Top down shots

[juano908]

Thanks, the Hannah 736 is the most accurate for reading low levels.



Nitrate levels also have an impact on algae growth, probably more so than PO4.



If the algae is something a clean up crew will eat, then get an army of snails.

Astreas, Trochus and Mexican turbos work well for me. They generally won't eat long strands..........you have to manually scrub those down. It's best to pull the rock for manual scrubbing.



Once the rock is cleaned up and a good clean up crew is in place, try to baste the rocks occasionally to keep the detritus from building up and fueling algae.

Thanks a lot for the advice Ed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sensei]

Thanks for your answer Ed,

can I know which brand of dosing pump do you use??

 

[Kreeger1]

Tanks looking pretty sweet Ed!

 

[sensei]

Hello Ed,

can you comment on your quarentine protocol for new corals.
I know you dip them in Bayer and then they go to your frag tank,
How long do you keep them in frag tank?
have you ever seen AEFW in any of your new frags?
do you get new frags all the time or just after the ones you have been observing in frag tank go to your dt?

thanks a lot

 

[Big E]

Thanks for your answer Ed,

can I know which brand of dosing pump do you use??

Bubble Magus BMT01

Tanks looking pretty sweet Ed!

Thanks Erik!

Hello Ed,

can you comment on your quarentine protocol for new corals.
I know you dip them in Bayer and then they go to your frag tank,
How long do you keep them in frag tank?
have you ever seen AEFW in any of your new frags?
do you get new frags all the time or just after the ones you have been observing in frag tank go to your dt?

thanks a lot

My frag tank isn't really a QT tank. It has some new frags, is a house backups for some colonies, corals I have no space left in the display and I keep my malu and clowns in there as well.

I rely on my dipping and observation. I cut off plug's bases and dip/baste the coral and remount on clean bases or rock. This eliminates any eggs from getting into my tanks.

I don't put struggling frags in my tank very often, so they come in healthy and I try to only buy WYSISYG frags. I expect/demand actual pictures of the frags I'm purchasing. When I haven't done this I've gotten burned at times getting unhealthy frags.

I seen flatworms on some new frags but that isn't very often and never on frags that look healthy with polyp extension.

 

[sensei]

Ed,
With this practice of cutting plug bases and dip with bayer you have never had a pest accident in any of your tanks during all your experience??

you cut the plug bases even if they are already encrusted and even if you do not see any eggs?

I am not sure I understand what you mean when you say: is a house backups for some colonies¨?
does this mean that you have sometimes lost colonies in your dt and you have backup colonies in frag tank?

thanks a lot

 

[Big E]

Ed,
With this practice of cutting plug bases and dip with bayer you have never had a pest accident in any of your tanks during all your experience??

you cut the plug bases even if they are already encrusted and even if you do not see any eggs?

I am not sure I understand what you mean when you say: is a house backups for some colonies¨?
does this mean that you have sometimes lost colonies in your dt and you have backup colonies in frag tank?

thanks a lot

Over 17+ years of keeping Sps, sure I've lost pieces, colonies not very often as usually something is salvaged. I can look back at old pictures of some corals I lost from 10-12 years ago that I have never seen since then. It's part of the reason to back up corals in a separate frag tank. If there was a tank crash or some corals die I still have a piece to regrow. For the most part I put new corals in my frag tank.

If a frag has completely encrusted the base then I only would cut off the plugs post and seal the bottom with another plug or rubble. I still like to observe the coral for a month or so before I permanently place it.

You can also dip a second time in 10 days or so if you don't have a QT tank.....a lot of people do that.

A totally separate QT system like you use is by far the best option........especially with a large display like you have.
I would continue to do what you've been doing.

 

[sensei]

Thanks Ed,

one more question:
With this tecnique of diping coral with Bayer, cutting the plug or sealing it with glue in case it is encrusted, you have never seen AEFW or red bugs in your any of your tanks in all these years??

I would like to know if it has been 100% efective for your in all these years with the concetration of Bayer you use?

thanks again

 

[Big E]

As far as restoring pictures---

I went back and tried to back fill pictures that answered specific questions or to re-post charts, graphs, ect. If there is something anyone wants to see from a previous post let me know and I'll do that. I have a few more weeks to edit my posts.

Instead of going back to replace every photo of corals I'm just going to post past pictures in new posts, so there's going to be some big photo dumps in the near future.

