princer7 Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Those polyps are huge!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 yeah...and they get bigger! Those pics were taken once it was out of the bag for 2 hrs...today they are all puffed up...incredible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 I'm wondering if those are Acanthastrea Bowerbanki....their polyps swell large in comparison to the "lodrs". By the way, awesome colony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 Here is my final acan addition for now. Its not as big as the others, but I love the colors! ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishypets Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 nice echinata. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Aghhhh!! If I new you wanted an echinata, I would of offer 2 that I'm trying to get rid off. They look better under the 14K phoenix bulbs, IMO. They're pretty but they need their space from other corals or they'll put out stingers @ night time. Just be cautious about the placement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 Being tired of brown corals and no growth, I decided to start the Polyp Lab's RF Fuel system on June 1. The system is basically a carbon source dosing system. There is a carbon source (smells like vinegar), a bacterial strain, an amino acid and a coral food bottle. I opted for the "optimal" dosing which is an everyday dose of the bottles. Every am I dose 2 mL of the carbon source and 4 drops of the bacterial strain. At night, i dose the amino acids and the coral food. Again, 4 drops each. The results? Well, My zoas are multiplying like crazy where as before the system, they would grow, stop growing, then either stall out completely, or disappear. My SPS is growing by leaps and bounds. I swear some pieces grow before my eyes. As for coloring of the corals, before the system, most of my corals were green. Even my cali tort was largely green. Now pieces there were brown are coloring up, and other pieces like my rainbow mille are losing their green in favor of red and blue. Overall, I HIGHLY recommend the system. $175 isn't cheap, but it will last 8 months on a 100 gallon system, dosing it everyday. From my research, I've read that once you get the tank rolling (2mo-ish), you can back off to every 2 or 3 days. In my opinion, spending around $250 yearly to see great growth and great colorization of your corals is worth it. Just go look at Aquatek's show tank...it runs the system and Bruce swears by it. Below are some pics of the growth. I'm no photographer so the pics aren't the best but you get the idea. Yellow Zoas. 5 weeks of growth. Something to note is that some of the heads got brown slime and after 2 days, they had lost the slime and opened back up. This never happened before I started the system. Before: 5 weeks later: Cali Tort. This is a slow growing coral. Note the bottom branch and the tip. In the first pic, the bottom branch is small and straight. Now it has baby branches off it and the base has encrusted more. Tip growth is a good 1/4"AND ITS LESS GREEN!! Also, notice the growth of the base. On the left hand part of the rock in pic #1, there is a patch of red algae. In pic #2, it is completely encrusted over it. Before: After Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Do you still feed anything else (reef roids ect.) or is this a all in one package? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Nice! Am very glad to see positive results from this. I started this same dosing regiment a few weeks back, so looking forward to having similar results Have you noticed any improvements/changes with your acans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 I feed oyster feast every 2-3 days. I have reef roids, but its too big a PITA IMO to target feed when I can just squirt in the oyster feast and be done. My acans aren't showing any major improvements, but I didn't have them in the tank (I think) before I started the system. I will say they are very puffy and very colorful. The biggest change was in my zoas and SPS. I've got crazy zoa and SPS growth. I think the rest of my SPS will color up over the next few months as they aren't as quick to respond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 It's about time. Glad to see the system is working for you. You can also just dump the reef roids in the tank with the power heads off and turn off your skimmer for about an hour then restart them. Dave- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Glad that things are turning for the best. Did your chalice colored up? Keep us posted for the 6 month growth/update, it will be interesting to see the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 chalice jas turned red and is slowing coming back. Still might sell it. Wife thinks its boring b/c it doesn't sway in the wavebox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 here's what I'm seeing on a weekly basis. Love this system. Last week (7.12) Yellow Zoas This week 7.22 Cali Tort Last week This week. Notice the growth on the tip. The two small coralites are just coming into view last week, this week, they are fully developed. Also, notice the larger branch on the lower right[./b] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Very nice! I am starting to see some growth in my previously-not-doing-anything pink zoas. My problem with this system is just remembering to do the dosing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishypets Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Good growth Pug. In my experience the CA tort takes a long time to establish it's base but once it does it will be one of the fastest growing sps in your tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 Good growth Pug. In my experience the CA tort takes a long time to establish it's base but once it does it will be one of the fastest growing sps in your tank. I'm ok with that fact! Even its base is encrusting faster too. I haven't been able to take any pics of my pink lemonade, but It has started building a solid base for itself since the system started too. I believe the pink lemonade is a slow grower...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishypets Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I also have a pink lemonade frag which I mounted sideway and so far it has developed this massive three to four inch base without growing upward. I know the upward growth is coming but the base it's laying down is awesome. I hear once it takes off it too will be a pretty fast grower. Ths picture was taken three weeks ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 I'm taking a break from acquiring corals to turn my attention to getting a couple of more fish. More fish poop = more coral food. I picked up a bicolor blenny today from Fishy Business. I've had my eye on one of these guys for a while and he already has quite the personality. He likes to find small caves and stick his head out to watch for food passing by. My next fish will probably be a pair of fire fish. I'm also impressed by dapettit's pair of pyramid butterfly fish, but I'm concerned by purple tang would go after them. He's an insecure fish that will cash other fish around the tank and when they turn on him, he runs away. Here is the newbie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Gotta love a blenny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 yep. They are easy keepers with a lot of personality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Cool blenny. One word of caution though. I had one back in the day, and it took a liking to nipping at my orange plate coral But that could have just been that fish. The pyramid's looked cool when I saw them in a store, and I almost had gotten then But they were just arrived, so I wanted to wait a bit. When I went back, they were gone (might have been the ones Dave bought). I ended up with a twin spot tang instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhart032 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 wow hes a cool looking fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 They also like to nip at clams so keep an eye on him. We had one it was great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 I've seen him nip once or twice @ some SPS, but only as he was cruising over the rocks around the pieces eating algae. I'm not real worried as i'll keep him well fed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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