Reboot

[galleon]

Here you go guys. Lots of issues over winter forced neglect on my part and basically necessitated a restart. Five months later, after lots of stability with just Porites and Tridacnas growing like weeds, I'm getting serious again, doing a slow careful reboot.

Equipment list:

Auto topoff float switch
Tunze DOC Nano Skimmer
Iceprobe chiller
Aqueon heater
400 watt Iwasaki 6500K metal halide without any supplementation
Vortech MP10
20 gallon long
Neptune Apex Lite with pH and Temp probes

Berlin-based method:

Bare bottom
Instant Ocean in RO/DI
Topoff water is Kalkwasser supercharged with vinegar
Bi-weekly water changes
Wet skimming
Food is New Life Spectrum pellet for the fish, rotifeast for other critters.
Temp set at 26 C, never varies more than plus or minus 0.1 C

Here it is before serious cleaning. After 5 months of just stability and maintenance after losing stuff, a lot of algae and detritus needed to be cleared from the clamshells and exposed rocks and glass. The algae had trapped tons of detritus and yellowed the water. I'll make a new video after the cleaning.

 

[galleon]

After.

 

[epicurus84]

Looks a lot cleaner. But is kalkwasser already necessary?

 

[galleon]

Ignore the dirty sensor.

 

[acesq]

There was a little magic in that cleanup! Great images.

 

[galleon]

Gresham had the idea to do an experiment with APBreed TDO (Top-Dressed Otohime). I'm going to run the tank entirely on nothing but TDO. It will be very interesting to see small polyped stonies respond to it as a feed. Today was the first day.

 

[galleon]

I grabbed two "new" Acropora from an LFS for $10. They had sting damage (very bad in the case of the green samoensis), but for $10, I chanced it.

 

[acesq]

That will be an interesting experiment. How are you going to determine the amount to feed? Will that damsel get anything additional?

 

[galleon]

Five days after acquiring, one of the rescued colonies is looking great, the other is coming around after being fragged (it was unsalvageable as a colony) and having any trace of death glued over.

 

[galleon]

That will be an interesting experiment. How are you going to determine the amount to feed? Will that damsel get anything additional?

Mainly just guessing and watching. It's nothing scientific, so experiment is a misnomer. Yes the damsel will get his/her own food, same material: TDO, but small fish sized pellets.

 

[galleon]

 

[galleon]

iPhone pics. Maricultured rescue that was looking very rough at the LFS.

 

[karsseboom]

I have a feeling if you swapped out the 6.5k with a 400w radium for 4 weeks and then return to the 6.5k lamp you would see a nice change in color.

 

[franklypre]

I think he should atleast run it for a few months to allow the coral to fully color up under the Iwasaki, then perhaps a Radium for 6-8 months, then back to the Iwasaki to make sure it was the radium that gave them the color. I might even donate some frags to that cause so long as it were to be done scientifically(ish). I do have a few small frags of setosa and would even cut a frag of stellata to encourage the change, I too am color blind FYI.

 

[Charley Diesing]

I'm really not trying to be rude, but why?

Like even a natural reef looks more blue then that? I don't understand why anyone would want something that ugly in there home.

I guess beauty truly is up to the eye of the beholder.

 

[galleon]

I have a feeling if you swapped out the 6.5k with a 400w radium for 4 weeks and then return to the 6.5k lamp you would see a nice change in color.

I have a feeling I'll see one without swapping out in some of the corals.

The Porites lutea colonies will stay brown, that's just the way of things. I have a special place for them in my heart because they are a main species I work with professionally.

 

[galleon]

I think he should atleast run it for a few months to allow the coral to fully color up under the Iwasaki, then perhaps a Radium for 6-8 months, then back to the Iwasaki to make sure it was the radium that gave them the color. I might even donate some frags to that cause so long as it were to be done scientifically(ish). I do have a few small frags of setosa and would even cut a frag of stellata to encourage the change, I too am color blind FYI.

I appreciate the gesture, but no thank you. I'm quite happy and content to be the washed up talentless hack with an ugly tank using unsupplemented 6500k Iwasakis .

 

[karsseboom]

I like the experiment it's interesting. He taking a small tank, using very little rock, very little equipment and using a 6.5k bulb. The only problem I see is keeping a stable balance. With a tank that small using hardly any rock will be challenging. I don't think he ment this to be a glorious display but rather testament to his skill.

 

[galleon]

I'm really not trying to be rude, but why?

Like even a natural reef looks more blue then that?

Well, now that we're past my own immature silliness and trolling out of sheer procrastination in the blue thread, the reality is, very shallow reef does not necessarily look any more blue than this. In fact, it can often look even more yellow. Or green. Let's try a thought experiment.

One reality of the Iwasaki bulb is that it has a color rendering index as high as 96 at 6500k, with midday sun giving a perfect 100 at a 5500K color temperature. If your tank water and reef water are equally clear for a certain surface area and depth (for example, a very shallow reef flat, the range of depths of which all commercial aquaria fall within), then well, I'll let common sense be your guide. You're walking around on a reef flat a foot or so deep, abundant Acropora coverage, or you are snorkeling over a reef flat a few feet deep, again abundant Acropora coverage, what bulb would look most like what you see in those scenarios?

 

[Drae]

A thousand ways to skin a cat. Methods vary greatly. Different methods are a breath of fresh air around here. Do what you do bro. Good job so far.