markalot
...
Couple random iPhone shots:
Filling in nicely, I'm super jealous of the giant tank and deep dimensions.
Is that a nice Lokani in that second pic?
Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail
- Thread starter reefmutt
- Start date
Filling in nicely, I'm super jealous of the giant tank and deep dimensions.
Is that a nice Lokani in that second pic?
reefmutt
Active member
Hey Kev, thanks!
I took that shot because it was the first time I saw 3 starfish together in close proximity, I thought it was cool as well.
I will take more grouping shots for a while instead of the extreme macros.
Don't forget the iPhone really accentuates the blue purple. Even with warming up the photo.
The coral to be he left of the nordoa star is a mystery piece that I've had for literally years. It's been moved and moved and has only recently been in one place long enough to begin to grow. Now it's taking off. The base is green but the tips are a nice purple and the pe is really good.
The one on right is a garf bonsai which never disappoints.
On top is a no name from Raja that is supposed to be a cherry blossom lookalike but in the two years I've had it, it has done little but encrust. I think it's also about to move though.
I can certainly take a couple more shots of that mystery piece. I may even have a few on my camera.. I'll check later.
Hey thanks Andrew. I will keep the vitamins in the current dosing regime but along with the Prodibio and sr and iodine, I will never be able to difinitivey say if the vitamins did anything in particular.Those last two pics made me smile Matt, everything is looking really beautiful and the colors on everything seem to be cleaning up big time. PE looks great but you probably have that all the time with growing acros lol.
I hope you keep dosing the vitamins for a while even if you don't think they're contributing much, anything with fluoro proteins should light up big time very rapidly, like over a full week the yellows proteins in the tank should noticeably saturate and sparkle much brighter to the eye, polyps on tri colors etc will contrast much more for the same reason.
Anyway that was one very definite visual indicator that stood out in my system in very short order so i thought i'd mention it to you since you will know what to look for
Really, really pleased to see your reef putting a smile on your dial again buddy :wave:
Thankks Mark!
It is what remains of my Hawkins exhinata. After my alk crash in October, it suffered and rtned. I clipped a couple pieces off and they survived. Hopefully it'll come back!
afernandez
Never Quit!!
Congrats!!!tank is looking amazing!
reefmutt
Active member
Well, thanks, Conner! It has a ways to go to get anywhere near your tank but it's limping along!
Thank you Shih! Most things are healthy right now. Knock on wood!
The starfish is Nordoa Rosea (thanks Bulent) it is an effective but slow eater of astarina stars..
Hey Arlin, thanks for stopping by.
Thanks, Tim.
I'll take a few with the good camera this weekend... I hope.
Since it's supposed to rain and rain some more, soccer tournament will probably be canceled. I won't complain!
reefmutt
Active member
Hey Dan, sometimes the astarinas eat acropora.. I've never had the type that do, in my tank. Which is good.
Thay can and will seriously reduce your corraline algea growth, though.
They are also ugly and in my case they are all over. And I just don't like them!
I have seen population fluctuations in other tanks but in mine they have just become more and more numerous.
Thay can and will seriously reduce your corraline algea growth, though.
They are also ugly and in my case they are all over. And I just don't like them!
I have seen population fluctuations in other tanks but in mine they have just become more and more numerous.
DiscusHeckel
Acropora Gardener
I also heard that they decimate zoanthids.
reefmutt
Active member
Hey Scott, thanks for checking in. Things are slowly coming around.
Thanks noddyfish! And thanks for having a look.
So after a month of using Prodibio's Biodigest (bacteria) and Bioptim (trace mineral,vitamin, amino mix) I am happy with the health of the corals but less happy with nutrient reduction..
Corals have rebounded very well, in general but nutrients have not budged..
N is around 30 and p is inching higher to .22 ish.. yuck
BUT I can't really complain.. I have some algea but not a lot.. only cleaning the glass every 3 days and as I said corals are looking better.
Here's one before and after shot combo..
