Mark's 150 gallon

[basser1]

Hey Mark... Hope you get your tank squared away.

Seems like the katpora is a super sensitive acro? I wouldn't know though as I have been trying to get a frag and I've been on the list since she put one out. I guess I'm not supposed to get one.

Anyway..... Good Luck

 

[mhucasey]

Things are definitely on the mend, between the Lokani and the Teal stag, those two corals are beautiful enough to keep you happy while the others come back. Those two especially are stunning!!

 

[markalot]

Hey Mark... Hope you get your tank squared away.

Seems like the katpora is a super sensitive acro? I wouldn't know though as I have been trying to get a frag and I've been on the list since she put one out. I guess I'm not supposed to get one.

Anyway..... Good Luck

Thanks Basser. I swear I will drive one down to you, or we can meet halfway. I've only taken a small fraglet for my other tank, if I can ever get the thing healthy for more than a few months perhaps it will really start to grow.

Things are definitely on the mend, between the Lokani and the Teal stag, those two corals are beautiful enough to keep you happy while the others come back. Those two especially are stunning!!

Thanks Matt. I'm never happy though.

 

[nemodan]

The SSC looks fantastic !!

Why you wrote that the Red Dragon will not live to long ?

Other corals also looks great.

Cheers
Daniel

 

[markalot]

The SSC looks fantastic !!

Why you wrote that the Red Dragon will not live to long ?

Other corals also looks great.

Cheers
Daniel

Thanks Daniel. I have no faith in the Red Dragon. Seems to be just sitting there not doing much, but not dying either. I guess I'm a pessimist.

Playing around with more pictures, trying to capture visible changes based on what I am doing.

Animated GIF of the milli over 5 days. That branch in front is really growing.

My blue/green acro frag is showing a stunning light blue growth edge again. I believe this is responding to the extra food.

Top of the same coral. If it keeps this coloration and gets large .... :bounce2:

Tracking the red on the Red Robin. Gotta start somewhere. :clown:

 

[reefmutt]

Mark, this last set of pics is reeeeaaaly good!
and the gif is wicked!!! love that!!
I have to know how to do that.. you must teach me!!!!!
... unless it's too complicated to describe in a box..
the extra food is looking it it is having a very positive effect.. those blue tips and redish polyps are very nice.

 

[mhucasey]

Gifs are super cool! I wonder if I could use my spare iPhone to do time lapse in the same way....hmmmm

 

[markalot]

Thanks guys,

I did a google search and landed on ezgif.com which seems to have a lot of nice tools for making them. I used someone else the last time I did this but I have no idea who. I had to crop one of the photos to match and it's still twisted a little. I love GIFS but a pain to make.

 

[reefmutt]

Thanks, Mark. I'll check it out.

 

[markalot]

Well I've had it.

The bio pellet reactor is OFF, I could not turn it off hard enough. The last straw was brown flake buildup in the output line which was magnetic, in other words, GFO. I know some folks have fantastic results with the AIO biopellets but I'm done with them.

No new changes in the tank but the acros not doing well continue to not do well and LPS continue to decline. Now even the green brain down on the lower right is receding.

So, right now, I'm at 5ml of vinegar per gallon of topoff and I use about a gallon a day. PO4 (ELOS expert) still extremely low and Nitrates (Salifert) continue to be stuck at 2.5. What happened to my dirty tank? This GFO media buildup, what if it's not exhausted and just flaking off and building up in my sump? That might explain the extremely low PO4.

This weekend I will jet and drain the sumps middle chamber to remove a lot of the GFO dust. Since I'm unable to carry any full buckets this will fun ... bucket head into a bucket then pump the bucket into my can on wheels. :lol2:

I may restart the BP reactor in the future using standard bio pellets if needed. I'll be watching nitrates to see what they do. I know without any bacterial help nitrates run around 20 to 25 in this tank and that was prior to adding a few new fish.

 

[nemodan]

Hi Mark, if you need to keep nitrates in line, why not using Matrix to increase the bacteria population ? They are just artificial stones, nothing to worry about, like biopellets.

Daniel

 

[markalot]

Hi Mark, if you need to keep nitrates in line, why not using Matrix to increase the bacteria population ? They are just artificial stones, nothing to worry about, like biopellets.

Daniel

I might do that Daniel, but I'm worried they will just clog with gunk since I don't use any filter socks. Still, I have plenty of room to add them. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm following how they are doing in your tank.

