coral mission

[bryanth73]

My 180 is looking better every day and now i want to concentrate on growth and color of what I have I am looking for ideas on what tests (paramater wise) also what in everyones opinion has helped with there corals basically i have 900w halide all 14 k hamiltons cr 6 ca reactor pm2 skimmer with panworld 150 pump a tunze stream auto top off right now I have ph 8.1 dkh 9.8 temp 80-82 my po4 test shows 0 but there is calurpa in the tank that grows out of hand (at least to me ) if I dont prune it every 2 weeks or so any ideas would be helpful

 

[ostrow]

Ok, so I know I'm a college professor, but the first idea would be to write in sentences and to use punctuation. I read the first line and got a headache after that. Then I read the last line asking for ideas and help.

If you can state what it is you are asking and put the relevant information into a form that one can reasonably digest, perhaps you will get a better response.

I'm not trying to be a jerk; just trying to help you to get what you want.

 

[Sk8r]

Alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, salinity, temperature. Do all those and keep a daily log with date and readings. (I test the mg and salinity whenever I think there's reason, the rest regularly.)
Trends are an important item. Relationships are another. You can see those in a log, which remembers everything. Also write in notable events, like an acquisition or a fragging.

I just got a flow device (sea swirl) which has made an immediate improvement in some corals, which were getting much too much in only one direction.

I feed phyto and bits of shrimp.

 

[bryanth73]

Now that the english lesson is over

My 180 is looking better every day, and now I want to concentrate on growth and color of what I have. I am looking for ideas on what tests (paramater wise) also what in everyones opinion has helped with there corals? basically I have 900w halide all 14 k hamiltons, cr 6 ca reactor, pm2 skimmer with panworld 150 pump, a tunze stream, auto top off, I have ph 8.1 dkh 9.8 temp 80-82 my po4 test shows 0 (but there is calurpa in the tank that grows out of hand (at least to me ) if I dont prune it every 2 weeks or so) any ideas on what to do to get better growth and color would be helpful.

 

[ostrow]

You don't list calcium levels. It should be at around 435 to be in balance with the 9.8dkh.

Color and growth are not necessarily equally achieved, and it really depends on the type of coral. A platagyra brain will grow much more slowly than a montipora digitata, for example. Color will depend much on placement relative to the lights, the ballast-bulb combination, flow, etc, too many things to list almost. A lot is trial and error there and in the end it is subjective. One man's purple is another's deep red.

I checked out a couple of pictures in your gallery and while photos add a whole other layer of distortion if you will, they look pretty good!

What, exactly, are you disappointed with in terms of color or growth? Is there a particular coral that isn't "doing it" for you?

 

[bryanth73]

ca is at 430. most of the acros are brown my tri color has pale bluish tips that is all the purple tenuis has a verry washed out purple appearance with light polyp extension. I guess what I am looking for is to get that POP in the coloration that you see in many of our favorite totm. For the growth I have several frags that are 4+ mos old and have shown little to no growth or have not even encrusted yet

 

[ostrow]

As long as they are still alive I wouldn't worry about those corals you have had for less than 6-8mos or so. My tricolor I had 18 months before it started to POP as you put it. My new tricolor I got from Jose (via, via) is almost white it is so pale.

But as long as they are alive and you see some polyp extension wouldn't worry. A lot of it is just time. Doing anything major could have more of a negative than a positive effect.

Even Menard told me all his corals go brown for a good period after he gets them before really coloring up.

Patience seems all you need given the rest of what you say.

Is all your lighting via MH or do you supplement with actinics? If so maybe swap the xm 14K for 20K. But I'd even be careful there. I'm delaying swapping my BLV 10Ks for Reeflux 12Ks but will probably gulp and do it soon.

 

[bryanth73]

all lighting is halide. I'm not wanting to do 20k because of the drop in the par