Better than ever after tank crash

[imustbenuts]

I looked at my tank then looked at your pictures again and could do nothing but shake my head. I need to figure this out. I’m tired of spinning my wheels and going nowhere. Great job!

 

[kinetic]

I have never had a major tank crash, yet I could never get it as good as yours looks now. Congrats, you have the skills!

 

[IronChefItaly]

This little frag becomes a swan, from January to June 2017 ;Jawdrop

I didn't think such growth rates were possible. Just trying to imagine what your two part consumption would look like or quite possibly calcium reactor?

 

[IronChefItaly]

This little frag becomes a swan, from January to June 2017 ;Jawdrop

I didn't think such growth rates were possible. Just trying to imagine what your two part consumption would look like or quite possibly calcium reactor?

 

[Squamosa]

quite possibly calcium reactor

I made my own calcium reactor it holds 14 kg of media, mixing 2-part got old really fast a long time ago

 

[DJ Monty]

What an inspiration.. Great tank, I'm so pleased you stuck with it & showed what can be done....

 

[Jeffrey Dunn]

The present day...October 2017

Well done!

 

[NavyGuy2007]

Well done. My tank hasn't crashed but I have never been able to get it looking as good as others. I have clear water and watch my feeding but algae always seems to take hold. I do what I can to keep it down, regular water changes, watching levels like a hawk etc. I have good water quality but I never seem to get the same coral growth I've seen others get. Its kind of frustrating and I'm almost at the point of just scrapping it all and selling my setup.

 

[Davy Jones]

Very nice!

 

[Squamosa]

regular water changes,

My question would always be why?
A 10% change will remove 10% of your nutrients and so on, if people are using water changes to purely remove their nutrients then what a waste of a precious resource (water) that would be and what a waste of income.

Addition of bacteria sources, GAC, vodka, vinegar or other carbon sources together with ICP-OES testing should have eliminated the need for water changing.
A healthy bio-load of bacteria, corals, planktonic organisms, fish and other invertebrates will eventually eliminate any nuisance algae, but if only one little patch of Bryopsis or GHA or even cyano is present why 'nuke' the tank, I've learned that there is an ebb and flow of biology in the tank. One species dies off somewhere in the food web and another takes its place only to be replaced by another and so on, we just mustn't make hasty decisions but observe and ponder.

Get your nutrients to a low value; NO3 at 0.5-3 ppm and PO4 at 0.03-0.05 ppm
Alk close to NSW levels 7-8 dKH
Ca at ~400-420 ppm
Mg at 1300-1350 ppm
Addition of potassium, strontium and boron are important too. I find that levels of 10-12 ppm strontium increases growth.
Iodine/iodide is important too, but iron IMO is the most important, often the limiting factor in the uptake of other trace-elements or metals.

Cheers

Just my thoughts

 

[Squamosa]

A tiny frag of 'bird of paradise birds nest' a friend donated

September 16-October 15 2017

 

[tigé21v]

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.

I hope you do. I'd really like to see what kind of success you have with them. They are one of my favorites. I've never tried one myself, I have always heard they were difficult to keep around for any real length of time.

 

[Salty1962]

Awesome! There is life after death.;Happy

 

[imustbenuts]

You need to bottle your snake oil. We will buy it!!

 

[ReefInskeep]

Please post some links to the threads or other sites on Dutch reefing that inspired you. If you find the time, a build thread or complete methodology on your reef would be an immensely interesting read for all of us. Thank you for sharing!

 

[Squamosa]

I have always heard they were difficult to keep around for any real length of time.

I have always kept them before as I have any other coral with no issues.

High light (600+ PAR) will bring out the best colors I've found. They may start off slowly and and take time to adapt, but when they do, I've found them to grow fast, relatively speaking.

 

[Squamosa]

your snake oil.

That would imply that it doesn't work

 

[Squamosa]

threads or other sites on Dutch reefing

GlennF and his DSR system interested me many years ago and I initially followed his way of reef keeping butthen I just took the logical next step and progressed from there and moved on.
I follow the work of marine biologists like Tim Wijgerde (he also writes for advanced aquarist).

 

[tigé21v]

I have always kept them before as I have any other coral with no issues.

High light (600+ PAR) will bring out the best colors I've found. They may start off slowly and and take time to adapt, but when they do, I've found them to grow fast, relatively speaking.

Have you noticed, do you have better luck with spath colonies, or frags?
(It probably doesn't matter in that system of yours. lol)

 

[landlubber]

hats off to OP.
i lost my entire 2 year old tank about 7 months ago and it's been a fight since. i'm throwing in the towel on acropora due to the lack of growth or even encrusting even with stable parameters, top notch equipment and loyal husbandry. very frustrating for me so it's nice to see it working for someone.