Mark's 150 (NanoBox Retro)

[markalot]

Nice looking setup, glad the disaster was averted

 

Thanks.

 

So I'm trying to show something here with a crappy cell phone picture. In the morning, when I dose the tank, I have the basement lights on and Cousin It is red. It's one of the few acros that shows any color but brown under white light.

 

 

I believe this is why many more experienced reefers who like millis insist that one bulb needs to be white like the GE or Aquablue Special, to accurately show this color.

 

I won't do it, I can't stand the yellow, but wanted to document this example.

[jedimasterben]

 

I do as a matter of fact, and forgot. They take D batteries, need to check to see if we have any on hand.

 

Skimmer is no longer sucking in air from outside. PH running at 8.6 so I re-calibrated using both the 7 and 10 fluids per instructions (talk about a boring job). 8.5 after calibration. The saturated Kalk is really doing a good job of raising PH.

I need to recalibrate mine, i think. When I added my new gorg with epoxy and my skimmer overflowed, I turned it off for the night and the Apex showed my pH hit 7.35, and peaked at 7.7 later the next day. Even on the best days pulling from outside it still shows pH as being in the 7.8-7.9 range.

[markalot]

Things are doing really well in here. Nitrates had fallen back to near 0 so I dosed 1/2 tsp CaNO3 just after Christmas and again on Thursday and the resulting color boost was intense. Yes, the one maricultured piece that was just stating to show more hints of blue turned back to brown but it was worth it.

 

 

Cousin It, which doesn't have much polyp extension anymore.

 

This is the Kentucky Bluegrass, now starting to show some purple on the tips.

[evan127]

Looking great Mark!

[vlangel]

Those colors are crazy amazing! The tank looks awesome Mark!

[teenyreef]

Looks great, I love the colors! What do you think is going on with Cousin It? I have to admit I think I like it better when it was blue and hairy

[markalot]

Those colors are crazy amazing! The tank looks awesome Mark!

 

Thanks Dawn.

 

Looks great, I love the colors! What do you think is going on with Cousin It? I have to admit I think I like it better when it was blue and hairy

 

Cousin It is an odd one. I think it's time to take a frag and grow it in lower light to see how it looks.

 

I took a metric ton of top downs, will slowly post them starting with Cousin It.

 

Full shot

 

Full magnification of the tips.

 

The center area that appears dead yet I think it may be just bleached.

 

The various subtle coloring showing up makes me thing this might like lower light. My other pinkish milli is in lower light, down near the bottom, but the coloring is odd. Very brownish under white light but an absolute rock star under blues where it glows a golden yellow.

 

Red Robin is a tad on the brown side but certainly healthy.

 

This one showing some very deep red but the polyps are long and blackish.

 

This one, which is either Red Planet or a similar reddish coral I used to have.

 

King slimer

Left out the prettiest pink. This now glows pink and red with yellow polyps and yellow skin down near the base. If anything it needs more light because frags of it do not do well on the frag rack.

[MikeTR]

Cousin it looks like it could benefit from a dip. Might as well take a couple clippings and try a few different spots..

[markalot]

Trying to get a full shot of the Katropora.

 

 

Horrida

 

Way back where I can't see things are doing well. Not sure where this green cap came from, a spec left over I guess.

 

And then I felt the smack, she is trying to kill me again. They are 4 days out from eggs hatching and should it should be another week until the next clutch. I can;t take top downs anymore when they have eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GtTap]

Tank looks great Mark im loving the colors.

[markalot]

Tank looks great Mark im loving the colors.

 

Thanks Gt, glad to see you're still hanging around. Are you going to update your 75G thread?

 

So I love a mystery, probably more fun than when things are going well, so here starts the Cousin It experiment. First step is creating the clone.

 

 

I've done better work but I think it will do ok. Going from 400 PAR to 125 PAR.

 

 

 

The coral looks healthy in everyplace I can see it, including the base, just very little polyp extension day or night. Lack of night time polyp extension at night is a big danger sign. Every other acro in the tank has borderline extreme extension at night, only this one is having issues.

 

Backside shot.

 

[GtTap]

Still having a fight with the tank but things are doing ok for the most part a few casualties. ill have to snap a pic.

[Geauxlsu]

Beautiful tank!

[teenyreef]

Fingers crossed for Cousin It, I'm a fan

[4x5]

Well... well... well...

 

The tank is looking great Mark.

[markalot]

 

Well... well... well...

 

The tank is looking great Mark.

 

Hi Shaun, thanks!

 

Nanobox settings, for those interested. T5's are on from 2PM till 8PM (6 hours). In this tank the Blue and Cyan channels run at the same strength.

 

[markalot]

So here we go with a photo update.

 

I've backed my BML LED strips from 100% way down to 40% peak to lower PAR by aprox 60. There seems to be something up with the Blue or Violet BML channels, maybe poor LED quality? Whenever I run them at 100% I tend to lose colors. Why don't I simply turn them off? Good question.

 

In addition to lowering the lights I also stopped dosing MicroE, at least for a while, to see if anything changes. I suspect a copper buildup but of course have no proof. I used a Poly Filter bit it showed nothing except dirt brown. Small serial water changes are happening for the next week or so to help reset any imbalance.

 

You know how I love to document all the ugly little things so don't panic.

 

The Lokani appeared to have receded a little at some point but now has a hard edge which usually indicated regrowth. The skin is a little thin for my taste but this will vary from acro to acro.

 

 

For example, the big valida which receded significantly during the big problem last year is super healthy now. When i rescaped I had to turn this around. This part was in the back, shaded, and apparently never had issues like the front of the coral did. It's already encrusted back over some putty I used to fix it in place.

 

 

Speaking of the valida, the smaller Chromis lives in here, guarded by the larger one. Do these guys pair up? The bigger one sleeps in the slimer.

 

Checking up on Cousin It ... some slight polyp extension on the main coral but nothing dramatic.

 

I'm amazed that the frag hasn't lost color and perhaps is even better than the colony.

 

The other mili is a real mystery. Growing fast, and actually has a nice purplish red color but this lens can't capture it. I used the kit lens due to laziness so any bright coloration will be lost due to what I assume is glare or distortion.

 

Katropora main colony. Note how colors are better where shaded? One reason for reducing PAR by cutting the BML intensity.

 

The pink one is doing well but also shows a better red in the branch crotches.

 

 

I'm limited to what I can do on the right side of the tank again. They seem to be making clutches closer together of late. The male guards the eggs while mama terrorizes the rest of the tank.

 

If I get the camera anywhere close he threatens me.

 

 

I am this close to making a softie / anemone only tank just for the clowns. I have all the equipment but would it really be fun?

FTS

 

woops, flash on. Man, I need to clean the stand!

 

[jedimasterben]

Why would poor LED quality lead to color loss now when it did not before? And what makes the LEDs low quality?

[yoshii]

Looks beautiful Mark! Stunning colors and placement

 

I'm interested in seeing how the Cousin It frag does in the lower PAR

[markalot]

Why would poor LED quality lead to color loss now when it did not before? And what makes the LEDs low quality?

 

I ended the sentence in a question mark, which indicates I do not know. Low quality might equal bin ... when is a 420nm LED not a 420nm LED?

Looks beautiful Mark! Stunning colors and placement

 

I'm interested in seeing how the Cousin It frag does in the lower PAR

 

Thanks yoshii. Coral placement is kind of dumb luck at this point ... I'm making branches and using pieces of fake branches (plastic ebay branches) to give me more places to put acros.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-AQUARIUM-ORNAMENT-TONGA-BRANCH-REEF-ROCK-ARTIFICIAL-CORAL-ROCK-FREE-SHIPPING-/182391454863?var=&hash=item2a7760bc8f:m:m7rTT87eSiSgvohMz2PBkhw

 

It's hollow so the broken branches make a great home for peppermint shrimp to hide.

[jedimasterben]

I ended the sentence in a question mark, which indicates I do not know. Low quality might equal bin ... when is a 420nm LED not a 420nm LED?

Definitely not on any of the LEDs you have (from Nanobox, BML, or even going back to the R420R)

 

 

But I can't imagine what even a 5nm deviation would do that would cause color loss except for exceeding the corals' maximum DLI and causing them to bleach.

[markalot]

Definitely not on any of the LEDs you have (from Nanobox, BML, or even going back to the R420R)

 

 

But I can't imagine what even a 5nm deviation would do that would cause color loss except for exceeding the corals' maximum DLI and causing them to bleach.

 

Maybe just too much PAR, but not bleaching. Mostly a battle of keeping up feeding to maintain color. So yea, it could simply be a matter of finding the right PAR. I've dimmed the lights significantly in the 40 and coloration, especially on the monti caps, is excellent. I tend to always err on the side of too much light ... but not to the extent you do.

[evan127]

What are you feeding and what's your regiment, regarding color?

[basser1]

markalot, on 07 Jan 2017 - 8:24 PM, said:

This one showing some very deep red but the polyps are long and blackish.

 

 

 

I think you need to frag this and name it after my favorite ice cream flavor.... Black Cherry!!

[Lalani]

Nice tank, I like the pops of green