Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail
- Thread starter reefmutt
- Start date
So, just because I recently tested a few things..
Here are my latest results
No3: 50
Po4: .16
Alk: 7
Calc: 410
Mag: 1350
K: 400-430. Did a couple tests and varying results.
Those nutrient readings bother me a lot. N may still be climbing..
I got most of my siporax installed in the sump and I have added a bit more flow in the sump just to get some water moving around the containers.
I have also started using AF's pro bio and Continuum's Bacter gen m along with 4 drops (only) of np pro in an attempt to control the nutrient rise a little.
I am using a 1/3 dose of np pro just to try to get nutrient moving slightly downward instead of upwards!
Hopefully, it'll at least halt the rise.
So, this is a shot I take a lot but recently, it's been looking better than usual.
The orange coral is referred to around here as 24k and purple is a mystery coral as far as I know..
Here's the artsy fartsy macro:
The purple coral is one tough customer. It either kills or railroads any coral it comes into contact with. Here, you can see that it has completely surrounded the base of the 24k.. I will probably have to eventually break it off and more it or the purple beast will swallow it right up. You can also see where it is encroaching on the coral in the upper right. I really wish this one would take off.. I think it'll be very pretty if it grows..
This is a cool macro of a Red Bull or Red Robin or some red coral that went brown during the alk drop but the red is now recolonizing the coral.. pretty neat..
And here it is up in the centre island with my orange passion and pink lemonade..you can see that parts are more intensely red than others. It gets more and more uniformly red each week.. too bad the orange passion won't take a hint from it and get some orange polyps!!!
The artsey macro shot is fascinating. The orange creamsicle 24K color is very unusual. Especially in contrast to the rich purple right next to it/ I envy both of those pieces
Regarding the high nitrates, I don't think that is the issue that it used to be. Years ago when keeping acros was new, if you had high nitrates you also had one hundred other problems. Also tanks were dirty right from their inception. Now days it is a different world from the past. The tanks are so clean, often too clean. I think that once acros have colored up and zooxanthellae have been repressed that pigments take over, they seem to be able to tolerate some higher nitrate numbers. At least for a while.
I know that my own colors have looked their best at around 20 nitrates. I got nervous though and did not like some of the bubble and hair algae that formed. Three months or so into matrix and a little bit into AF my nitrates went up to 50. That is where I got worried. Turned out that when I shook out the matrix to be free of detritus , my trates went back down to the point I had to dose nitrates to get it back up. I guess the bacteria kicked in.
Over all I say you are in a good position of having a beautiful established tank. You are really just fine tuning at this point. As always,thank you for posting and I enjoy following along.
reefmutt
Active member
Hey Kev, thanks! You may very well be right about nowadays as opposed to early sps keeping.
That 24k has never looked better than with the nutrients where they are, now.
Here's a similar shot from end of August.
Nitrates were around 5ppm and p was probably around .13-- AND this was under metal halides which I don't have anymore.
I've been shaking out my matrix, to no avail. I might pull one container out and really give it a rinse in tank water. Do that for all three- one per week or something..
That 24k has never looked better than with the nutrients where they are, now.
Here's a similar shot from end of August.
Nitrates were around 5ppm and p was probably around .13-- AND this was under metal halides which I don't have anymore.
I've been shaking out my matrix, to no avail. I might pull one container out and really give it a rinse in tank water. Do that for all three- one per week or something..
Usernam Invalid
New member
Never get tired of seeing your pics matt
reefmutt
Active member
Hey Tim,thanks!
Well, in a way I'm doing two things at once to reduce nutrients: adding the bacteria and adding the siporax.
Theoretically, the siporax will/should reduce nutrients on its own, in the long term and the np pro should start reducing nutrients in the short term..
I don't really want to shift the tank very quickly. The corals have recovered from the alk swing in high nutrients. I think a significant shift right now would/may not be doing the corals any favors.
I really just want to see a shift in the direction of nutrients. They seem to be still rising and I just want to see the momentum start going in the opposite direction - slowly.
Hopefully a 1/3 dose will just nudge nutrients downwards.
Hopefully, in a few months, I won't need the np pro at all. Or even more hopefully, I'll be able to dose no3 and np pro to naturally reduce my p and be able to stop using so much gfo..... that's a lot of hope!!
Well, in a way I'm doing two things at once to reduce nutrients: adding the bacteria and adding the siporax.
Theoretically, the siporax will/should reduce nutrients on its own, in the long term and the np pro should start reducing nutrients in the short term..
I don't really want to shift the tank very quickly. The corals have recovered from the alk swing in high nutrients. I think a significant shift right now would/may not be doing the corals any favors.
I really just want to see a shift in the direction of nutrients. They seem to be still rising and I just want to see the momentum start going in the opposite direction - slowly.
Hopefully a 1/3 dose will just nudge nutrients downwards.
Hopefully, in a few months, I won't need the np pro at all. Or even more hopefully, I'll be able to dose no3 and np pro to naturally reduce my p and be able to stop using so much gfo..... that's a lot of hope!!
reefmutt
Active member
Bio S and Pro Bio S were literally nutrient nukes in my minuscule 29g Biocube. Within a few days a couple drops put me at 0/0, it's strong stuff. If you aren't getting the results you want maybe pick up a bottle of the Bio S and try that instead of the Probiotic Bio S
I really just want to see a shift in the direction of nutrients. They seem to be still rising and I just want to see the momentum start going in the opposite direction - slowly.
Hopefully a 1/3 dose will just nudge nutrients downwards.
