously, how high did he run his white LED's? Did you note the percentages?

I wonder if acros under LED can cope better with higher phosphates? Seems odd. :)
 
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Andrew; You have some nice Acros and knowing how sneaky you are, I bet you bought a load of rare Aussie acros...well, your not the only one up to sneaky acro acquisition...I just scored on 10 amazing Acro frags which include:

2 different Orange Passion looking frags.

Bubblegum Milli - looks awesome! My buddy have a colony; awesome pink with blue tips.

Red Dragon

Blue Hoeksemai

Sarmentosa

Pearlberry look-alike.

Green with Yellow Sunset Milli

Damn mate, that's a yummy list of colorful acros. Looking forward to seeing what you scored :thumbsup:
 
Damn mate, that's a yummy list of colorful acros. Looking forward to seeing what you scored :thumbsup:

Red Dragon STN'd this morning. :sad2: First acro loss since restarting the tank. Will get another frag from my buddy in a few months.

Hope the rest fare well...dreading going back home and seeing anything else with tissue loss. :sad2:
 
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