Mitten_reef’s IM30L

[mitten_reef]

13 hours ago, jcreefer said:

Congrats on the new tank.  I too am still rocking the IM30L (and NBR hybrid no less) but I am sooooooooo itching to upgrade.  I like the 36in length and have my eyes on the Waterbox 100.3, but that will have to wait until we move to a bigger house.

 

Out of curiosity (and out of my own laziness), do you dose?  If so, how much Alk per day?  Trying to figure out where I am in terms of range.

 

Thanks

Jeff

Thanks!

I'm dosing alk 6 times a day every 4 hour for a 7 minutes total on a BRS dosing pump (5 x 1min + 1 x 2min = 7 minutes total). I'm using a digital programmable timer.  My pump calibration came out closer to 1.5 ml/min, so ~10.5 ml per day.   

Tank is currently between 7-7.5 dKh, when the current dosing scheme started, I think it was around 8.5 (Last dKh/dosing check-in), so it had slowly drifted down due to some extra growth.  I'm probably due to add an extra minute to the doser.  

[mitten_reef]

On 6/6/2020 at 10:33 PM, ninjamyst said:

i hate montiporas now, especially the encrusting kind but that monti looks awesome.

it actually been mostly plating for me.  This coral has been in the tank since the beginning.  It is actually a tiny leftover from my giant red plate that used to dominate the tank.  The colors just changed all the time, based on light and location, and its general happiness.  

[mitten_reef]

the tank just got a whole cube of frozen mysis this morning.  after about 30-40 min, with the return pump off (the gyre was also off for the first 20 min), there is very little to none of the free floating food pieces left.  what a bunch of hungry corals and fish 🙄.  I target fed, the suns, microlords, and the torches. 

 

what do you feed your euphyllia?  @Matteo, @spectra, or anyone else here that keep thriving euphyllia colonies?  my two torches don't seem to hang on well to the frozen meaty mysis, or even the other frozen variety i have (it's angel something rather).  so either they're full or they just don't like their food that chunky.  my fine-particulate food is reef roid, and that seems to get more of a feeding reaction from the torches.  What food got good feeding response from your euphyllia?      

[spectra]

1 minute ago, mitten_reef said:

the tank just got a whole cube of frozen mysis this morning.  after about 30-40 min, with the return pump off (the gyre was also off for the first 20 min), there is very little to none of the free floating food pieces left.  what a bunch of hungry corals and fish 🙄.  I target fed, the suns, microlords, and the torches. 

 

what do you feed your euphyllia?  @Matteo, @spectra, or anyone else here that keep thriving euphyllia colonies?  my two torches don't seem to hang on well to the frozen meaty mysis, or even the other frozen variety i have (it's angel something rather).  so either they're full or they just don't like their food that chunky.  my fine-particulate food is reef roid, and that seems to get more of a feeding reaction from the torches.  What food got good feeding response from your euphyllia?      

 

I don't really target feed like I used to...….. but when I do now I just do a cube or two of brine a chunk of LRSS and add some benepets and phyto then water...…...turkey baste into everything with the pumps off...…..let the tank sit for 30 to an hour and that's it...……..

 

I notice a lot of the torches get food when I normally feed as I dump the food into one of the pumps so it goes everywhere...…...

[mitten_reef]

3 minutes ago, spectra said:

 

I don't really target feed like I used to...….. but when I do now I just do a cube or two of brine a chunk of LRSS and add some benepets and phyto then water...…...turkey baste into everything with the pumps off...…..let the tank sit for 30 to an hour and that's it...……..

 

I notice a lot of the torches get food when I normally feed as I dump the food into one of the pumps so it goes everywhere...…...

OK, that's an interesting concoction of food.  Sounds like you broadcast feed your tank - which I generally do with only reef roid.  I just wanted to fatten up the LPS and NPS a little bit, they've been looking a little sad lately.   

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

1 hour ago, mitten_reef said:

the tank just got a whole cube of frozen mysis this morning.  after about 30-40 min, with the return pump off (the gyre was also off for the first 20 min), there is very little to none of the free floating food pieces left.  what a bunch of hungry corals and fish 🙄.  I target fed, the suns, microlords, and the torches. 

 

what do you feed your euphyllia?  @Matteo, @spectra, or anyone else here that keep thriving euphyllia colonies?  my two torches don't seem to hang on well to the frozen meaty mysis, or even the other frozen variety i have (it's angel something rather).  so either they're full or they just don't like their food that chunky.  my fine-particulate food is reef roid, and that seems to get more of a feeding reaction from the torches.  What food got good feeding response from your euphyllia?      

I just spray some reef roids over them. That's one coral that i have no idea if it eats lol. 

[Elizabeth94]

Interesting question. I never really thought my euphyllia ate. If food hits them they curl up but I know they have mouths and never noticed them opening for food. I only target feed corals that have obvious responses like brains, acans and so on. With the exception of my Alveopora, have no clue how it eats haha. 

[Matteo]

4 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

the tank just got a whole cube of frozen mysis this morning.  after about 30-40 min, with the return pump off (the gyre was also off for the first 20 min), there is very little to none of the free floating food pieces left.  what a bunch of hungry corals and fish 🙄.  I target fed, the suns, microlords, and the torches. 

 

what do you feed your euphyllia?  @Matteo, @spectra, or anyone else here that keep thriving euphyllia colonies?  my two torches don't seem to hang on well to the frozen meaty mysis, or even the other frozen variety i have (it's angel something rather).  so either they're full or they just don't like their food that chunky.  my fine-particulate food is reef roid, and that seems to get more of a feeding reaction from the torches.  What food got good feeding response from your euphyllia?      

polyp booster, reef roids, reef frenzy, mysis, brine, and pellets. Sometimes my torches grab small pieces of food when the light is off but I assume most of what they grab is much smaller than a whole mysis. 

 

granted I do not think my euphyllia is affected by polyp booster. The polyp booster mostly has an affect on my meatier corals. 

 

I also stir my sandbed up with a turkey baster like every 3 days which in a way also feeds the tank. 

[mitten_reef]

3 hours ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

I just spray some reef roids over them. That's one coral that i have no idea if it eats lol. 

😄 it does, but as you can see, I'm interested in finding out which food gets the most obvious feeding response.  reef roid broadcasting show feeding response to some extents.

29 minutes ago, Elizabeth94 said:

Interesting question. I never really thought my euphyllia ate. If food hits them they curl up but I know they have mouths and never noticed them opening for food. I only target feed corals that have obvious responses like brains, acans and so on. With the exception of my Alveopora, have no clue how it eats haha. 

they don't typically open for food.  but the tentacles curl up?  do they get pulled back into the center mouth piece?  what food did that?

Alveopora and goniopora, like medium to fine particulate food.  Two Little Fishies makes Goniopower; but after having used a jar of it, alongside reef roids, the feeding behavior were relatively the same.  so I stuck with roid, to reduce clutter.     

 

24 minutes ago, Matteo said:

polyp booster, reef roids, reef frenzy, mysis, brine, and pellets. Sometimes my torches grab small pieces of food when the light is off but I assume most of what they grab is much smaller than a whole mysis. 

 

granted I do not think my euphyllia is affected by polyp booster. The polyp booster mostly has an affect on my meatier corals. 

 

I also stir my sandbed up with a turkey baster like every 3 days which in a way also feeds the tank. 

grabbing here and curling (above), good signs I'd guess.  I bet the whole mysis probably too large, but broken and finer pieces probably what they're after.  Will try it to mush up the mysis next time.  

[Elizabeth94]

1 hour ago, mitten_reef said:

what food did that?

Particularly with the frozen V2O Reef Caviar. I notice they stick to my hammer and the tentacles drag it in. But never saw it bring it to the mouth. I should watch it longer and see if the food eventually goes back into the water.  

Funny, I do feed Goniopower to the Alveopora. Haven’t tried my reef roids yet. I just started using polyp booster too. But now I need more fleshy lps corals. 
 

Do you notice if zoas eat the reef roids. 

[spectra]

8 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

OK, that's an interesting concoction of food.  Sounds like you broadcast feed your tank - which I generally do with only reef roid.  I just wanted to fatten up the LPS and NPS a little bit, they've been looking a little sad lately.   

 

I just toss stuff in and everyone gets food...…….corals, fish and snails...……...Hell if I turn the pumps off the sand becomes alive when all the snails pop out and start roaming...…...

 

1 hour ago, Elizabeth94 said:

Particularly with the frozen V2O Reef Caviar. I notice they stick to my hammer and the tentacles drag it in. But never saw it bring it to the mouth. I should watch it longer and see if the food eventually goes back into the water.  

Funny, I do feed Goniopower to the Alveopora. Haven’t tried my reef roids yet. I just started using polyp booster too. But now I need more fleshy lps corals. 
 

Do you notice if zoas eat the reef roids. 

