Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[.Chris.]

I've noticed increased growth and polyp extension with Acropower, but it is different than "all in one" type AAS you add by the drop. Acropower and Saliferts AAS are largely Aspartic acid, which has a big role in coral growth, possibly used as part of an organic matrix that assists in CaCo3 formation.

It's pretty inexpensive and it doesn't go bad at room temperature so I can add it with a dosing pump, which is nice

Not needing to refrigerate acropower is the best selling point. I load up my dosing pump with it.

I noticed that I started to get a bit of cyano after beginning with acropower however. Did you notice the same? My nutrient levels have remained stable and I've previously never had a single spot of cyano in over a year of running my tank.

 

[mhucasey]

Not needing to refrigerate acropower is the best selling point. I load up my dosing pump with it.

I noticed that I started to get a bit of cyano after beginning with acropower however. Did you notice the same? My nutrient levels have remained stable and I've previously never had a single spot of cyano in over a year of running my tank.

Yep some cyano here as well. I tried the Salifert Coralline Aminos (which are similar) since less cyano was reported with them. I may have a little less, but I also lowered my dose from the amount I was adding with Acropower.

 

[.Chris.]

Yep some cyano here as well. I tried the Salifert Coralline Aminos (which are similar) since less cyano was reported with them. I may have a little less, but I also lowered my dose from the amount I was adding with Acropower.

Other than reducing the amount you're dosing have you figured out a way to get rid of the cyano?

It's not too bad at the moment but it does seem to be increasing. I suspect your n and p are lower than mine (15 and 0.12 respectively) so I'm wondering if lower nutrients will even solve the problem.

 

[reefmutt]

I've noticed increased growth and polyp extension with Acropower, but it is different than "all in one" type AAS you add by the drop. Acropower and Saliferts AAS are largely Aspartic acid, which has a big role in coral growth, possibly used as part of an organic matrix that assists in CaCo3 formation.

It's pretty inexpensive and it doesn't go bad at room temperature so I can add it with a dosing pump, which is nice

I was not aware that acropower and salifert aas were similar in composition to each other but dissimilar to most others...
If they are only aspartic acid, wouldn't it make sense to dose one of these as well as a more comprehensive aa supplement?
I've been using a small amount of Polyp Lab's Colors (I know this one is a multiple aa mix) but now I'm thinking about maybe adding a bit of the salifert or acropower as well. I have both sitting in the shelf at home..

 

[mhucasey]

I was not aware that acropower and salifert aas were similar in composition to each other but dissimilar to most others...
If they are only aspartic acid, wouldn't it make sense to dose one of these as well as a more comprehensive aa supplement?
I've been using a small amount of Polyp Lab's Colors (I know this one is a multiple aa mix) but now I'm thinking about maybe adding a bit of the salifert or acropower as well. I have both sitting in the shelf at home..

There is more than just aspartic acid, but it's heavy in that AA. Other AA supplements are more of a full spectrum of aminos, typically they need to be refrigerated. I've tried Zeovits AA supplement but never saw any real response from it, and the cost is kind of high given the lack of visible response.

 

[mhucasey]

I just got back from the LFS with one of my favorite corals, an Echinata! It's a bit pale but it's going to be awesome once it colors up

 

[reefmutt]

Ooooooooohhhhhh aaaaaaaaaahhhhh eeeeeeeeeehhh!!!!
Nnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!!!!!
I am sooooooo jealous!!!!
Awesome!!

 

[slavetonet]

Looks good.. get stuck into it with the echinata.
:dance:

 

[M007]

Awesome piece, fits nicely with the rest of your beauties :thumbsup:

 

[mhucasey]

Ooooooooohhhhhh aaaaaaaaaahhhhh eeeeeeeeeehhh!!!!
Nnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!!!!!
I am sooooooo jealous!!!!
Awesome!!

The Echinata is one of the top corals that I have wanted to have, so I'm pretty stoked that they had one. It seems pretty healthy, lots of PE right away

 

[mhucasey]

Looks good.. get stuck into it with the echinata.
:dance:

Awesome piece, fits nicely with the rest of your beauties :thumbsup:

Thanks! It's going to be a spectacular center piece for the reef

 

[mhucasey]

I absolutely love the gyres, but I have two of them on the wall opposite of the overflow and there is some slow flow below them. Because of the Basso style overflow, I couldn't mount one facing them to alternate the flow. Last night inspiration hit me-and I worked on building a mount for a pump on that side.

