Official 2012 SPS Growout Thread! Contestants post here!

[Emerald525]

Contestants this is the official thread to post your entries!(clap)(clap) If you post your entry in another thread it will not count.

 

 

Contest begins Tuesday May 1!You have a week before and a week after to post up your picture so those who have your frag may technically put their first post up tomorrow!(rock2)(rock2)

 

 

This competition will run 4 months!

 

 

In case you forgot here are the prizes (clap)(clap):

 

http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?31943-SPS-Growout-Competition-Prizes-Thank-You-Sponsors

 

 

Ground Rules:

 

The goal of this competition is to be both educational and fun. I am hopeful the winners will be able to share their "secrets" and truly see how different lighting, supplements, dosing, and tank parameters can make a difference in growth.

 

Rules and Guidelines for SPS GOC

 

1. Your first post must include a quick writeup of your system in the competition thread. Including tank size, flow, lighting, placement of the frag, equipment (ie calcium reactor, dosing, etc)

2. You will be required to post photo updates. The contest will start May 1. You will be required to post a photo update once a month. I will remind you of this when the time is soon to post. I know life gets busy and people go out of town so you have a 2 week window to post.You will have 7 days before and after the first of the month to post your update. If you cannot post during the required time please contact me and we can figure something out. You just have to let me know. If you do not contact me and you do not post up in the required time, you will be disqualified.

3. Please no cheating. This competition is meant to be fun and for bragging rights. It is going to a good cause (tanks for teachers and Parkinsons disease). Cheaters will be disqualified and banned from any future competitions.

4. The frags must remain on the original plug. You may modify the plug if needed example cutting off the stem for placement. You may place the frag anywhere you want in your tank and you may move it to a different spot during the competition but you cannot move it to a new tank as the point is to see how the frag does over time in different systems.

5. You must use the oh so expensive and official ruler that was handed out with your sps frag. If you do not use the correct ruler. You will be disqualified. If you lost or broke yours. I do have extras.

 

 

 

Not following the rules will cause you to be disqualified, I know that sounds harsh but it is out of fairness to the rest of the group. Remember a lot can happen in 4 months.

 

 

General Information:

 

 

Length of competition:

 

The competition will run for 4 months. That's right 4 months. ( Has everyone figured out now how long the contest will last? This will give us enough time for the frag to grow. A lot can happen in 4 months and a lot of people could drop out (it will be summer time) so if you are persistent, you have a chance to win a prize. This will give EVERYONE the same advantage\disadvantage with acclimation and so on. Pictures will be required frequently for updates.

To keep interest going, I will offer up prizes such as Roger's famous frag plugs in the interim with contests such as best trash talking, best write up, etc....

If for some strange reason there are more prizes than actual contestants at the end, I will do a raffle from all of the entries.

 

 

Judging a winner. Winner should be based off total growth. We need the measurement of your starting frag using the official ruler that was handed out to you, and then very simply the person with the most growth wins. If your frag was a 1/2 inch and your final length was 5 inches then 4.5 is the final length. No size jokes here please..(nono)(laugh) IF THERE IS A TIE, pictures will be posted (without names to prevent favoritism) for a vote ( by all the participants) of who they think the best frag is.\. Method of judgement is subject to change. Remember this is only the second sps GOC so we are still trying to determine the most fair way to determine the winner.

 

Remember this should be fun! Trash talking is encouraged and if you want to post more updates than the required ones feel free!

 

RickT

Emerald525/tanktop74

Reefnjunkie

Noobtosalt

Bigjohnwoody

Matty0206

Jeramy

IslandofTiki

Bicyclebill

Kris

Hewey McLovit

J-Dog

 

Nelsz3 out 7/2012

LcScott out 6/22/2012

Omarortiz out 7/25/2012

Mohaynow out 8/2012

Smann paid out 7/2012

Derbird out 8/3/2012

Pnkrcklives out 5/7/2012

 

Have fun and let the trash talking begin!(clap)(clap)

 

Contest within a contest winners:

Kris (best first post) won frag plugs

Ugliest Frag Contest-Mohaynow won supplements

Best looking frag:

Reefnjunkie 25 dollar gift certificate to Fantastic Frags

Emerald525 Bag of sand

Rick T-10 dollar CUC

[pnkrcklives]

IS MY FRAG SUPPOSED TO HAVE GROWN 3+ INCHES ALREADY?? I will try and post my frag pictures tonight. LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN...

