Mark's 150 (NanoBox Retro)

[markalot]

On 9/12/2017 at 10:09 AM, micoastreefing said:

Any other names you could to this post, especially the pink/yellow one next to Kat #2?

 

Unfortunately not, I have always bought unnamed frags locally and hoped for the best.  The exceptions are those I named.  That crazy yellow/green/red one was an ugly green frag that took off almost the moment I put it in the tank.  My kind of acro! 

[Asureef]

Thanks for the inspiration Mark, truly one of the best SPS tanks out there.  

Seeing your Hawkins, really makes me miss mine. 

[Orangutran]

Love that purple stylo (?). Tell me if it is not, because it's now on my must have list! Beautiful mature tank! Love it.

[markalot]

5 minutes ago, Orangutran said:

Love that purple stylo (?). Tell me if it is not, because it's now on my must have list! Beautiful mature tank! Love it.

 

Thanks.

 

It is a Purple Stylo, my very first SPS that survived every crash.  Rugged coral but when it's happy look out, very very fast growing.  

 

 

 

There is a smaller purplish stylo on a frag mag above it, top left.  Greenish polyps and pink growing tips.  It's behind the tail of that Anthias.

 

A the top right of the tank, on a mag rock, to the left of a small orange digitata is an Orchid Stylo.  Really neat coloration but also looks fake  due to the color combo.  This one looks a lot better under LED's in my 40 gallon where the colors are not as intense.  Might be nutrients rather than light, I'm just not sure.

 

[Orangutran]

10 minutes ago, markalot said:

 

Thanks.

 

It is a Purple Stylo, my very first SPS that survived every crash.  Rugged coral but when it's happy look out, very very fast growing.  

 

 

 

There is a smaller purplish stylo on a frag mag above it, top left.  Greenish polyps and pink growing tips.  It's behind the tail of that Anthias.

 

A the top right of the tank, on a mag rock, to the left of a small orange digitata is an Orchid Stylo.  Really neat coloration but also looks fake  due to the color combo.  This one looks a lot better under LED's in my 40 gallon where the colors are not as intense.  Might be nutrients rather than light, I'm just not sure.

 

I like "rugged"...Come to realize that I'm not very good with acros, so will stick to easier sps.  thanks for pointing out the other stylo frags! (Will have to google Orchid stylo after this) I remember you mentioned your 40 does not have as much nutrients? I'm currently dosing PO4 of all things.

[markalot]

2 hours ago, Orangutran said:

I like "rugged"...Come to realize that I'm not very good with acros, so will stick to easier sps.  thanks for pointing out the other stylo frags! (Will have to google Orchid stylo after this) I remember you mentioned your 40 does not have as much nutrients? I'm currently dosing PO4 of all things.

Yea, the 40 is an oddball.  Lots of algae on the walls and some bare areas is probably enough to eat up all the nutrients.    

 

I totally agree with avoiding acros, there are a lot of cool options.  Montipora digitata has always done well for me, hard to kill.  Pocillopora is another great option. The one I would get if I had room is called Commoners Envy from Cultivated Reef:  http://cultivatedreef.com/product/crs-commoners-envy/

 

They are a sponsor here and I have ordered from them with great results.

 

I have had a hard time with the pink stylos for some reason as well as the only Rainbow stylo I've tried.  

 

[evan127]

Where oh where is Mark? 

[markalot]

On 10/19/2017 at 8:48 PM, evan127 said:

Where oh where is Mark? 

 

Hi Evan,

 

I'm here, just too busy to have fun with my reefs.

 

I took some FTS's and a crappy video. 

 

Look at the slimer, would ya.  

 

 

 

[vlangel]

Mark, I am catching up with your 150.  Man does it look great.  I'm guessing from your comment you are not crazy about all the xenia but I love the contrast of waving movement with the colorful, rigid, stillness of the sps.  I know their tiny polyps move but not in the same soothing way the xenia moves.  It is such a beautiful combination even if it might be a pain to control the xenia's invasive nature.

[Orangutran]

That's a lot of xenia... JK!!! Looks great! Wow all those colonies are beautiful!! Crazy PE on the sticks too!

[markalot]

On 10/21/2017 at 9:21 AM, vlangel said:

Mark, I am catching up with your 150.  Man does it look great.  I'm guessing from your comment you are not crazy about all the xenia but I love the contrast of waving movement with the colorful, rigid, stillness of the sps.  I know their tiny polyps move but not in the same soothing way the xenia moves.  It is such a beautiful combination even if it might be a pain to control the xenia's invasive nature.

 

Thanks Dawn, that does make me feel better about them, it certainly adds a lot of motion to the tank.   

 

On 10/25/2017 at 4:51 PM, Orangutran said:

That's a lot of xenia... JK!!! Looks great! Wow all those colonies are beautiful!! Crazy PE on the sticks too!

 

Thanks.

 

 

So 2 weeks ago I started adding 5ml of NOPOX daily to see what would happen.  The clowns had stopped laying eggs and the water looked a bit murky.  A week into the NOPOX I noticed the water had become crystal clear and skimmate had begun to stink more, which is expected.  Last weekend the clowns laid eggs again, just before I could clean the right side of the tank, naturally.   

 

SPS colors have noticeably improved and Xenia has not shrunk but has slowed down a bit, with some losing grip and floating around the tank.   This is good!  Unfortunately the slimer has started another radical growth spurt that only it seems capable of. You have to see it in person to understand just how massive the beast is, and it's taking over.    

 

Pics.  Note new tips on the slimer, missing from the last pic.  

 

 

The biggest color change was on the valida and pink milli.  The valida interior turned from deep purple to a greenish blue, while the pink milli has turned very bright pink.

 

 

This lemonade is just insane.

 

 

 

 

 

The only pic of the right side that was in focus, and happened to catch One Lip zooming out of the rocks.

 

[Veng]

That green slimier... that continues to be the white whale of my tank.  One day I'll figure out the right whiskey to pry your secrets and frags out of you!

[metrokat]

This is such a show tank now. It's beautiful.

[vlangel]

On 11/6/2017 at 12:19 AM, metrokat said:

This is such a show tank now. It's beautiful.

AMEN!

[DaveFason]

Incredible. 

[RollaJase]

Always a pleasure catching up on your threads Mark. Everything always looks amazing! I strive for my SPS be look 1/10th as good as yours do.

[teenyreef]

This tank just keeps getting better and better! So many full size colonies now, and they are all beautifully colored. 

[markalot]

On 11/5/2017 at 11:13 PM, Veng said:

That green slimier... that continues to be the white whale of my tank.  One day I'll figure out the right whiskey to pry your secrets and frags out of you!

 

Thanks.  It's now just 1/4 inch from the water line and slightly exposed when the sump is off.  Instantly smells up the basement with the protective slime goodness.

On 11/6/2017 at 12:19 AM, metrokat said:

This is such a show tank now. It's beautiful.

Thanks Kat.

On 11/7/2017 at 11:33 AM, vlangel said:

AMEN!

 

Thanks Dawn.  Looks good in photos anyway. 

 

On 11/9/2017 at 8:36 AM, DaveFason said:

Incredible. 

 

Thanks Dave, I blame the light!

 

On 11/9/2017 at 8:52 PM, RollaJase said:

Always a pleasure catching up on your threads Mark. Everything always looks amazing! I strive for my SPS be look 1/10th as good as yours do.

 

Thanks, was nice to see you getting back into things.

On 11/9/2017 at 9:56 PM, teenyreef said:

This tank just keeps getting better and better! So many full size colonies now, and they are all beautifully colored. 

 

Thanks Teeny.  Sorry to everyone that it took so long to respond.  Life is good, and annoyingly busy.

 

 

My luck continues, sort of.  I put the MP40's in feed mode last Friday and the motor on the left pump started banging around because the wet side locked up tight.  Magnet had swelled and it would no longer move.  Luckily I was there when it finally died.   This is the newer (1.5 years old) QD wet side, another arrives Thursday.  75 bucks.     In the meantime I have my giant Tunze running for backup.  It can move more water, way too much water, but works well dialed back.   

[teenyreef]

Wow, that's weird. How does a magnet swell up? 

 

Glad you're doing well! 

[markalot]

8 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Wow, that's weird. How does a magnet swell up? 

 

Glad you're doing well! 

 

My understanding is the coating is defective and saltwater starts to corrode the magnet underneath whatever it's coated with, causing the entire thing to swell.   Not so swell. 

[jedimasterben]

9 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Wow, that's weird. How does a magnet swell up? 

Usually rust, causes it to expand. Saltwater is mean

 

Mark, I would contact Ecotech about it and see if they'll replace it. I know you already ordered a replacement, but this way you can have a spare on hand in case it happens again.

[gone_PHiSHin]

this tank is beautiful, i would love to see it in person

 

that green slimer is unbelievable!  and is that a setosa and a hawkins echinata under it?  three of my favorites all in a row

[markalot]

9 hours ago, gone_PHiSHin said:

this tank is beautiful, i would love to see it in person

 

that green slimer is unbelievable!  and is that a setosa and a hawkins echinata under it?  three of my favorites all in a row

 

Thanks.  Yes, those are the exact corals below it.  The Hawkins is still upset I moved it, looks good but no growth, hopefully it picks back up soon.  

[mitten_reef]

Mark, your corals look amazing! 

 

I have one question on SPS growth, hoping you might have some thoughts/answers to.  Right now, in my tank, the non-acros SPS are growing wild. But the acros are growing at a much slower pace, some show no growth.  At what point does it change to Acros being the dominant grower vs other SPS?  Does it ever?  

 

 

[markalot]

3 hours ago, micoastreefing said:

Mark, your corals look amazing! 

 

I have one question on SPS growth, hoping you might have some thoughts/answers to.  Right now, in my tank, the non-acros SPS are growing wild. But the acros are growing at a much slower pace, some show no growth.  At what point does it change to Acros being the dominant grower vs other SPS?  Does it ever?  

 

 

Once everything is rock solid stable they will take off.  Even with bad but stable params they tend to grow quickly.  Think of it as a health issue IMO, the longer a tank is stable the healthier they get until at some point they start to grow quickly. Many times we buy these corals in poor health and our own tank conditions are less than ideal so they limp along for a long while.  It took me over 6 months to get to a point where the acros showed good health.    Once acros are growing they are some of the quickest growers in the tank.  The slimer is easily faster than any birdsnest, and from the looks of things many of my acros have outpaced my fastest growing birdsnest, but it may be placement and light.  Acros get the best positions, birds are relegates to any spare spots.