A Splash of Color

[deaclauderdale]

As always everything is looking great Andrew! I'm hoping to come across my Deerpark here in the near future after discovering that Steve Garret's grow out system is near where I live. Can be very difficult to find uniquely formed and colored pieces here in SoCal sometimes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[biggles]

Hi Andrew,
Great thread and many interesting things!
Last night I started to dose AF Vitality, started with 5 drops for my 1000 liters SPS tank.
This night and the next days I plan to dose 2 drops/day.
Will see..
Do you think we can diluite in Rodi water AF Vitality to avoid manual dosing ?
I am too lazy to dose it every night...

Thanks Alessandro, i'm pretty sure you can dilute them but i couldn't say for sure. Perhaps ask one of the elitist wankers over in the chemistry forum, just tell 'em biggles sent you..............

Thanks Biggles for your cool comments about my Gemmifera. Good to have expertise to ask!

The colourful coral in your post, what is it?

It's a frag from sustainable reefs Patrik, no idea what it is tbh.

Shoot now you're making me want to pick up AF Vitamins Andrew. The Energy and Aminos are doing well for me so far but striving for better colors always!

I would get the vitamins Tim...........

As always everything is looking great Andrew! I'm hoping to come across my Deerpark here in the near future after discovering that Steve Garret's grow out system is near where I live. Can be very difficult to find uniquely formed and colored pieces here in SoCal sometimes.

Thanks mate, i don't think you'll be short of beautiful pieces to choose from now you know Steve's stuff is within easy striking distance. :thumbsup:

 

[kevlow]

Thank you for the good lead on the vitamins. I know there are others as well that are in discussion about this but you have really brought the subject forward on this forum. Apparently my corals my have really been needing exactly this to respond so quickly.

After just two nights dosing I came home to a noticeable change. Daytime PE is a little bit more polypier . Richer skin color. Also, the ridges on my millis appear to be more pronounced and extended.

I am very much looking forward to returning home later today and seeing continued improvement.

Thanks again.

Kevin

 

[PatrikD]

Considering i have kept the exact same color variant A. gemmifera as the one you stumbled across i do have some advice for you Patrik.

It needs medium to high light and lots of flow. They are stout growing to survive the overhead wave surging flow that comes with high light living on the reef.
It is metallic greeny/gold skinned with purple corallite lips and growing tips. The polyps are red and the very top of each growing tip will be bright light blue. Pretty sure the growing axial tips have blue polyps from memory.

It's not a run of the mill gemmifera mate, i see purples and blues all the time but you have the one with multi colored everything. Your pic only shows half the colors your eye will see if you make it shine - very cool score Patrik :thumbsup:

By any chance do you have a picture somewhere of that Gemmifera? Can't find one in this thread.

 

[biggles]

Thank you for the good lead on the vitamins. I know there are others as well that are in discussion about this but you have really brought the subject forward on this forum. Apparently my corals my have really been needing exactly this to respond so quickly.

After just two nights dosing I came home to a noticeable change. Daytime PE is a little bit more polypier . Richer skin color. Also, the ridges on my millis appear to be more pronounced and extended.

I am very much looking forward to returning home later today and seeing continued improvement.

Thanks again.

Kevin

Hey Kevin, i know a lot of the more cynical reefers out there will think it's all down to reefers seeing what they want to see but you and i know different now don't we mate. If your corals aren't lacking vitamins for one reason or another i doubt dosing vitamins after dark will have any noticeable impact.

If you are lacking all the vitamins used by your corals however for one reason or another then as i said earlier, i would expect some of you to see something akin to a sudden 'pop' in regards to the definition and clarity of many colors.

I looked back at some of the threads mentioning vitamins months ago but they were dismissed out of hand as usual which is a shame. Anyway, i'm really pleased you might have filled in a small piece of your own system's acro puzzle Kevin. After a full week i hope the change leaves you in no doubt that they can make a significant difference when used the right way mate

By any chance do you have a picture somewhere of that Gemmifera? Can't find one in this thread.

I will find some pics for you Patrik, i know i have a few in various states of happy and sad lol.


Ten days ago i began dosing 3 drops of AF pro bio s in the morning and 3 in the evening just to spread them out a bit. I dosed them just before the matrix bed in the sump each time.
I wanted to try some aminos but the nutrients were close to 20 nitrates and the glass had a very light dusting at the very end of a full day lighting again since i've been on a feeding binge lately - i just like watching them all buzz around the tank lol. I can't be stuffed testing the phos as i know there's plenty on the glass.

