Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail

[tenurepro]

Wow! Great Build, love the shots! Are you in Toronto? (Saw miracles on the first thread) I am also sure that you talk about your lighting setup somewhere here but I didn't want to go through the 270 pages? Looks like t5, correct? Thanks!


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[reefmutt]

Hey tenurepro, thanks!
I’m in Montreal.
I use a combination of 6x t5, 3x 150w mh (ushio Blue) and 4x AI Prime LED.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Your Acroporids seem to be at their peak condition Matt. I bet your chaeto’s growth will accelerate further as there is no other micro algae competitor left in your tank.

(Re)appearance of cyano did not surprise me as the nitrate-phosphate balance in your tank has changed after the demise of bryopsis. I would prefer cyano to bryopsis any day.

 

[reefmutt]

Thanks Bulent, I added an extra hour to the cheato photoperiod to give it more time at taking up the slack. I may have to remove a rock or two from the cheato area to give it more space to grow. It is extremely dense and fast growing right now.
The cyano appeared just before I started fluconazole- shortly after beginning aminos, but since the fluconazole, it has spread..
Once I am able to do a water change, I’ll do a cleanup of the frag system and try to remove as much of it, manually, as possible.
I changed out some old bulbs in the frag tank, replaced my RO prefilters and resin and stopped aminos- hopefully this will help as well..
We shall see.
i agree 100% I would prefer cyano too!

 

[FloformAustria]

Man matt! Really love those new pictures

So did you win against the bryopsis?

Cheers

 

[mhucasey]

That Robinhood is spectacular! So excited to hear that the chaeto is working well- it seems that the key is getting the fudge a real and intense light- but the old school method is really effective. I have had similar success with chaeto and it's just so easy. Whe I can I will upgrade my fudge lights and expect to see even better growth.

 

[watchguy123]

Cyano appearance is always exasperating. There seems to be a correlation with amino acid supplementation and cyano outbreak. I don't know if that is universal problem or not.

I have wondered about redfield ratio and how it fits in to our tanks. It seems that nitrates to phosphate ratio in the tank needs to be at a minimum of around 6:1--that's not a number that I have seen written or specifically spoken about, rather it's my extrapolation when I follow all these various threads. The ratio can probably go up to at least a couple hundred or more to one though. It seems to be pretty forgiving anywhere in between.. When nitrate to phosphate ratio gets too low, cyano tends to flourish.

Oh, and I continue to marvel at the beauty of your tank

 

[Usernam Invalid]

That pink matrix is awesome really regretting selling mine before letting it grow out.

 

[Wally.B]

I'll agree on the PINK Matrix. Looks awesome.
You just inspired me to get another Frag of one since I lost a couple during my recent setback.

Happy Thanksgiving Matt.
Looking forward to more Stunning Photo's of Stunning SPS.

 

[reefmutt]

Man matt! Really love those new pictures

So did you win against the bryopsis?

Cheers

Hey Flo, so far yes. It is completely gone- 10 days after treatment. But apparently you have to wait a good 3 weeks before doing a wc or adding carbon.. so, so far, so good.
Thanks! I’ll try to take some more tomorrow..

That Robinhood is spectacular! So excited to hear that the chaeto is working well- it seems that the key is getting the fudge a real and intense light- but the old school method is really effective. I have had similar success with chaeto and it's just so easy. Whe I can I will upgrade my fudge lights and expect to see even better growth.

Hey Matt, thanks! The turbo growth is pretty cool. I’ll get a shot of the whole frag. I have another piece of it lower down in the tank that came in half alive. I cut away the dead sections and glued it and now it has encrusted. I’ll take a pick of it as well..
My experience with cheato is that when it likes the water it’s growing in, it’ll grow like crazy, regardless of lighting. I’ve used mh and had it wither away, I’ve used cfls, t5, leds.. whatever it’s under it has both grown well and died off at different stages.
It seems to have specific needs like k z mn fe i as well as n and p.. since I’ve been dosing these things, the cheato is absolutely on steroids.
Clearly good strong light is better than poor dim light but I’m not convinced that these new grow lights are essential to great growth.
Here’s a full shot of robin hood- along with a mediocre pickachu and pink Cadillac.

 

[tenurepro]

Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail

Here's a full shot of robin hood- along with a mediocre pickachu and pink Cadillac.

Interesting; i also have a small frag of pink Cadillac, purchased from an excellent reefer in Toronto. I paid a LOT for it. But so far, very disappointed by the color. Mine looks a bit like yours, but It certainly looks no where like the pics here
https://************.com/2016/07/26/pink-cadillac-acropora-divaricata/

Just wondering if you've ever actually seen a pink Cadillac colony in person that looks like the one pictured on ************ or the rr Facebook page?

Ps... like is for reef builders dot com
Pss here is what my frag looks like. Nice but not like the 'picture'

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[reefmutt]

Cyano appearance is always exasperating. There seems to be a correlation with amino acid supplementation and cyano outbreak. I don't know if that is universal problem or not.

I have wondered about redfield ratio and how it fits in to our tanks. It seems that nitrates to phosphate ratio in the tank needs to be at a minimum of around 6:1--that's not a number that I have seen written or specifically spoken about, rather it's my extrapolation when I follow all these various threads. The ratio can probably go up to at least a couple hundred or more to one though. It seems to be pretty forgiving anywhere in between.. When nitrate to phosphate ratio gets too low, cyano tends to flourish.

