Xmoji 57 Reef

[Xmoji]

Green Slimmer

Miyagi Tort

Hawkins Echinata you can see some loss of color on this one because it was being shadowed by a hammer coral on a rack. It’ll bounce back though...

Orange Hammer

 

[Xmoji]

A couple months ago I picked up a few pieces of coral during a live sale. One of the pieces I got was TCK Pikachu. It was a lot smaller than what I expected, about 1/2”.

So fast forward a couple month and the piece is alive and well. I ended up removing it from the plug it came on and glued it to a piece of rock. So far it has been encrusting pretty well. At the base of the frag you used to be able to see the glue but now it is fully encrypted over the glue.

I’m hoping with time I’ll get more of the yellow out of it and the green goes away. You can see some hints of yellow in the tips of the small branches.

 

[Xmoji]

ASD Rainbow Milli
I purchased the ASD Rainbow Milli about a year ago and have had a lot of success with it. It is a really fast grower and has awesome colors. I purchased this frag from another local reefer. When I purchased it was only about half an inch. You can see now how well it has grown since. I had it sitting on my frag rack for most of the year but after I changed my rock work I thought it really deserved a spot on my aquascape.

Actinic

 

[Xmoji]

Something really excited happened! Seemingly overnight my RR Wolverine started getting color! I have had this piece for about 8 months and it never did anything. It just sat there dormant looking ugly and brown with absolutely no growth. I guess it just decided to wake up from hibernation. It’s not super great looking but for me to see some color is exciting....

 

[Xmoji]

I need to do some cleaning!

 

[Xmoji]

Full tank shot.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Looks great, nice collection of corals!

 

[Xmoji]

Looks great, nice collection of corals!

Thank you, the addiction is real.

 

[Xmoji]

Ok this is crazy!

I have always thought that chaeto was a great addition to my reef tank. Not just algae for it’s known benefits but an actual part of my filtration system. Chaeto helps keep water clean and removes excess nutrients from the water. It can also provide refuge for pods and brittle stars. I also keep the light on a reverse cycle to help maintain ph.

Chaeto has always been a decent grower, not particularly fast but not extremely slow either. It’s growth rate always required me to trim back once maybe twice a month.

I ended up cleaning out my sump a few weeks ago and wanted to start fresh by removing some rock I had and replace with Marinepure Blocks. I got rid of my chaeto but felt I couldn’t live without it so got a small handful from a local reefer.

Then I remembered another local reefer who recommended a cheap grow light from Amazon. This persons brother had really good results with. After looking back through my text I found the exact light bulbs and ordered it. The results have been AMAZING!!!

I have literally had the light on for 9 days and the growth has completely exploded. Check out the growth and dates in the pictures below.

February 3

February 6

February 12

 

[ngoodermuth]

What was the brand? I’m not sure I need my chaeto growing faster than it already does lol but good to know for future reference

 

[Xmoji]

What was the brand? I’m not sure I need my chaeto growing faster than it already does lol but good to know for future reference

It’s ABI 12W LED grow light.

 

[Xmoji]

WWC Nuclear Grapes

No Name Acro

ASD Rainbow Milli

 

[Xmoji]

Zoas!

The acan in this pic was a freebie from TCK live sale and it was barely a frag when I got it, more like a quarter of a single head of an acan. Now it’s looking healthy.

I need to do some maintenance.

 

[Xmoji]

I hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day. I was able to grab some nice pictures of the coral in the tank. I picked up a few frags from Battle Corals, awesome to do business with, super easy and Adam threw in a couple freebies. The two favorite pick ups are Vivid’s Confetti and BC Wondermelon.

Confetti

Wondermelon

 

[Xmoji]

Indo Gold Torch

ASD Rainbow Milli

CRT Dragon King

TCK Rainbow Explosion - I know needs some work.

 

[asting]

Those torches look great! I love your coral encrusted frag rack.

 

[Xmoji]

Those torches look great! I love your coral encrusted frag rack.

Thanks! I ended up cleaning up the frag rack but some grew onto my back wall of the tank and is now starting to encrust over the glass.

 

[Xmoji]

I changed up the right side of my tank about a month ago so mst of my larger sps colonies are really upset by all the movement and have lost color. I wanted to reorganize the rock work so I can try and get some more surface area for more coral. Now I’m trying to let everything heal. I picked up an aiptasia eating filefish to deal with those pests. He’s kinda small but I’m hoping he’s hungry for aiptasia and not my lps or softies. In order to keep my bounce safe I put them in my basket just in case. These bounce are so cool! Soooo many bubbles and there huge especially momma. I love them.

 

[Water Dog]

Beautiful tank! You are getting some fantastically stunning SPS growth and coloration from your AP700 LEDs. Can you share with us some of the tech specs of your tank? Beyond the Marinepure and chaeto mentioned earlier, what else are you using for filtration? What are you using for Alk and Ca supplementation? How often are you doing water changes, if any?

 

[Xmoji]

Thank you @Water Dog. I really do like my Kessil light even though I have had some ups and owns with it. It’s sufficient light for my tank. I do have to keep Coral with lesser light demands on the sides because I don’t get enough par but everywhere else is enough.

As for filtration, I keep it simple, live rock, marinepure and chaeto. I have a reactor for some carbon that I mix with gfo. Water changes are done weekly about 5 gallons sometimes 10 if I notice some issues.

As for dosing I dose BRS two part manually. I usually dose sodium bicarbonate everyday and calcium daily.