Mark's 150 (72x18x27)

[markalot]

Looks great. Look into acropora multiacuta. Had one similar once that was ID'd as possibly that. HTH,

Thanks for the idea, I'll take a look!

The anemone cooperated and when I came back down almost all his foot was released, so I turned off the pumps and teased him off and into a net.

Sumped!

I guess my 29 gallon will be hosting a rather large anemone soon.

I also noticed my poci crab can't decide if he wants to live in my big green poci or this maricultured poci he came in on. RAWR.

 

[mhucasey]

Nicely done!

 

[markalot]

Nicely done!

Thanks Matt. He has completed the move and looks upset but healthy.

FTS without the anemone.



I moved two caulerpa infested rocks from my dirty 29. The foxface thought he had died and gone to heaven.

My 29. I had forgotten I put a stick in the sump so of course the anemone ignores a holey rock and attaches to the stick. :hmm3:

 

[markalot]

Got a high res Elos PO4 kit today. I like it, I can see why everyone does. .03 PO4, 4 NO3. I had 5 NO3 2 days ago after dosing CaNO3 so the biopellets are eating .5 NO3 a day it seems.

I will test PO4 once a week for a few weeks unless I see odd issues. Still testing NO3 every other day to make sure I lock in the nitrate dosage.

Reduced T5 light cycle again, now down to 8 hours 4 bulbs, 6 hours all 6 bulbs, with LED only on either side for a max of 12 hours.

 

[markalot]

Took some top downs to try and set a baseline for color.

A lot of my green corals really like 5 nitrates!

This one is difficult. Teases more red, then fades back to brown.

Maricultured valida (I think) with crab. This is the first time the interior skin has lightened up like this.

Not so Red Robin is looking better.

I'll end on a positive note. This Lokani loves me.

 

[markalot]

One more.

These two random frags are starting to look good. The one on the right is showing a really vibrant sky blue in spots.

 

[mhucasey]

Holy Moly things are looking fantastic! If you weren't in Kentucky I'd be climbing through your window for a frag of this one:lolspin:

I'm very interested in the effects you are seeing with the lighting adjustments. Another piece of evidence as well that Nitrates aren't the enemy!!!

 

[mhucasey]

I'll end on a positive note. This Lokani loves me.

I love that Lokani...

 

[markalot]

Holy Moly things are looking fantastic! If you weren't in Kentucky I'd be climbing through your window for a frag of this one:lolspin:

...

I'm very interested in the effects you are seeing with the lighting adjustments. Another piece of evidence as well that Nitrates aren't the enemy!!!

Thanks Matt, that one has done well for me since I almost killed it in an Alk spike a year ago. It goes from good looking to spectacular and is probably telling me I should get better looking corals rather than keep trying to color up random frags. As far as lighting adjustments, I reduced PAR and light cycle both, and I'm leaving it for now but I wonder if at some point I should increase PAR again with the shorter cycle. I'll try it this winter after I see what the current adjustments do. I'm also curious to see if the lower PAR and shorter cycle will slow growth significantly.

aquascape looks nice

Thanks, I assure you if it's nice it was an accident. :fun4:


So I was organizing my photos on imageshack into albums this morning so I could see what kind of growth and color changes I've been getting. Some of these acros are growing a lot faster than I thought they were. All I need is the colors.

Maricultured Valida.

May 5th

August 19th

Teal Stag. Growing almost as fast as the slimer.

May 5th

August 19th

Not so Red Robin

May 19th

August 19th

Blockhead

April 22nd

August 6th

 

[markalot]

Lokani

May 1st

August 19th

Maybe a Jacquelinae

April 22nd

July 23rd

Cultivated Reef Rainbow Acro

May 5th

August 19th

 

[markalot]

Subscribed! I am looking forward to following!
Looking good so far! Why did you decide to go with soft tubing, instead of hard pipe?

Laziness, ease of installation, no good reason. I'm not a plumber and I don't like messing with pipes, but someday I may redo that part, which is why I put quick disconnects and bought 10 extra in case for some reason they didn't make them anymore.

Thanks for following along!

 

[sahin]

Wow buddy! :beer: Those corals look superb! I love the Lokani looking one! Do you know how much PAR that Lokani is getting?

 

[markalot]

Wow buddy! :beer: Those corals look superb! I love the Lokani looking one! Do you know how much PAR that Lokani is getting?

Hi Sahin, thanks! The Lokani is a little over half way down the tank and under the center brace. It's ~275 right now, was 330 before I raised the lights. Did well under both, darn thing always does well for me. I need more acros just like it.

 

[markalot]

Growth sequence of the Nasuta.

May 6th

June 23rd

August 19th

 

[markalot]

Re-configured my biopellet reactor as suggested in this thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2504123

I also added a feed pump which really helps to get flow into the reactor and prime the pump! No more air pockets to worry about. I'm going to have to watch N and P closely for a while.

 

[markalot]

Nitrates dropped from 5 yesterday to 2.5 (matched the salifert color) today. Pretty fast drop for this tank. I dosed a little CaNO3. Will test again int he morning and possibly back off the reactor if it's really that more efficient. I kind of doubt it, I'd rather suspect a test error.

Colors are looking good, and more new coloration showing on the margins of a few frags. The slimer is showing the bright green it gets when nitrates are a bit elevated.

Fear my epoxy artwork.

 

[markalot]

I reduced the lighting schedule another hour by delaying when the blues come on in the morning and reducing ramp times. The tank is now dark for 13 hours, 10PM to 11am. So far each reduction in lighting has resulted in healthier looking corals. I do plan to stop at this schedule for a while. I think I said that last time as well, but there are no further reductions planned.

 

[mhucasey]

The tank is looking fantastic! The only thing that sucks about reduced lighting cycles is that there is less viewing time, otherwise it's a big winner if it helps the corals AND lowers your energy use

 

[markalot]

The tank is looking fantastic! The only thing that sucks about reduced lighting cycles is that there is less viewing time, otherwise it's a big winner if it helps the corals AND lowers your energy use

Thanks! During the work week I'm not at home anyway.

This is a good example of a frag suddenly taking off. The skin is nice and puffy, something I've noticed a lot more of since reducing the lighting cycle.

I added some more CaNO3 this morning and was at just under 5 Nitrates by evening. Still working out the new dose and/or deciding if I need to reduce the reactor output.

 

[mhucasey]

Thanks! During the work week I'm not at home anyway.

This is a good example of a frag suddenly taking off. The skin is nice and puffy, something I've noticed a lot more of since reducing the lighting cycle.

I added some more CaNO3 this morning and was at just under 5 Nitrates by evening. Still working out the new dose and/or deciding if I need to reduce the reactor output.

Thats a good way to put it...you can tell that an Acro is doing well by that puffiness in the skin. When its flatter against the skeleton it seems to indicate that its not doing well. Thats a nice picture, its hard to capture these things on film.