A Splash of Color - My SPS Peninsula Reef

[M007]

Nice one, I'll have to give it a go after lights out. Interestingly I have a green monti that turns brown if the tank is over fed, when I am away and leave it to the sitter. This time however the monti stayed green. The browning happens rather quickly and usually takes a couple of weeks of WC and proper tank feeding to return to green.

 

[biggles]

That's the actual idea behind why i use the skimmate really, to feed the corals without impacting the water quality in any significant way.
You'll see the LPS PE is pretty ridiculous when doing this btw as those guys love filth lol. Gotta go to work now

 

[mhucasey]

That's the actual idea behind why i use the skimmate really, to feed the corals without impacting the water quality in any significant way.
You'll see the LPS PE is pretty ridiculous when doing this btw as those guys love filth lol. Gotta go to work now

So one day Biggles is watching "The Human Centipede" and a thought occurs to him about his reef....:lolspin:

 

[urbanrat84]

I'm going to do it before i do any more rambles, pretty sure i'll get a mouthful off Megan if i don't.......:reading:

I'm quietly waiting. If you don't do it, we live in the same city and shop at the same LFS - and if the guys at Williamstown won't give me your address after I slip them a cash bribe, I'll just threaten them with a heavy - so hop to it! :uzi:

PS> its a boring request I know, but you know we're all wondering how you do it so spill :beer:

 

[biggles]

What you describe does sound pretty easy. [emoji38] I was just thinking if you keep the food in the water longer in the first place it's...less complicated??

That's kinda what I was thinking...why not just shut the skimmer off for a couple of hours instead?

I don't know.. I kind of like the idea of delivering a concentrated shot of bacteria and organics after the lights go out. It's when the acros are most actively feeding. I don't really think it's the same as turning off the skimmer. Yes the skimmer is sort of doing what the acros do by absorbing organics on a regular basis but at night when the acros ramp up, they are given a rich food source to consume when they are most able to.. (Theoretically...) and then the skimmer can just continue to pull out the excess by morning...
It gives the advantage to the acros when they can best monopolize on it...

You summed it up nicely Matt I like the way i do it because turning the skimmer off is nothing at all like suddenly introducing a large amount of food into the water. Having it suspended in the water column at night in very high concentrations for just a few hours seems more than enough time. If you shine a torch on your pods you'll see the running around in a frenzy and all your filter feeders will go nutso lol.
I'm trying to get a similar result to dropping 1/2 teaspoon of reef roids into the tank but without the ridiculous overdose of amino acids. My acros dulled within 48 hours both times i tested an overdose amount of roids and the same thing happened when i dosed straight amino acids. There's nothing wrong with using aminos imo but i've concluded my acros are getting all they need to produce decent pigments.
There are lots of ways you could do it with timers etc but i'm just letting you know how i have done it for a long time without any further experimentation.

I now have a tube from the skimmer cup delivering 5ml of the green stuff at lights out via dosing pump. Will ramp up as I see fit. If this works it's one step closer to more automation.

Let us know how things go, good or bad. I usually add about 100ml twice a week to a system volume of 150gal.

I think I might be doing close to a similar idea but on a much smaller scale and by a different method. I have seen great improvement in my ability to keep my few sps happy and better growth and feeding behavior in my lps.

I've taken to carbon dosing (currently at 60mL vinegar / day). Biggles has discussed using the growth on his glass as an indicator of some things in the system before.

Well when I started carbon dosing, I noticed I get a thin white film on my glass every night now instead of invisible algae that shows up greenish after 3 or 4 days. This white growth is also so much easier to scrub loose and clean then algae.

One day shortly after randomly scrubbing this white film from the glass with my mag float after lights out; I noticed my favia's all had their feeding tentacles going nuts, my torch and hammer inflated again (they usually close up when the lights click off for a bit), and my sps had the best PE I've ever seen.

So since my system isn't as heavily stocked with corals yet, I've continued scrubbing my glass every night after lights out. All of my corals love it when I do this and things in general have gotten better over all in my system since I picked up the habit.

So while it's not the same as running in skimmate each night or as powerful of a feeding mechanism probably. It is a similar nightly idea that is putting lots of bacteria into the water column for my few corals and other nocturnal micro-life to utilize.

And what doesn't get used is hopefully pulled out by my skimmer before morning removing the excess Po4 and No3 the bacteria have absorbed.

