Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > Coral Forums > SPS Keepers
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 11/09/2017, 09:05 AM   #1026
tfp
Registered Member
 
tfp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Folsom, CA
Posts: 3,225
Amazing colors Watchguy!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk


__________________
Go with what works for you.

Current Tank Info: Envisions 400g (96x32x30) online January 2012. 4-72" VHOs,7-OceanRevive T247,Aquamaxx Cone 6 Skimmer, Aquamaxx S3 CR,Aquariumplants CO2 regulator, Jebao SOW20's, 80w Emperor UV, tang dominated with anthias and longspine cards
tfp is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/10/2017, 11:55 AM   #1027
reefmutt
Registered Member
 
reefmutt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Mtl. Canada
Posts: 7,824
Quote:
Originally Posted by watchguy123 View Post
Thank you


Well I am so delighted that someone else has suffered through frags that just won't blossom. A friend of mine was gracious enough to give me three different frags over time of Reef Raft USA Firecracker. The first two just would not get happy in my tank. Funny enough the third frag seems happy and thriving in my tank. I have a few frags that should be stellar if they ever decide to grow but after many many months are literally dormant still. I did have one dormant frag finally blossom earlier this year which is really cool. It may have been dormant for a year before it decided to thrive and blossom. I am not sure if the frags are just placed in a spot that is not right for them, so although they may not necessarily fade and succumb, they just stagnate.

Here are a couple more pictures under blue leds which has become my favorite for photos for obvious reasons. I am not done enjoying this lighting.

Reef Raft Canada Orange Passion and Reef Raft USA Pink Floyd (One of my rare through the front glass pictures)



Z's Pink Cotton Candy (it came out blurry but I still wanted to share)

Beautiful contrast between the OP and PF. Pretty darn good front glass shot.
Pink Floyd is an example of a coral that I have tried countless times. Every time I add a frag, it sits, then turns brown and then sits some more... I have never, ever had a Pink Floyd thrive in my tank.. I have one more frag sitting in my frag tank that I decided to receive and instead of glueing it in right away, leaving it in the frag tank for a while.. so far so good.. hasn’t gone brown yet. I may put it in the display soon..
Love the pastel shades on the cotton candy


__________________
Matt.

Current Tank Info: 53x32.5x26 190g dt 60g of sumps 3 tank-100 gal frag system 6xAI prime 8xt5. 4x maxspect gyre. Skimz Dual internal sicce pump skimmer Deltec PF601s ca rx+Kalk stirrer
reefmutt is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/13/2017, 06:24 PM   #1028
watchguy123
Registered Member
 
watchguy123's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,074



__________________
Reef Hobbyist Magazine, Q4 2017, "Achieving Colorful SPS"
ReefHacks.com, "The Ultimate Guide: How To Successfully Grow Beautiful SPS Corals"
Reef Spotlight February 2013, other Forum

Current Tank Info: 180 Bowfront, 30 gallon sump, 20 gallon refugium, reeflo dart/snapper hybrid pump, 2 x 6105 Tunze ,Tunze ATO, dual chamber CA reactor, 3 x250 metal halides with 2x t5 actinic supplement, Reefbrite Blue XHO's dawn/dusk
watchguy123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/13/2017, 09:08 PM   #1029
MMOORE0324
Registered Member
 
MMOORE0324's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Cape Coral, Florida
Posts: 834
Quote:
Originally Posted by watchguy123 View Post


Love this one! What acropora is this?


__________________
-Matt-
50g Acrylic SPS http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2653554
*Retired*34g Solana SPS Reef
MMOORE0324 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/13/2017, 10:15 PM   #1030
Cheapreef
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,076
Quote:
Originally Posted by watchguy123 View Post
Wow very nice.


Cheapreef is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/14/2017, 12:00 PM   #1031
tripdad
Frustrated Stick Gardener
 
tripdad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: near chicago,Ill.
Posts: 701
Quote:
Originally Posted by watchguy123 View Post
I'm in love!!! Man that's got great contrast!


