TMC Signature 600

Well, I hope that the new lights fix the issue. 8 bulb is a LOT of light, but there's usually nothing wrong with that. Hopefully that at minimum looks better (or you've found a bulb combo that you like), and over the longer term grows your coral more as well.

I know what you mean about the color on growth tips and such. I still remember running my XM 10k 250w bulbs over my 120g... The growth tips of anything purple or red glowed in a way that I haven't seen since that bulb. Other bulbs were bluer, or looked different, but there was something in the spectrum of the 10k XM that made it stand out. I've heard the same for blue with the Reeflux 10k bulbs. It's just such a small thing that you can't tune at all in MH bulbs, and is hard to tune on LED and T5 to get it just right, that I haven't bothered to try since then.

I see a little bit of that glowing in some of my corals, but it's nothing like a 10k XM had...

Do you mind sharing your PAR measurements from before and after, since you've taken them anyway?
 
I'll have to borrow the Apogee again for the Hybrid, and didn't note any measurements down for the Kessil - though interestingly the lowest PAR for those lights was observed actually directly under them...

Another quick top down shot of one of my favourite frags :

Acro Gomezi by DEAF N1NJA, on Flickr
 
New addition :

12187658_10153193339712006_8956705023560237522_n.jpg


11219586_10153193339797006_3851996271912774576_n.jpg


12196341_10153193339947006_2874232815242271933_n.jpg
 
oooo the elusive white acropora!

:D Hope it colors up soon!

Also, that last post with the picture of the A. Gomezi looks amazing. Can't wait to see it grow out a bit more!
 
Really struggling with the SPS in my tank right now. Checking parameters on a daily basis and as of today they are as follows :

PH - 8
SG - 1.025
Temp - 26 C
Nitrate - 1 ppm
Phosphate - 0 ppm
dKH - 8
Calcium - 475
Magnesium - 1370

A lot of my SPS are paling out right now, and my Montipora Forest Fires growth tips are turning from green / white to a shade of brown :(
 
"pale" = low nutrients. That's why there's a big resurgence of people recommending raising nitrates to 5-10ppm. It only works if the dominant "growth" in your tank is corals though, otherwise you just fuel algae.

Honestly, brown is not ideal, but isn't worst case. White = dead, brown = issues but surviving. I'd rather have brown over white.

If you're seeing brown, things to consider are: parameter stability, parameter altitude, pests, flow, light intensity, in that order (IMO).

Have you thought about doing a water change?
 
Cheers for the reply ReefWreak.

Interestingly i've added two more fish to increase bioload over the past week as I thought my tank might be too 'clean'.

Flow is provided by an Eheim 5000+ running at 2500 LPH through XAqua pulsating returns aswell as 2 x MP10s running Reef crest mode @ 40% power.

The tank is now stable, though i'm looking to reduce calcium to 420.

Pests include red planaria FW - it's an epidemic the tanks seen struggling from for 5 months - i've introduced measures to try and reduce it with no avail. So unfortunately the tank inhabitants (corals and fish) are to be QT (with the corals dipped several times) while the tank is both treated to flatworm exit, has a major rescape and also has the sand removed.

I perform a 15 litre (around 11%) water change, religiously, every week using Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt (before this was RSCP), along with emptying / cleaning the skimmer and replacing filter socks regularly.
 
Kessils do not register accurately with PAR meters. I've got 2 160's on a 55 mixed reef, everything growing. I've never lost a zoa colony. I don't think your lights are the problem, unless you are not setting the intensity correctly.
 
I've since sold the Kessil A360s and replaced them with an ATI Hybrid T5 + LED unit.

PAR is PAR though, it's a universal measurement - I got the same 'reply' off Kessil themselves.

I was running them @ 60% peak - bear in mine one is rated for a 24" x 24" spread. I was running two on a 24" x 18" tank and was told, by Kessil themselves what intensity to start on, so I know intensity wasn't the issue.

Interestingly, the intense shimmer they're lauded for, is what was causing the drop in PAR (the shimmer lines)
 
ehhhh PAR =/= PAR. Depends on the source and wavelength. There's a whole discussion about how the blue end of the spectrum doesn't get picked up accurately by quantum meters (PAR meters), so it's actually under represented in aquarium lights. THAT BEING SAID, you're probably comparing equally "blue" lights in your on-tank comparisons, so they're probably precise against each other, just not accurate in an altitude sense (as almost every reading in the aquarium hobby is equally at the wrong altitude because of the inaccuracy of reading the blue spectrum).