Oh, and I continue to marvel at the beauty of your tank

Thank Mark, when my nitrates got really low, I started adding nitrate and then shorty after I began adding aminos.. I gues either one or neither could have been the cause of the reappearance of the cyano.. tough to say..
I'l stop both n and amino additions for now and see..
BigE has often commented on an ideal ratio of 100/1 (with a fairly wide range of error) for general coral happiness and one would hope general cyano unhappiness. Red field's is another consideration but there is lots of debate about its relevance to our systems.. all things to keep in mind, for sure.
I'll watxh the cyano for now, it's not too bad. I could probably use better flow in my frag tank.. once my fluconazole treatment is done, I'll clean out the frag tank and see if it returns.
If it does, I'll consider dosing with one of the red slime removing products. They are quite harmless, in my experience.

That pink matrix is awesome really regretting selling mine before letting it grow out.

Thanks, the matrix family of corals- tenuis I guess but not sure about that- all seem to need some time and size to really show what they can do..
Here's a shot of one of my colonies from yesterday.

Here's another matrix colony that I've had for years and only recently desired to blast off. Not as nice as thenpink matrix but we'll see where it goes..
It's rr lady in pink

I'll agree on the PINK Matrix. Looks awesome.
You just inspired me to get another Frag of one since I lost a couple during my recent setback.
Happy Thanksgiving Matt.
Looking forward to more Stunning Photo's of Stunning SPS.

Hey Wally, thanks! Same to you! Rainy indoor thanksgiving day for us- I assume Toronto is the same.. good day for tank stuff..
Here's a series of shots of a blue coral that has really begun to grow for me, along with my happy suharsonoi and a couple others in the periphery..
Blue coral

Blue and su

Just su!

A couple other angles..

 

[reefmutt]

Interesting; i also have a small frag of pink Cadillac, purchased from an excellent reefer in Toronto. I paid a LOT for it. But so far, very disappointed by the color. Mine looks a bit like yours, but It certainly looks no where like the pics here
https://************.com/2016/07/26/pink-cadillac-acropora-divaricata/

Just wondering if you've ever actually seen a pink Cadillac colony in person that looks like the one pictured on ************ or the rr Facebook page?

Ps... like is for reef builders dot com
Pss here is what my frag looks like. Nice but not like the 'picture'

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Your looks great. Nice pe.. when I got my frag- which my come from the same source as you, I broke it off and glued the pice into my tank. The plug remains in my frag tank. It has fantastic dark purple polyps and grows really well. Way better than the piece in my display.
I might try glue it in down low in the tank or something.
It is certainly the Corals that around out for me as the biggest bonehead purchase I’ve ever made..
I’ve nevwr really seen a big mother colony, nor one that looks particularly good.. oh well.. I’ll leave it alone and see what it does.

 

[tenurepro]

Your looks great. Nice pe.. when I got my frag- which my come from the same source as you, I broke it off and glued the pice into my tank. The plug remains in my frag tank. It has fantastic dark purple polyps and grows really well. Way better than the piece in my display.
I might try glue it in down low in the tank or something.
It is certainly the Corals that around out for me as the biggest bonehead purchase I've ever made..
I've nevwr really seen a big mother colony, nor one that looks particularly good.. oh well.. I'll leave it alone and see what it does.

thanks for the input; i am also curious to see what it does in lower light...

 

[reefmutt]

So here a couple fts.

The left side is looking better these days as I’ve done less messing around with it..

And I just liked this angle even though it isn’t the best shot..

Here are a few random shots..
Rr red diablo and an Aussie piece that was pale green and blue tipped when I got it.. now it’s just green it may come out one day..

Here’s su with an op I glued at the bottom of my tank along with a mystery coral that really likes being down low..

Here’s the most recent macro of the red coral and su growing into each other..

My ice fire..

Bonsai with a mystery acro that I really like the shades of and a rr fruity pebbles down at the bottom left that has recently begun to sprout a new tip - after about a year’s dormancy. Bottom right is a pink Cadillac wannabe..

Finally, another bonsai colony on the bottom of the tank. Also starting to grow out well..

Ok! Those are all my shots for now..
Haven’t done a full test work up lately.. if/when I get the tests done, I’ll post my latest results.. may take a week..

 

[reefmutt]

thanks for the input; i am also curious to see what it does in lower light...

I'll try to get a decent shot of the old frag base.. it's way nicer..
The pink Cadillac is really about the contrasting purple polyps and I have several fish in my display that pick at polyps all day.. I think that part of the reason for the boringness of my display piece....

 

[Alfrareef]

What kind of light do you use?

 

[reefmutt]

I have 4 AI Primes. Blues max out at 45% violet and uv max out at 20%, whites 5%
they run from 9 am, ramp up to 3pm and then turn off for an hour, then from 4pm, they go from max back down to 0 by 10:30pm.
They are really only supplemental ‘pop’ lighting.

I have 6 54 w T5.
3 blue plus come on at 11:30 am and turn off at 10pm
2 coral plus and 1 blue plus come on at 12:30, off at 3p-4p, then back on till 8:30p

3x150w ushio blue are on from 1-3 and 4-6p

 

[tripdad]

Hello Matt, just curious...why the break at 3 - 4? Also, how do you fit all that lighting over one tank, must be packed overhead?

 

[Alfrareef]

Thanks Matt.
Every day that passes I'm more pro T5 than ever.
I like led light, control capabilities and power saving, but I'm starting to believe that a hybrid solution it's the best option for my tank.
Maybe Santa brings my tank a ATI Hybrid for coral grow and colors...