Mitten_reef’s WB55.2

[mitten_reef]

Honestly, idk why I don’t put time and effort or money into a f-ing tank lid. 
the amount of fish I’ve lost thru jumping is probably cost more than one fancy acrylic lid, let alone a 2x2 sheet of white egg crate.  
the 6-line jumped last night
fml 🤦🏻‍♂️ 

[TheKleinReef]

😞 my lid has saved my fish multiple times. i hear the wrasse and goby hit the netting all the time. get a lid!

[MLS_Reef]

I do like canopies on tanks, im not always down for all this rimless open glass. 

I can understand not wanting a lid under the light fixture, I strongly dislike what the standard lid for the IM10 did for viewing.

 

 

[mitten_reef]

2 hours ago, MLS_Reef said:

I do like canopies on tanks, im not always down for all this rimless open glass. 

I can understand not wanting a lid under the light fixture, I strongly dislike what the standard lid for the IM10 did for viewing.

 

 

i really do enjoy topdown viewing of the tank.  I just need something easy to move on and off, I guess.  I will likely be making a trip to Lowe's this wknd, gonna go ahead and grab the white egg crate, and then trim it to fit.

and I know what you mean about the IM lid, I had one that came with my old IM30long tank, didn't even use that one even tho it was already there for me to use, lol.  

[TheKleinReef]

20 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

i really do enjoy topdown viewing of the tank.  I just need something easy to move on and off, I guess.  I will likely be making a trip to Lowe's this wknd, gonna go ahead and grab the white egg crate, and then trim it to fit.

and I know what you mean about the IM lid, I had one that came with my old IM30long tank, didn't even use that one even tho it was already there for me to use, lol.  

my IM lid is great. I love it, so glad it came with a lid. I hate making them.

[mitten_reef]

3 hours ago, TheKleinReef said:

my IM lid is great. I love it, so glad it came with a lid. I hate making them.

they did change their net design to the thin one which seems in line with all the other manufacturers or even the custom ones. 

the older model had really thick "net" material and practically reflected half the light to the ceiling (now I remember why I quit using it).  

[MLS_Reef]

It wasn't net it was a hard plastic woven screen that could have stopped a raging bullshark from getting through. No catch just a plastic translucent wall.. Lmao

[TheKleinReef]

oh i didn't know it was different. the design i have is pretty great. I bought the DIY kit and made one for my parents and for my FW tank.

[A.m.P]

On 5/12/2023 at 12:48 PM, mitten_reef said:

i really do enjoy topdown viewing of the tank.  I just need something easy to move on and off, I guess.  I will likely be making a trip to Lowe's this wknd, gonna go ahead and grab the white egg crate, and then trim it to fit.

and I know what you mean about the IM lid, I had one that came with my old IM30long tank, didn't even use that one even tho it was already there for me to use, lol.  

Egg crate is technically light diffuser and may actually drop your PAR a handful, if you can find some double-walled greenhouse lidding, or even the weird wavy stuff you'd probably be better off.

[mitten_reef]

this page needs a new pic

these colors are fake 😏, or are they?

 

 

[ml86743]

Looks great - trying to dial my setup in to get some of color/growth like you have.  Great inspiration! Send some of that acrohappiness my way plz...

[TheKleinReef]

I want a piece of that fatty stag. But I’d probably kill it 

[mitten_reef]

33 minutes ago, ml86743 said:

Looks great - trying to dial my setup in to get some of color/growth like you have.  Great inspiration! Send some of that acrohappiness my way plz...

still working through a few kinks over here myself, some of them are happy, some less so.  tested alk this morning, well it's 9.8, woops.  didn't think that taking most of the frags out to LFS would impact the alk so dramatically - but i guess the frags were the ones doing a lot of growth.    

 

18 minutes ago, TheKleinReef said:

I want a piece of that fatty stag. But I’d probably kill it 

^ when i got things under control, we'll chat.

[mitten_reef]

22 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

still working through a few kinks over here myself, some of them are happy, some less so.  tested alk this morning, well it's 9.8, woops.  didn't think that taking most of the frags out to LFS would impact the alk so dramatically - but i guess the frags were the ones doing a lot of growth.    

 

^ when i got things under control, we'll chat.

 

Turned the alk dosing pump off for an entire day yesterday.  Alk was 8.4 in the evening, and 7.5 this morning.     

[ml86743]

Using it up pretty quickly still - so I’ve got a question or two.  
 

We’re generally supposed to keep alk consistent, I understand that..in this case your alk has moved pretty significantly in both directions the past few days - 1) do you (or do you anticipate) to see a noticeable difference in your acros when something like this happens? 2) is moving alk as detrimental to pieces that are already established? 
 

just trying to piece together some information for my brain lol.  Clearly you’ve got it figured out.  Thanks in advance!

[mitten_reef]

2 hours ago, ml86743 said:

Using it up pretty quickly still - so I’ve got a question or two.  
 

We’re generally supposed to keep alk consistent, I understand that..in this case your alk has moved pretty significantly in both directions the past few days - 1) do you (or do you anticipate) to see a noticeable difference in your acros when something like this happens? 2) is moving alk as detrimental to pieces that are already established? 
 

just trying to piece together some information for my brain lol.  Clearly you’ve got it figured out.  Thanks in advance!

this will require kinda long answer....will get back to you later this evening, lol. 

[TheKleinReef]

jeez a swing like that would nuke my tank. it's so dang fragile lol.

