Awpong's 50g Cube - Long Overdue Update

[Steelen]

They're actually adults, and they're not that small. They're all about 2.5" - 3".

They look so tiny though.

[Arkayology]

Let me preface this by saying I am not an SPS expert and this is only my opinion. While I agree it could be a nutrient stripping or alk swing, the comparison to corals in the wild does not apply. The sun moves from one side of the sky to the other throughout the day reflecting off the sand bed, rocks etc. allowing the coral to receive direct and indirect light on more areas. When a coral in your tank grows over another and shades it, it will most certainly STN. I've seen this happen with large Monti-caps and birdsnests growing over themselves even. If you place the coral between the clusters of the LED's you can mitigate this to a degree as well, but there is a threshold where at some point a portion of the coral will STN if it is not receiving enough light. I believe that is the cause here, but testing for precaution is always a good idea.

While in theory you are correct, I was referring to the fact that once coral colonies grow the underside of the colonies become shaded. From what you are saying, the branches inside and below the top half of the coral colonies that do not receive light in the wild should be dead, right? Well, this is not the case. I see pics of the undersides of wild acropora colonies that are brown, but very much alive. The same goes for the SPS in my tank. The undersides are brown, but not dead. So it stands to reason that SPS tissue, on the bottom of the coral or areas that are shaded from new growth, can and will live with the point source LED lighting.

 

There is some truth in what you are saying, but it is not as simple as that IMO.

[awpong]

Ugh... It's taking me a lot of self control right now not to purchase these two off of DD right now. I may have a spending problem. No. I definitely have a spending problem.

 

 

I've been debating a kole tang as my last active fish for quite a while now. Arkayology seems to be having good results with his, and his tank is the same dimensions as mine (mine is 2" taller). It would also work perfectly, because like my angels, it is an herbivorous grazer. And my little angels can't eat all of the New Era grazers pellet that I stick to the glass every day, so it feels like I'm waisting a lot of food. Hmm.... any thoughts? Will I get cited by the tang police? I've been on the lookout for a kole preferably < 2"

 

I also really want to buy this Ora Borealis. It's been one of my favorite SPS for a while.

 

 

 

So much temptation

[Arkayology]

Do eet! IME a kole tang is fine for a long time in a 24x24 footprint. Mine does not pace and gives me every reason to think it has plenty of room.

[McCune]

I was looking at the same fish Awesome fish

[awpong]

Do eet! IME a kole tang is fine for a long time in a 24x24 footprint. Mine does not pace and gives me every reason to think it has plenty of room.

 

How big is your kole?

[Arkayology]

How big is your kole?

Probably 2.25'' now. I got him about about 1.75''

[1.0reef]

JMO a smaller one is fine, if you happen to buy a giant 6+ inch Kole tang you may want a larger tank.

[picoreef78]

I do not turn off my return for feed mode. Current tank is an all in one, once I get my new tank setup with a sump I'll turn off the return pump. When I hit feed mode A it puts both vortechs to 10% for 15 min and shuts off the skimmer for 30 min

 

Do you have the apex wireless option?

[mpsti05]

Do you have the apex wireless option?

Yes mine is wireless. Once I updated it via hard wired Ethernet connection I unplugged it then plugged it into my wireless bridge. And the wireless bridge is linked to my home network.

[picoreef78]

I have mine plugged into the router. No WXM module though. Still need to program a feed mode. Going to separate the ATO overfill floater to a high point as to avoid annoying alarm once return pump shuts off.

[Arkayology]

Did you get the kole tang?

[awpong]

Did you get the kole tang?

 

haha not yet. I'm going to look to see if I can find one < 2". As soon as one of those pops up on DD, it'll be mine

 

 

And unfortunately the STN on my mille sped up a bit. I had to bring out the shears and glue. I glued over the necrotic parts, so hopefully I won't lose any more of the frag.

 

I'm still not sure what caused it, but I'm considering the Alk swing to be a bit more likely now. When I came home today, an entire branch that was clearly in the light was completely white. My Alk test kit should come in tomorrow, so I'll know more then.

 

Oh, the acropower also came in today, so hopefully by dosing that I can help speed the recovery of my mille.

 

That, and boost the growth and color of everything else

[awpong]

Well my shipment of SPS is supposed to be coming in any minute now, but it unfortunately looks like I might lose the pink and green mille. I took the piece out yesterday to chop off the dead parts and glue over the receding tissue, but now the coral looks even worse. I think the STN progressed to RTN.

 

 

My Alk test kit comes in today, so I'll be interested to see what those readings say. I'm a little worried, because I set up my pH prob yesterday, and the results are a little surprising. If the calibration is correct, then it shows a lot of pH fluctuation throughout the day. The pH is moving from 7.6 - 8.5 multiple times throughout the day. I might try and recalibrate the probe today to see if these readings are accurate.

