My 65G Shallow Reef Tank

[DiscusHeckel]

I like the millie a lot. I find myself strangely attracted to it, in a sick acro sort of way. I would grab that if it were available here. I would really like to see how that progresses in your system after you have worked your magic on it.

Mostly, I would like to see how it progresses in my system.

Good luck with both pieces.

Thanks for offering your thoughts. I am in the mood of collecting frags to find out their potential in my tank. I will get this coral when it becomes available. I have my eyes on two more frags, another A. millepora (rainbow) and A. hyacinthus (red planet).

I don't trust the colors on that milli, no way it would ever hold a yellow in my tank.

I missed a bunch Bulent, I get queezy every time you take out rocks to kill stuff, but obviously you now what you're doing because the results are always fantastic.

Hi Mark,

I used to take clams out of water and left them outside for hours while cleaning my tank. No harm was done. However, on this occasions, a few tips of my Acropora gomezi and Acropora lokani look dead the following morning. They have almost recovered though. Phew.

The yellow colour seems to be holding in my tank. In the photo below, the new growth tips of the sunrise millepora are bright yellow. I have high expectations from this coral.

wow that is one very nice acro. hopefully it stays that color in your tank.

you have a very nice tank and some great growth

Thank you for your encouragement.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Update time:

Bryopsis have gone for now. Hopefully, it will not come back for good, but I doubt it.

The last two frags I bought recently (sunrise millepora and bali shortcake) are doing well. As mentioned above,sunrise millepora still keeps its yellow colouration. The pink colouration on the bali shortcake is becoming more pronounced.

After bryopsis have disappeared, nutrients have gone up a little. I also reduced the dosing amounts of bacto-balance and elimi-NP on purpose to raise the levels and help my corals regain their vitality after the recent deforestation exercise.

Today's nutrient test results are as follows:

NO3: 2.5-5 ppm (up from 1-2.5 ppm)
PO4: 0.046-0.092 mg/L (more like 0.092 mg/L)

Finally, my latest purchase (A. loripes) arrived today. Road in front of my house was blocked due to snow. Courier had to deliver my package on foot after parking his van on a different street. Bless him. Here it is:

 

[Pife]

That's a huge undertaking. Thanks for the pictures. That mille looks like what we call a watermelon mille. I love the amount of PE the sunrise mille had in your tank.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

That's a huge undertaking. Thanks for the pictures. That mille looks like what we call a watermelon mille. I love the amount of PE the sunrise mille had in your tank.

Thank you. Common names for Acropora are very confusing.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I have forgotten to upload the latest photo of my A.microclados, which I took a few hours ago. Here it is:

It does not grow vertically. It keeps encrusting the branching rock no which it is placed.

 

[kevlow]

Everything looks awesome! [as always!]

I would be very nervous about ordering frags through the mail while it is snowing. I shipped a lot of frags to a friend two years ago. They were packed properly and professionally. Paid for premium overnight service, over $200.00. The plane got grounded in a hub airport because of a flash winter storm. They sat for three days in Memphis before being forwarded. 100% loss.

It appears you have a dedicated and determined delivery man.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Everything looks awesome! [as always!]

I would be very nervous about ordering frags through the mail while it is snowing. I shipped a lot of frags to a friend two years ago. They were packed properly and professionally. Paid for premium overnight service, over $200.00. The plane got grounded in a hub airport because of a flash winter storm. They sat for three days in Memphis before being forwarded. 100% loss.

It appears you have a dedicated and determined delivery man.

You are absolutely right to be very nervous. The day after I posted the above picture of my new frag, it stripped. I am now sitting on a loss.:headwalls: The company reimburses purchase as well as delivery costs if their frags are dead on arrival. It happened once before (I have been using the same company on and off for the past eight years). I should have suspected that something was wrong with it and taken a picture of it while it was still in bag, which is what I was required to do. Even though the frag looked fairly white, it still had its skin. I was naive not to suspect anything.

Lesson learned :hmm3:. I will not be ordering any other frags until spring. The

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I began zinc dosing eight days ago. I am dosing 0.05 ml every day before light come on. I consulted Andrew about my plan and got the thumbs up.

After eight days of zinc dosing, my corals are still alive and growing vigorously. Their coloration in particular pinks has improved slightly. I will be assessing their progress every fourteen days and increase the daily dosing by 0.02 ml until it reaches to 0.11 ml per day.

Acropora latistella below showed hints of pink on 13th January 2017 (eight days before zinc dosing had begun):

The same frag is showing different range of colours as well as slightly more intense pink tones today. Its growth is also satisfactory.

Regular updates on zinc dosing can be found in the Notes section of my Facebook page.

Latest test results and daily dosing regimen are as follows:

KH: 7 dKH
Ca: 420 ppm
Mg: 1330 ppm

NO3: 0.5 - 1 ppm (more like 1 ppm)
PO4: 0.046-0.092 mg/L (more like 0.046 mg/L)

Brightwell Aquatics Koral Colour (0.3 ml)
Tropic Marin NP-Bacto-Balance (1.5 ml)
Tropic Marin A- Elements (2.5 ml)
No Tropic Marin K+ Elements (0.0 ml)
Tropic Marin Elimi-NP (0.2 ml)
KZ Sponge Power (2 drops)
Tropic Marin Pro-coral iodine (3 drops per week)

Finally, some random top-down photos.

:beer:

 

[Callum96]

Bülent, stunning as always. Can you let me know when you next have any frags available please.

 

[Scorpius]

What did you do to rid your system of Bryopsis?

 

[DiscusHeckel]

What did you do to rid your system of Bryopsis?

I hypothesised that the main cause of bryopsis was excess iron in the water column. I arrived at it while dosing Tropic Marin K+, which contains anionic trace elements, along with Tropic Marin NP-Bacto-Balance, which also contains K+ elements. Whenever I exceeded certain daily dose of K+ and/or NP-Bacto-Balance, I observed the appearance of bryopsis. In private communication, Herr Hans-Werner Balling said to me: "I have not noticed growth of Bryopsis in our aquaria [for] many years. Maybe a high dosage of iron contained in K+ ELEMENTS may have a Bryopsis promoting effect. We have noticed a cyanobacteria promoting effect with K+ ELEMENTS in high dosage which we also ascribe to the iron". I interpret "a bryopsis promoting effect" as "waking up dormant bryopsis in live rock".

I attacked the problem from two angles:

Cut food supply and weaken.

To cut food supply of bryopsis, I stopped using K+ elements and reduced the daily dose of NP-Bacto-Balance from 75% of the daily recommended dose (i.e. 2.0 ml) to 62.5% (i.e. 1.5 ml) over a period of nearly two months.

To weaken bryopsis, I dosed Brightwell Aquatics Koral Color at a daily rate of 0.35 ml per 240 lt. I saw citation to research articles provided by some fellow reefers on another US forum on the use of lithium to disturb the DNA of bryopsis. Koral Color contains Lithium among other ingredients. I could have used Lithium directly, but felt that this would have been risky as I did not know what the safe dose is, whereas I know what to expect if I overdose Koral Color.

I do not think that my pseudo-scientific method eradicates bryopsis completely. Instead, it significantly reduces it and thus stopping it from becoming a nuisance. There is no bryopsis on any of my live rocks at present even though there is some inside my overflow box. I am happy with the outcome.

I hope this helps.

 

[Scorpius]

I hypothesised that the main cause of bryopsis was excess iron in the water column. I arrived at it while dosing Tropic Marin K+, which contains anionic trace elements, along with Tropic Marin NP-Bacto-Balance, which also contains K+ elements. Whenever I exceeded certain daily dose of K+ and/or NP-Bacto-Balance, I observed the appearance of bryopsis. In private communication, Herr Hans-Werner Balling said to me: "I have not noticed growth of Bryopsis in our aquaria [for] many years. Maybe a high dosage of iron contained in K+ ELEMENTS may have a Bryopsis promoting effect. We have noticed a cyanobacteria promoting effect with K+ ELEMENTS in high dosage which we also ascribe to the iron". I interpret "a bryopsis promoting effect" as "waking up dormant bryopsis in live rock".

I attacked the problem from two angles:

Cut food supply and weaken.

To cut food supply of bryopsis, I stopped using K+ elements and reduced the daily dose of NP-Bacto-Balance from 75% of the daily recommended dose (i.e. 2.0 ml) to 62.5% (i.e. 1.5 ml) over a period of nearly two months.

To weaken bryopsis, I dosed Brightwell Aquatics Koral Color at a daily rate of 0.35 ml per 240 lt. I saw citation to research articles provided by some fellow reefers on another US forum on the use of lithium to disturb the DNA of bryopsis. Koral Color contains Lithium among other ingredients. I could have used Lithium directly, but felt that this would have been risky as I did not know what the safe dose is, whereas I know what to expect if I overdose Koral Color.

I do not think that my pseudo-scientific method eradicates bryopsis completely. Instead, it significantly reduces it and thus stopping it from becoming a nuisance. There is no bryopsis on any of my live rocks at present even though there is some inside my overflow box. I am happy with the outcome.

I hope this helps.

It does. I have some form of Maiden's Hair Algae in my system that I am battling. No fun.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

It does. I have some form of Maiden's Hair Algae in my system that I am battling. No fun.

There is a Dutch reefer called Glenn who successfully demonstrated how to get rid of green hair algae in his mega-big tank using sodium hydroxide. I will dig out his procedures and will let you know.

 

[markalot]

Great pictures!

Interesting on the pinks. I stopped dosing MicroE (which contains Zinc along with other stuff) and lost the luster in most of my pinks). My red planet looking acro picked up some deeper red though ... :lol: Can't keep em all happy.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Great pictures!

Interesting on the pinks. I stopped dosing MicroE (which contains Zinc along with other stuff) and lost the luster in most of my pinks). My red planet looking acro picked up some deeper red though ... :lol: Can't keep em all happy.

Interesting. Do you exactly what is included in MicroE other than zinc?

 

[Scorpius]

There is a Dutch reefer called Glenn who successfully demonstrated how to get rid of green hair algae in his mega-big tank using sodium hydroxide. I will dig out his procedures and will let you know.

That would be great.

 

[Jim Z.]

Hi,

Glad to see your tank coral rearrangement going well. I have half of my tank done with the other half waiting to be chopped up. Long process for sure. I also added a liter of Siporax and am cutting back on the Zeovit system. Too pricey and way too sophisticated for a bacterial-based reef system. Reds and pinks are my only problem colors right now. I may have to look into MicroE and give it a try. The nitrates dropped from 50 ppm to less than 1 ppm so the tank now gets fed every day. The fish are quite pleased about that. I will cut back on the NP Bacto-Balance too. I do like how you are dropping the amount of bacteria food to keep some of the nuisance algae from getting established..................Jim

 

[reefmutt]

I have forgotten to upload the latest photo of my A.microclados, which I took a few hours ago. Here it is:

It does not grow vertically. It keeps encrusting the branching rock no which it is placed.

Hey Bulent, I missed an update back on the 13th. Microclados is a tabling coral so it makes sense to me that it would encrust and push out from the base. In 3 months, I bet you could clip off the original upright fingers of that colony and have an original, grown in your tank colony.. AND a couple frags to trade in.
Looks fantastic that ssc..
I see that after reducing bacto balance, your n actually went down from the 13th of Jan. Does that surprise you or was it expected?
I am loving the direction of the Bali shortcake. I have to get my hands on a piece of that!
What zinc additive are you adding? Triton? What is your rational for increasing zinc dosages even thought you are already seeing some pink colour improvements....maybe it would continue to improve without increasing?
In a your latest rundown on what you are dosing. I didn't see the zinc in there.
Still dosing?
By the way here's what's in micro e:
manganese, vanadium, zinc, nickel, iron, chromium, cobalt & copper.
Between koral color and zinc additions, and without a reliable test for zinc, do you worry/wonder what may be happening with zinc levels?
I have to mention also, that your photographs have gone to a new level of quality and clarity! Very nice!

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Hi,

Glad to see your tank coral rearrangement going well. I have half of my tank done with the other half waiting to be chopped up. Long process for sure. I also added a liter of Siporax and am cutting back on the Zeovit system. Too pricey and way too sophisticated for a bacterial-based reef system. Reds and pinks are my only problem colors right now. I may have to look into MicroE and give it a try. The nitrates dropped from 50 ppm to less than 1 ppm so the tank now gets fed every day. The fish are quite pleased about that. I will cut back on the NP Bacto-Balance too. I do like how you are dropping the amount of bacteria food to keep some of the nuisance algae from getting established..................Jim

Thanks Jim. I hope you can improve your pinks and reds.

If you feed more, you are likely to accumulate more phosphates than you have now. I would consider adding nitrogen to your tank somehow. Suggestions include adding more fish and feeding them the same as before, adding amino acids (beware of cyanobacteria) and adding sodium/calcium nitrates, which is my least preferred option. My preferred strategy would be to add more fish :thumbsup:.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Hey Bulent, I missed an update back on the 13th. Microclados is a tabling coral so it makes sense to me that it would encrust and push out from the base. In 3 months, I bet you could clip off the original upright fingers of that colony and have an original, grown in your tank colony.. AND a couple frags to trade in.
Looks fantastic that ssc..

Thank you for following all my posts Matt. I am feeling rather embarrassed right now because I am slacking on following my subscribed threads lately.

I like your suggestion. As soon as the encrusted section starts to push up strong and thick sections, I will frag the original fingers. I am currently using the shade of their pink tips as barometer for my experiments.

I see that after reducing bacto balance, your n actually went down from the 13th of Jan. Does that surprise you or was it expected?

I am currently analysing my test results in conjunction with my log book. I will provide a full response in due course.

I am loving the direction of the Bali shortcake. I have to get my hands on a piece of that!

What zinc additive are you adding? Triton? What is your rational for increasing zinc dosages even thought you are already seeing some pink colour improvements....maybe it would continue to improve without increasing?
In a your latest rundown on what you are dosing. I didn't see the zinc in there.
Still dosing?

I have high expectations from my Bali shortcake. Thanks for your encouraging comments.

I am using Triton Zinc additive. My current doses 0.05 ml for 240 L net volume per day.

I agree that it is possible that pinks will improve naturally with the current zinc dose. I may wait for a month instead of 14 days between different doses. However, I will not exceed 0.12 ml for 240 L net volume per day. My rationale for further increases is to empirically discover the safe upper limit without compromising corals.

By the way here's what's in micro e:
manganese, vanadium, zinc, nickel, iron, chromium, cobalt & copper.

MicroE seems to be a mixture of anionic and cationic elements that can be mixed together (not all can be mixed though, e.g. potassium iodide). I am already dosing all those trace elements/metals contained in MicroE as part of my Bacto-Balance and A- element dosing. As the nitrates drop, I will be dosing less and less Bacto-Balance, which in turn means that I will be dosing less cationic elements, zinc in particular.

Between koral color and zinc additions, and without a reliable test for zinc, do you worry/wonder what may be happening with zinc levels?
I have to mention also, that your photographs have gone to a new level of quality and clarity! Very nice!

Firstly, Koral Color does not contain zinc. However, Bacto-Balance does.

What motivated my recent experiment is intriguing information provided by two Australian coral farmers in a long thread here on RC on zinc use in reef aquaria. As you can see, opinion is highly polarised. What I find interesting is that the Australian gentlemen challenge the conventional opinion that trace trace elements and heavy metals should not be overdosed in reef tanks. The commonly used reference model appears to be elemental analysis of natural sea water (NSW). On the other hand, the coral farmers argue that NSW cannot be a reference model for reef tanks. This argument appeals to me. They demonstrate that (rather convincingly) you can have colourful corals that grow vigorously in high energy reef tanks in which phosphate and nitrate readings can be well above those of NSW levels. This in turn means that such reef environments can utilise higher levels of trace elements and heavy metals than those found in NSW. This hypothesis also appeals to me.

Hence, I am not going to be too cautious about zinc accumulation as long as I have reasonable organics in my tank. Even if I have my tank water tested, it is likely that anticipated high readings will be due to heavy metals bound to organics. I may eventually send water sample to ATI in Germany for ICP testing out of curiosity when zinc dosing reaches 0.12 ml per day and my corals are still alive.

As for the photos, I have purchased a view box. It enables me to be more comfortable with camera while taking photos.

:beer: