Reefer 350

[patback]

2 minutes ago, HarryPotter said:

 

Wasn't saying it doesnt happen, I have a piece (Albeit super ugly, my fault) of WWC grafted cap and am getting a piece of a crazy one (pictured at the top of this page) at reefapallozza. I meant that I have not read anywhere about someone inducing a true graft. Ive seen two types of montipora glued together on a plug, but no pigment sharing. 

Maybe I'm naive but I am not following.  That picture is the type that CAN (uppercase only cuz I don't know how to italicize) occur when just glued together. 99% of the time it will just grow outwards from eachother, but hey, if you try 100 times you got a full 1% chance. 

[HarryPotter]

6 minutes ago, patback said:

Maybe I'm naive but I am not following.  That picture is the type that CAN (uppercase only cuz I don't know how to italicize) occur when just glued together. 99% of the time it will just grow outwards from eachother, but hey, if you try 100 times you got a full 1% chance. 

 

I think confusion is that when I say graft, I mean random pigmentation without the glued-together area. But I guess someone started with a glued area and then the coral became truly grafted? 

 

I read online that these types of grafts occur seemingly randomly, not via human intervention with glue and stuff 

[RollaJase]

The tank looks amazing Harry, really well done. I'm glad to see you got over the issues you were having and you are starting to get some really big colonies in there. If you are wanting to take your colours to the next level and aren't already dosing trace elements, that's the way I'd be recommending you look. Even with my higher nitrates at the time, dosing a trace elements mix really took my colour and growth elements to a whole new level. The below image is pretty much a fresh frag that was mounted a few weeks prior to the left picture being taken, the right picture is 1 month on. Hard to see the full impact from a side on shot but the circumference of the piece nearly doubled in this time. I've been on trace elements since about July 2017 and once I got everything dialed in my daily Alk, Cal and Mag consumption increased significantly with a big improvement in growth and colour.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this piece turns out once it encrusts properly and starts shooting upwards.

[HarryPotter]

6 hours ago, RollaJase said:

The tank looks amazing Harry, really well done. I'm glad to see you got over the issues you were having and you are starting to get some really big colonies in there. If you are wanting to take your colours to the next level and aren't already dosing trace elements, that's the way I'd be recommending you look. Even with my higher nitrates at the time, dosing a trace elements mix really took my colour and growth elements to a whole new level. The below image is pretty much a fresh frag that was mounted a few weeks prior to the left picture being taken, the right picture is 1 month on. Hard to see the full impact from a side on shot but the circumference of the piece nearly doubled in this time. I've been on trace elements since about July 2017 and once I got everything dialed in my daily Alk, Cal and Mag consumption increased significantly with a big improvement in growth and colour.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this piece turns out once it encrusts properly and starts shooting upwards.

 

Hello there @RollaJase! And thank you! Given all the notifications I see you are caught up 

 

When you say "dosing trace elements", I am not sure exactly what you mean; to me there are dozens of trace elements.  Or are you using/referring to a specific product? That growth is awesome! Love the color too

[Travis]

Harry, have you thought about using either Triton or ATI Essentials?  Both take care of your alk/calc/mag/trace.

 

I am running ATI Essentials with great results, better color, better growth.  No sticks in my system, so your results may vary  

[HarryPotter]

9 minutes ago, Travis said:

Harry, have you thought about using either Triton or ATI Essentials?  Both take care of your alk/calc/mag/trace.

 

I am running ATI Essentials with great results, better color, better growth.  No sticks in my system, so your results may vary  

 

Reading the Marine Depot description right now. I noticed I ran out of alkalinity solution yesterday so I need to get an order in ASAP. I only have two of the Drews Dosers, so dosing a 3 part solution would be challenging right now. I would need to find another used one. 

