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GR's 12g Long Macro Reef


grmoore

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your picture shows the leaves to be curly on the edges right? The texture is not slimy but flat, not rubbery?

I totally have this macro, it is not invasive so far and seems to have a single hold fast.

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drunkenmonk21

Yes leaves are curly and not slimy, not rubbery, but it has no single hold fast. It connects to anything it is touching on any part of the macro.

 

Actually I think I sent you a bit of this? lol Are the macros I sent you still alive?

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drunkenmonk21
While I've not had an opportunity to test it, I believe that it is a lack of UV or near-UV lighting. I had found numerous sources stating that yellow algaes required near-UV wavelengths to remain yellow. I can't believe that it is a lack of light intensity as many claim since I'm near 7W/gallon on a 12inch deep tank. My lights are only 4.5" above the waterline as well, and my Eucheuma bleaches quickly in that intensity - I have to keep it to the side and slightly shaded to survive. I wonder if MH lighting has a stronger UV output.

 

 

Gr, DJkms over on Reefcentral told me that Eucheuma is yellow in colder temps, and that at reef temps it goes orange and red.

 

I did a little reading on the net and I think he may be on to something, Eucheuma is grown commerciall at temps of 70-74 degrees! Eucheuma InfoIts in all kinds of food product we eat every day lol.

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altolamprologus
Gr, DJkms over on Reefcentral told me that Eucheuma is yellow in colder temps, and that at reef temps it goes orange and red.

 

I did a little reading on the net and I think he may be on to something, Eucheuma is grown commerciall at temps of 70-74 degrees! Eucheuma InfoIts in all kinds of food product we eat every day lol.

Whoa you may be on to something! You guys should test it

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Gr, DJkms over on Reefcentral told me that Eucheuma is yellow in colder temps, and that at reef temps it goes orange and red.

 

I did a little reading on the net and I think he may be on to something, Eucheuma is grown commerciall at temps of 70-74 degrees! Eucheuma InfoIts in all kinds of food product we eat every day lol.

Are you serious, wow, no wonder my eucheuma changed color immediately. You know the vendors who sell it like live plant, would know the answer too.

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Gr, DJkms over on Reefcentral told me that Eucheuma is yellow in colder temps, and that at reef temps it goes orange and red.

 

I did a little reading on the net and I think he may be on to something, Eucheuma is grown commerciall at temps of 70-74 degrees! Eucheuma InfoIts in all kinds of food product we eat every day lol.

 

Thanks for the tip! That's certainly a possibility as I keep my macro tank at 77 and my Eucheuma is orange to yellow-orange. I've got a chiller that's not in use, so I'll look into setting up a 70 degree pico tank to try it out.

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Could it be different species? I have the single holdfast kind also, it came as HH on my rock. The invasive kind I am talking about attaches to anything and forms a mound from which it then takes off.

 

Here is my single holdfast kind:

IMG_20120402_183855.jpg

 

And a small piece of the invasive kind:

IMG_20120402_185854.jpg

 

Also I am noticing a morph of some sort in the red titan, or maybe it is a different macro altogether.

Here.

 

Your top photo looks similar to my red titan. The bottom photo looks like Red Sea Lettuce (Halymenia sp).

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Can you get a close up pic of the plant for me, I would like to see it?

 

Hey Josh. Sorry, I've been swamped. This week I'm only teaching 2 classes, so I'll get that photo for you. Next week I'll be back to 7 classes so I won't have much time to do anything.

 

Can you PM me your mailing address so I can get you that algae?

 

@keydiver - Tim, can you PM me your mailing address as well?

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Hey Josh. Sorry, I've been swamped. This week I'm only teaching 2 classes, so I'll get that photo for you. Next week I'll be back to 7 classes so I won't have much time to do anything.

 

Can you PM me your mailing address so I can get you that algae?

 

@keydiver - Tim, can you PM me your mailing address as well?

 

PM sent! Thanks buddy. Me you and josh has a trifecta of trouble in the making. Dictatorship in the macroalgae section!

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Hey cool Macro setup; hardly see those around.

I have a question about your Finnex lid supports, do they fit perfectly snug along the rim? And what are you exactly using as the top lid, are there any holes on top to put your fingers through to remove lid? How do you remove it. Thanks in advance... might wanna do something like that as a lid.

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Hey cool Macro setup; hardly see those around.

I have a question about your Finnex lid supports, do they fit perfectly snug along the rim? And what are you exactly using as the top lid, are there any holes on top to put your fingers through to remove lid? How do you remove it. Thanks in advance... might wanna do something like that as a lid.

 

The lid standoffs don't fit snug, but they don't fall off. I think I could have used the standard 5mm standoffs without issue. The top is 3/8" glass, custom cut to fit around the AC110 and Tunze Osmolalor with all edges rounded and polished. I had this done by a local glass shop There are no holes in the lid, I just remove the light fixture and take the top off by lifting it off. It weighs about 10 lbs so I'm dang careful taking it off and putting it back on. It helps a little with evaporation, but its mostly on there to keep contaminates out of the tank (e.g. cat hair).