After 7 days the glass had a feint dusting after a full two day 11 hour light cycle and the nitrates were 2. I was pretty impressed i have to say as i haven't done the bacteria thing before - pretty sure some of my mates here let me down by failing to insist i try them......:hammer:
The colors just got brighter over this period which isn't surprising but that was about it really. Since the AF amino dose is 7.5 drops every second night and i know from Perry that every third night is better since they are seriously potent apparently, that works out to 2.5 drops every night for the AF rec dose and halving anything new is always a good idea i decided 1.25 drops is close enough to 1 drop a night - nightly so nuisance crap like cyano etc doesn't get first dibs at it.

After 3 nights of dosing the aminos i'm pretty sure i can see signs of tip growth on many sleepy head acros. I will be surprised if you guys can't see the impact made by the drop in nutrients caused by dosing just some bottled bug water....... it looks pretty nice in person so i will be continuing with my AF potion experiments for the foreseeable future

The flubber pops like crazy with the vitamin dosing but i can't see a way to avoid that unfortunately......... :twitch:

 

[kevlow]

More then a year ago [ maybe two] you were posting about the benefits of a bacteria driven system and the use of Matrix to boost this.

I always assumed that you either used some form of bacteria [like Pro Bio S] or had went about it the old fashion natural way. Regardless, the lesson on the value of a high bacteria system was made.

This is the idea that I try to use as the foundation of my system. High bacteria through Matrix, Pro Bio S , and NP Pro.

I replaced my two part ESV with AF Comp three part.

I have always been impressed that you research this stuff on your own, in your own tank; and reach these conclusions. Brands like AF, TM, Zeo, etc etc. are all basically research companies selling us products based on their studies. The difference is that they often do not tell us the ingredients, do not explain what you are actually doing by using these products. It is all left as a mystery [like magic] that you must remain dependent on their products.

You on the other hand, explain exactly what is being manipulated and what is going to be achieved. I could actually go and buy those ingredients and mix them myself like some of the more advanced reefers here do. For me it is just too easy to just buy the AF products. The difference is that from following your thread, I now know what I am actually doing and trying to achieve. I can make informed decisions on my own, not blindly following a program. By understanding the process I now understand what I am seeing in my tank and know when to advance or back off. I can make other changes in my husbandry that is not dependent on buying more products.

The addition of the vitamins I think is important and shows why all the scientific study these companies do pays off. I just never would have tried it without some explanation as to why it is needed.

As to "seeing what I want to see" after two days; I posted pics in my own thread of some pieces. I think that it does document a difference.

Thanks again and keep up the great work in this thread.

Kevin

 

[bgouges]

More then a year ago [ maybe two] you were posting about the benefits of a bacteria driven system and the use of Matrix to boost this.

I always assumed that you either used some form of bacteria [like Pro Bio S] or had went about it the old fashion natural way. Regardless, the lesson on the value of a high bacteria system was made.

This is the idea that I try to use as the foundation of my system. High bacteria through Matrix, Pro Bio S , and NP Pro.

I replaced my two part ESV with AF Comp three part.

I have always been impressed that you research this stuff on your own, in your own tank; and reach these conclusions. Brands like AF, TM, Zeo, etc etc. are all basically research companies selling us products based on their studies. The difference is that they often do not tell us the ingredients, do not explain what you are actually doing by using these products. It is all left as a mystery [like magic] that you must remain dependent on their products.

You on the other hand, explain exactly what is being manipulated and what is going to be achieved. I could actually go and buy those ingredients and mix them myself like some of the more advanced reefers here do. For me it is just too easy to just buy the AF products. The difference is that from following your thread, I now know what I am actually doing and trying to achieve. I can make informed decisions on my own, not blindly following a program. By understanding the process I now understand what I am seeing in my tank and know when to advance or back off. I can make other changes in my husbandry that is not dependent on buying more products.

The addition of the vitamins I think is important and shows why all the scientific study these companies do pays off. I just never would have tried it without some explanation as to why it is needed.

As to "seeing what I want to see" after two days; I posted pics in my own thread of some pieces. I think that it does document a difference.

Thanks again and keep up the great work in this thread.

Kevin

Perfectly put kev. I wholeheartedly agree upon the content of andrews posts and the assistance they provide to fellow reefers. Dont think there is a better place on the internet to find the most detail surrounding the health of our sps and the strive to acheive crazy colours! Thumbs up mate

 

[DiscusHeckel]

After 3 nights of dosing the aminos i'm pretty sure i can see signs of tip growth on many sleepy head acros. I will be surprised if you guys can't see the impact made by the drop in nutrients caused by dosing just some bottled bug water....... it looks pretty nice in person so i will be continuing with my AF potion experiments for the foreseeable future

When I dosed KZ Cyanoclean and/or KZ ZEObak, both of which contain different strains of bacteria, my corals' growth rates increased very noticeably. I actually reported this in my tanks threads on this forum and on UR in the UK.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I looked up that FM Reef Mud.. seems like such an odd product. And the directions for use seem even more odd.
At first I thought it was like Miracle mud- which I understand. You add it as a temporary bed in a sump and it releases its minerals etc and aids in denitrification. After a certain period of time, you replace it.
But the FM product, you are supposed to broadcast throughout your system via high flow. I get the beneficial addition of minerals and I actually like the idea of introducing new natural organisms to your reef but the actual particulates of this mud end up everywhere.
I don't get that part. It's like spraying.. well.. like Andrew said: dirt all over your reef tank.
Bulent, am I missing something?

