Mark's 150 (72x18x27)
- Thread starter markalot
- Start date
markalot
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My ability to keep PO4 lower and the tank generally more stable is starting to pay off. I thought this coral was browning out when it suddenly shifted from light brown with some green to a much darker brown, and now some red coming out.
BigE (Ed) and I had a short PM conversation about lights, blues, and LED. I did turn my white LED's down some which may or may not have allowed this coral to color up. I took this picture just a week ago because the coral looked unhealthy and I was trying to figure out what might be wrong (pests, too much light, etc). Too many things changed at once to make any conclusions, as usual.
I've had this SSC for 2 years, 2 YEARS. Green and some red showing up now but still muddy in a few places. This is the "original" SSC from unique corals, which apparently means it's hard as hell to color up. :headwallblue:
My Rainbow Acro from Cultivated Reef is looking a little better, at least it's not worse.
My favorite 2 frags at the moment.
Added 3 Chromis to help bump the BFC. These are not the smartest fish in the ocean, but add a lot of motion. :beachbum:
BigE (Ed) and I had a short PM conversation about lights, blues, and LED. I did turn my white LED's down some which may or may not have allowed this coral to color up. I took this picture just a week ago because the coral looked unhealthy and I was trying to figure out what might be wrong (pests, too much light, etc). Too many things changed at once to make any conclusions, as usual.
I've had this SSC for 2 years, 2 YEARS. Green and some red showing up now but still muddy in a few places. This is the "original" SSC from unique corals, which apparently means it's hard as hell to color up. :headwallblue:
My Rainbow Acro from Cultivated Reef is looking a little better, at least it's not worse.
My favorite 2 frags at the moment.
Added 3 Chromis to help bump the BFC. These are not the smartest fish in the ocean, but add a lot of motion. :beachbum:
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fishresponse
New member
Looking real good
markalot
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markalot
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I had been adding 7ml of NOPOX daily except for last night, and today NO3 stayed at 2 rather than dropping to near 0. Flow from the reactor is maxed so either the pellets need more time to break in or I need more pellets.
Recommendation from AIO bag is 1L per 100 gallons, which means I should probably add another 500ml. I have been purposely taking it slow and I don't mind adding NOPOX to help, the stuff just smells good. :spin2:
Recommendation from AIO bag is 1L per 100 gallons, which means I should probably add another 500ml. I have been purposely taking it slow and I don't mind adding NOPOX to help, the stuff just smells good. :spin2:
scarolina01
Tanger
Your tank looks great!
Now, I saw that you switched from LED to T5. I'm starting a 72" 125g myself and I'm looking at the ATI Sunpower. Have you noticed any issues with coral growth on the edges of the tank since the light is only 60"? Just curious as to what you've seen compared to your LED's.
But seriously, your tank looks awsome!
Now, I saw that you switched from LED to T5. I'm starting a 72" 125g myself and I'm looking at the ATI Sunpower. Have you noticed any issues with coral growth on the edges of the tank since the light is only 60"? Just curious as to what you've seen compared to your LED's.
But seriously, your tank looks awsome!
markalot
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Thanks for the compliment!
The edge is a little darker but my big red monti cap likes the light level. A 125 is shallower so you may have more issues on the edge, but nothing too bad IMO. Seems to be just right for some montis and maybe some lower light acros like the Red Dragon.
markalot
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Here's the progress on dosing Nitrates to reduce Phosphates. Not as rock solid as I'd like it to be but I am keeping both fairly low. I added fish on the 23 or 24th and this changed the nutrient load a bit.
Growth is good but Alk usage still down from my peak of 95ml a day. Right now doser is at 70ml and KH very slowly climbing.
Date, KH, Ca, Mg, PO4, NO3, Salinity, Notes
Growth is good but Alk usage still down from my peak of 95ml a day. Right now doser is at 70ml and KH very slowly climbing.
Date, KH, Ca, Mg, PO4, NO3, Salinity, Notes
Code:
7/20/2015 8.0 0.03 0.5 5ml NOPOX
7/22/2015 0 8ml NOPOX Added 1/2 tsp CaNO3 to increase NO3 to ~2.
7/23/2015 8.0 0.05 0.2 Add 1/2 tsp CaNO3
7/24/2015 0.05 2 10ml NOPOX
7/25/2015 0.5 10ml NOPOX 1/4 tsp CaNO3
7/26/2015 8.1 400 1360 0.03 2 35ppt
7/27/2015 0.5 10ml NOPOX 1/4 tsp CaNO3
7/28/2015 8.3 0.02 0.2 5ml NOPOXmarkalot
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It was time for a bulb change so I took the opportunity to try some of the newer Geisemann bulbs. Checked PAR on the glass lids and targeted the same or lower. My bulbs must have lost a lot of PAR because I'm now running two actinic and PAR is still +20 from what it was before.