 

[nemodan]

I might do that Daniel, but I'm worried they will just clog with gunk since I don't use any filter socks. Still, I have plenty of room to add them. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm following how they are doing in your tank.

Mark , I do not have ANY mechanical filtration in my tank. All just float arround. When I had the Matrix in the HOB fuge within media bags I took them out and just washed in sea water during a WC. Now that I have placed them in media reactors I plan once a year, during a WC, just empty the reactor, rinse the stones in sea water and place them in the reactor again.


I have been using the Matrix since the start of the year and I have undetectable NO3 independently of how much I feed.

Daniel

 

[markalot]

Mark , I do not have ANY mechanical filtration in my tank. All just float arround. When I had the Matrix in the HOB fuge within media bags I took them out and just washed in sea water during a WC. Now that I have placed them in media reactors I plan once a year, during a WC, just empty the reactor, rinse the stones in sea water and place them in the reactor again.


I have been using the Matrix since the start of the year and I have undetectable NO3 independently of how much I feed.

Daniel

Very interesting. I could load my big TLF reactor with matrix and place a filter bag over the intake to reduce particles making it to the matrix.

 

[reefmutt]

Good luck without the aio pellets.. You're still using vinegar though, so your not completely carbon source free.. Which is probably good if your tank sits at 25ppm without a Carbon source.. You could always increase vinegar if necessary..
I got sick of them as well.. So much gfo dust and always having to monitor the reactor for clogs and slow spots etc..
It is conceivable that without the aio pellets, your p may climb ever so slightly.. Which may not be bad either..
I'm very curious to see how your tank reacts..

 

[markalot]

Good luck without the aio pellets.. You're still using vinegar though, so your not completely carbon source free.. Which is probably good if your tank sits at 25ppm without a Carbon source.. You could always increase vinegar if necessary..
I got sick of them as well.. So much gfo dust and always having to monitor the reactor for clogs and slow spots etc..
It is conceivable that without the aio pellets, your p may climb ever so slightly.. Which may not be bad either..
I'm very curious to see how your tank reacts..

Thanks, I will be keeping a close watch.

So the collapse of this acro is continuing, at least up on the branches. The base has stayed mostly the same. What on earth happened to it? Too much light and shock? I documented it losing color prior to me measuring PAR and getting > 450 on this acro when my target was 350. Is this bleaching? Doesn't look like it to me. I have checked numerous times for pests and never found any.

11/25, already has lost a lot of color

12/4, 9 days later.

Today all hints of green are gone except for a small spot on the base. Very disconcerting.

 

[nemodan]

Hi Mark..... I do not see it losing color. I see it changing to a more purple / violet color . That is what my eyes see in the pictures. I have many of my corals changing color along the time.

The worst was a small Acro frag that I got it for the strong blue color on all the body. I placed it in the tank ~2 months ago and now is a horrible greenish/brownish body with a hint of some soft blue in the tips....... Oh well. Nothing I can do, just wait.

Your Acro looks healthy in the picture. Does it have polyp extension at night in the tips ?

Cheers Daniel

 

[markalot]

Hi Mark..... I do not see it losing color. I see it changing to a more purple / violet color . That is what my eyes see in the pictures. I have many of my corals changing color along the time.

The worst was a small Acro frag that I got it for the strong blue color on all the body. I placed it in the tank ~2 months ago and now is a horrible greenish/brownish body with a hint of some soft blue in the tips....... Oh well. Nothing I can do, just wait.

Your Acro looks healthy in the picture. Does it have polyp extension at night in the tips ?

Cheers Daniel

Howdy,

No polyp extension at night and it's covered in pods at night. I've had this one for over a year, from another reefer, and normal colors are green base, purple tips, and purple or blue coralites. The really frustrating part is that all the corals around it are fine. Grrrr.

 

[mhucasey]

The pods at night are worrisome, I've had some struggling Acros that had that happen. Are you dosing any growth aminos like Acropower or Salifert AAs? It might be a good idea to use some to give it some nutrition. Frankly I don't have any good suggestions other than wait and see. Sorry to see that stunner struggle

 

[scrapz]

Definitely losing color and skin is starting to thin. Could it be related to the vinegar dosing maybe dropping the PH?? I would probably back off the dosing and see if it helps.