__________________
Scott


Current tank: 65 gal DSA rimless, mixed reef, 20 gal sump, T5 6bulb, big skimmer, 40B Fowler, 20 gal sump, 4 bulb T5
tripdad is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/14/2017, 02:18 PM   #1032
reefmutt
Registered Member
 
reefmutt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Mtl. Canada
Posts: 7,824
Gorgeous!


__________________
Matt.

Current Tank Info: 53x32.5x26 190g dt 60g of sumps 3 tank-100 gal frag system 6xAI prime 8xt5. 4x maxspect gyre. Skimz Dual internal sicce pump skimmer Deltec PF601s ca rx+Kalk stirrer
reefmutt is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/16/2017, 06:37 AM   #1033
Zweebe
Registered Member
 
Zweebe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Belgium
Posts: 99
Awesome reef! Your corals seems so well... Gratz!


Zweebe is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/18/2017, 06:10 PM   #1034
shih87
Registered Member
 
shih87's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hsinchu, Taiwan
Posts: 1,294
Quote:
Originally Posted by watchguy123 View Post
.......


I am in full agreement with you on both lighting and photography. When I started reefing, I think I used something called power compacts flourescent fixtures. And when I decided to get serious I went with metal halides. I railed for the longest time against photoshop because the whole idea of sharing photographs of our corals is to both share what can be accomplished as well as discover new corals that were worth acquiring. Hard to force others into sharing a sense of honesty or integrity and so sometimes pictures got posted that were not an accurate representation of the coral. But then LEDS came along and changed so much. Now you can dial in virtually any light spectrum you like. And corals that were uninteresting under metal halides became multi-colored and brilliant under LED lighting. And for us metal halide folks, well the world changed. Certainly, the goal was not only to acquire great looking corals but to also to color them up. Lighting changed and now so do our thoughts and impressions of coral change. I added reefbrite XHOS for the dawn dusk effect but it really lets me see the glow--and it is impressive. And so now there are corals like the home wrecker or walt disney that are mind boggling under LEDS and very ordinary under metal halides. I think either metal halides will continue to disappear or those of us who prefer metal halides, will simply add more led supplementation for enjoyment. If you have personally seen a home wrecker under LEDS, you can't help but want both the coral and the lighting together. And the newer LEDS certainly are reducing or eliminating the Windex look, certainly the kessil and radions are and i am sure many others as well.

Photography really requires photoshop or lightroom or some program. I get that Samsung phones are pretty good at reef shots at least dealing with some of the blue, iPhones not so much. I like using a DSLR camera, actually I am using a sony mirrorless. Whether using metal halide lighting or blue leds, some white balance adjustment is necessary and that invariably requires a photoshop like program. It is not about enhancing a picture but color correcting to best approximate what the viewer sees in the tank. So I am generally dismissive of those who state their pictures are not adjusted, that is just dumb. Cameras can't deal with the extreme blue of any reef lighting, metal halide or led. Over correcting via software programs is the challenge. I like to think I get it right with my photos but the only way to really tell is to look into my tank.

In terms of shooting through the glass, I almost never shoot through my front glass. The curve of the bow front makes almost every picture somewhat out of focus. So I shoot top down with a viewer. My tank is a large tank and I guess the stand puts it up a bit tall. So I get on a six foot ladder to be able to take my top down pictures. Although my wife doesn't comment, I am sure I must look like a comical figure on top of the ladder leaning down over the tank. Fortunately to date, neither I nor my camera have fallen in yet. Lastly, top down pictures are the most flattering because they best capture the light off the coral and result in the best color. If you have looked top down at your coral in your tank, you understand exactly what I mean. The bow front of my tank doesn't really give me any choice but to shoot top down.


Reefmutt always gets it right.

