Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[cFloor]

Can you imagine a shoal of blotched Anthias?:crazy1:
Is there anything (other than corals) more "coral reef" than a cloud of Anthias? Gorgeous, colorful fish, true jewels of the reef. I'm very jealous of your access to them...

A school of blotched anthias or rhomboid wrasses is something I've always wanted to do but I guess not enough to actually spend that kind of cash. It would be awesome though!

Awesome video!

 

[mhucasey]

A school of blotched anthias or rhomboid wrasses is something I've always wanted to do but I guess not enough to actually spend that kind of cash. It would be awesome though!

Awesome video!

Thanks very much! For the blotched Anthias school, I'll put that tin the "When I'm rich" bucket....

 

[reefmutt]

Thanks Matt! the snow is over and I just did a water change, so I'm happy..
LOVE that album. It has just been purchased.
I'm just curious about the coral e because of the copper in it and Aquaforest's description of it as having the ability to pale out corals- in a safe manor, obviously..
As Andrew had pointed out, it seems one must reduce the levels of zoox before one can really start to play with intensifying the actual colors- or biochromes, I assume- of a coral..
Ulns will reduce zoox obviously but I'm wondering if coral E is a safer option as it allows you to keep measurable n and p while reducing the zoox.. Once the zoox has been reduced, I assume products like Aquaforest's micro E would help intensify biochrome color..
Just a thought... I really don't know if it makes any sense..

 

[mhucasey]

Thanks Matt! the snow is over and I just did a water change, so I'm happy..
LOVE that album. It has just been purchased.
I'm just curious about the coral e because of the copper in it and Aquaforest's description of it as having the ability to pale out corals- in a safe manor, obviously..
As Andrew had pointed out, it seems one must reduce the levels of zoox before one can really start to play with intensifying the actual colors- or biochromes, I assume- of a coral..
Ulns will reduce zoox obviously but I'm wondering if coral E is a safer option as it allows you to keep measurable n and p while reducing the zoox.. Once the zoox has been reduced, I assume products like Aquaforest's micro E would help intensify biochrome color..
Just a thought... I really don't know if it makes any sense..

Im very excited that you love the album! As for the color, my experiences with reducing Zooxanthellae were less than satisfying. I have forced it to happen both on purpose with Zeospur and when some metal contaminated the tank a while back. The corals were marginally lighter, and using a magnifying glass I could see that the Zooxanthellae were gone/reduced. The coral tissue was the main source of the deep, saturated color and it didn't really change.

I think getting it to lighten is dependent on restricting nitrogen - I could always tell when the nitrate had bottommed out because the coral tissue would lighten. Perhaps when nitrate is kept low, good feeds of aminos and vitamins will keep the coral producing some color and keep it from dying, while leaving the tissue pale(pastel). I'm not interested in dancing that dance - I've maintained positive Nitrate amounts for a long time and its kept the coral color rich and bright.

 

[reefmutt]

Thanks, Matt.. I hear ya..
After listening to that album, I have a couple suggestions for you..
Band: Sea wolf.. Album: Leaves In The River..
Band: Foals.. Album: Holy Fire.

 

[Sever]

@Mhucasey great tank and colors
@reefmutt the concentration of copper sulfate in Coral E is extremely low, almost undetectable. There is no danger in using in reef tank it as long you follow the instruction and does not overdose drastically In natural water you will find also copper sulfate but in very low concentration. I use this product for more than 4-5 years with great results. I have lot of invertebrates like snails , misis , and crabs in almost every acro This extremely low amounts of copper sulfate is in Coral E for a reason... Don't worry, you can use it.

 

[reefmutt]

Hi Sever, nice to hear from you.
Just to clarify, I do not think coral e is dangerous.
I'm quite certain that when used properly, coral e is perfectly safe for all invertebrates in a reef tank.
I am considering using it in my reef... I haven't quite decided yet..
Thanks for your input!

 

[mhucasey]

Thanks, Matt.. I hear ya..
After listening to that album, I have a couple suggestions for you..
Band: Sea wolf.. Album: Leaves In The River..
Band: Foals.. Album: Holy Fire.

I'm familiar with Foals, but I hadn't pulled the trigger yet. I did just get the self titled "Nothing but Thieves" album, really good. I'll check out Sea Wolf - thanks for the tip

 

[markalot]

The Force will be with you . . . always

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l6hUVhJzAUo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I forgot to watch this. Fantastic video!

 

[danrobberg]

I picked up a cherry blossom from Aqua sd today. I've never seen so many frags before. That place was awesome and the prices were great.

