My humble SPS journey - Shallow 80g

[joshky]

Very good point. One of the reasons I want to monitor nutrients is to see what impact the Vibrant has. I would like to see a consistent nutrient value over time, but if this is not the case, then my observations may help others.

Do you still intend to dose every other day? If so, are you worried about the impact on your stonies? I am considering trying this method, but am concerned about stability in my tank parameters. I am trying to balance patience with the Vibrant efficacy. Not an easy exercise. [emoji3]

I will continue to do Mon/Wed/Fri dosing unless I see issues, there are other people who are dosing more than this with no reported issues so hopefully it's not something that I'll regret. I do believe there to be a window of leniency based on the dosing instructions variability, I believe, perhaps ignorantly and optimistically, these instructions may be more so based on keeping us from being wasteful.

 

[reefmutt]

I would think tthere will be some nutrient 'give and take'..
Depending on the amount of algea that is in the system, and the amount of vinegar and bacteria being added by the Vibrant, nutrients could go either way..
Very curious to to see what happens.

 

[Rakie]

Hey Josh I gotta ask --

Your coral pics look amazing and visually balanced, but your FTS make your tank look pink to my eyes. Is this just a lighting thing? Photo editing? Lack of photo editing? It's so stark a contrast to my eyes I'd believe you if you said you took FTS with a different camera!

Besides that, amazing colors on your SPS!!

 

[joshky]

I would think tthere will be some nutrient 'give and take'..
Depending on the amount of algea that is in the system, and the amount of vinegar and bacteria being added by the Vibrant, nutrients could go either way..
Very curious to to see what happens.

Yeah we'll just have to see, I pulled a lot of mine so it should help. Thanks for the input Matt.

Hey Josh I gotta ask --

Your coral pics look amazing and visually balanced, but your FTS make your tank look pink to my eyes. Is this just a lighting thing? Photo editing? Lack of photo editing? It's so stark a contrast to my eyes I'd believe you if you said you took FTS with a different camera!

Besides that, amazing colors on your SPS!!

My settings for both are the same in my editing program, it is possible there is a small margin of error but it's pretty accurate. I'm running two purple plus bulbs at the moment so my lighting is a little pinker in person than most.

 

[Rakie]

My settings for both are the same in my editing program, it is possible there is a small margin of error but it's pretty accurate. I'm running two purple plus bulbs at the moment so my lighting is a little pinker in person than most.

Perfect, thanks much! It was a little surprising how natural and great the corals look compared to the pink hue from the FTS (which I couldn't see).

Either way, everything is looking stunning, thanks for letting me know

 

[joshky]

Okay so I tested no3 today and it's back down to 2.5ppm which is where it was when I was having low nutrient issues, took a peak at some of the acros and there's definitely some paling going on. Vibrant so far is in fact lowering my nutrients, however as more algae (hopefully) dies off, maybe it'll have a pendulum effect? Time will tell, I think I might need to dose no3 in the meantime, I don't want my acros to stop growing and pale out on me again.

Perfect, thanks much! It was a little surprising how natural and great the corals look compared to the pink hue from the FTS (which I couldn't see).

Either way, everything is looking stunning, thanks for letting me know

Thanks man, after I got home I noticed that maybe the picture was a bit warmer than it needed to be by a bit. I'll be sure to fix that in future FTSs and side shots, I guess the RBG value is different from the top down one. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

 

[joshky]

Just wanted to update everyone, sorry for not having photos I'll try to snap a few today if at all possible.

The Vibrant isn't working as fast as I would have liked, and some of my acros are a little upset probably from the continuous nutrient instability this product is causing, but still holding on okay for the most part. My actual nutrients when I test are holding steady but with all of the die off and new growth from said die off, I have to believe there's an instability problem going on. I'm seeing the bryopsis tips die off while the stuff closest to the rocks is still thriving currently, it's still growing about the same rate and I'm trying to keep up with manual removal. I am seeing minor progress and I'm cautiously optimistic about the future, hopefully I can get some photos of what my bryopsis is looking like now to document this part of the phase.

