The Garden -- Rakies shallow SPS cube

[Wrangy]

Melafix is all I use, nothing compares. Just have to use the proper amount and mind the clock, set an alarm and don't let it sit too long.

Melafix is weird, it's super safe and gentle for 5-6 minutes, but after 10-15 minutes all corals are dead.

Set an alarm, make it your only priority in life for the next 6 minutes! Lol

Yeah I was reading your posts on Boom corals thread about aefw and melafix sounds like the winner to me!!

It'll be my only priority for 6 minutes haha

 

[Rakie]

Yeah I was reading your posts on Boom corals thread about aefw and melafix sounds like the winner to me!!

It'll be my only priority for 6 minutes haha

Get the pond if you can. 10mL per GALLON of water.

Regular 62.5mL/g

Marine 50mL/g

I use pond, about 2ml per cup of water, which is absurdly strong/aggressive. I will note I've seen no difference between 0.5mL to 5mL in a cup of tank water, it works just the same, instantly.

I will say though, for no justified reason I def use 2ml which is 4x as much as needed.

Def mind the timer, no joke about that. I know im besting a dead horse but I left something by mistake and it was dead in 10 minutes lol. I've left stuff in Bayer for like half an hour no problem so u didn't think a minute or two was an issue.

 

[427HISS]

Wow, that's critical time zone.

 

[Rakie]

Wow, that's critical time zone.

Yeah, melafix is strange... It's both the most gentle dip I've ever used, and if forgotten, the most caustic dip I've ever used. It's because Melafix is an oil (tee tree oil to be specific), it coats everything in the water and causes immense harm to it, the slime layer on corals gives it more than a few minutes but the oil will coat and wreck absolutely everything ON the corals. It even seems to annoy algae (although it doesn't KILL algae, it's just that caustic to anything living).

I recommend it to everybody, for everything, especially SPS... But I always make sure to warn people. It's no joke. But it's exceptionally hard to any soft bodied inverts, as well as sensitive inverts like crabs/shrimp/snails, etc etc. So it obliterates everything nearly on contact. Things don't die immediately, but they freak out and let go of the corals within seconds. They stop wiggling around at about 1 minute, give or take depending on their size/strength of dip.

You wanna kill AEFW, LPS/SPS Spiders, Planaria, Bristleworms, Bobbit Worms, Hitch hiker crabs -- Nothing compares. Melafix might as well be straight up acid to anything that isn't a fish.

 

[GoVols]

Rakie,

Have you, or anybody you know, tried out those Coral Essentials "Black Label's"?

I'd be broke... ;Blackeye, but would nice to know some feed back.

 

[Wrangy]

Get the pond if you can. 10mL per GALLON of water.

Regular 62.5mL/g

Marine 50mL/g

I use pond, about 2ml per cup of water, which is absurdly strong/aggressive. I will note I've seen no difference between 0.5mL to 5mL in a cup of tank water, it works just the same, instantly.

I will say though, for no justified reason I def use 2ml which is 4x as much as needed.

Def mind the timer, no joke about that. I know im besting a dead horse but I left something by mistake and it was dead in 10 minutes lol. I've left stuff in Bayer for like half an hour no problem so u didn't think a minute or two was an issue.

Picked up a bottle of pond today! will be test dipping a couple of minor frags just so I can get the hang of it
Will be doing a 2ml per cup dip for 6mins then a thorough rinse!

 

[Wrangy]

Rakie,

Have you, or anybody you know, tried out those Coral Essentials "Black Label's"?

I'd be broke... ;Blackeye, but would nice to know some feed back.

Expensive but good stuff! Start off with Chroma+ and go from there! If you're not using the Vitamins and Aminos give those a go before you jump to the big stuff haha

 

[Rakie]

Rakie,

Have you, or anybody you know, tried out those Coral Essentials "Black Label's"?

I'd be broke... ;Blackeye, but would nice to know some feed back.

I really like the regular stuff, but haven't tried the black label stuff.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

The dinos are all completely gone. I'll probably pick up my corals in a week or two. As well as a UV...

Such is the hobby.

Check out the TMC UV-C sterilization units. Very good quality or look at the professional units from Pentair Aquatics.

 

[najer]

I really like the regular stuff, but haven't tried the black label stuff.

I've nearly finished my first bottle of Power Gro, I am tempted to try the Chroma+.

 

[Rakie]

Update: Nothing to update. I have no corals at my house still for the most part.

 

[Wrangy]

Update: Nothing to update. I have no corals at my house still for the most part.

