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Coral Vue Hydros

Mr. Microscope's Cube 2.1


Mr. Microscope

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jedimasterben
I thought the Canon's were doable. Haven't some aquariums started utilizing those?

The Ecoxotic canons? They have very little output, are still scary expensive, and have nothing but ultra cool white and royal blue LEDs in them, so they'd lose what coloration they have now.

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Man, I miss not living in Chicago. Going to have to plan a vacation to see the Shed. Thanks for sharing, I did not know that had a decent reef exhibit.

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Mr. Microscope

The Ecoxotic canons? They have very little output, are still scary expensive, and have nothing but ultra cool white and royal blue LEDs in them, so they'd lose what coloration they have now.

Blecch! You couldn't pay me to put a cool white LED over my tank anymore.

Man, I miss not living in Chicago. Going to have to plan a vacation to see the Shed. Thanks for sharing, I did not know that had a decent reef exhibit.

M'eh. As far as cities go, I'm not really a fan of Chicago. As for the Shedd, it's cool and a good place to spend half a day, but honestly I don't see myself going back there anytime in the near future. I'd much rather go to a frag swap.

Awesome pictures!

 

When I went to the Shedd last summer there was a big clownfish pair in one of their reefs sitting on a nest of eggs. It was pretty cool.

Thanks HVani! Wow! Didn't see that, but my son was pulling me along pretty fast. Was is in the tank with all the RBTA's?
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Mr. Microscope

I don't like Chicago either. I'm glad I went to the Shedd and the Field Museum but I won't be back for a long time.

 

Also here is more info on the Milwaukee Event going on in November

 

I'm not sure how much Saltwater stuff is going to be there but there will be some. I'll be there all day on Saturday

 

http://www.madisonreef.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=14048

Cool cool. Thanks!
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Awesome pics! Your little guy is adorable...I love the overalls :).

 

Doesn't the Shedd have a Beluga Whale? My son was really into them a few years ago and I remember reading they had one.

I was there about two months ago. They have 3 beluga whales. 2 Adults and a juvenile. They had this giant beach-ball in there, and the young one kept trying to toss it to the people.

 

Hello All,

 

I went to the Shedd Aquarium a couple weeks ago with my son. It was a great day, though a bit pricey. Parking was $19. Admission for me was $32. Luckily, my son was free because he's only two, but at age three they start charging. Lunch was a crappy hotdog (no sides), three chicken tenders (no sides), and two drinks for $17.

 

Here's some fun pics.

 

The first exhibit we went to see of course was the, "Wild Reef." The first thing you see when you enter the floor is a nice show tank with a bunch of corals and fish in it. The centerpiece of the aquarium is this giant clam. It's by far one of the biggest I've seen. Fully grown tangs were swimming in and out of it. lol. The pic doesn't do much for the scale of it, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was 3 feet plus long. Those tangs on the top of the image are right next to the glass. So, don't use them to compare sizes. When they swam up close to the clam, the tangs were absolutely dwarfed.

 

 

That clam is amazing and definitely more than 3 feet long. The coolest part of the Shedd when I was there was the anaconda exhibit. That thing was HUGE.

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I was there about two months ago. They have 3 beluga whales. 2 Adults and a juvenile. They had this giant beach-ball in there, and the young one kept trying to toss it to the people.

 

 

That clam is amazing and definitely more than 3 feet long. The coolest part of the Shedd when I was there was the anaconda exhibit. That thing was HUGE.

Awesome! Last time I was there was a high school field trip. Yeah....a very long time ago :lol:. I would love to see it now.
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Mr. Microscope

OK

I'm going bonkers here!

My dosing amount keeps going up. It might have something to do with the fact that I just added a nice sized milli mini colony a week ago, but dang! I've litterally doubled the amount! I'm now needing to add 60mL Alk and 60mL Ca every day to keep levels at 9dKH and 420ppm respectively. On top of that, Mg keeps dropping.

 

BRS 2 Part dosers out there. How much are you adding and volume of tank please?

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Mr. Microscope

You probably have a lot of calcareous algae growing everywhere, along with your corals being happy.

I haven't seen much coralline (at least not much purple stuff, I do have a lot of green covering my rocks that won't scrub off but it doesn't look calcareous (no discernible edges) do you think that's coralline?). My corals are growing pretty well. Thanks for your input Ben!
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jedimasterben

I haven't seen much coralline (at least not much purple stuff, I do have a lot of green covering my rocks that won't scrub off but it doesn't look calcareous (no discernible edges) do you think that's coralline?). My corals are growing pretty well. Thanks for your input Ben!

Yes, there are green colors of coralline (or just a calcareous algae), every piece of dry rock I've ever used got covered with that before anything else. My tank doesn't really grow any pink/purple coralline.

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Looks like your getting good growth on those SPS pieces a few pages back. The trip to the Shed looked worth while also :).

 

Looks like you will have to start dosing mag separately if your not already. As that starts to stabalise you will find that Alk and Cal consumption will reduce a little also.

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Mr. Microscope

Yes, there are green colors of coralline (or just a calcareous algae), every piece of dry rock I've ever used got covered with that before anything else. My tank doesn't really grow any pink/purple coralline.

Yes, I've experienced that as well. I'm thinking about trying to find a caked up piece of LR to get the purple going a little more, but perhaps that's a road better left untraveled. I just hate the green though...

 

I'm still dosing 28ml alk 24ml cal. I don't know how. 2 clams, a bunch of SPS, and LPS. But I'm staying steady at 7.0-7.5 dkh. It doesn't seem like a lot to me though for a total of 75g.

That seems to be where my Alk wants to settle. I think it might be easier to maintain lower alk. I'm wondering if my LPS are contributing to the bulk of loss. I do have a lot of acans and most are decent sizes.

 

Looks like your getting good growth on those SPS pieces a few pages back. The trip to the Shed looked worth while also :).

 

Looks like you will have to start dosing mag separately if your not already. As that starts to stabalise you will find that Alk and Cal consumption will reduce a little also.

Yes, I'm especially excited about the growth of my nasuta and prostrata. This weekend will mark another two weeks growth. So, more pics to come on those soon.

 

Yes, I've been actively dosing Mg about once a week after a water change. My salt produces levels in the range of 1320. Though, I'm still getting a drop without water changes.

 

Here's a sheet I got from Kent revealing the trace element levels in their Reef Salt.

KentsaltCOMPOSITION_zps96802e48.jpg

 

This sheet is also making me think that the Salifert Potassium test kit is bunk.

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Mr. Microscope

Could always send a sample to triton. lol :)

 

:ninja: shhhh....

 

I might have access to an ICP-MS. Will post more on that if I'm able to.

 

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Yes, I've experienced that as well. I'm thinking about trying to find a caked up piece of LR to get the purple going a little more, but perhaps that's a road better left untraveled. I just hate the green though...

 

That seems to be where my Alk wants to settle. I think it might be easier to maintain lower alk. I'm wondering if my LPS are contributing to the bulk of loss. I do have a lot of acans and most are decent sizes.

Coralline is a funny algae. I purchased two rocks with coralline algae on it, one red and one purple. The red has grown zero since I purchased it but has not shrunk back either. The purple will only grow on the rock that it came on and seems to refuse to start growing on any other rocks in my tank. I've just decided coralline does what it wants but the purple has been growing much thicker since I started maintaining a stable higher KH.

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Mr. Microscope

Coralline is a funny algae. I purchased two rocks with coralline algae on it, one red and one purple. The red has grown zero since I purchased it but has not shrunk back either. The purple will only grow on the rock that it came on and seems to refuse to start growing on any other rocks in my tank. I've just decided coralline does what it wants but the purple has been growing much thicker since I started maintaining a stable higher KH.

Take a knife and scrape off some of the purple stuff into your tank/rocks with the pumps off. Supposedly, it helps the process along.

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Take a knife and scrape off some of the purple stuff into your tank/rocks with the pumps off. Supposedly, it helps the process along.

Tried this with no success. I have the coralline covered rock touching against another rock and it still wont spread, my snails have gained coralline growth on their shells though so who knows.

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Mr. Microscope

Tried this with no success. I have the coralline covered rock touching against another rock and it still wont spread, my snails have gained coralline growth on their shells though so who knows.

