Mark's 150 gallon
- Thread starter markalot
- Start date
nemodan
New member
Mark, nice to read that tank is moving on. Nothing will be fast concerning SPS. Neither recovery, or dying are fast on these guys. I hate these SPS......but at the same time I find them an interesting challenge and for that I love them. And we will be successful growing them !!!!
Well done Mark !!
Daniel
Well done Mark !!
Daniel
markalot
...
Thanks all.
All the tips I cut off the miami orchid healed up. I swear I was watching it every day but today they are healed so it was time. I cut the base off to remove all dead areas and remounted. I also moved some rocks around to give the valida some breathing room. Tips near the front still showing damage and I'm starting to suspect something like digitate hydroids rather than anything more nefarious. Moving the rock that was close to the branches should answer that question.
Quick snapshot of the results. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, most of my more colorful corals now mounted, so I wait and see how they do.
I have been slowly raising the lights and increasing / changing the flow and it seems to be paying off. Colors are increasing, growth is increasing, and the new flow pattern is blowing some sand around, which in my book is a good thing.
I put my light loving KBG frag, the biggest one, up on it's own pedestal.
You can see the clown eggs on the right, I have the scars to prove it. At one point I had mama clown netted so I could move a rock near the eggs.
All the tips I cut off the miami orchid healed up. I swear I was watching it every day but today they are healed so it was time. I cut the base off to remove all dead areas and remounted. I also moved some rocks around to give the valida some breathing room. Tips near the front still showing damage and I'm starting to suspect something like digitate hydroids rather than anything more nefarious. Moving the rock that was close to the branches should answer that question.
Quick snapshot of the results. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, most of my more colorful corals now mounted, so I wait and see how they do.
I have been slowly raising the lights and increasing / changing the flow and it seems to be paying off. Colors are increasing, growth is increasing, and the new flow pattern is blowing some sand around, which in my book is a good thing.
I put my light loving KBG frag, the biggest one, up on it's own pedestal.
You can see the clown eggs on the right, I have the scars to prove it. At one point I had mama clown netted so I could move a rock near the eggs.
watchguy123
New member
Your tank seems to be correcting. Very cool. I had a slow tank crash over a year plus that I could not isolate a specific problem except for perhaps me. I looked at every possible potential problem that I could think of, tested everything over and over again. Replaced all kinds of equipment just in case something was faulty or rusting or whatever. And the only thing that seemed to work was a tincture of time, actually for me a long time. Felt like trying to turn a huge ocean liner around. Delighted to see you are improving.
markalot
...
Thanks all, the well wished really help to keep me going.
Don't feel bad ignoring most of the pics, I like to over document the bad and good times.
I can't quite figure out why but you can just tell by the overall color of things that the tank is healthy again. I spent today arm deep arranging things and putting frags on the rocks.
A lot of brown acros, but they are plump and healthy so I'm happy.
Red Dragon frag is staying healthy, another good sign.
The big Aussie sarmentosa continues to rapidly improve, now with good polyp extension all over.
This one shocked me, I thought it was a goner. Turned brown, no polyps, and started to rapidly recede. Mid week I noticed the green polyps and already the color is improving.
It's like someone flipped the on switch. Go figure.
I have weaned the tank off of the GFO reactor. Over the week I slowly reduced the flow to a trickle and today took it offline and put the GFO in a bag and placed in the sump.
I had my hands in the tank so long the Foxface got used to me and was swimming right next to my hand. Figures that the fish with poison spines would be the one to do this.
Don't feel bad ignoring most of the pics, I like to over document the bad and good times.
I can't quite figure out why but you can just tell by the overall color of things that the tank is healthy again. I spent today arm deep arranging things and putting frags on the rocks.
A lot of brown acros, but they are plump and healthy so I'm happy.
Red Dragon frag is staying healthy, another good sign.
The big Aussie sarmentosa continues to rapidly improve, now with good polyp extension all over.
This one shocked me, I thought it was a goner. Turned brown, no polyps, and started to rapidly recede. Mid week I noticed the green polyps and already the color is improving.
It's like someone flipped the on switch. Go figure.
I have weaned the tank off of the GFO reactor. Over the week I slowly reduced the flow to a trickle and today took it offline and put the GFO in a bag and placed in the sump.
I had my hands in the tank so long the Foxface got used to me and was swimming right next to my hand. Figures that the fish with poison spines would be the one to do this.
Last edited:
nemodan
New member
A little reef obsessed here but finally, I never thought I would see the day again, the nasuta is coming out of it. I saw hints over the weekend and now a little more green/blue every day. This is a huge relief.
Steady as she goes. :bounce1:
This is so nice. You just made my day so happy with this great news.
Best ! Daniel
markalot
...
Thanks Dan, still hoping to hear some better news from your tank!
Documenting the recovery still.
For the first time I can see daily growth in the slimer base. Still no growth tips yet but possibly some buds.
The Miami Orchid is showing growth tips already, and already nearly impossible to photograph due to the contrast.
And the Valida, where I cut the damaged branches, has healed already.
This is where it's at now.
slin1977
New member
Good to see this tank recovering.
I haven't seen this thread for ages and had to go back a few pages.
One thing that comes to mind is frequency in changing T5 tubes having seen a similar situation a while ago. The tubes were changed out and the SPS recovered quickly.
Good to see the Trace elements helping too.
I haven't seen this thread for ages and had to go back a few pages.
One thing that comes to mind is frequency in changing T5 tubes having seen a similar situation a while ago. The tubes were changed out and the SPS recovered quickly.
Good to see the Trace elements helping too.
markalot
...
Your comment gave me a real jolt. I switched to all giesemann bulbs on August 15th 2015. Last week I started replacing with ATI, first 2 new bulbs are a coral+ and blue+. Yesterday I noticed the color of the giesemann actinic blue was almost white compared to the new blue+ so I switched 2 of them out for my older blue+ bulbs until 4 new bulbs arrive next week.
I originally installed the Sunpower Nov 8th 2014 so if I switched to the giesemann bulbs on August 15th these old ATI bulbs would be 9 months old while the giesemann are also 9 months old.
/shrug
Bpb
New member
Still following. Your struggles are similar to mine, and your results in trying various things similar as well. I've been acro fallow for 4-6 months (lost count) and have gone back to the basics as well. Pure t5ho, skimmer, water changes, fish food. Trying out my first few tester acros currently and so far so good. No thread of my own but following yours closely.
Interesting observation about the bulbs. I have considered switching to Giesemann bulbs due to lots of people saying the color is more pleasing but after hearing how fast they shift and lose par, your comment on them has been enough for me to stick with ATI. Are you altering your bulb combo at all when replacing for fresh tubes?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Interesting observation about the bulbs. I have considered switching to Giesemann bulbs due to lots of people saying the color is more pleasing but after hearing how fast they shift and lose par, your comment on them has been enough for me to stick with ATI. Are you altering your bulb combo at all when replacing for fresh tubes?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