 

[mhucasey]

@Mhucasey great tank and colors
@reefmutt the concentration of copper sulfate in Coral E is extremely low, almost undetectable. There is no danger in using in reef tank it as long you follow the instruction and does not overdose drastically In natural water you will find also copper sulfate but in very low concentration. I use this product for more than 4-5 years with great results. I have lot of invertebrates like snails , misis , and crabs in almost every acro This extremely low amounts of copper sulfate is in Coral E for a reason... Don't worry, you can use it.

Thanks Sever! Do you have any recommendations on NP Pro dosing? My system volume is 740L, and I started dosing at 4 drops per day, and worked up to where I am now, 6 drops twice a day for a total of 12 drops. I just increased to 12 from 10. How do you decide where to stop? My phosphate values have bounced around a little between 0.08 and 0.02 .

 

[mhucasey]

I picked up a cherry blossom from Aqua sd today. I've never seen so many frags before. That place was awesome and the prices were great.

It's unreal, really. I was there last week and the owner Will was counting how many T5 bulbs they had going. They have been switching the 400Watt Radiums for T5s over many of the SPS tanks. He counted 80 bulbs. Yes, 80. That is just one of the three rows of the store and two or three of the tanks on that side have 400watt Radiums over them.

His commitment to proper lighting is one of the reasons his frags and corals do better in my tank than any other LFS, hands down.

Congrats on getting the cherry blossom, it's an awesome coral!:beer:

 

[mhucasey]

I forgot to watch this. Fantastic video!

Thanks Mark, I'm pretty proud of how that came out. Made and published 100% on my iPhone 6

 

[biggles]

It's unreal, really. I was there last week and the owner Will was counting how many T5 bulbs they had going. They have been switching the 400Watt Radiums for T5s over many of the SPS tanks. He counted 80 bulbs. Yes, 80. That is just one of the three rows of the store and two or three of the tanks on that side have 400watt Radiums over them.

His commitment to proper lighting is one of the reasons his frags and corals do better in my tank than any other LFS, hands down.

That's why i go to Dave's shop, he's the only one i know who keeps colors on long term pieces because he runs halides and T5's with LED's thrown in over the acro holding shop tank and skimms it hard. No other store comes even close to the dedicated SPS holding system that my LFS uses which is why i only go there now.

There are no pics on this page Matt.............. the page is unprotected........:strooper:

 

[Sever]

@mhucasey do you use ProBioS? Probiotic bacteria... watch to not overdose of -NpPro. If overdosed you can observe cloudy water or bacteria film on sides of the tank or in the sump. We recomend to use 1 drop per 100l but every tank is different

 

[mhucasey]

That's why i go to Dave's shop, he's the only one i know who keeps colors on long term pieces because he runs halides and T5's with LED's thrown in over the acro holding shop tank and skimms it hard. No other store comes even close to the dedicated SPS holding system that my LFS uses which is why i only go there now.

There are no pics on this page Matt.............. the page is unprotected........:strooper:

Im almost as terrified as Buddy is by your veiled threat, Lord Biggles

I can scramble fresh pictures faster than anyone though

 

[mhucasey]

@mhucasey do you use ProBioS? Probiotic bacteria... watch to not overdose of -NpPro. If overdosed you can observe cloudy water or bacteria film on sides of the tank or in the sump. We recomend to use 1 drop per 100l but every tank is different

Yes, I dose 10 drops per day of ProBio S and I use 1L of zeolites. My system is a bit peculiar because it is two tanks sharing one sump. Some elements take a longer time to distribute through the system than normal tanks. I've never had any cloudy water or bacterial films so I think I'm ok.

 

[biggles]

Ha ! love it - i see Buddy is so terrified he's passed out.........

Colors just keep getting better and better Matt. There is no doubt in my mind that your water keeping is responsible for a dramatic and very noticeable improvement in pigments mate. :dance:

This doesn't mean i thought your colors were so so before the AF ( i did ) so please don't think i'd ever think such a thing........:beer:

I want that cherry blossom acro so badly i can taste the slime.........:twitch:

 

[FloformAustria]

Matt! Thanks to your tank I'm going to take a deeper look into the Aquaforest products!
I'm already using the Salt but I'll check out the rest too! They are getting pretty present here in Austria!!

Flo

 

[gregkn73]

Matt since you are running CR, why do you dose trace elements? Also the recommendations of dosing from AF , are the same for tanks with CR and others using 2part or light bailing?