Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[MrineLfRlz]

The more you mix the whites/purples and Blues the better I think- play around with the order until you like it.

Yeah im ordering a few extra kinds to play with so far im ordering 2 E5 blue pop led bars when there back instock, im going to try one in my DT fixture and 1 in the t5 frag tank fixture.
thanks for your ongoing help and for showing everyone the evolution of your awesome sps system!

 

[danrobberg]

Matt has your cherry blossom encrusted yet? Mine has been mounted for 2 weeks and in the system for almost 3 and hasn't started encrusting yet. The way my Aqua scape is set up all of my corals are kind of low so I'm wondering if they aren't getting enough light.

 

[mhucasey]

Matt has your cherry blossom encrusted yet? Mine has been mounted for 2 weeks and in the system for almost 3 and hasn't started encrusting yet. The way my Aqua scape is set up all of my corals are kind of low so I'm wondering if they aren't getting enough light.

Yep, it based pretty fast but I think it's going to be a slow grower. What light is over it right now?

 

[mhucasey]

Couple of pics while I'm at it...ASD Radion:

This tricolor has turned all kinds of weird:

Tenuis?:

Red tips maricultured:

This one is hard to capture on film and give it justice:

 

[RBKKREEF]

Nice! corals looking really happy, thanks for the update!

 

[biggles]

Acros are looking awesome Matt, you must be happy with the colors compared to 6 months ago buddy. Looking back at your journal it's very obvious the AF system has had a significant positive impact on your corals and i'm betting it's made the hobby a lot more enjoyable for you and that's what it's all about at the end of the day

That tricolor looks a tad funky lol, funky in a cool purple crayola colored way. :thumbsup:

I want the Radion and the cherry blossom...............

Personally i think every rebel reefer should put lots of those white E5's over your tanks, they do wonders for the coral colors...............

 

[sahin]

Personally i think every rebel reefer should put lots of those white E5's over your tanks, they do wonders for the coral colors...............

Lmao :lol:

See how Darth Acro reccommends those yucky white E5's for the rebellion...You wont see him pushing Radiums...

Matt your acros look scrumptious Can you post top down shots of a bunch of millepora's? Typically these are harder to colour up; especially the mariculture stuff. Be nice to see how all your millis are doing under T5's and AF. Thanks mate. :thumbsup:

 

[danrobberg]

Yep, it based pretty fast but I think it's going to be a slow grower. What light is over it right now?

My tank is lit by a ghl Mitras led and 4 24 watt t5. All of my corals are pretty low in the tank so I'm wondering if they aren't getting enough light. They are mostly about 12 inches up in a 24 inch tall tank. My nitrates and phosphates both read 0 so I've cut my dosage of nopox in half to 2 ml a day.

 

[reefmutt]

Couple of pics while I'm at it...ASD Radion:

This tricolor has turned all kinds of weird:

Tenuis?:

Red tips maricultured:

This one is hard to capture on film and give it justice:

Nice Matt!!!!
Love the Radion.... Looks a lot like a coral up here called scorpion. I'd show you a pic of mine but it's nasty looking at the moment.
Also love the red/pink coral below the tricolor.
That tenuis is also niiiice!
Looking good!!

 

[reefmutt]

I just had another look at that tenuis... It's starting to look a bit like Jackson's crazy tenuis...

 

[mhucasey]

My tank is lit by a ghl Mitras led and 4 24 watt t5. All of my corals are pretty low in the tank so I'm wondering if they aren't getting enough light. They are mostly about 12 inches up in a 24 inch tall tank. My nitrates and phosphates both read 0 so I've cut my dosage of nopox in half to 2 ml a day.

If I were you I'd dose Nitrate (Sodium, Potassium, or Calcium Nitrate) to get your Nitrate values above 2PPM at least. Zero Nitrate is bad news. Your corals should be getting plenty of light but they need food to grow.

 

[mhucasey]

Yeah im ordering a few extra kinds to play with so far im ordering 2 E5 blue pop led bars when there back instock, im going to try one in my DT fixture and 1 in the t5 frag tank fixture.
thanks for your ongoing help and for showing everyone the evolution of your awesome sps system!

I'm really liking the Blue Pop tubes, I'm getting more when they are back in stock as well.

 

[mhucasey]

Acros are looking awesome Matt, you must be happy with the colors compared to 6 months ago buddy. Looking back at your journal it's very obvious the AF system has had a significant positive impact on your corals and i'm betting it's made the hobby a lot more enjoyable for you and that's what it's all about at the end of the day

That tricolor looks a tad funky lol, funky in a cool purple crayola colored way. :thumbsup:

I want the Radion and the cherry blossom...............