I had some mounting brackets from a light that I wasn't using, plus some black starboard. A little cutting and drilling later, I had this:

Now I can run some opposite flow to add some turbulence from time to time. I have the gyres turn off every 40 minutes or so and the Tunze Nanostream turns on for 6 minutes. Additionally, the Tunze turns on while the gyres are running for a couple minutes here and there to mix the whole tank up

 

[biggles]

Nice work on the mounting bracket Matt, i like guys who are game to have a go at DIY stuff :wave:
Is that a 6095, they have a lot of oomph for such a small unit but are very expensive over here unfortunately otherwise i'd have more than one.

 

[mhucasey]

Nice work on the mounting bracket Matt, i like guys who are game to have a go at DIY stuff :wave:
Is that a 6095, they have a lot of oomph for such a small unit but are very expensive over here unfortunately otherwise i'd have more than one.

Thanks Andrew. I love making stuff myself
It's an electronically controllable 6055. I replaced the propeller with the same one from the 6095 and modified the housing for wide flow- it can put out a lot of flow! I have two of those that were replaced by gyres. I'll replace this one with a gyre once funds allow.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

It's an electronically controllable 6055. I replaced the propeller with the same one from the 6095 and modified the housing for wide flow- it can put out a lot of flow! I have two of those that were replaced by gyres.

Wonderful idea. I will modify one of my 6055s in the same way.

 

[reefmutt]

Nice job, Matt.
You can't beat randomized and multidirectional flow. Corals love it.

 

[mhucasey]

Thanks guys, I like the bracket, it came out pretty good. With pulsing flow from the two Gyres, there is a pretty good amount of random flow in the tank, except near the bottom, where it is pretty laminar. It's under the Gyres where the flow slows down. I had the same issue with Tunzes, I had to point them at each other and alternate them to fix the issue completely. This random bit of turbulence should help the dead spot on the one end.

 

[biggles]

Nice mod on the 6055 as well Matt, this is starting to look suspiciously like you're trying to pick a DIY fight with the rest of us
Sahin and Shih are both disqualified from DIY comps btw for being 3D printer cheats.............:wave:

I meant to say that echi piece is awesome buddy. I'm glad you glued it down well with lots of bog, wild collected echi branches will not even bother encrusting in many cases and just keep growing once settled. If i see an actual echi attached to rock it is normally encrusted no more than 1/4" out even with 8" of branch growth being supported. I had a mate years ago who didn't glue a piece well and after about 18 months great growth he woke to find it lying on top of a milli all night after the leverage got too much for the lame glue job.
The milli ate about 2/3 of the colony without so much as a burp........

Echi tip - assume the glue joint you use must support the weight of ALL future growth

 

[Deftones2015]

I just got back from the LFS with one of my favorite corals, an Echinata! It's a bit pale but it's going to be awesome once it colors up

I love that coral at the bottom right of the echinata in the last picture, what is that?

 

[mhucasey]

Nice mod on the 6055 as well Matt, this is starting to look suspiciously like you're trying to pick a DIY fight with the rest of us
Sahin and Shih are both disqualified from DIY comps btw for being 3D printer cheats.............:wave:

I meant to say that echi piece is awesome buddy. I'm glad you glued it down well with lots of bog, wild collected echi branches will not even bother encrusting in many cases and just keep growing once settled. If i see an actual echi attached to rock it is normally encrusted no more than 1/4" out even with 8" of branch growth being supported. I had a mate years ago who didn't glue a piece well and after about 18 months great growth he woke to find it lying on top of a milli all night after the leverage got too much for the lame glue job.
The milli ate about 2/3 of the colony without so much as a burp........

Echi tip - assume the glue joint you use must support the weight of ALL future growth

Hi Andrew, I DIYd almost everything in the system, even drilling the tanks and building the stand by milling the Aluminum channel myself. I love DIY!)

Sahin...sounds familiar...isn't he due for six month picture update on his tank? He still has a tank right?

As for the Echi, its been sitting in my LFS's tank for a month and a half under a bunch of Radions. They had it in the back of the show tank so everyone kept overlooking it while it went pale. On a big piece like this i use the thick superglue gel and coat the attachment site with glue and then coat the bottom of the piece, then twist/rub back and forth until the glue on both sides bond together. Its pretty solid in there. I'm sure ill knock it off two or three times by accident because I'm clumsy when I'm working in the tank though:hammer: