Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail - Page 122

DiscusHeckel · 03/17/2018, 07:04 PM

Your latest FTS looks fabulous, Matt. If I wanted to count the number of your corals in this picture, I would have to spend a long time in front of my iMac.

Hopefully, "the damage" will be restricted only to the affected coral you mentioned above.

Pife · 03/17/2018, 10:44 PM

Matt your tank is stuffed with coral! I hope the smooth skin bounces back. If it makes you feel any better my urchin went and stole several corals one being my pink cadillac and it's now mia.

janci · 03/17/2018, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Here is a quick and dirty Iphone fts pic..
Unfortunately, I am suddenly too ****ed off and uninspired to get out the real camera..
Hopefully, the damage won’t spread..

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I hope my reef will look also brown once like this one.
Most nasty things in the tank are due to ourselves, tweaking and getting our hands wet.
Hoping for a fast recovery.

Rakie · 03/18/2018, 02:21 AM

It's looking great Matt. Don't fret too much, there's always gonna be a bump in our road.

plyle02 · 03/18/2018, 07:57 AM

Matt, your recent coral photos are simply amazing, I cannot express to you how impressed I am with your tank, a masterpiece. You scape is perfect, and you have corals perched everywhere, all I see is colorful corals, no matter what species, they all seem to be thriving. Outstanding Matt!

FloformAustria · 03/18/2018, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefmutt

If you are a real acro whore like me and just can’t resist adding new corals, spacing them closer will help enable your addiction.
If your long term goal is to have really nice full grown colonies, then farther is better.
Ive always felt that adding frags close together will eventually force me to space things out but will give me time to really decide which corals I want to keep. The ones that get close and that I don’t want or that I kill, by doing stupid things - like I just did- make it easier to remove corals I don’t want long term.
My great suharsonoi (or caroliniana) that I grew out from a small piece..
Pictured here is now a brown turd that looks like it will rtn within days...

So, not so happy about that..
Here is a quick and dirty Iphone fts pic..
Unfortunately, I am suddenly too ****ed off and uninspired to get out the real camera..
Hopefully, the damage won’t spread..

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Brown? WTH Matt... I can’t find anything brown in there

Love it

Ucantwin · 03/18/2018, 01:25 PM

Matt, how do you go about getting rid of a coral that has grown to close to another one? I have a couple corals like that and I would like to take out. I worry about cutting the branches off and smothering the base with kalk, as the high ph might effect the coral close by.

illumnae · 03/19/2018, 03:02 AM

How is that suharsonoi anything like turd? If anyone sees turd that colour in their toilet bowl, I suggest quickly going to see your doctor... you might have come into contact with some radioactive material somehow.

Your tank is looking amazing Matt

reefmutt · 03/19/2018, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiscusHeckel

Your latest FTS looks fabulous, Matt. If I wanted to count the number of your corals in this picture, I would have to spend a long time in front of my iMac.

Hopefully, "the damage" will be restricted only to the affected coral you mentioned above.

Hey Bulent, thank you! The tank always looks good from far when you can’t see the little stagnant corals or old damage or slow growers..
And even I have trouble counting the corals - even when standing in from the of the tank... that’s why I don’t bother!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pife

Matt your tank is stuffed with coral! I hope the smooth skin bounces back. If it makes you feel any better my urchin went and stole several corals one being my pink cadillac and it's now mia.

Thanks Brandon. Actually my pink Cadillac was one of the corals to shrivel up like a prim and turn brown..

Quote:

Originally Posted by janci

I hope my reef will look also brown once like this one.
Most nasty things in the tank are due to ourselves, tweaking and getting our hands wet.
Hoping for a fast recovery.

Agreed.. I am usually singularly to blame for the death and poor health of corals in my tank.
Below I’ll show some before and after shots of the worst affected corals.. it was only a handful of corals. Not a wide spread event.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rakie

It's looking great Matt. Don't fret too much, there's always gonna be a bump in our road.

Thanks! Oh yeah.. I have a bump about every 6 months or so. I guess partly because I keep changing my routine.. even though I keep preaching the virtues of keeping things stable and not changing anything!

Quote:

Originally Posted by FloformAustria

Brown? WTH Matt... I can’t find anything brown in there

Love it

Thanks, Flo.. you will in a minute.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ucantwin

Matt, how do you go about getting rid of a coral that has grown to close to another one? I have a couple corals like that and I would like to take out. I worry about cutting the branches off and smothering the base with kalk, as the high ph might effect the coral close by.

