Myka's 69 SPS Tank 2015

[mhucasey]

Hard for me to tell. I have 36" bulbs and a fixture and they seem to have issues, but the fixture is not properly cooled. The one thread I read on the subject did have a 36" ATI T5 and could not get the PAR performance that he could from the 48" version.

It may not be the bulbs per se but simply the length of the tubes.

In here somewhere: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1641235

around here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15114382&highlight=36#post15114382

Yep that's the origin of the myth. I've confirmed elsewhere that the bulbs put out roughly equivalent intensity at the bulb itself.

 

[markalot]

Yep that's the origin of the myth. I've confirmed elsewhere that the bulbs put out roughly equivalent intensity at the bulb itself.

Ah, good to know!

 

[Myka]

Have you tried adjusting the fan speed to increase PAR? If the room is cool the fan might be over-cooling the bulbs.

What setting do you have your PAR meter on, Sun or Electric?

That's an interesting suggestion. The fans are on a dimmer and auto-cooled. I can adjust the temperature. I'll have to take a peek at what temp they're running at later today when they're on.

As for the PAR meter...I'm not sure, I borrowed it. Which setting should it be on? I just turned it on and went for it. It's an Apogee.

 

[markalot]

That's an interesting suggestion. The fans are on a dimmer and auto-cooled. I can adjust the temperature. I'll have to take a peek at what temp they're running at later today when they're on.

As for the PAR meter...I'm not sure, I borrowed it. Which setting should it be on? I just turned it on and went for it. It's an Apogee.

Overall Sun I *THINK* based on this article when compared to the super expensive and accurate LiCor meter.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/2/equipment

 

[mhucasey]

Overall Sun I *THINK* based on this article when compared to the super expensive and accurate LiCor meter.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/2/equipment

"Sun" is correct.

Matt

 

[Myka]

I don't have much exciting to report. I bought a browned out maricultured A. plana yesterday. Not much for PE yet - it did not enjoy the Bayer dip.

cFloor posted a pic of his fish's meal plan, here's mine. I also add flying fish roe, Garlic Extreme, Florida Aqua Farms Vitamins, wild salmon oil, BioAstin asthaxanthin, and gelatin.

Overall Sun I *THINK* based on this article when compared to the super expensive and accurate LiCor meter.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/2/equipment

Thanks Mark, I forgot about that link. I'll review it. That graph is for LEDs though, and I only testing T5.

"Sun" is correct.

Matt

Thanks for the confirmation Matt.

 

[plyle02]

Mindy,
It looks like your fish eat better than me, lol.... Great recipe, going to be fun cleaning up that blender afterwards, lol

 

[mhucasey]

I don't have much exciting to report. I bought a browned out maricultured A. plana yesterday. Not much for PE yet - it did not enjoy the Bayer dip.

cFloor posted a pic of his fish's meal plan, here's mine. I also add flying fish roe, Garlic Extreme, Florida Aqua Farms Vitamins, wild salmon oil, BioAstin asthaxanthin, and gelatin.

Thanks Mark, I forgot about that link. I'll review it. That graph is for LEDs though, and I only testing T5.



Thanks for the confirmation Matt.

Damn. I want to eat that...the fish can have leftovers!

 

[cFloor]

Awesome Myka! When I saw your comment in my thread, I mentioned that I thought you would do this as well. It's easy, cheap, and healthy for the fish, so why not...

 

[Myka]

Awhile back I received a gen 1 Gyre XF150 on trade for my big RO/DI system. It showed up with a cracked cord. Both the seller and I tried to get it replaced on warranty, but he didn't have the receipt anymore. I've been using it in my tank, but have been very disappointed how noisy it was. So on Boxing Day the seller ordered up a new motor block and mounts in exchange for the mistake. I just installed them, and now it's almost silent. Pretty happy about that since I really like the flow from the Gyre.

Mindy,
It looks like your fish eat better than me, lol.... Great recipe, going to be fun cleaning up that blender afterwards, lol

The fish have their own food processor. :fish2:

Damn. I want to eat that...the fish can have leftovers!

I don't like seafood as much as you (or my fish haha).

Awesome Myka! When I saw your comment in my thread, I mentioned that I thought you would do this as well. It's easy, cheap, and healthy for the fish, so why not...

Yes, I've been making my own food for several years now. The recipe is always a little different each time. I killed a few food processors learning how to deal with squid. :lol:

 

[Myka]

My tank is suffering zero nutrients again...

SG 35 ppt (calibrated with 35 ppt solution)
Cal 405 ppm (new Salifert kit), 390 ppm (end of an Elos kit) <--- this is usually 400-410 ppm
Alk 6.8 dKH (new Hanna reagent), 6.85 (new Salifert kit) <--- this is usually 7.0-7.2 dKH
Mg 1240 ppm (Red Sea Pro)
NO3 0 ppm (Salifert), 0 ppm (Red Sea Pro)
PO4 0 ppb (Hanna)

Dosing kalk, and needs a bump up I see.

A few weeks ago I was getting a whiff of nutrients and the tank was looking better. Now the nutrients are gone, and everything is uber pale again. I do have some fluffy brown algae growth everywhere that I'm not sure what it is. It's particularly growing on the powerheads and back glass. It starts by looking like diatoms, but then gets fluffy if I don't scrape it off. It comes off super easy like diatoms. I added some more clean up crew to try to help: 6 Ring Cowries (2 weeks ago), 3 small Turbos, Peppermint Shrimp (had a couple tiny Aiptasia and he got em), 1 small female Emerald Crab (bubble algae is getting out of hand too).

