cmaxwell39's 150
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cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Thank you all. It is still a work in progress in my mind, but then what tank isn't?
Your build and the attention to detail that you have given to every step in the process is inspiring. In a couple of years it will probably far exceed my humble attempt at a slice of the ocean. Keep up what you are doing.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
This page needs some pictures.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Thank you.
Thank you. It has been a lot of fun starting from a bunch of little frags and watching them grow. It has not always been a smooth ride, but it has been worth it in the end.
Not sure which one you mean, but no I don't have the Vivid's Rainbow. The third pic down in this set of pictures is Pink Lemonade, and the fourth was purchased as a no name frag that is extremely finicky to try to keep colored up. It looks really good when colored up, but it is touchy for sure.
Thanks for stopping by.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Thanks Jeff. I have enjoyed growing these colonies out. Here are some more shots from the last photo session. Hope you enjoy.
And some pics of what is currently in QT. Should be ready for the display in a couple more weeks.
And some pics of what is currently in QT. Should be ready for the display in a couple more weeks.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Well, I have some not so good news to report with my tank. As I mentioned in a recent update I switched bacteria sources from Microbe Lift Special Blend back to Brightwells Microbacter7. Ever since the switch I have been fighting some STN on some of my corals. More on that later. At first I figured it was because I went a little aggressive on re-seeding the tank with the new bacteria (used the dose recommended for high nutrient setups or new aquariums) but it has not completely stopped since switching to the recommended maintenance dose. I have changed nothing else on my routine, and since reading of another reefers problems with brightwell salt on a local forum I am beginning to suspect the MB7 being the culprit. I will be switching back to Special Blend or another bacteria source.
The STN I have experienced did not affect all corals, in fact there really was no rhyme or reason to what was affected and what was not. My Red Planet colony is a total loss and was the first coral to be affected. My Stylo has shown some bare batches in the middle of branches and then completely recovered over the last month while I have been fighting this issue. Other corals like my green slimmer, blue tort, and a tenuis the STN would start at the middle of a branch and work outward until that branch was toast while other branches on the same colony showed no damage whatsoever. I lost one large branch on my smooth skinned thin branched purple colony and my Lokani is gone. Some other corals have lost color but never STNed such as my pearlberry colony. It browned out something terrible, while other corals such as the rose milli and yellow tipped table and pink lemonade show no signs of stress whatsoever.
Other than that growth of all corals is way down as I have had to cut my daily dose of calcium and alkalinity in half or even less just to keep levels from going through the roof. Hopefully as I switch bacteria again everything will fall in line and start recovering.:unsure:
The STN I have experienced did not affect all corals, in fact there really was no rhyme or reason to what was affected and what was not. My Red Planet colony is a total loss and was the first coral to be affected. My Stylo has shown some bare batches in the middle of branches and then completely recovered over the last month while I have been fighting this issue. Other corals like my green slimmer, blue tort, and a tenuis the STN would start at the middle of a branch and work outward until that branch was toast while other branches on the same colony showed no damage whatsoever. I lost one large branch on my smooth skinned thin branched purple colony and my Lokani is gone. Some other corals have lost color but never STNed such as my pearlberry colony. It browned out something terrible, while other corals such as the rose milli and yellow tipped table and pink lemonade show no signs of stress whatsoever.
Other than that growth of all corals is way down as I have had to cut my daily dose of calcium and alkalinity in half or even less just to keep levels from going through the roof. Hopefully as I switch bacteria again everything will fall in line and start recovering.:unsure:
Aquaph8
Love The Fish
Sorry for the troubles man. Hope things get better soon. What is Alk running? Almost every time I've had an event like this it was due to my Alk fluctuating in the high range while running low nutrients at the same time. I went through a similar event pretty recently that seems to have stabilized finally and colors are coming back but it's never fun having that bare spot in the middle of a nice colony. Good luck bud!
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Thanks for the well wishes Brett. As far as Alk, it has spiked slightly, but I have stayed on it fairly well. It never got over 9.1 DKH. For the most part it has stayed around 8.5 and I would normally run it at 7.8. I don't think the alk spike is the cause, but rather a symptom of the reduced growth due to the STN event. The alk seemed to spike after I started noticing STN, not before. Not sure though.
Everything seems to have stabilized for the most part, so now only time will tell. What really stinks is that it takes 3 weeks to a month to happen, and will take months to recover fully. The good news is, I get to remove some corals which should give me room to add some more.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Well, sorry it has been so long since an update, but I do have some news to report.
First of all, everything has pretty well stabilized and I only lost a handful of colonies. I lost a lot of tissue at the base and middle of some other colonies, so I am going to be making a ton of frags here shortly, but wanted everything to stabilize before chopping everything up.