So now that I have spent more time at my computer to comment on the comments, some additional pictures to share and yes, blue led lighting

WWC Red Ferrari
......
Sorry for cutting your contains here, but I really feel lots of useful information above that I want to keep in my notes.

Excellent shots and wonderful corals you have in this thread.


__________________
Zeovit DTOTQ Q3 2015
RC TOTM April 2016
Reef Hobbyist Magazine Q2 2017
R二R TOTM Oct 2017
Aquaforest ROTM June 2019
shih87 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/19/2017, 08:25 PM   #1035
watchguy123
Registered Member
 
watchguy123's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,074
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheapreef View Post
Wow very nice.
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by tripdad View Post
I'm in love!!! Man that's got great contrast!
The contrast is crazy
Quote:
Originally Posted by reefmutt View Post
Gorgeous!
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zweebe View Post
Awesome reef! Your corals seems so well... Gratz!
Corals for the most part are happy. Always one or two though that are complaining
Quote:
Originally Posted by shih87 View Post
Sorry for cutting your contains here, but I really feel lots of useful information above that I want to keep in my notes.

Excellent shots and wonderful corals you have in this thread.
thank you. I tend to get wordy when I try to share a thought or two. I so much enjoy your thread and tank. AND, I just love your avatar. Relaxing is what reefing is supposed to be about.

A couple of monti's with photos under metal halides and t5s. I have taken so many shots of these two and somehow the color is almost always off on these two montipora. I think this is my best effort to capture the colors correctly under metal halides and t5s



Z's Dream Monti (below)




__________________
Reef Hobbyist Magazine, Q4 2017, "Achieving Colorful SPS"
ReefHacks.com, "The Ultimate Guide: How To Successfully Grow Beautiful SPS Corals"
Reef Spotlight February 2013, other Forum

Current Tank Info: 180 Bowfront, 30 gallon sump, 20 gallon refugium, reeflo dart/snapper hybrid pump, 2 x 6105 Tunze ,Tunze ATO, dual chamber CA reactor, 3 x250 metal halides with 2x t5 actinic supplement, Reefbrite Blue XHO's dawn/dusk
watchguy123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/21/2017, 01:53 PM   #1036
watchguy123
Registered Member
 
watchguy123's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,074
I don't know what species Z's Favorite is. It has a highly unusual growth pattern and almost impossible to frag without getting tiny little pieces. It looks great under metal halides or t5s or Blue Leds, it just looks good in my opinion.

Z's Favorite (metal halides).



Z's Favorite (blue leds close up view)




__________________
Reef Hobbyist Magazine, Q4 2017, "Achieving Colorful SPS"
ReefHacks.com, "The Ultimate Guide: How To Successfully Grow Beautiful SPS Corals"
Reef Spotlight February 2013, other Forum

Current Tank Info: 180 Bowfront, 30 gallon sump, 20 gallon refugium, reeflo dart/snapper hybrid pump, 2 x 6105 Tunze ,Tunze ATO, dual chamber CA reactor, 3 x250 metal halides with 2x t5 actinic supplement, Reefbrite Blue XHO's dawn/dusk
watchguy123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/22/2017, 09:46 AM   #1037
watchguy123
Registered Member
 
watchguy123's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,074
Another recent picture to share




__________________
Reef Hobbyist Magazine, Q4 2017, "Achieving Colorful SPS"
ReefHacks.com, "The Ultimate Guide: How To Successfully Grow Beautiful SPS Corals"
Reef Spotlight February 2013, other Forum

Current Tank Info: 180 Bowfront, 30 gallon sump, 20 gallon refugium, reeflo dart/snapper hybrid pump, 2 x 6105 Tunze ,Tunze ATO, dual chamber CA reactor, 3 x250 metal halides with 2x t5 actinic supplement, Reefbrite Blue XHO's dawn/dusk
watchguy123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/22/2017, 05:19 PM   #1038
watchguy123
Registered Member
 
watchguy123's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,074
I would like to know more about additives and what people are using and why. I obviously do not run an overly low nutrient tank hence my sps tend to be deeper colored as opposed to pale.

i am curious about what effects additives are intended to accomplish. I don't use additives, i just feed my fish a variety of foods.