[Emerald525]

IS MY FRAG SUPPOSED TO HAVE GROWN 3+ INCHES ALREADY?? I will try and post my frag pictures tonight. LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN...

 

Oh the things I could say... Actually Taylor tomorrow is the earliest day you can post up.

[pnkrcklives]

Ok tomorrow it is. How is the frag supposed to be measured? In MM OR INCHES? The official ruler has a reveal at the end. So we just start with the ruler "0" line(white) aligned with the top surface of the frag plug?

[Emerald525]

Ok tomorrow it is. How is the frag supposed to be measured? In MM OR INCHES? The official ruler has a reveal at the end. So we just start with the ruler "0" line(white) aligned with the top surface of the frag plug?

 

Yes I would start with the 0 mark. Since the frags are small I would probably go with centimeters. Hopefully this time since we are all using the same rulers there will be less discrepancies.

[Emerald525]

Ok tomorrow it is. How is the frag supposed to be measured? In MM OR INCHES? The official ruler has a reveal at the end. So we just start with the ruler "0" line(white) aligned with the top surface of the frag plug?

 

Yes I would start with the 0 mark. Since the frags are small I would probably go with centimeters. Hopefully this time since we are all using the same rulers there will be less discrepancies.

[Emerald525]

First prize of the growout!

 

Okay contestants the first official day to post is tomorrow and the last day is May 8th. The person with the best picture and write up will win a prize!(clap)(clap) The prize is your pick of Mr. S's famous homemade frag plugs. You get to pick either natural, disc or golf tee style!(clap)(clap) I will pick what I think are the best 5 entries (me excluded obviously(laugh)) and let the group vote on those 5 entries for best picture in POTM style!

 

[reefnjunkie]

I'd like to vote for myself before I even post anything (whistle)

 

In the last SPS GO the goal was to place the ruler in the same place on every photo where ever that may be-the goal is consistancy. I had laid out VERY clear guidlines but I suppose some folks just lack proper reading skills or did not understand certain terms like "place the ruler on the top surface of the frag plug".

 

In looking back I can see where that is a very convoluted and lacks direction.-DOH!

 

Anyway, good luck to all that are participating, here is to a good amount of trash talking and boasting your skillz

 

I really hope to see this used

 

 

Classic-Thanks Josh,

 

I'm loving the boot-(rock2)

 

 

Kim have you keeled your frag yet?

[Emerald525]

I'm posting early

 

So I'm posting early to show what I would like as far as a measurement. Use the centimeter side. There is a lot of blank area at the end of the ruler but start at the O line. It would have been better if we could have set the ruler at the base of the plug but oh well. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

 

 

 

In case you needed any motivation, here is the grand prize...(drooler) I will post pictures of this too as it grows! Thanks again Jody! (clap)(clap)

 

 

 

Remember the best picture and post for the official start wins Roger's frag plugs...

[matty]

Ok so I may have a problem. I received my frag and it had fallen off the plug in the bag so I tried to glue it back. I could not get it to stay so I epoxied it to a rock. I didn't realize it had to stay on the plug. What should I do now?

 

Oh and in the process I knocked the rock over and broke my stag in 2 and crushed the new monti I got at the meeting (puke)

[Emerald525]

Lol wow first hazard. Sorry about that Matt. I can attest to the fact that your frag fell off the plug. In your case I will make an exception. Well at least you saved the frag.

 

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[matty]

Lol.... yeah it was not a good day! Thank you. I will post my start in a day or two.

[Smann]

So are we supposed to wait and take the picture tomorrow? mines already grown since I got it in the tank, by tomorrow I'd guess another 1/2" easy

[Emerald525]

So are we supposed to wait and take the picture tomorrow? mines already grown since I got it in the tank' date=' by tomorrow I'd guess another 1/2" easy[/quote']

 

LOL nice start to the trash talking Steve! Okay today is the first day to post. I figured a week before and after the end of the month will give people plenty of time to post a picture. And remember best first post and picture will win the first prize their a bag of frag plugs!

