Polarcollision's Nuvo 24: March FTS

[metrokat]

 

Yep, true story from what I've studied. Higher nutrient systems are in balance with higher alk, etc. Also photoperiod: higher nutrients and ions ==> longer photoperiod = more growth potential

 

 

Here's what has me targeting 8.0 alk:

 

--I do a water change about every 2-3 months now. It's usually 5 gallons (20-25%). If I target a higher 9-10 alk level, then there's a big alk drop each water change (RS blue bucket). If I switch back to RSCP with the same target, there's an alk spike. No more spikes or drops if possible!

 

-- I think my system-wide nutrients are actually in the lower range. Tests are almost always 0-1 nitrates and ~.03 phosphates. Plus it takes about 3-4 days for the green film to build up on glass.

 

-- a few pages back I posted all my research about 2-part dosing and the best chances for keeping ions balanced -- another thing that lets me go months without water change. For this recipe, all the major ions, including alk, Ca, Mg need to stay close to sea water levels

 

-- dosing is every 2 hrs. Here's the cool thing about that: any swings are much smaller than .25 KH --and-- the coral are free to use up as many ions and nutrients as they need continuously, with everything replaced at the rate it's used up. So, no need to keep nutrients and alk higher for growth. Make sense?

 

--photoperiod is from 5am to 10pm, with 4 hr morning ramp and 5 hr evening ramp. That's really looooong. Possibly why nutrients are low - all the growth cleans out the water.

What were you doing before in the husbandry which is different now?

[teenyreef]

Things are looking great! And thanks for the detailed and insightful post about your water management. It really helps to understand how all these things are interrelated - there's no one simple formula to follow for water parameters!

[Polarcollision]

Things are looking great! And thanks for the detailed and insightful post about your water management. It really helps to understand how all these things are interrelated - there's no one simple formula to follow for water parameters!

 

Thanks! Thank god there's no one perfect formula! What would be the fun in that?

 

What were you doing before in the husbandry which is different now?

 

Switched to the RS blue bucket from RSCP and also switched to BRS/fauna marin dosing recipe from ESV B-ionic to keep ions balanced. Changed dosing from 4x/ day to 12x/day to smooth out KH swings. Increased lighting.

 

Oh, and the cat has been kind enough to not break any more major equipment!

 

 

That growth! Those colors! Looking really nice.

 

Thanks!

[Polarcollision]

Pom pom and McCoskers checking each other out. Great expressions...

 

Pom pom prefers aptasia defenses

 

 

 

Urchin spawning

 

[kimberbee]

Is your urchin wearing tiny feather duster hats?? Super cute!

[gena]

You take the best pictures .

 

Everything looks amazing!!!!!

[Polarcollision]

Is your urchin wearing tiny feather duster hats?? Super cute!

 

She is! Definitely a she with the daily wardrobe changes. Today she's added green bubble algae and ochtodes. At least she hasn't asked if the bubble algae makes her look fat.

 

You take the best pictures .

 

Everything looks amazing!!!!!

 

Glad you like them! I'll see what else I can find on the hard drive.

[owenj]

Pom pom and McCoskers checking each other out. Great expressions...

 

At first glance, I thought the pom pom was waving a giant feather duster at the wrasse

And, hot damn is that chalice green!

[Polarcollision]

At first glance, I thought the pom pom was waving a giant feather duster at the wrasse

And, hot damn is that chalice green!

That would be awesome! Wish I knew what payment pom pom needs to make the switch to feather duster from aptasia poms! ;-)

 

It's the brighted thing in the aquarium for sure. A little more glowy here since only the blues were on.

[Polarcollision]

How could I have forgotten about FINALLY getting a good shot of the McCoskers flashing??? Here's a couple stills and an animated (hopefully) GIF. He shows off for the tailspot blenny. I think they're in

 

This is the start of every flash - gills light up and each stripe gets a silvery-blue glow that runs from nose to tail.

 

 

 

 

Here's the animated GIF link. Anyone know how to make it load on this page?

http://i.imgur.com/IqLZDMp.gifv

[markalot]

Rename it to .gif instead of .gifv and it should load here.