Hopefully, in a few months, I won't need the np pro at all. Or even more hopefully, I'll be able to dose no3 and np pro to naturally reduce my p and be able to stop using so much gfo..... that's a lot of hope!!
Very true and sound logic with the 1/3 dosing. Also yeah, dosing kno3 will decimate your po4 levels! Shouldn't be a problem getting the desired nutrient levels in sync.
OT, but I wanted to ask. What do you use for your pictures? They're very crisp and clear.
reefmutt
Active member
what do I use for my pictures, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. And since I'm in another arena, and I snapped a few front glass shots with my favorite lens, I'll post a few..I have a canon 70d with several lenses. My favorite being the 100mm macro. It is super sharp and when you are about 4-10 inches away from your subject and the light is good the sharpness is fantastic.
I drop my raw photos directly from my camera via wifi to my phone where they get converted to jpeg I assume. From my phone I always use an app called Snapseed and I pretty much do the same thing to 'process' every shot I take.
Then, I put them in Photobucket.
For processing, I warm the photos then lighten or darken them a bit (darkening them can bring out some richness)
Crop sometimes for fun- as the following photos will show and then I always use the 'derails' function to sharpen and and add 'structure'
Doing all of this in an iPhone app can make the photos look almost cartoonish. I'm sure if I were using Lightroom and processing the actual raw photo, they would come out way better but I just don't have the patience to go upstairs and sit in front of the computer to process them.
All of the following shots were taken with my macro through the front glass and some of them were 'processed' a fair bit.. just for fun..
I try not to use any extra saturation unless the photo looks washed out. Actually, just using the white balance or warming function brings out a fair bit of richness anyways..
Ok.. some shots
This was sold to me as a red dragon 'that needed to colour up' well it never did but it's quite beautiful in its growth structure and pale peachy colour:
Back a bit..
Here's that 24k purple acro monster combo from the front glass:
Here's a bonsai that was completely shaded and burned by furiosa until it succumbed to the alk swing and died.. now the bonsai is happy!
Here's burning man and the eye of a cardinal
Another burning man shot..
Few more to follow..
reefmutt
Active member
Ok.. last few.. sorry for the macro artsy fartsy stuff.. was just in the mood and had a window of opportunity!
Mystery rescue coral..
This is a tough group to take because they are so high up in the back left hand corner of the tank. I just love the colour combo though.. even though Biggles wouldn't approve of the green, it is such an intense yellow/green, is never get rid of it..
Same shot, smaller aperture. I think I like the first shot better even though this one has more in focus.
Another good colour shot..
Couple more goofy cropped acro porn..
Last but not least.. sorry more green..
Ok.. I'm done. Hope you like'em!
Mystery rescue coral..
This is a tough group to take because they are so high up in the back left hand corner of the tank. I just love the colour combo though.. even though Biggles wouldn't approve of the green, it is such an intense yellow/green, is never get rid of it..
Same shot, smaller aperture. I think I like the first shot better even though this one has more in focus.
Another good colour shot..
Couple more goofy cropped acro porn..
Last but not least.. sorry more green..
Ok.. I'm done. Hope you like'em!
slavetonet
New member
I don't know Matt, I do like the new photos of richer colours than the pale type.
That's just refreshing to say the least and the none blue disco lights photos.
Keep them coming. LOL
That's just refreshing to say the least and the none blue disco lights photos.
Keep them coming. LOL
codydemmel4
Active member
very nice tank Matt!
Getting some nice colors and growth in there!
Getting some nice colors and growth in there!
watchguy123
New member
I love those pictures. Beautiful acro, colors and photos. I also recently added a bonsai frag, it may not be rare but it sure is beautiful.
reefmutt
Active member
Well, with 50 ppm nitrates. It ain't hard to get some rich colours, that's for sure.
Thanks!
Thanks, Mark. Yes. The bonsai is not rare but it is quite unique. That purple body and intense green polyp is special.
reefmutt
Active member
I missed this! Sorry. Thanks!
Big E's tank is certainly something special. His eye and touch are quite amazing.
Ooooh. A cheater cam -_-
lol. Yeah, if only I had one of those floating around I wouldn't be struggling to make the hardcore whites in my pictures go away.
I have this *very* light baby blue Acro I keep trying to photograph... Shines like the sun no matter what I do to it in pre or post lol
lol. Yeah, if only I had one of those floating around I wouldn't be struggling to make the hardcore whites in my pictures go away.
I have this *very* light baby blue Acro I keep trying to photograph... Shines like the sun no matter what I do to it in pre or post lol
Nice group of photos. The Bonsai is very beautiful. I think of it like a Red Planet; It may be common, but when it is healthy and happy it will be the first coral to catch your eye.
Nice color combos in the pics. Maybe I need to consider a nitrate bump myself!
Do you have a phosphate update? I am curious to see what it is doing while seeing the rich color you are getting.
Nice color combos in the pics. Maybe I need to consider a nitrate bump myself!
Do you have a phosphate update? I am curious to see what it is doing while seeing the rich color you are getting.
markalot
...
New page quote.
Ok.. some shots
This was sold to me as a red dragon 'that needed to colour up' well it never did but it's quite beautiful in its growth structure and pale peachy colour:
Back a bit..
Here's that 24k purple acro monster combo from the front glass:
Here's a bonsai that was completely shaded and burned by furiosa until it succumbed to the alk swing and died.. now the bonsai is happy!
Here's burning man and the eye of a cardinal
Another burning man shot..
Few more to follow..