A couple more pictures, hopefully presuming there is interest.

Blueberry Wine, a somewhat Canadian phenomena--although not to suggest this came from the Canadian Great Barrier Reef. I can't quite capture the metallic blue color in my photos, i try but somehow just can't seem to do it.







JF Jack-O-Lantern. Mine is sitting on the sand, but this thing will grow under a rock, not so sure that is a good thing. I keep it isolated off the rock work, it just grows too well. It is sitting in a corner where not much else would be all that happy




Back to another Canadian phenom:

Reef Raft Canada Shazam ( this is metal halides, it really is a stunner)




__________________
Reef Hobbyist Magazine, Q4 2017, "Achieving Colorful SPS"
ReefHacks.com, "The Ultimate Guide: How To Successfully Grow Beautiful SPS Corals"
Reef Spotlight February 2013, other Forum

Current Tank Info: 180 Bowfront, 30 gallon sump, 20 gallon refugium, reeflo dart/snapper hybrid pump, 2 x 6105 Tunze ,Tunze ATO, dual chamber CA reactor, 3 x250 metal halides with 2x t5 actinic supplement, Reefbrite Blue XHO's dawn/dusk
watchguy123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/22/2017, 07:20 PM   #1039
reefmutt
Registered Member
 
reefmutt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Mtl. Canada
Posts: 7,824
being Canadian, I gotta say YAY for the blueberry wine.
and as I've said before, I adore that shazam.. I can't seem to find it here..

Just read your article. Very Nice!
Mark, I wouldn't even go down the supplement road, if I had a tank like yours...
The group of elements I looked for to supplement to supplement my tank with were: zinc, Iodine/flourine, Manganese, potassium and iron. This was to keep both my cheato and corals happy...
This is added via Prodibio Bioptim and AF Iodine+AF Flourine- added every saturday and Wednesday
I also add AF Vitamins and AF Build each night- along with a pinch of Polyplab's reef roids/Fauna Marin Reef Vitality.
Lately, I have been also adding a pinch of FM Coral Balance and Coral Sprint...AND Prodibio's reef booster which is omega fatty acids...
So, in short, I even add the kitchen sink!
Otherwise my system is similar to yours - mh/t5/led lighting, cheato fuge, lots of biomedia, lots of well fed fish and always some n but often too much p (.1-.2)

Do I want to use all of this stuff?? good question... the products I use have been a slow accumulation of trial and error and up to now, this recipe is working for me..
Could I stop? good question.. Will I try to stop? No, because it is working for me..
Do i think you should start? No, because what you are doing is working for you.... and ME when I drool over your corals!
If I had the incredible results you have without dosing all the stuff I dose, I would NEVER have begun using them..


__________________
Matt.

Current Tank Info: 53x32.5x26 190g dt 60g of sumps 3 tank-100 gal frag system 6xAI prime 8xt5. 4x maxspect gyre. Skimz Dual internal sicce pump skimmer Deltec PF601s ca rx+Kalk stirrer
reefmutt is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/23/2017, 03:38 AM   #1040
kainic
Registered Member
 
kainic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 169
Why would you change anything with a tank looking like that? I'd be conservative and spend my time taking pictures of these beauties.

I'm really impressed by your colors and the health of your corals. You are doing it right that's for sure.


__________________
>`) Sergi (´<

"Every man can be, if he tries, sculptor of his own brain", Santiago Ramón y Cajal
kainic is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/23/2017, 09:47 AM   #1041
watchguy123
Registered Member
 
watchguy123's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,074
Quote:
Originally Posted by reefmutt View Post
being Canadian, I gotta say YAY for the blueberry wine.
and as I've said before, I adore that shazam.. I can't seem to find it here..

