Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail

[plyle02]

.Chris. now that is an algae scrubber
Bubble algae scrubber, hmm... as long as it stays away from the main tank, let it do it's thing
Matt, your red colored corals are pretty fricking red man!!!
Nice photo

 

[.Chris.]

.Chris. now that is an algae scrubber
Bubble algae scrubber, hmm... as long as it stays away from the main tank, let it do it's thing
Matt, your red colored corals are pretty fricking red man!!!
Nice photo

The only place it grows is in the overflow, and sometimes in the pumps where my goldrim can't eat it.

I'm probably going to have Matt calling to rent my goldrim.

 

[reefmutt]

I give up... you win!


This is literally one of the coolest pics I've seen in a while Matt :inlove: I love the colour of the polyps too

thanks, Dom. I think I enjoy photographing the tank as much as keeping the tank.

Amazing thread Subscribed!!!!!

Thanks, Henry, welcom!

Love the contrast that the setosa makes as a backround matt
Amazing pic indeed!

Thanks, Mike! Appreciate it.

Since I know you love bubble algae so much, let me show you mine.




And believe me, it looks like that all the way to the bottom. I just cleared out a little bit on the overflows and in the drains.

Wow! Now we know why your nutrients dropped so nicely!

Ok the final centerfold shot!! well I think this is one of the best shots I've ever taken in my tank.. Hope you like it as well.. Just love the colours..
/QUOTE]

Good lord! Centrefold indeed! I was going to suggest that it may be time to change your avatar but I suppose that's no Mutt.

Amazing photos!

Thanks! I really like that shot but I think the mutt is staying.

 

[reefmutt]

.Chris. now that is an algae scrubber
Bubble algae scrubber, hmm... as long as it stays away from the main tank, let it do it's thing
Matt, your red colored corals are pretty fricking red man!!!
Nice photo

Perry, I think the ultimate algea scrubber would consist of bryopsis, cyano and bubble..
If only it could be confined to a sump!

So, it's been a week since I started dosing vinegar and I have already stopped..
I began with a 6ml dose per day and 3 days in, p was down from .17 to .1. However, after day 1, I noticed a spot of rtn on a coral I didn't care about much. Day 2, another spot of rtn at a meeting point of two corals so maybe it was just war.. Day 3 another spot on my red dragon.
I went to 4 ml vinegar for a couple more days and I feel like there was a slight reduction in pe on some corals and I was just getting a bad feeling about it, so I stopped completely..
I'll let things settle down again..
I'm going to take Luca's advice and instead of dosing no3 and vinegar, I am going to up my feeding.. And watch for a while..
My cheato has completely stopped growing- or it is extremely slow, now and getting filled with hair algea..
About 3 months ago, when I did my first cyano kill, I used it as a reset and stopped adding everything but fish and coral foods.. No more color elements or iron or nitrate etc..
Since then, the cheato has really declined..
I'll wait a few weeks and see where nutrients and the corals do but I may consider dosing iron for the cheato..
In general the corals seem to be doing great, still...
The bubble and bryopsis continue to do great as well..
I added several emerald crabs but all but two died within a week.. The two I have are very active.. I'll have to get more..
Well.. That's the update for now!

 

[cFloor]

Bryopsis is the worst algae I've ever delt with. I raised my mag with tech M and that eventually got rid of it. I now have some bubble algae, I'm just gonna let it run it's course.

I don't think I've mentioned it yet, but that pic of the red pink acro with the orange background is just amazing! Truly a great photo

 

[biggles]

I went to 4 ml vinegar for a couple more days and I feel like there was a slight reduction in pe on some corals and I was just getting a bad feeling about it, so I stopped completely..

Trusting your own eyes and experienced judgement with acros is what saved things going from bad to worse Matt, well done mate :thumbsup:

It's this 'spidy sense' in regards to what your eyes see when looking at subtle changes to our acros that makes it so hard for the first year or two of keeping SPS imo. You don't get the bad feeling until it's way too late when you start out keeping acros, what do you reckon Matt ?

