My 65 Gallon Mixed Reef

[biggles]

I've removed a fair bit of rock over time whilst rearranging things so now there would be about 45-50lbs in my 40x24x18" display, the acros make it look denser than it is.
Speak of the devil it's the Troubster Good move isolating those little bastards mate, they won't cross the sand unless they really hate where you put them :thumbsup:
The tank has had a single 250W radium for the first 11 months but now i'm swapping it to a 400W bulb to increase the PAR throughout the tank and i expect to see better growth and colors with the 400W as i've run lots over the years and they always give great results. I run the 250W for 10 hours a day so i'll just run the 400W 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening for a few days while i monitor the acros reactions. I'll build the times up until i'm running 8 hours non stop which will take a week to 10 days - have done it a few times before.
Definitely get some porites with xmas tree worms, they're fantastic to watch. Look for the green porites as it will do better under your LED's, don't buy one of those ugly brown porites with worms as it looks foul seeing those pretty worms on something resembling an elephant turd........:eek2:

Last video of the reef before the 400W upgrade, colors are washed out but i can't help all the blue unfortunately. Everything is motoring along well aside from the odd acro punch up but i'm letting them sort out their real estate issues themselves atm. You can see the crap on the sand at the end of the video - personally i think Bello somehow transferred his cyano to me, probably used some reef voodoo to curse my water........... obviously it can't be my fault for over doing the nutrients :smokin:

 

[FastUno]

Great to have the video of your tank. I was going to ask if you had any, since I am so interested in learning.


So what do you attribute your success to?

1) You don't do many water changes

2) You don't follow the notion that a lot of live rock is needed & most of it is not extremely porous.

3) you don't have a deep sand bed. I would have suspected your sand be to be the worst, because it is not deep enough to carry the many critters needed & it would it would simply collect detritus. And it is not Bare Bottom in order to reap the rewards of siphoning out junk real quick.


Is it the skimmer then? Have you owned other skimmers & how does this one compare to other skimmers you might have had?


Here is my MH/T5 mixed reef tank:

 

[Bello]

Well..... switched the bulbs yet? All good?

The top down shot in post #481 is just MAD....Hmm did I ever mention how much I bloody hate you?!!!.... Just the combo of colours in there, and the crazy PE, WOW!!

The blue stags look awesome (I can't even pick one I'd like, I WANT ALL!!!), and I really didn't know you had that many stylo pieces. Speaking of stylos, where's Lefty?

Things are just looking brilliant!!!

And the shot where the flubber violated the stylo....nasty!!!...Never seen that kind of aggression first hand from a shroom!!! And no!! my blue rics are out of the system as we speak, nowhere near the yellow acro ...Made a local noobie reefer very happy!!

Hmm...cyano eh?....You know its karma, right? You can't expect to steal SSC's from kangaroos, and expect zero repercussions ...I'm pretty sure that the parrot is hand glove with them

So how you dealing with cyano? Reducing feedings? Any other ideas?...The upgrade plans are still on, I hope?

 

[Bello]

Well..... switched the bulbs yet? All good?

The top down shot in post #481 is just MAD....Hmm did I ever mention how much I bloody hate you?!!!.... Just the combo of colours in there, and the crazy PE, WOW!!

The blue stags look awesome (I can't even pick one I'd like, I WANT ALL!!!), and I really didn't know you had that many stylo pieces. Speaking of stylos, where's Lefty?

Things are just looking brilliant!!!

And the shot where the flubber violated the stylo....nasty!!!...Never seen that kind of aggression first hand from a shroom!!! And no!! my blue rics are out of the system as we speak, nowhere near the yellow acro ...Made a local noobie reefer very happy!!

Hmm...cyano eh?....You know its karma, right? You can't expect to steal SSC's from kangaroos, and expect zero repercussions ...I'm pretty sure that the parrot is hand glove with them

So how you dealing with cyano? Reducing feedings? Any other ideas?...The upgrade plans are still on, I hope?

 

[BlindZide]

Stunning tank. Well done sir!

 

[sahin]

What the h3ll Biggles...Please dont post images like that. Its given me a damn near heart attack! Us lowly reefkeepers cannot cope with seeing our ugly acros after seeing photos like that! Hmmm...now I want to go smash my tank up...:sad2:

Seriously mate, you've reached the pinnacle of reefkeeping expertise. I shall call you Professor Biggles (World Leading authority on SPS Colouringupology).

