Bpb Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 Picked up another round of sps two days ago. Took a few snapshots and am trying the photobucket thing instead of attachments. Everything's looking ok so far. Best news is the Hawkins lives, for now anyway. I fragged off the top 1" or so of the mini colony in an effort to stop the STN that began weeks ago in the tank I picked it up from. Sandbed and frag rack are pretty full at this point. Also picked up a purple Acropora meridiana, Cali tort, purple slimer (can't find info online about this one, but that was the name given), strawberry shortcake table Acro, two different un named smooth skin acros, sunset montipora, and another random red Acro that has a sort of iridescent blue sheen to it. Happy to get some nice corals going, but can't wait to have a clear beach. Also hadn't planned on it, but I added about another 1/3 cup of bio pellets. I took the reactor out to clean it up a bit and noticed that my level of pellets has dropped noticeably since I filled it. Got rid of the MJ4000, and am now running the sicce syncra 3.0 on the low setting as the return pump, and a jaebo 3000lv dc pump as the reactor pump. Noise level has gone down significantly, and now the refrigerator and freshwater tank are louder than the reef. Unfortunately I can't run the reactor pump in the skimmer chamber to avoid catching pods. Just not enough room. Added some grape caulerpa and chaeto to the Fuge as well. There's a layer of detritus coating the Fuge which I'll leave for now as it seems to be a feeding ground for pods. A second concern is the rock flower anemone in the Fuge. Should I get that out? Is it going to consume the pods in there? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 The phoenix rises again! Looking good man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 3, 2014 Author Share Posted July 3, 2014 New additions to the tank. Picked up 3 emerald crabs at petco today. Buddy of mine that works there was good enough to pick out every emerald in the tank and let me closely inspect each one so I could pick out the three smallest females. I know mithrix crabs are almost always a gamble to some degree, but I've got several juicy patches of bubble algae going I figured I'd give them a try. They're slow enough that I am confident I can catch perpetrators fairly easily. Already have. After lights out I observed one brave emerald roaming the sand tirelessly. Convinced they're fairly dumb. It seemed to aimlessly just sort of pick at everything looking for something to come loose. Not deliberately eating anything but just very curious. Got irritated after it was clinging to and climbing all over the acros on the sand. I expect it to happen but was getting impatient and didn't want her to discover polyps before algae. Easily picked her up with the tongs after about 20 seconds of persuit. Plopped her right down on a big bubble algwe patch. Latched on immediately and watched with my own two eyes as she carefully picked individual bubbles off the mass and stuff them in her mouth area. Pretty cool. Turns out they literally do like bubble algae. 3 for my tank might be one or two too many, as I don't want them to starve, as I know that's when they typically go after fish and polyps, but I know enough locals that would gladly take one, plus I have an algae filled fuge that I'm convinced one could gorge themselves in. I wonder if emeralds are bad pod eaters. Couldn't find much into on that. Already seeing a lot of pods scurrying around in the fuge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 So whats the status of the BML lights? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 (edited) Well...I'll preface this by saying I'm excited about owning them. Heard such fantastic things. I'm going to Austin Friday for a rehearsal and a gig, but I'll be leaving for town in the morning so I can go by aquadome and/or aquatek to check out a super actinic and the 14k reef spec prefab units they've both got in stock. Actually considering running two BML strips now instead of just one. One in front and one behind the mh reflectors. Like what paletta does with the reefbrites on his 300 gal basement tank. Being said, after two email exchanges a couple weeks ago they've went dark on communication. Cara said she was going to bring our conversation about the proposed layout to nick to see what he thinks of it, but never heard back. Yes, I'm irritated, but it'll get put together eventually. I may end up picking up a 14k unit, run it now, and have BML do a custom actinic strip, combining 405, 420, 450, and 470 nm diodes. OR buy a stock super actinic, and have them build me a custom full spectrum strip that contains a number of whites. It'll just depend on what I see in Austin this weekend. OR I could just forego any BML strips entirely and just build my mh photoperiod up to 10 hours and call it a day with no supplements. "Cheap" stunner strips have been suggested, but I'd want two 48" strips. That's $60 per strip, and $35 per power supply. If I'm ponying up $200 on stunner strips, why not throw down $50 extra and get a waterproof apex controlled strip from BML. I dunno. The radiums look spectacular. Love them. But I feel like if I got an