[Travis]

I use a Jebao doser.  It has 4 heads so I can dose the 3 part ATI, and also Acro Power.   The only flaw is that the internal clock runs fast, on my unit at least. It gains about 10 minutes every month or so. Not really a big deal.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Jebao-Programmable-Auto-Dosing-DP-4/dp/B014KKCILE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1520515518&sr=8-2&keywords=jebao+dp-4&dpID=410m4BejGSL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

[HarryPotter]

5 minutes ago, Travis said:

I use a Jebao doser.  It has 4 heads so I can dose the 3 part ATI, and also Acro Power.   The only flaw is that the internal clock runs fast, on my unit at least. It gains about 10 minutes every month or so. Not really a big deal.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Jebao-Programmable-Auto-Dosing-DP-4/dp/B014KKCILE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1520515518&sr=8-2&keywords=jebao+dp-4&dpID=410m4BejGSL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

 

I used that and recommended the Jebao, but after two years the calibrations would not hold. I calibrated very carefully yet at the end of the month one container had about 25% less volume than the other. I purchased two Drews Dosers which keep the containers perfectly level, which is important to me because I think the pump repeatability/reliability is more important than the actual precision of the dose. 

[Travis]

17 minutes ago, HarryPotter said:

I think the pump repeatability/reliability is more important than the actual precision of the dose. 

Totally agree. So far, mine have been pulling equally, knock on wood. 

 

But for $60, 2 years doesn't seem too bad lol.

 

I think I will upgrade to a better brand when/if mine does go ka-poot.

[HarryPotter]

14 minutes ago, Travis said:

Totally agree. So far, mine have been pulling equally, knock on wood. 

 

But for $60, 2 years doesn't seem too bad lol.

 

I think I will upgrade to a better brand when/if mine does go ka-poot.

 

Yeah I didn't intend to bash it at all; a complete new 4 head doser for $60 is awesome, even if you use it for two years! I could have even switched dosing heads since I was using two of the four across those two years. Also, it came with spare heads that I lost lol. Im a big fan of Jebao- great value chinesium. My PP4 controller may spark when I plug in the cable, but the pumps work 

 

 I paid $70 for two USED "dumb" pumps that I have to control with my apex,  definitely not claiming that it was a good decision. Just got too nervous after seeing that one container would be lower than the other.  

[RollaJase]

9 hours ago, HarryPotter said:

 

Hello there @RollaJase! And thank you! Given all the notifications I see you are caught up 

 

When you say "dosing trace elements", I am not sure exactly what you mean; to me there are dozens of trace elements.  Or are you using/referring to a specific product? That growth is awesome! Love the color too

Hey Harry, yep, definitely been doing some catching up, got something like 80 threads to get through haha. By 'Trace Elements' i'm referring to a trace element program. The Red Sea Coral Colours program is one you may be familiar with, ATI have one also and you could classify Zeovit, Aquaforest and Triton as being an all inclusive trace plan. The picture doesn't do the colour too much justice, those growth tips are purple, not the greyish colour they come across as.

 

I'm using one of two trace element packages made in Australia. The one i'm using is called Coral Essentials by Sustainable Reefs (they grow epic SPS frags) and the other is called Reef Anabolics. Basically the Coral Essentials plan revolves around a Trace A, B and C solution which I add to my Randy's Alk, Cal and Mag (A and B into Cal and C into Alk). It gets dosed daily along with my standard consumption. In addition to this I'm also using their Amino and Vitamin mix as well as Bromide and Boron solutions. They are about to release a trio of other solutions which increase PE, increase colour and increase metabolism. These new solutions are meant to take colour to a further heightened level. More details on this system below.

http://www.coralessentials.com.au/

 

I looked into a lot of the systems before deciding which was best for me. The deciding factor for me was the cost. Coral Essentials only costs me $20AUD a bottle for Trace A, B and C and $25AUD a bottle for Aminos, Boron and Bromide. This is significantly cheaper than Zeovit/Aquaforest and I don't need to buy any additional hardware. The other deciding factor was that it is made by hobbyists, not a large corporation. The guys behind it have been delivering top shelf SPS pieces for years and have been using these solutions for faster growth and better colour. The system is also easy to get into, I started with just Trace A, B and C and started adding additional components as I've seen the need for them.

 

Not saying this system is the best for you (the other programs are significantly cheap in the US then here in Aus) but a similar system may be worth looking into. Coral Essentials is coming to the US though, I believe some samples have already been sent out to a few wholesalers and stores for feedback.

[HarryPotter]

4 hours ago, RollaJase said:

Hey Harry, yep, definitely been doing some catching up, got something like 80 threads to get through haha. By 'Trace Elements' i'm referring to a trace element program. The Red Sea Coral Colours program is one you may be familiar with, ATI have one also and you could classify Zeovit, Aquaforest and Triton as being an all inclusive trace plan. The picture doesn't do the colour too much justice, those growth tips are purple, not the greyish colour they come across as.

 

I'm using one of two trace element packages made in Australia. The one i'm using is called Coral Essentials by Sustainable Reefs (they grow epic SPS frags) and the other is called Reef Anabolics. Basically the Coral Essentials plan revolves around a Trace A, B and C solution which I add to my Randy's Alk, Cal and Mag (A and B into Cal and C into Alk). It gets dosed daily along with my standard consumption. In addition to this I'm also using their Amino and Vitamin mix as well as Bromide and Boron solutions. They are about to release a trio of other solutions which increase PE, increase colour and increase metabolism. These new solutions are meant to take colour to a further heightened level. More details on this system below.

http://www.coralessentials.com.au/

 

I looked into a lot of the systems before deciding which was best for me. The deciding factor for me was the cost. Coral Essentials only costs me $20AUD a bottle for Trace A, B and C and $25AUD a bottle for Aminos, Boron and Bromide. This is significantly cheaper than Zeovit/Aquaforest and I don't need to buy any additional hardware. The other deciding factor was that it is made by hobbyists, not a large corporation. The guys behind it have been delivering top shelf SPS pieces for years and have been using these solutions for faster growth and better colour. The system is also easy to get into, I started with just Trace A, B and C and started adding additional components as I've seen the need for them.

 

Not saying this system is the best for you (the other programs are significantly cheap in the US then here in Aus) but a similar system may be worth looking into. Coral Essentials is coming to the US though, I believe some samples have already been sent out to a few wholesalers and stores for feedback.

 

Very cool. I’m interested ?

 

One thing at a time though- I need detectable nitrates. After I see the results with a few PPM of nitrates 

for a while, I’ll purchase a trace element system.  

 

This stubby acro has some nice color. Might need a bit more light! 

 

[HarryPotter]

I used a strainer to clean chunks within the sand bed, never did that before. Kind of sad how many sizable acropora and montipora pieces have been buried over the years!

 

Tubing is my ghetto extra return pump that helps clear up the display quickly. 

 

 

This acro's color is so strange it almost looks fake. All brown, then decides to get incredibly purple tips. Compare it to my previous post 16 hours ago; the same camera, my phone, and no edits- yet color looks significantly  stronger. 

 

 

@xiaoxiy I took out the colony to chop it off the plug... but then chickened out. Whats amazing is that the entire 5" disk is encrusted, including the raised original 1.5" plug. So if I was to chop the top colony off, the base would get light again and it would grow super quickly into another. I really want to chop it, but have an intrusive thought that it will RTN on me within hours if I cut it down. Maybe that is because it reminds me of a tree with a trunk. 

 

 

I also have a backup frag that is already encrusted and super happy with life, just in case something does go wrong with the colony. I have no excuse to not chop it  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HarryPotter]

Tomorrow is a big FMAS frag swap only 45 minutes away, I think I’ll go to celebrate the strt of break! 

[HarryPotter]

Got three things:

 

One WWC grafted montipora: the seller had a gazillion frags, at a pretty darn good price of $25, I chose one that was mostly green with little specks of red. In my past experience, the red was too dominant. 

 

One tandom tenius: looks like a blue Tort to me? Both had their plugs removed and a strong dip.

 

 This is right after putting them into the tank- insane PE! You can see the grafted cap in the background.  Very vivid colors.

 

 

 

[Christopher Marks]

Nice haul! How was the rest of the swap?

[HarryPotter]

6 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

Nice haul! How was the rest of the swap?

 

Pretty nice, super busy! Like had to wait a few minutes to see into tanks due to the crowds. I think vendors did great. One vendor had a rack of a dozen orange passion acropora frags. I asked for a price and he said all were sold- and this was 40 minutes after it opened! 

 

Oh @Christopher Marks there was also a tank where all the vendors donated corals to- people bought them and the proceeds went to Stoneman Douglas  high school. 

 

 

@Travis There was a new BRS Drews doser at the swap for $30 so I picked it up; ill be able to switch to ATI essentials after I use up my B ionic. 

[Christmas Corals]

On 3/9/2018 at 3:25 PM, HarryPotter said:

I used a strainer to clean chunks within the sand bed, never did that before. Kind of sad how many sizable acropora and montipora pieces have been buried over the years!

