Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[mhucasey]

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

I'm really liking the products both for what they do and for their value. If they don't get greedy and keep their salt prices where they are now I see them taking a big chunk of the market in a few years.

 

[FloformAustria]

I'm really liking the products both for what they do and for their value. If they don't get greedy and keep their salt prices where they are now I see them taking a big chunk of the market in a few years.

Yes!
Prices are really nice!!

But I'm also thinking about using ATI Essentials, don't know if you heard of it

 

[mhucasey]

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?

The only trace elements that I am dosing are iodine, fluorine, zinc, iron, manganese, and cobalt. The first two are both for coral coloration and because they are skimmed out, and not replaced by the calcium reactor. The last four are actively used trace elements that would be replaced with water changes if I did them. I do add back a gallon or two of new salt water per month to compensate for what the skimmer removes.

There are quite a few other trace elements that can be added if you are going with the Balling light method that I'm hoping to not have to deal with by using a Calcium reactor. I may dose a small amount of strontium based on reccomendations that the CR may not keep up with demand.

 

[mhucasey]

Yes!
Prices are really nice!!

But I'm also thinking about using ATI Essentials, don't know if you heard of it

No, that one is new to me...

 

[FloformAustria]

It's a complete system for the reef
Something like Triton method but different

http://atiaquaristik.de/de/?one_page_portfolio=ati-essentials#up
Here, but German.. :-(
But I guess chrome can translate it

 

[cFloor]

Next time I'm in SD, I'm picking up one of those cherry blossom frags. Until then, please stop posting it. :spin1:

 

[bobssecrtsn]

Nice cherry blossom frag, I got one from aqua Sd but it's still in my QT. they have hydroids on them and I don't know how to remove them, dips doesn't effect them at all either

 

[mhucasey]

Next time I'm in SD, I'm picking up one of those cherry blossom frags. Until then, please stop posting it. :spin1:

Hee hee! They have mail order, you know

 

[mhucasey]

Nice cherry blossom frag, I got one from aqua Sd but it's still in my QT. they have hydroids on them and I don't know how to remove them, dips doesn't effect them at all either

I always break the corals off the plug they come with and then glue them to the rockwork or a fresh plug.

 

[mhucasey]

Small Update:
The night before last I found that my zeolite reactor was only pushing 59gph, rather than the 100gph I intended. I had to clean two brittle stars out of the pump intake. It's flowing well again and phosphate is slowly dropping. I'm hoping to order another 8 T5 bulbs to finish the replacement process on the SPS tank. I'm close to a decision(Yeah right). The three possible final bulb layouts:

B+-B+-AA-B+-FP-B+-C+-C+-C+-C+-B+-FP-B+-AA-B+-B+
or
B+-B+-AA-B+-FP-B+-C+-B+-FP+-C+-B+-FP-B+-AA-B+-B+
or
B+-B+-AA-B+-FP-B+-C+-B+-B+-C+-B+-FP-B+-AA-B+-B+

I'm test driving the last one right now to see if its too blue for me. Ill get enough bulbs to go with any of the three options.

 

[milsaltnewbie07]

wow Matt that cherry is just amazing. I just picked up a Yellow Blossom from them last week during their sale. Cant wait to get it to color up like yours man.
Question .
Are you still dosing lugols? if so how is it going for you

 

[mhucasey]

wow Matt that cherry is just amazing. I just picked up a Yellow Blossom from them last week during their sale. Cant wait to get it to color up like yours man.
Question .
Are you still dosing lugols? if so how is it going for you

No, I dose "Iodium" from Aquaforest, 5 drops per day. Its very similar to Lugol's. When I tested, my total Iodine value was right on at 0.06, my Iodate was at the bottom of the range. That's what I'm looking for.

 

[reefmutt]

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

I can scramble fresh pictures faster than anyone though

Oh yeah!!! Loving these!! Matt, this is nice.. That'll hold lord Biggles at bay!! Those reds are making me green with envy..

The only trace elements that I am dosing are iodine, fluorine, zinc, iron, manganese, and cobalt. The first two are both for coral coloration and because they are skimmed out, and not replaced by the calcium reactor. The last four are actively used trace elements that would be replaced with water changes if I did them. I do add back a gallon or two of new salt water per month to compensate for what the skimmer removes.

There are quite a few other trace elements that can be added if you are going with the Balling light method that I'm hoping to not have to deal with by using a Calcium reactor. I may dose a small amount of strontium based on reccomendations that the CR may not keep up with demand.

So, you use the AF iodine- it has fluorine in it as well?
For the rest, is that micro E you use?
Also, for that video, did you use your orange gel to remove the blue? I might have to get some of those gels so that I can properly video my tank..

