Oldude's new 400 gal tank build

[Oldude]

flamron That is almost exactly my swing for pH. I was having some major issues, mostly Alk & Ca issues, but I've gotten that corrected, and am starting to see growth again with the pieces that I didn't lose. FWIW, my pH swing never changed throughout all of my battle, and is still 8.1-8.37 depending on the time of day.

My PH has been like this for at least as long as I have had my controller and get a reading 24/7. I guess people who don't use a PH probe should try to do their PH testing at about the same time of day so it's a consistent standard they are comparing.

 

[Oldude]

Here's a "twilight on the reef" shot showing a mix of blue & Fiji purple T5 lighting with a Blotchy Anthia out for an evening swim.

 

[Dave's Reef]

Here's a "twilight on the reef" shot showing a mix of blue & Fiji purple T5 lighting with a Blotchy Anthia out for an evening swim.

Amazing shot Gregg, I like and use the ATI Blue+ / Fiji combo myself! Along with my Radium's of course... :dance:

 

[prop-frags]

Photo of the month!!
I'll tell ya, even with the issues you're having, the setup still looks incredible!
:dance:

 

[mpoletti]

Nice shot Greg, How's your borb's aggression? Mine has become a brat chasing all the blue eyes and anthias around the tank.

 

[Leonardo_]

Nice picture... Have to try the Fiji and blue+ combo myself sometime!

Leonardo

 

[DanW]

Very nice photo Greg, love the layer upon layer of SPS :thumbsup:

 

[Oldude]

Amazing shot Gregg, I like and use the ATI Blue+ / Fiji combo myself! Along with my Radium's of course... :dance:

Thanks Dave, at present I'm using KZ bulbs for both.

prop-frags - Photo of the month!!
I'll tell ya, even with the issues you're having, the setup still looks incredible!

Thanks very much.

mpoletti - Nice shot Greg, How's your borb's aggression? Mine has become a brat chasing all the blue eyes and anthias around the tank.

Thanks Mark, that O.borbonius is not too bad for aggression as it's fairly low in the pecking order. The dominant male of my other anthia group is much more aggressive and dive bombs many of the other fish showing off to his little harem he keeps all huddled together on one side of the tank.

Leonardo_ Nice picture... Have to try the Fiji and blue+ combo myself sometime!

Thanks Leonardo, that combination makes a fairly low light but nicely coloured sunrise/sunset affect.

DanW - Very nice photo Greg, love the layer upon layer of SPS

Thanks Dan, yeah there's a few sps in there.

 

[Atomikk]

Hmm... so I guess your troubles start with low Potassium. It is synonymous with STN. If you have the K-Balance product by Zeovit, it should do the trick.

 

[Dejavu]

One thing I find interesting is the my Salifert test kits are out to lunch.
According to them my Mg tested at 1380 & my Ca tested at 435....yikes. Could the parameters they say are too high or too low cause tip burn/browning and flesh to flakes off M.digitatas?

Interesting the RBS would have a higher concentration of ammonia & phosphate than my tank does.

Greg, I the way they test for Ca and Mg, that why those numbers are low. AWT calcium result have always been off. They test calcium with ISE probe and then throw in a fudge factor to get their value. These values represent only the amount of free calcium ions present in the samples. They need to test with flame AA in order to total calcium concentration. There result with ISE probe will be 10-20 % off.

 

[Dejavu]

Here's a "twilight on the reef" shot showing a mix of blue & Fiji purple T5 lighting with a Blotchy Anthia out for an evening swim.

:thumbsup:

 

[Oldude]

Greg, I the way they test for Ca and Mg, that why those numbers are low. AWT calcium result have always been off. They test calcium with ISE probe and then throw in a fudge factor to get their value. These values represent only the amount of free calcium ions present in the samples. They need to test with flame AA in order to total calcium concentration. There result with ISE probe will be 10-20 % off.

Thanks for the heads up Brian, that's good to know.

Atomikk - Hmm... so I guess your troubles start with low Potassium. It is synonymous with STN. If you have the K-Balance product by Zeovit, it should do the trick.

I have been topping up with Kbalance, I originally suspected a K overdose so I had stopped dosing so it stands to reason that parameter would be low. Obviously I wasn't experiencing an overdose and I doubt very much that low K was my original issue although it may have eventually contributed to it.

 

[Oldude]

Despite the problems I've encountered lately there are still many corals showing no or little ill affects.
Here's a few shots I took today. Sorry for the poor quality pictures but my photo box is getting pretty scuffed up and needs replacing.

 

[Dejavu]

Very nice Greg. What's the 2nd one down?

 

[Oldude]

Very nice Greg. What's the 2nd one down?

Thanks Brian. 2nd down is my little "Hawkins Blue"....grow baby grow!

 

[Oldude]

My Imperator angel is getting to be a pain......Here is an example of one of my several clams showing bite marks from that rascal.

 

[Oldude]

Only remnants left from this purple/green acro from Down-Under but it seems to be recovering nicely and I have high hopes for this one.

Here is another little baby from Australia that is creating high expectations.

 

[Oldude]

This S.hystrix has been morphing over the past 6 months and seems a bit confused. Apparently it's forgotten it's polyps have always been blue.:crazy1:

 

[Dave's Reef]

Only remnants left from this purple/green acro from Down-Under but it seems to be recovering nicely and I have high hopes for this one.

Here is another little baby from Australia that is creating high expectations.

All very nice pictures Gregg, I like these two hopefuls especially that you posted!

 

[DanW]

I vote for the red one Greg. Its beautiful now and will be a stunner when it gets bigger for sure. I'm consistently amazed on how dense and colorful your SPS are, very impressive.