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

[kinetic]

I actually don't like coralline. It took almost a year for it to sneak its way into my tank. All corals I bought would be broken off frag plugs and QT'd before adding to my display tank. All snails got a good scrub before adding to the tank. One day I put in a decent sized acro that was completely encrusted onto a ceramic disk, and I got lazy and just put it in. Sure enough, coralline everywhere.

 

I got a tuxedo urchin to start cleaning it up. He did OK, except it was just in streaks. He's not a very thorough cleaner

[burtbollinger]

12 hours ago, MockandRoll said:

How bad is it? Can you post a pic? Do you have dead spots on your sandbed? You can always increase flow. High flow really helps reduce algae growth. Don't worry about coraline, it will come in time. My tank is also 9 months and coraline is just starting to show up. 

Its not too bad...frankly, I think it could just me being very late to the party with the CUC.  I just ordered 15 Cerith snails from Reefcleaners which should do a good job on the sandbed.  IME, Narssaruis snails (i have 3) just dont cut it.

 

My introduction of 6 more atrea? snails made a huge impact on the rocks.  

So...I guess if anyone is reading this for advice and wants the gist in a nutshell:  Cerith snails, manual removal, wet skimming, dont be afraid to clean and replace sandbed, GFO, Purigen, reducing whites, and try to encourage growth of coraline algae by introducing it.  This is what I'm doing....cant imagine it wont fix it.

[jesseatam]

Cerith snails are amazing, got mine from reef cleaners too. They do a  great job and I even have babies now!

[kinetic]

In my experience, CUC alone won't do much. But yes, all the other things you said will definitely help and probably fix it all! Good luck!

[debbeach13]

Sounds like you got this.

[burtbollinger]

 

final corals starting to be added...here's a quick video update...music added due to kids yelling in the background.

 

Added a red/blue with yellow center acan frag and a torch from Cherry Corals.  

15 cerith snails from reefcleaners on the way this week.

 

Just a few small splashes of bright orange/yellow via leptoseris, more acans...then just a waiting game for it growing in and out.  Although...I do still want to get strategic with another bold splash of green with a stylo  (I almost went too far with the 'no green' thing)...and the final tank capper will be a branching gold hammer...STILL NO LUCK finding one tho.

[Weetabix7]

12 hours ago, burtbollinger said:

 

final corals starting to be added...here's a quick video update...music added due to kids yelling in the background.

 

Added a red/blue with yellow center acan frag and a torch from Cherry Corals.  

15 cerith snails from reefcleaners on the way this week.

 

Just a few small splashes of bright orange/yellow via leptoseris and red via setosa and acans and I'm done...then just a waiting game for it growing in and out.

 

Looks nice!!

[MockandRoll]

Nice video and coral selection. Still dosing by hand?

[Rehype]

Looks awesome BB....love the clean look 

[burtbollinger]

On 9/18/2017 at 11:54 PM, MockandRoll said:

Nice video and coral selection. Still dosing by hand?

Still hand dosing.

 

Instead of messing with Kalkwasser....I put about 8ml of the ESV Bionic Alkalinity portion of the 2-part in my ATO water bucket....which lasts about a week.   Tank definitely burns thru Alk. faster than Ca.  (EDIT, I no longer do this.)

Also hand dosing about 5ml of Alk. and Cal. only about 2x a week.  Keeps my Alk. steady at about 8.7-8.8.

 

Aslo doing a weekly water change of 8 gallons of Fritz RPM, which seems to mix around 8.5+-

[MockandRoll]

There is still debate on this but I am on the side of dosing 2 part equally even when the tank is using more alk.

 

https://joejaworski.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/the-right-way-to-use-2-part-additives/

[burtbollinger]

40 minutes ago, MockandRoll said:

There is still debate on this but I am on the side of dosing 2 part equally even when the tank is using more alk.

 

https://joejaworski.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/the-right-way-to-use-2-part-additives/

 

yeah, I've always heard that and tried to follow it, but I'm not gonna skyrocket the Calcium well past just because.  

My salt mix already has elevated calcium....and every time I test I'm well over 470....not looking to bump it higher.

 

Randy Holmes Farley has mentioned quite often that some tanks are going to consume more alk than calcium.  This has been my experience as well.

 

that said, when I manual dose the alkalinity I do an eyballed 5ML of each CA and Alk.  

I just cheat a little and sometimes under measure the CA by a ML or so.

 

As far as dosing the ATO....Weekly, when I add just the small bit alk. component only to the ATO....I sometimes add a splash of just CA to the tank...just to counteract and half-respect the balanced addition idea.  

 

anyway, this thread details this quite well...http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1812240

[burtbollinger]

3 updates:  

 

1. Aquavitro Fuel has been pretty amazing so far....dramatically increased polyp extention and overall look and color to LPS and SPS.  Really blown away so far...dosing 1/2 recommended per week.
    
2. Viva paper towels are the best towel/rag etc. for reefers...super soft, absorbent....and do a wonderful job cleaning the exterior of the tank.  Way better than Bounty for tank specifics.  Bounty is still a better paper towel for home use though.  Buy a single roll at the store and try it out.
    
3. Nanobox Duo M - I'm very convinced the perfect mix for the RSR 170 is midday all blues at 75 and the whites at 22...fading into evening at 54% blues and 9% for the whites.  This color setting...as it becomes evening is the most beautiful lighting I've seen...colors on corals I didn't think possible.

 

 

[burtbollinger]

Updates: 

 

• Aquavitro Fuel really working well...dosing once a week 5 ml...then daily afterwards 1ml.  Total of @ 12 ML per week....slightly under the recommended dose.
• Still doing weekly water changes with Fritz Pro....7.5 gallons.
• nanobox set to 45 blue, 3 whites in AM.....80 blue, 20 whites....for 4.5 hours midday.....then 50 blues, 9 whites in evening.
• Tank is basically algae free since addition of ceriths...and tank feels to be maturing.  Zero coraline growth at 10 months.
• Tank starting to drain Alk. more rapidly...hand dosing B-Ionic every other day or two....i think due to the corals are starting to grow and the addition of the Fuel.  ALk. dropping about .3 daily.  Nitrates @ 5...Phophates not reading...Magnesium @ 1500, Cal. @ 460?
• Starting to entertain the idea of one more fish...need a decent screen net first.  If I could find a fourline wrasse, that would be the likely addition.

 

[Gatorbait01]

What's the purpose of the heavy dose of the fuel followed by daily smaller doses? 

[burtbollinger]

On 10/22/2017 at 8:22 PM, Gatorbait01 said:

What's the purpose of the heavy dose of the fuel followed by daily smaller doses? 

I've read you can daily dose it, and that sounded interesting...BUT I want to make sure I get one nice hefty dose in once per week the day after my water change....then I can monitor closely for the other half, dosing 1ML daily....but skipping days when my gut tells me my tank has had enough....very paranoid about not overdosing this stuff, so if I see signs of something I don't like, I'd prefer to skip a day.  Plus, during the week I get bored at night when the kids go to bed.  Dosing the tank 1ML or so gives me something to do other than mess with Alk. testing.

 

Anyway...messing with that new aquarium app a bit more:

 

 

[burtbollinger]

video incoming...Added Rasta zoas, random acans, another blasto....removed a problematic WWC Cherry Tree monti and placed on sandbed...replaced with a jackolantern lepto.

[SelectedByNature]

16 hours ago, burtbollinger said:

video incoming...Added Rasta zoas, random acans, another blasto....removed a problematic WWC Cherry Tree monti and placed on sandbed...replaced with a jackolantern lepto.

You're giving Acans another chance!

[burtbollinger]

1 hour ago, SelectedByNature said:

You're giving Acans another chance!

lol yeah...I've learned that my bad experiences were due to not respecting alk. enough.  as it stands today, I'm testing obsessively

 

[burtbollinger]

 

[WV Reefer]

1 hour ago, burtbollinger said:

 

Everything looks great...... that pectinia is still my favorite. 

[DaveFason]

Talk looks great. Some corals look like they need more food! Give it to them.

[burtbollinger]

45 minutes ago, DaveFason said:

Talk looks great. Some corals look like they need more food! Give it to them.

I've been trying to feed more...which ones should i pay extra attention to?   

[Christopher Marks]

I love how the royal gramma just stares you down the whole time in that video, guess he's hungry too  

[burtbollinger]