[pnkrcklives]

So I'm posting early to show what I would like as far as a measurement. Use the centimeter side. There is a lot of blank area at the end of the ruler but start at the O line. It would have been better if we could have set the ruler at the base of the plug but oh well. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

 

 

 

In case you needed any motivation, here is the grand prize...(drooler) I will post pictures of this too as it grows! Thanks again Jody! (clap)(clap)

 

 

 

Remember the best picture and post for the official start wins Roger's frag plugs...

 

What about cutting the ruler off at the "0" line so it can be just set on the top surface of the frag plug.

[nelsz3]

i wondered this as well, also do you have longer rulers? that one doesn't look like it will big enough the measure mine in a few weeks(whistle)

[Emerald525]

What about cutting the ruler off at the "0" line so it can be just set on the top surface of the frag plug.

 

I thought of that but was afraid someone would accidentally cut too much off (me) or not enough. I think just leaving the ruler in tact for now is fine. Like I said. I hope by the end of 4 months the clear winner will be obvious and it won't come down to a few millimeters. But I'm open to suggestions.

 

i wondered this as well' date=' also do you have longer rulers? that one doesn't look like it will big enough the measure mine in a few weeks(whistle)[/quote']

 

LOL I will give you another ruler to tape to the other one if that becomes a problem!

[Emerald525]

What about cutting the ruler off at the "0" line so it can be just set on the top surface of the frag plug.

 

I thought of that but was afraid someone would accidentally cut too much off (me) or not enough. I think just leaving the ruler in tact for now is fine. Like I said. I hope by the end of 4 months the clear winner will be obvious and it won't come down to a few millimeters. But I'm open to suggestions.

 

i wondered this as well' date=' also do you have longer rulers? that one doesn't look like it will big enough the measure mine in a few weeks(whistle)[/quote']

 

LOL I will give you another ruler to tape to the other one if that becomes a problem!

[Derbird]

Time to post

 

My tank is a 120 long or 125 lots of names for this size tank (laugh) I have a 15 gallon sump and 40 gallon refugium.

 

Equipment

 

Eshops 150 skimmer

BRS GFO / Carbon reactor

T-5 lights

 

My frag is a little colum so I called it Stubby its 7/16" but since we seem to be going metric the converter gave me 11.112499999 mm. I guess everything seems bigger in metric. Just ask our northern neighbors (whistle)

 

I can't seen to hold the ruler and get a good pic at the same time DOH! I'll have to work on that

 

 

I will consider this grow out a great success if I'm able to keep this little guy alive for the whole time. SPS is a challenge

[NoobtoSalt]

Guess I will post up mine now too since I'm going to get more growth on this little guy over the next few weeks for sure.

 

29 gallon biocube

Tunze 9002 Skimmer

Vortech MP10

Rapid LED lighting

Reefkeeper Lite Controller w/ ALC module

I think the first thread said we are supposed to post what we are feeding but I will wait until I get conformation on that before I toss out my secrets...(whistle)

 

This might be fun getting pictures since the shrimp was not happy with the ruler being in the tank.

 

Current growth 10mm or 1cm

 

 

 

 

Oh and I accept all challenges. This really isn't going to be a competition so you might as well just send that chalice over to my tank and let it reside in the winner's tank!! BRING IT ON!

[omarortiz]

 

I am using a measuring ruler that has no reveal so I can set it right on the plug. As of today (April 24th) the frag measures roughly 12 mm.

 

 

Equipment

I am running a 30 gallon mixed reef tank. This tank went into action around mid-2011. It is well-established and has an abundance of pods that I have to scrub off the face of the tank everyday. It is an upgrade from a BioCube 29 (which falls far short of 29 gallons).

 

The display tank is 30 gallon acrylic and the sump is a 15 gallon acrylic. The return pump is a 600 GPH Oceanrunner and I use a Vortech MP10ES on the reef crest setting (highest at day and turned down at night). For filtration, I have a freshly broken in Eshopps S-120 Economy Cone Skimmer and I use ChemiPure Elite to help deal with chemical warfare from all of my corals. I have a 24 Cree LED (12 XP-G White, 12 XP-E Royal Blue) DIY fixture for lighting.