Here's a few new shots--

This is a wild frag I picked up that was a drap olive color that did nothing for over a year. Last 4 months or so it has taken off.

rose petal by Big E 52, on Flickr

Wild Mother colony..........not sure the frag will ever be like that as the colony was very raw and pastel (stressed).

wild 5 by Big E 52, on Flickr

Dragon Scale milli starting to show some potential

dragon scale by Big E 52, on Flickr

Nigripes and Malu

malu and clowns by Big E 52, on Flickr

Pink shortcake update-- this has developed a nice light green growth edge.

pink shortcake 070917 by Big E 52, on Flickr

Bought this as an AquaSD but it seems to have much more intense orange/yellow. I re-posted previous shot for comparisons. I wish it would grow faster...you can see the milli on the right has much faster growth.

asd milli 073117 by Big E 52, on Flickr

ASD rainbow Milli- R.jpg 022617 by Big E 52, on Flickr

Tierra del Fuego-- growth tips shot

tierra del fuego by Big E 52, on Flickr

 

[Big E]

Thanks Ed,

one more question:
With this tecnique of diping coral with Bayer, cutting the plug or sealing it with glue in case it is encrusted, you have never seen AEFW or red bugs in your any of your tanks in all these years??

I would like to know if it has been 100% efective for your in all these years with the concetration of Bayer you use?

thanks again

I doubt anything is 100% effective. That's why I stated before to get pictures of what you buy and try to buy healthy looking frags as they're less likely to have pests.

Pests have gotten through I'm not sure anything is fool proof. I've had all the pests over the years....it's sucks, but it's how you learn to find them and eliminate them. I've used many different dips but since I've used Bayer it's less harsh on frags and works good.

 

[juano908]

As far as restoring pictures---



I went back and tried to back fill pictures that answered specific questions or to re-post charts, graphs, ect. If there is something anyone wants to see from a previous post let me know and I'll do that. I have a few more weeks to edit my posts.



Instead of going back to replace every photo of corals I'm just going to post past pictures in new posts, so there's going to be some big photo dumps in the near future.



Here's a few new shots--



This is a wild frag I picked up that was a drap olive color that did nothing for over a year. Last 4 months or so it has taken off.



rose petal by Big E 52, on Flickr



Wild Mother colony..........not sure the frag will ever be like that as the colony was very raw and pastel (stressed).



wild 5 by Big E 52, on Flickr



Dragon Scale milli starting to show some potential



dragon scale by Big E 52, on Flickr



Nigripes and Malu



malu and clowns by Big E 52, on Flickr



Pink shortcake update-- this has developed a nice light green growth edge.



pink shortcake 070917 by Big E 52, on Flickr



Bought this as an AquaSD but it seems to have much more intense orange/yellow. I re-posted previous shot for comparisons. I wish it would grow faster...you can see the milli on the right has much faster growth.



asd milli 073117 by Big E 52, on Flickr



ASD rainbow Milli- R.jpg 022617 by Big E 52, on Flickr



Tierra del Fuego-- growth tips shot



tierra del fuego by Big E 52, on Flickr

Amazing colors Ed!!!!!...every SPS I've put in my tank looses its color within a week or two, I get decent growth though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ucantwin]

Ed, a while ago when you had pretty high po4 and 0 no3 what did you do to bring the po4 down?

 

[Wally.B]

As far as restoring pictures---

I went back and tried to back fill pictures that answered specific questions or to re-post charts, graphs, ect. If there is something anyone wants to see from a previous post let me know and I'll do that. I have a few more weeks to edit my posts.

Instead of going back to replace every photo of corals I'm just going to post past pictures in new posts, so there's going to be some big photo dumps in the near future.

Here's a few new shots--

Ed,
Thanks for sharing some of those Lost Coral Photo's.
Many I've never seen since I never discovered your thread till very recently. (but After PhotoBucket janked them).
Everything looks beautiful and certainly provides me hope that SPS corals can looks so amazing.

I Just started a SPS Frag Tank where I can control things better since my SPS only DT has given me no SPS success, even after I redid everything to total stable perfection/and ideal Nutrient Export. Could be too soon, and waiting patiently).

And it's only SPS that is giving me Trouble. My other DT which is everything except SPS is doing very fine after over a two decades of learning.

You mention "instead of going back to replace photos". Is that possible? (To go into a old thread and replace a photo with same photo, but from Flicker).
I have some threads where I documented information with Photos, and with PhotoBucket doing their thing, the threads are useless.

The only way I could think of fixing Threads to re-do those threads with some creative Copy and Paste (and using Quote feature in reefcentral).

 

[sensei]

As far as restoring pictures---

I went back and tried to back fill pictures that answered specific questions or to re-post charts, graphs, ect. If there is something anyone wants to see from a previous post let me know and I'll do that. I have a few more weeks to edit my posts.

Instead of going back to replace every photo of corals I'm just going to post past pictures in new posts, so there's going to be some big photo dumps in the near future.

