Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread
- Thread starter JohnL
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Lunchbucket
Premium Member
flipping cool melev!!!! can't wait to see more pics
Lunchbucket
Lunchbucket
melev
Well-known member
Today I thought I'd look closely at a couple of corals. To my surprise, the orange Montipora capricornis I got at last year's Frag Swap seems to be making a recovery, with new growth on the leading edges. (And yes, that is a Cyano pyramid in the background, which I siphoned out today. )
In the past 9 months, I've had little success with any Montipora in my reef for some reason. Perhaps running carbon more often has helped, or maybe it is the Prodibio. All I know is that coral is considered hardy and a great beginner SPS coral, but for some reason it has yet to survive in my tank. So seeing this is promising, as I miss the large piece I had that was the size of a dinner plate last summer.
I revised how the refugium bulbs are arranged over my refugium. Here's a picture. Gone are the metal spring clamps that held them in place, which over time tend to corrode. I have each bulb suspended by its wire from a small hook screwed into the bottom side of the plywood platform.
In the past 9 months, I've had little success with any Montipora in my reef for some reason. Perhaps running carbon more often has helped, or maybe it is the Prodibio. All I know is that coral is considered hardy and a great beginner SPS coral, but for some reason it has yet to survive in my tank. So seeing this is promising, as I miss the large piece I had that was the size of a dinner plate last summer.
I revised how the refugium bulbs are arranged over my refugium. Here's a picture. Gone are the metal spring clamps that held them in place, which over time tend to corrode. I have each bulb suspended by its wire from a small hook screwed into the bottom side of the plywood platform.
jnarowe
New member
Those clamps bite anyway. It's hard to get the lamp into a good position when you are using the clamp on a vertical tank wall. I just ordered an IceCap 660 and T-12 retro kit so I can beef up my fuge lighting. I am going to over-drive some 48" 6500K lamps and see if I can get better growth.
I do notice that your lamps are closer to the water surface but I have a much larger area to light. Anyway I am not real happy with the CF lamps.
CW from the OC
New member
Hey Mark,
Any more news on the Prodibio experiment?
CW
Any more news on the Prodibio experiment?
CW
WAGERJA
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7471588#post7471588 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Here's the new coral from Saturday. Any idea what it is? The core is green, while the leading edge is bluish/lavendar.
Looks like a Hydophora Sp. with an unusual grow form from what is normally seen in the hobby... Nice color morph as well.
Nice Find Marc.
If you can get a closer macro I would be able to confirm this to the best of my abilities.
-J
melev
Well-known member
<b>Jonathan</b> - I recommend keeping these bulbs 4" off the water, as they aren't the most intense bulb. For a refugium that is 12" deep or less, this works out fine. Odds are you have a larger refugium vat to light, and VHO or T5 lighting may be the better option. Alternately, you could get one of the LOA (Lights of America) fixtures that outputs 250w of light (but uses 75w). Those fixtures are meant as floodlights for the area outside the house, but many like them because the spectrum is 6500K.
<b>CW</b> - I dosed a week ago, and this was the first time I didn't have something RTN within 24 hours - let alone at all this week. The tank looks very healthy to me, but I've not had anything really stand out and change: I still have cyano bacteria in a couple of trouble spots, and the corals seem to continue to grow and look the right color. The only thing that feels different is that the Montipora in my tank are staying alive. I've not see nitrate or phosphate plummet like others have, nor has my macro algae died off.
<b>Wagarja</b> - I believe that is correct. Looking in Borneman's book "Corals", it looks like Hydnophora microconos (page 282).
<b>CW</b> - I dosed a week ago, and this was the first time I didn't have something RTN within 24 hours - let alone at all this week. The tank looks very healthy to me, but I've not had anything really stand out and change: I still have cyano bacteria in a couple of trouble spots, and the corals seem to continue to grow and look the right color. The only thing that feels different is that the Montipora in my tank are staying alive. I've not see nitrate or phosphate plummet like others have, nor has my macro algae died off.
<b>Wagarja</b> - I believe that is correct. Looking in Borneman's book "Corals", it looks like Hydnophora microconos (page 282).
jnarowe
New member
Marc,
I actually am using a better version of that LOA lamp: TCP 1R402365K (6500K) but it only puts out 120W incandescent equivalent. I have over 120 lamps in my house and my experience with the LOA lamps has been dismal. When I first started using them I got a 50% failure rate so I am a bit skeptical of their quality controls. I have had a TCP flood in my store operating 12hr/day every day for 6 years straight and no problem...but they are much more expensive.
My fuge water depth is actually less than 12" but the whole tub is 3' x 4' + so there is a lot of area to cover.
I thought about T-5 but decided to try the T-12 because the T-5 may actually be too much light, and the T-12 is much cheaper to replace. If I don't like that, it's not much money "wasted" and I can just switch to T-5s.
I actually am using a better version of that LOA lamp: TCP 1R402365K (6500K) but it only puts out 120W incandescent equivalent. I have over 120 lamps in my house and my experience with the LOA lamps has been dismal. When I first started using them I got a 50% failure rate so I am a bit skeptical of their quality controls. I have had a TCP flood in my store operating 12hr/day every day for 6 years straight and no problem...but they are much more expensive.
