My 65G Shallow Reef Tank

[mhucasey]

I am hoping that the Acropora microclados is going to be the centre piece of my tank one day. Restoring its pink pigments has been a challenge up to now. Here are a few photos:

14th March 2016

11th April 2016

27th April 2016

However, my lack of luck with pinks may just be coming to an end.

I have made a few aggressive changes recently. First, I have reduced the light unit far more than I would normally do. It is now 5" over the water surface. The coral must be getting slightly over 400 mmol/m2/sec PAR. Second, I have started to reduce nutrients far more aggressively. I reported the latest nutrient test results a few days ago. This aggression came at a cost. Cyano re-appeared when TM Elimi-NP's daily dose reached 0.25 ml. I stopped dosing organic carbon and increased Bacto balance dose to 1.7 ml per day. Cyano disappeared literally straightaway. This aggressive nutrient reduction strategy will continue in the coming weeks. Third, I have started to dose Tropic Marin Pro-Coral Iodine more aggressively. I have recently increased the dose from 1 drop per week to 1 drop three times a week. I have no idea whether or not elemental iodine (aka lugol's solution) has any impact on the red and pink colour pigments.

These changes seem to have made some positive impact. I have just taken some top-down photos, and when I viewed them I was pleasantly surprised.

The pink is coming in really nicely!

 

[mhucasey]

Other corals with pink pigments are coming along nicely too.

Acropora sarmentosa

Acropora millepora (when it is hairy)

Acropora millepora (after its hair is removed with a turkey baster)

Finally, the desalwii is still resting on the orange montipora without putty. Strangely they seem to be co-existing without stinging each other. I thought the montipora would have died by now. Oh well....

Acropora desalwii

The Sarmentosa is looking tip-top! Mine is struggling to get the pink back at the tips - I suspected not enough light. What Par is your's receiving?

 

[DiscusHeckel]

wow corals looking great!

the pink came back quite nicely!!

great job!!

Flo

Thanks Flo.

The pink is coming in really nicely!

Why is it that when I view the same coral its colour looks different. I took this photo two days ago:

The Sarmentosa is looking tip-top! Mine is struggling to get the pink back at the tips - I suspected not enough light. What Par is your's receiving?

Thanks Matt. I have just measured it for you. It receives ~370 mmol/m2/sec PAR with the tank cover and ~415 mmol/m2/sec PAR without the tank cover.

 

[mhucasey]

Thanks Flo.



Why is it that when I view the same coral its colour looks different. I took this photo two days ago:

Thanks Matt. I have just measured it for you. It receives ~370 mmol/m2/sec PAR with the tank cover and ~415 mmol/m2/sec PAR without the tank cover.

hmm. Mine should be getting the same amount of light. Time will tell I suppose.

 

[Myka]

That Microclados is a beauty! Is it a wild piece? I have a very similar one, but mine has blue tips and green pigment throughout.

 

[reefmutt]

Bulent, the tank is looking really good.
Despite all the changes, it still looks very mature and untouched.
So, are you attributing the pinking up to lower n and p and higher par?
I guess so, those are the only things you've really adjusted..
I must say I think I like your tank better now.. Less melodramatic than before but more self assured and confident!
Nicely done.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

That Microclados is a beauty! Is it a wild piece? I have a very similar one, but mine has blue tips and green pigment throughout.

Thank you. Yes, it is. Majority of my corals except a few are from wild-collected colonies.

I have never seen a Microclados with blue tips before. It must look really nice. I will search your tank thread to find its picture.

Bulent, the tank is looking really good.
Despite all the changes, it still looks very mature and untouched.
So, are you attributing the pinking up to lower n and p and higher par?
I guess so, those are the only things you've really adjusted..
I must say I think I like your tank better now.. Less melodramatic than before but more self assured and confident!
Nicely done.

Thank you Matt. I like the way you expressed your thoughts about my tank. I appreciate it. Folks in the UK seem to concur with you too. It took me a while to get used to my tank without the huge staghorn colonies. I had to turn down the flow significantly to avoid sand storms. Initially, the anthias did not know what to do without the protective branches of the aspera, but they and all the other fish have now more room to swim. They should not really complain. Hopefully, it will not be long before aspera grows again.

Regarding the pinking up, yes I am attributing it to lower n and p and slightly higher PAR. In the next few weeks, I will be a little more aggressive in nutrient reduction. I have stopped dosing organic carbon as it has caused cyano at 0.25 ml daily dose. Instead, I increased the bacto balance dose to 1.7 ml per day. The maximum permissible dose for my tank's volume is 2.4 ml per day. FWIW, I have also increased the lugol solution dosing to 3 times a week from once a week (1 drop each time). I do not know if elemental iodine would have any impact on the pinking up.

I will keep you posted.

Cheers

Bülent

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Measurable nutrients continue to go down after starting to increase bacto balance. There is still no sign of stress on the corals. Colour change is only marginal. However, there is very noticeable intensification of the pink colours. As I am lowering nutrients, I am increasing feeding: the more nutrients I export the more the nutrient I import to maintain the balance.