April 14
May 6:
Here's a couple other random shots. I'll make a couple more comparisons this weekend.
Good ol centre stage. OP continues to grow like a monster..
These two continue to coexist and grow..
Back a bit.
My ice fire. The branch has now grown out and become bigger than the original frag..
Oh and I decapitated my nauty spiral.. it was growing out of hand.. now it's in my hand!
Everything looks healthy and robust. Clear growth and color. It is fascinating that the nutrients are climbing and all looks A OK. But your tank is not the only one showing this trend. It would be good to understand why this is now happening.
I am not a believer in making changes when everything is trending in the right direction. I would be very satisfied with the results you are getting from the products you are using. Your corals all pass the eye test with flying colors.
Perhaps with a high bacteria driven tank, it may be possible to maintain color while having high nutrients. Or possibly, something else is blocking the zooxanthellae from from multiplying and browning out the corals.
I notice that the bubble in the first pic is missing. Was it removed or did it disappear on it's own?
Regardless, all is very good.
The Ice Fire is a show stopper. Beautiful and healthy looking.
Kevin
I am not a believer in making changes when everything is trending in the right direction. I would be very satisfied with the results you are getting from the products you are using. Your corals all pass the eye test with flying colors.
Perhaps with a high bacteria driven tank, it may be possible to maintain color while having high nutrients. Or possibly, something else is blocking the zooxanthellae from from multiplying and browning out the corals.
I notice that the bubble in the first pic is missing. Was it removed or did it disappear on it's own?
Regardless, all is very good.
The Ice Fire is a show stopper. Beautiful and healthy looking.
Kevin
reefmutt
Active member
Thanks Pife!
Yes, I still have the matrix and several liters of siporax as well, which I added after the alk crash last October. The siporax went in in December. I do not shake it much. I moved all the biomedia to its own sump. It has a small power head to gently move water around and fairly well prediltered incoming water. Maybe I should give it a shake from time to time. And I may add another small powerhead to increase flow a bit. Since adding the siporax, I have seen absolutely no reduction in N. . I removed my cheato fuge around the same time as adding siporax because it stopped growing, so maybe this is why the siporax hasn't reduced nutrients.
Hey Kevin, here's a thought.. maybe nutrient levels are actually meaningless.. high or low.. maybe it's just the stability that is important. Yes, nuisance algea may become an issue with high nutrients but maybe as long as the corals are getting what they need, in terms of micro elements and nutrition- and of course stable maintenance of macro elements and minerals, maybe the nutrient levels don't play a part... Just throwing that out there al la Richard Ross.
Maybe all these years, all those people claiming that the low nutrients were the cause of their success were not correct in their assumption.. maybe it was all the other stuff they were doing that made them successful.
Kevin, do you consider my tank to be 'high bacteria driven'? I never thought of it that way but I gues with regular additions of bacteria, I guess it is- even though it doesn't seem to be reducing nutrients..
I'm beginning to think that when a coral has access to the minerals, elements, and nutrition it needs to be healthy, it will properly maintain its zoox levels, itself.. it's not necessarily that something is 'blocking' the zoox, it's just that the coral is able to properly control them..
I really don't know..
Hey Mark, it scares the hell out of me as well! But less so all the time.
One year ago, right now, my n was around 3-5 ppm and p closer to .1 (so, still not low). I was biggles juicing (koral color/micro e at around half dose) and having really great growth and colour.
Before dosing biggles juice I was not entirely happy with things, and after last October (when I stopped all additives) until last month, when I started Bioptim, I was not happy - or I should say, my tank was not happy.
I am convinced that micro element dosing is what has been the difference in my tank. Low or high nutrients.
Having said all this... I am going to continue doing what I am doing for at least two more months. At that point, I will consider using other methods to reduce nutrients while continuing with micro element dosing.
Maybe I'll try the FM bacto balls.. not sure yet.
watchguy123
New member
Your colors are sooo vibrant. Plus you are getting beautiful multi color tones which is awesome