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Trusting your own eyes and experienced judgement with acros is what saved things going from bad to worse Matt, well done mate :thumbsup:

It's this 'spidy sense' in regards to what your eyes see when looking at subtle changes to our acros that makes it so hard for the first year or two of keeping SPS imo. You don't get the bad feeling until it's way too late when you start out keeping acros, what do you reckon Matt ?

I completely agree with your view Andrew.

I had a similar experience that Matt has recently. I started to dose white vinegar (2 ml per day) on 17th December 2013. I noticed a bold patch on one of my green staghorns on 20th December. I noted this, but did not do anything about it. On 23rd December, all my lps corals looked sickly and on 25th December the same green acropora started tissue recession at its base, which spread to all my acroporas. By that day, I had already increased the vinegar dosing to 8 ml per day. I eventually stopped dosing vinegar. Fortunately, I saved all my acroporas only after fragging them). However, I lost a few very long standing LPS corals.

I learned a valuable lesson: watch your acros in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night, watch them all the time because they tell you the signs of trouble ahead long before a test kit will ...

 

[plyle02]

I completely agree with your view Andrew.

I had a similar experience that Matt has recently. I started to dose white vinegar (2 ml per day) on 17th December 2013. I noticed a bold patch on one of my green staghorns on 20th December. I noted this, but did not do anything about it. On 23rd December, all my lps corals looked sickly and on 25th December the same green acropora started tissue recession at its base, which spread to all my acroporas. By that day, I had already increased the vinegar dosing to 8 ml per day. I eventually stopped dosing vinegar. Fortunately, I saved all my acroporas only after fragging them). However, I lost a few very long standing LPS corals.

I learned a valuable lesson: watch your acros in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night, watch them all the time because they tell you the signs of trouble ahead long before a test kit will ...

This advice, the advice that far exceeds all, observation, well said

 

[reefmutt]

Bryopsis is the worst algae I've ever delt with. I raised my mag with tech M and that eventually got rid of it. I now have some bubble algae, I'm just gonna let it run it's course.

I don't think I've mentioned it yet, but that pic of the red pink acro with the orange background is just amazing! Truly a great photo

Thanks, Conor. I got my bryopsis to shrivel up and die the first time I dose tach M. Brought mag to 1700 and it was gone in a week. I screwed up, however and didn't hold the mag at that level long enough. Maybe only 2 weeks.. After going back to normal, the bryopsis came back.. Last time I tried to kill it, I had to go to 2000 to have any effect... It seems to adapt pretty quickly. Lately, I haven't tried to elevate mag and the bryopsis has stayed up around the overflow and not on the rocks..

Trusting your own eyes and experienced judgement with acros is what saved things going from bad to worse Matt, well done mate :thumbsup:

It's this 'spidy sense' in regards to what your eyes see when looking at subtle changes to our acros that makes it so hard for the first year or two of keeping SPS imo. You don't get the bad feeling until it's way too late when you start out keeping acros, what do you reckon Matt ?

Indeed!
It's a tricky sense to develop, however. Not only does it have to do with just plain experience, one's insecurities and impatience also play a role in ones reactions.. I guess these get reduced with experience.. However, I am still constantly second questing myself...

I completely agree with your view Andrew.

I had a similar experience that Matt has recently. I started to dose white vinegar (2 ml per day) on 17th December 2013. I noticed a bold patch on one of my green staghorns on 20th December. I noted this, but did not do anything about it. On 23rd December, all my lps corals looked sickly and on 25th December the same green acropora started tissue recession at its base, which spread to all my acroporas. By that day, I had already increased the vinegar dosing to 8 ml per day. I eventually stopped dosing vinegar. Fortunately, I saved all my acroporas only after fragging them). However, I lost a few very long standing LPS corals.

