Top down shots

[Big E]

Thanks everyone......

Nathan,
That colony is the Oregon Tort. It broke in half when I separated it from another colony, so now I have two large colonies.

Hi Ed, does this tank also have the same combo of T5? Is there any reason you ran this tank fishless for 6 weeks?
Nice color by the way!

Hi Bernie,
Thanks............the bulb combo is the same. I am still only using four bulbs for now. The tank is 24" wide and I have a two bulb fixture I can add for 6 total.

The tank was fishless because I somehow got ich. The tank had no new fish for 5 years, but I believe I picked up some ich cysts from some snails I picked up. I have always made a point of rinsing off any new snails so as not to pick anything up like that, but this is one of the few times I didn't do it as it was late & I got lazy. Two weeks later, the parasite showed up. When I made the switch to the 80g the fish went in treatment and the corals went in the new tank.

What was interesting is that the PO4 was around .12 and NO3- 3-5 just before the switch and it only took 10 days for everything to read zero. That's how fast the corals and bacteria sucked up those nutrients.

The corals paled out and stopped growing fairy quickly after that. I threw some coral food and other things in occasionally but it wasn't enough. On the flip side, once I had some fish back in there it took a few months for everything to come back and it's still not balanced out yet. It's a true testament of how important it is to have a good flow of nutrients cycling through the system.

 

[007Bond]

Hi Ed,...what/how do you treat new snails when you add them? I never have given any thought of them bringing in any diseases.---Rick

 

[Big E]

Hi Rick,

I just put them in a fish net a pour a generous amount of saltwater over them about 3-4 times.

 

[007Bond]

Got it,...thanks!

 

[AD87]

Nem pics? Haha

 

[Big E]

Nem pics? Haha

Here you go Tony............Tony brought this Mag over to my house as he was taking his other tank down...........it was in perfect health but had no color.

I colored it up for him:lol:

Here's a few new shots I took recently............I'll add more acro shots later

My light came on and I noticed this Salted Agave PE digesting a pod head first(far right polyp) That's a pretty large sized pod considering the size of the polyp.

 

[Clarkii01]

Looks amazing Ed. That red dragon is the best I've seen.

 

[Big E]

What do you Chalice freaks think of this one? What's really interesting is how it grew. The eyes spiral out like a nautilus shell........apparently this happens as the chalice grows out to create the rounded shape.

This is what is known as a golden spiral............you see some universes in telescope shots that take on this shape also. I did some research on trying to figure out what species this chalice is a they all don't do this.,,,,,,,,maybe Echinophyllia Aspera?

I blew up the same picture to get a closer look at some of the colors. My camera isn't capable of taking macro shots.

Here's the original frag..........It was bleaching, so I gave it to Dan & he threw it in the back room of his chalice emporium and ignored it ........... 1.5 years later he gave it back to me. He kept bugging me to take it back every time I went to his house.

 

[007Bond]

I like stories with happy endings

 

[markalot]

My turn to pester you for an update please!

Woops, it's only been a few days ... *cough* SPS update please. Love your acro colors.

 

[Big E]

I had quite a few requests to see a tank shot wanting to see the ambient look of the 4 bulbs. I'm not proud of the litter of corals everywhere, but I'm still working through how I want to set up the aquascape & which corals to ditch from the tank.

I'll get more tank shots up soon I hope

Left side closer up...........I tried some straight on shots from far away and they are blurry need to work on those....not sure if it's my camera or my skills.

I know you've seen plenty of pics of my Paletta but it looks better than ever. When the tips are a good 1-1.5" long is when it's thriving. This pic doesn't show just how bright this coral is in person.

More acro pics to come Mark!

 

[Renton777]

Outstanding as usual Ed. Always love seeing pictures!

 

[sahin]

Ed, I dont think anyone cares about the "litter of corals"...those litter of corals have amazing colour...and I am sure they are even better in person. So many of us follow your thread and aspire to achieve such success. Its always a joy to see photo updates of your tank/corals. :thumbsup:

 

[BowieReefer84]

Very stunning tank. I just browsed most of it, and have two questions for you. What PAR level range are your corals receiving, and what is your photoperiod?

You have amazing talent, and clearly understand how to be successful in this hobby.

 

[Big E]

Thanks Nathan & Jim

Ed, I dont think anyone cares about the "litter of corals"...those litter of corals have amazing colour...and I am sure they are even better in person. So many of us follow your thread and aspire to achieve such success. Its always a joy to see photo updates of your tank/corals

Thank you sahin..........I'm really struggling with what to keep in this tank. I want to grow out 8-10 colonies & also have some specific goals to aquascaping and it's very difficult to make choices, so I'm left with this junkyard look till I can decide.


BowieReefer84--

Very stunning tank. I just browsed most of it, and have two questions for you. What PAR level range are your corals receiving, and what is your photoperiod?

You have amazing talent, and clearly understand how to be successful in this hobby.

Thanks for those kind words, Below are my par numbers from when the corals were in my 75g. The # in parentheses () is the distance from the bulbs.


1" off the bottom-- 200 (24)
3"- 260 (22)
6"- 280 (19)
10"- 300 (15) This is mid level area of the tank.
11"- 325 (14)
12"- 360 (13)
13"- 400 (12)
14"- 430 (11)
15"- 470 (10)
17"- 500 (8)

Millies like the 300-450 range.

Most other acros sweet spot is 300-350.

Smooth skin acros will have deeper colors in the 200-300 range.

It's really as important to have good coverage and consistent par across the area of the tank or it becomes more difficult to place corals for their best growth and color.

I run my light 8 hours..............all on/ all off. I don't do any dawn/dusk or dimming, ect. The ambient light in the room handles that for me.

All this software and dimming people use now is useless and can also be detrimental. I wouldn't bother with more than an hour of morning/evening if you want to do anything like that and it's mainly for the sake of the fish.

Reduce the variables and you'll be a lot happier with the results. You want to keep the spectrum consistent...........this is the most important aspect. Keep it simple.

 

[Useful_Idiot]

I've learned so much from this thread. Spectacular sps you have. Thank you for sharing!

 

[Big E]

I've learned so much from this thread. Spectacular sps you have. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks..........I'd have to say sharing my experiences & info is the most satisfying part about keeping this thread occasionally updated.

 

[markalot]

I've gone all Blue+ and Coral+ on my new T5 fixture thanks to this thread. Looks a little cold without my BML strip on, but quite good all together. I'm measuring 365 PAR on my highest coral, down to 200 on the lowest. You think this is a good range? I'm a little worried about bleaching at PAR above 300 but perhaps I'm still LED paranoid? Apogee PAR meter, electric mode.

 

[007Bond]

Thanks..........I'd have to say sharing my experiences & info is the most satisfying part about keeping this thread occasionally updated.

Big thanks from a fan :thumbsup:

 

[Big E]

I've gone all Blue+ and Coral+ on my new T5 fixture thanks to this thread. Looks a little cold without my BML strip on, but quite good all together. I'm measuring 365 PAR on my highest coral, down to 200 on the lowest. You think this is a good range? I'm a little worried about bleaching at PAR above 300 but perhaps I'm still LED paranoid? Apogee PAR meter, electric mode.

That should be fine................go back to post 275 and my par numbers are listed. I had some corals in the 400+ area and they were okay.
You can still use the BML strip if you want......just start out a couple hours a day for viewing and then go from there. What colors are in the BML strip?

Big thanks from a fan

Thanks Rick