Fancy Sticks in Glass Box

Love the tank, colors look more saturated in the new pics. Have you been feeding more or adding anything new? Or did the colors come out after the red bugs got taken care of?
Keep an eye out for aefw now that the red bugs are gone. A lot of the time this is when people discover them. Even if nothing new has been added they can hide to a while and pop up once the bugs are gone, maybe because there is no competition.
 
Not sure. Red bugs were attacking smooth skins only, and those bounced back with better coloration after the bugs were gone. I've also added some fish and pretty much doubled the feeding schedule. Finally, these where shot with a different lens this time.

My theory on aefw after red bugs is that people just start paying more attention to their sticks after going through a red bugs outbreak. But either way, it's not something I'm particularly looking forward to.
 
While I'm being lazy taking updated pictures of the tank, here's what happened to my Apex lab grade pH probe over the weekend:

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I have to admit that I've had this probe for almost three years now. Looks like it's time to get a replacement.
 
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I think we are overdue for some updated photos. My main challenge now appears to be maintaining stable salinity. With the sticks taking off pushing Alk dosing higher, my weekly salinity swings are a no joke. Two weeks back found myself in the 1.028 territory, some sticks didn't like it at all.

Alright, so here's the new growth update. The true ugly duckling story in my tank is this no name frag of a dull green wild bushy acro I got off of ebay awhile back. Feather duster worm was growing in the middle of it when I received it. That was about a year back.

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Over the past 11 months, under intense radions, it has grown into an impressive colony of a really nice yellow candlelight color. One of my favorite sticks in the tank right now. My camera and curved glass won't let me capture the true color of the colony, but here it is anyway:

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Another oddball from that ebay order turned into a really nice pink/purple colony. Unfortunately, I don't think I remember what it looked like when I got it. Here it is now:

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My sarmentosa is finally taking off

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So does this TCK Blueberry

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I'm still waiting on that TCK Yellowjacket, but it's getting there
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Strawberry shortcake's been trying my patience for a very long time now

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So is this TCK Fruity Pebbles:
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So is this guy, but at least he is trying:
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There's finally some noticable progress with my JF Raja chalice:

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And this little ponape is doing pretty good

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This guy is still somewhat of a mystery (pink/red, prostata???) but it's looking pretty good

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Tyree Pink Dragon Tails is growing, although I suspect it's still getting bleached despite being lower and away from direct light

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And since we are on the subject of dragons, there be them
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But the truly insane growth was with these two, first the pink birdsnest

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And especially this guy. It's been sold to me as Starry Nights stag. Now it's taking over everything:

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very nice growth there. what is your dosing regiment, water changes % and how often and what are the params you are aiming for?
 
very nice growth there. what is your dosing regiment, water changes % and how often and what are the params you are aiming for?

Thanks man. I'm just dosing two part on BRS dosers, currently about 135 ml each daily. Monthly 15% water change on plain IO salt.
I'm trying to keep my Alk around 135pm or 7.5dkh, it drops sometimes down to 120 ppm, but I never let it go up above 140 ppm.
Ca - around 400 ppm and Mg - 1350 ppm.
NO3 is always 0 - 0.25 ppm on Red Sea low range kit and PO4 around 0.05 ppm on Hanna.

Here's the obligatory updated FTS. January and May:
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Thanks man. I'm just dosing two part on BRS dosers, currently about 135 ml each daily. Monthly 15% water change on plain IO salt.
I'm trying to keep my Alk around 135pm or 7.5dkh, it drops sometimes down to 120 ppm, but I never let it go up above 140 ppm.
Ca - around 400 ppm and Mg - 1350 ppm.
NO3 is always 0 - 0.25 ppm on Red Sea low range kit and PO4 around 0.05 ppm on Hanna.

Here's the obligatory updated FTS. January and May:
DSC_1757_zpsumcybbwo.jpg

DSC_2488_zpsxlp9qqey.jpg



Filling in very nicely! I am going to go back to the basics but first trying to figure out my issue on why my SPS tips 2-3 weeks afte rbeing in my tank besides my alk being steady at 7.7, calc 420 and p04 0.02-0.05 an dnitrate between 4-8. sometimes everything just goes wrong haha.
 
Filling in very nicely! I am going to go back to the basics but first trying to figure out my issue on why my SPS tips 2-3 weeks afte rbeing in my tank besides my alk being steady at 7.7, calc 420 and p04 0.02-0.05 an dnitrate between 4-8. sometimes everything just goes wrong haha.

Yeah, I've been keeping an eye on your story. What I would like to add is that I do not believe that higher NO3 (in 5-15ppm category) is particularly safe for sticks. IME, the tolerance levels of frags and established colonies are very different. I've experienced it enough times in my own system. I don't have a solid explanation for it. All I know is that frags are particularly vulnerable to alk swings, higher nitrates, phosphates and unstable salinity. At the same time, established colonies may even thrive during those swings. So I personally stay on the safe side and keep those level low and stable, even if at the expense of growth rates and coloration, at least for now while I still have relatively small frags in the tank.
 
Could be true but I don't think that is my problem. I don't think nitrates between 4-8 would kill pretty much all my SPS slowly.

I'm starting to really think it is the dry rock from brs that I STUPIDLY forgot to do an acid bath like I did on my old setup when everything was great from the beginning. I think it is leaching a bunch of crap that my corals like so I am just going to do more water changes. If that doesn't fix anything then I may just give up honestly because this has been insane.
 
Alk dosing. Too much of it to be exact. Have to dilute the tank water every so often to compensate.

How many ml a day are you dosing? Do you do it by hand or a Doser? I've never had this issue while dosing and haven't heard of it before.
 
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