Here's a few new shots--

This is a wild frag I picked up that was a drap olive color that did nothing for over a year. Last 4 months or so it has taken off.

rose petal by Big E 52, on Flickr

Ed,
the colors are amaizing!
Did the wild frag that was olive color staid with the olive color for months before it started to show the beautifull red and purple color it has now? have you maintained the frag in the same position since you first introduced it to your tank??

regards

 

[Big E]

Amazing colors Ed!!!!!...every SPS I've put in my tank looses its color within a week or two, I get decent growth though.

Thanks! if you have frags, plenty of them will lose color while basing out. The new growth is when you can really see what type of color your pulling. Some take longer and don't show nice colors till they are mini colonies.

Ed, a while ago when you had pretty high po4 and 0 no3 what did you do to bring the po4 down?

Back then I was dosing vinegar but at a fairly low level (15mls a day) but I was still having issue with rising P04. I used GFO to pull down the levels.

I also backed way down on the vinegar dosing to zero and then back to a small amount of 5-8 mls. I eventually stopped the vinegar dosing altogether
to create a better ratio.

 

[Big E]

Ed,
Thanks for sharing some of those Lost Coral Photo's.
Many I've never seen since I never discovered your thread till very recently. (but After PhotoBucket janked them).
Everything looks beautiful and certainly provides me hope that SPS corals can looks so amazing.

I Just started a SPS Frag Tank where I can control things better since my SPS only DT has given me no SPS success, even after I redid everything to total stable perfection/and ideal Nutrient Export. Could be too soon, and waiting patiently).

And it's only SPS that is giving me Trouble. My other DT which is everything except SPS is doing very fine after over a two decades of learning.

You mention "instead of going back to replace photos". Is that possible? (To go into a old thread and replace a photo with same photo, but from Flicker).
I have some threads where I documented information with Photos, and with PhotoBucket doing their thing, the threads are useless.

The only way I could think of fixing Threads to re-do those threads with some creative Copy and Paste (and using Quote feature in reefcentral).

Hi Wally,

Thanks! I scanned your thread and I'll post some thoughts over there.... maybe it will help.

You've got some impressive DIY skills:thumbsup:

On fixing photos---
RC gave us the chance to edit photos........ I think till the end of August. Just go to any of your posts and hit the "edit" button on the post you want to add the picture.

Delete the photobucket url script and replace it with the new one from flicker. It's very easy.

 

[Big E]

Ed,
the colors are amaizing!
Did the wild frag that was olive color staid with the olive color for months before it started to show the beautifull red and purple color it has now? have you maintained the frag in the same position since you first introduced it to your tank??

regards

Hi Jorge,

Thanks my friend........I moved that particular one from my frag tank to the display about 6 or so months ago. It didn't do much after the change for about 2 months.

At the time my frag tank wasn't as stabilized as it is now.

There is another wild frag from the same pack I left in the frag tank and it has taken off from being half dead. I'll see if I can snap a pic.......it needs to color up, but is doing great.

One thing that is important to mention is just having patience. I see way too many reefers wanting instant gratification from a frag. Sometimes this leads to all kinds of changes adding chemicals, elements,additives, ect. and that just sets everything back.

Here's an example, of a frag that was garbage.......it took 16 months to get something nice.

I bought two Rommels Watermelon sight unseen.......totally bleached inner skin and rusty brown.

3-17-16
rommel WM 031716 by Big E 52, on Flickr

5-7-16
Rommels Watermelon 050716 by Big E 52, on Flickr

9-30-16
Rommels Watermelon 093016 by Big E 52, on Flickr

11-4-16-- I cut off the tall original branch down & eventually some other branches
Rommels watermelon 110416 by Big E 52, on Flickr

7-30-17- Now it's growing out and thriving.
Rommels Watermelon 073017 by Big E 52, on Flickr

 

[sensei]

Wow. that is super......

You said: "At the time my frag tank wasn't as stabilized as it is now"

can you elaborate a little bit on what was not stabilized? what did you do to stabilize it?

thanks professor!

 

[Big E]

That' when my nutrients were low...........zeros on both.

Added the tang back in October '16............the system has been balanced out for quite some time now.

 

[sensei]

Ed,

Last week I detected that dosing pump from QT tank stopped dosing Cal.
I am not sure how many days since it stopped working but Cal dropped from 415 to 360
I fixed it and I am dosing manually a litlle less than 10ppm per day. I am now up to 390.
fortunatelly everything looks well in qt tank.

Have you had this kind of dosing pump malfuntions?
I detected this when I did my weekly tests, is there any other way to detect it sooner other than testing?

when you speak about stability, I believe that ALk is the most important parameter, isn´t it?
I ask becuase now that I had this episode I am adjusting Cal daily and I have not seen efect on the acros I have in that tank; if it would have been the alk pump I think it would have been a very different story?

thanks a lot