Mark's 150 gallon

[markalot]

Cleaned the skimmer (I had been emptying it for over 2 weeks but no cleaning). Nice and gunky and the wife complained about the smell. Success! Fed the tank about 50ml of skimmate.

Nitrates around 5 now, will see how fast they fall.

No back or leg pain, so just a couple of topdowns.

My SSC has lost most of the muddy brown. Only took me a year and a half.

By far the best looking coral in the tank, even though it's not at peak color at the moment.

Lokani looking good.

Jacquelinea is an odd one, and hard to photograph. Cool green glow and very puffy skin. Lighter areas are new growth.

Tiny Red Planet frag has adjusted well, finally I can keep one alive.

Trouble with reds and pinks continue though. Pink milli is a dull pinkish.

I'm dying to see what color this milli will be. Blue growth edges, orangish skin that fluoresces orange/reds, though not very bright.

I give this one 2 more months and then will sell / give it away. I suspect in a tank with good reds this might look good.

Red Robin epic fail! I cut, dipped, and put a frag of this in my 40 and it's showing reddish tips (under all LED).

I'll end with a shot of the blue stag.

 

[reefmutt]

That lokani is not only looking good, it's looking lusciously delicious!
Those stags are phenomenal.
Nice shots.
Glad to hear the back is a bit better.

 

[markalot]

That lokani is not only looking good, it's looking lusciously delicious!
Those stags are phenomenal.
Nice shots.
Glad to hear the back is a bit better.

Thanks man, these weird exercises really do help!

Tank looked really good to the eye after the T5's shut off, color is much better than prior to dosing nitrates, I think. The big purple stylo absolutely hates when the lights change so it's all closed up. The orchid stylo in front of it does not have this problem. Purple has behaved like this for the 3 years I've had it, almost like it's a personality trait.

This is lit by 2 BML 20K multi-channel strips. Blue/Violet 100%, white 50% front, 20% rear.

 

[M007]

Nice set of pics, whole lot of crusting acros :beer:

 

[markalot]

Nice set of pics, whole lot of crusting acros :beer:

Thanks!

Any idea what acro type this is? Bought as a wild Aussie and amazingly, even though this was attacked by AEFW and dipped twice, both this large piece and a smaller frag are doing quite well. Looks brown in photos but glows pink, especially under mostly blue light. You can see the pale blue encrusting edge on the right side.

 

[mhucasey]

Thanks!

Any idea what acro type this is? Bought as a wild Aussie and amazingly, even though this was attacked by AEFW and dipped twice, both this large piece and a smaller frag are doing quite well. Looks brown in photos but glows pink, especially under mostly blue light. You can see the pale blue encrusting edge on the right side.

An Acropora Horrida perhaps?

 

[biggles]

Those two stags look amazing in that FTS Mark, really beautiful growth and colors mate

It's not a horrida i don't think Matt. We need to ID the pink with blue tips stunner that Mark stole from Aus.

 

[markalot]

An Acropora Horrida perhaps?

Those two stags look amazing in that FTS Mark, really beautiful growth and colors mate

It's not a horrida i don't think Matt. We need to ID the pink with blue tips stunner that Mark stole from Aus.

I have a horrida and these polyps are different, but I'm really not sure.

Playing with the ATI fan speed after watching the BRS T5 video.

Placed the sensor on the glass lids towards the exhaust side of the fixture to make sure I could detect if the bulbs overheated. Waiting 30 minutes ofr each reading.

9V = 950 PAR
4.5V = 1000 PAR
3V = 1007 and then dropping below 1000 so overheating.

Testing 6V at the moment and at 15 minutes I'm holding 1008 PAR.

 

[markalot]

4.5 wins. 6V rose to 1005 but then fell to 995 after 30 minutes. Lowering to 4.5 resulted in an immediate rise to 1000 so that seems the best voltage to run at. Ambient temp is currently 72 mainly due to the T5 fixture heating the basement. Guess I've been overcooling for a while and doing a good job heating the basement.

 

[mhucasey]

4.5 wins. 6V rose to 1005 but then fell to 995 after 30 minutes. Lowering to 4.5 resulted in an immediate rise to 1000 so that seems the best voltage to run at. Ambient temp is currently 72 mainly due to the T5 fixture heating the basement. Guess I've been overcooling for a while and doing a good job heating the basement.

Nice work! I have a room that is a bit warmer than your room, average 75 degrees. I've been running at 6V for several months, I think Ill stay there for now. 7.5 seems very loud after getting used to 6V.

 

[markalot]

Nice work! I have a room that is a bit warmer than your room, average 75 degrees. I've been running at 6V for several months, I think Ill stay there for now. 7.5 seems very loud after getting used to 6V.

With winter approaching the basement should cool to an average of 68 so if I'm more curious than lazy I might test again. Lazy usually wins though.

