My 65G Shallow Reef Tank

[DiscusHeckel]

Very nice Bulent.
Im sure the deforestation pain is worth the new coral gain.
The microclados looks nice and healthy and I bet you'll get more colour out of those polyps than you expect.
I wouldn't worry about flow in that desalwi. I bet it will like it.
Curious to see a new fts after the 'butcher' job.

Thank you Matt.

Here are two new FTSs, which I have just taken:

Notice the frags on the sand bed. Someone is coming this week to pick two of the large ones. Hopefully, with the proceeds, I will be able to get another fairly large pink Acropora next week.

 

[mhucasey]

Looking good Bulent, making room for new pieces! I think of the tank like a flower garden, without pruning and replacing the garden won't look it's best long term. Nothing worse than a flower bush that overgrows and loses its shape and color. It's very similar with Acropora- I remember the Belgian reef keeper Luc Loyen(jawsee) used to grow frags up in his frag tank and remove colonies completely that had grown massive. He would replace them with the small frag colony and thereby keep the aesthetic without losing the coral...

 

[markalot]

I love this angled shot, really gives me a sense of how you see the tank. Looking very very nice!

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Looking good Bulent, making room for new pieces! I think of the tank like a flower garden, without pruning and replacing the garden won't look it's best long term. Nothing worse than a flower bush that overgrows and loses its shape and color. It's very similar with Acropora- I remember the Belgian reef keeper Luc Loyen(jawsee) used to grow frags up in his frag tank and remove colonies completely that had grown massive. He would replace them with the small frag colony and thereby keep the aesthetic without losing the coral...

Thank you Matt. I like your analogy. Yes, that's correct. I have already got a large microclados frag (see post no 479 above) and will be getting another large one soon (hopefully another pink one). Plus, I have already placed my desalwii on one of the branches of my branching rock vacated by the cut sections of the copisa colony. When I removed the mother colony for pruning, I was able to visualise how my tank would look like without it. I realised that it would look just fine. If I removed it for good, then I would need to get one or two wild-collected acros with tabling formation in its place. This would create a lot of space for fish to swim around branching rock as well as improving the flow in the tank.

Cheers

I love this angled shot, really gives me a sense of how you see the tank. Looking very very nice!

Thank you Mark. This is how exactly see my tank when I enter my office/fish room at home.

 

[jroovers]

The tank looks awesome, very mature looking with the larger colonies, especially the stags!

 

[DiscusHeckel]

The tank looks awesome, very mature looking with the larger colonies, especially the stags!

Cheers mate.

I have just ordered this little dragon acropora frag (3 cm) online. It is tank grown from a wild-collected colony. I am hoping that it will colour up nicely in my tank. It will replace my mature Acropora speciosa colony (also shown).

 

[DiscusHeckel]

The desalwii has settled in its new spot, showing good polyp extension.

 

[reefmutt]

I love the big stags framing the tank. It's like you're looking deep into the ocean.
Although I'll be sad to see your speciosa colony go, the red dragon will be a beautiful addition of colour and form..
It'll look great! Nice choice.

 

[plyle02]

Thank you Matt.

Here are two new FTSs, which I have just taken:

Notice the frags on the sand bed. Someone is coming this week to pick two of the large ones. Hopefully, with the proceeds, I will be able to get another fairly large pink Acropora next week.

Very Nice Bulent!
Every time I see your tank I feel like it is bigger than 65G. The colors are beautiful, and they keep getting bigger which each set of photos you post! Again, very nice Bulent!!!

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I love the big stags framing the tank. It's like you're looking deep into the ocean.
Although I'll be sad to see your speciosa colony go, the red dragon will be a beautiful addition of colour and form..
It'll look great! Nice choice.

Thank you Matt. I have sold the speciosa very quickly. A gentleman is coming from a 65-mile distance to collect it. The dragon acro is going to be delivered next Tuesday. Do you have a suggestion for its placement in terms of flow and light. The dealer suggests that it is a deep water acro and should thus be placed accordingly. However, some suggest that this acro can handle bright illumination too. Have you had any experience with this coral before?

Very Nice Bulent!
Every time I see your tank I feel like it is bigger than 65G. The colors are beautiful, and they keep getting bigger which each set of photos you post! Again, very nice Bulent!!!

Thank you for your compliment Perry. I wish my tank was bigger than 65G. The growth is very rampant in my tank. I am not complaining.

On a separate note, I have completed two weeks of KoralColor dosing. I have not noticed any difference in coral colouration. I will increase the dose very slightly and observe my corals for the next seven days. As each tank is different, I would like to find out what the optimum dosing amount is before I see any deterioration of corals. I have re-started my Tropic Marin dosing regimen as I did not want to leave phosphates to rise unchecked.

Finally, one of my resplendent anthias has a pop eye. I am hoping that this is not as a result of bacterial infection and it is as a result of contact with a sharp object. I am hoping that the affected fish, which is a male, will not lose its eye.

Cheers

 

[reefmutt]

I didn't think you'd have any trouble selling that speciosa, it was gorgeous.
My experience with red dragon is the following:
It is quite adaptable to lighting (within reason) and flow but will grow very differently depending on the amount of light and flow.
I think under t5, it will handle everything from low to high light, under mh, it may not handle intense light quite as much.
It will be more red with higher light (when not over exposed) and it will be more pastel under lower light.
In terms of flow, it is like most corals; it'll grow more open, delicate and irregular under light flow and more clustered and dense under high flow.
Where I have found it to be less adaptable is when dealing with system instability. Like nutrient or main parameter swings.
I have a couple pieces doing very well at the moment but in the past, I have had pieces that grew well and then rtned over night for no apparent reason. Like all dragons, it can start rtning and then just stop, again for no apparent reason.
They will eventually encrust but they take their time, so glue it well.
I have always thought of them as exactly like ice/fire echinatas for lighting and system requirements-delicate and finicky when they don't want to cooperate but tough as nails when happy.
So, if it were me, I'd be more concerned with flow than light. It is pretty whether it is pink or red but it is way more attractive when it can grow out in an irregular and open form..

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I didn't think you'd have any trouble selling that speciosa, it was gorgeous.
My experience with red dragon is the following:
It is quite adaptable to lighting (within reason) and flow but will grow very differently depending on the amount of light and flow.
I think under t5, it will handle everything from low to high light, under mh, it may not handle intense light quite as much.
It will be more red with higher light (when not over exposed) and it will be more pastel under lower light.
In terms of flow, it is like most corals; it'll grow more open, delicate and irregular under light flow and more clustered and dense under high flow.
Where I have found it to be less adaptable is when dealing with system instability. Like nutrient or main parameter swings.
I have a couple pieces doing very well at the moment but in the past, I have had pieces that grew well and then rtned over night for no apparent reason. Like all dragons, it can start rtning and then just stop, again for no apparent reason.
They will eventually encrust but they take their time, so glue it well.
I have always thought of them as exactly like ice/fire echinatas for lighting and system requirements-delicate and finicky when they don't want to cooperate but tough as nails when happy.
So, if it were me, I'd be more concerned with flow than light. It is pretty whether it is pink or red but it is way more attractive when it can grow out in an irregular and open form..

Matt, thank you for taking time to provide such a detailed advice. I appreciate it. I like challenges like this and look forward to getting my frag next Tuesday. I will target an irregular and open form.

:beer:

 

[reefmutt]

No problem, Bulent. It will be fun to watch it grow out.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

No problem, Bulent. It will be fun to watch it grow out.

Hi Matt,

What is your advice on A. microclados )(aka SSC) placement? I am going to attach it to LR tomorrow afternoon.

Do you think green pigmentation on this acro depends on the lightintensity or is it dependent on water parameters?

Thanks

Bulent

 

[reefmutt]

Ssc, I don't have that much experience with..
Although I have a few pieces of it- mid water, decent flow- I have never really moved it around or seen it grow very much.
Andrew has always said medium light gives it the most potential and I'm sure it likes flow..
Check out urbanek's 250 thread. He has one of the biggest ssc colonies I've ever seen in captivity. He grew it out from a frag.. He may have more insight. He posted a pic a few weeks ago..

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Ssc, I don't have that much experience with..
Although I have a few pieces of it- mid water, decent flow- I have never really moved it around or seen it grow very much.
Andrew has always said medium light gives it the most potential and I'm sure it likes flow..
Check out urbanek's 250 thread. He has one of the biggest ssc colonies I've ever seen in captivity. He grew it out from a frag.. He may have more insight. He posted a pic a few weeks ago..

I have just read his tank thread. His SSC is 12" X 10" and in table formation, you were not kidding sir. Both his dragon and SSC give me inspiration.

Thank you.

 

[mhucasey]

Hi Matt,

What is your advice on A. microclados )(aka SSC) placement? I am going to attach it to LR tomorrow afternoon.

Do you think green pigmentation on this acro depends on the lightintensity or is it dependent on water parameters?

Thanks

Bulent

My SSC(from a wild colony) is getting 400 or so PAR:

 

[DiscusHeckel]

My SSC(from a wild colony) is getting 400 or so PAR:

Thank you Matt. This is useful information. ~400 mmol/m2/sec PAR is easily achievable on my LR. Nice coral by the way.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I would like to share my latest top-down photo shoots. I am very happy with the progress. Colouration is going in the right direction. Having looked the Acropora humilis, I have realised that it is showing signs of turquoise colouration. I think it will turn blue eventually. Latest test results are as follows:

KH: 6.85 dKH
Ca: 415 ppm

NO3: 10 ppm
PO4: 0.092-0.14 mg/l

Current KoralColor dosage amount: (in Biggles' terms- 0.625 ml per 600 lt)

Current TM Bacto Balance: 1.2 ml per day

I am starting TM Elimi-NP, which is organic carbon, i.e. polysugars, as soon as it arrives from Germany. Both TM bacto balance and Elimi-NP are completely miscible.

 

[reefmutt]

Nice shots, Bulent!
The ice fire remains amazing.
If I recall correctly, I'd say there is ever so slightly more red and less green in that Millie.
Incredible new growth on the plating coral in the last pick.
What is the smooth skin in the fifth pic down?