Mark's Nanobox Powered 40B -retired-

[gena]

These are finally starting to show some real recovery and growth. I have no idea how I'd frag them.

You have to figure it out!!!! LOL

 

Can you take it to a LFS and have them cut it with a wet saw? That's what I did with my fox coral. Those saws slice right through rock/coral.

[DaveFason]

Killer photos Mark. How are things responding now being a few months with the new light?

[markalot]

Killer photos Mark. How are things responding now being a few months with the new light?

 

Hi Dave, sorry for the delay in responding. Things are looking really really good, the green cap is showing some striking green I didn't think this variety was capable of and all the other corals are looking fine.

 

I spent almot an hour with a cup to carefully 'skim' the crud off the surface of the water. This ended up being about a 5 gallon water change. When I was done the skimmer did not come back on. Hrmph. It's just a pump issue and have a spare but I think I will let it go for a week to see how things respond. It rarely skimmed much anyway. The only coral not doing well is the Grape coral in front, which is looking a little less than plump and I'm not sure why. This was one reason I did the water change and also added carbon, in case the leather toxin was an issue. KH holding steady around 7 but only because I dose a cap of two part every 3 days.

 

[markalot]

Skimmer running again. It was less a question of why the pump stopped and more of how the heck did this pump continue to work with all the sludge inside. Go go Cobalt pumps.

 

I cleaned both MJ pumps which greatly increased the flow to the HOB fuge but I still need to get inside the fuge and pull the little Hydor nano pump and clean the grey muck off of it. I've had a number of these little Hydor wave makers since I started reefing and none have quit working ... another fine brand for longevity.

[vlangel]

Hi Dave, sorry for the delay in responding. Things are looking really really good, the green cap is showing some striking green I didn't think this variety was capable of and all the other corals are looking fine.

 

 

 

Wow, this tank sure looks great! One of the prettiest mixed reefs on here.

[teenyreef]

I really like the way the caps are coloring up. My green caps have ranged anywhere from a drab mustard yellow to a vivid neon green, and over time and in different tanks I've found it's a combination of both light and nutrient levels. They'll take a lot of light, but if algae are consuming all the nutrients they get no color at all no matter what the lighting level is.

[markalot]

I really like the way the caps are coloring up. My green caps have ranged anywhere from a drab mustard yellow to a vivid neon green, and over time and in different tanks I've found it's a combination of both light and nutrient levels. They'll take a lot of light, but if algae are consuming all the nutrients they get no color at all no matter what the lighting level is.

 

Thanks teeny. It has better color than the same cap in the big tank. Makes me want to try acros ... no, not doing that again. This one with the blue polyps really seems to prefer very low and blue lighting.

[markalot]

pong

[teenyreef]

ping

[markalot]

I have removed all lighting except the Nanobox quad.  Every time I would turn down the intensity of the BML strips positive results followed.  I'm not sure if it's the LED combo or, most likely, the fact that sitting on the tank is just too close to properly blend.  The BML fixtures are supposed to be designed to sit on the tank top ... who knows.

 

 I may hang it behind the quad for a little better coverage but only after seeing how the tank responds to having only the quad overhead.

 

Next to the 150 this tank looks damn dark, but inside the tank the corals react as if it's plenty bright enough.  I should take a photo of the two to see if it's really dark or just my eyes seeing it as dark.

[mitten_reef]

1 hour ago, markalot said:

I have removed all lighting except the Nanobox quad.  Every time I would turn down the intensity of the BML strips positive results followed.  I'm not sure if it's the LED combo or, most likely, the fact that sitting on the tank is just too close to properly blend.  The BML fixtures are supposed to be designed to sit on the tank top ... who knows.

 

 I may hang it behind the quad for a little better coverage but only after seeing how the tank responds to having only the quad overhead.

 

Next to the 150 this tank looks damn dark, but inside the tank the corals react as if it's plenty bright enough.  I should take a photo of the two to see if it's really dark or just my eyes seeing it as dark.

I was just about to ask you a question about your BML bars. So since you got the NBR quad, you haven't been running the BML bars to add to the front-to-back spread?  I got a new Quad (old body) on the way, and just curious about the 'front-to-back' coverage. My tank is 34G CADlights so the display's footprint is even smaller than your 40 breeder. Thanks in advanced.    

[markalot]

2 hours ago, micoastreefing said:

I was just about to ask you a question about your BML bars. So since you got the NBR quad, you haven't been running the BML bars to add to the front-to-back spread?  I got a new Quad (old body) on the way, and just curious about the 'front-to-back' coverage. My tank is 34G CADlights so the display's footprint is even smaller than your 40 breeder. Thanks in advanced.    

 

I think it's enough coverage, especially if you are going to keep lower light loving corals on the edge.  I had more coverage due to the fact I tried and failed to keep acros in here but I'm over that and now all the other corals, including the other SPS, are doing great.

[mitten_reef]

1 hour ago, markalot said:

 

I think it's enough coverage, especially if you are going to keep lower light loving corals on the edge.  I had more coverage due to the fact I tried and failed to keep acros in here but I'm over that and now all the other corals, including the other SPS, are doing great.

Thanks! I have been stocking up on acros, and so far I feel that they're growing funny - all coralites are only facing one way - under my current Hydra 26HD. So I'm attributing most of that to a point-source light issue cuz the two LED clusters are fairly close together for that fixture.

