700 gallon tank, or how i spent my daughters inheritance

[Reefski's]

thanks Steve.

it is some kind of water parameter i am pretty sure. a few things like i outlined above changed in a short time.

i have been dosing the LC for about three months i think. i finally saw some growth on the stony corals after i got the PO4 down.

the Monti Caps were always growing. one of the successes i have had so far. they have gone from quarter size to 8-10" in just a few months.

Joe Yaiullo over at Atlantis Marine World on Long Island NY uses it in their 20,000 gallon reef tank. the most incredible captive reef in the world, at least that i have seen. he has used it since the beginning several years ago.

there was one day i dosed a high amount that could have been around the same time but i think it was earlier. i dose it all into a 5micron filter sock but it still clouded the water.

now i drip it into the filter sock and the precipitate only forms in the sock and doesn't cloud the water.

it was short lived whatever it was as the caps have grown the new edges you see in the photo in about three weeks.

 

[MSX-Jeff]

Those last 2 Monti pics...I don't think that is a capricornis, it looks more like a confusa.

I am experiencing the same thing in my M. confusa in my tank at home...mine happened when i overdid it on Kalk one day. Unfortunately, all the new growth looks great, but where the damage was done the coral will simply not regain color. The polyps are all still there, but the tissue is all brown and faded while the new growth is bright green with green polyps like it's supposed to be. Hopefully, yours will regain coloration...if not, you might want to cut it up and put the good growth back in the tank and throw out the faded.

 

[Reefski's]

the second and third pictures are of a purple cap. it is definitely not capricornis. i will get some more pictures of the whole colonies tomorrow that are well grown into the rock work in the tank.

i would hate to have to trim them back to nothing but they are very fast growers if i have to do that.

Carl

 

[MSX-Jeff]

It wouldn't be that bed...like you said, they grow fast. Hopefully it doesn't have to come to that. We've got some that can put over an inch of new growth in a month

 

[melev]

Carl, last year I took the orange blob out of my tank to add more sand. It was out of the water maybe 15 minutes. It looked horrible after that, very much like what you posted. It a few months it regained its color. I don't know if it is the same situation as your coral, but it doesn't hurt to leave some in there to see what it does before you start shearing away at it.

Center, foreground (Mar 08):

Same coral later (July 08):

 

[Reefski's]

that's pretty amazing.

here is a shot of one of the whole colonies. they are all pretty similar. there are still polyps in the bleached part.

 

[Reefski's]

that's pretty amazing.

here is a shot of one of the whole colonies. they are all pretty similar. there are still polyps in the bleached part.

 

[Reefski's]

i thought i was done with the tank projects and then i ran across this thread.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1310585&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

a way to make a safe silent siphon that can move a lot of water. i have 9-10k per hour going into the sumps from the combined surges and sump return, both Sequence Hammerheads.

it seems like the answer, not to be confused with the secret.

my surges have created a lot of great flow and also a lot of noise, especially when they fire at the same time.




it doesn't seem quite this loud in person but it is loud.

they all dump into the garage

this is the drip bucket to drip in whatever through the top off water, CaCl, MgSO4, MgCl, NaCO3, Lanthanum Chloride, etc.

top off water production into a 44 gallon Rubbermaid trash can

 

[Reefski's]

ready for dinner

ingesting dinner

 

[matt & pam]

What kind of magnesium supplement are you using? I've experienced similar side effects to montipora after I adjust magnesium using Randy's two part. It also seems to affect candy cane coral. Did the coral changes happen within a few days of magnesium correction?

 

[lilmonster]

WOW!

Nice Garage!

 

[Reefski's]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15013289#post15013289 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by matt & pam
What kind of magnesium supplement are you using? I've experienced similar side effects to montipora after I adjust magnesium using Randy's two part. It also seems to affect candy cane coral. Did the coral changes happen within a few days of magnesium correction?

yes it did. i raised mg from 1190 to 1350 within three days. i used mgso4 and mgcl as per Randys' proportions.

ph was also just above or below 8.0 before the problem and went up to 8.2 when i turned off the ca reactor, now 8.35 pH.

very interesting!

alk, mg, and ca have all been monitored almost daily since switching off the ca reactor and just dosing the chems in the drip bucket seen above.

values have been very stable.
alk 12dkh
ca 450
mg 1350
ph 8.35 today

 

[Reefski's]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15013599#post15013599 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lilmonster
WOW!

Nice Garage!

thanks, i like it too. my wife though can't remember what she got when she gave up her part of the garage. i'm not telling.

 

[Adam007]

That gurgling sounds like some mad drag racing car's that I have heard.. haha!

 

[matt & pam]

Are you using dow flake or a reef specific product for the mag chloride?

 

[Reefski's]

it is mgcl hexahydrate flake. not by dow though. i have used this product for a couple of years at least. it is 98% pure. in talking with Eric Borneman i learned that no reef salt is all that pure. the manufacturers buy whatever bulk chems they need from the cheapest source and quality varies from batch to batch.


Carl

 

[kudora]

pulling an alnighter, just finished reading your entire thread, thank you for documenting everything, it has been a very informative thread, what a great build.

/subscribed

 

[Steve1714]

Is everything OK? that was a 4.7!

that is very close to your location, I took me for a ride and i am like 50miles away.
Steve G

 

[Reefski's]

all is well. nothing went off.

it only lasted a couple of seconds. two pulses, the second one was larger.

i was already in my room but the family was watching tv next to the tank and i don't think any water spilled out. i should go down and check on everything i suppose.

that does remind me though to check the generator.

Carl

 

[Reefski's]

i'm still working on silencing the overflows. updates tomorrow.

i got some new corals yesterday.

this one is about 9" in diameter.