My 65G Shallow Reef Tank

[codydemmel4]

wow tank looks great!!

 

[WLachnit]

Awesome...tank...great Acro collection.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

wow tank looks great!!

Awesome...tank...great Acro collection.

:beer:

 

[Maddlesrain]

My reef tank as of 30th May 2017 (please forgive my untidiness around the tank):

Ahh beautiful! [emoji1373]


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[DiscusHeckel]

Ahh beautiful! [emoji1373]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks

 

[DiscusHeckel]

My latest wild-collected addition, which is hidden behind the blue staghorn (Acropora desalwii/anthocercis) as of 2nd June 2017:

Acropora desalwii by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr

 

[reefmutt]

Very nice pe. It seems to have darkened, or gotten more rich in colour. Have you had noticeable growth on it? Doesn't seem to have had any super fast growth but looks very healthy and happy.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Thanks.

It seems to have lost slight yellow colouration it had when I first bought it. I have not noticed any growth on it yet. I am not sure if this coral's growth tips are of different colour compared to the rest of the coral. I will take regular photos to monitor its growth.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Update on TM Bio Actif dosing:

Dosing started three weeks ago. I established a long term dosing regimen as shown below. As you can see, full recommended dose will not be administered quite a while yet. I am Mr Cautious when it comes to dosing a product that contains polymers or organic carbon. It is quite possible that I will never need to administer full recommended dose. My corals will tell me. The numbers in the table are fractions in relation to full recommended dose. Ticks indicate that dosing was already done.

So far the only difference I have noticed is drop in frequency of glass cleaning. It dropped from once a day to once every two days. There are no changes in NO3 and PO4 readings nor is there a change in ratio between them, which is still 10:1. There is, however, a very slight change in pink and blue in that these colours look a little sharper to my eyes, but I cannot capture this subtle change on camera.

 

[illumnae]

The Tropic Marin system seems very interesting - is there actually a system of products that work together to achieve the desired outcome (like FM, AF, KZ, Polyplab, Prodibio, etc), or is it a bunch of ad-hoc products that you pick and choose and need to have a high degree of knowledge to utilize properly (like Kent, Brightwell, etc)

 

[DiscusHeckel]

The Tropic Marin system seems very interesting - is there actually a system of products that work together to achieve the desired outcome (like FM, AF, KZ, Polyplab, Prodibio, etc), or is it a bunch of ad-hoc products that you pick and choose and need to have a high degree of knowledge to utilize properly (like Kent, Brightwell, etc)

Yes, there is. It is called TM Bio-Actif-System. I have just noticed that TM has changed the layout of their web site, which used to be more logical. Among the products listed in the above link, I use NP-Bacto-Balance and A- Elements in addition to Reef-Actif. Note that K+ Elements are already contained in NP-Bacto-Balance on a ml by ml basis.

I hope this helps.

 

[illumnae]

Thank you! I did download that pdf after reading your thread but wasn't sure which products were compulsory had which were optional in the system. I've been using FM and dabbled in AF abit before switching back to FM, where both systems gave explicit instructions on what to use and how to use the products in their system.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Thank you! I did download that pdf after reading your thread but wasn't sure which products were compulsory had which were optional in the system. I've been using FM and dabbled in AF abit before switching back to FM, where both systems gave explicit instructions on what to use and how to use the products in their system.

I do not think there is such thing as compulsory in TM product range. My understanding is that products in the Bio-Actif-System range are compatible with each other, i.e. you can use them together, which is what I have been dosing for some time.

That said, Hans-Werner Balling recommends A-Elements while using Bacto-Balance and Reef Actif. Moreover, he does not recommend the use of GFO while using Bacto-Balance as it disturbs N ratio that this product tries to create in a tank.

 

[westreef]

Thanks for giving us so much insight into the TM products. I wonder what salt mix you are using? Are you using the Bio-Actif Sea Salt from TM?

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Thanks for giving us so much insight into the TM products. I wonder what salt mix you are using? Are you using the Bio-Actif Sea Salt from TM?

You're welcome.

I have been using TM Pro-Reef salt for just over two years. I started my fourth bucket last Sunday.

If I get satisfactory results with Reef Actif, then I may get a bucket of TM Bio-Actif sea salt and use it once a month to see what happens. Its water parameters are slightly different to TM Pro-Reef in that, if I am not mistaken, it has slightly higher alkalinity (~8 dKH) than Pro-Reef (~7-7.15 dKH).

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Here are some random photos I took late last night. Water parameters as of yesterday are as follows:

KH: 6.55 dKH
Ca: 400 ppm
Mg: 1345 ppm
SG: 35.5 ppt

FTS by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr

FTS by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/Xhpkjm by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/Xtf2Lw by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/XhpkRJ by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/WgtV4y by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/WiUgbB by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr

 

[illumnae]

I do not think there is such thing as compulsory in TM product range. My understanding is that products in the Bio-Actif-System range are compatible with each other, i.e. you can use them together, which is what I have been dosing for some time.

That said, Hans-Werner Balling recommends A-Elements while using Bacto-Balance and Reef Actif. Moreover, he does not recommend the use of GFO while using Bacto-Balance as it disturbs N ratio that this product tries to create in a tank.

Thank you very much. I just rebooted my tank due to a dinos infestation, and was prepared to start using FM again, but was attracted by the TM system due to it seeming alot less "invasive" in terms of how it works, and of course how good your tank looks!

 

[Piper27]

Man I missed that big blue reefcrest acro at the top left! Is it a humulus or samenoensis? How long have you been growing that thing and what size,e did you get it originally? I am assuming it was wild or cultured. A close-up of that acro would make my day that's for sure., Ong with any other reefcrest acros you have in there.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Thanks.

Assuming that we are talking about the same coral, it is actually not blue. It is a mixture of turquoise and pink. It is neither A. humilis nor A. sarmentosa. I believe that it is A. microclados. I bought it as a 2-in frag from a wild-collected colony from Australia in June 2015. The picture below was taken on 13th June 2015:

Acropora microclados (bottom) by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr

It is now over ~9" X 8" X 6" (H). It has never been fragged. Here are some of its historical pictures taken between June 2015 and May 2017:

December 2015

Acropora microclados by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr

March 2016

Acropora microclados by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr


July 2016

Acropora microclados by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr


December 2016

Acropora microclados by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr


February 2017

Full tank shot by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr


May 2017

Acropora microclados by M Bülent Özcan, on Flickr

 

[Pife]

Wow coral sure does grow fast once they get big. Your reef is looking good. I really like how Mature and nature it looks. What all fish do you have in there again?