OK...Let me go see my tank again...............leaves computer and goes over to look at own tank....

I'm back...with a face like this: :sad1:

 

[biggles]

Got a new phone with a much better camera so i'm going to go stupid with top downs today and answer all the replies i missed earlier.

Highly pornographic SPS images are going to follow - this is me stalking the acros, you gotta sneak up on them otherwise they get spooked and hide their colors..........

 

[biggles]

I like the XMAS tree.

Regarding potassium, as I said to Sahin the other day in a UK forum, I have seen no difference in the appearance of my corals when K is at different levels. My first ever testing result with the Salifert K test kit, K was 280 ppm!!!. I try to keep it at 400 ppm in these days. This is not because of the appearance of my corals, but because I believe that bacteria use up potassium. I am wondering if K is a food source for bacteria! Potassium must be used by bacteria for whatever reason, which are then skimmed out by my skimmer. According to chemists in RC, including RFH, there is no known sink for potassium in a reef tank. The only sink must be bacteria. Otherwise, there is no explanation for a drop rate of 1 ppm per day in my tank.

Here is another unrelated topic: I observed that what makes the difference in coral growth is the addition of strontium. Sadly, I cannot automate strontium dosing because I cannot test Sr reliably. I am relying on regular water changes instead to keep up the levels, assuming that my salt mix must have plenty of Sr in it.

I didn't see any change in colors but i think i'm seeing better growth on the acros now. I have seen some funky algae developing which may be related to the sudden potassium addition but i can't say that i've seen anything amazing since correcting the low potassium. I think if i actually stopped being so lazy and just did a 10% monthly water change i'd probably keep the trace elements close enough to normal ocean levels to not see problems.

Hey Biggles, I bet you are going to let some kind of encrusting montipora cover than xmas tree? Or even the encrusting Cyphastrea? That would look awesome.

Discus: I see that you are saying about the Potassium. But without changing anything else I do, as soon as I brought up my Potassium my corals looked much better. Also, the past few weeks I've noticed like Biggles that my SPS growth has really taken off!

I accept that in hindsight, it could have been an indirect effect...who knows. The Zeovit guys always talk about the effect; as much as lots of people knock the Zeovit system, it works.

I'm sure i'm seeing better growth like you now Sahin but adding the 400W Radium bulb will do a lot more to correct that problem for me i think as a single 250W is not enough to cover my 40x24x18 with enough PAR especially at the ends of the tank.

Can't wait to see what madness you come up with this time around

I'm seriously surprised to still see Lefty in there, think it's time he met the business end of a needle ..... you're not going soft now are you?

I'll be keeping Pot at 390-400, not that I've noticed any real difference in growth/color yet, but since the aim is to replicate NSW values as much as possible, may as well .

BTW, I'd better not see an ANGELfish stuck atop that tree

Lefty molted and is now sporting 2 claws again - little self generating stylo stripping bastard..........

Amazing coral color, and collection. Great reading and very good pictures, following this

Hi Roger, thanks for the kind words my friend

Hi Biggles, I have just managed to swop my 2 x 6095s this weekend for 2 x 6105s wideflow with a guy who said the 6105s were too strong for his tank. I also bought a 7096 controller. so now I have 2 x 6105s and a WP25 in my tank. Hope this will be enough flow 85 x water turn over per hour. I am not getting good PE on my SPS all parameters are right, as well as lighting is good, must be just a case of them needing to get used to the flow

That pump combo is all you need Ross, you have the flow well and truly covered now mate and you just need to experiment with the programming to have them all randomly affecting each others flow patterns. :thumbsup:

My drab little table that didn't like the bottom in low light is doing well now after being magnet mounted up much higher. Red with green hues at the base of the colony. The SSC frags are doing fine above it too.

 

[biggles]

Great to have the video of your tank. I was going to ask if you had any, since I am so interested in learning.


So what do you attribute your success to?

1) You don't do many water changes

2) You don't follow the notion that a lot of live rock is needed & most of it is not extremely porous.

3) you don't have a deep sand bed. I would have suspected your sand be to be the worst, because it is not deep enough to carry the many critters needed & it would it would simply collect detritus. And it is not Bare Bottom in order to reap the rewards of siphoning out junk real quick.


Is it the skimmer then? Have you owned other skimmers & how does this one compare to other skimmers you might have had?

All i do in a nutshell is feed the tank heavily with foods that i have personally tested to ensure they are consumed by my acros. I have the skimmer off for an hour and then everything is basically stripped from the water quickly by using an oversized skimmer so as not to allow too much waste getting into the system. I've run becketts which are brutal at quickly removing fresh waste from water but too noisy for a living room. The Deltec skimmer is rated for a heavy stocked 180gal which is about double my tank when you take off 1/3 the manufacturers rating to allow for bullsh*t advertising.
I always use hand selected pieces of fresh live rock which are light due to being porous. I have about 5 lbs of LR in the sump some of which i keep in a compartment which basically operates with water flow across the top like a DSB. Below half way it's anaerobic as nothing goes down there, not the pods or the mysis or any sponges etc. I figure this allows the entire rock inside and out to be populated with nitrogen processing bacteria rather than just the inner areas. No idea if it really works but something eats my nitrates so i always do it. Can show you a few sump pics if you want to see what i'm talking about.
Your tank has a severe flubber infestation mate - there's your problem right there lol. If things are washed out and browning and your tank and rock are as sterile looking as the pic shows i'd say your feeding is low at a guess. Your lights are fine so that just leaves the water really, it's that simple tbh. I don't use carbon but i would if i had that much LPS in the tank. I don't mean to be rude btw i just figure you want a hand so no point beating around the bush - first thing is get a big thick black garbage bag that's big enough to hold those flubbers securely. They'll be ok at the start but will fight once they know what's happening - don't ever turn your back on a flubber tank.

Well..... switched the bulbs yet? All good?

The top down shot in post #481 is just MAD....Hmm did I ever mention how much I bloody hate you?!!!.... Just the combo of colours in there, and the crazy PE, WOW!!

The blue stags look awesome (I can't even pick one I'd like, I WANT ALL!!!), and I really didn't know you had that many stylo pieces. Speaking of stylos, where's Lefty?

Things are just looking brilliant!!!

And the shot where the flubber violated the stylo....nasty!!!...Never seen that kind of aggression first hand from a shroom!!! And no!! my blue rics are out of the system as we speak, nowhere near the yellow acro...Made a local noobie reefer very happy!!

Hmm...cyano eh?....You know its karma, right? You can't expect to steal SSC's from kangaroos, and expect zero repercussions ...I'm pretty sure that the parrot is hand glove with them

So how you dealing with cyano? Reducing feedings? Any other ideas?...The upgrade plans are still on, I hope?

Hey mate, i need to chase your journal up and see what sneaky crap you've been up to lately. You know i want a Regal now because of you...... I switched the bulbs 4 days ago and decided to just run it for 8 hours straight instead of 10 - some of the acros look like they'd wince if they could but i'm sure they'll all suck it up and get used to the brighter light lol. I did see a couple of burnt tips on one acro but that's it so far.
Lefty is has molted and now is fully armed again - he hasn't touched a stylo since i last stabbed him but he's a sneaky little rat bastard crab so it's only a matter of time.
I bet that noobie wet his pants when he saw those crazy blue rics lol, nice of you to do that mate. I know Troub would love some of those, wouldn't ya Troub ya filthy flubber lover you..........
Stopped feeding the acros a week ago and changed put 4 tablespoons of new Rowaphos in the sump in 2 bags. I think it's starting to clean up now, not getting worse at least lol. I'll just starve it out and then start feedings again and build them back up as usual over a month or two. The colors in my pics aren't spot on but i do try to show what i see in person. If i goof it's just because my eyes have gone weird from color adjusting pics The blue stag on the raft really likes the new 400W bulb, the extra punch of brighter light is very obvious in person and the 400W Radium burns whiter than the 250W bulb.

Stunning tank. Well done sir!

Thanks very much mate for the kind words.

What the h3ll Biggles...Please dont post images like that. Its given me a damn near heart attack! Us lowly reefkeepers cannot cope with seeing our ugly acros after seeing photos like that! Hmmm...now I want to go smash my tank up...

Seriously mate, you've reached the pinnacle of reefkeeping expertise. I shall call you Professor Biggles (World Leading authority on SPS Colouringupology).

OK...Let me go see my tank again...............leaves computer and goes over to look at own tank....

I'm back...with a face like this:

Lol, you and Bello both have lots of beautiful acros mate, neither of you guys has anything to be sad about and i'm looking forward to seeing your colors just get better and better :thumbsup: All my stuff is adjusting to the brighter bulb so it will be a few weeks before i see any real changes i think. I see a bit less PE atm which is to be expected but nothing too drastic.

You can see the drastic color difference between my two pink acros. The top one is in high light and is basically cream and pink except for the encrusting areas that are shaded by the red table, you can see a hint of green on those spots. Below it is the SSC Bryce scored for me which is very green and pink in the shaded spots i put it in front. The pic is under saturated otherwise the blue acros and top pink acro just wash out. The stylo is glow in the dark hot pink in real life. Anyway here's a few pics.

The colors are very close on everything in this pic, everything is much more saturated especially the red table but i wanted you to see my blue table against the SSC branches - even i think that's going to look bloody awesome as they grow out lol. I've never seen a baby blue all over table before so it's one of my favorites. The SSC branches are right under the 400W bulb and look yellow as in the pic rather than green when placed in low light however the pink is also very pale, i want the yellow more than pink since Bello snuck a yellow acro into his reef lol.

The red table looks a lot more like in this non corrected image - kids turn away, this is SPS porn - if only i had a bloody real camera Sahin lol.

See t]he insane blue tipped acro at the back, it's not as dark obviously but this arty farty moody lighting pic lets me show the saturation on stuff. The colors of everything are very close to what i see in person. Those insanely blue tips on aqua blue branches are 95% color correct, frankly i'd drown any of you in my sump and feed your pulp to my acros if you tried to get a frag of it. A US acro shop would charge a whole lot for frags of that i'm bloody certain lol - the Blue Orgasm or the Blue Thunderbum, hows do those names sound - don't think i'd get a job naming acros :lol:

I spent ages trying to show you the real colors as best i could so you can better see what i see in person, i really don't need to fudge colors so if i do at times it's just a goof - i know i do sometimes lol.

So biggles what do you think of the 120W blue/white LED unit for SPS ?

It grows red macro algae great.......... piece of !@^$%#& crap......

 

[martinphillip03]

You were overdriving your 250W Radium. Did you change your ballast for the 400W bulb?

Marty

 

[Bello]

Sweet sweet reefp0rn biggles :lol:

You're right, don't think I've seen any blue tabling acros, but then again, I've barely seen any acros in volumes . Both the red tables look exquisite. Love the multi coloured look. You know that I've been hunting for nice blue acros for a while, right? And you've got so many variations of blue, that its beginning to annoy me :furious:

Still, I'll go with Blue ThunderBum over Blue Orgasm

BTW, I still haven't got a Regal yet, but I'm convinced you've instructed my Flameback to be an arse. Caught him nipping on the Yellow!!!....He's going into Solitary in a few hours :furious:, a shame though, took me a while to get one. Still want a Regal??

I do have to thank you, (between insults ), the simple method is working fairly well for me thus far. I do get some annoying algae, but most corals are happy and coloured :thumbsup:. The rest? In a couple months time, they will be deemed genetically fugly and banished!!

 

[biggles]

You were overdriving your 250W Radium. Did you change your ballast for the 400W bulb?

Marty

Hey Marty, yeah i'm doing the same thing with the 400W on another ballast. I always use a 400W HPS ballast to run the 400W Radium bulb which is actually being over driven when run at 400W on this ballast. You get a very crisp 14-16K look and it's bloody bright. They cost about $60-$70 on ebay and are the same ones the dope growers use lol. I replace bulbs every 6 months.

Sweet sweet reefp0rn biggles :lol:

You're right, don't think I've seen any blue tabling acros, but then again, I've barely seen any acros in volumes . Both the red tables look exquisite. Love the multi coloured look. You know that I've been hunting for nice blue acros for a while, right? And you've got so many variations of blue, that its beginning to annoy me :furious:

Still, I'll go with Blue ThunderBum over Blue Orgasm

BTW, I still haven't got a Regal yet, but I'm convinced you've instructed my Flameback to be an arse. Caught him nipping on the Yellow!!!....He's going into Solitary in a few hours :furious:, a shame though, took me a while to get one. Still want a Regal??

