Mark's 150 (NanoBox Retro)

[markalot]

Ran some tests.  Salinity up to 38 again, lowered back to 35.   Phosphate = 2 ppb, Nitrate completely clear.   sigh

 

Will go to a single drop of PhosphateRx and 5ml of NOPOX, down from 2 and 10.  If it's still too low in a week then will stop PhosphateRx and see what happens.

 

KH 7.2, rose it a bit quicker than I wanted.

[teenyreef]

I'd expect Kh to be a bit higher than normal with the elevated salinity. Was that level after you got salinity back down? 

 

I'm glad you're not shutting it down, it would be like trashing a work of art. 

[markalot]

On 2/17/2018 at 12:33 AM, teenyreef said:

I'd expect Kh to be a bit higher than normal with the elevated salinity. Was that level after you got salinity back down? 

 

I'm glad you're not shutting it down, it would be like trashing a work of art. 

 

It's still a bit high at 7.6 KH.  I'm not really understanding why but I'm testing daily now to make sure it doesn't rise any higher.  

 

I took a few front facing pics, here they are going left to right.

 

Far left, frag rock, monti with red polyps, birds, and the daisy polyps.

 

Hawkins

 

Down low, the spongodes and mystic sunset.

 

Stylos

 

Pink Milli

 

Katropora

 

Way in the back, the maricultured sarmentosa might actually be growing.

 

Palmer's Blue milli is still tan with small spots of blue, but it is growing now.

 

The tan dragon.  

 

and finally the very right side, big frog.

[markalot]

Macros.  I need practice, some of these are just a touch out of focus.

 

Acropora horrida

 

 

Slimer

 

Hawkins echinata

 

Purple Stylophora

 

Chili Pepper or Flower Petal monti cap

 

Orchid Stylophora

 

Unknown encrusting monti

 

Blue stag

 

Montipora setosa and slimer

 

Katropora

 

Green polyp valida

 

Acropora sarmentosa

 

Closes match is Strawberry Shortcake acro. I doubt it, but unknown.  Strawberry lemonade shortcake!

 

Purple tip acro, random frag.

 

Lokani

 

Speaking of which, the big tan dragon has been partially sacrificed for the Lokani.

 

That delicate looking coral has grown some thick tough branches.

[samnaz]

wowww. as always, looking amazing. I've always got one of your pics as my laptop wallpaper. 

[vlangel]

So many different colors and so many different textures.  Its so amazingly beautiful.

[markalot]

OK, it's been a while.  Mostly good news, some bad news.

 

After reading 2ppb Phosphate and 0 Nitrate I backed off PhosphateRx to 1 drop every other day and I started dosing 2 drops CaNO3 daily.  After about a month I read 5 Nitrates and have not tested PO4, I assume it's higher than before butnot too high.

 

You know who likes Nitrates, the more the better.  Compare these to my last top downs a couple of pages back.  LOL.

 

 

 

Even one of the frags, on the very left of the tank (left side of the pic) under very low light is putting on a show.

 

 

The Katropora converts Nitrates directly into color.

 

I have more top downs but first here is the bad news.  I have called this beautiful acro everything but a strawberry shortcake, but it has now revealed it's true identity.  This started yesterday and it was fast, but has now paused.

 

 

It's been hurting for a month, it first showed up when PO4 dropped so low and adding nitrate, while it's brightened up the red, has not led to a recovery.  Unless the yellow comes back this acro is doomed to die.  

 

 

 

 

I've chopped away every coral it was fighting with to give it some space.  I used a turkey baster to blow away any detritus buildup and re-aimed the pumps to try and increase flow over it.   No polyp extension, base turned to blue, skin very tight, not puffy at all.  Not a good sign.  Fingers crossed.

 

Ok, back to good.

 

This is the only frag I've added to the tank in the last year.  Looks like what some call a blue slimer?  Grows fast, really fast, and is going to need more space quickly.

 

Remember I moved the Lokani up on top of the peach dragon?   

 

 

 

It would appear the Red Robin enjoys nitrates as well.  Damn thing is red.

 

This is Emerald something or another from Unique Corals.  Very pretty from the top, very meh from the front.

 

This one, oh it's so close now.  It has really nice pink tips when healthy and I crashed my tank days after I got a frag, kept just a bit alive, and ever so slowly it grew and very very slowly colored up.

 

This one was a nice red before being shaded then attacked by both the slimer and purple stylo.  I cleared space for it a month ago and it's healthy but still working on coloring back up.

 

Palmers Blue Milli.   Yep.  

 

Hey, at least it's growing now.

 

I have my birds, just trapped over on the left side.  Green with crazy bird below it.

 

Pink Milli up top is a very nice pink, very bright.

 

And how about the Sarmentosa.  Survived the crash, took 1.5 years to re-encrust, and is now finally starting to grow new branches with some slightly pink tips.  

 

Sold to me as a Hawkins, I don't think it is, too green.

 

Slimer with blue stag on the left.  Blue stag has never regained the nice blue it had prior to the crash.

 

 

 

Slimer with Hairy Horrida on the left.  Look at the nice blue, only visible when polyps are blown around.

 

FTS

[HarryPotter]

Reef porn! Love it

[IAShane]

This is such a beautiful tank 

[Indiana Reefin]

Bravo!! ? 

you have created a masterpiece! 

[markalot]

Thanks, appreciate it.

 

I have found and saved the hardest coral to grow in this tank.  It's the pretty ones that refuse to spread.

