Mhucasey's SPS obsession

Matt, I just read the last 10 pages to catch up. I'm loving the results that you're getting with the AF products. That polyp extension is insane. That carbon source is very potent. I had similar PE when my tank was doing it's best, and some of the fastest SPS grow that I ever experienced. Your colors are dark and rich, IME you can extend the photoperiod more and make them burst out in white growth tips. I was able to do this when my tank had deep colored fuzzy acros :)

What is your photoperiod on this tank?
 
jackson6745 said:
Matt, I just read the last 10 pages to catch up. I'm loving the results that you're getting with the AF products. That polyp extension is insane. That carbon source is very potent. I had similar PE when my tank was doing it's best, and some of the fastest SPS grow that I ever experienced. Your colors are dark and rich, IME you can extend the photoperiod more and make them burst out in white growth tips. I was able to do this when my tank had deep colored fuzzy acros :)

What is your photoperiod on this tank?
Click to expand...
Thanks Rich, its nice to see you around RC again:)
I've had a heck of a time with photoperiod. I noticed an almost uniform 8 hour "All Bulbs On" photoperiod on the Aquaforest tanks here on RC. I tried that longer photoperiod before switching to the AF system and the corals seemed to get darker and less colorful. I ended up back at my "go-to" 11.5 hour blues and 6.5 hour "all on" photoperiod.

A couple of days ago I increased it to 7 hours. At the same time I've been trying 5 hours for over a month in the Flubber tank. It seems like the acros there are growing and coloring up pretty much the same, maybe even better. Maybe I'll give 8 hours a shot for a few weeks and see if there is a difference in the SPS tank. Its hard to hit the sweet spot!
 
mhucasey said:
Oh and now that I have the calcium reactor going my plan is to continue not regularly changing water.
Click to expand...

Matt I'm curious what your reasoning is behind this ?

I'm aware that you prefer not to change water. Is it that you want to just keep things dialed in and you're confident that nothing will go out of balance ?
 
Reefvet said:
Matt I'm curious what your reasoning is behind this ?

I'm aware that you prefer not to change water. Is it that you want to just keep things dialed in and you're confident that nothing will go out of balance ?
Click to expand...

That's pretty much it, yes. I may do a large water change once or twice a year, depending on how the tank does; I haven't yet decided. I'm not advocating everyone do this.

I can afford the salt, and it's not laziness, I just want to see what is possible.

The thing with a calcium reactor(or kalk) and a skimmer is that there is no imbalance that is formed with sodium or chloride ions. At the same time the skimmer is removing a small amount of water from the system constantly, so some salt water will need to be added back. It's essentially a small continuous water change. My hope is that any drift that may occur in one of the elements will be slow and corrected by this slow water change.
 
Last edited:
Looks like your corals couldn't be happier! There's definitely a lot of nice tanks, including yours, that's backing the quality of Aquaforest products. I'm also very intrigued by tanks that do little to no water changes as you're doing. I pretty much don't dose anything into my tank but rely heavily on my weekly 10% water changes. I love how there are so many roads to success in this hobby of ours.

The pink acro with yellow tips, red acro, and pink one are just beautiful! Do they have names?
 
cFloor said:
Looks like your corals couldn't be happier! There's definitely a lot of nice tanks, including yours, that's backing the quality of Aquaforest products. I'm also very intrigued by tanks that do little to no water changes as you're doing. I pretty much don't dose anything into my tank but rely heavily on my weekly 10% water changes. I love how there are so many roads to success in this hobby of ours.

The pink acro with yellow tips, red acro, and pink one are just beautiful! Do they have names?
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! Those are all "named" corals, from AquaSD. In that order they are Cinderella, Cherry Blossom, and Pink Blossom
 
Colors are looking great Matt, i'm really pleased the new water keeping is going well for you mate :)

I'm assuming that the coral E must have much lower levels of copper than the zeospur2 product if you're putting 5 drops of it in the system every second day. That product should have been in two separate bottles to give you guys the option of only using one or the other or a different ratio mix to suit your needs imo. :reading:

Keep the detailed updates coming Matt :beer:
 
biggles said:
Colors are looking great Matt, i'm really pleased the new water keeping is going well for you mate :)

I'm assuming that the coral E must have much lower levels of copper than the zeospur2 product if you're putting 5 drops of it in the system every second day. That product should have been in two separate bottles to give you guys the option of only using one or the other or a different ratio mix to suit your needs imo. :reading:

Keep the detailed updates coming Matt :beer:
Click to expand...

I think it's way more gentle than zeospur, it seems that most Aquaforest users dose it every day.
 
mhucasey said:
Thanks Matt, do you have any thoughts on the salt now that you have been using it?
Click to expand...

I can't say I have anything particular to say about it..
I've done two 10% wc and added some for wet skimming salinity compensation. I haven't really seen any significant changes.. Good or bad..
 
reefmutt said:
I can't say I have anything particular to say about it..
I've done two 10% wc and added some for wet skimming salinity compensation. I haven't really seen any significant changes.. Good or bad..
Click to expand...

As it should be I suppose:). Did they send the bonus NP Pro in the smaller buckets you bought?
 
mhucasey said:
Thats pretty cool that they include it, those bottles are 10 bucks or so retail. Its a nice freebie:)
Click to expand...

I just ordered my second bucket of AF probiotic salt. Amazon says only 12 left , so just in case I rather have a backup. Probably I will do that until the market is fully loaded with the product. I will not wait till the bucket is almost empty.

Mainly with this thread going on that is stimulating all of us to embrace the change! !!

Cheers
Daniel
 
nemodan said:
I just ordered my second bucket of AF probiotic salt. Amazon says only 12 left , so just in case I rather have a backup. Probably I will do that until the market is fully loaded with the product. I will not wait till the bucket is almost empty.

Mainly with this thread going on that is stimulating all of us to embrace the change! !!

Cheers
Daniel
Click to expand...

Good idea! None left in Canada..
 
Do you think the probiotic reef salt is an absolute must for this system. From what I hear it is a very high quality salt, but, not easily available locally for me and ordering online can be hard if it's a possible emergency situation (also it costs more than my current red sea blue bucket).
I know the salt has bacteria, aminos, vitamins etc but couldn't you dose a little extra of the other AF supplements to make up the difference?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
Help: SPS peeling strangely.
Replies
5
Views
188
griss
griss
griss
New Acquisition
Replies
14
Views
223
griss
griss
Itchy Trigger
Heaters for Sump and for Storage Tanks
Replies
2
Views
122
aquaman67
aquaman67
W
Potential 65G
Replies
17
Views
294
griss
griss
S
New tank inhabitants introduction order?
Replies
15
Views
266
Sermanley
S
Back
Top