Another thing that I hesitate to mention is pH. Ever since day one with this tank, I haven't a reading over pH 7.7. I am using a calibrated handheld meter. It's probably a decade old, maybe more. Every time I calibrate it I read the solutions with the meter first and they always read 7.0 and 10.0. Then I calibrate and they again read the solutions at 7.0 and 10.0. Today pH just before the white light cycle is 7.6. I've tried messing around with opening windows, and that doesn't help. I want to do with pH test with outside air, but it's been really cold here (-30C), so the water will freeze before the 1 hour aeration is done. Today it's only (-6C) so I'll see what I can do to get it done today. I'll use a big jug of water and put it in a cooler with a heat pack maybe. :lol:

I cleaned the back glass and powerheads 2 weeks ago, and this is what they look like now:

Here are some of the worst affected pale corals:

Here's that sweet wild Aussie Acro (I think it's the same species and color type that biggles recently posted that's purple with the green and blue tips), and it's paled as well. It has a little nubbin growing where I took a frag off and the colors are looking quite nice, though still pale. Right now the tips of the corallites are looking neon yellow in person.

 

[Myka]

I don't have much exciting to report. I bought a browned out maricultured A. plana yesterday. Not much for PE yet - it did not enjoy the Bayer dip.

So I was talking to the LFS owner and he said the "plana" came is as a desalwii. It looks too bush-type to be desalwii to me, but I sure am hoping! That's the coral I miss the most from my old SPS tank. To me, plana and desalwii are impossible to distinguish until you have a good growth pattern established - if it tables it's desalwii, and if it's a bush it's plana.

Here it is today, starting to show a bit of color, but not much.

In comparison, here's a known plana frag that I ordered (it arrived brown as a turd). With close pics like these though, it does appear that the corallites are shaped differently. Hmm...

Here's that maricultured mille (or prostrata?) that's an interesting color. I still can't quite get the burnt orange color of the tips on the camera. It's certainly different than a typical Sunset Mille.
Polyps out:

Polyps in:

A new smooth skin I bought yesterday that came in as caroliniana. I could believe that, but maybe multiacuta? It was brighter when it first arrived at the LFS, but it's been there awhile. Can anyone spot Little Kenny's cousin Tiny Tim? Tiny Tim lost a pincer fighting me when I was trying to remove him before the Bayer dip. He thinks he's tough enough to handle insecticide, but I told him only adults are allowed to choose to be exposed to that type of drug, and when he's 18 he can decide then. Hopefully Snoopy (the Yellow Coris H chrysus) will leave him alone, or he'll have worse problems than a close call with insecticide!

 

[M007]

Nice pics. #2 is most certainly Plana.

 

[Myka]

The results of the pH test:

pH of tank water 7.8
pH of tank water after aerating for 3 hours 8.0

Now, this is assuming the ATC is accurate because the water was only 16.7C after aeration.

Nice pics. #2 is most certainly Plana.

Thank you. Yes, it's #1 that I'm uncertain of.

 

[rburns24]

-
I had the same problem with ph as well, and the only way I could get
around it was by running the air that feeds my skimmer through soda
lime. I couldn't use Kalk for top-up because it would have made my
alkalinity to high.
-

 

[plyle02]

Nice score Mindy, those are some tasty looking acros!!!

 

[markalot]

The pictures look pretty good to me.

Odd PH issues. I run my skimmer intake outside which just barely keeps my PH above 7.8 in the middle of winter and summer when the house is closed up.

 

[Myka]

Nice score Mindy, those are some tasty looking acros!!!

The pictures look pretty good to me.

Odd PH issues. I run my skimmer intake outside which just barely keeps my PH above 7.8 in the middle of winter and summer when the house is closed up.

You guys think they look good? I don't. :facepalm: Thanks though guys! I'm glad someone likes them.

I think the low pH may be contributing to the algae/bacteria troubles I've had. These algae/bacteria are certainly not your typical run of the mill types. Remember that clear fuzzy alga/bacteria from a couple pages back? Still have it.

I'm not sure how to lower CO2 to the skimmer yet. The option to run a line outside may not be the best option since the outside temperature often falls in the -30C here. Not only am I not a big fan of pumping a bunch of cold air into my house, I'm not sure how much that will affect the temperature of the tank and the use of the heaters. Maybe less CO2 in the house wouldn't be a bad thing though! I was also thinking of a CO2 scrubber, but what I know of them they aren't easy to keep at a steady rate, and the last thing I need is a yo-yo pH!

I think the "alga" on the powerheads and back glass may be Lyngbya. I might pull out the old microscope today and take a look. Lyngbya is a cyanobacteria that seems to thrive in very low nutrient environments. *grumble*

 

[rburns24]

-
I tried taking air from outside and on a cold night the temp started to drop like
a stone, so I quit that. The scrubber isn't that hard to dial in.

I have the soda lime in a BRS canister fitted with 1/2" tubing. When the PH starts
to drop, I replace about 4" of the media rather than all of it and that way I don't
get a large PH swing.
-

 

[Myka]

Thanks for the input rburns. The trouble is that I don't have a pH monitor, just a handheld meter. I'd end up having to check often. pH is one of the main reasons I use am using kalk, but my tank isn't using enough yet for it to make a difference.