My colors looked slightly worse today so I tested PO4 and NO3 .. both damn near 0. Bah, suddenly I can't keep these up, so to speak. Dosed a half cap of Phosphorus and a tsp of CaNO3. I'm losing another LPS, this time a light blue trumpet coral I'm rather fond of. The damn SSC is greener than I've ever seen it so I fully expect it to brown out if I was able to raise PO4 a bit. :clown:

 

[mhucasey]

Like fertilizing the garden!

 

[joshky]

Any ideas why you have issues with your reds? That A. Lokani is very beautiful.

Sounds like your tank is ready for more fish too. :fish1:

 

[Scotty freddy]

Wow Mark looking great buddy, Keep up the good work! Love those smooth skins you have, very nice pieces

 

[markalot]

Like fertilizing the garden!

Exactly.

Any ideas why you have issues with your reds? That A. Lokani is very beautiful.

Sounds like your tank is ready for more fish too. :fish1:

I think reds need more stability than I have, but yesterday my pink milli was pink, so what did I do?

Dosed CaNO3 and Phosphorus.

My new MP40 wet side arrived and I replaced the one with the broken shaft (left side). Broken shaft looked to be functioning at about 75% or so but the increase in flow was noticeable.

Cleaned the other MP40, which I last cleaned, uh, 9 months ago. Wow, massive increase in flow.

Backed off the recirculating BP reactor flow to just a trickle.

Skimmer was making noises Friday morning and not skimming. Turned it off and on a few times to clear it but it must be time to clean the motor.

This skimmer should be undersized for the tank, but I did add a neck extender to calm it down and prevent overflows (the bubble blaster pump is oversized) so I really don't know what the performance is. It pulls out a dark smelly muck on a regular basis.

My trumpet coral continues to recede as well as the chalices, acans are holding their own but not growing. Grrr.

Wow Mark looking great buddy, Keep up the good work! Love those smooth skins you have, very nice pieces

Thanks for the visit, I love the smooth skins as well and want more!

 

[markalot]

The nasuta, which has always had good color, is losing some of it, however other corals are doing quite well.

Finally I have real pink on the pink milli.

But the real success is from the SSC, it's actually growing. This is a frag from purchased over a year ago.

Moved the Red Planet up and to the other side of the tank in more flow. Seems to be doing well and maintaining decent color.

Trying to get a picture of the Lokani ... you wouldn't guess I just fed these fish not 15 minutes earlier!

The slimer is a pretty good indication of PO4 ... if the tips turn yellow PO4 tends to be elevated. I had to clean the glass for the first time in a week so obviously I let them drop way too low.

 

[MichaelW]

Every time I see those stags I drool a little bit.

 

[reefmutt]

+1
I might have mentioned how much I like them...
They look so good together!

 

[mhucasey]

The nasuta, which has always had good color, is losing some of it, however other corals are doing quite well.

Finally I have real pink on the pink milli.

But the real success is from the SSC, it's actually growing. This is a frag from purchased over a year ago.

Moved the Red Planet up and to the other side of the tank in more flow. Seems to be doing well and maintaining decent color.

Trying to get a picture of the Lokani ... you wouldn't guess I just fed these fish not 15 minutes earlier!

The slimer is a pretty good indication of PO4 ... if the tips turn yellow PO4 tends to be elevated. I had to clean the glass for the first time in a week so obviously I let them drop way too low.

That's one sexy stick forest!

 

[markalot]

Every time I see those stags I drool a little bit.

Thanks Mike.

+1
I might have mentioned how much I like them...
They look so good together!

Thanks. Lucky placement, I had no idea the blue stag would grow so fast.

That's one sexy stick forest!

Thanks Matt.

The Nasuta continues to look unhealthy, I may have to break it off and dip it, however everything else is improving. The Horrida has gained a racing stripe. :bigeyes:

I did my first water change in here since breaking my back. 25 gallon Brute on wheels for dirty water, with a cheap pond pump to drain it. I've been slowly switching back to Kent reef salt, the salt I used when I first started in the hobby, mixing at around 50/50 with Red Sea blue bucket. I've also been slowly raising Calcium from the 400 where it's been for a while up to 450 to better match the elevated levels of Kent. KH remains at 7.8.

A few more pics.

Closeup of the Jacquelineae, not the prettiest coral but has potential and at the moment is growing like crazy.

My stylos, purple and Orchid. Kind of wishing I added some more Chromis, they love to hang out in the stylo/stag forest and they look darn good. Why the long face?

The slimer used to have 4 dead areas at the base, now only one is visible. Skin almost blue way down there and looking extremely healthy ... why can't all acros be this easy? I'm ignoring the fact the Red Robin might look a little more red, I don't believe it. How awesome would it be to have a red, blue, and green stag forest?

After the water change the Sarmentosa was showing unusually strong polyp extension.

This little frag is still the one I watch the most. It shows a sky blue color occasionally and I suspect if I can achieve more stability and higher water quality this might be a real stunner.

FTS