A Splash of Color

[Fishy 1]

Damn this tank is looking bloody awesome Andrew!!!! Its come a long way since i stopped in here last!! I've got a lot of catching up to do on all of my friends build threads but nothing a few lunchbreaks wont fix. I will be pestering you with questions fairly soon again as now ive moved into a new place and ive been given the all clear for a tank . All my corals have been chilling in a little nano for the past couple of months but a bigger tank is needed i think. I'd like to give sps a proper go this time and do things properly for once . Anyway thats enough rambling from me.

 

[Alex Costa]

Hey Alex, i started with five about 18 months ago i think and now have two. I have decided that lyretails are not as easy to keep as i thought they were mate. :hammer:

What a bummer
I was hopping that you would teach me some magical mojo to keep them...

 

[biggles]

Thanks for the info on the snails. I thought you said they stay small? I was thinking Collonista snails. Shows how much I pay attention. Lol

Mine all seem to die when the shell is about 1/2" dia mate. The babies don't climb the glass until they're about 1/8" dia, until then they spend their time on the sand when the lights are off.

Holy crap Andrew, be careful with that stuff! Do you happen to know how many grams of Lanthanum chloride Dave puts into what volume of water? I was looking online for LC, and found it about $100 for 25 grams, so I'm thinking there is only a small amount in each bottle.

So what are N and P at now?

I have no idea what the solution was Mindy but i'll find out for you next time i visit Deer Park.

You just had to ask about the N & P didn't ya Mindy.......... i did something stupid already.......:facepalm:

Since the nitrates were barely registering on the Salifert even when looking sideways for the lower range reading and since i had phos at close to 0.01 with the glass clean for a couple of days i decided that the low nitrates were paling the acros over the last few days more so than the low phos reading i now trusted with no rampant glass algae growing.

Sooooooooo, about lunch time yesterday i put 10ml of Seachem Flourish Nitrogen into the display to see if i saw some pop the next day on the acros. I had low nutrients so what's the harm in a little nitrogen experiment right..........

30 mins after i turned the lights on this morning i noticed two acros looking terribly icky colored suddenly and then i saw the slow RTN on both at the base. I say slow STN rather than STN because i could see a 1/16th" little flap of waving tissue at the die back border. I class STN as very slow die back that you never actually see visible tissue loss as i just described.
That's just so you know what i mean when i use the terms here.

It was about this time i remembered what happens to phos when you dose nitrates.............:blown:

Nitrates are 2 and phos is zero on Elos high res. I fed the tank 5 un rinsed mysis cubes today along with heaps of pellets and nori and when the lights go off i will empty the skimmer cup and let the skimmate drain into the sump all night.

One acro is a purple table but the other is my blue table that i posted pics off a while back - the nice one. It's violet now and very washed out with about 1.5 sq inches of tissue loss at the base. I'll try to get a quick pic of the damage still happening before i turn the T5's off.

Hi Andrew i noticed your lights are very close to the water. would you happen to know the PAR level?

No idea sorry mate. The 400W Radiums are 9" and the T5's are angled 6-7" off the water. Most stuff is 10" - 14" below the water.

Crazy mate - nothing good ever happen fast in reefing. Especially N & P & C - the most essential thing after lightning. :facepalm:

Yes well something is certainly happening too fast right this bloody minute Kevin

Damn this tank is looking bloody awesome Andrew!!!! Its come a long way since i stopped in here last!! I've got a lot of catching up to do on all of my friends build threads but nothing a few lunchbreaks wont fix. I will be pestering you with questions fairly soon again as now ive moved into a new place and ive been given the all clear for a tank . All my corals have been chilling in a little nano for the past couple of months but a bigger tank is needed i think. I'd like to give sps a proper go this time and do things properly for once . Anyway thats enough rambling from me.

Hey Rory, good to see you back matey. Look forward to seeing your new reef design buddy.

What a bummer
I was hopping that you would teach me some magical mojo to keep them...

