Mark's 150 (NanoBox Retro)

[markalot]

The Katropora was stuck with decent but not great color so last thursday I started to feed Reef Roids once a day, but just a tiny pinch, maybe 1/4 of a tsp max. Today the Katropora looks noticeably better, and larger, with other corals showing improvements as well. I'm going to guess that if the Alk usage started to rise so did the food usage and things were probably a bit starved. My most sensitive LPS, the red - yellow blastos, were starting to recede a bit but are now puffy again. The monti caps have also greatly increased in color.

 

So the daily routine is:

 

3 drops PhosphateRx

2 drops AquaForest MicroE

4 drops SpongePower

1/8 to 1/4 tsp Reef Roids plus normal flake and pellet foods.

[markalot]

Two top downs, the rest were crap. Didn't have enough time and battery was running low. Excuses excuses ....

 

Red Robin likes food.

 

Tried to get the entire Katropora in, almost. What this does show is the Kat, the healthy base, the recovering red/yellow blastos, and part of the red acro which continues to look better and better.

 

 

[MikeTR]

Where are you adding the phosphate rx?

[markalot]

Where are you adding the phosphate rx?

 

First chamber of the sump in a high flow area (circulation pump aimed up to churn the water). It doesn't bother me if it either settles out or makes it back into the display, no one seems bothered by it.

[markalot]

Did my monthly test for Phosphates. 9 or aprox .03 which is a little low to my liking. I noticed that some corals looking a tad light while others doing well so I'm going to run 2 drops PhosphateRx daily for a while and see what happens. Can't keep them all happy, most likely.

 

I'm still chasing KH and have yet to achieve 7.0. Kalk is now 8 tsp per 6 gallons and apparently not enough yet. Saturated would be 2 tsp per gallon and then the doser comes on.

 

 

The primary culprits for KH usage are the usual suspects, and it makes me very happy to see these old friends growing like gangbusters again.

 

All the tiny branchlets are new.

 

 

Purple Stylo can get big fast.

 

Miami Orchid as well.

 

The growth tips on birdsnest are insane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeTR]

Seem to be having the same issues as you trying to get alk up. My reactor is already dripping 60ml/min on the effluent and i bumped it up again tonight. I took action on the phosphates.. dosed phosphate rx into the sump.. they were at .32, egads man!

[GtTap]

Hey do you use redsea nopox?

[markalot]

Hey do you use redsea nopox?

 

Hi GT. No, I don;t use any carbon source. My reactor full of Seachem Matrix plus matrix in the sump return section takes care of the nitrate, it's been near 0 since 6 months after adding Matrix. A little too efficient, I may have to remove some.

 

Speaking of Nitrate, I went ahead and dosed 1/2 tsp CaNO3 last week and waited. I see a little more cyano, and a little more color, maybe. No negative reactions that I noticed anyway, and NO3 is just barely pinkish instead of clear, so maybe 1.

 

Took a bunch of topdowns ... a few highlights.

 

This thing is a tad invasive.

 

 

Katropora still missing the bright greens and purples.

 

... but this one.

 

 

Valida on left, Kat on right for comparison.

 

Red Robin and the smaller Katropora.

 

The hairy cousins, Cousin It on the right and the horrida on the left.

 

Sold as a purple acro, this is a very deep red to the eye without the hint of brown I see in the millis.

 

Haven't shot this one in a while, the green polyp acro making a strong comeback after re-encrusting over dead areas.

 

 

My acan (micromusa?) collection

 

I like this shot. The red cap growing like crazy and so are these daisy polyps, which seem to live the partial shade in this spot.

[TheKleinReef]

GEEZ. I want PE like that.

[teenyreef]

It's so cool that you're finally getting red corals to be red

[markalot]

GEEZ. I want PE like that.

 

Except for when it hides the color of the coral!

 

It's so cool that you're finally getting red corals to be red

 

Yea, thanks, but what happened to some of my greens and purples? Can;t make everything happy at once it seems.

 

So will it continue to kill the digi until a have a cyphastrea tree?

 

My green poci is finally recovering, I keep it because it's green with a yellow base, very striking when healthy. Apparently it is intolerant of low Alk while the pink next to it is not.

 

This was one of the blue stag frags I thought would die. One did, this one got healthy and now has very good health and color way down near 100 PAR.

 

Most of the slimer.

 

Rose milli colors are still meh.

 

Lokani

[markalot]

I am now at saturated Kalk in the topoff, that's 2 tsp per gallon, up from 1 tsp every 2 gallons! KH reached 6.7 but is stuck there, which is fine for now.

 

Obviously I had been running Alk deprived for a little while, not sure how long. I had a run of some corals refusing to do well that goes back a couple of months so I could have delayed the recovery by keeping Alk too low. Apparently you can keep most things alive by running low Alk as long as some is dosed?

 

Growth at the moment is really fast.

 

2 months ago

 

 

Today

 

 

2 months ago

 

today

 

2 months ago

 

 

today

 

 

 

[Arce]

Everything looks so healthy Mark, colors and PE are on point

[markalot]

Everything looks so healthy Mark, colors and PE are on point

 

Thanks Arce.

 

A couple of halfish tank shots.

 

 

[MikeTR]

look at dem sticks!!

[RollaJase]

Everything just looks amazing Mark, really impressive. My goal as a reefer is to be able to produce epic SPS growth and colour like you one day.

