Have been to a varying degree depending on the tests; dripped a bit more Alk tonight & will go back to it in the AMstart things abck up again Kevin
Lost Creek 270
- Thread starter LostCreekReefer
- Start date
Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:
See post # 48 from Kelan's 24g:
I have had my LEDs going over my refugium for a month at this point. The people in the building have gotten to the dimmer night light...took a while! :badgrin:
What I have noticed is the Torch, Zoas, Mushrooms and a Candy-Cane LPS (in other words, all of the corals in the fuge) are all growing (much better) & the Torch is much fuller and larger when I check things out in the morning. I think they like the LEDs just fine; the algae is growing fine, too!.
I have had my LEDs going over my refugium for a month at this point. The people in the building have gotten to the dimmer night light...took a while! :badgrin:
What I have noticed is the Torch, Zoas, Mushrooms and a Candy-Cane LPS (in other words, all of the corals in the fuge) are all growing (much better) & the Torch is much fuller and larger when I check things out in the morning. I think they like the LEDs just fine; the algae is growing fine, too!.
Can you see actual growth, or are you just looking at how more full the corals are Kevin? There is a difference. All in all tho, good deal that they are like that, some stuff adjusts quicker. The quote you referenced is something I read a long time ago. I was talking about the fact it may take that long for the coral to totally adjust. Look at the the first thing a SPS coral will do when it is put into the tank........................................ encrust. It is growth, yes, but it is also building itself a home
I think most of what I am seeing truly is just a fuller soft portion of the coral..the Torch may be growing (the Torch looks the best it ever has!), the Zoas are most definitely growing & multiplying. They like the light & are scary....
Last edited:
They are weeds and some of them should be exterminated.........................................lol.
From Charlie's "My 300 Gallon SPS tank" Post #458:
I think you gave me a 1 - 1.5" squarish frag of that leather...maybe 2-1/2 years ago there-abouts... I just fragged it into 4 pieces, it was ~ 8" wide & 14" long, the pieces are all looking great.
Do leathers do coral war-fare on each other? I guess all of that leather is still in my system, but just 1/3 of it in the display tank though with the rest in the frag tank, all using the same sump, all going through the fuge first.... I ask, because the 2" finger leather is starting to grow in my fuge, like longer, larger overall & the fingers have doubled in size, much better polyp extension...or is it maybe the new lights more possibly?
I think you gave me a 1 - 1.5" squarish frag of that leather...maybe 2-1/2 years ago there-abouts... I just fragged it into 4 pieces, it was ~ 8" wide & 14" long, the pieces are all looking great.
Do leathers do coral war-fare on each other? I guess all of that leather is still in my system, but just 1/3 of it in the display tank though with the rest in the frag tank, all using the same sump, all going through the fuge first.... I ask, because the 2" finger leather is starting to grow in my fuge, like longer, larger overall & the fingers have doubled in size, much better polyp extension...or is it maybe the new lights more possibly?
let me get back here, Kevin, I gotta run right now. reply and then I will have a reminder.
Well, that's what I remember Charlie saying a while back, they do it to each other & it can get to some other corals. The Figi leather just kept growing and this little finger leather just did nothing in the main display, so I moved him into the fuge where he continued to do nothing. I changed the lights (LEDs going) and the corals all seem to like it, the finger leather the most. I was thinking the fragging of the Figi was part of it, like I got rid of some of it, but all of the pieces are still in the system, per se, just 2/3 is now residing in the frag tank in 3 pieces...they all look great with their scars all healing up!
DevonM
Mantis Shrimp
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2010
- Messages
- 643
Well that particular coral, Fiji yellow leather, wasn't supposed to be that toxic. One of the selling points Kevin P. told me about. So if you are going to have a leather, you should be ok with that one. I bought a frag and it got hauled off into a hole, never to be seen again...
You guys are both right on with your thinking. All corals, and I repeat, all corals go to war, during the day, nite, you name it. I have seen Kevin literally scrape about 1/2 inch of slime from the top of his sump when his system was set up at home, and that just came from the sps corals in his tank, it goes on, whether you know it or not.
Kevin, the best thing you could do for yourself is get anything that is a softie outta there, JMHO. The yellow figi leather is cool, because as Devon said, it is the least toxic of all of them. I will almost bet that once you get rid of softies and the finger leather, you may not see the difference straight up, but there will be thank you letters in the mail. Again, JMHO
Kevin, the best thing you could do for yourself is get anything that is a softie outta there, JMHO. The yellow figi leather is cool, because as Devon said, it is the least toxic of all of them. I will almost bet that once you get rid of softies and the finger leather, you may not see the difference straight up, but there will be thank you letters in the mail. Again, JMHO
Tests for today @ 9:30PM as follows: Temp = 79.1 & pH = 8.22
SpGr = 1.027, Salinity = 38
Alk = 9.632 dkh
Ca = 450 ppm
Mg = 1320 ppm
I look at this & I'm happy to see the Mg creeping up, almost there. The Ca is a bit high so I will back off a bit & the Alk just makes me laugh & shake my head. I will back of quite a bit there & see where we go.
I have a reactor for running GFO that I'm setting up. I have done all the reading heard the horror stories & I think the best advise I've read is in Tony Vargas' new book: The Coral Reef Aquarium. His Idea is you can certainly follow the suggested 'serving size and let 'er rip. BUT he has seen people go out of the hobby or do a re-start for a whole big tank like mine from removing too much PO4 from the system & doing it too quickly. His idea is to run 1/10th of what they suggest initially & see what the PO4 reading is & keep track of it...(right Charlie?..do the test!) so I will do that, running 1/3 cup of GFO of the GFO that I have initially rather than the 3 cups suggested by BRS. wee shall see!
SpGr = 1.027, Salinity = 38
Alk = 9.632 dkh
Ca = 450 ppm
Mg = 1320 ppm
I look at this & I'm happy to see the Mg creeping up, almost there. The Ca is a bit high so I will back off a bit & the Alk just makes me laugh & shake my head. I will back of quite a bit there & see where we go.
I have a reactor for running GFO that I'm setting up. I have done all the reading heard the horror stories & I think the best advise I've read is in Tony Vargas' new book: The Coral Reef Aquarium. His Idea is you can certainly follow the suggested 'serving size and let 'er rip. BUT he has seen people go out of the hobby or do a re-start for a whole big tank like mine from removing too much PO4 from the system & doing it too quickly. His idea is to run 1/10th of what they suggest initially & see what the PO4 reading is & keep track of it...(right Charlie?..do the test!) so I will do that, running 1/3 cup of GFO of the GFO that I have initially rather than the 3 cups suggested by BRS. wee shall see!
dsmhero
Well-known member
On a side note: How do you like Tony's new book? Is it worth buying?
Good luck on the GFO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The only problem with testing for phosphate is that the tests are pretty inaccurate. You know by the algae that there is phosphate, my personal opinion is to find out where the source is, which may be like finding a needle in a haystack. Is there a chance that your water storage buckets are leaching phosphate???
Bingo. When I used to test for that, I could see the algae in the tank, but my PO4 reading was nil. That is why I just basically gave up testing and started looking for sources
I am going to a meeting for a few days and this will be my pleasure book for relaxation reading. I will bring it to the meeting next month & you can look it over, it looks very good from a quick go through & selected readings (like GFO???)
sarmo
aka Rob
i like your approach Kevin. use less than prescribed and see if it has an effect. Phosphate control can make a big difference. controlling phosphate got rid of my "great hair algae outbreak of 2009" . macro algae takes it out too, that is one of the reasons i setup my fuge.
remember that using less media will not take phosphate out slower, the media will just reach capacity faster and then stop removing the remaining phosphate. so you need to add a time factor into you process as far as when you plan on adding more media to take the phosphate down another notch.
if you like your results i have a 1000ml unopened container of "Rowa phos" i got a while back and never set up a reactor for.
as far as leathers go, some are worse than others with chemical warfare. Kevin P told me that Figi leathers didn't give off much or any chemical warfare. in my experience with a figi leather it would lay on other corals and they were not effected by it...... including a couple Acros. my Hammer actually killed the figi with it's sweepers.
. macro algae takes it out too, that is one of the reasons i setup my fuge. remember that using less media will not take phosphate out slower, the media will just reach capacity faster and then stop removing the remaining phosphate. so you need to add a time factor into you process as far as when you plan on adding more media to take the phosphate down another notch.
if you like your results i have a 1000ml unopened container of "Rowa phos" i got a while back and never set up a reactor for.
as far as leathers go, some are worse than others with chemical warfare. Kevin P told me that Figi leathers didn't give off much or any chemical warfare. in my experience with a figi leather it would lay on other corals and they were not effected by it...... including a couple Acros. my Hammer actually killed the figi with it's sweepers.
dsmhero
Well-known member
That would be fantastic, thank you.
I have hated testing in general; you might have reached that conclusion already. The phosphate tests seemed espcially to be an effort in futility (i could call it something else, but this is a family forum!
). The Salifert & API tests rely on such subtle color changes that in my hands, I never saw anything helpful; I always got nothing or near nothing. That being said I hopped on the new Hanna Phosphate checker to see what would happen. I think it is using a similar/the same test(?) but uses a colorimeter ( a machine with a light and a photometer) to measure the color change in the test water, rather than my eye. I used it last time along side the Salifert test and had nothing with either the Salifert or an old API test (from when I bought the aquarium from Kyle), and something like 0.13 with the Hanna test. Something! I have had a bit of a difficult time using the tester (I am too stoopid to use it per instructions), so I must need more beer on board for doing phosphate tests (the others tests I do are all fine...I do not understand!!), so I burned up a bunch of reagents figuring out how to use it originally. I just received my BRS order with 25 - PO4 tests in it, so tonight I will answer your questions, Charlie (there were also my questions). My understanding was those Rotomold tanks were supposedly inert & did not leach PO4 into water....I want to test the aquarium, the RODI water in the tank & the mixed salt water in the 2nd tank & see what is what! I had one test on hand, now I can do this & see where my starting point is with the GFO
