Bubba's SPS Journey

[nbd13]

Thank you

It is pretty nice.

Yes this one is on one of those tiles.

Where did you get those tiles?

BTW, been following along, very nice tank and collection of corals!

 

[bubbaque]

Where did you get those tiles?

BTW, been following along, very nice tank and collection of corals!

Just plain travertine tiles from Home depot.

Thank you!

 

[nbd13]

Just plain travertine tiles from Home depot.

Thank you!

Thanks! They don’t leach anything overtime?

 

[Fudsey]

Love them, use one to mount my trumpet to and put under the sand so conchs wouldn't knock it over.

Thanks for the tip again Bubba ! !

 

[bubbaque]

Thanks! They don’t leach anything overtime?

I have been using probably a hundred of them for a couple years now with no issue. I know a few other people started using them also and I don't believe they had an issue either.

Love them, use one to mount my trumpet to and put under the sand so conchs wouldn't knock it over.

Thanks for the tip again Bubba ! !

Haha, I use one for the same reason but for a torch coral I have.

 

[nbd13]

I have been using probably a hundred of them for a couple years now with no issue. I know a few other people started using them also and I don't believe they had an issue either.

Haha, I use one for the same reason but for a torch coral I have.

Thanks. So just 4x4 travertine tiles from
Home Depot right? Might pick some up!

 

[Fudsey]

These are the ones I got

https://www.homedepot.com/p/MSI-Chi...ll-Tile-1-sq-ft-case-THDW3-T-CH4X4T/100664317

 

[bubbaque]

Yep those are the ones.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Very NICE.. Both settings and a work of art

 

[Bermo]

Wow looks great

 

[Trevor40]

Bubba, are you running any PO4 remover or just using chaeto and water changes for export? I jumped on the high PO4 experiment wagon and it was no bueno. Skeletal growth slowed down tremendously above .1. Since lowering to around .5 things seems to be coloring up better and starting to grow again.

 

[Cassian]

Very nice! How do you keep your alk down? Mine is at 12 and I think it’s too high for my sps

 

[bubbaque]

Bubba, are you running any PO4 remover or just using chaeto and water changes for export? I jumped on the high PO4 experiment wagon and it was no bueno. Skeletal growth slowed down tremendously above .1. Since lowering to around .5 things seems to be coloring up better and starting to grow again.

I mainly use gfo and water changes. Every once in a while I will use GFO if my po4 starts to get up to .1 but take it off when back in a good range.

Very nice! How do you keep your alk down? Mine is at 12 and I think it’s too high for my sps

My corals consume alk and bring it down. As long as you are not dosing alk and your corals are growing your alk should come down. You can also do water changes with a salt that has a lower alk value.

 

[Wrangy]

Are you still running the radions on the frag tank?? I've completely forgotten what you're using on the frag tank haha

 

[Fishnugget]

I mainly use gfo and water changes. Every once in a while I will use GFO if my po4 starts to get up to .1 but take it off when back in a good range.

Great thread bubba, I always look forward to a post or one of your pics when I visit the sps section. I am a fan and have been following along.

I did want to ask if you use a gfo reactor for active filtration, or some kind of media sock for passive gfo filtration in your sump? My phosphates have been around 0.07-1.1ppm. Thanks.

 

[bubbaque]

Are you still running the radions on the frag tank?? I've completely forgotten what you're using on the frag tank haha

Come on, Dom you are far behind. I have three frag tanks, lol. My original frag tank I use t5’s, the second one I went with radions paired with t5’s and I liked that combo the best so I added the same to the third frag tank.

Great thread bubba, I always look forward to a post or one of your pics when I visit the sps section. I am a fan and have been following along.

I did want to ask if you use a gfo reactor for active filtration, or some kind of media sock for passive gfo filtration in your sump? My phosphates have been around 0.07-1.1ppm. Thanks.

Thank you very much!

I generally don’t use gfo at all unless my po4 gets up to .1 ppm. It rarely happens but when it does I use gfo in a reactor for a couple days and then take it back off. I grow chaeto and that keeps my nutrients down a lot.

 

[hatfielj]

Hey Bubba, I apologize in advance if you've already answered this somewhere, but have you ever used a PAR meter on your frag tanks to see what kind of numbers you're getting? I have one right now that I rented from BRS to adjust my LEDs over my new frag system and I'm trying to adjust my lights. On my LED tank I'm pulling a bit over 300 PAR in the center and around 220 at the far edges. That's at the bottom of a 12" tank. My T5 tank is pulling a little less than that. I'm wanting to make my LED spectrum a little bluer, but I don't want to sacrifice too much par. That's why I rented the meter to make sure I'm finding the right balance of PAR and color.

 

[bubbaque]

Hey Bubba, I apologize in advance if you've already answered this somewhere, but have you ever used a PAR meter on your frag tanks to see what kind of numbers you're getting? I have one right now that I rented from BRS to adjust my LEDs over my new frag system and I'm trying to adjust my lights. On my LED tank I'm pulling a bit over 300 PAR in the center and around 220 at the far edges. That's at the bottom of a 12" tank. My T5 tank is pulling a little less than that. I'm wanting to make my LED spectrum a little bluer, but I don't want to sacrifice too much par. That's why I rented the meter to make sure I'm finding the right balance of PAR and color.

I have rented a par meter twice. The second time was too confirm the first numbers. In my frag tank that uses radions + t5’s I was getting roughly 350 par next to the coral in the middle. The edges I would get around 250 par with even lower in the corners.

The reason I wanted to double check was the corals would act like it was too much light when I would first add them to that tank. Even some of my corals that should have multi colors would turn one solid color, kinda like pc rainbow and red planet will do. I am still baffled by the numbers because the frag tank with an ati t5’s fixture would get 450 par in the middle and 350 par around the edges and corals wouldn’t act the same. What I loved so much about the radions though was any coral I added to that tank would turn very, very bright and would fluoresce more than the other tanks.

 

[fishead]

Hey Bubba, love your stuff!!! In regard to the Radions pulling more color and fuorescence than the others. I think I read that all your tanks have T5s, some with SB bars as supplements and others with the Radions as supplements. Do you think it's the broader spectrum of blues in the Radions vs the narrower spectrum of the SBs (which I think is only 450ish royal blues and a little UV) that pulls the color and fluorescence?
I was set on buying a couple Reefbrites to supplement my T5s but just ordered a couple of the new Orphek OR2s instead because of the broader violet to blue spectrum - less than half the price had a bit to do with it too hahaa. Saw a spectral graph that Dana did on the Reefbrite and it was pretty much a single big peak at 450.

 

[bubbaque]

Hey Bubba, love your stuff!!! In regard to the Radions pulling more color and fuorescence than the others. I think I read that all your tanks have T5s, some with SB bars as supplements and others with the Radions as supplements. Do you think it's the broader spectrum of blues in the Radions vs the narrower spectrum of the SBs (which I think is only 450ish royal blues and a little UV) that pulls the color and fluorescence?
I was set on buying a couple Reefbrites to supplement my T5s but just ordered a couple of the new Orphek OR2s instead because of the broader violet to blue spectrum - less than half the price had a bit to do with it too hahaa. Saw a spectral graph that Dana did on the Reefbrite and it was pretty much a single big peak at 450.

I am honestly not sure why the difference happens. On my ATI fixtures I use several different bulbs, including the actinic bulb which I think goes even deeper into the blue spectrum than the radions but the colors just aren’t the same in my tanks. It may not even be the radions at all and may just be leds. I remember when Adam from battlecorals posted his pic of the PC rainbow he was getting blue tips and he said the change didn’t happen until he put it under leds and I think he uses the Reef Breeders photons.