My Acro Nursery

Thanks for the nice comments. These are most of those BattleCoral frags I just received to start this year. Hopefully they will grow out like the frags from last year did.

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Reefvet - I never actually measured par, but when I take pictures of each tank, my light sensor in the camera under the same setting for 250DE 14K will tell me the photo is overexposed when pointing at the 150DE 10K. Im assuming its because of higher par. Maybe the age of the bulb is a factor too. I do find the BN under the 10k to be more pleasing to the eye in this case. Im considering changing the 14K in the Geisemann to 10K and leave the actinics for my next bulb change in March.
 
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maoiwowie said:
.. when I take pictures of each tank, my light sensor in the camera under the same setting for 250DE 14K will tell me the photo is overexposed when pointing at the 150DE 10K. Im assuming its because of higher par.
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The 10K has a much broader spectrum than the 14K so your camera is seeing more light, not necessarily more PAR. PAR is Photosynthetically Active Radiation and it's not just a value of brightness.

It would appear that the 10K offers spectrum that the PBN is more adapted to. I assume adapted because it's probably an aquacultured PBN. Unless it came from Florida where they're plentiful and still collected.

FWIW I put my Maxspect Nano on a 20L I set up temporarily as an anemone tank while I figure out what to do with 8 RBTAs I never planned on having. Prolific little succers. At 12" with both channels on 100% I get 420 PAR. This has nothing to do with your MH comparison. I just referenced it because you abandoned it for the 150 MH.
 
Got the PBN from a reefer here (Ivan Orsonio). Im really happy with the 150DE 10k, but some of the sps i moved over are still adjusting especially after pulling the Maxspect after two weeks use. When I finally get around to designing my display, im going to go with the 10Ks with T5 actinic combo most likely. I probably didnt give the sps enough time to adjust to the maxspect; I still have it so perhaps ill try an anemone tank or some softies/lps.
My faded GARF... Its looking worse since transitioning to the 10K. Might be light shock from all the changes i made.
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The G. Slimer is often overlooked, but it is a favorite of mine. When healthy it grows fast and the color screams. My progression... Last photo taken today.
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It doesn't look to me like that frag was under MH before you got it. Certainly a much lower level of light if it was.
 
I picked that frag up from Ivan's tank. I believe he was running LEDs at the time. His tank was more blue, but had several nice healthy pieces growing. This one happened to change for the nicer, but I have a few other pieces from his tank that have lightened up for the worse. Typically frags in my tank will come in then darken up, some even browning; then slowly lighten up again over the year. But the second time around the lightening is different. Perhaps due to the Zeo. This next example is from Garret's, his Aqua Delight.
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Lovely corals! I'm envious of every aspect of your setup, having so little space of my own.

You'd posted a picture of your tank with dinoflagellates (the snot algae). I've noticed some in my tank and suspect it comes when hair algae gets starved of nitrate in high-export systems but I wanted to know your experience of it?
 
Eastone. Dinos are the worst of all the nuisance "algae." The soft stringy texture gets everywhere and can easily choke out sps. My dinos were confirmed when i took this photo in august of last year.
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Im not sure what causes it, but i do think it is present all the time. Kinda like my ideas on ich. Dinos affected my tank for a long time and there were many moments i wanted to start all over. In the end I just had patience and persistence with my plan of eradication. There are different types of dinos so my plan may not be as effective for other types. I read all the articles written about controlling dinos and chose the most natural defenses that didnt include added chemicals nor light starvation methods. I dont think it was any one thing, but a collective approach that finally got it under control. I did the following.
1. Added macro to my refugium.
2. Ran ozone and a UV.
3. Stopped all liquid foods (ie. oyster feast) and cut feedings in half.
4. Daily cleaning which i used a baster to either vacuum or carefully flush away dinos on frags. Do not wipe away dinos on glass because it will get everywhere. Leave it there and try to carefully vacuum it away.
5. Kept PH in the higher ranges like 8.4 to 8.5 with the use of Kalk.
6. Careful monitoring of PO4 and NO3 to see that both values were falling.
7. Ran GFO (I normally do not run GFO, but do use GAC passively in my sump)
8. Upped carbon dosing by adding vodka with my vinegar.

Eventually it started to clear up. And within a few months, it was completely gone. I also started using zeoliths during this time.
 
3 weeks after my RB treatment the sps frags most affected are recovering. This is the Upscales Micro (before/after).
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maoiwowie said:
I picked that frag up from Ivan's tank. I believe he was running LEDs at the time. His tank was more blue, but had several nice healthy pieces growing. This one happened to change for the nicer, but I have a few other pieces from his tank that have lightened up for the worse. Typically frags in my tank will come in then darken up, some even browning; then slowly lighten up again over the year. But the second time around the lightening is different. Perhaps due to the Zeo. This next example is from Garret's, his Aqua Delight.
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how many months growth is that from first to last pic? it is coming along nicely
 
Jimbo1 - Its been about 9 months growth. That one is a steady grower. Its much taller than the pic shows. I couldnt fit it all in. However i do have frags that are older with practically no growth.
 
Thanks everyone! Sometimes pictures help a lot. Anyways i want to show you guys what im suffering now... it never ends. Since my RB treatment ive been having hair algae issues. My protocol and maintenance hasnt changed and I can only guess that the treatment killed off bacteria and pods. Its getting pretty ugly. My plan is to stop all supplements and decrease feedings then let the algae run its course. I do not want to use light starvation or chemicals to reduce the algae. In the second photo you can see how hair algae can affect sps. I was gone for three days and returned to see a big piece of HA wrapped around the main stalk of my A. Navini. I cleared it to reveal STN. Im confident it will recover in time
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Here are some BattleCoral frags i recently got. Been about a month now and they seem to be settling in. More to follow...
Hyperberry
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Spainbow
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Space Ghost
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Thanks! Those new frags will take a year, but i have high hopes they will be winners.

What a difference a year makes...
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Another
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And this one has just been coloring up nicely. I dont have before pics because it was just ugly when i first got it.
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