 

[Wazzel]

Small Update:
The night before last I found that my zeolite reactor was only pushing 59gph, rather than the 100gph I intended. I had to clean two brittle stars out of the pump intake. It's flowing well again and phosphate is slowly dropping. I'm hoping to order another 8 T5 bulbs to finish the replacement process on the SPS tank. I'm close to a decision(Yeah right). The three possible final bulb layouts:

B+-B+-AA-B+-FP-B+-C+-C+-C+-C+-B+-FP-B+-AA-B+-B+
or
B+-B+-AA-B+-FP-B+-C+-B+-FP+-C+-B+-FP-B+-AA-B+-B+
or
B+-B+-AA-B+-FP-B+-C+-B+-B+-C+-B+-FP-B+-AA-B+-B+

I'm test driving the last one right now to see if its too blue for me. Ill get enough bulbs to go with any of the three options.

Yikes, that is as bad as me figuring out how to run my LED's. Tank is looking good.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

The three possible final bulb layouts:

B+-B+-AA-B+-FP-B+-C+-C+-C+-C+-B+-FP-B+-AA-B+-B+
or
B+-B+-AA-B+-FP-B+-C+-B+-FP+-C+-B+-FP-B+-AA-B+-B+
or
B+-B+-AA-B+-FP-B+-C+-B+-B+-C+-B+-FP-B+-AA-B+-B+

Hi Matt,

At first glance, the above looks like a nucleic acid sequence. :lol2:

 

[mhucasey]

Oh yeah!!! Loving these!! Matt, this is nice.. That'll hold lord Biggles at bay!! Those reds are making me green with envy..



So, you use the AF iodine- it has fluorine in it as well?
For the rest, is that micro E you use?
Also, for that video, did you use your orange gel to remove the blue? I might have to get some of those gels so that I can properly video my tank..

Thanks, the reds are becoming a favorite for me as well
I dose the AF "Iodium" as well as the AF Flourine (separate supplements)
Micro E has the other four trace elements.
I have a medium Amber gel taped over the camera aperture in my iPhone, yes. It's awesome - and since its always there, i can snap a pic at a moment's notice and rarely have to correct the pictures afterward. I was actually able to take good pics of corals at the LFS and send them to the wife to let her pick some. An excellent use of my 20 bucks!

 

[mhucasey]

Yikes, that is as bad as me figuring out how to run my LED's. Tank is looking good.

Hi Matt,

At first glance, the above looks like a nucleic acid sequence. :lol2:

I get ridiculously picky about the look of the tank, all three of these combos are good, but I like to test drive them for a few days. Sometimes Ill come into the room several times within a day and my first thought is that the tank is washed out too blue or too yellow, etc. If it starts to bug me I then start to tweak the bulbs....

 

[JPMagyar]

Matt,

Hoping you can help me out. I have a red dragon colony that I can't seem to get to really turn deep red. Can you get a close up of your red dragon and fill me in on the details of it's position. What kind of bulb is it directly under? High flow or low? Medium or high light? etc. etc.

Thanks so much for any tips you can offer!

Awesome tanks by the way! Wish I had subscribed to this thread earlier.

 

[mhucasey]

Matt,

Hoping you can help me out. I have a red dragon colony that I can't seem to get to really turn deep red. Can you get a close up of your red dragon and fill me in on the details of it's position. What kind of bulb is it directly under? High flow or low? Medium or high light? etc. etc.

Thanks so much for any tips you can offer!

Awesome tanks by the way! Wish I had subscribed to this thread earlier.

Unfortunately Red Dragons and I have been a tale of woe...I got two nice pieces at reef-a-palooza for 25 bucks each and they colored up and started growing, the one that was at ~300 PAR stayed darker red, while the one under 400+ par developed the lavendar tips. The High par colony was under high flow and it rapidly thickened up and then started growing.

Then about 2 months after going into the system, the low Par colony RTNd. This was when I was having issues throughout the tank, the red dragon was just one of the first affected. Just before switching to aquaforest the second colony started STNing and I was able to save two tiny(1/2") branch tips. They have survived and are growing pretty fast, but they are still small.(Id be glad to share pics of them if you like)

I'd say if you exceed PAR of 400 you will lose the red and move toward pink with lavendar tips. High flow will turn the Red Dragon bushy and slow its overall growth. My bulb combo attempts to evenly spread the whites and blue bulbs through the fixtures, at the current time the Red dragons are mostly lit by Aquablue Azures and Blue Plusses.

I'm very happy to see you stop by, and I hope that somthing I pass along can even help I love that you joined the T5 club too!

 

[mhucasey]

Picture Update, things are humming along nicely

Growth Tips a'poppin:

This is really coloring up, and is actually more blue from the side:

Secondary frag from the mini colony I got last weekend:

The other Mini colony, color is getting more intense:

Still pretty yellow, hopefully it stays that way:

Mr Pacman:

Little color composition - Imagine what this will look like when they grow closer together: