Solana tank owner thread.

[MVlk]

What kind of corals are you not seeing growth on? SPS, LPS or Softies?

 

[TriggerHappyDude]

What kind of corals are you not seeing growth on? SPS, LPS or Softies?

Correction to my bulb list...here are the bulbs I have in order...from front to back.

• ATI Blue Plus
• Korallen Fiji Purple
• GE 6500k Daylight
• ATI Blue Plus

Here are the frags I just got:

• Green Slimer
• Blue Stag
• Blue Mille
• Neon Green Stylo
• Tubbs Birds Nest
• Pocillopora
• Acro 1
• Acro 2

Here are some photos of my tank and coral.
Whatever the Blue coral is in the bottom left close up, has started to appear to decay away, there is not as much of the blue stuff on it anymore, more white hard coral like stem, stuff like this has me wondering what is going wrong...

FTS

Bottom Left

Bottom Right

Top Left

Top Right

Close Up - Bottom Left

Close Up - Bottom Right

Close Up - Top Left

Close Up - Top Right

How does the Coraline algae growth look to you? Is it good or bad? The darker purple/red coraline algae in the bottom right, around the corner from the return valve, is starting to get hairy, is that bad/good, should I cut some out or leave it alone?

 

[MVlk]

I am still relatively new to SPS (1 Year), but I do not think a 4 bulb T5 is really enough light for good SPS growth. (I am sure there are some who do it well with 4 bulbs but would not know what vodoo the use to get it to happen ) I have the 6 bulb NEP and think it will be marginal for SPS at best. I just added 3 SPS pieces within the past few weeks so time will tell on that.

I still debate going metal halide to really kick the growth up. Fortunately lack of funding is causing me to wait and see, which I should do anyhow. Once the SPS frags have had a good 6 months I will look at major changes as needed.

Coraline growth certainly looks good, but I am not sure there is any real correlation to be made directly to SPS growth.

You mentioned good Alk and Ca levels. What are those exact numbers?

 

[TriggerHappyDude]

I am still relatively new to SPS (1 Year), but I do not think a 4 bulb T5 is really enough light for good SPS growth. (I am sure there are some who do it well with 4 bulbs but would not know what vodoo the use to get it to happen ) I have the 6 bulb NEP and think it will be marginal for SPS at best. I just added 3 SPS pieces within the past few weeks so time will tell on that.

I still debate going metal halide to really kick the growth up. Fortunately lack of funding is causing me to wait and see, which I should do anyhow. Once the SPS frags have had a good 6 months I will look at major changes as needed.

Coraline growth certainly looks good, but I am not sure there is any real correlation to be made directly to SPS growth.

You mentioned good Alk and Ca levels. What are those exact numbers?

Really, you don't think my 24" ATI fixture that was very expensive is good enough for SPS growth? I bet the guys at ATI would beg to differ, but at this point I'm not disagreeing with you, I obviously can't grow any...and the fact I'm new to SPS and don't know a lot about them. MH was avoided for me due to heating issues, I didn't see the point of buying a nice MH light and then adding another $200+ for a chiller to keep the tank cool, when I could get a nice T5 light for the same amount of money.

I purchased the ATI and ATI bulbs for the very reason of good PAR, I think, unless my bulbs are just old or something, the lighting is very good. Its very bright and lights up the house and street from the little room its in. Pretty sure that I'm good there, nothing glaringly wrong anyway.

I will post all my test kit levels this weekend, I don't remember what they were last weekend when I tested, but they were all in the normal ranges.

Thanks.

 

[TriggerHappyDude]

I might be over reacting on my growth issues, I'm new to these corals, not sure what I should be seeing?

 

[Hooked4life]

Really, you don't think my 24" ATI fixture that was very expensive is good enough for SPS growth? I bet the guys at ATI would beg to differ, but at this point I'm not disagreeing with you, I obviously can't grow any...and the fact I'm new to SPS and don't know a lot about them. MH was avoided for me due to heating issues, I didn't see the point of buying a nice MH light and then adding another $200+ for a chiller to keep the tank cool, when I could get a nice T5 light for the same amount of money.

I purchased the ATI and ATI bulbs for the very reason of good PAR, I think, unless my bulbs are just old or something, the lighting is very good. Its very bright and lights up the house and street from the little room its in. Pretty sure that I'm good there, nothing glaringly wrong anyway.

I will post all my test kit levels this weekend, I don't remember what they were last weekend when I tested, but they were all in the normal ranges.

Thanks.

I agree that your light is good enough for sps growth, especially in the top 1/2 of the tank. The ATI Blue Plus is a very high par bulb.

 

[jackson6745]

I get better growth under an ATI fixture than I did with a 250w halide.... even on the bottom of the tank.

 

[jackson6745]

THD, your frags are small. Give them a chance to encrust and branch out. SPS growth is exponential. Once they get to be a few inches and multi branched growth will really take off. Keep alk, cal, and Mg where there should be and phosphate should always be undetectable on regular po4 testkits

 

[TriggerHappyDude]

Ok, I'm going to post all my params this weekend, so we can see whats up. Thanks for all the help and advice everyone.

 

[kicbox89]

Great setup!

 

[lpsouth1978]

Tank update. So I got a few new additions to my tank today. These are a Hydrophora frag, 3 inch blue maxima clam, and small super orange polyp colony. Also any suggestions on corals to look for would be great. The tank set-up is as follows:

Stock skimmer and return pump, vortech MP20 for flow. 400w Hamilton Cayman light fixture, with 20k Icecap HQI Bulb and CoralVue ballast. JBJ ATO with 10g tank for top-off. Azoo 4 fan fixture for cooling. R2 dual moonlight with moon phase controller.

Inhabitants include 30lbs of live sand, 22 lbs of live rock, 12 turbo snails, 30 blue leg dwarf hermits, small hydrophora frag, green trumpet colony, maxima clam, orange super-colored polyps, green star polyps (on own rock seperate from main scape), a few green mushrooms, Large rose anemone, maroon clown, and 2 peppermint shrimp. All are doing very well, some despite being under such an intense light.

I do a 15% water change with reverse osmosis water every week and all params are stable. SG 1.022, Ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites 0ppm. Phosphates are undetectable, dkh 10, and calcium 460.

Due to the anemone, I am limited on space and so am being picky about the corals I get. All recommendations are welcome.

 

[lpsouth1978]

can someone help to identify this coral? I have 2 of them. They came on my live rock, but im not sure what they are or care requirements. Any help would be great.

 

[killarsox]

What do you all use to clean the glass?? I noticed my normal glass scraper is leaving scratches in the sapphire glass. Any suggestions?

 

[amheck]

Is the starphire softer than "regular" glass?

 

[poolkeeper1]

Yes It Is, It scratches very easy even a piece of sand In your Mag Float will scratch It real bad. To me Starfire Is too exspensive for glass that Is soo easy to damage!
JMHO
Bill

 

[MVlk]

I doubt I would get Low Iron glass again. Even being careful I am noticing small scratches here and there. Make sure your magnetic cleaner is appropriately sized, the smaller the better. Check the pad often for debris. Only way to really insure no scratches is to do it all by hand with a pad.

 

[Grizzy]

I do a 15% water change with reverse osmosis water every week and all params are stable. SG 1.022

Isn't that a bit low for SG?

 

[amheck]

Well, interesting info on the starphire. I've been searching for a Solana and have been trying to hold out for the low iron version, but there is one for sale now with "regular" glass. Maybe this is good I ran across this info now.

 

[lpsouth1978]

Isn't that a bit low for SG?

It is a little lower than I would like, but thing are still doing well. The pump that I had on my ATO was too powerfull and kept adding more water than it was supposed to before the pump could shut off. I am slowly raising SG with my weekly water changes. I should have it up to around 1.025 soon.

 

[MVlk]

Well, interesting info on the starphire. I've been searching for a Solana and have been trying to hold out for the low iron version, but there is one for sale now with "regular" glass. Maybe this is good I ran across this info now.

I'd go for the regular glass version for sure. The low iron looks a little nicer, but not worth the added cost and scratches. IMO.

It is a little lower than I would like, but thing are still doing well. The pump that I had on my ATO was too powerfull and kept adding more water than it was supposed to before the pump could shut off. I am slowly raising SG with my weekly water changes. I should have it up to around 1.025 soon.

The Aqua Lift pump works great for ATO on our tanks. I like that it does not dump too much in before the float switch triggers. The things are work horses, cheap and darn near indestructible. Mine has been soaked twice now and is still running like a champ. I even add Kalk to my top off and see no signs of wear.