50b Sumpless Mixed Reef Build!

[BigJohnny]

Yeah, sometimes people want it to come on more quickly. With my rock so covered in other stuff it's hard to tell where or even if there is any coralline on it lol. Isn't it fun? Lol

Purple tech or any coralline "boosting" products does nothing but add calcium alk and magnesium (maybe other trace). It doesn't get you coralline faster than maintaining those levels any other way, in fact it's cheaper to maintain those things with regular water changes and 2 part dosing.

Haha, I'm just tired of diatomaceous algae and bleached white dry rock. Need that purple yo. I keep my params stable so only a matter of time. Then I'll probably hate it's again due to all the alk and Ca it consumes.

 

[BigJohnny]

Hey I'm just trying to help a brother out haha
Purple tech Is pretty much adding trace elements only difference is purple tech actually has the coraline spores in it already. It has the green calcareous that regulates and stimulates the coraline algae.
That's how I got my 10 gallon covered in coraline algae. I used those rocks and threw them in my 40. To Jumpstart my system.
Just helping guys lol my coraline came in like 2 months lol

I appreciate it but my params are stable without it. Ive only had coralline in my tank since last week so it would be a miracle if i had more at this point. Purple tech does not have spores of coralline in it. Where did you hear that?

 

[Isaacs55]

I appreciate it but my params are stable without it. Ive only had coralline in my tank since last week so it would be a miracle if i had more at this point. Purple tech does not have spores of coralline in it. Where did you hear that?

No way? Haha i thought it did. That's what the green calcareous is no?

 

[BigJohnny]

No way? Haha i thought it did. That's what the green calcareous is no?

It doesn't have green calcareous algae in it haha (according to my research). Not sure it would survive in there even if it did.......

It says it stimulates the growth of coralline and green calcareous algae, but I didnt see anything about containing it.

 

[Isaacs55]

It doesn't have green calcareous algae in it haha (according to my research). Not sure it would survive in there even if it did.......

It says it stimulates the growth of coralline and green calcareous algae, but I didnt see anything about containing it.

Oh man lol well they got me lol. I think what did the trick then was a coraline smoothy I made with a couple coraline rocks lol

 

[BigJohnny]

Oh man lol well they got me lol. I think what did the trick then was a coraline smoothy I made with a couple coraline rocks lol

Haha nice, I need me some of that. The purple tech definitely helps but certainly other ways to do it. I'm jelly, need that purp son.

 

[Isaacs55]

Haha u can never go wrong with some purp lol I used an old whole saw and scraped all the top layer of coraline off from a 5 lb rock I bought, for the purpose of doing that, in a bowl and poured that over my powerhead. That's what I'm guessing worked the most.

 

[BigJohnny]

Haha u can never go wrong with some purp lol I used an old whole saw and scraped all the top layer of coraline off from a 5 lb rock I bought, for the purpose of doing that, in a bowl and poured that over my powerhead. That's what I'm guessing worked the most.

Amen, where'd you get that purp rock homie?

 

[Isaacs55]

Amen, where'd you get that purp rock homie?

My LFS has nice deep dark purple coraline rock. It's about the only good thing from my LFS though haha

 

[BigJohnny]

My LFS has nice deep dark purple coraline rock. It's about the only good thing from my LFS though haha

Haha nice, yea there are 4 lfs in my area (1 worth going to). 1 is absurdly overpriced, 1 barely has a saltwater section, 1 is so old and gross, and the newest one is my go to. It specializes in corals and has pretty solid prices (varies depending on the coral). I would never buy live rock from any of them though haha. None of the ones they are selling have coralline anyway.

I would always order from vivid but it ends up being more expensive unless I order $225 worth and get free shipping (which is what I did last time). If I only want one or two frags my lfs is the way to go, I just have to make sure I clean em up good:

- remove existing frag plug
- dip aggressively
- scrub with a toothbrush
- dip in peroxide if necessary to remove nuisance algae.

The last 2 frags I bought from them (the teal purple chalice and the ethereal monti undata were very clean though).

Hopefully I have enough coralline on my frags to get it going soon. I'm growing tired of the diatom/white rock combo.

 

[BigJohnny]

Driving back from MACNA right now, oh boy was that awesome. 1000s and 1000s of frags, everything you can imagine. Let's just say I set a budget and ended up exceeding it by $85. I'll post pics later tonight once I've got everything in a tank [emoji106] [emoji106] [emoji106] [emoji106] [emoji106]

 

[Happyschneider]

I wish we had something like MACNA over here. Really jealous!

 

[BigJohnny]

I wish we had something like MACNA over here. Really jealous!

It was my first time, holy smokes was it awesome. I got lost like 5 times. I couldn't find the places that were holding my frags that I bought because there were so damn many vendors! Seeing all the upcoming equipment was very cool as well, not to mention all the display tanks.

If you ever have to come to the states, I strongly recommend timing it so you can go to next years. Quite the experience if your a reefer.

 

[BigJohnny]

Ok, here is what I came back with [emoji41] :

Unknown Orange Zoas

Rainbow 7-Up Acan

Mystic Sunset Montipora

Reverse Sunset Montipora

Violet Orange Montipora

Fruity Pebbles Montipora

Montipora Group Shot [emoji6]

Blue Green Tenuis Acropora (first acro in the tank!)

Jack-O-Lantern Leptoseris

[emoji3]

Apologies for the cell phone pics. Your just gonna have to trust me because they don't even come close to doing these corals' colors/fluorescence justice. They are absolutely stunning.

 

[Isaacs55]

Ok, here is what I came back with [emoji41] :

Unknown Orange Zoas

Rainbow 7-Up Acan

Mystic Sunset Montipora

Reverse Sunset Montipora

Violet Orange Montipora

Fruity Pebbles Montipora

Montipora Group Shot [emoji6]

Blue Green Tenuis Acropora (first acro in the tank!)

Jack-O-Lantern Leptoseris

[emoji3]

Apologies for the cell phone pics. Your just gonna have to trust me because they don't even come close to doing these corals' colors/fluorescence justice. They are absolutely stunning.

I'm sooooooo jealous! That reverse sunset is sexy! Putting that one on my list lol all your montis are sexy though. Dang great stuff so far! I'm waiting for my parameters to stable and then it's on with buying corals lol

 

[BigJohnny]

I'm sooooooo jealous! That reverse sunset is sexy! Putting that one on my list lol all your montis are sexy though. Dang great stuff so far! I'm waiting for my parameters to stable and then it's on with buying corals lol

Haha thanks bud, I'm a montipora addict so to come home with 4 cool ones was awesome. Had to get an acro though because you can't have a tank with just encrusting montis, it'd be too flat!

How's your tank coming along, are you still cycling?

 

[BigJohnny]

Some fresh pics of the rainbow 7-Up acan, the 7-up comes from the lemon lime colored center.

Jack-O-Lantern Leptoseris in full lighting

Montis in full light:

Some other pics

 

[BigJohnny]

Ignore the ugly drip acclimation tube hanging on the left side of the tank. I plan on switching over some of my frags from qt soon so I left it submerged to avoid mildew and having to prime it again.

 

[Das awesome]

So jealous of those corals man! I wish I could get some but neglected my tank too long so everything's off. Gotta fix all that up first then I can start adding corals again. Keep up the good work!

 

[Swope2bc]

Looking amazing!!! I can't wait to see those things in a year or so!