 

[CrazyCarl]

Sorry about the Millies, looks like Ark was right. Sorry for the bad info. I was just speaking from a previous experience that looked very similar. Maybe fragging might save some of it. I would defer to others (Arkyalogy) opinions though, as I cannot be trusted apparently...

[awpong]

Sorry about the Millies, looks like Ark was right. Sorry for the bad info. I was just speaking from a previous experience that looked very similar. Maybe fragging might save some of it. I would defer to others (Arkyalogy) opinions though, as I cannot be trusted apparently...

 

Hmm... but I'm not getting the reading I would have expected if the problem was an Alk swing.

 

Just checked dKH twice, and I'm only measuring 7.0 dkH. Ca: 410 ppm

[Arkayology]

Ya man, get that ph probe checked. 7.6 is pretty low. Also, I would try slowly raising your dkh to the 8.0 range. At 7, there is little room for error. Stop adding SPS for awhile and get your params in order. I bet that the alk and nutrients are responsible. I had very similar problems in my tank to what you have and I would hate to see you lose more acros in a similar way to how I did. Once you start seeing encrusting and growth, you know you are ready to add more.

 

Sorry about the Millies, looks like Ark was right. Sorry for the bad info. I was just speaking from a previous experience that looked very similar. Maybe fragging might save some of it. I would defer to others (Arkyalogy) opinions though, as I cannot be trusted apparently...

Everything helps. It was not my intention to make you seem untrustworthy.

[awpong]

Ya man, get that ph probe checked. 7.6 is pretty low. Also, I would try slowly raising your dkh to the 8.0 range. At 7, there is little room for error. Stop adding SPS for awhile and get your params in order. I bet that the alk and nutrients are responsible. I had very similar problems in my tank to what you have and I would hate to see you lose more acros in a similar way to how I did. Once you start seeing encrusting and growth, you know you are ready to add more.

 

Everything helps. It was not my intention to make you seem untrustworthy.

 

Yea, unfortunately I placed my SPS order before the STN happened, otherwise I definitely would have waited. But I'm done adding coral for the mean time. There isn't very much room anymore anyways

 

Hopefully this problem is remains isolated with the pink and green milles.

 

I'm going to try and recalibrate my pH probe here in a little, because the pH swing I'm currently seeing is absurd.

[picoreef78]

I had this happen to one of my acro's too. A quick dip and snip halted progression.

Alk swing maybe, but would expect a more widespread issues.

Sorry for the loss, always frustrating.

[awpong]

Well, I've got more good and bad news, because they always seem to go together. But this time, it's mostly good!

 

First, the pink Mille is now a white skeleton, which sucks. I could literally watch the tissue necros.

 

 

But more importantly, my angels are starting their courtship dance!

 

 

You can easily see the courtship color on the male (the white coloration of his abdomen)!

[gnatster]

That's just awesome....The Angels that is.

[Arkayology]

Nice video man. The tank is looking really clean and clear. How cool to be able to watch the angles like that.

[awpong]

Nice video man. The tank is looking really clean and clear. How cool to be able to watch the angles like that.

 

Yea. I'm hoping they'll do it again tonight so I can get a better video. I tried to keep my distance last night so I didn't spook them haha.

 

Hopefully I'll be able to catch a video when they start spawning too ... but it only takes them a few seconds to complete the act, so I'll need to be ready. The cool thing is that once they start, they'll do it every night at around the same time.

[TheKleinReef]

Ya man, get that ph probe checked. 7.6 is pretty low. Also, I would try slowly raising your dkh to the 8.0 range. At 7, there is little room for error. Stop adding SPS for awhile and get your params in order. I bet that the alk and nutrients are responsible. I had very similar problems in my tank to what you have and I would hate to see you lose more acros in a similar way to how I did. Once you start seeing encrusting and growth, you know you are ready to add more.

 

Everything helps. It was not my intention to make you seem untrustworthy.

 

this. i think that's what i was struggling with before. (and i'm still having the negative consequences)

 

p.s. those angels are awesome!

[neuwave]

 

Yea. I'm hoping they'll do it again tonight so I can get a better video. I tried to keep my distance last night so I didn't spook them haha.

 

Hopefully I'll be able to catch a video when they start spawning too ... but it only takes them a few seconds to complete the act, so I'll need to be ready. The cool thing is that once they start, they'll do it every night at around the same time.

It might be a while before they spawn. The male is interested but the female isn't returning the favor. Your on the right track though. When they start to ascend upward together in the water column, then you'll start to see eggs drift to the surface.