New lineup
2 20K BML fixtures running 50/50 white/blue-violet channel
Giesemann Super Actinic
Giesemann AquaBlue Azure
Giesemann Actinic Blue
Giesemann Actinic Blue
Purple+
Giesemann Super Actinic
I really like this lineup. The extra actinic is helping show more florescence and the overall look is crisp white, even with the purple plus in there. I also prefer the Giesemann Blue bulbs over Blue+, the blue is bluer, less green.
PAR after 2 days of operation.
New lineup
2 20K BML fixtures running 50/50 white/blue-violet channel
Giesemann Super Actinic
Giesemann AquaBlue Azure
Giesemann Actinic Blue
Giesemann Actinic Blue
Purple+
Giesemann Super Actinic
I really like this lineup. The extra actinic is helping show more florescence and the overall look is crisp white, even with the purple plus in there. I also prefer the Giesemann Blue bulbs over Blue+, the blue is bluer, less green.
PAR after 2 days of operation.
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
That's very impressive par! One of the things I love about T5s is how even the par is throughout the tank. With more point source lights you see really high numbers at the surface and way too low numbers at the sand. Remind me again how high off the water is your fixture?
markalot
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Hi Matt.
It's 8 inches above dirty glass tops which are 2 inches above the water line. Measured from the bottom of the fixture. This fixture is a beast, helped by the efficiency of these 60" bulbs. If I add another Blue bulb the 460 PAR (a little darker color than the rest of the numbers) jumps to 520 and the sandbed reading is near 300.
With the LED strips at 50/50 I'm getting about +60 PAR depending on location.
Here's a picture of my lighting setup.
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Thats pretty amazing considering its through glass tops. I haven't been able to do a Par map of my tank but my two 6 bulb fixtures are about 8" off the water as well with no top and with a shallower tank. I wouldn't be surprised if I have PAR of 400 at the bottom of the tank...I need to get the Par meter soon...
markalot
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SPS top down roundup. Colors ever so slowly improving and I think the biggest change is that I now have red on the SPS coming out. I will not speak of the cyano. :dance: It's really not that bad and not getting worse.
Still not sure what this one is. $20 for a big block from a LFS clearing inventory. Can't pass that up! Growing fast, might be cloring red, and also showing some green.
Nasuta, always has good color, some weeks better than others.
I have this horrible weakness for Poci's, and when this one showed up at the LFS a few months ago with a bright orange acro crab I bought it. It was pink and green, but the darn thing looks orange from a distance.
For anyone starting out like I was and looking for a rugged acro both the slimer and the Miami Orchid fit the bill in my opinion. This MO has been very forgiving of my mistakes. I got it as a small 2 inch frag a year ago.
At the same time I would say avoid the Red Robin. I'll let you know when this actually shows some real red. It does look better than it ever has for me, and is steadily growing ... but this is brown.
Smooth skins have done well for me, so far.
Lokani
Unknown. I thought it might be a Jacquelinea (matched a photo from Quality marine where my LFS gets frags) but I'm not so sure anymore. It's hard to photo, is very brightly colored in places, but gro w s S l o o o w w l y
Still not sure what this one is. $20 for a big block from a LFS clearing inventory. Can't pass that up! Growing fast, might be cloring red, and also showing some green.
Nasuta, always has good color, some weeks better than others.
I have this horrible weakness for Poci's, and when this one showed up at the LFS a few months ago with a bright orange acro crab I bought it. It was pink and green, but the darn thing looks orange from a distance.
For anyone starting out like I was and looking for a rugged acro both the slimer and the Miami Orchid fit the bill in my opinion. This MO has been very forgiving of my mistakes. I got it as a small 2 inch frag a year ago.
At the same time I would say avoid the Red Robin. I'll let you know when this actually shows some real red. It does look better than it ever has for me, and is steadily growing ... but this is brown.
Smooth skins have done well for me, so far.
Lokani
Unknown. I thought it might be a Jacquelinea (matched a photo from Quality marine where my LFS gets frags) but I'm not so sure anymore. It's hard to photo, is very brightly colored in places, but gro w s S l o o o w w l y
markalot
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Thanks Matt, that and the big red block frag where two browned out dirt cheap frags. Got really lucky with the Lokani, which of course I did not know was a Lokani. All I did was put it in water and it grows, so add that to the top of the list for good beginner acros, IMO. :thumbsup:
markalot
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A few more pictures from yesterday.
My milli collection is still small.
UC Pink Milli. The fact that's it's actually showing pink is a big deal for me. :lol:
Unknown reddish milli
Unknown greenish milli
Red Dragon
Another random frag, looks to be smooth skinned and grows fairly rapidly. I've nicked named it Kentucky Blue Grass.
My recovering Purple Fuzz acro. I have tried to kill this poor thing 3 times, very sensitive to rapid PO4 swings and one of the main reason I stopped using GFO.
My milli collection is still small.