Well I think anyway it's a similar concept and has really helped my system anyway. Biggles may argue and tell me I'm crazier then Kevin after snorting some ground up fire coral to believe that they are the same. But either way, I give Biggles the credit for teaching me the fine art of the Growth on Glass System Diagnosis and Feeding Method. [emoji106]

Oh, and the coals are looking great as always my friend! If you feel up for a potential teaching ramble, I would appreciate your thoughts on a few assorted subjects I've been thinking on.

1: I may be altering my plumbing soon. So any thoughts on "must haves" for your plumbing or ways you've set up and run things that you really like. If you have any. I'm just trying to plan it out and get some good improvements built in when I re-co my canopy.

2: And more importantly then 1, any ramblings on coral placement of specific types of coral. Meaning Monti's, or a SSC, green slimmer, etc. More from design and shape placement in the system then based off color. Things like how you move them from the sand bed into your chosen position. Any obvious early observations of whether said coral is liking or disliking its position. Things like that. I'm trying to learn how to place sps around my tank and could use tips on location/design and reading the coral health/happiness response as I move it from sand bed up and across the rockwork.

Well, lunch is over.

So long and thanks for all the fish/coral ;-)

It's good to hear from you mate Btw i always roughly clean the glass after lights out and then finish the edges when the lights are the next day. I mentioned it in my old journal from memory - great minds think alike lol :beer:

I will happily give you a rundown on my plumbing, Kevin might even join me in a video production detailing what's under the tank. I recently upgraded my ATO so i'll cover that too. I will of course narrate and handle the cinematography while Kevin will be the lazy and useless marsupial extra.......:rolleye1:
I actually moved the arch rock way back away from the main viewing side so i could add a fourth small island that has some eye catching pieces. I will happily go through the way i do things and why for you mate. There's actually quite a lot of factors i take into account before deciding on placement without even considering flow and lighting. :uhoh3: It's a case of a whole lot of little things adding up to a lot i think.

 

[reefmutt]

I have dumped skimmate into my tank a few times, now and I have noticed that 10 minutes after doing so, the skimmer really goes nuts.. Not surprising but it gives you peace of mind knowing that the newly introduced skimmate is pretty much immediately getting pulled out again.
I have a lot of brown corals, though and my nutrients are higher than yours are, Andrew so I don't know if I'm really doing my tank an favors.
I'm going to let my n and p drop a bit more and try to drop skimmate at night while doing that to compensate for the reduced n and p..

 

[sahin]

I will happily give you a rundown on my plumbing, Kevin might even join me in a video production detailing what's under the tank. I recently upgraded my ATO so i'll cover that too. I will of course narrate and handle the cinematography while Kevin will be the lazy and useless marsupial extra.......:rolleye1:
I actually moved the arch rock way back away from the main viewing side so i could add a fourth small island that has some eye catching pieces. I will happily go through the way i do things and why for you mate. There's actually quite a lot of factors i take into account before deciding on placement without even considering flow and lighting. :uhoh3: It's a case of a whole lot of little things adding up to a lot i think.

Somewhere in the depths of ReefCentral there exists a post of a certain legendary status: It is said that your amazing acro colours come from the offering of an Acro dance you perform every night just before the clock strikes 12 midnight.

I hope the video will include this ancient acro dance Biggles. :beer:

 

[martinphillip03]

You could try the skimmate method and continue to monitor your nutrient levels.
Start slow, not to often, and monitor your corals to see if they like it. If your nutrient levels go up, stop.

Marty

I have dumped skimmate into my tank a few times, now and I have noticed that 10 minutes after doing so, the skimmer really goes nuts.. Not surprising but it gives you peace of mind knowing that the newly introduced skimmate is pretty much immediately getting pulled out again.
I have a lot of brown corals, though and my nutrients are higher than yours are, Andrew so I don't know if I'm really doing my tank an favors.
I'm going to let my n and p drop a bit more and try to drop skimmate at night while doing that to compensate for the reduced n and p..

 

[reefmutt]

You could try the skimmate method and continue to monitor your nutrient levels.
Start slow, not to often, and monitor your corals to see if they like it. If your nutrient levels go up, stop.

Marty

Yes. Thanks! I think that's the plan..

 

[biggles]

So one day Biggles is watching "The Human Centipede" and a thought occurs to him about his reef....:lolspin:

That's just gross Matt lol....

I'm quietly waiting. If you don't do it, we live in the same city and shop at the same LFS - and if the guys at Williamstown won't give me your address after I slip them a cash bribe, I'll just threaten them with a heavy - so hop to it! :uzi:

PS> its a boring request I know, but you know we're all wondering how you do it so spill :beer:

I went to Willy last Saturday afternoon and came home with four new wrasse, none of which are in this pic of the acro i also grabbed for the new island. Do you have a tank journal Megan ?

I have dumped skimmate into my tank a few times, now and I have noticed that 10 minutes after doing so, the skimmer really goes nuts.. Not surprising but it gives you peace of mind knowing that the newly introduced skimmate is pretty much immediately getting pulled out again.
I have a lot of brown corals, though and my nutrients are higher than yours are, Andrew so I don't know if I'm really doing my tank an favors.
I'm going to let my n and p drop a bit more and try to drop skimmate at night while doing that to compensate for the reduced n and p..

Hey Matt, i wouldn't be doing it too often if i was also battling high nutrients mate. Are you putting any other stuff in the water besides fish food atm.

Somewhere in the depths of ReefCentral there exists a post of a certain legendary status: It is said that your amazing acro colours come from the offering of an Acro dance you perform every night just before the clock strikes 12 midnight.

I hope the video will include this ancient acro dance Biggles. :beer:

I regret ever mentioning my color dance.......... not that i'm confirming that i do such a thing...... :dance:

You could try the skimmate method and continue to monitor your nutrient levels.
Start slow, not to often, and monitor your corals to see if they like it. If your nutrient levels go up, stop.

Marty

Sounds like very wise advice Marty :thumbsup:

 

[M007]

It seems the skim mate is light enough to feed and yes a good skimmer should draw out the leftovers.

 

[biggles]

I made a short video of my new fish. You will see a subtle almost imperctible moment when i transitioned from casual fish video taker to full on doco mode zeroing in on first the little red wrasse, then to the ruby tailed wrasse, and lastly the little green wrasse. I have not seen the filament wrasse since adding it and watching the Lubocks take a set on it. It was really beautiful.
You can't teach this kind of instinctual cinematography, as i frequently tell Atty on the phone - Dave you are never gonna get it mate so stick to bees and lizards and leave the salt water stuff to me mate. Right about now he'll be yelling at his camera guys 'Look ! why can't you idiots do it like that !'


<iframe width="854" height="510" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JqF-zOp-NvI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You might notice i'm thinking of making a staggy type trail between two islands so i have pieces scattered all over the place. Having individual stags almost on the bottom and totally separated might look cool so i think Thunderbirds are go on that idea tbh

 

[cFloor]

Sweet video! Loving the new fish. Where's the navarchus? I really like the pink margin wrasse. I miss the one I had in my previous tank.

 

[mhucasey]

I made a short video of my new fish. You will see a subtle almost imperctible moment when i transitioned from casual fish video taker to full on doco mode zeroing in on first the little red wrasse, then to the ruby tailed wrasse, and lastly the little green wrasse. I have not seen the filament wrasse since adding it and watching the Lubocks take a set on it. It was really beautiful.
You can't teach this kind of instinctual cinematography, as i frequently tell Atty on the phone - Dave you are never gonna get it mate so stick to bees and lizards and leave the salt water stuff to me mate. Right about now he'll be yelling at his camera guys 'Look ! why can't you idiots do it like that !'


<iframe width="854" height="510" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JqF-zOp-NvI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You might notice i'm thinking of making a staggy type trail between two islands so i have pieces scattered all over the place. Having individual stags almost on the bottom and totally separated might look cool so i think Thunderbirds are go on that idea tbh

After watching that Im feeling a little queasy:spin2:....reef looks fantastic though. Its like the Bourne Identity meets a BBC nature documentary...

 

[JB NY]

Nice video, corals are all looking good and I like the fish. Keeping stags at the bottom will look pretty cool I think. I try (but many times fail) to not put them in the tank because they grow so damn big so quickly. I'll throw them in my tanks in the beginning when there is nothing but little frags just for their growth, but I always seem to regret it a year later.

 

[reefmutt]

I can't seem to get that video to work.. I'll try from a computer....
You have access to the craziest acros, Andrew. It's nuts. somehow you manage to make them even more pastel and girly than they were to begin with!!
I applaud you, Queen Of The Acros!!
I am not going to use your nocturnal skimmate dump method (That's the NSD method.. For when it gets popular and we are looking for a name) until I have lower nutrients, I assure you. At the moment, besides plenty of frozen food for the fish and plenty of reef roids, I also add freshly juiced garden vegetables and Dairy Queen Oreo blizzards.
Well maybe the last two I am eating while feeding the fish but some may spill into the tank...
Generally, I am probably feeding too much. Gotta find that balance between keeping the fish and coral happy and not overdoing it.. I seem to always tend towards overdoing it.

 

[JB NY]

Right, I can't get anything like that here. Obviously Biggles found the right guy to harass at the LFS into getting decent SPS.

 

[troubadour11]

It's good to hear from you mate Btw i always roughly clean the glass after lights out and then finish the edges when the lights are the next day. I mentioned it in my old journal from memory - great minds think alike lol [emoji481]

I will happily give you a rundown on my plumbing, Kevin might even join me in a video production detailing what's under the tank. I recently upgraded my ATO so i'll cover that too. I will of course narrate and handle the cinematography while Kevin will be the lazy and useless marsupial extra.......:rolleye1:
I actually moved the arch rock way back away from the main viewing side so i could add a fourth small island that has some eye catching pieces. I will happily go through the way i do things and why for you mate. There's actually quite a lot of factors i take into account before deciding on placement without even considering flow and lighting. :uhoh3: It's a case of a whole lot of little things adding up to a lot i think.

You definitely mentioned it. That's when I first tried it, but didn't notice much difference at first when it was just my algae over run tank. But once I started vinegar dosing, all of the sudden the favids were going nuts feeding and the sps started having great pe and started to grow and look the best they ever have when I would scrub at night before bed.

So I raise my cup tho you sir for sharing your great mind ;-)

I'm going to keep up with this practice. The sps especially seem to love when I remove the bacteria film from the glass each night.

I occasionally try your NDS method on accident. My skimmer can be finicky. It will be dialed in perfect for a week. Then I check it a few days later and its bubbling over the cup back into the sump. A quick empty and adjustment and I'm back to removing gunk. Not exactly planned at the ideal time. But it happens on occasions.

I'm looking forward to the biggles/Kevin joint production on plumbing and placement choices. I appreciate your thoughts. I picked up some pvc pieces to start working on my new plumbing soon.

And I've now got a green pocci and Bali green slimer on my sand bed. They had been in shadows under the arch for 4 days. I'll leave them on the sand until this weekend, hopefully they are still looking good then and can start to work their way up the rockwork. They are in the "let's determine a placement process" behind a pink monti cap (my oldest/healthiest sps) and a green Monti spongodes that's a few weeks old and 1/2 way up the tank now.

Super excited to hear about the biggles placement rules soon. I could use some experience and tips on how to plan for things to grow in and how it's decided if a piece is in a good spot (where you choose you wanted it) off if it's unhappy and would like a different spot in the tank better.

Anyway, I'll be interested in your thoughts on you methods.

The tank vid looked great, lots of dlp's in there now, but the corals are still looking tops. I'm excited to be getting some new colorful fish to add in soon as well!

 

[Oldude]

Very nice Andrew. Are you planning to put sand back in?

 

[Reefvet]

It seems the skim mate is light enough to feed and yes a good skimmer should draw out the leftovers.

I keep reading statements like this and I hope you're all correct.

"should" is a dangerous assumption.

Having worked in aquaculture for a couple of decades I can tell you we'd never assume that what's been skimmed and sat decomposing in the skimmer is safe to return to a closed system. The bacteria that grow there aren't just the healthy ones that support your reef. And they're the least toxic component in there.

Biggles you've said a couple of times you didn't have any concern about overdosing aminos because you don't dose any. Your fresh mixed water changes should contain plenty. If they didn't your corals would be brown. Once skimmed they can easily chelate/bond with other organics. And since when you return them to your tank you're returning what wasn't consumed the first time through you could quickly raise levels out of balance and in forms they weren't originally in.

Your tank looks great. I'd say largely due to your close access to great corals and generally good husbandry. But there's a lot of risk is dosing high concentrations of decomposing organics. Oxygen depletion alone could take your tank down and quickly.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade but I'd suggest you're walking a line you may not be aware of. Proceed with moderation and you may never cross it.

And FWIW, any particulate of the right size will stimulate polyp extension and corals will capture and take in things they can't digest. They simply release them once they don't digest. Observing PE and capture doesn't mean you can conclude they're being fed.

The same goes with the milk and honey guys. Corals simply don't have the digestive enzymes to break down lipids that are that large. Nice idea, not going to happen.

Dammed science. Teaches you to be skeptical and pay closer attention rather than assume. :thumbsup: