Ecotech Radion Pro

[picoreef78]

FTS

[picoreef78]

Now the corals

 

[picoreef78]

The stylophora pisillata's are doing well half way down. Red Planet is more of a purple planet, also half way down.

 

Garf Bonsai on top, not as purple, palette pink tip and Tyree Pink lemonade all on top and not as colorful. May have to move them down or dial back to 45%. Also running 14,000 for better growth vs coloration.

 

NO2 0

PO4 0.04

 

PH 7.95-8.10

 

Temp 75-76

 

Mg 1400

Ca 450

alk 3.5-4.0 mEg/l

[picoreef78]

How long does it take the frags to encrust? In my old red Sea Max system they started encrusting within two weeks.

 

I have not seen anything yet.

2/7/2014

Mg 1480

Ca 450

pH 7.81

kh 3.5

9.8

 

 

NO3 0

PO4 0.04

Sal 35

Temp 75-76

 

Radion High growth 55% intensity

[picoreef78]

Any thoughts on time it takes to start encrusting?

[GHill762]

Any thoughts on time it takes to start encrusting?

depends on the coral.. some will encrust and grow very quickly, others will take time to adapt to your tank.. there is no exact answer for this question that will fit every coral or even just one coral in different tanks.. it's kind of like asking "how long is a piece of string?"

[picoreef78]

Have the coral encrusting now after about two weeks.

 

Keep glass top on or off? Sure filters some light, but cuts down on evaporation. Have Tunze ATO so not too big of a deal.

 

Sans glass top cover or with? What is the current trend?

[jservedio]

Have the coral encrusting now after about two weeks.

 

Keep glass top on or off? Sure filters some light, but cuts down on evaporation. Have Tunze ATO so not too big of a deal.

 

Sans glass top cover or with? What is the current trend?

 

I keep my tank uncovered to increase the dissolved oxygen levels. Free airflow over the surface will help with oxygenation of the water - especially if you don't have a skimmer. If you have an ATO, evaporation shouldn't be a problem at all. In the summer months, this will help keep the aquarium cooler too.

 

Two weeks isn't a lot of time for corals to encrust anything. Even the most rapidly growing acros can take a month or two to fully encrust a frag plug. More slowly growing ones can take significantly longer. For example, I have one new acro tortuosa frag that is a 3/4" tall single branch in on my frag rack that has been there two weeks and has just barely finished encrusting the superglue - and that is a very fast grower. On the other hand, as they get bigger, they will grow faster. I have a different tort directly next to the one I mentioned that has been in the tank for about 2-3 months now and it has thickly encrusted a 1" diamter half-sphere piece of epoxy putty and sprouted a couple new branches. Even though they are the same species, they grow at different rates because of the relative size and because it is fully adjusted to my tank.

[picoreef78]

Encrusting of just the super glue is what I have on most the the frags except for the palleta pink tip.

 

I have the glass off for now as it tends to get dirty quickly.

 

Tunze 3155 ATO is set up.

 

 

I found an article that documents longer frags at about 1.5 inches have the best mortality and growth. Looking at most of the frags offered they are .75 to 1 inch in length, so expecting to longer to grow and encrust.

How have your colors been under the radion?

 

I have found the the coloration is different, even on 20k from the initial colors.

 

Red Planet is more purple.

 

GARF Bonsai more of a burgundy.

Paletta pink tip is also burgandy.

 

Pink lemonade ow a light brown/red.

 

I do have the lights set to 14k hoping for a better growth profile vs coloration for now. That also might be a big factor.

[jservedio]

Encrusting of just the super glue is what I have on most the the frags except for the palleta pink tip.

 

I have the glass off for now as it tends to get dirty quickly.

 

Tunze 3155 ATO is set up.

 

 

I found an article that documents longer frags at about 1.5 inches have the best mortality and growth. Looking at most of the frags offered they are .75 to 1 inch in length, so expecting to longer to grow and encrust.