 

[Wrangy]

Any word on the bryopsis?? We are also going to NEED lots more pictures of the multibar Josh!

Hope everything is well in your end of the world matey

 

[reefmutt]

Hey Josh, how's the tank doing? Algea, corals, nutrients?

 

[joshky]

Any word on the bryopsis?? We are also going to NEED lots more pictures of the multibar Josh!

Hope everything is well in your end of the world matey

Hey Josh, how's the tank doing? Algea, corals, nutrients?

Unfortunately the bryopsis has come back stronger than ever and isn't dying off, despite my last update. I've also decided that dosing 3x a week in a SPS tank isn't the best idea, this will be the first week that I'm going to cut back. Colors on my acros are complete crap and there's been quite a bit of browning out from the instability as I try to combat this plague, it seems like I'm in a perpetual state of ugly acros from my own shortcomings but hopefully after I beat this stuff I can move on and focus on my acros instead of other issues. Based on another persons timeline I should start seeing good results with the bryopsis dying off mid January, that'll be 2 months of dosing which is when this particular person really started to see results.

Work and the general feeling of being constantly defeated by this hobby has really made me not want to focus on photos, it's a lot of work and I'm just not happy about much going on in my tank right now. I'm going to attempt some peroxide spot treating tomorrow and try to be a bit more aggressive to get rid of the bryopsis, if I can knock it back just a little bit to where it's not spreading so quickly maybe this product can finish it off... that's the idea anyways, still not convinced it works on bryopsis.

As far as the angel goes, the nipping got out of control and because of the vibrant already affecting my acros health I decided to get rid of it, it really sucks to admit that but timing could've been better I guess.

 

[markalot]

Hi Josh,

sorry to hear about your issues. Have you thought about doing the unthinkable and dosing a little Seachem Phosphorus to see what happens? I did this twice when my tank was having issues and both times, while there was browning, health improved.

I know there are numerous different species of dinos but I did have some stringy snot for a spell and Phosphorus dosing seemed to put an end to it. My tank is loaded with algae, though not bryopsis that I know of, and the Foxface or tangs eat it all.

Again, there's always a difference in tanks, just putting the idea out there.

 

[joshky]

Hi Josh,

sorry to hear about your issues. Have you thought about doing the unthinkable and dosing a little Seachem Phosphorus to see what happens? I did this twice when my tank was having issues and both times, while there was browning, health improved.

I know there are numerous different species of dinos but I did have some stringy snot for a spell and Phosphorus dosing seemed to put an end to it. My tank is loaded with algae, though not bryopsis that I know of, and the Foxface or tangs eat it all.

Again, there's always a difference in tanks, just putting the idea out there.

You're talking about flourish right? I'd love to hear more about it, like how much you dosed etc., maybe I'll stop on my way home and grab some tonight.

 

[markalot]

You're talking about flourish right? I'd love to hear more about it, like how much you dosed etc., maybe I'll stop on my way home and grab some tonight.

Well, not the fert. Seachem Flourish Phosphorus.

http://www.seachem.com/flourish-phosporus.php

I dosed a quarter of a cap, then another quarter in 2 days. I have no idea what the correct dose is but I suppose you could measure PO4 after a day or so and see how it's working.

I feed heavily and I feed a lot of flake. Dinos never seem to show up in sloppy tanks but once again, there seems to be different varieties that behave very differently. There does seem to be a theme with dinos showing up once someone starts nutrient control to solve other problems.

 

[joshky]

Well, not the fert. Seachem Flourish Phosphorus.

http://www.seachem.com/flourish-phosporus.php

I dosed a quarter of a cap, then another quarter in 2 days. I have no idea what the correct dose is but I suppose you could measure PO4 after a day or so and see how it's working.

