Better than ever after tank crash

[Sierra_Bravo]

Just..."wow". Amazing growth and color.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Just amazing!! Well done!

 

[rushbattle]

Can’t believe I’m the first to ask, but any chance you want to share your trace metal recipe(s)? It seems you’ve found a magic Elixir!!!

 

[reefpaddy]

I have tried every additive and had a mixed bag of results or none at all, so I put my training in science to good use, researched and made a series of trace element solutions of my own to use and bingo, they work!

Bottle them, add your own label and make a fortune! (Based on your Coral progression this year)

 

[litenyaup]

Very nice! Message sent about the element cocktail you used!!!

 

[litenyaup]

Very nice! Message sent about the element cocktail you used!!!

 

[Radman73]

Impressive comeback. Congrats on staying in it. Had to be a tough decision after a heartbreaking loss.

 

[MrWheelock]

Truly amazing! I also would love to know more about your filter and elements!

 

[Squamosa]

If you have other threads or information on your DIY filter or reactors would enjoy the read

I don't, but I should!
I just need more hours in the day

 

[MillerR.]

you've given me hope about my current recovery i'm experiencing at the moment! Right now im dealing with GHA, how did you deal with yours?

 

[Squamosa]

you've given me hope about my current recovery i'm experiencing at the moment! Right now im dealing with GHA, how did you deal with yours?

Snails, rabbit fish and a foxface, together with reducing nutrients, particularly PO4, the addition of a bacteria source in Vibrant and a bit of patience.

Don't give up

 

[Squamosa]

You have any Spaths in there?

No I don't, they just fell out of favor with me, I guess because they grow so slowly and need really high light to intensify the colors and....I ran out of room

But now you have got me thinking and I will pick-up a colony to test the growth and compare, as I used to keep many color variations of them in the past.

 

[JennHern]

Incredible! Congratulations on such a stellar comeback!

 

[Squamosa]

how did you come up with the idea to do the crushed coral filter?

I've always admired the Dutch approach to reef keeping and read voraciously on anything new being developed as well as speaking to people behind the scenes. There was a thread on this forum by someone who had replicated the Dutch system and it made for fascinating reading even if it did turn into almost a technical manual.
There is also a Japanese gentleman on this forum that uses a kind of sponge undergravel filter and also makes for fascinating reading, but the translation into English isn't the best and it's heavy going with the reading.

A recirculating filter offering huge surface area for bacteria to do their work was always on my mind, I just had to get the crushed coral to tank volume ratio right and after more reading saw that 10% was the minimum value, I went with ~13% of crushed coral and with trial and error experimented with different volumes of tank water entering the filter.
The dutch system turns on and off based on ORP readings and is controlled by computer, I didn't want that complexity.
Initially a vodka carbon sourced was dosed directly into the filter but when my NO3 levels reached zero, I slowly removed the vodka and now run with no carbon source.

I do add a vial of Prodibio every fortnight, it may help it may not.

I hope that answers some of your questions

 

[Squamosa]

So no protein skimmer and you don't dose the big 3

I have my own calcium reactor that takes care of the big three although I still dose Mg from time to time, my tank is very hungry for mg and strontium among others!

 

[Squamosa]

I really like the colored sticks but the soft stuff is growing on me a little bit
With the odd sponge and symbiont thrown in too

 

[Mal11224]

Looked at this thread a few times. It's just amazing. I see you have an LED/T5 combo... would you mind sharing your photo period for your combo? I have a T5 that I want to supplement with my Kessil AP700 but I'm nervous that I will bleach my corals.

 

[MillerR.]

Great minds! Exactly what i'm doing; Foxface didnt make it but hoping to find another soon. Thanks for the reply!

Snails, rabbit fish and a foxface, together with reducing nutrients, particularly PO4, the addition of a bacteria source in Vibrant and a bit of patience.

Don't give up

 

[Squamosa]

Looked at this thread a few times. It's just amazing. I see you have an LED/T5 combo... would you mind sharing your photo period for your combo? I have a T5 that I want to supplement with my Kessil AP700 but I'm nervous that I will bleach my corals.

Sure.
I have 2 Radion Gen 3 Pro's that run what is a hybrid version of David Saxby's Hydra program. By that I mean they turn on at 7 AM and ramp up to the SPS AB+ program at 100% intensity till 9 AM, then they start a saw tooth cycle where they ramp up to all channels 100% for a half hour and immediately ramp back down to AB+ for a half hour, this alternate lighting ramping goes on till 6 PM when the lights slowly fade away until they turn off at 9PM. From what little I could read on this subject, this apparently prevents photo inhibition.

On either side of the LED's I have 2 T5's (54W) each fixture has one ATI Purple plus and One ATI blue plus in it. They run from 8 AM to 6 PM.

I hope this makes sense

 

[SashimiTurtle]

/drool... your growth rate is amazing. Great comeback.