 

How have your colors been under the radion?

 

I have found the the coloration is different, even on 20k from the initial colors.

 

Red Planet is more purple.

 

GARF Bonsai more of a burgundy.

Paletta pink tip is also burgandy.

 

Pink lemonade ow a light brown/red.

 

I do have the lights set to 14k hoping for a better growth profile vs coloration for now. That also might be a big factor.

 

I've had no problems with coloration under the Radions. My red planet looks exactly like everyone eles's red planet, my GARF bonsai is a really deep purple with bright green polyps, and "Pink Lemonade" is such a generic term it really doesn't mean anything when comparing coloration between lighting conditions unless you have a specific one, like the Tyree. Many "pink lemonade's" aren't even the same species of Acropora.

 

IME in terms of lighting, my colors are way more effected by where the coral is in the tank and the intensity of the light than the fact it is under LED. Mine is on the natural deep-reef seeting @ 30 feet which is probably somewhere around 16k during "noon" and probably right around 20k at 9am and 3pm. I have 2 red planets in my tank now - one is about 4" off the sand the other is 5" below the surface on a rack. The lower one is all purplish/pink with just a hint of green around the base and the one on the rack is pure green with just a hint of pink in the tips of the corallites.

 

Way moreso than lighting, nutrients play a big factor in coloration - especially in nanos. When my red planet was in QT (high phosphates) and low light it was pure dark purple - no green and no red. My GARF Bonsai was a dark, dark reddish/purplish brown. I doubt it is your lighting that is throwing off the colors.

[picoreef78]

Date

1/31/2014

2/2/2014

2/7/2014

2/19/2014

Magnesium

1340

1010

1480

1400

Calcium

450

450

450

420

pH

 

 

7.91

8.1

Alkalinity

4.0

4.0

3.5

4.0

dKa

14

11.2

9.8

11.2

NH3

 

 

 

 

NO2

 

 

 

 

NO3

0

 

0

0

PO4

0

 

0.04

0.04

Salinity (ppm)

34

34

35

35

 

So far pretty good.

 

Purple red for the red planet.

 

It is Tyree Pink Lemonade, which I actually had a species name.

 

GARF not a deep purple, red/purple. Looking at them under the 20K lighting.

 

My depth is set at 0 ft.

 

I am dosing Red Sea NOPOX pe guidlines.

 

Also started to add red sea reef energy and reef amino's

[picoreef78]

Ramping up to 60% after a couple of weeks at 55%. On high growth algorithm. I was hoping for 14K, not sure what my spectra is now. When I use my for to test different spectra, looks like 10 or 14K.

 

Paletta pink tip had tissue necrosis. Saw it when I came back from a trip. Dip in Julian's Coral Revive, still progressed to fragged the base of and glue onto the rock work, after another dip.

[picoreef78]

Ascending tissue necrosis. Hopefully I can rescues the Paletta Pink tip.

Wouyld love to know what the actual species is.

[picoreef78]

Thinking of usig the red Sea coloration program.

 

Anyone have experience or just a waste of money?

[jservedio]

Thinking of usig the red Sea coloration program.

 

Anyone have experience or just a waste of money?

 

Keep your acros alive and growing before you even try anything like that. If you are having STN, you need to work on the basics like getting your Alkalinity under control, keeping phosphates down, and making sure everything is pest free. Your alkalinity is all over the place and I doubt your PO4 readings are accurate unless you are using the Hanna Checker, and even then it can lie.There is no magic bullet to getting your acros to color up and no additive that can replace good husbandry and stable, low nutrient (relative) conditions.

 

Once you acros are thriving, growing like crazy, and colored up - if you want to try something like that have at it - otherwise it is just a waste of money.

 

IMO, if you can't test for it and don't know the contents - don't ever put it in your system.

[jservedio]

The reason your Acros are STN'ing is because your Alkalinity is all over the charts. You have a jump of 2.8 dkH over just two days with a range of 4.2 dkH over only the course of a couple of weeks. Also, you Magnesium readings are telling me that you are doing your testing wrong since it isn't really possible to drop 330ppm of Magnesium in 2 days and then have it go up 470ppm from there over just a week without dumping in at least a full bottle of Magnesium supplement. If you are doing your Magnesium test incorrectly, your Alkalinity testing procedure probably needs some work too.

 

IMO your tank isn't ready for Acros at all and I'm sorry to say this, but you are probably going to lose all of those that you have. Your tank's parameters need to settle and once they are settled, you need to practice keeping them there. You can have Alkalinity slowly creep up or down a couple dkH over the course of a few weeks, but having that over the course of a day, every single day, means acros simply can't survive in your tank.

 

Get down the basics and get your tank's parameters stable and then try giving Acros a try once you have other, easier to keep corals, doing well.

 

* Note: Not sure when the picture was taken, but once an acro is in your display tank, you should NEVER dip it unless you are specifically trying to remove a parasite. Dipping a STN'ing coral is only going to speed up it's demise - they are poison to your acros and stress them badly. Once you are through dipping/quarantine (If you QT), you should never need to dip again.

[ponda]

had a biocube hqi - then instantly switched to radion2 - 60%

lowered the red and green settings

9" above the water

so far no prob....

amazing growth with the zoos!

[picoreef78]

Actually using red sea pro kit to test. Everything has been pretty stable. The table did not paste correctly.

dKH 3.5 to 4.0 mEq/l

Ca 420 to 450 mg/l

Mg 1340-1480 mg/l

 

NO3 0 mg/l

 

PO4 0.04 mg/l

 

Red Sea Pro test quests have been validated. So has the Hanna checker, not sure which one is superior though, agree with more user error with Red Sea Max kit and the Hanna checker had trouble with phosphates above 2.0 mg/l.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/8/review

 

Only one acro had ascending tissue loss. Goal was also to kill possible bacteria. Seems to have worked.

 

The rest have encrusted over the super glue quite nicely.

had a biocube hqi - then instantly switched to radion2 - 60%

lowered the red and green settings

9" above the water

so far no prob....

amazing growth with the zoos!

 

No zooanthids. Looking at some on reef gardeners website.

 

Have two actinodiscus sp that have spawned two more small daughters.

 

Favia

 

Acan

 

echinopora llameosa (finally getting color back from being bleached at the LFS.

 

Rest are Acro sps.

[BusterDB]

Actually using red sea pro kit to test. Everything has been pretty stable. The table did not paste correctly.

dKH 3.5 to 4.0 mEq/l

Ca 420 to 450 mg/l

Mg 1340-1480 mg/l

 

NO3 0 mg/l

 

PO4 0.04 mg/l

 

Red Sea Pro test quests have been validated. So has the Hanna checker, not sure which one is superior though, agree with more user error with Red Sea Max kit and the Hanna checker had trouble with phosphates above 2.0 mg/l.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/8/review

 

Only one acro had ascending tissue loss. Goal was also to kill possible bacteria. Seems to have worked.

 

The rest have encrusted over the super glue quite nicely.

 

 

No zooanthids. Looking at some on reef gardeners website.

 

Have two actinodiscus sp that have spawned two more small daughters.

 

Favia

 

Acan

 

echinopora llameosa (finally getting color back from being bleached at the LFS.

 

Rest are Acro sps.

+1 to Jservido post above. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby, especially in a new tank. Take it easy on trying to color up a 1/2" frag. Instead try to dial in your parameters to where your tank responds best and keep them stable. There is no exact time table for coral growth, as every tank will grow at different rates. I have found with my tanks the sweet spot seems to be around the 6mo mark where you start to see growth take off.

 

I've never used Red Sea test kits, but I would venture to say they provide a little more accuracy than a rage of 140 mg/l on your Mg. I have always used Sailfert kits and can usually dial in my parameters with in a .10 of a ml/g on my cal, alk and mg. I would guess there is a bit of user error in your results.

[jservedio]

Actually using red sea pro kit to test. Everything has been pretty stable. The table did not paste correctly.

Only one acro had ascending tissue loss. Goal was also to kill possible bacteria. Seems to have worked.

 

1/31: 14 dKH

2/2: 11.2 dkH

2/7: 9.8 dKH

2/19: 11.2 dKH

 

^ That is not stable. Looks like it is getting there during the month of February, but it didn't start that way. That is 99% likely what caused your STN right there - it wasn't bacterial. If it were bacterial and killing your acro, it would be a strain of Vibrio and a dip would do absolutely nothing for it since they are not surface bacteria. While the pine oil in Revive is an antimicrobial, it doesn't penetrate the surface and is just stressing the coral even more than it is.

 

If the STN stops, it is totally unrelated to the dip and is because you fragged it. If it starts receding again in 2-3 weeks you will know your Alkalinity is still not stable enough.

[KyleRay31]

I've been running my gen 3 pro on radiant color at only 25% intensity, is that too low for my 20 inch cube?

[jservedio]

I've been running my gen 3 pro on radiant color at only 25% intensity, is that too low for my 20 inch cube?

 

No - that is perfectly fine and an ideal percentage to start at even with a tank full of Acros. I have had a G2 Pro for over 9 months now and it is only up to 35% and I use the wide angle lenses (less PAR) with great color and growth on my acros in a 17" deep tank. I started at just 20% with the standard TIR lenses and ramped up maybe 5% every 2 months or so.

 

You will probably want to ramp it up slowly (like 5% every 3 or 4 weeks) if you have a tank full of SPS corals. However, if you are primarily LPS, 25-30% is probably a really good number for a 20" deep tank. If you do decide to go higher, make sure you slowly ramp it up. Going slow isn't going to hurt anything, but going too fast can significantly harm things since photo bleached corals can take 6+ months to fully recover.

[KyleRay31]

 

No - that is perfectly fine and an ideal percentage to start at even with a tank full of Acros. I have had a G2 Pro for over 9 months now and it is only up to 35% and I use the wide angle lenses (less PAR) with great color and growth on my acros in a 17" deep tank. I started at just 20% with the standard TIR lenses and ramped up maybe 5% every 2 months or so.

 

You will probably want to ramp it up slowly (like 5% every 3 or 4 weeks) if you have a tank full of SPS corals. However, if you are primarily LPS, 25-30% is probably a really good number for a 20" deep tank. If you do decide to go higher, make sure you slowly ramp it up. Going slow isn't going to hurt anything, but going too fast can significantly harm things since photo bleached corals can take 6+ months to fully recover.

Thanks my tank is mainly LPS and everything seems to be happy, just making sure I'm getting the most out of my lights.

[jservedio]

Thanks my tank is mainly LPS and everything seems to be happy, just making sure I'm getting the most out of my lights.

 

NP - they are incredibly powerful lights! Since you have an LPS tank you might want to take a look at the new 120 degree Wide-Angle optics since it offers a much more uniform PAR distribution. They are only $35, but they completely remove the big hotspot directly under the clusters. Since our nanos are so small and use only a fraction of the power, trading off power for more even lighting is a win-win.

 

With LPS only, I definitely wouldn't take the light over 25-30% even with the wide angle lenses.

[KyleRay31]

 

NP - they are incredibly powerful lights! Since you have an LPS tank you might want to take a look at the new 120 degree Wide-Angle optics since it offers a much more uniform PAR distribution. They are only $35, but they completely remove the big hotspot directly under the clusters. Since our nanos are so small and use only a fraction of the power, trading off power for more even lighting is a win-win.

 

With LPS only, I definitely wouldn't take the light over 25-30% even with the wide angle lenses.

How do you get those installed?