teenyreef Posted July 11, 2019 Author Share Posted July 11, 2019 So now that the damage has been done, I got motivated to fix the problem and kill off some of the mummy eye chalice. And while I was at it, I decided to do the major trim job I've been meaning to do on the larger sps colonies. I drained off enough water to expose the chalice to the air and applied a band of kalk paste to the edges of the chalice, which worked great. Of course it remains to be seen if the unaffected portions survive but even if I lose the chalice it had to be done. While the corals were out of the water, I went to town with bone cutters and a portable Dremel with a diamond cutting wheel. The hardest part was dealing with the cali tort. It was encrusting and taking over the acro next to it, and most of the rest of it was solid, so I had to just cut pieces off with the Dremel. I ended up with lots of chunky frags of katropora and bird of paradise, and lots of other frags of cali tort, WD tenuis, a couple WWC yellow tip frags, and one piece each of the Jason Fox Icebreaker and the no-name pink acro. As part of the process, I did a 10g water change. I only had a couple disasters/new misses: first when I spilled the cup of kalk paste all over everything, and then when I started the pumps back up, the return pump wouldn't start. It's been a while since I cleaned it and of course it chose this time to not start. Fortunately, after turning it off and back on again for a good five minutes, it started back up. I also worried about all the kalk paste causing a spike in alkalinity. I measured after the water change and alk was 9.0 which is high for this tank, but stupidly I hadn't checked in alk in a couple weeks so I have no idea what it was before I started the process. After more worrying, I put 6 ml of muriatic acid in the rear pump chamber to lower the alk a bit just in case. Hopefully I don't kill everything off with playing around with alk levels. I should know for sure by tomorrow. Here's what it looked like top down after all the trimming was done and I put some water back in. There's lot's or junk in the water... Closer view of the stuff that has been trimmed. You can really tell where I killed the outer edge of the chalice. FTS right before turning the pumps on: After fragging was complete and the water cleared up. I put the frags in this tank instead of the frag tank so they would be in the same water conditions they're used to. Plus the frag tank is full... What it looks like after the frag party: 5 7 Quote Link to comment
YHSublime Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 That Mummy Eye does not play around. I've purposely contained mine on the glass floor. Tank looks awesome after all the work! 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted July 11, 2019 Author Share Posted July 11, 2019 2 hours ago, YHSublime said: That Mummy Eye does not play around. I've purposely contained mine on the glass floor. Tank looks awesome after all the work! Good idea! I always knew it would be a problem eventually but I got a good two years before it got big enough to be a problem, so I'm not complaining. 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted July 12, 2019 Author Share Posted July 12, 2019 PS: before I went to bed the other night, I did an extra 10g water change just to try to reduce the effects of any alk swing. Everything is doing fine 24 hours later so either there wasn't a significant problem, or the extra water change helped. 😬 7 Quote Link to comment
yoshii Posted July 12, 2019 Share Posted July 12, 2019 Tank still looks amazing Teeny! It definitely was time for a trim! 3 Quote Link to comment
Sancho Posted July 12, 2019 Share Posted July 12, 2019 SPS problems 🙄😂 As yoshi pointed out tank still looks amazing 👍🔥 3 Quote Link to comment
Icedgxe Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 The tank looks absolutely amazing!! I may have missed it somewhere but do you mind if I ask what the settings on your lights are? Also how high off of the water they are and what t-5 bulbs you are running? Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted July 14, 2019 Author Share Posted July 14, 2019 18 hours ago, Icedgxe said: The tank looks absolutely amazing!! I may have missed it somewhere but do you mind if I ask what the settings on your lights are? Also how high off of the water they are and what t-5 bulbs you are running? Thanks! Royal blue/violet/cyan are at 100%, white at 20%, and lime at 30% at midday, and the light is about 6" from the water surface. I use ATI T5's, one coral plus and one blue plus. 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted July 14, 2019 Author Share Posted July 14, 2019 On 7/12/2019 at 1:44 AM, yoshii said: Tank still looks amazing Teeny! It definitely was time for a trim! Thanks, Yoshi!, hope you're doing well in Hawaii! And yes, it was really overdue. I had no idea how bad it had gotten until I saw how much was underneath all the overgrown stuff. On 7/12/2019 at 4:32 AM, Sancho said: SPS problems 🙄😂 As yoshi pointed out tank still looks amazing 👍🔥 I remember when all I wanted was to have overgrown sps problems 😂 Quote Link to comment
Matteo Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 3 hours ago, teenyreef said: Thanks! Royal blue/violet/cyan are at 100%, white at 20%, and lime at 30% at midday, and the light is about 6" from the water surface. I use ATI T5's, one coral plus and one blue plus. Hmmmmm we basically have the same setup light wise...I use two actinic bulbs for pop...wondering if I should use a coral + I have in the closet because your color in that tank looks crisp!..but then I would have to turn my whites down on my nanobox or turn my blues up.... guess I have something to play with this afternoon 🤔 1 Quote Link to comment
Reefkid88 Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Looking good bud !!! Glad you were able to get things trimmed and stop the warfare !!! 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted July 15, 2019 Author Share Posted July 15, 2019 21 hours ago, Matteo said: Hmmmmm we basically have the same setup light wise...I use two actinic bulbs for pop...wondering if I should use a coral + I have in the closet because your color in that tank looks crisp!..but then I would have to turn my whites down on my nanobox or turn my blues up.... guess I have something to play with this afternoon 🤔 Good luck! For pictures, I usually turn the T5's off and brighten up the whites on the LED's. Otherwise the camera's white balance gets all messed up. 16 hours ago, Reefkid88 said: Looking good bud !!! Glad you were able to get things trimmed and stop the warfare !!! Thanks! Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 On 7/14/2019 at 12:59 PM, teenyreef said: I remember when all I wanted was to have overgrown sps problems 😂 I'm still waiting for my overgrown sps problems to happen. 😂 1 Quote Link to comment
Matteo Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 4 hours ago, teenyreef said: Good luck! For pictures, I usually turn the T5's off and brighten up the whites on the LED's. Otherwise the camera's white balance gets all messed up. Thanks! I went with a coral + in the rear for all the sps back there. Actinic in the front for zoa and LPS pop. Turned blues to 90% cyan 10% white/limes 12% uv 50%. LOVING IT 2 Quote Link to comment
kabal2 Posted July 18, 2019 Share Posted July 18, 2019 Wow great tank and great adventure, lots of great knowledge @teenyreef, just finished reading from page 1 to 109 3 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted July 18, 2019 Share Posted July 18, 2019 7 hours ago, kabal2 said: Wow great tank and great adventure, lots of great knowledge @teenyreef, just finished reading from page 1 to 109 I hope you took notes, here is a test at the end of the quarter 4 Quote Link to comment
kabal2 Posted July 18, 2019 Share Posted July 18, 2019 @Pjanssen i hate test, so lets see hownit goes, when i grow up i want my tank to be like @teenyreef 2 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 13 hours ago, kabal2 said: @Pjanssen i hate test, so lets see hownit goes, when i grow up i want my tank to be like @teenyreef He will sell you stuff! 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 On 7/17/2019 at 11:48 PM, kabal2 said: Wow great tank and great adventure, lots of great knowledge @teenyreef, just finished reading from page 1 to 109 Omg I hope you didn't die! Thanks! 2 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 On 7/18/2019 at 7:27 AM, Pjanssen said: I hope you took notes, here is a test at the end of the quarter Can you imagine if everyone had to take a test before they could keep a reef tank? 😬 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 3 minutes ago, teenyreef said: Can you imagine if everyone had to take a test before they could keep a reef tank? 😬 What a great concept! Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 My purple monti has just started showing signs of not being so purple. Any ideas or suggestions? 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 3 hours ago, Pjanssen said: My purple monti has just started showing signs of not being so purple. Any ideas or suggestions? Is it getting darker or lighter? Mine get pale when nitrates are too low, and browner when they are generally stressed, due to changing water or light conditions. Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 It's getting a little lighter. I'll have to test my nitrates i guess. Nothing has really changed chemistry or light wise. Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 1 hour ago, Pjanssen said: It's getting a little lighter. I'll have to test my nitrates i guess. Nothing has really changed chemistry or light wise. When my nitrates are at zero, all the monticaps lose their color. The idaho grape get pale brown/light lavender, and the apple green ones turn almost a mustard yellow. 1 Quote Link to comment
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