Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail

[ryanrid]

Wow great corals and great pics

 

[reefmutt]

Wow ...

scrolling back up to look again.

Your collection of smooth skins are to die for.

Thanks Mark! I love the smooth skins. I'll jump on them every time. But my collection won't be complete without your lokani!!

You have such a great collection of beautiful corals. I've said it in here before, but as soon as this tank fills out a little, it's going to be really really special. The aquascape, the corals and colors you are getting with all those beautiful fish... oh man! Love your tank!

Thanks, Conor. I really appreciate you saying that. I know it's coming from somebody who has a tank as near perfection as it gets!

I'm with Conor on this one Matt. I think your colors are wicked and the growth in those pics puts mine to shame.
What is it exactly that makes you want to experiment with your water, i think you're one of the best acro keepers on RC Matt so i'm puzzled tbh - doesn't take much to puzzle me as you know........

Andrew, thank you very much! I'm quite humbled by your words and don't really believe them, although it feels extremely good to have somebody say that to me. There are so many great reefers here who slap things together and make unbelievable reefs, like they just know intuitively what they are doing.... I feel like I have completely re learned how to keep a reef on this current set up.. And it was not easy..
Now... Coming from the guy behind bigglesjuice and the guy with the most extremely saturated and rich looking corals I have quite literally ever seen, I am the one who is puzzled by your not getting why I would want to experiment with colours!

Awesome photo bomb. You make me want to take more of mine even though I said I wouldn't for a while.

Mike, I told myself I wasn't going to shoot my for a while, as well!! Couldn't help my self.. Thanks!

Wow great corals and great pics

Ryan, thanks! Appreciate it. I am watching your millennium reef falcon with interest.

 

[reefmutt]

I am loving this set of pics...wow! The coral on the right in the first pic is to die for!!!

Thanks, Matt! Here..
July

September

November.. After being fished out of my pistol shrimp hole. He tried to steal it and make a wall with it.

Unfortunately, I don't have any other shots from when it decided to grow but here it is from a week ago.

Raja sold me this as a yellow coral and told me to keep it low in the tank..
It is the closest thing to yellow I have in the tank.. And it is just barely yellow. But it has begun to grow so it'll be interesting to see where it goes.. Sitting where it is, though, like Bulent said, it will struggle to have space.. I might have to move it or put it on a small pedestal to give it some extra room..
In the middle here:

 

[plyle02]

Wow Matt,
Just beautiful man! I love the last few pics on that beauty of a coral, great job on that one, well on all of them, but thanks for showing the transition buddy!

 

[mhucasey]

Thanks, Matt! Here..
July

September

November.. After being fished out of my pistol shrimp hole. He tried to steal it and make a wall with it.

Unfortunately, I don't have any other shots from when it decided to grow but here it is from a week ago.

Raja sold me this as a yellow coral and told me to keep it low in the tank..
It is the closest thing to yellow I have in the tank.. And it is just barely yellow. But it has begun to grow so it'll be interesting to see where it goes.. Sitting where it is, though, like Bulent said, it will struggle to have space.. I might have to move it or put it on a small pedestal to give it some extra room..
In the middle here:

Oooohhh there is a similar coral available for sale at AquaSD - and I'm getting a fat tax refund this year:dance:

 

[Usernam Invalid]

Awesome growth and color

 

[jackson6745]

OMG I'm loving your progress. The colors and growth look awesome. Corals have a healthy look to them with good PE. Keep it up Matt.

 

[Wrangy]

Damn it Matt!!! That pics are UNREAL :inlove: and I'm definitely with Andrew on this, you've got one of the most seasoned hands on here and your tank is just glowing!! :eek1: keep those photo-bombs coming Matt, it's one of my favourite things logging on and seeing you've made another update (same with Andrew lol)

 

[fessoclown]

That photobomb should have came with a Trigger Warning.... and then to top it off my wife walks past just now as I'm gawking and says "why don't "our" corals look like that"...
bastard

 

[renevilleneuve]

Very inspiring Matt. Not looking forward to the end of this thread. Any of you guys familiar with ghl? I have apex but bought an almost new 3 ex and unless I get help I will stay with apex and sell the profilux. Since you are away, taking advantage of your absence on your thread,thanks for all the wisdom.

 

[renevilleneuve]

I'm in Montreal

 

[renevilleneuve]

Not all at once please.

 

[reefmutt]

Oooohhh there is a similar coral available for sale at AquaSD - and I'm getting a fat tax refund this year:dance:

Get it! Get it! Get it!
I hope you got it..

Awesome growth and color

Thanks!

OMG I'm loving your progress. The colors and growth look awesome. Corals have a healthy look to them with good PE. Keep it up Matt.

Thanks, Richard. Appreciate it! Corals have really taken off over the past couple months.

Damn it Matt!!! That pics are UNREAL :inlove: and I'm definitely with Andrew on this, you've got one of the most seasoned hands on here and your tank is just glowing!! :eek1: keep those photo-bombs coming Matt, it's one of my favourite things logging on and seeing you've made another update (same with Andrew lol)

Dom, thank you very much. That is very nice of you to say.. My hands are seasoned with the stain of problem algea juice and the stink of phytoplankton, not sure what else..

That photobomb should have came with a Trigger Warning.... and then to top it off my wife walks past just now as I'm gawking and says "why don't "our" corals look like that"...
bastard

thanks, Jeff! Sorry!! I'll try to tone it down a notch.

