My 65G Shallow Reef Tank

[DiscusHeckel]

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?

Thank you Matt. You are very kind.

The Milepora on 8th January 2016:

Water Parameters:

KH: ~7.45 dKH
Ca: 395 ppm
Mg: 1405 ppm

NO3: 5 ppm
PO4: 0.046 mg/l

The Milepora today:

Water Parameters:

KH: ~6.85 dKH
Ca: 415 ppm
Mg: ? ppm

NO3: 10 ppm
PO4: 0.092-0.14 mg/

The coral in the last picture is not a plating coral. It is a wild-collected Acropora nasuta (this is what I was told). The growth is just amazing.

6th January 2016 (note that the left bottom branch in the first photo was fragged last month)

Today

The smooth skin is Acropora lokani, which was fragged from this colony:

Finally, I have just noticed how much this mystery Acropora (gemmifera???) has grown since 20th December 2015:

My corals are on a steroid .

 

[Wrangy]

They're looking outstanding Bulent :inlove: you've really got some beautiful colour and some kick@ss growth going too!!

 

[markalot]

Awesome pics Bulent!

 

[DiscusHeckel]

They're looking outstanding Bulent :inlove: you've really got some beautiful colour and some kick@ss growth going too!!

Cheers Dom.

ATI tubes are great to grow acros. I think the steroids I am dosing are also helping along with high energy reef scheme I am running (high light, high nutrients, high water flow and high temperature).

Awesome pics Bulent!

Cheers Mark. I appreciate it.

 

[M007]

Holy siht I said to myself when I saw that last growth comparison shot! Nice :bigeyes:

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Holy siht I said to myself when I saw that last growth comparison shot! Nice :bigeyes:

That's exactly what I said to myself.

 

[M007]

If they do that again in 4 months, you are going to need another 3 feet of glass and another 3 feet of ATI :thumbsup:

 

[reefmutt]

Thank you Matt. You are very kind.

The Milepora on 8th January 2016:

Water Parameters:

KH: ~7.45 dKH
Ca: 395 ppm
Mg: 1405 ppm

NO3: 5 ppm
PO4: 0.046 mg/l

The Milepora today:

Water Parameters:

KH: ~6.85 dKH
Ca: 415 ppm
Mg: ? ppm

NO3: 10 ppm
PO4: 0.092-0.14 mg/

The coral in the last picture is not a plating coral. It is a wild-collected Acropora nasuta (this is what I was told). The growth is just amazing.

6th January 2016 (note that the left bottom branch in the first photo was fragged last month)

Today

The smooth skin is Acropora lokani, which was fragged from this colony:

Finally, I have just noticed how much this mystery Acropora (gemmifera???) has grown since 20th December 2015:

My corals are on a steroid .

Steroids indeed! Wow!
Ok, I remember that lokani, about two pages back you were showing me the before and after.
Growth is very impressive! Very!!
So, seeing the Millie before and after, perhaps there is no intensification of red but all the new growth is holding the red.
We'll see what the KC does about that.
That mystery coral is really something. Crazy growth and colour!

 

[mhucasey]

Let me add to the chorus saying holy moley that's impressive growth! The form and color on those pieces is mighty impressive Bulent!

 

[sahin]

The Milepora on 8th January 2016:
NO3: 5 ppm
PO4: 0.046 mg/l

The Milepora today:
NO3: 10 ppm
PO4: 0.092-0.14 mg/

Bulent your corals are looking great and exhibiting nice colours :beer:

I quoted those two because maybe its the photography, but does the coral look a touch darker with the extra NO3 and PO4?

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Bulent your corals are looking great and exhibiting nice colours :beer:

I quoted those two because maybe its the photography, but does the coral look a touch darker with the extra NO3 and PO4?

Thanks Sahin. I think I agree with you that increased nitrates may well have played a part in the colouration. This is why I have so far hesitated to credit KoralColor. In fact, the millepora is not the only coral that started to exhibit darker colours. Please have a look at the nasuta. When I look at it from the top, it looks exactly like in the photo. It was definitely slightly lighter last January.

6th January 2016

Yesterday

This shows why it is very difficult to carry out empirical investigation/tests because sometimes you cannot freeze/stabilise those factors that may interfere with your test.

 

[plyle02]

Holy Crap Bulent, that is a ton of growth man!!! Wow, very pretty colors too

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Steroids indeed! Wow!
Ok, I remember that lokani, about two pages back you were showing me the before and after.
Growth is very impressive! Very!!
So, seeing the Millie before and after, perhaps there is no intensification of red but all the new growth is holding the red.
We'll see what the KC does about that.
That mystery coral is really something. Crazy growth and colour!

Let me add to the chorus saying holy moley that's impressive growth! The form and color on those pieces is mighty impressive Bulent!

Thanks.

The sad thing is that I cannot enjoy its colouration unless I look at it from the top. When you look at perpendicularly throughout the glass, it look mostly light pink. By the way, I attached this coral to live rock in August 2015 as shown below. Its mother colony was a wild-collected acro and exhibited pale blue colouration. I thought I bought a blue coral. I am not complaining though.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Holy Crap Bulent, that is a ton of growth man!!! Wow, very pretty colors too

Cheers Perry. This coral is subjected to vortex-like water currents. It is hammered from the top. I think strong currents influence its growth rate as well as the way it spreads on the live rock.

Can you guess its ID if so, please let me know here.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I forgot to upload the latest picture of my A. digitifera, which is another coral getting surf-like water flow, and is therefore spreading in a table formation. The crab in the photo has been living in this coral for more than five years. It has recently shed its skin and got even bigger.

 

[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...

Hi Matt,

A few minute ago I remembered what you said above and took a very drastic action on my Acropora digitifera, which started to collapse due to its own body mass as it was not attached to a rock. I did not plan it this way, but in the end I had no choice. It kept toppling towards other corals. It simply became too big and bulky in my tank. These are the last two pictures before the axe fell on it:

The colony measured 10" X 7" X 5".

It is now in several pieces. I am going to keep one of them only. I will keep the frag in which the crab lives. Hopefully it will continue to live in it.

The bit that caused all the issues is now in the bin. Good riddance.

I sometimes hate this hobby.

 

[biggles]

Holy cow Bulent, that must have been heartbreaking to do mate

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Holy cow Bulent, that must have been heartbreaking to do mate

I am supposed to be in bed now Andrew, but can't because of this.:sad1:

 

[reefmutt]

Bulent, it's a new start and you have more room.
You keep part of the old colony and you are able to explore and and enjoy your passion in new ways.
You haven't killed anything, done anything stupid or made a miscalculation, you have simply advanced the state or you reef and commenced a new chapter.
This is all good.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Bulent, it's a new start and you have more room.
You keep part of the old colony and you are able to explore and and enjoy your passion in new ways.
You haven't killed anything, done anything stupid or made a miscalculation, you have simply advanced the state or you reef and commenced a new chapter.
This is all good.

Thanks for instilling positive mental attitude into me Matt. I feel better already. I should have used a dremmel to shave off the bottom rock, but sadly did not have one. This is now in my shopping list.