Just read your article. Very Nice!
Mark, I wouldn't even go down the supplement road, if I had a tank like yours...
The group of elements I looked for to supplement to supplement my tank with were: zinc, Iodine/flourine, Manganese, potassium and iron. This was to keep both my cheato and corals happy...
This is added via Prodibio Bioptim and AF Iodine+AF Flourine- added every saturday and Wednesday
I also add AF Vitamins and AF Build each night- along with a pinch of Polyplab's reef roids/Fauna Marin Reef Vitality.
Lately, I have been also adding a pinch of FM Coral Balance and Coral Sprint...AND Prodibio's reef booster which is omega fatty acids...
So, in short, I even add the kitchen sink!
Otherwise my system is similar to yours - mh/t5/led lighting, cheato fuge, lots of biomedia, lots of well fed fish and always some n but often too much p (.1-.2)

Do I want to use all of this stuff?? good question... the products I use have been a slow accumulation of trial and error and up to now, this recipe is working for me..
Could I stop? good question.. Will I try to stop? No, because it is working for me..
Do i think you should start? No, because what you are doing is working for you.... and ME when I drool over your corals!
If I had the incredible results you have without dosing all the stuff I dose, I would NEVER have begun using them..
I have no intention of changing what I am currently doing. I have a curiosity about additives, an intellectual and scientific interest

Quote:
Originally Posted by kainic View Post
Why would you change anything with a tank looking like that? I'd be conservative and spend my time taking pictures of these beauties.

I'm really impressed by your colors and the health of your corals. You are doing it right that's for sure.
Additives and there have been endless products marketed to reefers over the years, often have a reputation as snake oil. But new products get introduced regularly because there is interest. It is, as we all know, challenging establishing a reef tank to successfully allow for sps to thrive. And so we each look ro find a way to increase our successes.

We each achieve or perceive our success at different end points. First, we shoot for not having an sps/rtn on introduction , then we look for growth then ultimately color. And given the difficulty, we all stumble at different points and time.

And so therein lies the interest. Are there products that truly increase growth and/or color. And if so what are they and why. There are complete systems as well as specific additives marketed-promoted and I would like to better understand their rationale, heck even their science.

Some of the many things I would like to know, why is zinc or manganese or other elements suggested by some . Why add bottled bacterial strains, do they really survive and is there truly a need for added diversity. Are there really things like color supplements. Why aminos—aren’t all the building blocks free floating already? Why would one assume (or not assume) that fish food doesn’t provide all the missing elements once our fish have excreted it. So although I don’t add additives, so many do utilize them and advocate their use—so my curiosity asks why, which ones and ultimately do you think they really work.

Nutritional and bacterial additives is a large market within reefing and I would like to know more. We are all real or imagined scientists, we should know and understand this topic better. Maybe I need to introduce a thread on the topic to get some input.


And back to what I enjoy doing, sharing a photo of one of my current favorites:

Z’s Paradise




__________________
Reef Hobbyist Magazine, Q4 2017, "Achieving Colorful SPS"
ReefHacks.com, "The Ultimate Guide: How To Successfully Grow Beautiful SPS Corals"
Reef Spotlight February 2013, other Forum

Current Tank Info: 180 Bowfront, 30 gallon sump, 20 gallon refugium, reeflo dart/snapper hybrid pump, 2 x 6105 Tunze ,Tunze ATO, dual chamber CA reactor, 3 x250 metal halides with 2x t5 actinic supplement, Reefbrite Blue XHO's dawn/dusk
watchguy123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/23/2017, 11:30 AM   #1042
jroovers
Registered Member
 
jroovers's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,555
First and foremost, you have some amazing SPS! The coloration you've achieved is off the charts also

By reading your most recent posts, I really think you've answered your own question - no, additives are not necessary to obtain incredible coloration and coral health - I can't really see how your colors get any better, and all you're doing is feeding your fish.

