My 300 Gallon sps tank

[CarlaW]

You like? Hope so

 

[sarmo]

from the pics I think it's all looking good. I like your new torch. you better be careful, you may end up with an LPS tank

have you got your light ramped up to where you want them? what % are they now?

 

[CarlaW]

Lights are at 65% blue and 55% white, if anything I may leave the blues where they are and drop the white another 5%. An LPS tank would not make me mad at all .

 

[sarmo]

do you think your light levels could be the reason for you Monti's and LPS doing better than your SPS?

 

[CarlaW]

You know, I really have no idea Rob, I do know that I am really hesitant about jacking these things all the way up. I have read that the PAR levels are high, so, that is where I am hesitant. Thru all of this I am really surprised that the sps have not lost color, they haven't burned!!!! I do believe I am content to ride the tide the way things are .

 

[spieszak]

I do believe I am content to ride the tide the way things are .

So, do you know what would have to change in the tank to make you tinker with the lighting at this point? More specifically I guess, is there a specific coral or anything that you 'tells' you the lights are 'right' where there are? Or is it more of an overall tank health type thing?
(i'm always a bit more interested in why folks do what they do, or how they make the decision to do so, rather than the specifics of what it is they actually did... trying to gain an understanding I guess of the analytical process rather than the action.)

 

[CarlaW]

Stacey, my thought go to one coral in the tank:

I have never been able to sustain an acceptable relationship with this coral in the 10 years this tank has been around. If I can sustain this, life is good. I knew when I changed lights back in December of 2012, that alot of the sps would either react well, or be gone. What I had at the time is still there, so either I am doing something right, or I am one lucky gal.

I also watch all of the Euphyllia species, they are the best gauges of whether your tank parameters are in order, and I also happen to just love that particular species .

After being around this hobby as long as I have been, you get to notice subtle things , that change when you do something. I have also learned that the more you screw around with stuff, the more likely you are to have problems.

 

[spieszak]

I have blue sponge that I use as my 'go to' right now. It grows when nutrients are high, it wanes when nutrients are too low, but when its in stasis, everything else seems mostly happy. I can also read the film on the glass for this a bit, but I tend to wipe the glass every day (needed or not, as a lesson learned from my acrylic tank) so its harder to use that as a 'tell'. This of course tells me nothing at all about anything other than nutrient levels... I'm still really relying on my tests for other things, and I have been pretty lucky so far as far as those other things are concerned. I'd be testing regardless, but I'd rather have more of a 'feel' for things in between tests. I know my GSP doesn't like high alk.. but it has to get pretty high before I can see the reaction, and I have no idea or lighting, or flow (except for 'new' corals, and trying to finalize placement) or anything else... It will likely come with time I suppose.....

 

[CarlaW]

I have not tested for nutrients in 3 -4 years..................LOL. That is why I keep hammers and such, they hate nitrates, and if they struggle, then I do something, not much really. Most likely it is a cycle the tank goes thru, and instead of flying off the proverbial handle, most of the time I just go with the flow, and things settle out. I have seen people, that if one test shows to be out of whack, it is instant panic mode and then they go buy the latest and greatest and struggle for 3 more months trying to get their sh** straightened out again. And then when you tell them to just be patient, you pretty much get that, "blow it out your a**" reaction, I am gonna do what I have to to keep 0 nutrients in my system. Well.................. ok, you go ahead and do that, but what else are you messing up in the process.

I could go on and on, don't get me started on red bugs .

Sorry for the rant, but if I hold stuff in, it bugs me

 

[spieszak]

I have not tested for nutrients in 3 -4 years..................LOL.

Sorry for the rant, but if I hold stuff in, it bugs me

I only test trates if I see something out of whack, as the tank has always done well on that. I only test PO4 when I know its getting close to too long on the media, and then I only test the effluent of the reactor to decide if I'm going to change it 'yet' or not.

I know that 'hold stuff in' thing too well.. Regardless, its your thread, you should rant all you want. LOL

 

[CarlaW]

I try to keep ranting to a minimum, it gives me gas!

 

[mrturritos]

a little bit of time and it should come around, it has obvious signs of stress and small spots of receding tissue. I'm gonna have to test more often now that I added a bunch of sps into the tank in one go.....

 

[CarlaW]

Just keep an eye on things, don't waste all your water tests.................LOL. Take pics too................ speaking of which . I am glad you got it and I hope you think it was worth the wait.

 

[LostCreekReefer]

I could go on and on, don't get me started on red bugs.

So what about red bugs? ?curiosity? The meaning of the universe and all?

 

[CarlaW]

What about red bugs Kevin? I am not gonna start that....................LOL.

 

[CarlaW]

Time for some update pics, plus I cleaned the glass and scraped the coralline today..........................LOL.

 

[myindoorocean]

Is that a chalice? I know I'm not too good at this.

 

[DevonM]

Looking great as always! What do you clean your exterior glass with? Recently I've not been happy with the glass cleaner I've been using. I thought maybe I had some salt on my magnet and kept smearing it around so I changed the pads... still have streaks.

 

[CarlaW]

Is that a chalice? I know I'm not too good at this. ��

Yep Matt, that is a chalice .

 

[CarlaW]

Looking great as always! What do you clean your exterior glass with? Recently I've not been happy with the glass cleaner I've been using. I thought maybe I had some salt on my magnet and kept smearing it around so I changed the pads... still have streaks.

Try some vinegar and water mixture Devon