My fuge water depth is actually less than 12" but the whole tub is 3' x 4' + so there is a lot of area to cover.
I thought about T-5 but decided to try the T-12 because the T-5 may actually be too much light, and the T-12 is much cheaper to replace. If I don't like that, it's not much money "wasted" and I can just switch to T-5s.
Lordhelmet
Active member
marc, looks good. it's gonna look better when the woodwork is all done!
CW from the OC
New member
Thanks for the Probibio update Mark!
melev
Well-known member
I thought I'd do a little late-night skulking to see what I'd find in the reef tank tonight. Here are some of the obvious and not so obvious critters captured on film.
A harlequin shrimp hanging out under a black suncoral polyp.
One of two Serpent Starfish in my reef that I rarely see.
I was surprised to see so many chitons in my tank. They are everywhere, way more than I care to count. The harder I looked, the more I saw. They only come out at night. They are the white/beige oblong things, and are very small.
A couple of Collonista snails, one even hitching a ride on an Astrea snail shell.
A few baby brittle starfish.
And finally, the surprise of the night. This black brittle starfish appeared in my tank over two years ago as a cute little hitchhiker. It has grown to be quite massive. The body is easily the size of a quarter or wider, and I've never seen the full reach of its arms.
<b>Podcast</b>
Evan came over today, and we recorded Epsiode 7 of Reefcast. Episode 6 is finally about to make its appearance after a 10 week wait. It should be online in the next 48 hours. Episode 7 should be up about a week later, I'd surmise.
A harlequin shrimp hanging out under a black suncoral polyp.
One of two Serpent Starfish in my reef that I rarely see.
I was surprised to see so many chitons in my tank. They are everywhere, way more than I care to count. The harder I looked, the more I saw. They only come out at night. They are the white/beige oblong things, and are very small.
A couple of Collonista snails, one even hitching a ride on an Astrea snail shell.
A few baby brittle starfish.
And finally, the surprise of the night. This black brittle starfish appeared in my tank over two years ago as a cute little hitchhiker. It has grown to be quite massive. The body is easily the size of a quarter or wider, and I've never seen the full reach of its arms.
<b>Podcast</b>
Evan came over today, and we recorded Epsiode 7 of Reefcast. Episode 6 is finally about to make its appearance after a 10 week wait. It should be online in the next 48 hours. Episode 7 should be up about a week later, I'd surmise.
Lordhelmet
Active member
marc do you ever go to bed?
melev
Well-known member
Someone asked me recently if fish have memory or do they forget stuff. I wasn't sure, but had a feeling they tend to remember things. After all, they know exactly what time I feed the tank daily, as do the fish at the Dallas World Aquarium and places like Sea World.
Tonight I thought I really should feed my suncorals, something I've neglected day after day after day. I kept saying "I'll do it tomorrow" and then the next day I'd say the same. It really doesn't take that long, and I'm going to have to force myself to get back to it.
Anyway.... as soon as the pumps were turned off, Spock swooped over the the suncoral section of the reef, ready and hungry. Since I've not target fed my suncorals in a month or more, that seems to be a pretty good indication to me that fish indeed have memory.
While the pumps were off and Spock was circling, I decided to frag my beautiful branching hammer coral that is entirely too large now that it can touch the Tyree frag and another millepora on its left side. Snip, crunch, snap - two frags were created. I hate cutting that coral, but I can't pluck it from that spot either. The frags were put in the propagation section of the sump and hopefully they'll recover. The core is very brittle and just doesn't cut cleanly, but rather it crumbles internally.
While the pumps were off, I thought I'd see if anything else of interest was occuring. I found a very small Fighting Conch in my tank. When I say small, I'm referring to a 1" specimen or less. The ones I usually get are about 3" in size or larger. This little guy is new to me, and I don't know if the others bred the little guy or not, but he's a cutie.
Tonight I thought I really should feed my suncorals, something I've neglected day after day after day. I kept saying "I'll do it tomorrow" and then the next day I'd say the same. It really doesn't take that long, and I'm going to have to force myself to get back to it.
Anyway.... as soon as the pumps were turned off, Spock swooped over the the suncoral section of the reef, ready and hungry. Since I've not target fed my suncorals in a month or more, that seems to be a pretty good indication to me that fish indeed have memory.
While the pumps were off and Spock was circling, I decided to frag my beautiful branching hammer coral that is entirely too large now that it can touch the Tyree frag and another millepora on its left side. Snip, crunch, snap - two frags were created. I hate cutting that coral, but I can't pluck it from that spot either. The frags were put in the propagation section of the sump and hopefully they'll recover. The core is very brittle and just doesn't cut cleanly, but rather it crumbles internally.
While the pumps were off, I thought I'd see if anything else of interest was occuring. I found a very small Fighting Conch in my tank. When I say small, I'm referring to a 1" specimen or less. The ones I usually get are about 3" in size or larger. This little guy is new to me, and I don't know if the others bred the little guy or not, but he's a cutie.
Lunchbucket
Premium Member
great pics as always marc...and a new pod cast :eek1:
Lunchbucket
Lunchbucket
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