Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail

I would have to agree with Raja here. He knows his sticks.

Ps- your a bastard and I'm jealous of your tank

Pps- can I borrow a frag? Promise I'll give it back ;)

Oh, I am so with you. I think we need to gather an Ottawa contingent to sneak into the house while he and his kids are out for a hockey tournament. I have some coral snips we can use. [emoji16]
 
Hey Matt,

I've been crazy busy in the last couple months, and just caught up on your thread (read a few pages last night, and the last one now). You've been through the wringer! I'm glad to see that your tank is on the mend now, and those new Aussie pieces are looking pretty sharp. All in all the tank is still looking good from here though! I'm sure you could point out the rough patches though. We are always our own worst critics. ;)
 
The top frag has started to encrust again but never lost its colour. The bottom one totally browned out but has regained colours but no growth. When this was healthy, it had amazing red polyps. I hope I can get them back

That top frag is from Raja and it promises to be a masterpiece! Raja's words. :)



I love the top frag. It is going to be a stunner.
 
Absolutely lovely Matt.
Thank you Bulent!
I would have to agree with Raja here. He knows his sticks.

Ps- your a bastard and I'm jealous of your tank

Pps- can I borrow a frag? Promise I'll give it back ;)
Kevin, you have no idea how long I've been calling you the bastard and lusting after your corals. Fills me with a tiny bit of glee to called that by you. :)
I have been maintaining k at around 420.. target but since the little meltdown, I have not tested.
I have to sit down and do the full gamut of tests. Lately, it's been alk only. 6.4-6.6 consistently...
Oh, I am so with you. I think we need to gather an Ottawa contingent to sneak into the house while he and his kids are out for a hockey tournament. I have some coral snips we can use. [emoji16]
Well, Ward, you should organize that with my wife. She'd be happy to open the door for you, providing you remove the entire system! She's not a fan of my insane addiction.
Hey Matt,

I've been crazy busy in the last couple months, and just caught up on your thread (read a few pages last night, and the last one now). You've been through the wringer! I'm glad to see that your tank is on the mend now, and those new Aussie pieces are looking pretty sharp. All in all the tank is still looking good from here though! I'm sure you could point out the rough patches though. We are always our own worst critics. ;)
Hey Mindy, thanks! I have thrown away a lot of the 'rough patches' but yes I could show several more.. but I'd rather show the nice photos.

Looking good Matt!
Jo, thanks. I'm still planning on the ZIM but I want to watche toe recovery first.
The top frag has started to encrust again but never lost its colour. The bottom one totally browned out but has regained colours but no growth. When this was healthy, it had amazing red polyps. I hope I can get them back

That top frag is from Raja and it promises to be a masterpiece! Raja's words.



I love the top frag. It is going to be a stunner.

Hey Bernie. I think you are correct. The piece was much larger but had several episodes of die back. Now, it is encrusting and pushing up new tips.
Here's a closer shot:
 
What a lot of eye candy delight! Your collection is inspirational in a way that is motivational for anyone chasing the epitome of sps health- mint mate, just mint!!!
 
Kevin, you have no idea how long I've been calling you the bastard and lusting after your corals. Fills me with a tiny bit of glee to called that by you. :)
I have been maintaining k at around 420.. target but since the little meltdown, I have not tested.
I have to sit down and do the full gamut of tests. Lately, it's been alk only. 6.4-6.6 consistently...


You are blessed with the blue thumb. Soon we will be bastards together again!

I like to keep K at 400 personally but IMO nothing wrong with 420 at all.
6.5dkh, now your talking my language ;)
 
Hello Matt,
Just a quick note to say thanks for sharing your reef with me/us this year, truly appreciate it! Have a safe , happy and healthy holiday season!
 
What a lot of eye candy delight! Your collection is inspirational in a way that is motivational for anyone chasing the epitome of sps health- mint mate, just mint!!!
Nils, thank you for the very kind words! The eye candy continues to get better from the crash. Hopefully I'll do some shooting this weekend.
You are blessed with the blue thumb. Soon we will be bastards together again!

I like to keep K at 400 personally but IMO nothing wrong with 420 at all.
6.5dkh, now your talking my language ;)
Kevin, I am very much looking forward to your chronic acro tendencies to take over!
My latest test showed my k at 400..
Alk remains between 6.3-6.7. I am about to begin a slight raise, however.. I want to get closer to 7.5-8 I think. Just to be able to use slightly higher alk salts for waterchanges and not have an alk swing.. not that a 10% wc is so big..
Hello Matt,
Just a quick note to say thanks for sharing your reef with me/us this year, truly appreciate it! Have a safe , happy and healthy holiday season!

