burtbollinger's Red Sea Reefer 170 (converted to planted)

[Tamberav]

Your tank looks fkn fabulous 

[CarolinaShoreReef]

I’m missing out by not following. 

[burtbollinger]

On 3/27/2018 at 6:57 AM, DaveFason said:

It seems that it has been happy in its current place. Dropping the light only 5% on the white channel wont do much as it MAY drop the par 1-2%. 

 

I have been running zero to no carbon for the past few months. Only adding it when my tank smells fishy!  

 

Also make sure nothing is stinging it. Let it chill for a bit. 

 

-D

removed the bleached WWC Bugglegum Monster chalice today...it faded and has just gotten worse...feeder tentacles began to cease coming out, and parts of skeleton began poking thru the faded skin...not sure if it was a panic move, but it seemed pretty far gone, and dont wanna risk having sick LPS or infection kicking in....felt like it was time to remove it, reclaim the spot for another chalice.  

 

all other corals thriving.

if anyone has a line on a mummy eye chalice, let me know

[DaveFason]

How is the tank doing? @burtbollinger

[burtbollinger]

 

[Kdrof]

Tank is looking wonderful. Love it! The Red Sea tanks are really nice looking.

[squamptonbc]

Looking good.

[burtbollinger]

tank going well...has kicked into auto-pilot mode.  I've got a few final corals to add, but zero rush...mostly just cheap but nice filler acans...more filler bam bams, filler rastas, and filler Sunny D's (just a few...not a huge fan of the softie-focused, zoa heavy mixed tank look) ...maybe something very cool and $$$$ for the bottom left.  Maybe an ultra acan bowerbank. lobophillia or symphillia.  Still want a SMALL branching gold or true yellow hammer.  Also need a new Bubblegum Monster chalice to put on the sand near the rock flower.

 

I would add another fish but it would be a death sentence.  The gramma is a killer...and my attempts to capture him are long over.  He wins.   2 fish...not ideal, but it is what it is.

 

SLIGHT re-arrange was recently necessary...had to place all my torches in a row, or the tank would be a sting-fest...torches in a small tank can be tricky.

Due to summer sun, I am getting a large blast of direct sunlight this time of year from the skylight above the tank...gets a very direct blast of white sunlight from 11-1:30....then the blues kick on to start the day...this results in significant fading of the monti cap and the leptoseris, but they will color back up fully by the Fall.  (or they'll die and I'll replace).  I could buy sunlight blinds for a several hundred bucks or wing it with a 60 dollar frag.

 

Dosing @ 5ml of Acropower a day!!!!? (not impressed...switching back to Fuel once this runs out)....as well as 7ML of Bionic every 2 days or so....Alk. stays between 8.5-8.8. 

Also reduced the frequency of water changes...was doing 7.5g a week...now doing every two weeks.  Nitrates @ 7.  Feeding Rods/LRS Reef Frenzy 1x per day....feeding corals 2x per week with Coral Frenzy....1x per week Reef Chili paste.  Stirring substrate every 3 days with a long plastic coated metal tomato stake from my garden.

 

The Red Sea 170 + Nanobox Duo combo....for an LPS tank...still zero regrets.  Zero issues....knock on wood.  If this tank survives, it should be grown out how i want it by next summer.  Here's a quick overview of the tank as it is today...added music so you dont have to hear the TV and heavy nostril breathing.

 

 

 

https://vimeo.com/272503553

[DaveFason]

Looking stellar Burt! 

-Dave

[mitten_reef]

8 hours ago, burtbollinger said:

Dosing @ 5ml of Acropower a day!!!!? (not impressed...switching back to Fuel once this runs out)....as well as 7ML of Bionic every 2 days or so....Alk. stays between 8.5-8.8. 
ttps://vimeo.com/272503553

Out of curiosity, why or how did you determine whether Acropower did not perform as good as Fuel in your tank?  Is it just an eyeball test, considering both products are amino and vitamins complex solutions?

[burtbollinger]

28 minutes ago, micoastreefing said:

Out of curiosity, why or how did you determine whether Acropower did not perform as good as Fuel in your tank?  Is it just an eyeball test, considering both products are amino and vitamins complex solutions?

eyeball test says the colors were more vivid with Fuel...it could be as simple as a placebo effect from the yellow color of the fuel. 

Hard to say if any if it really actually works...

[mitten_reef]

2 minutes ago, burtbollinger said:

eyeball test says the colors were more vivid with Fuel...it could be as simple as a placebo effect from the yellow color of the fuel. 

Hard to say if any if it really actually works...

hahaha, a lot of this hobby has to do with gut feelings - so...whatever works for you.  At times, I feel that I get richer colors a day or two after dosing fuel in my tank. 

So I guess we're seeing similar effects overall 😀 

[burtbollinger]

On 5/30/2018 at 9:14 AM, micoastreefing said:

hahaha, a lot of this hobby has to do with gut feelings - so...whatever works for you.  At times, I feel that I get richer colors a day or two after dosing fuel in my tank. 

So I guess we're seeing similar effects overall 😀 

had an interesting thing happen w/ Acropower...I was dosing it very heavy for my tastes, and not seeing anything, but seemingly out of the blue, colors do look very vivid...and i dont think its totally in my imagination...that said, the daily dosing of 5ml for about 2 weeks straight has led to a daily diatom bloom on the sandbed when i come home in early evening....I just stir it away....but if it continues, I'll just suck that sand out and replace with some new sand I have.  Holding back on further dosing until I get the diatoms back under control.

 

as far as what to stir sand with....i really like one of these, which i picked up at Lowe's in the Garden section...its a metal rod coated in plastic.  I zip-tied a children's toothbrush to the other end as well...for when i need to brush something, which is rare now.

 

[tanacharison]

5ml a day is a lot for acropower, I think I’m at 3ml a day right now in the 54. Maybe just reduce and see if you notice a change? Everything looks great from the past pictures. I do the normal dosage in my cube 5ml every 4 days and the PE is crazy that night. 

[burtbollinger]

yeah, i over shot it for sure...was just waiting for a bloom to occur to tell me when to dial it back.  I still plan on going back to Fuel once i finish this bottle...if nothing else for the A-B test.

[tanacharison]

5 minutes ago, burtbollinger said:

yeah, i over shot it for sure...was just waiting for a bloom to occur to tell me when to dial it back.  I still plan on going back to Fuel once i finish this bottle...if nothing else for the A-B test.

Right on, I really liked fuel! I only switched because you had to refrigerate after opening and I’m bad at remembering to pull it out to use. Now I leave my acropower in a container connected with my dosing pump.

[WV Reefer]

On 5/30/2018 at 1:00 AM, burtbollinger said:

tank going well...has kicked into auto-pilot mode.  I've got a few final corals to add, but zero rush...mostly just cheap but nice filler acans...more filler bam bams, filler rastas, and filler Sunny D's...maybe something very cool and $$$$ for the bottom left.  Maybe an ultra acan bowerbanki.  Still want a SMALL branching gold or true yellow hammer.  Also need a new Bubblegum Monster chalice to put on the sand near the rock flower.

 

I would add another fish but it would be a death sentence.  The gramma is a killer...and my attempts to capture him are long over.  He wins.   2 fish...not ideal, but it is what it is.

 

SLIGHT re-arrange was recently necessary...had to place all my torches in a row, or the tank would be a sting-fest...torches in a small tank can be tricky.

Due to summer sun, I am getting a large blast of direct sunlight this time of year from the skylight above the tank...gets a very direct blast of white sunlight from 11-1:30....then the blues kick on to start the day...this results in minor fading of the monti cap and the leptoseris, but they will color back up fully by the Fall.  (or they'll die and I'll replace)

 

Dosing @ 5ml of Acropower a day!!!!? (not impressed...switching back to Fuel once this runs out)....as well as 7ML of Bionic every 2 days or so....Alk. stays between 8.5-8.8. 

Also reduced the frequency of water changes...was doing 7.5g a week...now doing every two weeks.  Nitrates @ 7.  Feeding Rods/LRS Reef Frenzy 1x per day....feeding corals 2x per week with Coral Frenzy....1x per week Reef Chili paste.  Stirring substrate every 3 days with a long plastic coated metal tomato stake from my garden.

 

The Red Sea 170 + Nanobox Duo combo....for an LPS tank...still zero regrets.  Zero issues....knock on wood.  If this tank survives, it should be grown out how i want it by next summer.

 

 

 

 

https://vimeo.com/272503553

 

Things look great!  Once it fills in some more I predict a TOTM in your future. 😃

[burtbollinger]

few updates...

 

gave up on my monticap today...gave it a month to rebound, no dice.  clearing out space for something else.

 

too much acropower causes mild diatom blooms.

 

my green stylo acting slightly odd...fingers crossed.  a bit of flesh blew off it last night on the rear where it gets less light?  is this a sign of it going downhill or can it recover with stable parameters?  

 

most upsetting...i trimmed it, but a tiny  bit of skeleton poking through my space invader 😞

 

the only change eliminating the direct sunlight from the skylight...is maybe a slight alk drop to 8.4 spiked up to maybe 9.1....is that enough to cause issues?

 

[burtbollinger]

added about 8 lbs. of rock from @debbeach13 to add a bit more verticality to the tank...worked out well i think.  back to grow out mode...apologies for the slightly wacked-out color, although about an hour before lights off, with the Nanobox Duo, this isn't totally, wildly outlandish.  I think in 18 months, this tank will be exactly like i wanted.  

 

Wouldn't mind stuffing a small clam, a cool colorful plate coral, or maybe an ultra lobo in here...maybe a large but generic big green frogspawn in the back left.  would consider a mummy eye chalice on the sanded somewhere too.

 

 

[DaveFason]

The tank is looking stellar. Keep up with whatever you are doing! 

 

The new rock makes it look a bit more "normal" and I think I like it better. 

 

-D

[burtbollinger]

 

[WV Reefer]

10 minutes ago, burtbollinger said:

 

 

That pectinia is still my fave! 😄

[FISHnChix]

Love this reef. Very nice . Well done sir...

[debbeach13]

I really like the flow in this tank. Looks so nice.

[squamptonbc]

Are you still using Nanobox Duo M as your light?

 

I have this tank but have hydra 26 HD light, but not really happy with it, and thinking about getting a new light, just have to decide on what to buy.