On 5/15/2023 at 9:25 AM, mitten_reef said:

when i got things under control, we'll chat.

😄

[mitten_reef]

On 5/16/2023 at 10:17 AM, ml86743 said:

Using it up pretty quickly still - so I’ve got a question or two.  
 

We’re generally supposed to keep alk consistent, I understand that..in this case your alk has moved pretty significantly in both directions the past few days - 1) do you (or do you anticipate) to see a noticeable difference in your acros when something like this happens? 2) is moving alk as detrimental to pieces that are already established? 
 

just trying to piece together some information for my brain lol.  Clearly you’ve got it figured out.  Thanks in advance!

Answer question firsts, then ramble.

 

1) yes, I do see changes in coral appearance when the tank is operating outside the preferred parameters. less polyp extension, tighter looking flesh, even possibly some STN at the base (the base STN is what alarmed me the most in this last event).  radial (side) corallite growths will seem a little deformed, starting to smooth over, when left under less-than-ideal (yet stable) conditions for extended period.  

2) depends on how fast, and which direction it is moving.

The biggest caveat here might be that different acros species have different sensitivities to change.  always try to start out with the one that had been around a while in the hobby, they've been around for good reasons - easy/hardy to keep.  the new and VERY expensive speciosas are super finicky and requires extra stable parameters (from what I've heard)

 

OK, so I always operate the reef based on a range of numbers.  say for alkalinity, if i had to set a target, it would be 7.5-8.5.    because if I slack off and don't check and/or adjust my dosage for a while, I still have some safe zones on each side of that range (6.5-7.5 and 8.5-9.5).  on the flip side, if you can control and tighten your operating range down to say, 8.0-8.2 all day everyday, then your tank will reward you.  i have a friend (he goes by reefforest on IG) with apex/trident/dos setup that keep his system extremely steady. 

 

I've seen my tank at/below 6dKh earlier this year and all the way near 10, and everything that is healthy had managed to pull through those condition so far.  granted that the alk had to slowly drift away from the target range, given the corals a bit of time to acclimate, not just shooting up from 7 to 10 in hours or a day or two.  knock on wood with this last trip to 9.8-10ish dKh turned out ok. 

 

which brings me to a long version of 2 above.

how fast - hours/days = not good, weeks/months = 'ok', but your mileage may vary, other factors will likely contribute to health and survivability as well.

why did I say which direction matters - are you moving fast toward, or away from the ideal zone?  moving fast toward ideal zone is presumably easier for corals to adapt to.  

 

so, when you said "significantly in both directions", to me, it was really just one way swing toward a more-ideal condition (the one-day 2+ dKh drop from 9.8 to 7.5).  the tank probably took at least a week, probably two, to rise up to 9.8 when tested yesterday morning.    

 

Does any of that make sense?  Or does it really sound as much like rambling as I thought, lol.

 

 

21 hours ago, TheKleinReef said:

jeez a swing like that would nuke my tank. it's so dang fragile lol.

😄

we shall see if my rambling above means anything at all in a week or two, 🤣

Edited May 17, 2023 by mitten_reef
ps. i keep editing this a little bit every time i come back and read it, lol. can always find something to fill in to make sense of the rambling

[A.m.P]

Yeah, it's odd what corals can get used to, I notice more ill effects from the slow creep down in ALK than I do from knee-jerk correcting that level in a day with one big dose but that's definitely not the typical experience.

I think allot of it has to do with other parameters, PAR, nutrient level, light cycle, flow; I think it's all a big-picture deal.

[FISHnChix]

19 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

  i have a friend

No you don't..😆

 

 

On another note. tank is looking good buddy🍻🤙😎

[mitten_reef]

2 hours ago, FISHnChix said:

No you don't..😆

 

 

On another note. tank is looking good buddy🍻🤙😎

You’re right, who has any friends these days. 
Thanks 🙏 

[FISHnChix]

1 minute ago, mitten_reef said:

You’re right, who has any friends these days. 
Thanks 🙏 

Just my way of saying hey😘

[ml86743]

Thanks for taking the time to write that out, it absolutely makes sense.  I agree that swings over a longer period of time will allow more “wiggle” room and have less of an impact.  Depending on the coral of course.   It’s interesting to think about the direction (lower/higher from target range) and how one way may be easier/harder on corals.  I’ve never given that any thought.  

 

The information regarding how your corals look if your alk is out of range is helpful too!  I’m starting to notice subtle differences in a few of my montis when things are out of whack.  Acros haven’t looked “good” enough to compare haha.  After I can establish some growth all around, I’ll probably end up picking your brain about coloring up 😅
 

I’m extremely interested to see how my tank is handling the current dosing schedule I set.  The dosing pump was set up a few days ago and I’m out of town currently. hopefully, if my calculations were correct,  I should be in my sweet spot when I get back in town lol.  

 Thanks again for taking that time.   
 

 

[tanacharison]

It's interesting hearing your thoughts and talking about this.. I haven't added 2 part in 16 months because all the tank had was softy's and anemones. 30 days later of SPS and I'm already having issues keeping up. I unintentionally brought my alk from 9.3 to 8.4 and I'm slowly working back to 9.

[mitten_reef]

Fun stuff, woke up to the return pump not running this morning.  😅 

luckily, I like to hoard equipment and have an M1 in the backroom ready to swap in. I feel so special now running a fancy ecotech pump for the first time. 😂