Lukinrats 75 gallon tank thread!!!

[ChuckLawson]

Nathan, great build thread!

Interesting about the calibration fluid... Mine seems to be right on the money -- either that, or my refractometer calibration solution is equally off. The way this week went, that might be where the smart money would bet

- Chuck

 

[lukinrats]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13220979#post13220979 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
So the calibration solution that came with the meter isn't any good?

The one you made is only good until it gets unbalanced. Each time you open up your solution bottle, a little bit may evaporate. In other words, what is good today may not be as accurate in 6 months nor in a year.

Thanks for the heads up Marc... I do not want to say it was the fluid... Instead, I would just say that, what the meter thought was 30 ppt, was actually 28... I guess I could say that the refractometer is off, but I went with it because I have not had any problems with the water that I have checked with it... I feel like the adjustment to the meter was probably not necessary, but I wanted it to read the same as my refractometer... If a person was to get the same digi meter, and use the readings it gives, I would say that everything would be fine... I think that refractometers can give +/- 2 ppt as well, especially if you just calibrate them with RoDi

I realize that the fluid is only good for a while... This is why I made 2 large bottle fulls of home made solution... That way I can use them instead of the itty bitty bottle of pinpoint for everyday use... I keep pinpoint around in order to check them sporadically... I can do the same with the digi meter fluid

Later,
NathanS

 

[lukinrats]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13221480#post13221480 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChuckLawson
Nathan, great build thread!

Interesting about the calibration fluid... Mine seems to be right on the money -- either that, or my refractometer calibration solution is equally off. The way this week went, that might be where the smart money would bet

- Chuck

Oh, I dont know about that... It is highly possible that yours is perfect... It is also highly possible that mine is too, and I am just too anal... I would have done this little adjustment even if the digi meter had been off by 1 ppt... I only decided to tweak because I have been using the refractometer for so long, without issue, and either could not or did not want to believe that my water could be wrong... I would just rather everything match, as it does right now

Later,
NathanS

 

[lukinrats]

UPDATE

UPDATE

Ok.. I thought I would give an update on the corals... I did not have my good camera over the weekend, but these are decent... The corals have improved, as far as I can tell... They never lost PE, so I guess that is a good sign... Here are the pictures, and you guys can tell me what you think

 

[lukinrats]

 

[lukinrats]

Melev, I took this one just for you... Does the color really look off?

 

[lukinrats]

Here is my Monti Spongodes... This coral has been pale or bleached since 1 week after I got it... I thought that it seemed to like lots of light, so I moved it to the top, but it still does not seem to be coloring up... Does anyone know if these prefer low light, or even shade?

 

[lukinrats]

Lastly, here are a few shots of the anemone animals in my tank

Here is just a shot of my tank, as it sits in my home

Later,
NathanS

 

[melev]

When calibrating a refractometer, you'll want 1.026 sg / 35ppt solution to get it set correctly. RO/DI or distilled water can skew those numbers too easily.

The suncoral polyps seem a bit faded, and that coral definitely needs some serious feeding to help it recover. I don't see any tissue between the polyps, and the polyps themselves are sunken in each crater. That isn't their healthy look. The good news is that the polyps are out, so you can feed them.

The rest of your SPS seem to be doing pretty good. If that one monti refuses to color up, try moving it down in the tank some, and then give it a few weeks to see if it changes color for the better.

 

[lukinrats]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13223622#post13223622 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
When calibrating a refractometer, you'll want 1.026 sg / 35ppt solution to get it set correctly. RO/DI or distilled water can skew those numbers too easily.

I think you may have read me wrong ... I calibrated it with RoDi water, then I used the Pinpoint fluid to check that setting... There was only 1 ppm difference between the 2

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13223622#post13223622 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
The suncoral polyps seem a bit faded, and that coral definitely needs some serious feeding to help it recover. I don't see any tissue between the polyps, and the polyps themselves are sunken in each crater. That isn't their healthy look. The good news is that the polyps are out, so you can feed them.

Well shoot ... I guess I had not idea... I feed them every 2 days... either brine or mysis... I guess I will have to go to every day feedings... thanks for the advice

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13223622#post13223622 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
The rest of your SPS seem to be doing pretty good. If that one monti refuses to color up, try moving it down in the tank some, and then give it a few weeks to see if it changes color for the better.

Thanks... I have moved that monti around to every place possible, except for the outright shade... I guess that should be my next move...

NathanS

 

[melev]

As long as you know that the refractometer is right, I don't care how you do it. :lol: Well, you know what I mean...