I do not know if it is a good sign, but I have started to get a lot of vermetid snails even on the sand bed. Can you please offer your opinion?

As bacto balance dose has reached 83% of the maximum allowable dose, I have stopped dosing K+ elements as per Hans-Werner Balling's suggestion. My current dosing regimen is Bacto balance (2 ml per day) and A- elements (2.5 ml per day). I have stopped dosing KZ Sponge Power.

Here are today's water test results:

KH: 7.15 dKH
Ca: 405 ppm
Mg: 1255 ppm
K: 430 ppm

NO3: 1-2.5 ppm
PO4: <0.024 mg/l

Here are some photos I took a few hours ago:

 

[Johnyman]

I atribute a big part of the Pink color to your Potassium dose too, but of course, low nutrients and high PAR helps too.

Enviado do meu GT-I9301I através de Tapatalk

 

[plyle02]

Amazing Bulent! Great job with the colors, your tank looks phenomenal at this point, well done sir!
Cheers

 

[kevlow]

Wow! The colors have improved even just since you trimmed the big stags. I particularly like the second FTS. Both dark and pastel colors without the faded look.
Has your dosing change affected your growth rate as well as your coloration?
I would think the increased feeding would increase growth as well.

 

[mhucasey]

Measurable nutrients continue to go down after starting to increase bacto balance. There is still no sign of stress on the corals. Colour change is only marginal. However, there is very noticeable intensification of the pink colours. As I am lowering nutrients, I am increasing feeding: the more nutrients I export the more the nutrient I import to maintain the balance.

I do not know if it is a good sign, but I have started to get a lot of vermetid snails even on the sand bed. Can you please offer your opinion?

As bacto balance dose has reached 83% of the maximum allowable dose, I have stopped dosing K+ elements as per Hans-Werner Balling's suggestion. My current dosing regimen is Bacto balance (2 ml per day) and A- elements (2.5 ml per day). I have stopped dosing KZ Sponge Power.

Here are today's water test results:

KH: 7.15 dKH
Ca: 405 ppm
Mg: 1255 ppm
K: 430 ppm

NO3: 1-2.5 ppm
PO4: <0.024 mg/l

Here are some photos I took a few hours ago:

Wow! Things look fantastic in there! Your pinks have improved 100%!!

 

[FloformAustria]

wow looking great!

colors are amazing!!

thanks for sharing...

 

[glaukos]

+1,welldone bulent your corals look insane man:beer:
Awesome colors:inlove:

Aren't you worried about the purple cap taking over space etc?

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I atribute a big part of the Pink color to your Potassium dose too, but of course, low nutrients and high PAR helps too.

My potassium levels have been consistently above NSW levels. Improvement on the pink colouration came about only after nitrates and phosphates dropped below 5 ppm and 0.024 mg/l respectively. I am guessing that slight increase in PAR may have also played a part.

Amazing Bulent! Great job with the colors, your tank looks phenomenal at this point, well done sir!
Cheers

Thanks Perry. This means a lot to me as I regard you as one of the masters of pink colouration.

Wow! The colors have improved even just since you trimmed the big stags. I particularly like the second FTS. Both dark and pastel colors without the faded look.
Has your dosing change affected your growth rate as well as your coloration?
I would think the increased feeding would increase growth as well.

Thank you. I must confess that my growth rate appears to have slowed down a little. The aspera and yongeii in particular are not growing as fast as they used to do. Even the microclados' (the one at the back) spectacular growth rate seems to have stagnated. I link this to drop in phosphate levels.

Wow! Things look fantastic in there! Your pinks have improved 100%!!

Thank you for your confirmation Matt. This has reassured me.

wow looking great!

colors are amazing!!

thanks for sharing...

Cheers Flo.

+1,welldone bulent your corals look insane man:beer:
Awesome colors:inlove:

Aren't you worried about the purple cap taking over space etc?

Thanks Mike. The purple montipora is not a capricornis. It is a monaseriata. No I am not worried because it is very easy to remove it, if necessary. This is because even though it encrusts live rock it does not bond with it like M. setosa does. Having said that there is no room for complacency as its growth rate is fast. I keep an eye on it and scrape overgrowth with a tweezer (or break it to sell) from time to time.

 

[Piper27]

Woah this is the most beautiful sarmentosa I have ever seen. That's what it is correct? I have only seen the green with pink tip. Is this a different one or just morphed? The purple and pink with a green base makes me want to hunt one down so bad. Gorgeous reef!

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Thank you for your compliment. I appreciate it. This coral was identified as Sarmentosa by Andrew (@Biggles).

It looked like this when I bought it:

 

[markalot]

Beautiful, and that new scape is really paying off!

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Beautiful, and that new scape is really paying off!

Thank you Mark.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

For a change here some photos of my wet friends. They are fond of nori.