My techniques for growing SPS

[MadReefer1]

Amazing setup. Love the monties/digi,s i need to get more of them myself

 

[GR808]

Thanks bro, I really appreciate the kind words. Give your corals time to acclimate to the new lighting and they'll start taking off soon. My growth seems to come in spurts where my acros will grow like weeds for a month or two and then come to a screeching halt for a month. Not sure why it happens because the parameters are stable, and maybe it's just my imagination, but that seems to be the way it goes in my tank. Running the carbon & phosban in seperate reactors would be beneificial. GFO should have a slightly higher flow rate so that it tumbles while the water should flow through the Carbon without really tumbling it. Running them in the same reactor will cause the media to break down and enter your water column. As I'm sure you've read, there have been several publications recently that attribute Carbon dust in your water column to HLLE and if the phosban is breaking down, then it will be released into the system and it won't be able to absorb the PO4. The phosban grains will settle onto your sandbed and won't receive optimal flow for maximum efficiency and althought all of the phosphate absorbing medias claim that they won't leach PO4 back into the tank, I wouldn't trust a phosban filled sandbed for long term success.

Are u currently running GFO or Rowaphos? I'm using Phosgaurd because of my clams and trying to avoid PM. Your clams look awesome with your phosphate filtration methods..

 

[swannyson7]

I'm using Rowaphos which is essentially just a high capacity GFO. It's substantially more expensive than most other brands of GFO, but a little bit goes a long way, so I've never gone back to the cheap stuff. I recently bought some PO4x4 to try out after the Rowaphos is exhausted, so I'll let you guys know how it works out after I make the switch. It seems to get good reviews from a few accomplished aquarists, so I'm confident that it will be a seemless transition. IIRC, the PO4x4 is aluminim oxide based like the Phosguard, so it should alleviate any risk of PM on my clams. I could be mistaken, though?

 

[GR808]

so the Rowaphos is GFO(iron based)? nice to know you don't get PM on your clams... awesome

 

[swannyson7]

Amazing setup. Love the monties/digi,s i need to get more of them myself

Thanks! Digis are always a great addition for a blast of color & fast growth IMHO

so the Rowaphos is GFO(iron based)? nice to know you don't get PM on your clams... awesome

I just googled Rowaphos a bit and the general consensus seems to be that Rowaphos is made of Iron Hydroxide (versus Iron Oxide for standard GFO), but this seems to be purely speculation. Also, I was mistaken in saying that PO4x4 is a Al(OH)3 product, as I've seen no claims to support this anywhere on the web. PO4x4 claims to be a polymer based product, but it may just be a polymer coated form of GFO that prevents Iron from leaching into your system.

 

[GR808]

The power of the internet... Thanks for the info Swanny and keep up the good work..

 

[swannyson7]

Some more SPS eye candy shots from today...

 

[CJO]

Thanks for sharing. Your aquarium looks great!

CJ

 

[swannyson7]

Thanks CJ! It's still a work in progress, but it's getting there.

 

[skinz78]

Hey Swanny, what is going on with this Acro? It looks like there is something on it?

 

[skinz78]

Also from what I understand about GFO and clams, iron based GFO is known to be a trigger for PM infected clams. Clams can have PM in a dormant state for years and all it takes is some sort of trigger for it to become active again. Since Swanny's clams are showing no signs of PM after continual use of the iron based GFO I doubt that they have the parasite in them that causes PM.

 

[justreefin]

Awesome tank and thanks for taking the time to write up about your setup. A lot of great info. I like the way you dose your alk and kalk only when lights are off to counter the drop in ph. I will implement that into my sytem. Awesome photography as well.

 

[swannyson7]

Hey Swanny, what is going on with this Acro? It looks like there is something on it?

To be honest, I have no idea Chris. The damage on that tricolor first showed up about 2 months ago and it hasn't spread, nor affected any other corals, so I don't suspect damage from AEFW or anything. If you look on the rock at the base of the coral (I know it's blurry) you can see some shriveled up brown stuff. That "stuff" is anthelia that had gotten out of hand and I've found that it packs a pretty potent punch. Every month or so I have to manually remove what I can and then douse it in kalk in an attempt to kill it off. Perhaps the damage is from being stung by anthelia, but I'm not sure.

Also from what I understand about GFO and clams, iron based GFO is known to be a trigger for PM infected clams. Clams can have PM in a dormant state for years and all it takes is some sort of trigger for it to become active again. Since Swanny's clams are showing no signs of PM after continual use of the iron based GFO I doubt that they have the parasite in them that causes PM.

I never realized that PM was caused by a parasite. It almost sounds like ich in fish seeing as it can live dormantly, but be brought out by stressors. Learn something new every day!

 

[swannyson7]

Chris- Looking back at that picture... It could also be from where I accidentally broke pieces off a couple months ago that just never healed properly? Perhaps the stings from the anthelia affected the tissue regeneration to cause the damaged spots?

Awesome tank and thanks for taking the time to write up about your setup. A lot of great info. I like the way you dose your alk and kalk only when lights are off to counter the drop in ph. I will implement that into my sytem. Awesome photography as well.

Thanks! Using the kalk reactor solely at night has really helped stabilize my pH. I used to have a daily pH range of about 8.0-8.5 and now it generally stays between 8.3-8.5.

 

[GR808]

Also from what I understand about GFO and clams, iron based GFO is known to be a trigger for PM infected clams. Clams can have PM in a dormant state for years and all it takes is some sort of trigger for it to become active again. Since Swanny's clams are showing no signs of PM after continual use of the iron based GFO I doubt that they have the parasite in them that causes PM.

Good point Chris.. I never knew PM was caused by a parasite... You da man when it comes to clams.....

 

[skinz78]

I knew I was off a bit, it is actually caused by a protozoan. You can read the full report on PM here: Pinched Mantle Syndrome in Giant Clams

 

[swannyson7]

Interesting read, thanks for the link!

 

[swannyson7]

Although I don't get very good growth out of my LPS, my Z&Ps seem to do quite well even in the low nutrient system. It's probably due to the regular feedings of food for filter feeders, but they seem to go through growth spurts opposite of the SPS. When the SPS grows, the polyps slow down and once the polyps start growing, the SPS slows. Here's a few polyp shots from yesterday:

 

[swannyson7]

and a few more...

 

[swannyson7]

Anytime I view the thread, theres quite a few guests checking out the thread. All of you guests should sign up for R2R!! It's a wonderful reefing community with tons of knowledge and great giveaways each month!