Try taking that monti and leaning it upwards so that it is more vertical. I know that sounds odd, but if you've done all the bright spots, perhaps a glancing angle of light might be the next best option. If that still doesn't do anything, a shaded spot would be the alternative.

Yeah, suncorals should have healthy tissue connecting all those sockets. Here's a healthy connected coral:

 

[lukinrats]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13225489#post13225489 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
As long as you know that the refractometer is right, I don't care how you do it. :lol: Well, you know what I mean...

Ya, I know what you mean... Question is, who knows whether any refractometer is right or not? :lol:

I can only assume that pinpoint, and sybon make their products, so that we can trust them... The only way that I have of knowing is that it has not failed me yet... I know that I have some issues, but I do not think it is salinity related... I am working on these things, so maybe I can get them resolved soon enough
I will start feeding that suncoral everyday, and I guess that is about all I can do, unless I make it twice daily... Maybe I should go out and get it some carbohydrates or something... Quarter pounder with cheese meal super sized seems to work for some :lol:

Later,
NathanS

 

[lukinrats]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13225489#post13225489 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
As long as you know that the refractometer is right, I don't care how you do it. :lol: Well, you know what I mean...

Try taking that monti and leaning it upwards so that it is more vertical. I know that sounds odd, but if you've done all the bright spots, perhaps a glancing angle of light might be the next best option. If that still doesn't do anything, a shaded spot would be the alternative.

Yeah, suncorals should have healthy tissue connecting all those sockets.

Took your advice to heart, and the suncoral has been fed heavily for the last 2 nights... I fed them freeze dried mysis the first night, and frozen mysis last night... I found that the freeze dried mysis from www.brineshrimpdirect.com are a good thing to feed this coral... First of all, even after you hydrate them, they will float to the top instead of falling to the bottom to sit on the substrate... Second of all, the cleaner shrimp got fed up with them floating away, and just gave up trying to steal from the coral's mouth... I also got some freeze dried krill, and found that you can break a little piece off for each of your cleaners, and since they float, you can put them at the underside of a rock for the cleaners... This kept them busy last night while I fed the S.coral

Later,
NathanS

 

[lukinrats]

Update on the corals

I still felt that the loss of color, was more from starvation than anything else, so I turned off my skimmer and PO4 reactor... They have both been off for 3 days straight... I just turned the skimmer back on this morning... This seems to have helped the corals drastically.. they are all starting to color up really well, because I have been feeding golden pearls, freeze dried rotifers, freeze dried copepods, frozen cyclops, reef chili, etc... I have also been putting 1ml per day of Selcon in the water... I am pretty sure that my skimmer will have the water stripped completely stripped, or close to it... I think, until I get a large bioload that I am only going to run the skimmer every couple of days... That is my plan until I see a reason to do otherwise... I am keeping an eye on PO4 and turning the reactor on, only if it rises above .08 ppm... This has only happened once in the last week

Later,
NathanS

 

[lukinrats]

I have been saying for several days that the corals were looking much better, so I thought I would put some pictures up for everyone to see... Let me know what you think, but things are actually coloring up pretty well now... The certainly do not look like they did before that crazy night, but I am pleased

[IMGhttp://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x10/lukinrats/highlightermonti8-30-08.jpg[/IMG]

[IMGhttp://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x10/lukinrats/neoncap8-30-08.jpg[/IMG]

[IMGhttp://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x10/lukinrats/pinktable8-30-08.jpg[/IMG]

 

[lukinrats]

 

[lukinrats]

Here are my ?Nepthia?, and another shot of the suncoral... I have fed the suncoral heavily the last 3 nights... I want to get it looking healthy... It never has been very healthy, now that I have taken into account, Melev's... I think I rescued it from the LFS that I traveled 2 hours to get to... Although, it does seem that I can't claim to have rescued it, since I have not taken care of it sufficiently until now

 

[lukinrats]

Can anyone tell me what these are? I have seen them pop up recently, as in the last 2 weeks... I have no idea, but they are sort of nice looking

 

[lukinrats]

Here are some pictures of some of the corals shown above, back when I first got them... Maybe I can get them back to glory!!!

 

[lukinrats]

Update: I have started adding KZ aminos to see if they can help the corals color up some... Just trying to keep my nutrients @ the following levels

NO3= 5-10 mg/l
PO4= .06 ppm... +/- 2ppm

Although the corals have been coloring up well for the last week, I still feel like they have been starving ever since I put them in... Not that I did not feed, but that the things I have fed, have not had what they needed... Hopefully the AA have some of that

We will see, and I should probably take some updated pictures tomorrow or Tuesday

Later,
NathanS