I really think the answer is finding the nutrient edge of the knife, and staying there, and additives (whether AA's, nitrates, coral "foods") can help find that edge by adding more nutrient. IME, I really do think that a 10% water change every one or two weeks helps my corals, with the theory being is replenishes trace elements, and feeding the fish just the right amount (not too much or too little), can be enough to produce spectacular results. Although I can't claim to have any success near what you've experienced, especially of late!


__________________
45 Gallon Shallow Aquacultured SPS Reef
jroovers is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/23/2017, 03:13 PM   #1043
gregkn73
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 278
I admire the last year your excellent collection and coloration of your sps, read many times that your tank is not ready in your eyes for an fts, but just minutes ago I red the begining of your thread where actually you had an fts! So can you please clarify time when did you start your currently sps colonies and how did you achieve those amazing results? What is you routine? How often do you change water, bailing or calcium reactor? Refugium or ATS or just skimmer? Any kind of carbon dosing? Do you use gfo or and carbon?No additives at all?how many fish and how often and what do you feed? Please share your "secret" :-)

Sent from my Tab2A7-10F using Tapatalk


gregkn73 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/23/2017, 03:39 PM   #1044
reefmutt
Registered Member
 
reefmutt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Mtl. Canada
Posts: 7,824
It’s funny.. it’s taken me a good two years of experimenting and playing with so many different products and I have recently come up with my current crazy regimen for making my corals happy and colorful.
I am happy with my color but only reasonably happy with growth and general health...
Mark, your system always, ALWAYS makes me question whether I should try to ween my tank off of everything...
Hm..


__________________
Matt.

Current Tank Info: 53x32.5x26 190g dt 60g of sumps 3 tank-100 gal frag system 6xAI prime 8xt5. 4x maxspect gyre. Skimz Dual internal sicce pump skimmer Deltec PF601s ca rx+Kalk stirrer
reefmutt is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/03/2017, 02:51 PM   #1045
watchguy123
Registered Member
 
watchguy123's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,074
Quote:
Originally Posted by jroovers View Post
First and foremost, you have some amazing SPS! The coloration you've achieved is off the charts also

By reading your most recent posts, I really think you've answered your own question - no, additives are not necessary to obtain incredible coloration and coral health - I can't really see how your colors get any better, and all you're doing is feeding your fish.

I really think the answer is finding the nutrient edge of the knife, and staying there, and additives (whether AA's, nitrates, coral "foods") can help find that edge by adding more nutrient. IME, I really do think that a 10% water change every one or two weeks helps my corals, with the theory being is replenishes trace elements, and feeding the fish just the right amount (not too much or too little), can be enough to produce spectacular results. Although I can't claim to have any success near what you've experienced, especially of late!
Your photos are the ones that motivated me to work harder at my photography.

It does seem to be a pretty simple formula, monitor alk and keep it stable, 10% weekly water changes, clean the skimmer, change the socks a couple times a week, trim the chaeto and make sure youre giving it good light, and 10% water changes. That formula seems to work most of the time. And of course, the Goldilocks rule for feeding the fish, not too much and not too little.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gregkn73 View Post
I admire the last year your excellent collection and coloration of your sps, read many times that your tank is not ready in your eyes for an fts, but just minutes ago I red the begining of your thread where actually you had an fts! So can you please clarify time when did you start your currently sps colonies and how did you achieve those amazing results? What is you routine? How often do you change water, bailing or calcium reactor? Refugium or ATS or just skimmer? Any kind of carbon dosing? Do you use gfo or and carbon?No additives at all?how many fish and how often and what do you feed? Please share your "secret" :-)

Sent from my Tab2A7-10F using Tapatalk
Really no secrets. I test or atleast tell myself to test alk and nitrates weekly and preferably twice a week. I use to just observe my sps for health and test much less frequently until my tank crashed. Well the fuller story is that when I moved from a "tall" 40 (could have been 20) gallon show tank to a real reef tank (the current 180 gallon bow front), it was all easy. In this tank, the sps just took off and I got both lazy and adventurous with my reefing approach after a year of two of incredible growth and success. The problem with simply relying on observation alone is that you can't observe alk, nitrates or any chemistry without testing. I got a couple of tank of the month honors and then my sps just crashed. I did not respond to the downward spiral in a very rationale approach and so let the tank go fallow for about 6 months until I inspired myself to once again test routinely and now I am two years plus into the reboot. Plus l periodically cull my sps. If something just hasn't blossomed into what i really like or want then out it goes, so I get bald spots. And I give most frags about a year before I cull too see if they will blossom with enough time. Not that one year is a special marker, its just kind of my rule of thumb. Anyway, a full tank shot just wouldn't be all that cool quite yet.

I use a calcium reactor, I change 20% every two weeks now, a refugium with a Kessil H350 light which is a lot of light, I don't dose carbon, since i added siporax I now need to supplement nitrates so my phosphates stay manageable without gfo, no additives, I feed my fish all kinds of different dry foods on a rotating schedule with occasional frozen LRS treat. I have about 15 plus fish or so, couple clowns, 6 tangs, 6 plus wrasses, mandarin. Protein skimmer. I am the basic reefer with basic habits. I test alk and nitrates once or preferably twice a week.

Quote:
Originally Posted by reefmutt View Post
It’s funny.. it’s taken me a good two years of experimenting and playing with so many different products and I have recently come up with my current crazy regimen for making my corals happy and colorful.
I am happy with my color but only reasonably happy with growth and general health...
Mark, your system always, ALWAYS makes me question whether I should try to ween my tank off of everything...
Hm..
Like I said previously, I want to understand the science behind additives like why zinc or manganese or any other element or product . On the one hand, I just don't see the rationale and on the other hand, I wonder what I don't know about it. There are many smart guys into reefing who kindly share their knowledge and unfortunately a number of people who are not so smart but share as well. The information can get confusing.

It is December already, so new month means I get to take new pictures. This is through the front glass and it is with t5's and reefbrites. I always feel apologetic about reefbrite pictures because they show off so many colors. But it seems that there are so few people using metal halides anymore that it is harder to share those pictures and feel confident that people really understand what that lighting is all about.

Z's Pink Cotton Candy



__________________
Reef Hobbyist Magazine, Q4 2017, "Achieving Colorful SPS"
ReefHacks.com, "The Ultimate Guide: How To Successfully Grow Beautiful SPS Corals"
Reef Spotlight February 2013, other Forum

Current Tank Info: 180 Bowfront, 30 gallon sump, 20 gallon refugium, reeflo dart/snapper hybrid pump, 2 x 6105 Tunze ,Tunze ATO, dual chamber CA reactor, 3 x250 metal halides with 2x t5 actinic supplement, Reefbrite Blue XHO's dawn/dusk
watchguy123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/03/2017, 06:19 PM   #1046
Ucantwin
Registered Member
 
Ucantwin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: some where
Posts: 559
Why do you test nitrate so often? The issue you ran into was it from high or low nitrate? I find my nitrates when I test are .2 and my sps are deeply colored and not pale at all. I have 180 gallon tank with probably 25-30 fish and feed roughly 7-8 cubes of frozen a day and pellets two other times on a feeder. I also started dosing aquavitro fuel about a month ago and have noticed increased growth but also notice my glass needs cleaned almost daily now. Since I like the growth I keep doing it. I find the trend of dosing unnessary unless your carbon dosing to drive them ultra low. My chaeto keeps nitrates very low.

Your corals always look amazing. When you look at someone else's photos who has the same corals you do, do you find your colors better? If so, I wouldn't worry about dosing anything.


