A Splash of Color

[plyle02]

Sweet updates Andrew, love that frag rack, very ingenious You have got your hands on some sweet acros buddy, they are really colorful, tank looking great!

 

[Oldude]

Andrew have you been using sponge power and if so have you noticed any benefits?

 

[sahin]

Great update Andrew. Corals look stunning as usual. :beer:

I see you've got a Flipper and have quite using the magfloat attached to a broomstick. :lolspin:

 

[biggles]

Did I just read bigger tank next year?? I like the way you think buddy. If my tank could be on the first story of my house I'd go wayyy bigger. Maybe one day.

That echinata does have a lot of potential! And lucky Dom, that frag pack looks awesome

That's the plan mate, pretty much the same tank but 3 or 4 ft longer. The echi is looking awfully pale atm so i'm a bit worried the whole thing is going to implode.

Andrew, I think that with your Holy Hands the echinata frag will recover very soon...:beer:

Nope it's dead, i killed the frag..........

Echinatas are tricky little things.. So delicate.
Let us know how the newly cut piece does.. I'm curious to see how the cut of end does as well..
I'm amazed at how well those filters remove the heavy blue/violet that the iPhone usually produces.
Andrew, how are you getting photos from your phone to RC? Just curious as I have been uploading from my phone to photobucket directly.. So easy. No computer involved..
By the way, I'm still not talking to you..

Hey Matt, i use the cable to transfer pics from the phone to the lappy and then upload to PB and post.
As i said the frag was gone when i woke the morning after cutting it and the branch is now very washed out and pale with about 1/2" of stn at the base. If i pull it out to cut the sick base again i reckon that will be the last straw the way it's looking so the echi and i are going to cross our polyps and hope for the best. You're right about echi's being touchy buggers sometimes.

Sweet updates Andrew, love that frag rack, very ingenious You have got your hands on some sweet acros buddy, they are really colorful, tank looking great!

Thanks Perry, the tank is going well atm mate.

Andrew have you been using sponge power and if so have you noticed any benefits?

I put 3 or 4 drops a night in as the filter feeders seem to respond well to it Greg. When i have things ticking along well with the nutrient levels i'm going to stop using it. Might just be in my head but i remember noticing the water was a lot clearer a couple of days after starting with the SP and has stayed that way since. It used to have a slight cloudiness that took the shine off the display.

Great update Andrew. Corals look stunning as usual. :beer:

I see you've got a Flipper and have quite using the magfloat attached to a broomstick.

Hey buddy, i'm a flipper convert lol.


Small package arrived today. I immediately placed the 2 x 2L of matrix in a bucket of RO to wash the fine dust off. You can see how cloudy the water is so make sure you wash it before adding it to the system water.

I tried one blue and one red sock today - still getting the camera distortion bottom of the shot making me look like some weird footed freak.

New flipper blade, 3 x 7oz tubes of super glue that i like to use and i also got a little fishies magnetic vegi clip - love that thing and so do the fish.
I purchased two plastic mesh baskets from the local 2 dollar shop for $1- each. 12x5x2" deep trays. Put them face to face and drilled holes and cable tied them together in readiness for the 4L of fresh matrix. I already have 6L of matrix in the sump in my patented gold rush sifting tray. The reason i made the new matrix holder this way will become apparent soon.

I will go into detail later about why those stones are on the table but most of it will go over your heads.

I cut a hole in one end but left the strong end pieces in place, that's my carry/jiggling handle.

Here it is in place, if i want to clean the stones i just grab the handle and jiggle the you know what out of the basket. The stones are 1" below the downpipe height so stay wet when the return is off for water changes etc. I can fit four of these baskets between my three pipes if i want.

Total of 10L matrix now wet in total water volume of about 150gal actual system water circulating. Probably get another 4L next time i shop online. Using lots because i'm not running it efficiently in regards to flow plus i want it to handle phos if possible so need a lot more than for just nitrate management.

Matrix Tips

If you drop an egg into water and it floats - it's bad and you don't use it. The grey stones floated in the bucket so they're obviously bad eggs and would float out of my open top mesh basket.
The weird colored stones bottom right didn't float but going off the strange colors i'm not taking any chances so they're getting the heave ho too.

The strange glossy black stones on the left definitely don't belong in a reef tank. Anything that looks like molten black glass but is light as a feather triggers warning bells for old biggles. There's only one place where molten black rocks don't need to be heavy and that's in low gravity......... Stephen King sums it up best..........