 

[Veng]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  #ReefingGoals

[Asureef]

Beautiful as always mark! 

 

And yep, that’s a Hawkins to me.  Higher light= more blue.

[DaveFason]

Absolutely incredible. I may go on a Mission Impossible mission to your house to film this tank.

 

But really, great work Mark. This tank is one of the best on the net. 

 

-Dave

[markalot]

On 3/22/2018 at 11:11 PM, Veng said:

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  #ReefingGoals

Thanks Veng!

 

8 hours ago, Asureef said:

Beautiful as always mark! 

 

And yep, that’s a Hawkins to me.  Higher light= more blue.

 

Thanks, interesting on the color.  

 

7 hours ago, DaveFason said:

Absolutely incredible. I may go on a Mission Impossible mission to your house to film this tank.

 

But really, great work Mark. This tank is one of the best on the net. 

 

-Dave

 

Thanks Dave.

 

 

So I have some more bad news.  My beloved Lokani has poofed.

 

 

I made 3 frags, 2 dies one is alive.  Not going in the tank again for a few days to see if the right side hangs on.

 

Whatever happened also must have hurt the shortcake, but it's stopped losing skin and is not worse, not better.

 

 

I did NOPOX for a few weeks to try and starve the Xenia.  S T U P I D.  Stability at all cost or this is the price you pay.

 

[teenyreef]

Oh no! I was just admiring the latest pictures of the lokani. I hope the strawberry shortcake stabilizes. Do you think it was due to nutrients going too low with the NoPox, or just because of the fact that there was a change? 

[markalot]

4 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Oh no! I was just admiring the latest pictures of the lokani. I hope the strawberry shortcake stabilizes. Do you think it was due to nutrients going too low with the NoPox, or just because of the fact that there was a change? 

 

I dropped Phosphate to 2ppb dosing both PhosphateRx and NOPOX.  My guess is the Lokani had never existed in water that clean, it was a super brown frag that had lived in an abandoned LFS tank until i bought it.  All my corals were pale and without a lot of food plus the shading it was getting before I moved it ... just too much change.  The SSC ... who cares.  They brown out at random for reefers with a lot more talent than I have .. but it's a good Canary in a Coal mine I suppose.  It went first.   Now I just go back to my 1 drop PhosphateRx daily plus Vitamins and adding a single drop CaNO3 and let it ride.  

 

On the bright side the one frag and half of the Lokani has started to turn deep brown.  This is certainly a good sign, but I don;t want to get my hopes up yet.

 

Colors on the remaining acros are some of the best I've ever had so I think the water is in good shape, just need to keep it rock solid stable for a while.

[jedimasterben]

1 minute ago, markalot said:

let it ride.  

yes please.

[teenyreef]

Hoping everything settles down! I think one of the most consistent ways I've gotten into trouble is with PO4 control. Whether its alumininum-based, iron-based, or lanthanum chloride, I've managed to do too much too fast with every single one. I've gotten to where the only time I do anything is if I see a long-term, significant rise in PO4. Then I dose the minimum possible PhosphateRx and wait a week or two to see what happens. Of course my tanks are a lot smaller than yours...but when I see how much effect even a little bit can have in your big tank, it's a cautionary lesson for me.

[markalot]

Everything the same this morning, right half still hanging on, the one frag still alive.   

[Asureef]

13 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Oh no! I was just admiring the latest pictures of the lokani. I hope the strawberry shortcake stabilizes. Do you think it was due to nutrients going too low with the NoPox, or just because of the fact that there was a change? 

Most likely the change.  Imo, corals are more sensitive to po4 changes than no3.  I always piss off my sps when I start to mess with po4.  But oddly enough, my system seems to handle that pretty well without the use of media or anything else.  My po4 has measured consistly .00-.01 with ICP to back it up.  

 

 

[markalot]

30 minutes ago, Asureef said:

Most likely the change.  Imo, corals are more sensitive to po4 changes than no3.  I always piss off my sps when I start to mess with po4.  But oddly enough, my system seems to handle that pretty well without the use of media or anything else.  My po4 has measured consistly .00-.01 with ICP to back it up.  

 

 

 

Sad thing is I know better, I guess I figured PO4 was already low.  Important thing, for me, is to basically not react.  I stopped NOPOX over a week ago and have returned to what worked for a year.   

 

I am losing some lower corals to lack of light, but I suspect some of the loss is also related to the PO4 swing.   

 

There will be a day when this tank is all softies and LPS, but hopefully that's still a while off.

[markalot]

I reverted to my old routine but added 1 drop CaNO3 daily.  It appears I was able to stop the STN in its tracks, so far it's been stable for 5 days now.

 

 

 

Even the single remaining frag seems happy.

 

 

Blue eyes insisted in getting into every picture.  

 

The SSC is not better, not worse.

 

Meanwhile the slimer and horrida are both trying to grow into the pump flow.

 

[teenyreef]

Whew! Amazing how quickly nitrate dosing makes things better. 

[Asureef]

Impressive that you were able to stop the STN on that Deepwater.  Those smooth skin acros are hard to stop once they start STN.  I think I’m on the verge of losing my Hawkins again!  

 

I’ve saved a 2” frag from my last colony that decided to go, now the frag I’ve been growing for the last few months is doing the same.  But I suspect this time, the mucus from my Monti caused the issue.  My sunset and rainbow Monti have been fighting and that slime they’re creating being carried by the flow and straight into my hawkins.