 

The ultimate goal is still to have a 'mixed reef' concept, so I'll keep your recommendation in mind with the lower light corals around the edge. I'm thinking about re-scaping the tank once the NBR gets here anyway.

 

Oh, and love both of your tanks! Great inspirations, both from the SPS and non-SPS perspective! 

[Weetabix7]

On 2/4/2017 at 11:30 AM, gena said:

You have to figure it out!!!! LOL

 

Can you take it to a LFS and have them cut it with a wet saw? That's what I did with my fox coral. Those saws slice right through rock/coral.

 

Those Blasto's are one of my favorite corals, and they're actually easy to frag!!

You use a dremel with a diamond cutting wheel and just cut between the stalks. 

 

I really like the coral selection in this tank. 

[gena]

59 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Those Blasto's are one of my favorite corals, and they're actually easy to frag!!

You use a dremel with a diamond cutting wheel and just cut between the stalks. 

 

I really like the coral selection in this tank. 

Sounds easy enough :).  I'll keep that in mind for my future blasto fragging!

[markalot]

 

On 2/21/2017 at 4:19 PM, Weetabix7 said:

 

Those Blasto's are one of my favorite corals, and they're actually easy to frag!!

You use a dremel with a diamond cutting wheel and just cut between the stalks. 

 

I really like the coral selection in this tank. 

 

Hi, thanks for the visit.  Maybe a dremel will be in my future.

 

Not a lot of time and tank is being semi neglected again.  I've been doing 1/2 gallon water changes daily (skimming the surface with a cup) in lieu of doing much of anything else.   

 

I stood on the steps and took a picture down at both tanks.  One nice thing about being this far away is the little wrasse doesn't see me.

 

Here's a pic of both tanks side by side.

[braaap]

Very nice Mark.

[HarryPotter]

FTS of the big tank? 

[jstuver]

Love your tanks! 

[markalot]

1 hour ago, braaap said:

Very nice Mark.

 

Thanks braaap.

 

1 hour ago, HarryPotter said:

FTS of the big tank? 

 

In the big tank threrad.

 

27 minutes ago, jstuver said:

Love your tanks! 

 

Thanks!

[Polarcollision]

On 2/12/2017 at 4:06 PM, markalot said:

 

Hi Dave, sorry for the delay in responding. Things are looking really really good, the green cap is showing some striking green I didn't think this variety was capable of and all the other corals are looking fine.

 

I spent almot an hour with a cup to carefully 'skim' the crud off the surface of the water. This ended up being about a 5 gallon water change. When I was done the skimmer did not come back on. Hrmph. It's just a pump issue and have a spare but I think I will let it go for a week to see how things respond. It rarely skimmed much anyway. The only coral not doing well is the Grape coral in front, which is looking a little less than plump and I'm not sure why. This was one reason I did the water change and also added carbon, in case the leather toxin was an issue. KH holding steady around 7 but only because I dose a cap of two part every 3 days.

 

What do you think is giving you that vibrant color? I'm going to do what you do. This is hands down my favorite scape on NR

[markalot]

On 3/11/2017 at 6:19 PM, Polarcollision said:

What do you think is giving you that vibrant color? I'm going to do what you do. This is hands down my favorite scape on NR

 

Wow Polar, thanks for the compliment!

 

I have no real clue on the color, this tank is a grand slow experiment.  The NanoBox LED is part of it but it's not quite enough light to cover the tank so I've added T5's to the back, moved the Nanobox forward and aimed it back a little and the result are pretty darn good.  Heck even without the T5's just moving and aiming back greatly increased the coverage.

 

I had some very slow recession on the big torch (back left) and the little grape coral (front right).  I could not figure it out so I decided to start using a single drop of PhosphateRx daily and sure enough things started to improve.  I expected no change or things to get worse so I still haven't completely figured out what some of these corals like.  I'm also dosing 5 drops of CaNO3 and 5 drops of AcroPower daily.  

 

I've sporadically been adding Phol's extra super duper special and I *think* this has improved the color of the Orchid stylo.

 

KH at 7.2 and a little wobbly as I tend to add caps of 2 part every few days.

[got2envy]

2 thumbs up and i love me some Purple and Pink  Pocci

[markalot]

1 hour ago, got2envy said:

2 thumbs up and i love me some Purple and Pink  Pocci

 

Wow, nice to see you around ... looks to see if I'm missing a new tank thread somewhere ....

[markalot]

Way too busy to have fun on the forum of late but I did manage to take a few bad photos.

 

Old AquaticLife 2 bulb T5 fixture on back, coral+. Blue+ with the quad hanging over the front half of the tank aimed back.   So far no real change other than the tank looks brighter.  Very tempted to hit Dave up for a 36" hybrid fixture.

 

 

The most important improvement for me is the grape coral (Euphyllia cristata) regaining good health.  I've had to start feeding every other day and not Reef Roids but other coral foods.  It's a shame but reef roids does not fully dissolve and leaves red scum on the surface which I have to manually skim off.  Coral Frenzy and Reef Chili do not have this issue.

 

 

The aptasia are healthy as well.    So far only 3 in the rockwork, most are growing on hardware for some reason.