I'm clueless about the fish Alex, none have jumped out for quite some time which is good.


That new piece was not liking the high light i had it in on the far left island up too high so i removed it and placed it down low on the small middle island. I super glued it to a small rock on the kitchen bench and then used glue and putty to stick the rock onto the island. One of the cardinals claimed it within an hour.

Dom's firetruck acro speaks for itself. There is no green on a firetruck whatsoever in case you think you have it..........

In other news i've been dosing a single element at a rate of 0.1ml per 250L water a day for a couple of weeks and i am certain it has led to much richer and vibrant pigments but since things have suddenly gone south i wanted to show you this piece now in case i kill it or something. I want to get the phos etc back under some sort of stable control and see how things go for a while before i say what i'm dosing since i don't want anyone killing stuff copying me.

You prob can't see it but the skin is taking on a pink hue as the polyps begin to redden.

 

[biggles]

I may have bleached the new caroliniana a tad more with the nitrate dosing ( behind the intense echi)

The pic is under saturated, my cardinals have bright orange stripes and electric blue head stripes but you can't go full acro porn......... no one goes full acro porn and comes back to white balance....... :twitch:

The scolly is Kevin's..........



Bulent's Bliss is more pinky red when you compare it to the firetruck. They're both very intense little buggers. I gave the polyps just to the left of it a taste of kalk yesterday to see what happened - they all packed their bags and left by the look of things today

The nasuta does not like sudden phos drops at all but the spath to the right of it didn't mind at all. Do you see how brown the polyps are on that pretend SPS digi frag you gave me John............ biggles doesn't do 'brown' anything John......... it's a boomerang frag....... coming right back at you mate....... :beer:

 

[slavetonet]

Looks like you just can't help yourself this time.
Have to push the system over the edge.

 

[biggles]

Yep

 

[martinphillip03]

Andrew, thanks for the update!

Marty

 

[Pife]

Oh no! I'm hoping everything pulls through and you get back on track.

 

[reefmutt]

Andrew, Zn or Mn?
Hopefully nobody else reacts to badly to the nutrient instability.
It'd be a shame to see those beauties go downhill.

 

[Piper27]

I bet Dave is just trying to kill off some of your acro crop so you have to go back and buy another batch, this is what the "lc" was for

Dude that red polyp yellow mille or whatever color it is, is just fire! I would fight someone for that piece if I saw it in a store. If someone ordered it o line I would hide out at their doorstep and mug the mail man... :uzi:

I hope your nutrients level out. I think things will be ok though because you understood what happened and stopped right away. I wish I could dose nitrates that much to drop my phosphates. I do get to keep them from rising this way but I am scared if I dosed anymore vodka and vinegar to drop nitrates I will have a white slime tank Maybe I can try some of the aquaforest biofill stones.

 

[biggles]

Andrew, thanks for the update!

Marty

No probs Marty.

Oh no! I'm hoping everything pulls through and you get back on track.

I gave everything a thorough inspection first thing this morning mate and everything else shows no signs of doing anything bad.

Andrew, Zn or Mn?
Hopefully nobody else reacts to badly to the nutrient instability.
It'd be a shame to see those beauties go downhill.

Zinc, i tried it after reading what Joe was doing and since i happen to think he's bloody good with acro pigments i copied him secretly....

I bet Dave is just trying to kill off some of your acro crop so you have to go back and buy another batch, this is what the "lc" was for

Dude that red polyp yellow mille or whatever color it is, is just fire! I would fight someone for that piece if I saw it in a store. If someone ordered it o line I would hide out at their doorstep and mug the mail man... :uzi:

I hope your nutrients level out. I think things will be ok though because you understood what happened and stopped right away. I wish I could dose nitrates that much to drop my phosphates. I do get to keep them from rising this way but I am scared if I dosed anymore vodka and vinegar to drop nitrates I will have a white slime tank Maybe I can try some of the aquaforest biofill stones.

Thanks mate, don't go mad with the whole carbon/bacteria dosing thing. Give everything a good clean, run socks, get the biofill stones and rinse all frozen foods. Make sure the skimmer is running wettish and give it a couple of weeks.
All of us, me included are too quick to chuck things into the water now days to fix stuff when most of the time we just needed to alter our current methods slightly. Case in point, my current low phos situation. :facepalm:

T5's were on for 15 mins and then the tissue loss which had stopped last night resumed. It moved about 1/8" in the last hour, not OMG it's imploding RTN by any means but a slow relentless die back along the border of death.
As you can see the polyps are out on the bloody thing while all this is going on - bloody acros :hammer:

If you look far left you can see the white dead bit under the purple thing, it's a ghastly browny purple color and looks very sick color wise. The die back appears to have stopped on that colony which is typical because i couldn't care less - the table losing flesh is three times as pretty :deadhorse1:

I'm considering just prying the whole thing off the scape and carrying out surgery on the kitchen bench to remove the base of the colony before the die back reaches the colony base stalk. You know me however, i take ages to make a decision...........

The cardinals that hang out here are not impressed.

You sit and watch and cross your fingers - you lose acros. Sometimes you just have to make a hard decision even though you really want to just go for a drive in the car instead. I have today off (Mon) so i'm going to try to save one of my babies.

 

[reefmutt]

I hope the surgery is successful.
I've tried surgery and I've tried leaving the coral alone.. I think I'm about 50/50 for either method..
I'm drinking Joe's koolaid, as well..
I've suspended dosing.. getting nutrients right and then I'm heading down his road.

 

[bimborocks]

Fingers crossed the surgery is successful if you need a safe place to keep some of your special frags I would begrudgingly babysit them for you - kind of like a seed bank

Cheers
James

 

[slavetonet]

Good luck Andrew AKA Mr. Surgeon.

 

[martinphillip03]

Andrew, Remember, measure twice, cut once! Hopefully you will use a Jewelers hammer and not a sledge hammer.

Marty

 

[biggles]

I hope the surgery is successful.
I've tried surgery and I've tried leaving the coral alone.. I think I'm about 50/50 for either method..
I'm drinking Joe's koolaid, as well..
I've suspended dosing.. getting nutrients right and then I'm heading down his road.

I decided to roll the dice and let it ride Matt, i can easily remove the rock it's on for drastic surgery if it doesn't stop being a sooky lala about things. I turned it to the left to follow the flow more and after things went wrong with the other stuff i decided to move it back since i could.
I look forward to hearing what you think about Joe's dosing after you try it for a month Matt.

Fingers crossed the surgery is successful if you need a safe place to keep some of your special frags I would begrudgingly babysit them for you - kind of like a seed bank

Cheers
James

If i ever get the bloody things to grow faster i'll happily send frags all over the country James - Kevin and Nils are the first on the list to receive my acro seeds :wave:

Good luck Andrew AKA Mr. Surgeon.

Not a lot of lucky stuff happened tbh Kevin.......... not much at all........:hammer:

Andrew, Remember, measure twice, cut once! Hopefully you will use a Jewelers hammer and not a sledge hammer.

Marty

The fact i could take this acros casting a shadow in the sun on my back patio shot might point to how the acro work went Marty........

 

[Usernam Invalid]

Acro sundial [emoji6]

 

[biggles]

Acro sundial [emoji6]

It's acro o'clock mate - time to finish the story !

Not spending three days cleaning up the pic properly, use your imagination to white balance the pics..... best be getting the popcorn out.........:spin3:


Whilst prying the troublesome table off the island i forgot it had wedged the fireworks frag between its rock base and the acro base i had placed the echi and Ken's beautiful piece on. A few seconds after i took that last pic the fireworks frag fell onto the scolly.
I picked it up and placed it on the sand and then gave the base it had been attached to a quick poke to check it was ok - it toppled like a falling tree into the sand as i just stood there with one arm in the tank regretting touching the stinking table...........
I placed it on the sand as well and went out the back for a smoke to ponder things............ it was angry pondering........