I do not think you are missing anything Matt. This is exactly how you are supposed to use TM Reef Mud as well. I guess dirt accumulates on sand bed and sump floor. I had better ask Hans-Werner Balling to find out if we miss anything.

 

[reefmutt]

Thanks Alessandro, i'm pretty sure you can dilute them but i couldn't say for sure. Perhaps ask one of the elitist wankers over in the chemistry forum, just tell 'em biggles sent you..............



It's a frag from sustainable reefs Patrik, no idea what it is tbh.



I would get the vitamins Tim...........

Thanks mate, i don't think you'll be short of beautiful pieces to choose from now you know Steve's stuff is within easy striking distance. :thumbsup:

Ok Andrew, you have outdone yourself with the food colour dipping with that yellow/orange stunner.
Which colour did you use as the base dip? Orange or yellow?? It's crazy.. crazy..
CRAZY!!!!!!
Or did you just dip it right into a bottle of vitamins?
Keep showing me that piece and I will be adding vitamins to my tank in no time.

 

[MichaelW]

Yeah, that soft yellow is just nuts.

 

[Wrangy]

After 7 days the glass had a feint dusting after a full two day 11 hour light cycle and the nitrates were 2. I was pretty impressed i have to say as i haven't done the bacteria thing before - pretty sure some of my mates here let me down by failing to insist i try them......:hammer:

Thank you, I told you it was good sh!t! :hammer: Haha I might try splitting my dose too, 2 drops morning and night but I'm using np pro too

 

[biggles]

More then a year ago [ maybe two] you were posting about the benefits of a bacteria driven system and the use of Matrix to boost this.

I always assumed that you either used some form of bacteria [like Pro Bio S] or had went about it the old fashion natural way. Regardless, the lesson on the value of a high bacteria system was made.

This is the idea that I try to use as the foundation of my system. High bacteria through Matrix, Pro Bio S , and NP Pro.

I replaced my two part ESV with AF Comp three part.

I have always been impressed that you research this stuff on your own, in your own tank; and reach these conclusions. Brands like AF, TM, Zeo, etc etc. are all basically research companies selling us products based on their studies. The difference is that they often do not tell us the ingredients, do not explain what you are actually doing by using these products. It is all left as a mystery [like magic] that you must remain dependent on their products.

You on the other hand, explain exactly what is being manipulated and what is going to be achieved. I could actually go and buy those ingredients and mix them myself like some of the more advanced reefers here do. For me it is just too easy to just buy the AF products. The difference is that from following your thread, I now know what I am actually doing and trying to achieve. I can make informed decisions on my own, not blindly following a program. By understanding the process I now understand what I am seeing in my tank and know when to advance or back off. I can make other changes in my husbandry that is not dependent on buying more products.

The addition of the vitamins I think is important and shows why all the scientific study these companies do pays off. I just never would have tried it without some explanation as to why it is needed.

As to "seeing what I want to see" after two days; I posted pics in my own thread of some pieces. I think that it does document a difference.

Thanks again and keep up the great work in this thread.

Kevin

Hey Kevin, thanks for such a nice post mate i really appreciate it. I only think i know what's happening and maybe why with the vitamins but i definitely know when my acros change dramatically
It makes a big difference when you have half a clue as to what exactly you should be looking for when using a product rather than just 'better colors'

Perfectly put kev. I wholeheartedly agree upon the content of andrews posts and the assistance they provide to fellow reefers. Dont think there is a better place on the internet to find the most detail surrounding the health of our sps and the strive to acheive crazy colours! Thumbs up mate

Thanks a lot Brok, between all of us and the journals we keep i think we are slowly making headway towards everyone finding it relatively easy to keep half decent looking acros all of the time. This forum has a wealth of awesome threads full of cool info, yours included mate

When I dosed KZ Cyanoclean and/or KZ ZEObak, both of which contain different strains of bacteria, my corals' growth rates increased very noticeably. I actually reported this in my tanks threads on this forum and on UR in the UK.

