Sorry to hear that. It wasn't so easy to grab in the States either, took like 5 years :/
Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail
- Thread starter reefmutt
- Start date
Sorry to hear that. It wasn't so easy to grab in the States either, took like 5 years :/
You can get them here at a reasonable price
https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.XTROPIC+MARIN+A%2B+elements.TRS0&_nkw=TROPIC+MARIN+A%2B+elements&_sacat=0
codydemmel4
Active member
hey Matt do you still have the siporax online or did you take it off before your cheato started growing insane?
Also I have been thinking about dosing a little bit of iron to help the cheato grow thicker and better.
Also I have been thinking about dosing a little bit of iron to help the cheato grow thicker and better.
reefmutt
Active member
Hey Tim! Glad you stopped by. Thanks. Trying to keep up the sexy!! Got a few new shots to post- few pink matrixy shots..
Thanks.. I think I'm going to stick with what I've been doing for the past year.. I'm always tempted to try something new but I'm fairly happy with my current regimen.
Hey Cody, sorry for the late response. Was a crazy month at home.. I still have a ton of siporax and Seachem's matrix in the system.. I never saw it do a single little thing for reducing n in my system. Cheato grows insane with it in the system.
I'm not sure iron alone will make your cheato grow. I have found in the past that yes iron is the first limiting element to go in a system with cheato but when I dosed iron, it didn't help for more than a few weeks before cheato shut down again. I think things like potassium, zinc, manganese, iodine- not to mention n and p are all needed. I've had the best long term success keeping my cheato happy using Prodibio Bioptim.. it seems to do the trick for me. You can check out what's in it on their website.
Hi Carlos, I think you have mixed up n with p. I don't usually want my n to go below 4-8 ppm. P, in the other hand, I have struggled to get it below .1 and have always wanted to get it down to closer to .03 but all the natural methods I have tried haven't really gotten me there..
The only thing I have been doing for the past 6 months or so is use cheato to reduce nutrients.. aside from a protein skimmer, filter socks and periodic waterchanges.
As for measuring, I have a salifert and a Red Sea test kit. Salifert is better for higher numbers- above 5 ppm. Red Sea is better for below 5ppm.
Ok Tim here are a few new shots of the pink matrix..
Here's a little closer
And a cropped and re sharpened shot..
If you have a close look at the first shot, you'll notice a recently dead spot.. I have no clue how that happened but the dead app hasn't changed in a couple days.. not sure if I'll wake up to a totally rtned coral or if it'll heal over..
Last weekend I did a red slime remover treatment and I had a few corals completely rtn over night.. generally though, the corals are fine.
I have a bunch more shots I took last weekend.. I'll get to them shortly
reefmutt
Active member
So, I haven’t really done anything to the tank besides feed lots of food to the fish and test alk here and there for the past few weeks. Been really busy with family stuff. I haven’t tested anything for quite some time even after the fluconazole, cyano amd cyano treatment..
I really should do that soon..
After the fluconazole, bryopsis disappeared, cyano appeared and my cheato went through a die off. But since dosing rsr and pulling out the dead cheato, it has stabilized and start d growing again..
I’ve been feeding extra food lately because I added a few new evansi anthias and I am trying to keep them alive. I was stupid and bought a few that were too small. The small ones reallynhave trouble adapting because they seem to be only able to swallow very tiny food particles.
So, with all the algae kill/die offs and the extra food, I have no idea where nutrients are but generally the corals look pretty good..
Here’s a wide shot or two but I mostly went macrotastic on his shoot.. so much more interesting to me to put together colours, patterns and shapes..
Here’s Pink tip and blueberry wine on top. One of my pink matrices and jf Flame sort of in middle..
Here’s OP on left, a new acquisition from Fragbox called blue monster in middle (I leeerve blue monster) and red diablo on right lower down.. oh and pink lemonade upper left..
Oh yeah! A semi fts.. left hand side
Op and pink lemonade with blueberry wine up top
I really love this shot.. op, blueberry wine and no name coral..
Blue.. need some blue. I’m on a quest for blue corals.. this guy next to su is growing well..
Another angle next to a bonsai wannabe..
Here’s another close up of op and red coral
Mmmm this photo dump is so cathartic!!! I have a few more..
I really should do that soon..
After the fluconazole, bryopsis disappeared, cyano appeared and my cheato went through a die off. But since dosing rsr and pulling out the dead cheato, it has stabilized and start d growing again..
I’ve been feeding extra food lately because I added a few new evansi anthias and I am trying to keep them alive. I was stupid and bought a few that were too small. The small ones reallynhave trouble adapting because they seem to be only able to swallow very tiny food particles.
So, with all the algae kill/die offs and the extra food, I have no idea where nutrients are but generally the corals look pretty good..
Here’s a wide shot or two but I mostly went macrotastic on his shoot.. so much more interesting to me to put together colours, patterns and shapes..
Here’s Pink tip and blueberry wine on top. One of my pink matrices and jf Flame sort of in middle..
Here’s OP on left, a new acquisition from Fragbox called blue monster in middle (I leeerve blue monster) and red diablo on right lower down.. oh and pink lemonade upper left..
Oh yeah! A semi fts.. left hand side
Op and pink lemonade with blueberry wine up top
I really love this shot.. op, blueberry wine and no name coral..
Blue.. need some blue. I’m on a quest for blue corals.. this guy next to su is growing well..
Another angle next to a bonsai wannabe..
Here’s another close up of op and red coral
Mmmm this photo dump is so cathartic!!! I have a few more..
reefmutt
Active member
Looking forward to those new pics Matt
Odd that only that little tip on the PM has TN'd though, hopefully it's not a sign of ominous things but simply a bit of upset
Hey Dom. Thanks! I figured it was time to put my name on my photos. Just wanted something out of the way but noticeable.
Yes.. I am hoping it was a chunk of salt or something that landed there. But we all know his hobby.... ominous is always lurking around the next bend.. I hope it's nothing. ..
codydemmel4
Active member
everything is looking great. where is your alk now?
I will have to do some research on the bipotim but it looks like I would have to use 5 every 2 weeks or around 12 a month?
I will have to do some research on the bipotim but it looks like I would have to use 5 every 2 weeks or around 12 a month?
slavetonet
New member
The latest photos are off the chart.
Awesome photos Matt.
I like the reefmutt watermark too.
Awesome photos Matt.
I like the reefmutt watermark too.
watchguy123
New member
Your colors and growth are awesome. The full tank shots are so pretty and amazing. I don't take full tank shots because I don't have that beautiful composition of multicolored corals all growing into each other. I hope to one day. Your photos are inspirational. And your corals, well they are just absolutely mind boggling beautiful
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
One of my pink matrices and jf Flame sort of in middle..
Here's OP on left, a new acquisition from Fragbox called blue monster in middle (I leeerve blue monster) and red diablo on right lower down.. oh and pink lemonade upper left..
Oh yeah! A semi fts.. left hand side
Op and pink lemonade with blueberry wine up top
I really love this shot.. op, blueberry wine and no name coral..
Blue.. need some blue. I'm on a quest for blue corals.. this guy next to su is growing well..
Another angle next to a bonsai wannabe..
Here's another close up of op and red coral
Mmmm this photo dump is so cathartic!!! I have a few more..
Its so good to see these pretty colours on the SPS. I'd love to see a top down video of the corals in HD; that would be a treat. I did say some time ago maybe when you started the thread that you'd produce these sorts of results. And you havent disappointed one bit my friend. Keep up the nice work.
reefmutt
Active member
Hey Cody, alk is right around 7.. it had dropped several weeks ago to below 6 because my kalk doser got an air bubble in the line and slowed down. I just though it was my ca reactor not keeping up so I increased co2, then a couple weeks later I realized that the doser was slow, so I fixed that and saw alk go up to 8.. after cutting back a bit, I'm now stable at 7 ish.
As for Bioptim, I have only been dosing an ampule every Saturday and Wednesday in my 350 gallons.. so, 4 every 15 days.. however, I'm thinking of adding a third ampule in there somewhere since my tank is getting so densely packed with corals.
Hey Kevin thanks! I want to try to use Facebook a bit more for business so the watermark is just to keep my photos identified as mine.
Well Mark, coming from the man behind Z's paradise, that is a huge compliment. Thank you very much. Likewise on the source of inspiration!
Hey Sahin, thanks for dropping in on your thread!Its so good to see these pretty colours on the SPS. I'd love to see a top down video of the corals in HD; that would be a treat. I did say some time ago maybe when you started the thread that you'd produce these sorts of results. And you havent disappointed one bit my friend. Keep up the nice work.
you got me to start it. Thanks for the kind words. I'm hoping you'll be posting just as good shots in the near future. Hey Scott, thanks! Appreciate it.
I have more macro compositions..
Here's one.. I'll try to post the rest later today..
reefmutt
Active member
Hey Sensei, thanks! I have found that all corals are different. Some are extremely aggressive and destructive while others not at all. Sometimes one coral will burn the other way back and sometimes corals will just grow into each other and nothing happens.
When I have an aggressive coral like the red no name, I have to trim all the branches that head towards weaker corals. But if corals meet and nothing happens, I let them go..
Thanks! Taking the pictures is as much fun as growing the coral. That pink matrix is very photogenic!
Hey Bernie thanks! Well, I happen to have a few more shot from my last climb on the ladder so, here ya go!
Furiosa:
The wave and 24k
Fox Flame and no name.
24k up close.
Not sure what this is..
<a href="https://postimg.org/image/8lxeuh77t/" target="_blank"><img src="https://s20.postimg.org/o7eqefj65/32_F62625-2640-4821-_A606-888_E52511_B70.jpg" alt="32_F62625-2640-4821-_A606-888_E52511_B70"/></a>
Habanero! Up close.
The beautiful blueberry wine..
So I think that pretty much does it for the latest photodump!