Hey Scott, thank you for checking my reef out and participating in the ongoing conversations. It really makes documenting my tank more interesting when there is feedback.
All the best to you and yours over the holidays and to all the great people on Reef Central!.
With no sporting activities this weekend and not much next week, I hope to have some fun with the camera. :)
I had a bit of a sad week with the death of both my mitratus butterfly and Achilles tang... for absolutely no apparent reason and with no new additions, they started getting spots in late October. The spots didn't increase or bother the fish for weeks and weeks, but into December, they started to get worse and the fish started to decline. They both died within a day of each other earlier this week.
No other fish showed any signs of ich but in the past few days, a couple other fish have a spot or two.. I am really hoping that I am not about the have a fish meltdown..
we shall see..
 
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Nils, thank you for the very kind words! The eye candy continues to get better from the crash. Hopefully I'll do some shooting this weekend.

Kevin, I am very much looking forward to your chronic acro tendencies to take over!
My latest test showed my k at 400..
Alk remains between 6.3-6.7. I am about to begin a slight raise, however.. I want to get closer to 7.5-8 I think. Just to be able to use slightly higher alk salts for waterchanges and not have an alk swing.. not that a 10% wc is s


8 is definitely safer to run and still yield great results.



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This will be my Christmas/New Years holiday week project.. get from 6.7 to 7.7.. ish.

I'm going the other way. I somehow got my alk up to 9 and need to bring it down to 8. I'd rather go up then down as I find it easier. Good luck with your raising. Sorry about your fish. It sucks to lose a pet.
 
Regarding the alk swings during WCs,. I reduced the size of my WC for this reason. I seems to have helped stabilize the tank. When I water change in the afternoon, I wait a while then test my alk before doing my afternoon dosing. Sometimes I must decrease from my regular dosing amount.

I have enjoyed following your tank this year. Thank you and good luck this new year. Merry Christmas.
 
This will be my Christmas/New Years holiday week project.. get from 6.7 to 7.7.. ish.

I'm at 6.5 again. :D Right on the edge of bringing the dosers online.

I'm scared to death of 8 and personally, with my limited experience, have no plans to ever exceed 7.5.
 
Glad that everything is going well again Matt, hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful holiday season mate :)

dd_zpsubngx40z.jpg
 
I'm going the other way. I somehow got my alk up to 9 and need to bring it down to 8. I'd rather go up then down as I find it easier. Good luck with your raising. Sorry about your fish. It sucks to lose a pet.
I agree.. same for nutrients, it seems going up is easier in the corals than going down, ime..
Thanks.. many more of the fish are coming down with ich, now.. I'm pretty sure I'll lose 50% of the fish.. I don't think it will be pretty..

Regarding the alk swings during WCs,. I reduced the size of my WC for this reason. I seems to have helped stabilize the tank. When I water change in the afternoon, I wait a while then test my alk before doing my afternoon dosing. Sometimes I must decrease from my regular dosing amount.

I have enjoyed following your tank this year. Thank you and good luck this new year. Merry Christmas.
Thank you, Kevin, all the best to you and yours over the holidays and in the new year. May our reefs flourish this year! :)
I'm at 6.5 again. :D Right on the edge of bringing the dosers online.

I'm scared to death of 8 and personally, with my limited experience, have no plans to ever exceed 7.5.
8 doesn't really worry me.. especially at the moment with n at around 30 ppm

What does this look like to you? I've never seen n this high in my system..
and p around .15..
However, if half my fish die, those numbers may be going down..we shall see..
Merry Christmas, guys!
 
Glad that everything is going well again Matt, hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful holiday season mate :)

dd_zpsubngx40z.jpg
:) that's quite the color pop on that reindeer monti! same to you, Andrew. All the best!
Corals look as good as ever.
Hey Bulent, I wouldn't say they are good as ever. They are not back to the colours they had before the alk drop.
Here's an example..
Before:

After:

Half the corals in the before shot died off completely and the red/pink plating coral is now a drab uniform brown instead of how it looked at its best:

They are getting there but not what they were.... yet!
After going back, I think my tank was at its absolute best around Jan-April of 2016.. I'm going to have to go back and try to replicate what I was doing back then.
Oh my God....... those pictures are speechless!!!!

Incredible !!!!
Dan, thank you! Hopefully I can get the tank back to where it was..
Good to see your corals have bounced back.
Thanks.. they are bouncing back but as I said, not where they were..

Happy holidays, guys! :)
 
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