Also, planaria flatworms are a sign of higher nutrients. I would not do a flatworm exit (or other flatworm treatment) and either add a wrasse (you might be at bioload cap now with the new additions), or just focus on nutrient reduction to get rid of them. I hate treating with any broad-spectrum XXX-icide since you're likely to impact the tank biology more than you intend to. I'd keep the treatment as a last resort and just focus on lowering nutrients for a while. Maybe very light carbon dosing?
 
RW - I added a peacock wrasse 2 months ago in order to combat the FW, along with running a wetter skim via an upgraded skimmer (which is over-rated for this tank size). I also use siporax for nitrate reduction and run an UAS for nutrient control.

Feeding is light, a couple of pinches of dried food a day, alternating with a cube of frozen food once a week.

I swapped light knowing that this light will have no issues producing the quality and intensity if light needed. One big point missed is the actual light produced from an AESTHETIC point of view - it was very underwhelming IMO.

An Iridis wrasse was added last week also, but again, FW have been increasing steadily for the past 3 months. Even with a daily or every two days, manual removal of FW.

Phosphates of flat 0 and Nitrates at 1 too, surely indicating my nutrients are low.

RO water is produced via a 4 stage RO / DI machine using fresh filters and producing 0 TDS water. Not quite sure what else I can do without resorting to (reluctantly) an aggressive chemical solution?

As also said, the other main reasons for the gutting are to remove the substrate entirely, and also prompt a reshape using acrylic rods and plating rock.
 
Hmm, yea, it sounds like you've tried almost everything else... I guess all that's left is chemical warfare. Good luck!
 
All livestock was removed and held in a QT (with the corals being treated to a double dip of Coral RX).

Flatworm Exit added to the tank on two occasions.

Sand removed (going bare bottom).

All water drained from the tank, using fresh water and Aquavitro Seed for instant cycling (supposedly)

All equipment removed from the sump and vinegar bathed

Sump removed, cabinet cleaned and sump cleaned

I discovered the air pump that was in the sump to power the up flow algae scrubber had rusted, with the airline itself discoloured and smelling metallic / rusty! Can't be good for the SPS.

All the rock was removed, and a rescape done, using approximately 1/4 of the live rock from before for a much more minimalist look and better flow.

The putty holding the new scape is still curing, but it should be filled tomorrow and the livestock put back in over the weekend (bar most of the LPS).

Also on a side note, I think i've discovered the issues I had with Zoa losses - Sexy Shrimps!

A few photos to explain the above :

12270281_10153222435627006_1708948701_n.jpg


12248886_10153222545607006_1053561498_n.jpg


12278116_10153222472367006_1757901101_n.jpg


12272884_10153221450297006_1454221014_n.jpg


And the rock I had to choose from :

12244207_10153222765342006_1385618465_n.jpg
 
ReefWreak said:
You have my curiosity piqued. Please explain.
Click to expand...

It's more of a guess than anything - ever since I added the sexy shrimp around 6 months ago i've lost pretty much every zoa i've added to the tank - the heads would close for a while, become convex and then eventually perish. Whilst gutting the tank out, I could see the shrimp on the zoas, which closed, and they appeared to be actually ripping inside the closed zoa polyp!

All the Zoas I managed to save were double dipped in Coral RX before being transferred to the QT - Noe one Zoa nudi was found, only red flatworm.

So I guess it's either the RFW or the sexy shrimp whom were causing the problems.

On another note, the tank looks good, the scape is really growing on me, i'm adding a third, even smaller island of rock for a bit more SPS space.

The corals will be dipped again, before being re-added to the tank tomorrow, followed by the fish.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
30L - 10g nano reef
2
Replies
25
Views
1K
Dustin07
D
NancyT3
microbubbles... why? How to get reduce? Impact on tank.
Replies
5
Views
323
shred5
shred5
AlexS95
Selling tank - getting out of the hobby
Replies
1
Views
208
AlexS95
AlexS95
Smite
48x48x16 frag tanks and titan bin
Replies
1
Views
514
Smite
Smite
D
Custom 250 rimless reef tank for sell
Replies
0
Views
381
derrell
D
Back
Top