 

Tubing is my ghetto extra return pump that helps clear up the display quickly. 

 

 

Beautiful display! Amazing! Really enjoy this aquascape and the way the corals are growing and placed! Very natural lovely appeal! ??

 

 

4 hours ago, HarryPotter said:

Pretty nice, super busy! Like had to wait a few minutes to see into tanks due to the crowds. I think vendors did great. One vendor had a rack of a dozen orange passion acropora frags. I asked for a price and he said all were sold- and this was 40 minutes after it opened! 

 

 

@Travis There was a new Jebao Drews doser at the swap for $30 so I picked it up; ill be able to switch to ATI essentials after I use up my B ionic. 

nice score with the Jebao. Jebao has some surprisingly good products! lll have to check those out! ??

 

Let us know how the ATI essentials work out. Very interested to hear the results.

 

[HarryPotter]

1 hour ago, Christmas Corals said:

Beautiful display! Amazing! Really enjoy this aquascape and the way the corals are growing and placed! Very natural lovely appeal! ??

 

 

nice score with the Jebao. Jebao has some surprisingly good products! lll have to check those out! ??

 

Let us know how the ATI essentials work out. Very interested to hear the results.

 

 

Thanks! The aquascape has been a very weird progression; the current right island of my scape was the centerpiece of my 45g AIO. 

 

Coral layout is based on flow and lighting, pretty similar to the photo you posted in Small Shaq's thread. Acros and montipora up top, LPS and anemones lower. There are odd exceptions within the tank, some acros that I have on lower racks to color up and such. 

 

I misspoke- it is a BulkReefSupply Drews Doser. One of these: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-2-part-doser-1-1-ml-per-minute.html'

A vendor had purchased several but decided to go another route so was selling them for a pretty significant discount. It just so happened that I was looking for another one so I could try ATI Essentials; a happy coincidence. 

[Pjanssen]

On 3/2/2018 at 10:10 AM, HarryPotter said:

 

 

Are you still planning to get this at RAP?

[HarryPotter]

1 hour ago, Pjanssen said:

Are you still planning to get this at RAP?

 

A frag of that- yes. Gooood morning! 

[pappadumplingz]

On 3/8/2018 at 12:36 PM, HarryPotter said:

 

Thanks pappa! Glad to hear the market is spreading. Thats what the hobby should do for sure, someone gets something new in and then it spreads from there. 

 

Grafting in hard corals is more of a random occurrence than a manual process I believe; happens very rarely and seemingly randomly when two montipora are in the same tank. Im not sure how you would approach "trying" it. Unless you mean putting two frags on the same plug and having them grow together; that is cool for sure but I am not sure that would be called a graft- to me, it means when the color is induced elsewhere in the coral 

 

Yep, definitely interested in dosing nitrates. Just need to bite the bullet and order some

Yea you're quite right. True grafts occur where somehow the colour proteins from one coral are sort of transplanted on another coral. A lot of the Jason Fox and WWC grafts from my knowledge are fragged off colonies of wild harvested or fluke natural grafts. Then there are grafts where people grow them together, which is a bit of a hit or miss. If you're interested in this kind of stuff, would recommend this vid that WWC put up:

 

 

[xiaoxiy]

I don't blame you Harry. I'd be freaking out at the thought of chopping that baby up! 

[HarryPotter]

2 hours ago, pappadumplingz said:

Yea you're quite right. True grafts occur where somehow the colour proteins from one coral are sort of transplanted on another coral. A lot of the Jason Fox and WWC grafts from my knowledge are fragged off colonies of wild harvested or fluke natural grafts. Then there are grafts where people grow them together, which is a bit of a hit or miss. If you're interested in this kind of stuff, would recommend this vid that WWC put up:

 

 

 

Awesome! Thanks for sharing that was sweet! 

 

2 hours ago, xiaoxiy said:

I don't blame you Harry. I'd be freaking out at the thought of chopping that baby up! 

 

I’ll pick up a garbage chisel today (can’t use my fancy woodworking ones that I’ve sharoened for hours). I want it mounted. 

 

The LPS in my tank is really enjoying all this food! Insane PE from this candy cane coral on the rack  

 

[HarryPotter]

?? 

 

Beautiful morning on the reef. Not an advertisement for Hydra Aquatics, but their free microfiber cloths from the swap are nice ?