[Chris!]

 

 

 

 

 

[markalot]

 

 

Thanks Chris, good to see you around.

 

So the tank is in the zone, a place I haven't been able to stay more than month, so let's see if this time around I've got the skills and patience to make it last. Adding small pinches of CaNO3 and waiting seems to be doing some significant magic, especially with the Katropora that is finally turning into the stunner it can be.

 

It looks better today than yesterday but this is a pic from yesterday evening, with just a few branches going from green to knockout green. Purple is also deepening, finally.

 

I was worried I might lose my reds but no troubles yet, and like I said the other day the red problem might have been PO4 rather than NO3. With the PhosphateRx I've proven to myself I can keep PO4 low and steady month to month with the regular small doses. If, I say IF, some of my past problems were with PO4 then hopefully I've solved that issue.

 

This is from the front of the tank, not the top. Look at that pink would ya.

 

Might need to have a decent monitor to see this but even Cousin It is starting to improve in looks. A pink blush showing up on the tips and I believe even the polyps are turning pinkish.

 

The Red Robin has hints of red from the front but not the intense red I hope it has someday.

 

This is the unnamed "purple acro" that I remarked looked deep red without any hints of brown. Note how the skin is all showing up a nice red ... but the polyps. Yek! Hopefully they improve with time.

 

Note one very small orange dot on one of the polyps. I doubt it's real but will keep an eye on it.

 

Can you even see the skin of the horrida? Sheesh

 

SSC putting on new growth facing the front of the tank, making for a nice macro.

 

... and finally, this little blue nub of what was left of a nice blue/green acro. It has colored back up and showing huge polyps. I've fed it by hand twice now, maybe I can get some quick growth out of it.

[markalot]

I am trying, and failing, to capture the peach colored glow that the ugly peach acro is producing under blue light. It transforms from a background novelty during the day to one of the brightest corals in the tank under blue lights. Tried 4 different exposure and numerous color balances but I cannot capture the exact color.

 

 

 

[teenyreef]

Looking good! I have tried for years and failed to capture anything like the real fluorescent color that some of my corals get under strong blue light. Orange/yellow filters, cell phone camera, DSLR, different exposures and custom white balances, it just never turns out. I guess it's just not my spiritual gift.

[metrokat]

It's looking really really good Mark. Those last few pictures were great.

[markalot]

It's looking really really good Mark. Those last few pictures were great.

 

Thanks kat. Just took some more top downs to see if additional Nitrates changed anything. Iv'e also boosted my VIolet LED's up, I forgot that I had turned off the Violet channel on my BML strips so I bumped the Nanobox up from 50 to 75 and turned on the BML Violet channel (405nm + 420nm) to 50%, just on the front unit. So far things have been looking very good, with some corals improving more than others but nothing going downhill.

 

Loves Nitrates!

 

The pinks on this are just stunning.

 

But the reds on the Red Robin, blood red. I'm just stunned to see this color.

 

There was a time when I had no reds. I may have overcompensated. I mentioned in my 40 breeder thread how impressed I was with Tidal Gardens. This was one of their no name purple acros for $10.

 

Still not totally sold on this color. Yes, it's very very nice, but some days are more red than others. Or maybe I'm just crazy and can't see straight.

 

The ReefGen Orchid Stylo ain't half bad.

 

Crazy bird living up to it's name. Looks like a basket of snakes.

 

Will end this post with the Lokani, then look at acros I'm still working to color up.

[markalot]

Works in progress.

 

Pinkish in the store, they half killed it, gave me a small frag (one of many I received for my slimer frags), and I half killed that. Finally starting to show some coloration and new top growth.

 

This is from a large maricultured piece that started to STN during the tank issues. I expected increasing nitrates to brown it but the tips have started to show more blue. Middle remains a constant brown so far with hints of color. This has doubled in size since I moved it up on the rocks.

 

Cousin It has really been putting on the weight, but coloration is still lacking. Hints of pink but nothing bright.

 

Frag Rack ... top right is a Miami Orchid. What a neat color combination in what I assume is lower light? Same goes for the KBG which looks better here than the one mounted way up in the middle of the tank. orange is a piece of digitata from the 40, to the left of the KBG is 3 frags of the stunning pink coral on a single plug, now encrusted together.

 

On the left is another frag of the maricultured piece, but to the right of that is a no name from the nearby LFS that colored up greenish once, then half died and is now coloring up again, this time showing more pink. I suspect another SSC variety but not healthy enough to tell yet.

 

I did not notice that a spec of Mystic Sunset monti must have encrusted the frag rack, and boom, look at it grow. If you like red and blue, this is the monti to get. Unkillable.

 

You wouldn't bite the hand that feeds you, would ya? Dumb question.

[RollaJase]

I am super jealous of your frag rack! More goodies on that then I see at my LFS!

[markalot]

I am super jealous of your frag rack! More goodies on that then I see at my LFS!

 

Thanks. I tried to save one of everything when the tank started to crash so I have lots of duplicates, now all doing quite well. Good problem to have.

 

I took a couple of non SPS shots, here they are.

 

Yellow centered Blastos making a good recovery in lower light. They have improved since bumping Nitrates up.

 

I think this is called a John Deere Leptastrea. I bought it from Kat when I bought the Katropora Frag. Rugged coral and I forget how much better these color up when conditions are good.