BPB'S 90 GALLON SPS DOMINANT

[LarryD]

What are the bright orange corals top left and top center of the second picture and the multi coloured coral top left of the third picture just below and to the right of the hammer coral?

[Bpb]

The bright orange ones are just your run of the I'll montipora caps.   I had a bigger one growing but didn't like where it was so I broke it up and discarded most and moved some healthy pieces to the bottom side of the tank so they don't shade anything in the future.   They're actually more of a pink/salmon color but the camera shows them as Orange for some reason.   

 

The other one i think you're talking about is an orange and purple leptastrea.   Encrusting LPS.  One of my favorites.   Not a real rarity but not something you see all over the place.   I hate that mine is basically trapped.  Cannot encrust any further.   It is flanked on all sides by stuff it isn't powerful enough to push back

[Bpb]

One last pic for the day.  Oldie but goodie.   Still one of my favorites despite the treasure trove of Aqua culture acros available today.  Hawkins echinata.   May I have better luck with this one than previous attempts it's small but I love it's placement color wise with its surroundings 

[LarryD]

That is the one I was talking about.

[Bpb]

You'll be terribly disappointed to find out that's just the top of an old frag plug that is epoxied to the the rocks that has green and red coraline algwe on it.  The urchin keeps it from getting dirty.   It's been there for years

[LarryD]

17 minutes ago, Bpb said:

You'll be terribly disappointed to find out that's just the top of an old frag plug that is epoxied to the the rocks that has green and red coraline algwe on it.  The urchin keeps it from getting dirty.   It's been there for years

That is great sign me up for it because it looks neat from the top down.

[Bpb]

Some progress being made slowly but surely. Positive growth. Happy with improvements in color. But happiest of all that my tank is actually NOT cursed. I began to swear it was cursed.
Not sure what most these acros are actually called and I'm ok with that. Most of them just random acquisitions.

Sad and happy to inform that down the line here in the not so distant future I'll be taking a brief break from the hobby. We are about to list our house and try to get ourselves into a forever home (or at least a 20 year home). My tank is aged enough as it is and not the nicest so I don't know how much longer I'd feel comfortable with the seams or stand. Especially considering how much has been spilled in it.

I'll be keeping my eyes out for something bigger, nicer, and hopefully newer. Considering maybe an sca 150 package. Sadly reef savvy will not likely ever be in my budget. Wanting to end up in the 120-180 range. I like the idea of a 150 because it would require zero equipment upgrades. Just a little extra leg room. I digress. Haven't told the wife yet that we will have to budget in a bit more money for a tank upgrade lol. I'll be pretty hard headed about this one.

Sad that I'll basically have to sell off fish and coral I've had for many years. Just no logical way to keep them during a move like I anticipate. My rocks are also infested with aiptasia and discosoma shrooms I just cannot manage to stay on top of. I'm tired of one at a timing them and want to just nuke my rocks and start over completely. Be patient for a year or so then start in with acros again. Hopefully next time around no crashes and no interruptions. Just once i want a tank packed with colonies I can be proud of


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[jolt]

Corals are looking real good to my eye!

[Bpb]

Thanks man!!


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[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

Man I love the diversity in your tank! SPS, LPS, encrusting, branching, plating, softies, you have it all! The green bubble coral is amazing! Especially against that purple stylo. Well done

[Bluemoon]

Seriously, looking awesome!  Looks like the tank has progressed a lot.

[Bpb]

Thanks fellas. Very kind words


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[Bpb]

Changed up the bulb combo. I’ve always really favorited a more natural hue to the tank. Definitely bucks the current trend of heavy royal blue dominated tanks and all the mega photoshopped-amber-lensed rainbow tenuis type things that are so popular now.

I still honestly prefer a mid day look. 10k halides with Blue supplement is still my favorite appearance. My tank lately has just been too blue for my taste so I decided to go against the grain and brighten it up.

Above are the before and after shots. Top bulb arrangement is

Blue+
True actinic
Coral+
Blue+
Blue+
Coral+
True actinic
Blue+

New arrangement is

Blue+
True actinic
6500k
Blue+
Blue+
6500k
True actinic
Blue+

I’m really enjoying it.


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[+BobcatReefer]

Man, wish you would have posted earlier today! ha!  Ordered new bulbs today.  Only a 4 bulb fixture, w/ 2 blue and 2 white, and I went w/ these:

White: Coral+, Aquablue Special

Blue: Blue+, Purple+ 

[Bpb]

I have no doubt you’ll enjoy that color though. Mine isn’t the PERFECT combo. Some acros have browned immediately. But what really stands out is the purples. Any purple or violet variation really looks nice under the new lights. Blues tend to wash out purple I feel like.


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[Paula]

What a gorgeous tank!

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[Bpb]

Thanks!

Just administered the first full tank interceptor treatment this morning. I knew my lack of quarantine would come back to bite me eventually. Oddly enough all the acros are actually growing really well, have passable color and most decent PE. I just know without the red bugs they’d be doing even better


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[Bpb]

Also....question for you acro guys.

I’m getting very thin branch growth. I know the classic causes for that are weak flow and high nutrients. My po4 has stayed between 0.03-0.07 and no3 between undetectable-2 ppm for many many months now. No odd nutrient spokes. And enough flow to constantly keep making bald spots all over the sand. Any ideas as to why the brittle growth?


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[FarmerTy]

Depends which acros BPB. Which ones are experiencing it?

[Bpb]

Green slimer. Cali tort, a nasuta and a couple other no namers. The slimer is the worst culprit. I started with a single piece, about 4” long and as thick around as my thumb. The new branches on the top are like spaghetti noodles. I’ll post some pics when I get home from the auto shop. You can see the green slimer in the pic above though. Top left of the tank if you zoom.


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[FarmerTy]

Holy skinny branches! Its like those guys who only work out their upper body but skip leg days.

I know you said you had enough flow to blow sand, hows the regional flow around the slimer colony though? Is it getting a good blast too?

[Bpb]

The slimer is getting pretty strong flow. My powerheads have an alternating gyre and it basically comes down right on top of it.

Think the bugs could have caused thin branches? Interceptor treatment success so far. Nothing looks mad. At the six hour mark now and am mixing up water for a water change. Amidst the chaos I managed to add my first ever aquacultured acro straight from the source. An ORA Laura’s purple polyp acro. This pic was taken the second after I dried my hands from gluing it down.

I cut it from their black plug because I couldn’t break the stem. Also ordered an aiptasia filefish but it was DOA




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[FarmerTy]

The slimer is getting pretty strong flow. My powerheads have an alternating gyre and it basically comes down right on top of it.

Think the bugs could have caused thin branches? Interceptor treatment success so far. Nothing looks mad. At the six hour mark now and am mixing up water for a water change. Amidst the chaos I managed to add my first ever aquacultured acro straight from the source. An ORA Laura’s purple polyp acro. This pic was taken the second after I dried my hands from gluing it down.

I cut it from their black plug because I couldn’t break the stem. Also ordered an aiptasia filefish but it was DOA




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Hmm, potentially but not really sure about the bugs. I guess anything that can alter normal growth characteristics such as a pest could be a potential source for thin branches.

I love the ORA Laura's purple polyp. Nice grab! That's basically a mini colony!

[RobR]

BPB the tank is looking great. Your SPS are looking awesome. Just read and got caught up in your thread and it seems like you are very happy with the CARx.  I too am thinking of getting the GEO 618 for my system once I get it set up, it looks like a very well made reactor.  Got a quick question for you, where did you get your regulators? The dual stage regulators seem like the best way to go for reliability and longevity. Also loving your Lifereef skimmer I just picked one up as well and am hoping that it will be a great skimmer.  Looking forward to some more updates on the tank!!!

[Bpb]

Thanks for the comments man! I do love the quality of the geo reactors. They’re very no nonsense. Not a lot of tiny thin plastic specialized parts. Seems like literally everything except maybe the lid and body could be replaced without having to special order. Acrylic is super thick and durable as well. Zero complaints. I wish I had gone with the smaller version though. In over a year of use my media level has dropped maybe an inch. Just way oversized.

Love the lifereef as well. Mine is old AF and has hazing and what not but minus a small repair I had to do it is built like a tank. Thick and heavy. Love it. Not the most energy efficient but I love it’s huge capacity and higher flow. With my 10 fish, three time a day feeding, and small amount of vodka dosing, I keep my po4 between 0.03-0.07 and my NO3 between 0-2 ppm. It’s all working real well.

The regulators are typically built. These companies don’t sell assembled regulators with the fittings and pieces we use for our purposes so they typically are assembled by the user. I didn’t have the time or inclination to hunt down all the correct fittings so I just got mine on the classifieds in RC and on Marsh. You can expect to pay between 200-300 for a good one (great ones will be higher of course). I wouldn’t go any other way honestly. Though if you’re keeping your gas near the sump, I’d strongly recommend stainless steel or at least chrome plated brass because my unfinished brass regulator is getting some heavy oxidization on it as a result of the salty air under the sump.


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