I do have to thank you, (between insults ), the simple method is working fairly well for me thus far. I do get some annoying algae, but most corals are happy and coloured :thumbsup:. The rest? In a couple months time, they will be deemed genetically fugly and banished!!

Hey mate, yes i don't have any probs with blues at all and they're commonly available at my LFS's so i assumed lots would also be sent overseas. You have to really stuff up your water to not keep good blues under a radium bulb so i do have an unfair advantage over you Bello :smokin:

Months back when i moved the drab blue stag down from very high light to low light on the raft rock i also retrieved a worse looking frag of the same stag which was in the sump LED section looking even worse. That frag came off the other blue stag branch i bought at the same time, there were about 10 blue West Australian reef collected branch pieces for sale and i assume the collector broke them all off the same big colony or group of the same stag colonies.
I glued it onto the stag i had lowered and over time the branch has deepened considerably in color and developed a very nice deep satin blue that glows in real life. The weird thing is that the branch i glued onto it is a different brighter blue and very obviously different from any viewing angle. You can clearly see where the encrusting over the wound has a clear color shift where the two bits meet. No idea why it's happened but i thought it would interest some of you

You can see the crap that's dusting the sand bed in the shady areas at the back of the raft rock with low flow as well. Tested nitrates today - zero. Tested phos on the hanna - 0.08. If it's the same in a couple of days i'm going to double the Rowaphos in the sump and pull the phos out faster. Check out my flubber that's now happy in the shade under the stags. Flubber success, unlike the hydno which has decided to just start dying for no bloody reason, #$^@&*# FLUBBER GIVES ME THE SH*TS ! I swear they wake some days and think hmmmm, i might slough some flesh and die just to annoy that stupid SPS keeping bastard........
I'm seriously considering delaying the new tank for a couple of months so i can get a Regal Bello, plus i still want the multibar......... i'm turning into a fish head thanks to you lol. I'd use the centrifugal attitude adjustment method on that flameback of yours, a blender spins the nipping out of them. Otherwise hold the fish firmly and whack it hard on the head with an acro branch, do this once a day for a week and i reckon that fish won't go near another acro. Let us know which method you go with Bello and how it works out as we're all here to learn..............
I'm glad things are on the mend with your acros mate, your recent pics are proof of that. The colors will only get better as your systems settle into the new routine. One last thing - DO NOT PUT DANGEROUS ANGELS IN WITH MY BLOODY YELLOW ACRO !

 

[prop-frags]

Get a regal...you know you want one! Ours eats acros, but our strategy is to grow the acros at a faster rate than the regal can eat. It serves as a good motivator to keep the SPS cranking. Interesting with the stag graft you did; we've seen similar results - our prop tank is lit with el-cheapo LEDs and the frags always look considerably different than the parents in the display but we've not tried to glue the two back together like some kind of freaky frankenstien experiment. :lol:

 

[sahin]

Wow mate, your SPS colours are some of the best I've seen! I'm honestly saying that. I see no pale, Zeovit like colours either.

So, can you do me one big favour for me please? Can you detail:

1. The foods you feed directly for the SPS corals?

2. Exactly how do you feed the corals? I see you turn off the skimmer for an hours etc? Time, how much you feed, how often etc?

I wish to do an experiment. I am going to buy the same foods you feed and feed the same way and see if my corals colour up better. only about half a dozen out of so many of my coralsare nicely coloured. The rest are crap.

My tank is now over 1 years old. I have very good light (ATI LED Powermodule), Skimmer, Ecotech pumps etc etc.

My water is as follows:

NO3= 2.5ppm (Salifert)
PO4= 0.01ppm (Elos/Merck High Resolution Phosphate kit)
Alk=8 dKH
Ca=420ppm
Mg=1300ppm
K=400ppm

I know the nutrient is very low in my tank. I dont need to scrap the glass for upto 10 days! When the tank was new I had to scrap every 2 days or a dirty brown film will grow on the glass. The only thing that grows is purple coralline and some kind of green coralline algae - both are hard in nature and difficult to remove/scrap from glass. No other algae in tank.

I feed my fishes only flake foods once every day. No other food gets into the tank.

So I'm now thinking of doing this experiment for a couple of months at least.

Thanks in advance, and respond to this when it is suitable for you.

 

[biggles]

Get a regal...you know you want one! Ours eats acros, but our strategy is to grow the acros at a faster rate than the regal can eat. It serves as a good motivator to keep the SPS cranking. Interesting with the stag graft you did; we've seen similar results - our prop tank is lit with el-cheapo LEDs and the frags always look considerably different than the parents in the display but we've not tried to glue the two back together like some kind of freaky frankenstien experiment. :lol:

I think i will get a Regal, yesterday i added two Lori's Anthias which are currently being stalked by the cleaner shrimp every time they try to hide in the rocks lol.

Wow mate, your SPS colours are some of the best I've seen! I'm honestly saying that. I see no pale, Zeovit like colours either.

So, can you do me one big favour for me please? Can you detail:

1. The foods you feed directly for the SPS corals?

2. Exactly how do you feed the corals? I see you turn off the skimmer for an hours etc? Time, how much you feed, how often etc?

I wish to do an experiment. I am going to buy the same foods you feed and feed the same way and see if my corals colour up better. only about half a dozen out of so many of my coralsare nicely coloured. The rest are crap.

My tank is now over 1 years old. I have very good light (ATI LED Powermodule), Skimmer, Ecotech pumps etc etc.

My water is as follows:

NO3= 2.5ppm (Salifert)
PO4= 0.01ppm (Elos/Merck High Resolution Phosphate kit)
Alk=8 dKH
Ca=420ppm
Mg=1300ppm
K=400ppm

I know the nutrient is very low in my tank. I dont need to scrap the glass for upto 10 days! When the tank was new I had to scrap every 2 days or a dirty brown film will grow on the glass. The only thing that grows is purple coralline and some kind of green coralline algae - both are hard in nature and difficult to remove/scrap from glass. No other algae in tank.

I feed my fishes only flake foods once every day. No other food gets into the tank.

So I'm now thinking of doing this experiment for a couple of months at least.

Thanks in advance, and respond to this when it is suitable for you.

Hey mate, just home for lunch but i'll PM you the details of exactly what i do and how so you can hopefully get those bloody acros of yours to look the way they're meant to :beer:

Very under saturated pic so you can see the detail of the blue acro with darker blue polyps and light blue growing tips - the most ridiculously colored stag i've ever come across tbh. Really need to do something about the green acro stinging the base of it constantly as that can't be good for it lol.

 

[biggles]

 

[Fail_sh3d]

Gorgeous! What kind of anthias is that?

 

[Bello]

Hey mate, yes i don't have any probs with blues at all and they're commonly available at my LFS's so i assumed lots would also be sent overseas. You have to really stuff up your water to not keep good blues under a radium bulb so i do have an unfair advantage over you Bello :smokin:

Months back when i moved the drab blue stag down from very high light to low light on the raft rock i also retrieved a worse looking frag of the same stag which was in the sump LED section looking even worse. That frag came off the other blue stag branch i bought at the same time, there were about 10 blue West Australian reef collected branch pieces for sale and i assume the collector broke them all off the same big colony or group of the same stag colonies.
I glued it onto the stag i had lowered and over time the branch has deepened considerably in color and developed a very nice deep satin blue that glows in real life. The weird thing is that the branch i glued onto it is a different brighter blue and very obviously different from any viewing angle. You can clearly see where the encrusting over the wound has a clear color shift where the two bits meet. No idea why it's happened but i thought it would interest some of you

You can see the crap that's dusting the sand bed in the shady areas at the back of the raft rock with low flow as well. Tested nitrates today - zero. Tested phos on the hanna - 0.08. If it's the same in a couple of days i'm going to double the Rowaphos in the sump and pull the phos out faster. Check out my flubber that's now happy in the shade under the stags. Flubber success, unlike the hydno which has decided to just start dying for no bloody reason, #$^@&*# FLUBBER GIVES ME THE SH*TS ! I swear they wake some days and think hmmmm, i might slough some flesh and die just to annoy that stupid SPS keeping bastard........
I'm seriously considering delaying the new tank for a couple of months so i can get a Regal Bello, plus i still want the multibar......... i'm turning into a fish head thanks to you lol. I'd use the centrifugal attitude adjustment method on that flameback of yours, a blender spins the nipping out of them. Otherwise hold the fish firmly and whack it hard on the head with an acro branch, do this once a day for a week and i reckon that fish won't go near another acro. Let us know which method you go with Bello and how it works out as we're all here to learn..............
I'm glad things are on the mend with your acros mate, your recent pics are proof of that. The colors will only get better as your systems settle into the new routine. One last thing - DO NOT PUT DANGEROUS ANGELS IN WITH MY BLOODY YELLOW ACRO !

I wish biggles...... I wish I could get ANY Aussie coral...NOPE!!... Frags are possible after a good amount of difficulty. I suspect that the indo maricultures that are available from time to time are pretty much the cheapest of what's exported. Everyone here is too busy comparing prices, instead of quality and rarity.

That franky acro looks pretty funky,trust you to experiment like that :lol:. It's amazing how much abuse acros can take as long as your water and lights are fine

I've given up on hydno's as well. Had a couple frags for free, and absolutely no growth, color improvements in 6 months. Gave it away.

Thanks for the no3, po4 info, think I need to drop down those levels a bit. They've creeped up a bit since I stopped zeovit. But so far so good :thumbsup:

Well, the Flameback didn't get any mercy from me. I was gonna try the blender, but I only have a small one, where my son's food is made. I didn't want his contagious disobedience to pass onto my son, he's naughty enough as is . So the Flameback's currently in Solitary with Fukall for a tankmate, atoning for his sins and reflecting on his life .....

You really are turning into a fishgeek....didn't think this day would come ...and what fish!!!! The anthias are stunning!!! Just wow :thumbsup:

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Hey mate, just home for lunch but i'll PM you the details of exactly what i do and how so you can hopefully get those bloody acros of yours to look the way they're meant to

Can you please share your pm with the rest of us so that we can benefit too.

Cheers

 

[biggles]

Gorgeous! What kind of anthias is that?

Hi mate, they're Lori's Anthias, also called the Tiger Queen Anthias (Pseudanthias lori) i believe.

I wish biggles...... I wish I could get ANY Aussie coral...NOPE!!... Frags are possible after a good amount of difficulty. I suspect that the indo maricultures that are available from time to time are pretty much the cheapest of what's exported. Everyone here is too busy comparing prices, instead of quality and rarity.

That franky acro looks pretty funky,trust you to experiment like that :lol:. It's amazing how much abuse acros can take as long as your water and lights are fine

I've given up on hydno's as well. Had a couple frags for free, and absolutely no growth, color improvements in 6 months. Gave it away.

Thanks for the no3, po4 info, think I need to drop down those levels a bit. They've creeped up a bit since I stopped zeovit. But so far so good

Well, the Flameback didn't get any mercy from me. I was gonna try the blender, but I only have a small one, where my son's food is made. I didn't want his contagious disobedience to pass onto my son, he's naughty enough as is . So the Flameback's currently in Solitary with Fukall for a tankmate, atoning for his sins and reflecting on his life .....

You really are turning into a fishgeek....didn't think this day would come ...and what fish!!!! The anthias are stunning!!! Just wow :thumbsup:

Haha i forgot about Fukall glad you caught that little bastardback fish. Good to hear your son is keeping you busy mate lol, i miss having a little guy running me ragged - i also own the Sydney Harbor Bridge if you wanna buy it..... they're trying to ban smacking here, wouldn't have helped me as mom used to throw sandals and all sorts of things at me as i ran for the back fence lol. If he's anything like me remove any flammable liquids and matches, lighters etc from the house once he turns 10............ i want you to pass this on to your boy if the day ever comes that he plays with fire - remote controlled aircraft fuel is best left alone, it's damn hard to deny you were playing with fire when you come home with no eyebrows......... enough said.

It's your bloody fault i've turned fishy mate lol, those guys have settled in already and are out and about with the other fish. They especially love cyclop-eeze which suits me fine since the acros eat the stuff too Whilst waiting for the anthias to be bagged up i saw a pair of small 1" Clarkii clownfish that are only found around one particular island on the GBR apparently, they have full dark adult coloration even so young which is what caught my eye but being a responsible reefer i did not impulse buy them. I took the anthias to the car before returning to buy the clowns - because i left the shop and returned it was then a considered purchase :smokin: They're in the sump tank and will be getting an anemone as i've decided to set it up as a clownfish nano display and i'm looking forward to scaping it and how it ends up looking, it won't be an SPS display as i want to use the LED.

Took a shot of a piece of SSC at night with the flash.