Actuall, I haven’t really had to deal with a very large colony yet.. well a large colony that was packed in tight.
Since most of the corals in my tank wee grown from frags, even after the base encrusts and grows out, there is still a weak point there and often you can still crack it off at that point. If not, I usually go to town snipping all the branches down, scrape off as much of the fleshy base as possible and then insert new coral. The new coral will shade the old scratched up base and it usually dies off..

Quote:

Originally Posted by illumnae

How is that suharsonoi anything like turd? If anyone sees turd that colour in their toilet bowl, I suggest quickly going to see your doctor... you might have come into contact with some radioactive material somehow.

Your tank is looking amazing Matt

your misunderstood my post.. that was a pre treatment pic.. I will post a couple before and after shots in a sec..
And thanks!

reefmutt · 03/19/2018, 07:32 AM

Ok. Here are the two worst affected corals..
The one that most angers me. Before.. as posted above:

And after.. the springeri was most accommodating in taking up his position!

Here’s another.. before..

And after..

So, yes definitely not the end of the world.. several other smaller corals have also browned out but not anything I really love, thankfully..
I’m really not happy about that suharsonoi, however...
One interesting and disturbing thing I noticed... when a coral goes brown like this, suddenly the aefw bite marks become dramatically more apparent...
Recently, I added several peppermint shrimp and some yellow wrasses.. I’ll have to add a few more peps and I think I’ll begin flatworm stop..
I’ll still post ongoing (and slightly reduced) LC dosing..
I really appreciate all the comments, people! Thank you very much!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

illumnae · 03/19/2018, 09:52 AM

Oops sorry for the misunderstanding!

watchguy123 · 03/19/2018, 10:22 AM

Your ups and downs really help those following along. It’s so informative seeing these changes due to one reason or another. I am usually not brave enough to show my many misadventures but your sharing inspires me to do the same more often.

I constantly am amazed and I guess reminded how diligent and consistent one has to be to achieve a tank full of happy corals.

Thank you for constantly sharing, learning along with you.

Stickboy97 · 03/20/2018, 06:56 PM

Man sorry to see/hear about your browning event. Your tank is still amazing! Thx for the FTS.

markalot · 03/27/2018, 08:30 PM

Sorry to hear about the troubles Matt. Hopefully we are both over them for the time being!

tripdad · 03/28/2018, 05:10 AM

Sorry to see your having some problems Matt. This hobby/addiction can be a real test of will sometimes. Hang in there bud, there is still so much in your tank that shines brightly.

reefmutt · 03/28/2018, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by illumnae

Oops sorry for the misunderstanding!

no problem at all!

Quote:

Originally Posted by watchguy123

Your ups and downs really help those following along. It’s so informative seeing these changes due to one reason or another. I am usually not brave enough to show my many misadventures but your sharing inspires me to do the same more often.

I constantly am amazed and I guess reminded how diligent and consistent one has to be to achieve a tank full of happy corals.

Thank you for constantly sharing, learning along with you.

Mark, thank you for the very inspiring comments! I really appreciate it. It is totally demoralizing when you screw things up in your tank.. as we all know.. it’s not so bad when it’s only a minor screwup, though.
I realize that this thread and my personal reef keeping practices are a bit hypocritical because on the one hand I totally agree with the reef mentra: Stability is Key yet I continue to mess around with things.. but ultimately my goal is to find the formula that I like and that provides that stability in the long term.
I think I’m inching ever so closer to that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by markalot

Sorry to hear about the troubles Matt. Hopefully we are both over them for the time being!

Amen, Mark! Thanks! My suharsonoi/caroliniana- whichever it may be is regaining color daily, now.. it wasn’t so bad..

Quote:

Originally Posted by tripdad

Sorry to see your having some problems Matt. This hobby/addiction can be a real test of will sometimes. Hang in there bud, there is still so much in your tank that shines brightly.

Thanks, man! It was a minor blip this time, Scott. The few affected corals are recovering their color and pe... thankfully!!

After the RSR treatment- which I ended after 24 hours, I went on a little 10%/10 day water change refresher on the tank. Using H2Ocean salt.
I really liked the results. Really perked up the whole tank and I found that after about the 5th wc, the tank just looked clearer and more vibrant.. maybe it was all in my head.. but still. I like the results..
I was too busy to do testing last weekend so I’m not sure where nutrients are with the LC dosing but I did reduce it somewhat last week so I’ll check again this weekend.. I hope! I don’t expect them to have changed much from my last readings..
I did however slap my iPhone in my viewing box a couple days ago and made a quick and dirty front/top down video. I have to say that I am quite happy with 80% of the corals in my tank right now..
This is with all lights on..

https://youtu.be/ttQiA3GpsfM

And since it’s been almost exactly two years since I added my Ice/fir echinata frag, I’m going to go over to Tapatalk and post the 12 or so progression shots I have of that coral.. it is not a swift grower for me!

reefmutt · 03/28/2018, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stickboy97

Man sorry to see/hear about your browning event. Your tank is still amazing! Thx for the FTS.