Yes, the trochus I received from UC had a bunch of coralline on them. So did the maricultured milli. I'm hoping that helps.

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I have noticed lighting levels determine where coralline will grow in my tank. I have this beautiful purple stuff that only grows on the undersides of my tonga branches (shade) where some green stuff will grow pretty much whereever. Also got some gorgeous red that I havn't tried scraping yet but I always notice it takes off quite nicely when I do.

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So when are you dosing ? A single time or multiple times. I've been averaging about 30ml of Alk. And Ca. But my Mg. Has been out of control- took a few heavy doses 50ml to keep it about 13-1350. I dose manually still( can't get a doser soon enough) I've been dosing 20ml of Alk. And Ca. In the evening after dark and then ck levels and add 10ml of Alk. And Ca. In the morning- trying to keep Alk. @ 8 and Ca. @ 420-450. My Mg. Seems to be taking about 20-30 to keep above 1300. I didn't think corals used Mg. Like they do Alk. And Ca. Waterchanges seem to really affect my Mg. And Alk. Calcium Not so much- the Kent salt seems low in those - so after my waterchanges I have to add a large amount of Mg. I think I am gonna dose my w/c water with Mg. and see how that helps. I don't have a heavy coralline pull but my corals are really demanding now. I've been testing morning and evening for about 3 weeks now- only one I can't seem to nail down is the Mg.

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Mr. Microscope

I have noticed lighting levels determine where coralline will grow in my tank. I have this beautiful purple stuff that only grows on the undersides of my tonga branches (shade) where some green stuff will grow pretty much whereever. Also got some gorgeous red that I havn't tried scraping yet but I always notice it takes off quite nicely when I do.

Very interesting. I do have somewhat intense lighting. I found my first patch of coralline about a week ago on the bottom of the tank glass. It is in a shaded area. hmm

So when are you dosing ? A single time or multiple times. I've been averaging about 30ml of Alk. And Ca. But my Mg. Has been out of control- took a few heavy doses 50ml to keep it about 13-1350. I dose manually still( can't get a doser soon enough) I've been dosing 20ml of Alk. And Ca. In the evening after dark and then ck levels and add 10ml of Alk. And Ca. In the morning- trying to keep Alk. @ 8 and Ca. @ 420-450. My Mg. Seems to be taking about 20-30 to keep above 1300. I didn't think corals used Mg. Like they do Alk. And Ca. Waterchanges seem to really affect my Mg. And Alk. Calcium Not so much- the Kent salt seems low in those - so after my waterchanges I have to add a large amount of Mg. I think I am gonna dose my w/c water with Mg. and see how that helps. I don't have a heavy coralline pull but my corals are really demanding now. I've been testing morning and evening for about 3 weeks now- only one I can't seem to nail down is the Mg.

You're right, corals don't use Mg, but Mg is what allows us to keep high levels of Alk and Ca. I think dosing and maintaining weekly should be fine.

I'm doing in the morning before I leave for work and again around 8pm (so, about 12 hours apart). Last night after testing, I left the tank at 9dKH and 420ppm Ca. This morning I added 30mL each of Alk and Ca. Today, I tested at about 7:30pm and my Alk was down to 7.2 and Ca was 410-415. The total today ended up being 60mL Ca and 85mL Alk!

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Very interesting. I do have somewhat intense lighting. I found my first patch of coralline about a week ago on the bottom of the tank glass. It is in a shaded area. hmm

You're right, corals don't use Mg, but Mg is what allows us to keep high levels of Alk and Ca. I think dosing and maintaining weekly should be fine.

I'm doing in the morning before I leave for work and again around 8pm (so, about 12 hours apart). Last night after testing, I left the tank at 9dKH and 420ppm Ca. This morning I added 30mL each of Alk and Ca. Today, I tested at about 7:30pm and my Alk was down to 7.2 and Ca was 410-415. The total today ended up being 60mL Ca and 85mL Alk!

My lfs has a theory that because it is found at different depths it all needs different light levels, thats why you tend to see different tanks dominated by only one type of coralline. I saw a site offering some branching coralline recently and now I can't remember where... bothering me.

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