I decided to replace the acro stump that fell with a piece of rock from the sump tank - i always have bits and pieces soaking here and there just in case i need them.
Checked it for fit and then mixed up some putty.

Stuck the rock into place and left it alone to dry and lock up tight before i tried sticking anything to it.

Decided to turn the table to the left so it was getting more flow in the direction it was growing rather than from the side as it was getting before. Placed it on the new rock but it ended up a bit higher than i intended - i just left it alone as everything was going so well. While that was drying i took the stump out the back and used the cutters to chop the rock the two frags were on away from the stump. Took a pic while i was out back as you know.....

I decided to stick it where the table was oriented pretty much the way it is on the sand.

I stuck it onto the scape easily and then took the fireworks frag out to put some putty on its bum andddddddddddddd dropped it. As i grabbed for it i just swatted it harder into the cupboard door and then it smashed onto the slate floor......... smashed one of the two small 1/2" branches off and pulverized the tip as well.
I actually uttered a quiet ' oh no ' as it fell but it still happened - asking for mercy from the acro gods never helps in these situations. I sighed and picked the little smashed nub up and glued it back on. Sat it in the sump to dry and got some putty ready.
I stuck it in the middle of the mess of new acro scaping and kept calm despite looking at the smashed sliming frag that had just started to look good. Oh well, small hiccup really. I gently removed the prop from under the table anddddddddddddd smashed the back of my hand into that pale blue branch i moved the other day onto the small middle island.

This time i let rip with many colorful expletives ! Not only did i smash it off the rock but i also smashed a branch off it just to take the bleeping cake :furious:

That's why there's now a frag on the sand........

Until your arm is dry, the glue is away and everything is out of the display that should be................ your acros are not safe.........:hammer:

 

[Piper27]

Thanks mate, don't go mad with the whole carbon/bacteria dosing thing. Give everything a good clean, run socks, get the biofill stones and rinse all frozen foods. Make sure the skimmer is running wettish and give it a couple of weeks.
All of us, me included are too quick to chuck things into the water now days to fix stuff when most of the time we just needed to alter our current methods slightly. Case in point, my current low phos situation.

Good advise, I should clean out my rock tank for sure. That's something I have put off for a while which will probably help. I remember two tanks ago (this is how I measure time now...), keeping my refuge clean was a key to the health of the system. The carbon source is working amazing though, I wouldn't be able to have half the fish i do or feed so much without it. I have been using it since the start of this tank so I don't think I should change it. It does prevent me from using filter socks though. I really wish I had space to use a nice large sand filter but I bet it would run bad with all the bacteria in the water, just like the socks. Rinsing frozen food is another thing I have stopped doing and should be doing especially with how much we feed.

I think you should leave thoes acros alone unless they start peeling above any of the bases. I as well have had about 50/50 luck cutting things. I have had a little better luck glueing the rtn line when a coral looks like that and giving it a very quick iodine dip. Most of the time it only works if you catch it the first day or two. Good luck!

I hate dropping acros on the floor, echinata, cardus and turaki have all been dropped in my house... The just explode! You would think I would learn but holding them makes me more nervous and shakey. Now I just stay away from deepwater type stuff as much as I can

 

[markalot]

Argh, careful with that Lanthanum crap.

I would have a bottle of Seachem Phosphorus on hand as well, just in case. I learned the hard way with PhosphateRx (a diluted form) and now regularly do 2 drops a day which holds PO4 about .03. I dosed a single drop in my smaller tank, everything looked like hell the next day, two acros browned, and the ULR meter read 0. Just a smidge of Seachem Phosphorus turned things around, fortunately, and one of the acros has regained color. My problem in my smaller tank is that I only have 3 fish so it's a constant struggle to keep elevated NO3 and PO4.

You know all this, I'm just trying to look smart and stuff.

I credit regular small dosing of Lanthanum for me being able to keep stable params and have a nice SPS tank.