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The lid standoffs don't fit snug, but they don't fall off. I think I could have used the standard 5mm standoffs without issue. The top is 3/8" glass, custom cut to fit around the AC110 and Tunze Osmolalor with all edges rounded and polished. I had this done by a local glass shop There are no holes in the lid, I just remove the light fixture and take the top off by lifting it off. It weighs about 10 lbs so I'm dang careful taking it off and putting it back on. It helps a little with evaporation, but its mostly on there to keep contaminates out of the tank (e.g. cat hair).

 

Oh a nice custom lid. I would need a lid to keep dust out and future fish from jumping ship when i'm not home. :)

What do you mean standard 5mm standoffs? Where did you get them from?

Mind me asking how much the lid cost you so I can kind of get an idea?

Does your cat ever try to go fishing? lol

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Oh a nice custom lid. I would need a lid to keep dust out and future fish from jumping ship when i'm not home. :)

What do you mean standard 5mm standoffs? Where did you get them from?

Mind me asking how much the lid cost you so I can kind of get an idea?

Does your cat ever try to go fishing? lol

 

I got the 6mm standoffs from Finnex, but at the time I got the last set they had. They typically carry the 5mm version.

 

The glass top was around $75 and took 2 weeks to get cut, ground and polished (busy shop). I originally had a 1/4" acrylic sheet cut, but it bowed horribly even without the heat from the lighting.

 

The cat takes no interest in my tanks at all, thankfully.

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  • 8 months later...
Tom@HaslettMI

Such a beautiful tank. Is it still up and running? Also where did you get the oar grass? I can't seem to find it for sale anywhere.

 

Thanks,

Tom

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Thanks for the kind words. This tank was taken down about 5 months ago due to a career change and move to Kansas. I sold most of my livestock, keeping only the most rare pieces. The oar grass came from John at Reef Cleaners.

 

I'm in the process of setting up a barebottom 40b macro dominant mixed reef. It's in the diatom phase now, but my Ulva already sporulated and there's sprouts everywhere. I will do a thread on it once the diatoms have run their course.

 

Oh... and hi everyone... it's nice to be back. =)

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Yep, I have a couple frags of it that are doing well. Filtered light and moderate flow. Move it out near the edges of the tank or shade it near the edge of an overhang. I've not tested it under high flow as both plants have been growing pretty fast where I placed them.

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Yep, I have a couple frags of it that are doing well. Filtered light and moderate flow. Move it out near the edges of the tank or shade it near the edge of an overhang. I've not tested it under high flow as both plants have been growing pretty fast where I placed them.

Thank you!

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  • 3 months later...

Please see the first post of this thread for current full tank shot, stocking, equipment, parameters and dosing schedules.

 

During the late summer of 2012, I broke down my tanks, sold a lot of livestock and equipment, packed up and moved from NE Ohio to Kansas. Over the past few months, I've been putting my 12 gallon long Mr. Aqua back together as a Macro-dominant mixed reef system, with the intention of correcting the mistakes I made with my previous build, and building on the success I had.

 

This build is a 12 gallon long Mr. Aqua with a custom glass top sitting atop Finnex 6mm standoffs which provide a 1/2" gap between the rim of the tank and the top for air circulation. The glass top helps minimize dust and debris from inadvertently entering the tank. I clean the top each week with fresh water to eliminate the accumulated dust and any salt deposits.

 

This is a bare bottom tank. My previous build had a 2" sand bed that was always compacted by rhizomes, had a ton of detritus and anaerobic gas pockets. The buffering capacity of such a small sand bed is negligable, and keeping the bare bottom relatively free of debris is pretty easy now, with daily blasts of the dual MP10s in nutrient export mode, and weekly stirring with a turkey baster. The Algae also get a good shaking every couple of days as well, so the corals get a feeding and the skimmer actually has something to do.

 

I have about 8 pounds of cured Florida base rock, and another 2 pounds of live rock from Fiji and the Carribean. I would like to replace the Florida base rock over time with choice live rock from various LFS in the area.

 

A target temperature of 76.5 F is desired, and a fan is used as the first line of cooling if the temperature rises to 76.6 F, with the chiller kicking in if the temperature rises to 76.8 F. A Finnex Titanium heater warms the water should it drop below 76.2 F. This is all controlled via a Neptune Apex. I had been running the seasonal temperature program on the Apex, but decided to lock the temperature at 76.5 as many of the Algae prefer the cooler water.

 

Water flow varies throughout the day with dual MP10s set up in a Master/Slave antiSync configuration. The flow is adjusted based on the Neptune Apex sun schedule (adjusted to fit local sun and moon rise/set times). An AquaClear 110 acts as a HOB sump and a MJ404 pump is used in a closed loop fashion to drive the chiller. All of the water for the sump and closed loop is drawn through a weir overflow to pull proteins from the water surface. The left 1/3 of the tank has strong water flow, the center 1/3 has a calm flow and the right 1/3 has moderate flow. This varies slightly depending on Apex programming and the MP10 random patterns, but it gives me a starting point for where to place coral and Algae based on flow needs.

 

The AquaClear 110 is home to a pair of nano reactors containing SeaGel and BioPellets respectively, a Finnex 100W heater, a Tunze 9002 skimmer and several probes. I didn't want the complexity and potential risks of a below the tank sump with an overflow box, nor did I want to custom drill the tank at this time, so the AC110 was the best option. The skimmer provides the only mechanical filtration for the system.

 

Fresh water replenishment is provided by a Tunze Osmolator ATO unit, with a 7 gallon RO/DI reserve stored in an Aquatainer. I always have 10 additional gallons available for emergencies.

 

I have an Eheim classic canister filter that I may use to replace the MJ404 pump at some point. This would eliminate about 1 degree of residual heating due to the pump, and provide many options for chemical and biological filtration that I don't currently have available. It would also increase the total water volume to about 15 gallons.

 

Lighting is provided by a 36" dual T5HO Coralife fixture running Giesemann Midday Sun and ATI True Actinic bulbs. I've attached a pair of 24" Current 453nm TrueLumen Pro LED fixtures, a single 24" Current 12K TrueLumen Pro LED fixture, and a 5 LED Apex LSM Moonlight set to the fixture. Colors pop nicely during the day, and the actinic only look in the evening looks great.

 

The actinic LEDs run about 14 hours per day, with the T5 lamps on for about 8 hours. The 12K LED is on about an hour around mid-day to provide a blast of intense noontime light. The moonlights follow the modified Apex sun schedule. This schedule various depending on time of year.

 

My plan, at some point, is to replace my Frankenlight with either a pair of AI Vega Color fixtures or a 24" Vertex Illumina - I just can't bring myself to spend that much at one time on lights. I'm sure either of these fixtures will put my current lighting to shame, but the Vega will be the handsdown choice should an Apex controlled version be available before I pull the trigger on the lighting change. Currently, it is a coin flip between the two as they both offer what I am looking for, with the Vertex having more expandability and customization and the Vega being the correct width and form factor for my tank.

 

I've mentioned this before - I hate water changes. They're expensive, time consuming and messy. My previous setup had two partial water changes in two years and one of those was because my wier overflow got blocked, the water level rose submerging the ATO feed, and the backwash screwed up the salinity. However, I will probably start doing 1 gallon changes each week (about 10%) just because it will help replenish trace elements and help balance the Calcium/Alkalinity/Magnesium trio. I really need to set up a way to automate the water changes and eliminate 2 of the 3 things I hate most about them.

 

I had Zoanthids in my previous build, but they never really took off because they were always shaded by Algae, never seeming to get enough light to thrive. This time I'm going with various low to moderate light corals that won't mind being shaded somewhat. All of my Algae are mounted on their own rubble rock and can be positioned to where they do best. I have added epoxy/rubber coated magnets to some so they can be mounted to the back wall.

 

I still have some hair algae that is gradually declining with the addition of more macro Algae. It hasn't spread in several weeks, and I've been pulling out what I can easily reach each weekend. I tried Black Sailfin Mollies, but they only nibbled on it occasionally, and I also tried a Mexican Turbo that decided it liked Gracilaria much more than hair algae, and made a mess of things. Both of these solutions have been moved to another tank.

 

There are still several Algae I would like to acquire and add to the tank, and I'm always on the lookout for rare specimens - especially from the Pacific.

 

Comments and suggestions are more than welcome!

 

2013-05-14%2020-19-17.832.jpg

Rhodopeltis sp.

 

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Codium lucasii

 

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Lobophora variegata and Gracilaria sp.

 

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Gracilaria sp. and Spotted Rose

 

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Gracilaria sp. and Spotted Rose

 

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Halymenia (Dragon's Breath) and Lobophora variegata

 

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Halymenia (Dragon's Breath) and Lobophora variegata

 

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Bornetella oligospora

 

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Toadstool

 

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Toadstool

 

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Ricordea

 

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Rhodactis

 

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Portieria hornemanni

 

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Portieria hornemanni

 

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Gracilaria hayi

 

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Pom Pom Xenia, Gracilaria hayi and Lobophora variegata on the back wall

 

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Kenya Tree, Ricordea and Gracilaria sp

 

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Can you find the MP10?

 

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Irridescent Fauchea sp. originally the size of a dime

 

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Bornetella oligospora doubled in size since I got it

 

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Various Liverock Chunks

 

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Gracilaria hayi and MP10

 

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Left third of tank

 

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Middle third of tank

 

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Right third of tank

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