 

I have watched my zoas take a piece of brine shrimp...…...they will eat anything I think if given the chance...……  

[mitten_reef]

This page could use a little bit of photos. 

Looking back, I don’t think I posted the pink lemonade colony-in-the-making yet. 

 

 

[mitten_reef]

On 6/9/2020 at 3:42 PM, Elizabeth94 said:

Do you notice if zoas eat the reef roids. 

I kinda stopped watching what my zoas are doing, other than their colors.  They grow like weeds in my tank.

[debbeach13]

59 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

I kinda stopped watching what my zoas are doing, other than their colors.  They grow like weeds in my tank.

So jealous.

[Elizabeth94]

Pink lemonade looks really nice. I think the frag I have might have been a lower branch. It seems to be developing larger polyps as the days go on but they were just pink dots when I got it. I really hope it gets hairy like yours haha. 

[pokerdobe]

7 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

This page could use a little bit of photos. 

Looking back, I don’t think I posted the pink lemonade colony-in-the-making yet. 

 

 

 

Your's encrusted far less than mine did before throwing on branches. 

[mitten_reef]

7 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

So jealous.

It’s been nice to see crazy growth and coverage. But at the same time they’re not so easy to frag for trade-in.  

6 hours ago, Elizabeth94 said:

Pink lemonade looks really nice. I think the frag I have might have been a lower branch. It seems to be developing larger polyps as the days go on but they were just pink dots when I got it. I really hope it gets hairy like yours haha. 

Great news that the polyps are coming out more and more. Just keep at it. They’ll eventually just stay out. 
 

50 minutes ago, pokerdobe said:

 

Your's encrusted far less than mine did before throwing on branches. 

It all started with a healthy & growing frag from you. 

[pokerdobe]

@mitten_reef I just find the variations in growth super interesting. I'm sure you'd be able to get it to grow even if it wasn't healthy!

 

Would you say yours is in a lower flow or just indirect? Mine is stuck smack dab in the middle of my tank where my flow is probably the most chaotic. 

[mitten_reef]

14 minutes ago, pokerdobe said:

@mitten_reef I just find the variations in growth super interesting. I'm sure you'd be able to get it to grow even if it wasn't healthy!

 

Would you say yours is in a lower flow or just indirect? Mine is stuck smack dab in the middle of my tank where my flow is probably the most chaotic. 

It sits in the middle of the tank with plenty of flow here too. BUT plenty of flow is relative, my tank only has one 1Kgyre running at 50% max. Your tank probably have 3-4 of much more powerful wave makers blasting around. That’s one area I’m hoping to address with the new tank - at least two powerheads, as of now the plan is that both will be placed on the back wall. 

[mitten_reef]

Starting to collect some live rocks for the new builds. Dig through the  live rock tub at LFS yesterday and came home with 4 nice-sized/shaped pieces. Along with one flat cut Marco rock. 

[mitten_reef]

Inspired by @WV Reefer,

real-life reefing. 
 

So I just hung this T5 back up 🤔. The colors under this light is unreal.  I still haven’t finalized my lighting for the new tank yet. All I know is, there’ll definitely be some T5s on it. 

[mitten_reef]

And since I just put on the T5, an obligatory topdown shot of the frag rack. 
iphone 11pro. No adjustment, no filter. 

 

[Pjanssen]

8 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

Inspired by @WV Reefer,

real-life reefing. 
 

So I just hung this T5 back up 🤔. The colors under this light is unreal.  I still haven’t finalized my lighting for the new tank yet. All I know is, there’ll definitely be some T5s on it. 

I can show you some "Real life-reefing" pics right now if that's whats inspiring you thees days. My tanks are a hot mess right now 😂. T5s look great. When I get around to a new build, I definitely want some kind of hybrid light with T5s and LEDs.

[mitten_reef]

57 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

I can show you some "Real life-reefing" pics right now if that's whats inspiring you thees days. My tanks are a hot mess right now 😂. T5s look great. When I get around to a new build, I definitely want some kind of hybrid light with T5s and LEDs.

sometimes you just gotta post pics that show the everyday image, not just the "photoshoot" day.  unless you're one of the lucky ones with a tank is on "photoshoot day" everyday.    

 

but really, we all know it's what inside the tank that matters.  Hope your hot mess is not too bad to deal with and you can sort through it quickly.

[Pjanssen]

9 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

Hope your hot mess is not too bad to deal with and you can sort through it quickly.

Nothing that a water change and glass cleaning won’t take care