I feel your pain, I don't have any SPS aside from 5 tough as nails pieces that are in my DT haha

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Update: Nothing to update. I have no corals at my house still for the most part.

Hows the real world going? That real life thingy we hide from in our fish rooms

 

[Rakie]

Hows the real world going? That real life thingy we hide from in our fish rooms

Not bad! Applying for my first fledgling careers opposed to just a job. Catching up on non-reef related reading. Went to the movies for the first time in 3-4 years (yes really lol). I hadn't realized how much reefing has dominated every aspect of my life. Do you know how much random sand is in my car? I sure didn't until the other day lol.

Tank IS getting better (slowly) and will probably have some life in it come next weekend. Had to re-up on some good carbon to help scrub my water clean. After this tank should be steady again.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Not bad! Applying for my first fledgling careers opposed to just a job. Catching up on non-reef related reading. Went to the movies for the first time in 3-4 years (yes really lol). I hadn't realized how much reefing has dominated every aspect of my life. Do you know how much random sand is in my car? I sure didn't until the other day lol.

Tank IS getting better (slowly) and will probably have some life in it come next weekend. Had to re-up on some good carbon to help scrub my water clean. After this tank should be steady again.

I know what you mean with the tank being time consuming.

I think that's why we do it though. It's like a sense of accomplishment on a level that most cant understand due to the lack of appreciating just how much really goes into a successful thriving reef. Duplicating what the natural world took millions of years to perfect in our humble homes is incomparable I feel. If it was easy, we wouldnt do it right? *cough* FRESHWATER *cough*

Excuse me. Salty dry throat.

That's great to hear about the career opportunity. Sounds like ur excited about it.

The tank will find it's way. You wont allow otherwise.

#Reef1stlife2nd ?

 

[Rakie]

Honestly @RichtheReefer21 -- I spend way too much time doing reef stuff. I'm either doing reef stuff, planning reef stuff, brokering coral deals, selling corals, advising people, working on other peoples reef, getting my frag partners to actually frag their corals, etc etc etc. On a slow week I probably have 1-2 people ask me to broker a deal or find them a rare coral locally, on a busy week probably 5+ <-- EDIT. Not 15 lol.

I'm going to a reef show on the 27th and trading an ultra high end shroom for 3 high end shrooms. They are all going directly to my friends tank, LOL, I don't even have a place to put them and i'm STILL doing reef stuff.

Deadpool Eclectis, Candy Crush Eclectis, and Kryptonite Jawbreaker.

 

[Rakie]

I've nearly finished my first bottle of Power Gro, I am tempted to try the Chroma+.

Interesting! Have you tried the Aminos as well? I really like the Aminos. Using a calcium reactor, I don't see much need for the rest of their lineup. I have started adding a few drops of the Coral Essentials "B" into my ATO, as it's the brunt of their trace.

 

[najer]

Just the power gro and trace B here.

 

[Rakie]

I'm hoping come this time next weekend I'll have some tester frags in the tank. Things are doing okay right now. What is left hasn't died, and a few things are gaining back some color as well.

I've ordered a huge bottle of BRS ROX 0.8 carbon to scrub the water clean, and did a huge water change (about 75%) and things got back on track immediately. So lets hope things keep going in that direction.

We have a local Coral Farmer Market tomorrow -- I'm trading a coral for 4 good ones tomorrow. Perks of high end corals, you can trade one for 4-5 other high end ones lol. The funny part is they aren't going in my tank, straight to my buddies sump frag tank. Nobody seems to mind holding onto $1,000 worth of high end mushrooms though, so meh.

 

[Rakie]

So overall update.

Corals are still getting seriously annoyed in my tank. The shreds of encrusted stuff is getting annoyed for sure, most of which didn't survive... I need to run a full set of tests, especially nutrients, as I've used a lot of bacteria's to get things in balance. Odds are my tank is completely starved right now. I'll likely need to dose nitrates and phosphates. Got some proven "fish safe" emeralds from a buddy as well. They are definitely not asterina safe though.

Dinos are long gone, thanks to UV.

Here's what I've done so far post dinos.
- 80% water change first.
- Ran 3 cycles of ROX Carbon to clean things out of the water.
- Dosed several types of bacteria's to get things in order (before/after water change, big bottles and such).
- Added a pair of Emerald Crabs that like to eat asterinas and bubble algae.

Now, as far as I know, I just need to get water back into balance... I plan to have tester frags in the tank by this coming weekend -- After a battery of testing for whatever I can test for.