led strip up front I'd be able to illuminate some shadow areas created by rock overhangs and eventually shadowing corals will create. At the end of the day, I just like buying cool gear for the tank. It's a problem Edited July 7, 2014 by Bpb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 I've had a "cheap" stunner strip on the front of mine for the last 2-3 years for my dawn to dusk... and that's it. It's not even calculated into my par levels, just some nice blue for dawn to dusk and it cuts out 30 mins before and after my MHs turn on and off. I got it on the cheap though else I probably would have ponied up for a BML strip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 (edited) Yeah we had discussed it Ty, and you actually convinced me to go that route until I started pricing them out new. They're just not as affordable as one would think. And if they're not up used for sale, they're not up used. Nothing I can do about that. I also wonder if I'm encountering some low ligjting situation. My Miami hurricane chalice is dark purple instead of teal/turquoise blue, which indicates it's getting too little light. Lots of healthy browning in the acros too. Not angry browning. Just thick healthy zoaxanthellae changes running through the tissue with brown polyps which could also indicate low lighting as well. Granted, none are higher than half way up, but I was kind of hoping to have VERY high lighting up top and high lighting low down so I could put acros even on the sand. Might need to lower the halide down some too. The bases of the pedants are 12" off the water Zero bleaching anywhere. Par meter would be helpful, but who the heck wants to buy one of those Edited July 7, 2014 by Bpb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Interesting. Do they not have an option online to build it and order it after you build it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I got a used one back in the day so it worked out for me. If you're going to be serious about SPS, I'd highly recommend knowing your par values just for future placement of corals. Maybe you can borrow the one at RCA. I'd give the SPS time to acclimate to your tank before changing anything. They may just be adjusting to your system after being in another system. Your pendants are definitely mounted higher than in my old 125 gal. Mine was at 8" off water surface running 250 watts and I was getting 150-200 par on the sand... only good enough for any low light SPS only and zoas. Sent via Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 You know, Jonathan, if you lead a BCS chapter for ARC we could potentially own a club PAR meter and pass it around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Pedretti Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Lol you mean back and forth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Good call Dustin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Blah blah blah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Interesting. Do they not have an option online to build it and order it after you build it? They do, but their online build module lacks the 420 nm diodes which are fairly Important. A massive amount of photosynthetic absorption occurs there, as well as fluorescence I got a used one back in the day so it worked out for me. If you're going to be serious about SPS, I'd highly recommend knowing your par values just for future placement of corals. Maybe you can borrow the one at RCA. I'd give the SPS time to acclimate to your tank before changing anything. They may just be adjusting to your system after being in another system. Your pendants are definitely mounted higher than in my old 125 gal. Mine was at 8" off water surface running 250 watts and I was getting 150-200 par on the sand... only good enough for any low light SPS only and zoas. Sent via Tapatalk Well Ty as I am serious about sps, I suppose it's not a terrible idea to buy one. Again. Sucks that it'll have to be new. I never see them for sale used. How do you calibrate them or are the factory calibrations pretty stable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I don't know anything about calibration but I'd be surprised if you couldn't borrow the one at RCA with the regularity of your Austin visits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Lol just price checked them. I don't know why I had $150 stuck in my head as the cost new. They're $375 through most vendors. I'm gonna rethink that decision. I'll see about borrowing one. At this point I'm also still increasing the photoperiod weekly and will likely stop around the 8 hour mark, Then work on lowering the fixtures until heat isn't manageable. They're radiums, which according to Sanjay are some of the lowest par MH bulbs on the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Interesting. Do they not have an option online to build it and order it after you build it?They do, but their online build module lacks the 420 nm diodes which are fairly Important. A massive amount of photosynthetic absorption occurs there, as well as fluorescence I got a used one back in the day so it worked out for me. If you're going to be serious about SPS, I'd highly recommend knowing your par values just for future placement of corals. Maybe you can borrow the one at RCA. I'd give the SPS time to acclimate to your tank before changing anything. They may just be adjusting to your system after being in another system. Your pendants are definitely mounted higher than in my old 125 gal. Mine was at 8" off water surface running 250 watts and I was getting 150-200 par on the sand... only good enough for any low light SPS only and zoas. Sent via Tapatalk Well Ty as I am serious about sps, I suppose it's not a terrible idea to buy one. Again. Sucks that it'll have to be new. I never see them for sale used. How do you calibrate them or are the factory calibrations pretty stable?So then its not a full "build your own light" option then? It would be nice if they let you customize all by yourself and then just place the order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 It is. They have every other color under the sun, you just have to go through the actual human beings that work there if you want 420 nm LEDs in the strip. I have no idea why they don't add them to the spectrum module on the website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Well they should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 Well...interesting discovery. Slightly overshot my magnesium dosing. It was a little low in the 1100's, so I boosted it up over a week or so using BRS products. Rodi water with magnesium sulfate:magnesium chloride at a 3:5 ratio. Overshot it and it's hanging out right at 1700 ppm. I know that's not DANGEROUS, so I'm not trying to lower it, as it'll come down on its own. My observation though, bryopsis still growing. Little tufts all over the glass. Not worried as I know algae blooms come and go and algae doesn't really bother me that much. Tang nibbles it a bit. Emeralds have discovered it and pick off what they can reach. But the conclusion I've reached is that it must be something specific in Kent Marin Tech M that kills bryopsis, NOT simply raising magnesium levels over 1600 ppm. Fine with me. Going to order some at some point in case I get too irritated with it. My emerald crabs aren't eating any coral right now, and I see bubble algae disappearing little by little. The little buggers do like perch on the shaded undersides of my acros. Not that big a deal. Polyps still extended. Just wish they'd perch elsewhere. There are lots of other great locations to hide lol. Other good news. I kept all the ugly encrusted bases of the sps colonies I cut up and sold off. I was sure they'd all die but they actually haven't. Not only did the RTN and STN stop, but they're now growing back over the dead parts and new branches have formed where they were originally cut. Good stuff. I know you led folks will roll your eyes, but I gotta say. I love metal halides. I attribute the positive growth and transition success 90% to lighting. Could be wrong. My rainbow montipora has also completely grown back over the 2-2" pieces I had cut out to save in just 3 short weeks. I'm not gonna go bonkers on new species as I want my stuff to have ample room to grow out, but I'd still like to add montipora setosa, mind trick montipora, and superman montipora. I've still not decided where to put my rainbow montipora and sunset montipora. Encrusters look great but claim massive real estate if not careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 That's great news about the recovery. Yeah, it is true what they said about tech m, found the same results. I should have all your montis you desire and even a gallon of tech m if you wanted to go shopping at farmer Ty's next time you're in town. Just make sure you bring your membership card and I only take debit or American Express. Sent via Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 Farmer Ian has got me a frag of farmer Ty setosa waiting currently. However...I will be in town on the 26th I believe and would love to come by and pick a few things up then if you've got them. Pm or text me prices and inventory lol. Pretty zoas and smooth skin acros are on my radar as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Sharecropper more like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) Cleared off two full frag racks and my whole sandbed. Only things left on the sand are permanent residents. Got most the sps mounted onto the rocks. May do a bit of rearranging, as I got tired of working on it (canopy is not conducive to easy aquascaping). May adjust things a bit, due to too much red next to red and so forth. Partially my fault. Green being such a common color, I've sought out mostly reds and purples. In typical fashion for me I overcompensated and now need more green and blue. Sps growth pics will be taken at the first of the month to make monthly growth chronicling easier. I've created kind of a softy/Lps corner on the short side of the tank past the overflow. Here's a pic of that. Turned out pretty good. Frag rack is mucking up the shot. Edited July 14, 2014 by Bpb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Looking good Bpb! I'm sure there are plenty on this board that'll help you out with your too much red problem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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