Better than ever after tank crash

Squamosa · Jan 10, 2018

Pictures of the corals as they are now, green disappearing and colors returning!

Squamosa · Jan 10, 2018

tutmatt3 said:
I brought strontium up myself. We'll see what happens!

I have always found that when concentrations reach 10 ppm or slightly higher, that growth gets a kick in the pants

tutmatt3 · Jan 12, 2018

Man.. amazing comeback & sorry to hear you lost quite a bit of your colonies, but it looks like ur tank has growth kicking back in in no time!

Squamosa said:
I have always found that when concentrations reach 10 ppm or slightly higher, that growth gets a kick in the pants

Yeah, I got levels in that range finally. Hopefully they stay there & we'll see how the rest kicks off.

Still feel as if something is 'off' with my system, but only time will tell if it gets better

tutmatt3 · Jan 15, 2018

1 More question - Do you still micro-bubble?

Squamosa · Jan 15, 2018

tutmatt3 said:
1 More question - Do you still micro-bubble?

No not in the DT, however, I run a bubbler in the sump once/week for 24hrs, this does an amazing job of keeping it squeaky clean

Ashish Patel · Jan 18, 2018

Your a gifted aquarist, and one with major resilience

CoralWealth · Jan 18, 2018

what iron and strontium do you dose?

FarmerTy · Jan 18, 2018

Glad to see my fellow no water change buddy back on his feet! Tank looks excellent sir! I'm still fighting the post-move blues (moved in March) but tank seems to be stabilizing the last month or so.

So you're not carbon dosing anymore and using the crushed coral "reactor". Very interesting!

Also, noticed you dosed traces. Strontium, iron, iodine/iodide, and boron. Can you share a little more about your routine and the products you use to dose? Very curious about this even though most of my elements are in the right parameters currently. I just want to know now how to do it so when I need it, I can be ready. [emoji3]

Great comeback man! [emoji106]

Squamosa · Jan 18, 2018

codydemmel4 said:
what iron and strontium do you dose?

My own iron citrate mix and strontium chloride when levels need adjusting.

Squamosa · Jan 18, 2018

FarmerTy said:
Glad to see my fellow no water change buddy back on his feet! Tank looks excellent sir! I'm still fighting the post-move blues (moved in March) but tank seems to be stabilizing the last month or so.

So you're not carbon dosing anymore and using the crushed coral "reactor". Very interesting!

Also, noticed you dosed traces. Strontium, iron, iodine/iodide, and boron. Can you share a little more about your routine and the products you use to dose? Very curious about this even though most of my elements are in the right parameters currently. I just want to know now how to do it so when I need it, I can be ready.

Great comeback man!

Thanks for the kind words.

I feel your moving pain, my tank has taken one month to turn around but is now on its way to being a showstopper.

I don't need the carbon source any more, the filter/reactor is that efficient, from time to time (once every month or so) I add 10 ml of vodka to the intake of the filter to give the bacteria a boost.

I dose trace elements made by professional coral solutions, this takes care of all my levels and is dosed once/week according to instructions. If individual elements need adjusting I will add the required chemical e.g. strontium chloride or boron e.t.c. A large D.I.Y. calcium reactor takes care of everything else

And of course no water changes

tutmatt3 · Jan 19, 2018

Give us a video of your tank next time, w/ some closeups!

Squamosa · Jan 23, 2018

I have actively worked on keeping the nutrients very low because I want to bring out the colour highlights of the corals and rid them of as much of the green zooanthellae as possible.
These images are taken two weeks apart.
NO3 = 0
PO4 = 0.028 ppm

Dogtown · Jan 23, 2018

This is really impressive. Nice work!

How you test your Boron level? I have been unable to find a Boron test kit for sale in the US. The Salifert Boron test kit is the only brand I could even find and they don't sell it in the US. I found it for sale in Europe but couldn't bring myself to paying $30+ in shipping for a $14 test kit. What brand test kit do you use and where do you buy yours from? Also, is it a simple/quick test to perform?

tutmatt3 · Jan 23, 2018

Any other coral responding the same way?
Not afraid to starve them with 0nits?

Btw, so far I've been bubbling about one week and already have new stems on some frags, and much better PE, and way cleaner water

EDIT: Btw, I know you use radion on that zigzag sch, but how high do you have your lights mounted?

Squamosa · Jan 23, 2018

Dogtown said:
How you test your Boron level?

I use the Salifert test and had it ordered in for me from my LFS, but it's very finicky to use. A triton test is also done every 4-6 months. Boron levels don't deplete very fast at all in my tank.

Squamosa · Jan 23, 2018

tutmatt3 said:
Any other coral responding the same way

Yes, all Acropora sp. responding in a similar way.

tutmatt3 said:
Not afraid to starve them with 0nits?

Not yet, when the colors get to where I want them, I'll look at bringing nutrients up slightly.

tutmatt3 said:
how high do you have your lights mounted

They are ~20 inches from the surface!

Dogtown · Jan 24, 2018

Squamosa said:
I use the Salifert test and had it ordered in for me from my LFS, but it's very finicky to use. A triton test is also done every 4-6 months. Boron levels don't deplete very fast at all in my tank.

Thanks says alot of good about your LFS. Did they charge and arm and a leg or under $20?