Missed this.. thanks! And no problem. It’s easy to get me to post a photo. It’s like forcing me to eat maple ice cream! Real maple ice cream.

reefmutt · 03/28/2018, 08:10 AM

Ok! Two years growth or this, one of my all time favorite corals and ‘till now, most elusive for me to keep... KNOCK IN WOOD.. poopoo, throw salt over my shoulder.. etc etc
From Feb 2016

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

reefmutt · 03/28/2018, 08:13 AM

Last week..

Hopefully in a week I can show some recovery pics..

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

fishguy597 · 03/28/2018, 08:22 AM

Love the pics and the YouTube video.

How long have you had the group of antheas? Do you do anything special for them or just feed them with pellets on a timer?

reefmutt · 03/28/2018, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishguy597

Love the pics and the YouTube video.

How long have you had the group of antheas? Do you do anything special for them or just feed them with pellets on a timer?

Thanks. I’m not sure they’d eat pellets.. some might.
I only feed twice a day. A mix or frozen mysis shrimp and spirulina brine shrimp. 8 cubes total- two feedings.
When they were new and getting established, I fed more often but now they do fine with this..

SawCJack00 · 03/28/2018, 09:37 AM

Matt, have you considered adding a few more corals to your tank? It seems a bit barren

reefmutt · 03/28/2018, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SawCJack00

Matt, have you considered adding a few more corals to your tank? It seems a bit barren

I know!! I feel the same. Glad you noticed!
I have a bunch of frags sitting in a cart that I haven’t pulled the trigger on but your comment may have pushed me over the edge.

shih87 · 03/28/2018, 10:13 AM

Wow!!! Is it echinata?
Very very nice!!!

Sam2832 · 04/05/2018, 10:39 AM

Any advice to keep the "ice fire"?
I saw some people having difficulties keeping them. Thanks

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

03/17/2018, 07:04 PM	#3026
DiscusHeckel Acropora Gardener Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield, UK Posts: 2,780	Your latest FTS looks fabulous, Matt. If I wanted to count the number of your corals in this picture, I would have to spend a long time in front of my iMac. Hopefully, "the damage" will be restricted only to the affected coral you mentioned above. __________________ Featured Tank OCT 2016 \| "Reef Hobbyist Magazine" TOTM OCT 2016 \| "Ultimate Reef", UK FB \| "/troutsReefTank/" 65G SPS Reef- ATI 8 X 39W PM; TM [Bacto-Balance A-; Reef Actif; Nitribiotic; Iodine]

03/17/2018, 10:44 PM	#3027
Pife Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 7,408	Matt your tank is stuffed with coral! I hope the smooth skin bounces back. If it makes you feel any better my urchin went and stole several corals one being my pink cadillac and it's now mia. __________________ Brandon I'm not saying let's get rid of all the stupid people.* I'm just saying let's remove all the warning labels and let the problem work itself out. Current Tank Info: 150g DT plumbed to an 80g frag tank and 220g sump in the basement. ~6-MP40s ~ 12 ATI powered t5s ~ Reefbrites and Radions supplementing ~ Custom GEO Skimmer ~ GEO CA Reactor 6x24~ Iwaki 70 Return ~

03/18/2018, 07:57 AM	#3030
plyle02 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Lake Helen, FL Posts: 5,526	Matt, your recent coral photos are simply amazing, I cannot express to you how impressed I am with your tank, a masterpiece. You scape is perfect, and you have corals perched everywhere, all I see is colorful corals, no matter what species, they all seem to be thriving. Outstanding Matt! __________________ Perry "Anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die" ~Buddha~ Current Tank Info: 50 Gallon AIO Cube, Aquamaxx WS-1 Skimmer, LED/ Hybrid 4x24 watt t5

03/19/2018, 07:32 AM	#3035
reefmutt Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Mtl. Canada Posts: 7,824	Ok. Here are the two worst affected corals.. The one that most angers me. Before.. as posted above: And after.. the springeri was most accommodating in taking up his position! Here’s another.. before.. And after.. So, yes definitely not the end of the world.. several other smaller corals have also browned out but not anything I really love, thankfully.. I’m really not happy about that suharsonoi, however... One interesting and disturbing thing I noticed... when a coral goes brown like this, suddenly the aefw bite marks become dramatically more apparent... Recently, I added several peppermint shrimp and some yellow wrasses.. I’ll have to add a few more peps and I think I’ll begin flatworm stop.. I’ll still post ongoing (and slightly reduced) LC dosing.. I really appreciate all the comments, people! Thank you very much! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ 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

03/19/2018, 10:22 AM	#3037
watchguy123 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,074	Your ups and downs really help those following along. It’s so informative seeing these changes due to one reason or another. I am usually not brave enough to show my many misadventures but your sharing inspires me to do the same more often. I constantly am amazed and I guess reminded how diligent and consistent one has to be to achieve a tank full of happy corals. Thank you for constantly sharing, learning along with you. __________________ 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

03/18/2018, 02:21 AM	#3029
Rakie In Memoriam Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 3,059	It's looking great Matt. Don't fret too much, there's always gonna be a bump in our road.

03/18/2018, 01:25 PM	#3032
Ucantwin Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: some where Posts: 559	Matt, how do you go about getting rid of a coral that has grown to close to another one? I have a couple corals like that and I would like to take out. I worry about cutting the branches off and smothering the base with kalk, as the high ph might effect the coral close by.

03/19/2018, 03:02 AM	#3033
illumnae Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Singapore Posts: 322	How is that suharsonoi anything like turd? If anyone sees turd that colour in their toilet bowl, I suggest quickly going to see your doctor... you might have come into contact with some radioactive material somehow. Your tank is looking amazing Matt

03/19/2018, 09:52 AM	#3036
illumnae Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Singapore Posts: 322	Oops sorry for the misunderstanding!

03/20/2018, 06:56 PM	#3038
Stickboy97 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Conroe, TX Posts: 647	Man sorry to see/hear about your browning event. Your tank is still amazing! Thx for the FTS. __________________ DSA 105g Neo Pro

03/27/2018, 08:30 PM	#3039
markalot ... Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Florence, KY Posts: 3,806 Blog Entries: 3	Sorry to hear about the troubles Matt. Hopefully we are both over them for the time being! __________________ -- Mark 150G (72x18x27) \| 35G sump \| SRO-XP2000INT Skimmer \| ATI SunPower T5 / NanoBox LED hybrid 60" x 4 + 8 NanoBox v3.1 arrays

03/28/2018, 05:10 AM	#3040
tripdad Frustrated Stick Gardener Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: near chicago,Ill. Posts: 701	Sorry to see your having some problems Matt. This hobby/addiction can be a real test of will sometimes. Hang in there bud, there is still so much in your tank that shines brightly. __________________ Scott Current tank: 65 gal DSA rimless, mixed reef, 20 gal sump, T5 6bulb, big skimmer, 40B Fowler, 20 gal sump, 4 bulb T5

03/28/2018, 08:10 AM	#3043
reefmutt Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Mtl. Canada Posts: 7,824	Ok! Two years growth or this, one of my all time favorite corals and ‘till now, most elusive for me to keep... KNOCK IN WOOD.. poopoo, throw salt over my shoulder.. etc etc From Feb 2016 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ 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

03/28/2018, 08:13 AM	#3044
reefmutt Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Mtl. Canada Posts: 7,824	Last week.. Hopefully in a week I can show some recovery pics.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ 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

03/28/2018, 08:22 AM	#3045
fishguy597 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Minooka Il Posts: 912	Love the pics and the YouTube video. How long have you had the group of antheas? Do you do anything special for them or just feed them with pellets on a timer?

03/28/2018, 09:37 AM	#3047
SawCJack00 Professional Mind Reader Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Surprise, AZ Posts: 1,809	Matt, have you considered adding a few more corals to your tank? It seems a bit barren __________________ Bill Bramucci My build thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2670607 Don't forget your towel! Current Tank Info: Red Sea Reefer 750 XXL

03/28/2018, 10:13 AM	#3049
shih87 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Hsinchu, Taiwan Posts: 1,294	Wow!!! Is it echinata? Very very nice!!! __________________ Zeovit DTOTQ Q3 2015 RC TOTM April 2016 Reef Hobbyist Magazine Q2 2017 R二R TOTM Oct 2017 Aquaforest ROTM June 2019

04/05/2018, 10:39 AM	#3050
Sam2832 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Montréal Posts: 79	Any advice to keep the "ice fire"? I saw some people having difficulties keeping them. Thanks Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk