28g Nanocube, Kessil/T5 Supplement . October FTS 2016 update p#9

[reefernanoman]

Can u post pics of both side by side ?

I'll try today without trying to make my wife mad!

But trust me, they look very very different.

[reefernanoman]

Can u post pics of both side by side ?

Frag (neon green birdsnest) lit with Kessil only. It's nice, but not as nice as the other one:

 

Frag lit with Kessil and 3hr a day T5 supplementation. Much greener and thicker:

[teenyreef]

It's hard to say how is due to the difference between led and t5, unless you can measure PAR and confirm it's the same for each frag. Maybe the one in the 28g just gets more light!

 

Or, like Mark said, t5's are just magic

[reefernanoman]

Ordered a battery backup from BRS (the one from ecotech) and the battery pack is all banged up! What's weird is that the box itself is not damaged. This thing is heavy, so maybe that has something to do with it. BRS is going to send me another one. Has anyone experienced this with their ecotech battery pack?

[blizzardscout2]

Your orange Monti plate is awesome!

 

That is weird that the battery pack was beat up. I wonder if it was a returned or refurbished battery by Ecotech. I was thinking about getting one as I have had my power go out at least 6 times in the last year. 3 of which were for 2 days or more. Fortunately I have a generator, but it recently seized up (threw a rod, cheap chinese model).

[uwdanno]

Looks great

[reefernanoman]

Your orange Monti plate is awesome!

 

That is weird that the battery pack was beat up. I wonder if it was a returned or refurbished battery by Ecotech. I was thinking about getting one as I have had my power go out at least 6 times in the last year. 3 of which were for 2 days or more. Fortunately I have a generator, but it recently seized up (threw a rod, cheap chinese model).

 

Thanks. Second battery pack came in one piece. It took me like 10 minutes to test and install it.

Looks great

Thanks!

[reefernanoman]

June 2016 update! Added some hardware and new corals. I also found out that my dkH was very low, but took care of the problem (all explained in the video).

 

New hardware:

 

Added an RW4 to help my MP10 with dead spots:

 

Added an ecotech battery backup so that my MP10's (one in each of my tanks) can keep running at low speeds in order to keep my corals alive:

 

FTS 06/01/2016:

 

Video update to explain my update (for both my tanks):

[teenyreef]

Dang, that monti is taking over

Looks great!

[HarryPotter]

Ordered a battery backup from BRS (the one from ecotech) and the battery pack is all banged up! What's weird is that the box itself is not damaged. This thing is heavy, so maybe that has something to do with it. BRS is going to send me another one. Has anyone experienced this with their ecotech battery pack?

 

 

Got a photo of that?

[reefernanoman]

Dang, that monti is taking over

Looks great!

Yup, half of that side! thanks.

 

 

Got a photo of that?

Yeah I do, but I already have a new one installed. The second one came with no issues.

 

 

Got a photo of that?

 

[reefernanoman]

Mid July 2016 FTS and new video. Some of my SPS are having issues (explained in the video)

 

FTS 07/15/16:

 

New video:

[reefernanoman]

Mid August 2016 Update:

 

I finally fragged my giant orange monti cap so that I could make an Acan garden on my barebottom (Acans came from my other tank). I also added a frag of whammin watermelon zoas and moved my hammer/frogspawn from my other tank into this tank (it was getting too big).

 

FTS 08/14/16:

 

Side view:

 

 

[reefernanoman]

October 2016 Update: So after losing most of my SPS in here (moved remaining ones to my 10G to save them) I decided to make my scape look like an island. I lost my SPS because I shocked them by raising Alk way too fast through dosing. I made a zoa garden out of my remaining zoas from my other tank. Some SPS did survive and they are bouncing back very slowly.