Did you copy and paste this so called 'report' on my journal at the time Bulent........... i can't see it anywhere mate. And what's this UR place, is that Russian, it sounds bloody Russian. How the hell do you expect me to read Russian Bulent ? :facepalm:

Ok Andrew, you have outdone yourself with the food colour dipping with that yellow/orange stunner.
Which colour did you use as the base dip? Orange or yellow?? It's crazy.. crazy..
CRAZY!!!!!!
Or did you just dip it right into a bottle of vitamins?
Keep showing me that piece and I will be adding vitamins to my tank in no time.

The crazy part is that it sat unloved at Dave's for a few weeks before i rescued it Matt.........

Yeah, that soft yellow is just nuts.

Hey Michael, it's a very pretty little piece which should look cool with the saturated blue/purple pieces either side of it.

Thank you, I told you it was good sh!t! :hammer: Haha I might try splitting my dose too, 2 drops morning and night but I'm using np pro too

Yes you did Dom, you didn't offer to give me some of yours to try even though i said Dave was out of bacteria but you did point out how effective the big bottle you had was.......... you're not much of a team player tbh Dom............ selfish little bacteria hog........ :twitch:

New branch i got a few weeks back has encrusted and just started growing at the tips. Still very bright pastel looking compared to older pieces so it's hard to show you a good look at all the different colors coming through now. It's very rainbowy looking in person with so many different pigments and zoox blending with each other in different ways.

Has zero PE all day and poor PE still at night despite going so well. I still don't really know what color the polyps are at the tip ends lol.

 

[biggles]

So remember when i asked Christian to send me another frag of this piece i thought was a total goner since it was grey brown and dying from the tips down in the sump.

And he sent me a big piece of something i'm sure is from the same colony the original piece was, if not it's the same color variant for sure much like SSC are all very similar. After months it still looks pretty much the same gacky base color with almost bleached tips and even the encrusting it has done looks bleached blue. Hasn't done much of anything which is starting to annoy me........

Well a couple of weeks back when i decided the vitamins might be doing cool things i put the ugly little original frag back up in a primo spot - last chance basically, get busy coloring up or get busy living in my back garden.......

Same acro as above remember.......

 

[reefmutt]

There's a lot of good colour in there! Healing up, too
If the polyps stay yellow..... oh boy
back last xmas 2015, when I started playing with AF, I ordered all sorts of stuff. Pro bio s, micro e, coral b, np pro, fluorine, kallium etc etc..
Well, I discovered I also bought a bottle of vitamins..
I see no good reason to just let it sit and do nothinng in my fridge...
Question.. have you ever played with photoperiod lengths to see if this may affect growth?

 

[biggles]

There's a lot of good colour in there! Healing up, too
If the polyps stay yellow..... oh boy
back last xmas 2015, when I started playing with AF, I ordered all sorts of stuff. Pro bio s, micro e, coral b, np pro, fluorine, kallium etc etc..
Well, I discovered I also bought a bottle of vitamins..
I see no good reason to just let it sit and do nothinng in my fridge...
Question.. have you ever played with photoperiod lengths to see if this may affect growth?

Hey Matt, i clipped off all the dead algae covered tips about 6 weeks ago when i put it in the sump to wither and die lol. The polyps look a bit glowy under blue lighting so you never know, they might be fluoro or sparkly yellowish. On the replacement frag the polyps are sparkly white while still bleached - that quite often means fluoro and i look for those polyps on the bleachy looking fresh stuff from Christian.

Might as well put a few drops in for a few weeks buddy, it won't give you any extra issues i'm certain and you never know your luck it might make a difference. I have all sorts of old potions in the bottom of the fridge door lol.......

I tried lowering the radiums right down to 4 hours and then back up over a couple of months but it made zero difference mate. I don't think it's too much light after that little experiment.

Bulent's Bliss, the orange polyps sparkle when the Radiums are running. It's my favorite red acro

 

[codydemmel4]

I just bought the vitamins since I do limited water changes to see if I noticed a difference, its a small investment with what seems like no downside.

Do you have any thoughts on Flatworm stop or coral booster to promote growth and get healthier/stronger growing corals? I bought them when I thought I had flatworms about 2 months ago, found out I dont but I have continued to dose it. I cant really give my thoughts on it yet as I had an alk swing that I am finally recovered from that also happened around 2 months ago, been a long journey but everything is looking a lot better now luckily.

As always, you have a very nice tank!

 

[alessandro]

After a couple of weeks I can confirm my impression of general improvement of my acroporas after dosing vitamins.

 

[tripdad]

Hey Andrew, the acro's are looking good. I don't know if your right or wrong about the vitamins but I love the way your always keeping us followers thinking. You never quit trying to improve. Hope it all keeps getting better for you.

 

[Noddyfish]

Awesome Tank!