[sangheili]

Very nice. I just nabbed a McCoskers from DiversDen the other day. Sitting in my social box for a week or two. hes pretty small so I want to try to minimize the aggression from the other tank mates - but good lord is he pretty.

[Polarcollision]

Rename it to .gif instead of .gifv and it should load here.

 

Darn - imgur changed it from .gif to .gifv on upload.

Very nice. I just nabbed a McCoskers from DiversDen the other day. Sitting in my social box for a week or two. hes pretty small so I want to try to minimize the aggression from the other tank mates - but good lord is he pretty.

 

Soon to become your favorite fish! And if not, you can mail it to me. :-)

[sangheili]

Soon to become your favorite fish! And if not, you can mail it to me. :-)

 

He's certainly the most impressively colorful. And thats not easy as I have 3 other Wrasse and numerous Anthias. I'm getting a Borbonius delivered this week

[Polarcollision]

 

He's certainly the most impressively colorful. And thats not easy as I have 3 other Wrasse and numerous Anthias. I'm getting a Borbonius delivered this week

 

I feel like that fish should taste like pina colada.

[Felicia]

You always take the best photos! These are just stunning! Makes me really miss my flasher wrasse. Such a cool fish and I love that he flashes for the blenny

[Sk8n Reefer]

Beautiful new pics ?

[vlangel]

So polar, do you get tannins in your water since you are not changing it as much?

[Polarcollision]

How is it possible to be so familiar with the aquarium and never see this worm -- in over a year? It popped out of the watchman/pistol burrow when I fed tonight. Possibly 3-4" long.

 

Fireworm? Bristleworm?

 

Keep it?

 

The page I pulled this picture from has ID of Eurythoe complanata but I can't find a consistent picture and ID anywhere

http://institutonazca.org/eurythoe-complanata/

[Polarcollision]

So polar, do you get tannins in your water since you are not changing it as much?

 

A little carbon will clear that out easy peasy--though I've not replaced the carbon for 2 months now. Water looks crystal clear, but when I look at the sky through the 36" length, there might be a very, very slight yellow tint. To give you an idea, If I were in photoshop, the tannin layer would be applied at 1-2% to match. I'm curious if it will be truly crystal clear without carbon in a week or so since the pom pom crab molted a few days ago. There's a tiny nutrient spike from it's remains right now.

 

About a year ago I geeked out on a couple 500 gallon aquariums with no skimmers or mechanical filtration, just cryptic zones. The first chamber in their sump is overgrown with feather worms, sponges, etc. So... I let the little feather dusters run wild in the shadows, and picked up 3 or 4 kinds of sponges that are also taking over shadowy areas on the duncan column. One sponge is a light teal color that blankets rocks. It's easily the largest filter and probably cleans the water better than the skimmer does.

 

Here's another great example: A while back I updated on the 8 gallon tank's denitronator progress and the bacteria bloom. Well, two days later when it hadn't cleared, I moved the red ball sponge over. Crystal clear the next day.

 

Beautiful new pics

 

Thanks! Did you happen to catch the growth updates a page or so back? All the acropora are growing and happy finally! WooT!

 

You always take the best photos! These are just stunning! Makes me really miss my flasher wrasse. Such a cool fish and I love that he flashes for the blenny

 

Thanks! That's sweet of you to say. Well, you have those awesome anthias and the yellow/pink fish, so we'll just have to covet each other's fish. :-)

[Sk8n Reefer]

No I didn't till now- very impressive. How much iodine are you dosing? I've recently remove carbon after I lost the dragon scale frag- thinking I am over polishing my water

[Polarcollision]

No I didn't till now- very impressive. How much iodine are you dosing? I've recently remove carbon after I lost the dragon scale frag- thinking I am over polishing my water

 

Oh no! Even the small pieces? The iodine is part of the fauna marin trace supplements that are added to the two-part dosing. The entire dosing recipe keeps all the ions in NSW ranges - a least theoretically. Sorry I don't know exactly how much is going in right now, just that it's NSW level. When it was Lugols, it was kind of a guessing game since the test kit only said iodine was low. 1 drop a week then 2, then 3 drops was when the purple came back. Probably a good call on the carbon since some types take up iodine. hope that helps

[Sk8n Reefer]

Oh no! Even the small pieces? The iodine is part of the fauna marin trace supplements that are added to the two-part dosing. The entire dosing recipe keeps all the ions in NSW ranges - a least theoretically. Sorry I don't know exactly how much is going in right now, just that it's NSW level. When it was Lugols, it was kind of a guessing game since the test kit only said iodine was low. 1 drop a week then 2, then 3 drops was when the purple came back. Probably a good call on the carbon since some types take up iodine. hope that helps

Ya! One of the little pieces RTN'd a few weeks after I fragged it the other is still hanging on but I am not getting good polyp extension. I've been to 3 different lfs and have not found any iodine test kits- I may just have to go to a drop a week and see how things go. I am a little down on online ordering sines I got my BRS letter about being hacked- maybe I can have my lfs order me one. My bonsai Acro color has improved recently - I've been feeding more in its area and it is encrusting like crazy lately - better PE so that is encouraging

[Polarcollision]

I hope your little frag hangs on. If anything, let my aquarium be the proof that an almost dead acro can come back from literally 11 polyps. Do you have a macro(ish) lens? Snap a shot of the little piece left. On a lot of my nearly dead pieces the first sign of turning around was the minutest polyps extension - so small you can't see it with the naked eye.

 

Trying to recall exactly what I did that could help you out... First was setting the dosers up so that KH never changed more than .25 KH at any point--took stability to extremes. For now, that kinda means they come on for 3 minutes every 2 hours. I can't speak highly enough of the fauna marin trace supplements. It's super cheap. The ratios are aleady calculated so all you have to do is dose Ca and Alk. PLus, there's no guessing about which element might be out of whack, it's all balanced as it goes in. All the acro turn-around has happened since changing those two things. You have lots of feather filter feeders, so I wouldn't guess your corals are starving. At least the tank is not, if it's supporting that many. Oh! just remembered - PAR. I borrowed a meter about that time too. Top corals get ~500 PAR, bottom corals get ~200-300 PAR. Before, the lights were just not strong enough to keep acros strong enough to weather alk swings and depleted nutrients, and my cat breaking the chiller, etc.

 

Does anything there seem like it could be worth checking out?

[Sk8n Reefer]

I hope your little frag hangs on. If anything, let my aquarium be the proof that an almost dead acro can come back from literally 11 polyps. Do you have a macro(ish) lens? Snap a shot of the little piece left. On a lot of my nearly dead pieces the first sign of turning around was the minutest polyps extension - so small you can't see it with the naked eye.

 

Trying to recall exactly what I did that could help you out... First was setting the dosers up so that KH never changed more than .25 KH at any point--took stability to extremes. For now, that kinda means they come on for 3 minutes every 2 hours. I can't speak highly enough of the fauna marin trace supplements. It's super cheap. The ratios are aleady calculated so all you have to do is dose Ca and Alk. PLus, there's no guessing about which element might be out of whack, it's all balanced as it goes in. All the acro turn-around has happened since changing those two things. You have lots of feather filter feeders, so I wouldn't guess your corals are starving. At least the tank is not, if it's supporting that many. Oh! just remembered - PAR. I borrowed a meter about that time too. Top corals get ~500 PAR, bottom corals get ~200-300 PAR. Before, the lights were just not strong enough to keep acros strong enough to weather alk swings and depleted nutrients, and my cat breaking the chiller, etc.

 

Does anything there seem like it could be worth checking out?

Par would be nice to know- with stock lights on the ends (weak) my AI Nano in the center is probably minimal at best- my heavy daily feedings probably really help the coral and keep than happy. 12 doses a day here too- really keeps thing stable- that dragon scale was under a 400w metal halide so my light is not making em happy for sure ?