UC Pink Milli. The fact that's it's actually showing pink is a big deal for me. :lol:
Unknown reddish milli
Unknown greenish milli
Red Dragon
Another random frag, looks to be smooth skinned and grows fairly rapidly. I've nicked named it Kentucky Blue Grass.
My recovering Purple Fuzz acro. I have tried to kill this poor thing 3 times, very sensitive to rapid PO4 swings and one of the main reason I stopped using GFO.
markalot
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A few final pics.
Bad angled view of the slimer forest.
Horrida, which is steadily growing and sometimes looks happy. This thing loves a lot of almost direct flow.
My recovering red cap. Out of 10 montis in the tank 4 of them took a quick downturn, and an undata almost died. The red cap turned dark and looked stressed for weeks. All are now recovering and starting to grow again, and I have no clue what might have happened.
I made it know I was ok with it croaking, I had a few acros I could plant on it. This seemed to reverse the decline fairly quickly. :clown:
Bad angled view of the slimer forest.
Horrida, which is steadily growing and sometimes looks happy. This thing loves a lot of almost direct flow.
My recovering red cap. Out of 10 montis in the tank 4 of them took a quick downturn, and an undata almost died. The red cap turned dark and looked stressed for weeks. All are now recovering and starting to grow again, and I have no clue what might have happened.
I made it know I was ok with it croaking, I had a few acros I could plant on it. This seemed to reverse the decline fairly quickly. :clown:
biggles
Premium Member
Hey Mark, i'm sorry i haven't been keeping up with your journal mate - i haven't been checking the reef discussion forum regularly which is rude of me considering you've always been a good friend to me on RC 
Blows me away how far you've come with your display, you really have got a handle on things now and the acros are looking awesome - i'm very jealous of your Lokani and Nasuta. :hammer:
That horrida is growing and looking way better than my stupid stick lol, you're right about high flow with that particular acro - they thrive in conditions where they get big strong surges of current hitting them regularly. They have a very distinctive radial corallite growth with the polyps seeming to sprout directly from the branches with little lip structure visible surrounding the pretty star shaped polyps. I haven't seen many examples on RC and you have a ripper of a colony there buddy. :thumbsup:
I'd suggest you nuke those clove polyps with some boiling RO to clear them away from direct contact with your SSC frag as the acro is putting way too much energy into encrusting and defending its territory from them which might explain the trouble you're having with the pigmentation. I've seen the same thing happen to SSC pieces in my tank when other bits of the exact same acro look way prettier nearby without the cloves annoying them so it's worth a shot if you want to try sorting that little bugger out.
I found your big tank journal somewhere else btw and will be dropping in to say hi very soon :beer:
Blows me away how far you've come with your display, you really have got a handle on things now and the acros are looking awesome - i'm very jealous of your Lokani and Nasuta. :hammer:
That horrida is growing and looking way better than my stupid stick lol, you're right about high flow with that particular acro - they thrive in conditions where they get big strong surges of current hitting them regularly. They have a very distinctive radial corallite growth with the polyps seeming to sprout directly from the branches with little lip structure visible surrounding the pretty star shaped polyps. I haven't seen many examples on RC and you have a ripper of a colony there buddy. :thumbsup:
I'd suggest you nuke those clove polyps with some boiling RO to clear them away from direct contact with your SSC frag as the acro is putting way too much energy into encrusting and defending its territory from them which might explain the trouble you're having with the pigmentation. I've seen the same thing happen to SSC pieces in my tank when other bits of the exact same acro look way prettier nearby without the cloves annoying them so it's worth a shot if you want to try sorting that little bugger out.
I found your big tank journal somewhere else btw and will be dropping in to say hi very soon :beer:
markalot
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Hi Andrew, thanks for stopping by.
I have hundreds of subscribed threads, I know it's very hard to get to them all!
Good tip for the SSC, I've been putting epoxy over those nasty cloves around a bonsai like acro and it has really helped get it going so I'll do the same with the ssc. I've also been building epoxy tombs over the nasty green palys.
The horrida was happiest when getting almost a full blast from an RW15 pump I have in back. I turned the pump back toward the wall not really thinking (this is a common theme with me) about it and I think the horrida has slowly looked worse. I'm moving the pump back to blasting the horrida and getting the wimpier acros out of the way. At least I lucked into putting the darn thing near the top of the tank where it's easier to blast with flow.
I have hundreds of subscribed threads, I know it's very hard to get to them all!
Good tip for the SSC, I've been putting epoxy over those nasty cloves around a bonsai like acro and it has really helped get it going so I'll do the same with the ssc. I've also been building epoxy tombs over the nasty green palys.
The horrida was happiest when getting almost a full blast from an RW15 pump I have in back. I turned the pump back toward the wall not really thinking (this is a common theme with me) about it and I think the horrida has slowly looked worse. I'm moving the pump back to blasting the horrida and getting the wimpier acros out of the way. At least I lucked into putting the darn thing near the top of the tank where it's easier to blast with flow.