I learned a valuable lesson: watch your acros in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night, watch them all the time because they tell you the signs of trouble ahead long before a test kit will ...

Watching the corals constantly, although a sign of pure insanity, is probably the key! Knowing how they look at every time of the daily cycle really helps with diagnosis and trouble shooting.

I still have to find a solution to pulling some nutrients out of the water without stressing the tank, however..

 

[mhucasey]

Perry, I think the ultimate algea scrubber would consist of bryopsis, cyano and bubble..
If only it could be confined to a sump!

So, it's been a week since I started dosing vinegar and I have already stopped..
I began with a 6ml dose per day and 3 days in, p was down from .17 to .1. However, after day 1, I noticed a spot of rtn on a coral I didn't care about much. Day 2, another spot of rtn at a meeting point of two corals so maybe it was just war.. Day 3 another spot on my red dragon.
I went to 4 ml vinegar for a couple more days and I feel like there was a slight reduction in pe on some corals and I was just getting a bad feeling about it, so I stopped completely..
I'll let things settle down again..
I'm going to take Luca's advice and instead of dosing no3 and vinegar, I am going to up my feeding.. And watch for a while..
My cheato has completely stopped growing- or it is extremely slow, now and getting filled with hair algea..
About 3 months ago, when I did my first cyano kill, I used it as a reset and stopped adding everything but fish and coral foods.. No more color elements or iron or nitrate etc..
Since then, the cheato has really declined..
I'll wait a few weeks and see where nutrients and the corals do but I may consider dosing iron for the cheato..
In general the corals seem to be doing great, still...
The bubble and bryopsis continue to do great as well..
I added several emerald crabs but all but two died within a week.. The two I have are very active.. I'll have to get more..
Well.. That's the update for now!

4mL? When I used to dose vinegar as my carbon source I dosed 60 to 80mL per day in a 100Gal system. I doubt that the tank even noticed 4 mL.

 

[mhucasey]

Watching the corals constantly, although a sign of pure insanity, is probably the key! Knowing how they look at every time of the daily cycle really helps with diagnosis and trouble shooting.

First thing I do when i wake up is a coral census. I probably spend at least an hour each day at the tank looking at everything in detail. Im crazy as a loon but it is part of the reason I have success with Acros I guess

 

[reefmutt]

4mL? When I used to dose vinegar as my carbon source I dosed 60 to 80mL per day in a 100Gal system. I doubt that the tank even noticed 4 mL.

Go figure... Maybe the nutrient drop I got immediately after beginning 6ml of vinegar was going to happen anyway.. Maybe it wasn't the vinegar at all.. But it occurred immediately after dosing..
Second guessing....
Well, the only way to find out is to do nothing for a week or two and see where nutrient are.

 

[mhucasey]

Go figure... Maybe the nutrient drop I got immediately after beginning 6ml of vinegar was going to happen anyway.. Maybe it wasn't the vinegar at all.. But it occurred immediately after dosing..
Second guessing....
Well, the only way to find out is to do nothing for a week or two and see where nutrient are.

Thats a good plan

 

[fessoclown]

update???

 

[glaukos]

lol best update related pic ever

+1 on the update request

 

[nemodan]

lol best update related pic ever

+1 on the update request

YES !!!!..... update and pictures, unless you are frozen in your backyard...LOL

 

[fessoclown]

actually maybe this is more appropriate

 

[nemodan]

I hope he is really well and not frozen. Now I am starting to worry because I have not seen postings from him.....unless I am confused.

Matt...... where are you ?

Cheers
Danuel

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I hope he is really well and not frozen. Now I am starting to worry because I have not seen postings from him.....unless I am confused.

Matt...... where are you ?

Cheers
Danuel

He is OK. Don't worry. I have exchanged pm's with him recently. I think he is busy with life outside the reef world.

 

[reefmutt]

hey Guys!


yes... busy..

I'll try to work on a photo and news update this weekend..
I have some good, some bad news.. nothing major..

thanks for asking!