 

FTS 10/18/2016:

[teenyreef]

I love the island look! The acans look like a little bridge leading to the zoa garden

[reefernanoman]

I love the island look! The acans look like a little bridge leading to the zoa garden

Thanks! Last month was pretty sad, but things are looking up. It's interesting to see how the LPS, zoas and GSP didn't give a damn about the alk swing. I can't say that about the poor shrunken RBTA though (but it seems to be coming back to life) or the SPS that I zapped, including the forest fire digitata, bird of paradise and my orange monti (I do have a frag of it growing in my 10G though, which is doing well).

[teenyreef]

Yep, SPS are much more sensitive to alk swings, I've found that out the hard way too

[reefernanoman]

Yep, SPS are much more sensitive to alk swings, I've found that out the hard way too

In your case, your doser went crazy right? I'm the one who went crazy, by increasing alk from 4 to 10dkh in less than two weeks! That's too fast! I read (after I screwed up!) that you are not supposed to raise alk by more than 0.5dkh per day or something like that. It's Ironic, because now that my alk and calcium are stable, almost all my sps are dead now and not enjoying it

[teenyreef]

Before I crashed the 4g, I raised the alk in the 10g too fast over a couple of days (without meaning to). All the green monticaps turned yellow/brown, and most of the acros died. I think that sounds like what happened to you

[reefernanoman]

Before I crashed the 4g, I raised the alk in the 10g too fast over a couple of days (without meaning to). All the green monticaps turned yellow/brown, and most of the acros died. I think that sounds like what happened to you

Pretty much. It wasn't that dramatic, since it was over a two week period, so when I saw that my SPS looked stressed (and the ones in my 10G were recovering) I made the move to frag and move the remaining ones that were still hanging on. I did big water changes and stopped dosing immediately, but some of the SPS never recovered (like the bird of paradise and forest fire digi). The plating and encrusting corals seem to be much more hardy from what I have seen.

[reefernanoman]

Well I decided to put one of my grafted monti frags that has been doing well in my other tank, and I'm happy to see that polyp extension is 100% after the transfer. That's a very good sign and an indication that my water is stable enough to keep SPS in here again.

[teenyreef]

I've seen the same - plating/encrusting will come back from severe discoloration or stress, but acros tend the RTN at the drop of a hat.

[reefernanoman]

I've seen the same - plating/encrusting will come back from severe discoloration or stress, but acros tend the RTN at the drop of a hat.

Good feedback. Also the first corals to die was the only Acro I had, then the birdsnest. After that, it was the forest fire digitata and spongedodes. Those mentioned never recovered. My experience has been that birdsnest die very fast too (the bird of paradise to be more specific). My screaming green birdsnest was not affected though. Go figure.

[markalot]

Good feedback. Also the first corals to die was the only Acro I had, then the birdsnest. After that, it was the forest fire digitata and spongedodes. Those mentioned never recovered. My experience has been that birdsnest die very fast too (the bird of paradise to be more specific). My screaming green birdsnest was not affected though. Go figure.

 

Sorry to hear about the troubles. My birdsnests were always the quickest to die, then the acros teased for a few weeks before they died as well. SPS is a cruel joke sometimes.

 

I am not sure your KH could have reached 4, but regardless what I think killed the SPS is not the rise from 4 to 7 or 8, but the rise from 8 to 10, especially if nutrients were low. Keep KH running right around 7 and you will have room for error up and down, plus they really do prefer closer to NWS levels.

 

In my opinion anyway.

[reefernanoman]

 

Sorry to hear about the troubles. My birdsnests were always the quickest to die, then the acros teased for a few weeks before they died as well. SPS is a cruel joke sometimes.

 

I am not sure your KH could have reached 4, but regardless what I think killed the SPS is not the rise from 4 to 7 or 8, but the rise from 8 to 10, especially if nutrients were low. Keep KH running right around 7 and you will have room for error up and down, plus they really do prefer closer to NWS levels.

 

In my opinion anyway.

Ah OK thanks. I'm only wodering if some of my montis will ever recover their color like the rainbow monti. The only color I see in it is red now. It used to have rainbow colors before I messed it up.