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VUeaBPFkcwo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[glaukos]

Thanks mate, they look better without the blue wash still present though.



No probs Matt :beer:



Thanks mate, i'm pretty certain it's A. rosaria. I'll get a nice granulosa when i see one next as the growth is very different especially the corallite tips and shape.



Get a set mate, your acros are yummy colored and the filters will let you show them off much better



Easy peasy............



Hey Dom, i told you it was crazy didn't i lol........ i am definitely getting a bigger tank next year so i can really go nuts :spin2:


Night time top down with the flash to annoy my sleeping blue tang.

I discovered today that one of my echi pieces has been getting way too much flow down low and started to stn at the base. It's about 3" x 1" and looking very ordinary so i cut it off the rock with branch cutters and cut away the sick bits with the dremmel.

I threw the bits i cut off into the kitchen bin but then thought i might as well make a frag and we can see if it recovers. I had an acro that wasn't getting enough light or flow where i placed it months ago so i cut it off the rocks and stuck the healthy piece of the echi where that had been. I need to find a brighter spot now for the bloody piece i removed because i'm sure it's a stunner waiting to shine.

Even your carpet/towel(don't know what it is ) is "awesomely colored"......i hate everything about you andrew

 

[biggles]

Even your carpet/towel(don't know what it is ) is "awesomely colored"......i hate everything about you andrew

It's one of many towels i have on hand for wet work.........

The SSC frag doesn't like very low flow hence the fading color but that's what the delicate echi likes so too bad.

 

[slavetonet]

It's one of many towels i have on hand for wet work.........

The SSC frag doesn't like very low flow hence the fading color but that's what the delicate echi likes so too bad.

Wow.. Nice.. I hope the SSC I have gets that colours like that.
Advice taken on board - up she goes this weekend one go.. :thumbsup:

 

[nemodan]

Andrew.... about the gray floating Matrix stones, put them on a media bag and let them soak well in water. They probably have more air trapped than the others. If that do not work, let them in the media bag.

I have all in media bags, with exemption of the ones in the media reactors (2 filled with Matrix) and 1 stone floated there. I believe have sunken now, but will check tonight.

I like the basket design. Smart !!!

Cheers
Daniel

 

[nemodan]

One more thing, in all my buys of Matrix I don't remember getting those black stones at all.

 

[MichaelW]

Hi buddy, quick question for you. The crab in your profile pic, what is it and are they good or bad? I just found one in one of my colonies. Must have missed it during my inspection before I put corals in. If he's beneficial then great... If not then I got to find a way to get him out.

 

[reefmutt]

The crab in his pic is a good commensal crab often found in some wild colonies or aqua cultured mini colonies.
Don't hurt him!
He's all good..
If you find a grey crab that is all hairy and has beedy blue eyes, nuke him!!

 

[biggles]

Wow.. Nice.. I hope the SSC I have gets that colours like that.
Advice taken on board - up she goes this weekend one go.. :thumbsup:

Your piece will look a lot better than that sulky frag Kevin, a little bit of light will work wonders for your little guy

Andrew.... about the gray floating Matrix stones, put them on a media bag and let them soak well in water. They probably have more air trapped than the others. If that do not work, let them in the media bag.

I have all in media bags, with exemption of the ones in the media reactors (2 filled with Matrix) and 1 stone floated there. I believe have sunken now, but will check tonight.

I like the basket design. Smart !!!

Cheers
Daniel

They're bad eggs Daniel............. floaters......:fun4:

One more thing, in all my buys of Matrix I don't remember getting those black stones at all.

That's because meteors are bloody rare Daniel, they don't just fall out of the sky willy nillly......

Hi buddy, quick question for you. The crab in your profile pic, what is it and are they good or bad? I just found one in one of my colonies. Must have missed it during my inspection before I put corals in. If he's beneficial then great... If not then I got to find a way to get him out.

He lives in one of my acros Michael, i have about 30 at a guess.

Tetralia & Trapezia Crabs - Good Guys

Generally speaking you'll see the tetralia sp. in your acros and the trapezia sp. hanging out in seri's, stylos etc. I was just watching one throwing sand out of his home that the green wrasse just spat all over it lol.

The crab in his pic is a good commensal crab often found in some wild colonies or aqua cultured mini colonies.
Don't hurt him!
He's all good..
If you find a grey crab that is all hairy and has beedy blue eyes, nuke him!!

Spot on Matt, if you shine a torch on your acros after lights out you will see the little crabs out further on the branches but their eyes NEVER reflect. Bad hairy little crabs eye's reflect in torchlight so that's a very simple and effective way of checking new acros for any bad crab inhabitants. These vids were when i had the 65gal running.

Tetralia look normal and not at all creepy, still living in the same acro in the big tank.

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n_MJhLI7EX0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

See if you can spot the creepy crab Matt was warning of.........

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PFXrpNEodds" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

If you do bad things to my acros, well............

 

[markalot]

Nice. I would mount the dead crab in the tank as a reminder for the other crabs as to what could happen.

Almost the season, have you planned out the tree yet?

 

[biggles]

Almost the season, have you planned out the tree yet?

The fish would have a tantrum if i didn't get their tree up Mark..........:spin2:

 

[bobssecrtsn]

Mr. B I have been wondering what to cut my acros off the rocks with! genius. What type of blade are you using to cut on your dremal? Do you know the name of it? My local hardware store carries Dremal tools, Hopefully I am able to match it up with your picture!


After reading what you said, I checked to see if I had any smoother skin acros in front of the mp40, and my Red dragon was Sadly STN at the bottom just like your other acro!


Tank you MR. B

 

[biggles]

Mr. B I have been wondering what to cut my acros off the rocks with! genius. What type of blade are you using to cut on your dremal? Do you know the name of it? My local hardware store carries Dremal tools, Hopefully I am able to match it up with your picture!

After reading what you said, I checked to see if I had any smoother skin acros in front of the mp40, and my Red dragon was Sadly STN at the bottom just like your other acro!

Tank you MR. B

I use the dremmel EZ Lock mandrel with the diamond wheel Bob. I have made hundreds of coral and rock cuts with that blade and it still cuts like a hot knife through butter.
I consider the dremel my most valuable scaping tool and would never be without it.

Ramble...........

I moved a pump which caused the water to be funneled under the soli plate and directed straight at the bottom of the echi. it took me a week to notice the tissue loss as it was 1" off the sand and behind the soli. If in doubt always place new stuff in lower flow. If it needs more it will slowly lose color saturation and pale considerably. It takes weeks to actually stn from flow way too low. If you hit a new piece with too much flow it will it will literally lose the tissue where the water is hitting the affected branches if you're unlucky.
If you have a freshly placed piece that looks to suddenly be developing an ever so light dusting of what looks like brown algae dots on the side facing the direction flow is coming from - move it immediately as it is algae and algae doesn't grow on living acro tissue, it's taking hold at the beginning of stn formation.
Don't assume all wild collected so called 'deepwater' acros were collected in deep lower light waters. Rather than deepwater a better description would be protected water acros. It's missing the importance of flow to deepwater acros that gives many guys problems. I have two different 'icefire' echi's and an all deep satin blue echi and all three pieces hate anything more than gentle good flow.

# Don't assume low flow means low light and vice versa.

## Not counting the bits on the frogs head, i have echi in five places on the reef. Two i placed as pillars at the opening of the yellow troll's lair after watching an old Hercules movie that was on tv.

 

[Volcano1]

I tried one blue and one red sock today - still getting the camera distortion bottom of the shot making me look like some weird footed freak.

I really think it is from all the crunning you have been doing.

 

[biggles]

I really think it is from all the crunning you have been doing.

I just checked that garbage out, i don't like those crunners........:hammer:

I have dealt with the problem of the SSC not liking the spot the delicate echi does. Took the pics with natural light coming through the front door.

1/4" black acrylic.
super glued a rock i made by gluing three rocks together onto the plate for stability. Sliced the top off a red acan and super glued it to the rock.

Removed the echi/SSC rock for surgery with the dremel.

Cut the echi off and glued it to the top of the little outcrop.

Using the same orange filter on the iphone6 i took a couple of pics so you could see what it gives. Nothing done except for resizing.

I may have also glued a frag of the blue rosaria onto the rock just because.......

 

[Volcano1]

If I could get and make them like like you do, I'd crun about any where.
Some strange stuff for sure.
Your new set up and goodies look great. I'm on the up swing again, not quite to where you are though.
Haven't tried the Matrix media yet,
Looking into adding this.
http://************.com/2015/09/24/arid-chaetomorpha-macroalgae-scrubbers-paxbellum/

 

[glaukos]

I love the fact that whenever i come to your thread there are beautiful pics and awesome corals to see:inlove:

The vids where nice too:beer:

....hey i just saw the sock pics....now your right foot is bigger