I feed heavily and I feed a lot of flake. Dinos never seem to show up in sloppy tanks but once again, there seems to be different varieties that behave very differently. There does seem to be a theme with dinos showing up once someone starts nutrient control to solve other problems.

Well I'm not having dino issues, just the bryopsis issue. I don't know how dosing this would help the acros but I guess giving it a try won't be detrimental, just cause a spike in my bryopsis growth lol.

 

[markalot]

Well I'm not having dino issues, just the bryopsis issue. I don't know how dosing this would help the acros but I guess giving it a try won't be detrimental, just cause a spike in my bryopsis growth lol.

Gah, Josh, sorry. I was reading a thread about dinos and my old brain got crossed up. :spin3:

Yea, no idea on a good cure for bryopsis other than a big ole yellow Foxface. I've either gotten really lucky or I have something that eats it in both tanks but not sure what it is.

 

[joshky]

Gah, Josh, sorry. I was reading a thread about dinos and my old brain got crossed up. :spin3:

Yea, no idea on a good cure for bryopsis other than a big ole yellow Foxface. I've either gotten really lucky or I have something that eats it in both tanks but not sure what it is.

I have a scribbled rabbit right now and it won't touch the stuff, I've thought about adding a yellow tang but I hate the idea of throwing fish in just in hopes of it eating my algae. I'm doing the vibrant dosing right now and based on another users timeline I should start seeing results mid January, however that day can't come fast enough. My acros are all over the place, some are slightly bleached, some have minor recession, and others are brown, none of my colors are good.

 

[markalot]

I have a scribbled rabbit right now and it won't touch the stuff, I've thought about adding a yellow tang but I hate the idea of throwing fish in just in hopes of it eating my algae. I'm doing the vibrant dosing right now and based on another users timeline I should start seeing results mid January, however that day can't come fast enough. My acros are all over the place, some are slightly bleached, some have minor recession, and others are brown, none of my colors are good.

I suspect they will suffer badly if Vibrant is actually capable of killing dinos along with bryopsis. The thing is this Miracle potions has claimed to kill just about everything bad in the tank so ... and perhaps that's where I got confused because someone else I know is using it to kill dinos.

The big ugly (well, I think he's cute) Foxface is the one that does best with pest algae for me.

 

[reefmutt]

Hey Josh, sorry to read about your bryopsis issues.. it's clear how demoralized you are. Totally been there with bryopsis (and being totally demoralized!). I still have it in my system but it doesn't seem to grow very fast anymore and only grows around the over flow which is easy to handle.
I'm not sure what, but between the several tangs, hermits and snails, one or many of them keep it controlled.
I suspect that most grazers will 'control' it when it's just sprouting but once it becomes leafy, nobody, but nobody seems to touch it. I think your best bet is to try to remove as much of the long stuff as possible and maybe get some more snails and hermits..
I once had a Sea hare that ate it ravenously for about 3 weeks and then it died.. my other attempts at sea hare bryopsis control are not nearly as successful. They may eat a bit, in passing but won't choose to eat it, if better things are around.
For whatever reason, currently I cannot get macro algea to grow in my system despite nitrates of over 30ppm and p over .15. I must be iron limited or something.. but under the current conditions, my bryopsis barely grows..
I just figured I'd put all this info out there.
Also, my first attempt at trying Kent mag was very effective. After dosing to 1700 ppm mag, the bryopsis shriveled and died but I didn't wait long enough with it at that concentration and it recovered and came back. My subsequent attempts with Kent required at least a 2000 ppm concentration to just make the bryopsis notice. After that Kent was not effective and I've had a problem with high mag ever since!
Clearly this bryopsis sh@t is very adaptable.
Good luck my friend!

 

[Wesus]

Sorry to read about your problems Joshky.
Seachem Flourish Phosphorus is mostly k2po4 and is used in planted tanks for Phosphorus dosing. I don't think is good idea to use it to battle bryopsis. It will most likely only increase growth of algea

 

[Bdial]

If you want I can house some frags for you in case you have to much die off. We're only a few hours apart I think