Ucantwin is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/03/2017, 07:50 PM   #1047
watchguy123
Registered Member
 
watchguy123's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,074
I test nitrates weekly or more as just part of my routine with alkalinity testing. I think the two most critical factors for guesstimating stable tank chemistry are alkalinity and nitrates.

I use a calcium reactor so I presume that my alkalinity and calcium and even magnesium (I have magnesium in the reactor as well) are balanced. So I target the alkalinity and again presume the calcium and magnesium are in line with the alkalinity.

The other part of reef chemistry that I am focused on is nutrient control. And since I am supplementing nitrates via KNO3 powder, I want to make sure that it is stable and neither decreasing nor increasing.

I log my results and quite frankly things remain relatively stable but there may be some fluctuations and I want to be aware of trends. Sometimes my alkalinity will trend lower and whether that is a result of more growth or some fluctuation with the calcium reactor itself, I am not a 100% sure but I will tweak the reactor to compensate. And although I have been adding the exact same amount of KNO3 powder for many months, when I am away from the tank, it generally gets overfed and the nitrates will jump. I usually respond with less feeding for a while but the point is I can easily modify my feeding routine to compensate.

Perhaps it is unnecessary but I think it is a far greater mistake to under evaluate tank chemistry than to test more frequently. I very well may be paranoid about my concerns but I definitely don’t want to witness another tank crash, ever.

One of the things I value on the forum are the various threads with lots of full sps colonies. It shows a commitment to constant vigilance over a period of years. One has to be either very lucky or very diligent to end up with full colonies, and I would guess diligence with good fortune is the winning combination.

I should add that although I am frequently testing, I’m not constantly adjusting anything. I try to simply observe trends.


__________________
Reef Hobbyist Magazine, Q4 2017, "Achieving Colorful SPS"
ReefHacks.com, "The Ultimate Guide: How To Successfully Grow Beautiful SPS Corals"
Reef Spotlight February 2013, other Forum

Current Tank Info: 180 Bowfront, 30 gallon sump, 20 gallon refugium, reeflo dart/snapper hybrid pump, 2 x 6105 Tunze ,Tunze ATO, dual chamber CA reactor, 3 x250 metal halides with 2x t5 actinic supplement, Reefbrite Blue XHO's dawn/dusk
watchguy123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/03/2017, 08:03 PM   #1048
reefmutt
Registered Member
 
reefmutt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Mtl. Canada
Posts: 7,824
Z's Pink Cotton Candy
[/QUOTE]

Mark, you win the internet today with this shot!
Absolutely amazing growth tip contrast.
A stunning, stunning coral!


__________________
Matt.

Current Tank Info: 53x32.5x26 190g dt 60g of sumps 3 tank-100 gal frag system 6xAI prime 8xt5. 4x maxspect gyre. Skimz Dual internal sicce pump skimmer Deltec PF601s ca rx+Kalk stirrer
reefmutt is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/04/2017, 12:28 AM   #1049
Oldude
Premium Member
 
Oldude's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Calgary, Canada
Posts: 4,479
WOW! Absolutely incredible. You have some of the nicest sps I have ever seen and great photography as well.
You are in a whole different class than the "run of the mill reefers" like myself.


__________________
______________________
Greg
~ June 2015 TOTM ~
~ April 2010 TOTM ~
Oldude is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/04/2017, 09:36 AM   #1050
tripdad
Frustrated Stick Gardener
 
tripdad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: near chicago,Ill.
Posts: 701
Not only did you nail the tip color, hard to do, but you even captured the yellow ring around the tip polyp in a few spots! I can never do that, very cool! Matt is right on, you win!


__________________
Scott


Current tank: 65 gal DSA rimless, mixed reef, 20 gal sump, T5 6bulb, big skimmer, 40B Fowler, 20 gal sump, 4 bulb T5
tripdad is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:32 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.