 

Upgrades are on the horizon. I will be doing a lighting upgrade (12 more royal blue LEDs) followed by a tank upgrade (50 gallon display).

 

Frag placement

I placed the frag within the top 6 inches of water column on mini frag rack.

 

Dosing

I use a Reefkeeper Lite with kalkwasser auto topoff using pH to controller option. I also do some occassional dosing for alk, calcium and magnesium to maintain parameters. I also perform weekly 5 gallon water changes.

[J-Dog]

 

I am using a measuring ruler that has no reveal so I can set it right on the plug. As of today (April 24th) the frag measures roughly 12 mm.

 

 

Equipment

I am running a 30 gallon mixed reef tank. This tank went into action around mid-2011. It is well-established and has an abundance of pods that I have to scrub off the face of the tank everyday. It is an upgrade from a BioCube 29 (which falls far short of 29 gallons).

 

The display tank is 30 gallon acrylic and the sump is a 15 gallon acrylic. The return pump is a 600 GPH Oceanrunner and I use a Vortech MP10ES on the reef crest setting (highest at day and turned down at night). For filtration, I have a freshly broken in Eshopps S-120 Economy Cone Skimmer and I use ChemiPure Elite to help deal with chemical warfare from all of my corals. I have a 24 Cree LED (12 XP-G White, 12 XP-E Royal Blue) DIY fixture for lighting.

 

Upgrades are on the horizon. I will be doing a lighting upgrade (12 more royal blue LEDs) followed by a tank upgrade (50 gallon display).

 

Frag placement

I placed the frag within the top 6 inches of water column on mini frag rack.

 

Dosing

I use a Reefkeeper Lite with kalkwasser auto topoff using pH to controller option. I also do some occassional dosing for alk, calcium and magnesium to maintain parameters. I also perform weekly 5 gallon water changes.

 

It looks like your frag got glued to the plug upside down (nutty)(scratch)

[Bicyclebill]

My very first contest entry of any kind!

17.5" below 250 watt radiums and (2) actinic VHO's

Dose 2 part brs, Kent coral vite, salifert coral amino, potassium, strontium, gfo, macro algae in sump. Feed lots of fish food, reef chili for corals. Sicce 2800 Voyager powerheads on wavemaker on opposite sides of tank. 90G with 25G sump and Aquamaxx 150 skimmer. Reeflo Blowhole 1100 return pump with waveysea return at front of tank.

 

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

[NoobtoSalt]

 

I am using a measuring ruler that has no reveal so I can set it right on the plug. As of today (April 24th) the frag measures roughly 12 mm.

 

Unfortunately you will probably need to repost a picture with the "official ruler" that was given to you from Beth/Kim. The reason everyone needs to use the same ruler is due to consistency between everyone's rulers. I know it sounds dumb but look at the last SPS GO and you will understand more..(laugh)

[Jeramy]

Ok Here we go. I am running a 31gal tank with a roughly 10gal sump Marineland skimmer fuge with macro and a mountain of frag plugs as rubble. For flow I have a 600gph return and a 295gph maxi jet with a hydor rotating head and a ocianic 250gph. I have abot 30pounds of sand and about the same in live rock.

My lighting is 4x 6watt ecoxotic stunner strips and 1x Par56 from ReefStar. I dont dose any thing in my system I just do water changes at 5 gallons a week and top of with ro water from upscales. I feed my corals whatever the fish are eating which is a home made medly of seafoods from the local market and I also give them Cyclopseze. I do not directly target feed my corals. My Frag is placed half way up my rock work but directly under the Par56 lamp.

 

The frag is the little guy in the center with a snail on it =)

 

 

Here is the Grow out measurement I had to move it to the sand to take this pick because I cant measure it where it is sitting in the rock work.

 

I would also like to add that I think they put to much lead in the paint when they made my plastic ruller because I dropped it in my tank and it sank like a rock. Lead will make my corals grow faster right?