teenyreef Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 After nearly a year in the tank my Vivid Rainbow Delight is finally starting to show a color other than brown. Not the right color, but at least it's color. I wish this piece would decide what color it wants to be. Pink, green , lavender? Pretty no matter what though. Yay for colors! Looks like you've got some good encrusting growth too. 1 Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 Yay for colors! Looks like you've got some good encrusting growth too. Yes, they have been encrusting well and always have great PE, just meh in the color department and very little vertical growth. 1 Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted December 22, 2016 Author Share Posted December 22, 2016 A couple of quick and dirty shots to document that I have been in the saltwater hobby for two years now. FTS I love my montiporas... Softies and sticks can go together 5 Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted December 22, 2016 Author Share Posted December 22, 2016 This piece from Cherry corals is finally starting to add some vertical growth. Digging the pink tips though they are supposed to be red. 6 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 Wow, everything is doing really well! Is the coral in the 4th picture a tubbs stellata? It looks kind of like mine but I couldn't tell for sure. Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Wow, everything is doing really well! Is the coral in the 4th picture a tubbs stellata? It looks kind of like mine but I couldn't tell for sure.I believe that it is. I bought it as a no name Montipora 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 Were you going to try t5 supplementing, or have you on this tank? Growth looks great, colors look pretty good as well. Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Were you going to try t5 supplementing, or have you on this tank? Growth looks great, colors look pretty good as well.I haven't looked at t5 supplement yet. Switched from a reef radiance light to a wide quad a few months ago and have had a hard time dialing in the light the way i want it. I think im getting close because colors are coming back after i browned out the tank then bleached a bunch of stuff. ? 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 I haven't looked at t5 supplement yet. Switched from a reef radiance light to a wide quad a few months ago and have had a hard time dialing in the light the way i want it. I think im getting close because colors are coming back after i browned out the tank then bleached a bunch of stuff. I sometimes still think about supplementing with T5's over my 40g but I really like having the top open with the small wide quad. It's really nice for top down pictures Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 I haven't looked at t5 supplement yet. Switched from a reef radiance light to a wide quad a few months ago and have had a hard time dialing in the light the way i want it. I think im getting close because colors are coming back after i browned out the tank then bleached a bunch of stuff. I think that will work honestly, you just need more patience than I had. I don't have acros in my 40 anymore but squirting reef roids in every morning (dropper bottle, reef roids + RODI) really helped to color a pale stylo back up. I have a quad with BML strips front and back to cast a fairly even spread. 2 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 I believe that it is. I bought it as a no name Montipora This is what mine looks like. Seems similar to yours, with the bright green polyps and purple(ish) skin. Tubbs Stalleta Montipora by TeenyReef, on Flickr 1 Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 I think that will work honestly, you just need more patience than I had. I don't have acros in my 40 anymore but squirting reef roids in every morning (dropper bottle, reef roids + RODI) really helped to color a pale stylo back up. I have a quad with BML strips front and back to cast a fairly even spread. Im trying to feed the corals more to help with colors. I had a fairly heavy fish load which i thought would be enough but i dont think it was. Now ive thinned a few fish and feed more coral frenzy and reef roids and it seems to be working better. This is what mine looks like. Seems similar to yours, with the bright green polyps and purple(ish) skin. Yep. Looks the same. Tubbs Stalleta Montipora by TeenyReef, on Flickr 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 A little color balance shows me your colors are pretty darn good already. 4 Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Thanks Mark. I think I see things in my tank the way you see them in yours. I still see a lot of browned out/ bleached out areas. That stylo in the center should be dark purple. The digis on the right have almost white skin instead of blue and green. The acros at the top in the center are brown and green instead of rainbow. I'll get the there though... A little color balance shows me your colors are pretty darn good already. 3 Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted December 29, 2016 Author Share Posted December 29, 2016 After trying very hard to die on me this guy seems to be beginning to make a recovery. It's SO fluffy I could die!! Might be time to trim the Season's Greetings again. 2 Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted January 25, 2017 Author Share Posted January 25, 2017 After experiencing a few corals starting to lose color (pale skins) and others browning out shortly after the last set of pictures were taken, I started looking for possible causes. Alk had stayed stable over the past several months at 8dKH, phosphates were slightly elevated, but that is not unusual for this tank, Nitrates which had also always run on the high side were zero. oops. I tried to raise the nitrate levels by feeding a bit heavier, removing the macros from the sump and turning off the skimmer for over a week. I stopped adding any bacterial supplements. No change. I had been reading a few threads about dosing nitrates to help improve colors and so I thought since the other methods weren't doing much and corals were continuing to look sickly I would give it a try. I started dosing potassium nitrate in very small quantities (1-2 mL of a 2T potassium nitrate per 8oz RODI solution) daily about 10 days ago and while I can't say there has been tremendous improvement, I can see colors coming back and better polyp extension. I am slowly (because nothing good happens fast) increasing the daily dosage to try to get and keep nitrate levels between 2 and 5 on the salifert test scale. I am still only barely registering a color change so I am guessing that sustained levels are still only about .5. There has been no change in algae growth so far. 3 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I had not checked out your littler tank in a very long time. I really love it, even more than the bigger tank. It is layed out very attractively in my opinion, with nooks, crannies and caves. And what a diverse selection of coral. I thought the pic that Mark adjusted the color balance on is worthy of totm. Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted January 25, 2017 Author Share Posted January 25, 2017 I had not checked out your littler tank in a very long time. I really love it, even more than the bigger tank. It is layed out very attractively in my opinion, with nooks, crannies and caves. And what a diverse selection of coral. I thought the pic that Mark adjusted the color balance on is worthy of totm. Thanks, But not by a long shot...yet 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I tried the nitrate dosing thing in my little 4g frag tank when I was having the same problem, but it didn't help. In fact, it just fueled more algae growth. But that little frag tank never really worked right (until just last week...maybe...) and it may be a I just had a condition where the algae was consuming all the nitrates to begin with. 1 Quote Link to comment
Asureef Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Wow, your tank is looking great! 1 Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted January 25, 2017 Author Share Posted January 25, 2017 I was afraid that algae growth might really take off, but so far it hasn't and phosphates have diminished slightly, so I'm optimistic. There seems to be some differences in results of the nitrate dosing depending on whether or not it is algae that is consuming the nitrate causing it to be low vs some other agent in the tank like bacteria. If it is an algae issue to start with, then you'd just be adding fuel to the fire it seems. I have never been able to grow macros in this tank successfully long term so I was fairly confident that algae growth wasn't going to be the culprit. Results over the long term will tell, I'm sure, if I'm on the right track. I tried the nitrate dosing thing in my little 4g frag tank when I was having the same problem, but it didn't help. In fact, it just fueled more algae growth. But that little frag tank never really worked right (until just last week...maybe...) and it may be a I just had a condition where the algae was consuming all the nitrates to begin with. Thanks for checking it out! Wow, your tank is looking great! Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 It seems to me that you probably are on the right track. I am no wizard on the chemistry end of reefing but I have read quite a few post that talk about how important the ratio of phosphates are to nitrates to keep good color in SPS. Since I hate to do parameter testing I keep stuff that is fixed with water changes, ha ha! Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share Posted January 26, 2017 It seems to me that you probably are on the right track. I am no wizard on the chemistry end of reefing but I have read quite a few post that talk about how important the ratio of phosphates are to nitrates to keep good color in SPS. Since I hate to do parameter testing I keep stuff that is fixed with water changes, ha ha! Thats what the big tank is for...lol. I'm not ready to try to keep that monster balanced for sps and my big predator fish. 1 Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 Best buddies. Yes the glass is dirty. Sue me- it's a sump. Colors in the tank continue to improve. Nitrate solution being dosed at a rate of 5ml per day to keep levels at 2 on the Salifert test. I'm actually starting to see a bit of growth again on some of the pieces. 2 Quote Link to comment
gena Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Best buddies. Yes the glass is dirty. Sue me- it's a sump.Cool Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.