My 65G Shallow Reef Tank

Thanks.

I have 14 fish in total. 7 X resplendent anthias, 1 X yellow tang, 3 X Genicanthus angels, 1 X silver belly wrasse, 1 X Royal gramma, 1 X file fish (which is currently in sump a sit has started to eat the polyps of my Acroporids).
 
I don't know how I missed your thread but I just read through the whole thing over the last couple of days and all I can say is wow!

I want to ask you about nutrients. A couple of years ago when you were using chaeto you had 0 po4 and 0 no3 but had cyano, so you said you didn't believe you truly had 0 of those parameters. What do you think the difference is in not having cyano and getting a reading on a test kit for no3 and po4 and having cyano or chaeto and it keeping your nutrients undetectable? either way to me it seems you have no3 and po4 in the system. What is the difference?

I ask because I use macro algae and it keeps my p04 .02 -.04 and my no3 undetectable. My macros grow like crazy but I always worry about having nitrate being undetectable.
 
The tank looks good Bulent....Congrats...

I am thinking about get some TM Reef Actif to try to get rid of diatoms in the sandbed.
Did you know something abot it? Do you think that's a good idea?

Regards
Alex
 
reefmutt said:
Amazing progression shots, Bulent!
Really beautiful.
Click to expand...

Thank you Matt. I have recently started to document growth histories of each of my favourite corals from the day of their purchase to present day. I do this for each coral in the form of a photo album on my Facebook page. I also write a brief story for each picture to document my thought processes/decisions/methods/mistakes, etc.

tripdad said:
Really liking the large colonies, don't see that too much anymore. Looks great, all of it.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I like looking at large colonies, which gives me satisfaction. Colouration will always be the most challenging part for me. I would probably get bored if there was not any challenge.

Alex Costa said:
The tank looks good Bulent....Congrats...

I am thinking about get some TM Reef Actif to try to get rid of diatoms in the sandbed.
Did you know something abot it? Do you think that's a good idea?

Regards
Alex
Click to expand...

Thanks Alex.

If you look at my Facebook page using a web browser as opposed to a mobile phone App, you will see a Notes section on the left hand side column (see photo below) one of which is about my experiences on using TM Reef Actif.

What appears to be diatoms on your sand bed may be cyanobacteria. I cannot recollect any reference to TM Reef Actif's role in combating diatoms or cyanobacteria in my readings on Meerwasserforum. That said, I will re-read everything specifically from the point of view of diatoms/cyanobacteria. I will report back.

I have some cyanobacteria one isolated spots on glass and some rocks. So far, TM Reef Actif has not had any impact on them.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2017-06-17 at 20.50.00.png
    Screen Shot 2017-06-17 at 20.50.00.png
    91.7 KB · Views: 0
  • Screen Shot 2017-06-17 at 20.53.27.jpg
    Screen Shot 2017-06-17 at 20.53.27.jpg
    32.1 KB · Views: 0
Ucantwin said:
I don't know how I missed your thread but I just read through the whole thing over the last couple of days and all I can say is wow!

I want to ask you about nutrients. A couple of years ago when you were using chaeto you had 0 po4 and 0 no3 but had cyano, so you said you didn't believe you truly had 0 of those parameters. What do you think the difference is in not having cyano and getting a reading on a test kit for no3 and po4 and having cyano or chaeto and it keeping your nutrients undetectable? either way to me it seems you have no3 and po4 in the system. What is the difference?

I ask because I use macro algae and it keeps my p04 .02 -.04 and my no3 undetectable. My macros grow like crazy but I always worry about having nitrate being undetectable.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your perceptive question and for reading my thread.

I think the difference boils down to which organism has the upper hand (or competitive edge). When nitrates are driven down very low or even zero, algae stops growing even if there are measurable phosphates in the water column. Cyanobacteria on the other hand get the upper hand because they can fix nitrogen directly from the atmosphere, hence their name nitrogen fixing bacteria. Each tank has its own bacterial population and has its own balance. For this reason, interplay between algae and cyanobacteria inevitably vary from one set up to another. In my set up, for example, when measurable nitrates are below 2.5 ppm, I get traces of cyanobacteria. This may not be the case in someone else's tank.

In your case, I would not worry about numbers because the balance between nitrogen and phosphorus must be good enough to sustain good growth of macro algae while suppressing cyanobacteria. If your algae stops growing and cyanobacteria start to appear you will know that the balance shifted to favour cyanobacteria. In this case, introducing a nitrogen source may be in order. I would exclude amino acids from this though as amino acid addition will boost cyanobacteria. Perhaps, dosing sodium nitrate instead may be in order.

I hope that I have been able to answer your question accurately.
 
Ucantwin said:
I don't know how I missed your thread but I just read through the whole thing over the last couple of days and all I can say is wow!

I want to ask you about nutrients. A couple of years ago when you were using chaeto you had 0 po4 and 0 no3 but had cyano, so you said you didn't believe you truly had 0 of those parameters. What do you think the difference is in not having cyano and getting a reading on a test kit for no3 and po4 and having cyano or chaeto and it keeping your nutrients undetectable? either way to me it seems you have no3 and po4 in the system. What is the difference?

I ask because I use macro algae and it keeps my p04 .02 -.04 and my no3 undetectable. My macros grow like crazy but I always worry about having nitrate being undetectable.
Click to expand...

DiscusHeckel said:
Thanks for your perceptive question and for reading my thread.

I think the difference boils down to which organism has the upper hand (or competitive edge). When nitrates are driven down very low or even zero, algae stops growing even if there are measurable phosphates in the water column. Cyanobacteria on the other hand get the upper hand because they can fix nitrogen directly from the atmosphere, hence their name nitrogen fixing bacteria. Each tank has its own bacterial population and has its own balance. For this reason, interplay between algae and cyanobacteria inevitably vary from one set up to another. In my set up, for example, when measurable nitrates are below 2.5 ppm, I get traces of cyanobacteria. This may not be the case in someone else's tank.

In your case, I would not worry about numbers because the balance between nitrogen and phosphorus must be good enough to sustain good growth of macro algae while suppressing cyanobacteria. If your algae stops growing and cyanobacteria start to appear you will know that the balance shifted to favour cyanobacteria. In this case, introducing a nitrogen source may be in order. I would exclude amino acids from this though as amino acid addition will boost cyanobacteria. Perhaps, dosing sodium nitrate instead may be in order.

I hope that I have been able to answer your question accurately.
Click to expand...

This question and answer should be a sticky somewhere.
An articulate and very informative bit of reefkeeping right here.
Nicely said, Bulent.
 
Last edited:
That sermantosa is about as good as it gets. My attempt at one was an unmitigated disaster.
Corals are looking huge and happy!
 
reefmutt said:
That sermantosa is about as good as it gets. My attempt at one was an unmitigated disaster.
Corals are looking huge and happy!
Click to expand...

Hi Matt. This is a tremendous compliment. I really appreciate it.

I could not reply any earlier as I was away for another short break. Two of us had to stay at home due to my youngest son developing glandular fewer a few days before our flight. My wife looked after my tank and our bird. Front glass is covered with thick layer of algae. A quick examination with a torch in the middle of the night did not reveal any trouble. Everything seemed OK.

I asked my wife to feed the fish three times a day and not to use any chemicals, such as Bacto-balance and trace elements. It will be interesting to see how this has affected the tank chemically and biologically. More updates will be later once the lights are on and I carry out some water tests.
 
Matt's right about the sarmentosa Bulent, i've tried about five over the years and they all lost the contrast and became ugly blobs, think Dom's acro colors - like really, really terrible........... Dom doesn't follow your journal does he Bulent, i doubt he'll be impressed with our opinion of his acros if he reads what you wrote........

Anyway, i wanted to say your colors are looking awesome and the growth is obvious, you must be pleased with how things are going now days overall mate. :)
 
Hey Bulent, I'm sure the tank did fine while you were away..
let us know..
I hope your son is fine as well! I don't think I know what glandular fever is..
It's probably an English expression for tonsillitis.. I hope it's something common like that.
 
reefmutt said:
Hey Bulent, I'm sure the tank did fine while you were away..
let us know..
I hope your son is fine as well! I don't think I know what glandular fever is..
It's probably an English expression for tonsillitis.. I hope it's something common like that.
Click to expand...

Hi Matt,

My tank appears to be OK despite not dosing Bacto-Balance and A- elements for ten days. I measured nutrients yesterday, which increased as expected, but this did not have any impact on colouration.

NO3: <= 0.5 ppm (21st June 2017)
PO4: 0.046 mg/L (21st June 2017)

Bacto-Balance was last dosed on 5th July.

NO3: 2.5 ppm (16th July 2017)
PO4: 0.092 mg/L (16th July 2017)

Feeding remained the same during my absence (i.e. 3 cubes of frozen food per day).

I heard about glandular fever before, but had no idea how severe it could be. It is different from tonsillitis even though both illnesses share common symptoms. In a nutshell, this is what glandular fever is (https://beta.nhs.uk/conditions/glandular-fever). My son is getting better every day, but it will take six to eight weeks before he regains his fitness. His tonsils will be removed next month. Arrgh...
 
biggles said:
Matt's right about the sarmentosa Bulent, i've tried about five over the years and they all lost the contrast and became ugly blobs, think Dom's acro colors - like really, really terrible........... Dom doesn't follow your journal does he Bulent, i doubt he'll be impressed with our opinion of his acros if he reads what you wrote........

Anyway, i wanted to say your colors are looking awesome and the growth is obvious, you must be pleased with how things are going now days overall mate. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you for your endorsement Andrew. I appreciate it. I am really happy with the way my A. Sarmentosa has turned out.

As for Dom and his corals, I really do not know what to say :spin2::eek2: I think I will remain neutral. :)
 
I was close.. over hear glandular fever, 'the kissing disease' is called mono which is short for mononucleosis..
Not fun!!! Sorry to hear. I'm glad he's on the mend..
Good to see your nutrient shift wasn't too dramatic..
Will you go back to what you were doing in June or early July..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Brian60077
My week old pico reef
2 3 4
Replies
62
Views
910
Broken reefer
Broken reefer
Brian60077
Big project starting today......
Replies
7
Views
125
Dustin07
D
JChitmon
Anyone quit 2 part and started All For Reef?
Replies
2
Views
285
Reefing102
Reefing102
Kona26
Aerate instant ocean reef crystals salt mix..?
Replies
3
Views
205
griss
griss
C
RSM Max Nano XL Plan / Build
2
Replies
21
Views
284
griss
griss
Back
Top