Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[biggles]

Looking awesome Matt, i think this one is just beautiful mate

Millis's give me the sh#ts, stupid hairy mops........

 

[MrineLfRlz]

May i please have more info on this phosphate minus?

I run GFO and my phos are very hard to control usually 0.05 -0.10 i dose lanthanum chloride when it gets up that high to bring it back down and the GFO takes awhile to rinse out and even after its rinsed once its in the reactor it still clouds the water alittle. Also you mentioned the iron buildup as well.
Im always up for trying new things as long as its good.

 

[cugly]

Looking great got to see it in person

 

[markalot]

Colors look great Matt, especially anything with red in it.

 

[mhucasey]

May i please have more info on this phosphate minus?

I run GFO and my phos are very hard to control usually 0.05 -0.10 i dose lanthanum chloride when it gets up that high to bring it back down and the GFO takes awhile to rinse out and even after its rinsed once its in the reactor it still clouds the water alittle. Also you mentioned the iron buildup as well.
Im always up for trying new things as long as its good.

Phosphate Minus is a Version of GFO similar to Rowaphos. Rowaphos' claim to fame was that it was more effective than regular GFO and did not leach phosphate back to the water when saturated, which regular GFO can do. There was much debate on this and I don't know either way.

Many Aquaforest tanks use the Phosphate minus, Activated Carbon, and Zeolites, sometimes in the same fluidized filter. I run all three but the carbon and P- are in mesh bags in the sump. i give them a gentle kneading every couple of days. My PO4 value last night was 0.03, even with three heavy frozen food feeds plus two arctic Pods feeds per day. I will cut back a little in a few weeks but I want to make sure the Anthias get well established before I do.

 

[plyle02]

Oh that milli....looks like a rouge almost... Anyway, great set of photos, I love how vibrant the colors are, every piece in there seems to be colorful, very nicely done Matt!!!

 

[mhucasey]

Looking great got to see it in person

]

Colors look great Matt, especially anything with red in it.

Thanks guys, I'm pretty happy where things are color wise, i just need to be patient and let stuff grow in a bit. There are all kinds of new corals hitting the market that I have a hard time passing up, and I especially have a hard time passing up reds and pinks. I need to work on Blues and yellows and Dragons though. I was sorely tempted by this beauty this last weekend though:

 

[mhucasey]

Oh that milli....looks like a rouge almost... Anyway, great set of photos, I love how vibrant the colors are, every piece in there seems to be colorful, very nicely done Matt!!!

Thanks Perry, the color is really quite nice in there but I'm always looking for more So far so good on the Phosphate minus as well - I'm contemplating replacing the Vertex zeolite reactor with a fluidized filter setup like Deborah uses. The nice thing about her setup is the whole thing gets setup and then you don't touch it for a month, then just dump and refill. I need to let the zeolite run without shaking the stones for a week as a test to see how the system responds before I would do that.

 

[FloformAustria]

Thanks, that coral is a Millie I got 3+ years ago. When I got it it was brown, but it gained color under T5s. It was a big colony, but it dried out too much when I did the tank upgrade last year and I lost all but a few small pieces of it. It's colored nicely, now I just need it to get going growing!
This is what it looked like when the colony was going strong:

I've been dosing 8 drops MicroE each day.

this milli needs a proper comb... :bigeyes:

love it!!!

 

[reefmutt]

]



Thanks guys, I'm pretty happy where things are color wise, i just need to be patient and let stuff grow in a bit. There are all kinds of new corals hitting the market that I have a hard time passing up, and I especially have a hard time passing up reds and pinks. I need to work on Blues and yellows and Dragons though. I was sorely tempted by this beauty this last weekend though:

Oh yeah.. I'm liking this one.. If you can keep the bluefish tips on that baby, it'll be a stunner..
Did you get it??

 

[mhucasey]

Oh yeah.. I'm liking this one.. If you can keep the bluefish tips on that baby, it'll be a stunner..
Did you get it??

No, I didn't pull the trigger on it...yet. It's pretty expensive- know as the "Unicorn" acro. The wife said go for it but it's 300 bucks:uhoh3:

 

[reefmutt]

Wow!!!
It's a cultured piece.. That is a lot but I am very familiar with those prices for the 'ultra' cultured stuff..
This is why my tank is full of 1 inch frags..
Somebody is making serious money in these pieces..

 

[mhucasey]

Yes, normal cultured Acros are going for $75-100 a piece at AquaSD. I'll pay that if its a nice piece, while giving Biggles the finger for his 45 dollar wild collected beauties...300 is another matter. They had a wild collected piece there last week I just missed and I would have paid a couple hundred for it.

 

[reefmutt]

Always hurts when that beauty gets away...
I really wonder how much more retailers pay for the ultra stuff over the regular pieces..
I know that most of the regular cultured stuff lands at a retailer who is buying direct at around $20 usd..
I bet the 'ultra' pieces cost them $40...

 

[MrineLfRlz]

Phosphate Minus is a Version of GFO similar to Rowaphos. Rowaphos' claim to fame was that it was more effective than regular GFO and did not leach phosphate back to the water when saturated, which regular GFO can do. There was much debate on this and I don't know either way.

Many Aquaforest tanks use the Phosphate minus, Activated Carbon, and Zeolites, sometimes in the same fluidized filter. I run all three but the carbon and P- are in mesh bags in the sump. i give them a gentle kneading every couple of days. My PO4 value last night was 0.03, even with three heavy frozen food feeds plus two arctic Pods feeds per day. I will cut back a little in a few weeks but I want to make sure the Anthias get well established before I do.

How much of the media would i need for my system total 250 water volume and how often to change it out, right now i put almost 4 cups per gfo change and i have to change out every 6 weeks. Also were do to purchase yours at?

 

[mhucasey]

How much of the media would i need for my system total 250 water volume and how often to change it out, right now i put almost 4 cups per gfo change and i have to change out every 6 weeks. Also were do to purchase yours at?

I got the phosphate minus through Salty Supply, they are the dealer for AquaForest for the US. the recommendation from AF is 100mL per 100L, so for you that would be 1L changed every four weeks. Thats way too much in my opinion, I would start with a lot less. I am only using 9TBSP for 195 gallons and changing every two weeks. Perry uses a cup for ~150gallon volume I believe.

 

[biggles]

No, I didn't pull the trigger on it...yet. It's pretty expensive- know as the "Unicorn" acro. The wife said go for it but it's 300 bucks:uhoh3:

She's already got the stuff picked out that she's going to buy knowing you can't say anything having dropped $300- on a frag Matt.........

If you don't buy it your wife will not be able to buy stuff that makes her happy so do the right thing and make her happy Matt !


Biggles Acro Marriage Guidance Counseling Services...........:beer:

 

[mhucasey]

She's already got the stuff picked out that she's going to buy knowing you can't say anything having dropped $300- on a frag Matt.........

If you don't buy it your wife will not be able to buy stuff that makes her happy so do the right thing and make her happy Matt !


Biggles Acro Marriage Guidance Counseling Services...........:beer:

You're thinking of my EX wife. She already would have spent both her 300 and my 300 and then told me that looking at reef stuff was looking at porn. My wife now absolutely loves the tank and has no problem with me spending gobs of money for pretty sticks

 

[biggles]

You're thinking of my EX wife. She already would have spent both her 300 and my 300 and then told me that looking at reef stuff was looking at porn. My wife now absolutely loves the tank and has no problem with me spending gobs of money for pretty sticks

So you're saying that she wants the pretty acro to look at as much as you but for some reason you feel the need to deprive her of this simple pleasure.........

 

[mhucasey]

So you're saying that she wants the pretty acro to look at as much as you but for some reason you feel the need to deprive her of this simple pleasure.........

No I'm thinking I might find something even cooler to spend the 300 on, like more dragons