Very inspiring Matt. Not looking forward to the end of this thread. Any of you guys familiar with ghl? I have apex but bought an almost new 3 ex and unless I get help I will stay with apex and sell the profilux. Since you are away, taking advantage of your absence on your thread,thanks for all the wisdom.

Thanks, Rene! I'll try to keep it going for EVER!!!
I'm still checking in, although the Internet connection in Cuba is reeeeeally bad!!
Personally, since you are in North America, I'd stick with Apex. You'll get better support and easier access to parts and upgrades.. I'm no expert on these systems but it seems to me that apex is much better accepted and more widely used around here..

 

[nemodan]

Last week you were driving in a very dangerous snow storm and now in Cuba...........:dance::dance::bounce3:

I am happy you are relaxing of the tank for some days !!!

Enjoy the nice weather there !!!

Best
Daniel

 

[reefmutt]

Thanks, Daniel. I hope things stabilize for you!
Being the serial photo poster that I am.. I'm sitting with a glass of wine at the pool and editing some photos I took today.. And I figured I'd post a couple.. Sorry.. Not reef related..
Fun before dinner..

Cool waterfront formations..

First night's sunset.. Hopefully I'll get a few better ones.. Still pretty..

 

[fessoclown]

where exactly are ya? I've been quite a few times, different spots. Looks lovely!

 

[mhucasey]

Thanks, Daniel. I hope things stabilize for you!
Being the serial photo poster that I am.. I'm sitting with a glass of wine at the pool and editing some photos I took today.. And I figured I'd post a couple.. Sorry.. Not reef related..
Fun before dinner..

Cool waterfront formations..

First night's sunset.. Hopefully I'll get a few better ones.. Still pretty..

Awesome pictures!

 

[sahin]

Holy smokes! :bum: The Force is strong with this one! The rebellion is going strong. Darth Acro probably did the Force chock on himself after seeing those pics...:lolspin:You do me proud my friend. :thumbsup: Its real nice to see the great progress. Keep up the good work. The multitude of colours on those acros is just yummy.

Now regarding the lighting...you run Radium 150watters right? Along with some sort of silly LED things? T5 as well?

What do you reckon about this as lighting...errr I mean weapon against Darth Acro and Senator Dompatine; 400w 20K Radium, flanked by a a strip of T5 and a strip of Blue LEDs? Kind of resembles Darth Acros battleship...

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Hi Matt,

Are you into fishing? I read that Cuba is a good spot for flyfishing to catch bonefish.

Enjoy your outing.

 

[reefmutt]

where exactly are ya? I've been quite a few times, different spots. Looks lovely!

Hey Jeff, Paradissus Varadero. Lovely, indeed. Very nice resort. Beach is beautiful. Half of it is turquoise, calm, warm and sandy and the other half is all rocky formations that are very photogenic. The resort is also very nice.. We are making our way through the copious amounts of food and finding things, here and there, that are palatable....

Awesome pictures!

Thanks, Matt. I can't go anywhere without my camera..

Holy smokes! :bum: The Force is strong with this one! The rebellion is going strong. Darth Acro probably did the Force chock on himself after seeing those pics...:lolspin:You do me proud my friend. :thumbsup: Its real nice to see the great progress. Keep up the good work. The multitude of colours on those acros is just yummy.

Now regarding the lighting...you run Radium 150watters right? Along with some sort of silly LED things? T5 as well?

What do you reckon about this as lighting...errr I mean weapon against Darth Acro and Senator Dompatine; 400w 20K Radium, flanked by a a strip of T5 and a strip of Blue LEDs? Kind of resembles Darth Acros battleship...

Hey Sahin, thanks for checking in! You are pretty much the reason I started this thread in the first place!
Actually, at the moment and for the past 6 months or so, I have been running 2x250 w mogul radiums on either side and a 150w DE in the middle. I have 2x54 w t5 (act + and giesemann aquablue +) in back and 2x54w in front (act+ and pure actinic) I also have 3 AI Prime which do dawn and dusk, whites don't go over about 20%, green and red max out at about 10% and blues up to 70%. I don't really think they contribute that much, but they do change the over all look of the tank, so they do effect the tank to some degree..
I'm only using Aquaforest probiotic salt, bacteria and powdered sps food.. Non of the other things..... Yet... I my play with Micro E and Koralcolor, so I am a Connected to the rebellion with sympathies for the empire.......... Truly Canadian....uh.... Moosoinian
Personally, I think there is a lot of nutrition, aminos and micro elements in the mix of powdered foods I feed.. I never miss a day of adding my Reef Roids/Reef Pearls/Reef Vitality(FM)/Coral Food mix(Aquaforest) mix..

Hi Matt,

Are you into fishing? I read that Cuba is a good spot for flyfishing to catch bonefish.

Enjoy your outing.

Thanks, Bulent.
I did some fishing on the Ottawa river and at Meech lake, back when I was a kid and the fish were still edible coming out of the lake.... And when you could still drink the water from the lake as well... 40 odd years ago.. I haven't fished much as an adult.... Probably due to my extreme motion sickness. I'm not crazy about boats...
As a university student, I went on a deep sea fishing boating trip while at a Dominican Republic resort... 5 minutes into the 4 hour trip in choppy waters, I began vomiting over the side of the boat.. Within 15 minutes, my stomach was more than empty but my body continued for another 3 hours and 45 minutes to attempt evacuate whatever remained inside of me.... It was not pleasant, to say the least..
I am not a religious person, really, but on that day, I felt as though I had been absolved of all my sins...