Personally i think every rebel reefer should put lots of those white E5's over your tanks, they do wonders for the coral colors...............

Thanks very much Andrew, I feel really good about the AF products and system, And I have even tweaked the dosing a little based on your results, upping the Micro E dose and lowering the dose of Iodium and Flourine. Every day I take a peek at the corals to make sure none are having issues as SPS are finicky beasties and can go south at random. Since the AF system was started, I haven't had those issues, corals all looking good each morning. I love that for sure.

Those "Cool White" tubes are revolting. If someone could manage to get color out of their corals with those in place it would be a miracle.

Feel the Cool Whiteness....

 

[mhucasey]

Lmao :lol:

See how Darth Acro reccommends those yucky white E5's for the rebellion...You wont see him pushing Radiums...

Matt your acros look scrumptious Can you post top down shots of a bunch of millepora's? Typically these are harder to colour up; especially the mariculture stuff. Be nice to see how all your millis are doing under T5's and AF. Thanks mate. :thumbsup:

Nice Matt!!!!
Love the Radion.... Looks a lot like a coral up here called scorpion. I'd show you a pic of mine but it's nasty looking at the moment.
Also love the red/pink coral below the tricolor.
That tenuis is also niiiice!
Looking good!!

Thanks guys!
Ill see about some Millie Pics tonight Sahin, the Millies are very shaggy.Matt, that Radion went from being a so-so frag to a real eye-catcher, and its busting out growth all over now, which is awesome. That Red/pink millie was my first millie in the tank and I almost lost it when I upgraded. It was brown in the store and then turned that color- its growing really slow right now which is weird, since it used to grow like a weed before the colony took a hit.
The Tenuis is getting really blue, from the side as well. i love the blue corals and its awesome to get good results with mariculture

 

[MrineLfRlz]

I'm really liking the Blue Pop tubes, I'm getting more when they are back in stock as well.

Well the initial results for the t5 light switch out on my frag tank are in and im worried. Before the switch with my diy par meter that i use with my multimeter with the old leds (the light spread wasnt even but i wasnt getting under 200 par anywhere except by the edges) but with the 4 bulb t5 fixture its very evenly spread out im topping out at 175 par but its closer to 150 par now these are brand new bulbs so will they increase in par some after the burn in period?
Also with the older fixture im going to aluminum polish the reflectors and see how much that helps and im doing that this weekend.

 

[swk]

How do you like using the calrx now that you've had it for a while? Noticed any changes in the corals since the switch? Just curious!

Tank looks great!

 

[mhucasey]

Well the initial results for the t5 light switch out on my frag tank are in and im worried. Before the switch with my diy par meter that i use with my multimeter with the old leds (the light spread wasnt even but i wasnt getting under 200 par anywhere except by the edges) but with the 4 bulb t5 fixture its very evenly spread out im topping out at 175 par but its closer to 150 par now these are brand new bulbs so will they increase in par some after the burn in period?
Also with the older fixture im going to aluminum polish the reflectors and see how much that helps and im doing that this weekend.

What was the fixture and bulbs you went with?

 

[mhucasey]

How do you like using the calrx now that you've had it for a while? Noticed any changes in the corals since the switch? Just curious!

Tank looks great!

The CalRX is smooth as butter, its been keeping the Alk totally stable. I am a very happy GEO customer. The tank overall has been doing better, but I don't know what is due to the CalRX and what is due to the change to Aquaforest.

 

[MrineLfRlz]

What was the fixture and bulbs you went with?

Its a SUN BLAZE T-5, 48" Light Fixture 4 x 54W lamps by Sunlight Supply
Ive had it laying around for awhile now.
ati blue+ (2)
ati actinic (2)

 

[mhucasey]

Its a SUN BLAZE T-5, 48" Light Fixture 4 x 54W lamps by Sunlight Supply
Ive had it laying around for awhile now.
ati blue+ (2)
ati actinic (2)

Ok without the active cooling and higher end reflectors you will have a lot of PAR loss, but you also have the ATI actinic bulbs that have to burn in a bit to get higher par. JediMasterben had a bunch tested and on the actinic bulbs the par rose almost 40% between hour 0 and 100 hours.

Polishing the reflectors certainly won't hurt, as well as bringing the fixture down closer to the water.