Lighting Questions for the SPS Pros
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islander84
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Strip your water too clean.... causing bleaching...burnt acros
creefer
Valuable Member
Well.....just to bump this thread up a bit, things in my tank are not well. I'm not sure what the heck is going on but I have lost one acro and have another that's starting to stn. It was one that was doing exceptionally well also, so I'm a bit confused. I did have a couple of alk and pH swings as a result of a kalk reactor not operating properly. That problem has since been solved but I think part of the issues I've had are a result of the inconsistency caused by the kalk reactor problem. Tomorrow night I'm going to be doing a bit of a tank overhaul and sump cleaning that's a bit overdue. I hope it helps with the issues I've been having....well...that and the fix to the kalk reactor.
Wish me luck.
Wish me luck.
Giancarlo
Active Member
Hey creefer, a little update on my status.
November 1st I took out all phosban, reduced my water changes dramatically. i was previously doing 20 gallons each week (100 galllon system) now i do 20 gallons a month. So i will start with the negatives, i have seen some nuisance algae start up on the sand bed, and in my sump, so i got a pair of "strawberrry" conch snails. I would say they are just like the fighting conch, they stick to the sand bed, and have made quick work of the only problem i have had so far. I assume nothing worse has come because i have been running my protien skimmer pretty wet, a Bubble King 180, which is a beast to begin with anyway.
The Positive, i have seen much quicker growth, and in all honesty the colours have been making a change for the best. The corals are starting to look great. I have not done any sort of carbon dosing/bio pellets or whatever, and right now i do not think i will start any time soon. I think the mind set of stripping water clean, is riskier than we think. I had a big birds nest colony that started to bleach at the base back in the beginning of September, as of say december 1st, it looks like the bleaching has come to a stop.
Another thing to add, that was somewhat unavoidable unfortunately, was that i have changed from my 250 watt halide, to a AI sol. So this could have had an impact on the colour as well, which sucks because i really wanted to pin point it down to water chemistry. Anyway things are looking better in my tank, i have moved back in november so things were not looking so good at all after the move, but i would say as of today the tank looks better than it did before the move.
So right now for filtration i have the Skimmer, and macro algae, along with the 20 gallon a month water changes, which i might start doing 20 gallons every 2 weeks. I run activated carbon in the old phosban reactor, and i was not running any carbon at all when the phosban was running.
How has your progress been?
November 1st I took out all phosban, reduced my water changes dramatically. i was previously doing 20 gallons each week (100 galllon system) now i do 20 gallons a month. So i will start with the negatives, i have seen some nuisance algae start up on the sand bed, and in my sump, so i got a pair of "strawberrry" conch snails. I would say they are just like the fighting conch, they stick to the sand bed, and have made quick work of the only problem i have had so far. I assume nothing worse has come because i have been running my protien skimmer pretty wet, a Bubble King 180, which is a beast to begin with anyway.
The Positive, i have seen much quicker growth, and in all honesty the colours have been making a change for the best. The corals are starting to look great. I have not done any sort of carbon dosing/bio pellets or whatever, and right now i do not think i will start any time soon. I think the mind set of stripping water clean, is riskier than we think. I had a big birds nest colony that started to bleach at the base back in the beginning of September, as of say december 1st, it looks like the bleaching has come to a stop.
Another thing to add, that was somewhat unavoidable unfortunately, was that i have changed from my 250 watt halide, to a AI sol. So this could have had an impact on the colour as well, which sucks because i really wanted to pin point it down to water chemistry. Anyway things are looking better in my tank, i have moved back in november so things were not looking so good at all after the move, but i would say as of today the tank looks better than it did before the move.
So right now for filtration i have the Skimmer, and macro algae, along with the 20 gallon a month water changes, which i might start doing 20 gallons every 2 weeks. I run activated carbon in the old phosban reactor, and i was not running any carbon at all when the phosban was running.
How has your progress been?
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creefer
Valuable Member
Thanks for the update, Giancarlo.
In a way, my progress has been good. Kalk reactor is fixed and no longer a problem. I have seen a bit of nuisance algae, but nothing worthy of note and most of it in the sump. So I say progress.....well....here's the bad part.
I discovered recently that I have what appears to be either red bugs, or AEFW, or both. I don't have a QT to use for the corals that are suffering, so I'm going to have to do an interceptor treatment as well as a bayer dip. I'll do these dips weekly, likely with water changes in hopes of reducing populations. I've already done one dip and scraped off eggs that I've been able to find, so I think with some time, I'll be able to either beat them, or reduce the population to one that's not as damaging.
The coral that has maintained the best color and health is oddly the one that took the biggest hit. My Wayne's Rainbow is nearly smoked. I'm trying to save it, but time will tell.....
I'll keep this updated as I work through this.
In a way, my progress has been good. Kalk reactor is fixed and no longer a problem. I have seen a bit of nuisance algae, but nothing worthy of note and most of it in the sump. So I say progress.....well....here's the bad part.
I discovered recently that I have what appears to be either red bugs, or AEFW, or both. I don't have a QT to use for the corals that are suffering, so I'm going to have to do an interceptor treatment as well as a bayer dip. I'll do these dips weekly, likely with water changes in hopes of reducing populations. I've already done one dip and scraped off eggs that I've been able to find, so I think with some time, I'll be able to either beat them, or reduce the population to one that's not as damaging.
The coral that has maintained the best color and health is oddly the one that took the biggest hit. My Wayne's Rainbow is nearly smoked. I'm trying to save it, but time will tell.....
I'll keep this updated as I work through this.
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Giancarlo
Active Member
Sorry to hear that man! I noticed red
Bugs in my System about 3 months ago. I narrowed it down to two possible reefers in my area but in the end I should have quarantined. Anyway I bought some interceptor last month, but I have not used it yet. The colony they have taken a liking too seems to still be heathy and growing so I think I will just get a wrasse and see if it can keep it under control. It's a tough call, I have a bunch of hermits and shrimp so I gotta figure something out.
Bugs in my System about 3 months ago. I narrowed it down to two possible reefers in my area but in the end I should have quarantined. Anyway I bought some interceptor last month, but I have not used it yet. The colony they have taken a liking too seems to still be heathy and growing so I think I will just get a wrasse and see if it can keep it under control. It's a tough call, I have a bunch of hermits and shrimp so I gotta figure something out.
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creefer
Valuable Member
Yeah.....kind of a bummer. I have no QT set up either. Lesson learned I guess. I have always been super anal before adding anything to the tank. I have always dipped a couple times, but I guess I need to change the plan.....time to do bayer dips on everything in addition to revive dips. I picked up some bayer and have been dipping that as well as revive and searching for eggs on all my SPS. I've lost 2 complete colonies and have another that's not doing well. All others seem to be fine but I'm not risking anything. I have to get to the Vet this week to pick up some interceptor.
creefer
Valuable Member
I do have some updates to report. I found another ATI 6 x 39W sunpower and the deal was good so I snagged it. I love it! I will be supplementing with some LED soon, just have not yet decided on DIY plans.
I thought I had redbugs.....turned out to be AFEW. But......I think I beat them. I did a couple tank treatments with Flat Worm Exit as well as fragged all my colonies, dipped in bayer, and repeated that twice. Again, I think I beat them. Some of the new frags that had to be made due to the infestation have started to encrust, so I'm hopeful. I've enjoyed this thread and thank all who contributed. R2R is a great resource with lots of members willing to help. I'm going to revisit my tank thread and put all updates there from this point forward.
Again, thanks to all.
I thought I had redbugs.....turned out to be AFEW. But......I think I beat them. I did a couple tank treatments with Flat Worm Exit as well as fragged all my colonies, dipped in bayer, and repeated that twice. Again, I think I beat them. Some of the new frags that had to be made due to the infestation have started to encrust, so I'm hopeful. I've enjoyed this thread and thank all who contributed. R2R is a great resource with lots of members willing to help. I'm going to revisit my tank thread and put all updates there from this point forward.
Again, thanks to all.
RavePartyReef
Active Member
Did you ask the pros what are they supplementing? Maybe feeding corals? T5s have some insane colored tanks too...mh are great but the electric bill and heat are horrible.
creefer
Valuable Member
No, Rave....I never did ask those questions. I feed my tank, about once a week. I do feed the LPS in the tank 2-3 times weekly. I've been feeding the LPS fauna marin and the response is fantastic. I do plan to change the feeding routine. I'm only going to feed oyster feast once weekly once I'm out of what I have not.
In terms of supplementing, I'm planning on adding a DIY accent bar to the fixture using all blue light. I really love the color I'm getting now from the T5 and have no complaints. I'm just looking for a little more pop out of some of the corals.
In terms of supplementing, I'm planning on adding a DIY accent bar to the fixture using all blue light. I really love the color I'm getting now from the T5 and have no complaints. I'm just looking for a little more pop out of some of the corals.