In searching for a replacement bacteria for the MB7 that I suspect caused my recent issues I ordered a bottle of zeobak. The tank responded really well to it, and I saw lower nutrients in the first two weeks of using it than I had seen in quite some time. I had thought about zeo in the past, but just couldn't justify pulling the trigger on the system before, but with the tank responding so well to Zeobak, I started doing some more research into the zeo system.
So Big Announcement
Calvin's 150 has gone full blown Zeo. I am only two weeks into the system, but I have already seen better polyp extension on a couple of corals than I have ever seen (most notably the Pink Lemonade) and some subtle but very noticeable improvements in color.
Unfortunately, I have not been excited about taking pictures of the tank lately, so I have no pictures to share, but I will try and get some in the next few weeks to share and document the process.
First of all, everything has pretty well stabilized and I only lost a handful of colonies. I lost a lot of tissue at the base and middle of some other colonies, so I am going to be making a ton of frags here shortly, but wanted everything to stabilize before chopping everything up.
In searching for a replacement bacteria for the MB7 that I suspect caused my recent issues I ordered a bottle of zeobak. The tank responded really well to it, and I saw lower nutrients in the first two weeks of using it than I had seen in quite some time. I had thought about zeo in the past, but just couldn't justify pulling the trigger on the system before, but with the tank responding so well to Zeobak, I started doing some more research into the zeo system.
So Big Announcement
Calvin's 150 has gone full blown Zeo. I am only two weeks into the system, but I have already seen better polyp extension on a couple of corals than I have ever seen (most notably the Pink Lemonade) and some subtle but very noticeable improvements in color.
Unfortunately, I have not been excited about taking pictures of the tank lately, so I have no pictures to share, but I will try and get some in the next few weeks to share and document the process.
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Aquaph8
Love The Fish
Cool man, looking forward to seeing how it goes for you.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Thank you. There are still a few more that I would like to get, but the ones I have bring me a lot of joy watching them. No tank should be without a few fairy/flasher wrasses in my opinion.
Thanks Brett. I will try to keep the thread updated with progress.
I have had some success without Zeo, so I am kind of curious to see how much change there will be in the tank running full blown Zeo. I know that it will take time for the Zeo system to take full effect, but everything does to become stable. I must say that in the short time I have been running it, I didn't expect to see any changes, but I have noticed some slight differences in some corals already. And the other good news is that no corals are reacting negatively to the system so far. Time will tell.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Thank you. I think I just got lucky, but I feel it came together well.
cmaxwell39
Valuable Member
Well, it has been a long year in my reef. Since the second quarter of the year I have been fighting STN/Corals that STNed on me, either partially or fully. I did find in mid November that my calibration solution for my refractometer had gone bad (note to self, replace calibration solution at least once a year, it is cheap and just good practice) so my tank was running a very elevated Salinty which I believe has been part of the issue. Since correcting the salinity issue I have only had a couple of issues with corals, but I attribute that to being out of town a decent amount in the last couple of months and paramaters have not been as rock steady as they should have been. Since getting the parameters back in line everything seems to have stabilized.
A list of Impeller. There was a decent amount of replumbing that needed to be done, but it is all back together now after a long day on Monday. Everything went back together with no leaks on the first try, so that was good. I didn't get any pictures of the process, so no picture update.
I also have a new fairy Wrasse male. It is doing well so far, and I don't expect any problems as he appeared very healthy when I picked him up. I am also on the lookout for a Rhomboid or a pair of Rhomboids to replace the ones I lost earlier this year.
I will try to get some pictures taken and uploaded in the next few days. Need to get the Christmas tree out so that I can take pictures of the tank again.
Plans for the new year include:
Rebuilding stock of SPS
Finishing (yeah right) my collection of fairy wrasses
Getting the tank stable and growing again. I am a good ways towards that, just need to keep it going now (I think.)
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I have really enjoyed sharing my journey with all of you. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday time with friends and family.
A list of Impeller. There was a decent amount of replumbing that needed to be done, but it is all back together now after a long day on Monday. Everything went back together with no leaks on the first try, so that was good. I didn't get any pictures of the process, so no picture update.
I also have a new fairy Wrasse male. It is doing well so far, and I don't expect any problems as he appeared very healthy when I picked him up. I am also on the lookout for a Rhomboid or a pair of Rhomboids to replace the ones I lost earlier this year.
I will try to get some pictures taken and uploaded in the next few days. Need to get the Christmas tree out so that I can take pictures of the tank again.
Plans for the new year include:
Rebuilding stock of SPS
Finishing (yeah right) my collection of fairy wrasses
Getting the tank stable and growing again. I am a good ways towards that, just need to keep it going now (I think.)
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I have really enjoyed sharing my journey with all of you. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday time with friends and family.
