IM NUVO EXT 40 Reef Build

[Chaz D]

How are you liking the Orphek bars now that you've had them for a few months? Did you ever find the sweet spot for height above tank? I've been thinking about getting a two strip day/blue combo for my 75, just haven't yet pulled the trigger.

 

[BeardedMcG]

How are you liking the Orphek bars now that you've had them for a few months? Did you ever find the sweet spot for height above tank? I've been thinking about getting a two strip day/blue combo for my 75, just haven't yet pulled the trigger.

I love them. I have them about 16” above the water to get fairly even spread from front to back on the bottom to halfway up. I’m getting about 225 par at 10-12” below water and 100-125 at the bottom.

 

[BeardedMcG]

The Royal Gramma died/killed since yesterday super sad about that.

 

[BeardedMcG]

This willow I got from @hart24601 has grown huge. Bad photos after lights out but the kitchen lights were on.

 

[Blutspitze]

So sorry to hear about the gramma . Glad that the willow is looking good at least, though

 

[BeardedMcG]

Top down phone shots today during spot feeding corals.

 

[Blutspitze]

Awesome pictures, corals are looking good!

 

[BeardedMcG]

Awesome pictures, corals are looking good!

Thanks I think things are really starting to take off.

 

[BeardedMcG]

I checked in on the WWC live sale a couple of times this weekend but didn’t plan to get anything. I did hit up the after sale though. Got my first acro and a random frag pack.

 

[lbacha]

Nice acro that should be nice and bright under blue lighting

 

[BeardedMcG]

Nice acro that should be nice and bright under blue lighting

I've adjusted my lighting schedule so I have 1 hour in the morning with just the blue plus bar on and 2 at night. I enjoy the full spectrum too but it's fun to have the pop of blues at night and I'm excited to see this one under those.

 

[BeardedMcG]

I found a stomatella this morning. It must have hitchhiked on something and now it’s all grown up. It’s amazing how well it blends in. The thing is huge and this is the first time I’ve seen it.

I spotted a Zoa head sitting on a tuff of algae this morning so I attached it to a plug.

The montipora frags are doing really well and growing fast. Cool to see something grow so rapidly.

The new frags arrive next Wednesday!

 

[Blutspitze]

Rack is looking well-populated already, and looking forward to seeing more!

 

[BeardedMcG]

Rack is looking well-populated already, and looking forward to seeing more!

Yeah totally not sure what I’ll end up doing with those montipora frags. Good thing the rack has exactly the space I need for the new frags.

 

[BeardedMcG]

Update on the BN growth.

Also documenting the candy cane. I’ve taken few to no photos of it because my phone has such a hard time with the colors.

 

[hart24601]

Dang... Look at that BN with color!

 

[BeardedMcG]

Chemi-Clean
So on 9/27/2019 I used Chemi-Clean to get rid of cyano that had been slowly building up. My nitrates were undetectable and I assume that's because the cyano was consuming them all. I did the 25% water change on 9/29 and tested NO3 at 0.5, PO4 0.04. By 10/5 NO3 was 1.0 and PO4 0.06. I added GFO back to keep phosphates inline. Since then I've had a minor algea outbreak and for a few days some dinos. Nothing tarrible and the dinos are completly gone as of yesterday. Things seem to be settleing down again and the corals seem to be happier with nitrates back in the system.

 

[BeardedMcG]

I had a hard time finding the right spot for this Bling Bling but finally got it in the right spot a few weeks ago. It actually had some polyps on top die off. It’s all grown back and starting to encrust. I’ll glue it soon now that it’s happy.

 

[Blutspitze]

Loving the coloration and growth of the corals over the last couple months/weeks. Solid and steady, and really gorgeous. The BN in particular is amazing!

 

[BeardedMcG]

I’ve gotten a ton of new frags recently that I’ll get to posting soon. Today was cleanup and test day.

dKH 8.7 - Adjusted my doser down a bit. I’ve been aiming for 8.5.
PO4 0.01
NO3 0.5
Performed 5g 11% WC
CA 430