downhill_biker Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 looks good! i am in the same position, so dont take this wrong, but that tang will probably outgrow your tank. i have a tomini tang and regal tang in a 75 gallon tank, and i know that tangs get bigger and like to swim, but you probably have time before that happens. sweet looking clowns. love the pic with the two of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share Posted April 25, 2008 Actually, the tang is on the hairy edge of being too big right now, imo. I've had it for about two years now, and it's much jumpier now than it has been in the past. I'm starting to plan a tank upgrade, but I'm nowhere near ready to jump just yet. Mr. Yellow Tang is gonna have to suck it up a bit longer :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 Of course, the purple haze *would* grow in a bee line towards the cap. (wife) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 I hate it when that happens. I have a rock with 4 different caps and a plating acro on one edge. Funny thing is, they all seemed to grow towards one another first before they started to grow away from the rock. Nice looking stuff! I really like that before and after on the anthias! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted May 22, 2008 Author Share Posted May 22, 2008 SDGuy at Reef Central recently contacted me and pointed out that I had mis-identified my anthias as Lyretail Anthias — they are actually female Squarespot Anthias (Pseudanthias pluerotaenia). Live and learn (fish) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 Got any new pics of the male? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted May 22, 2008 Author Share Posted May 22, 2008 It hasn't changed any more. I'm starting to think they were both pale from transit, and just returned to their normal coloration... one is just more intensely colored than the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgreenthumb Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 That kinda of answers a question for me too then. I had a squarespot anthias that had a beautiful bright pink square box on its side, and over the last 6 months it has slowly disappeared and looks exactly the same as yours does. So I was beginning to wonder if I even had a squarespot. Good to know that that's what the females look like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted May 30, 2008 Author Share Posted May 30, 2008 The new(ish) cat likes to sit on the top of my computer chair and enjoy the tank. Most of the time, he just watches but every once in a while he can't help but take a swipe at something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 "Well, Jane, it just goes to show you. It's always something. If it's not one thing, it's another." -- Roseanne Rosannadanna A couple of weeks ago, I decided to move my pH probe up from the sump to the back corner of the display. After all, I reasoned, the pH of the tank was what I was really concerned with.. not the pH of the sump. Within a week or so of the move, I started noticing a fair bit of SPS bleaching. My orange cap colony, S. hystrix colony, and purple-edge cap colony were losing some tissue; the caps were getting some diatom growth on the bare spots. My A. caroliniana, A. tenuis, and A. efflorescens frags were stressing and starting to show signs of STN. My cyphastrea had lost a couple of polyps. It didn't take me long to connect the dots and blame my pH probe move. I'm dripping kalk into the sump via ATO, and the Aquacontroller is programmed to cut the kalk drip if the pH rises above 8.3 When I moved the pH probe out of the sump, I inadvertently removed the pH control on the water returning from the sump to the tank. DOH! This theory was borne out by the fact that all of the stressing corals were pretty much directly in-line with the loc-line nozzles on my return. If you were to draw a line straight out of each nozzle, the affected corals would be points on the line. I moved the pH probe back to the sump, and crossed my fingers. Pretty clear-cut problem and solution. Or so I thought. A day or two later, one of my new-ish Reeflux 12K bulbs stopped firing. I was kind'a ticked, because I was expecting a lot more than 5 months of life from the bulb. Times being what they are, I couldn't afford to buy a replacement (not sure I would have, given the short life of the bulb) so I just pulled both bulbs and replaced them with the XM10Ks I ran previously. The bulbs were far from toast and would work fine for a month or so. Since the XM10K bulbs have like 3x the PAR of the Reeflux, I added a couple layers of mosquito netting to the top of the tank to dim the bulbs down and figured I was okay. No dice. (sad) Corals kept on their slow STN death-march towards eternity. Several completely lost tissue and had to be removed. Others were slower in failing, but it was clear where this all was heading. I decided to replace the bulbs -- the number of corals in danger was far too high to just sit, so budget be damned. Today, I stopped by Upscales to pick up a pair of Radiums (thankfully, we have one PDX LFS that still takes American Express). While I was there, I chatted a bit with Travis and told him the whole story... hoping maybe to pick up a few bits of advice. He asked if I had maybe blown Kalk residue on the corals (I didn't think so, the Aquacontroller controls the recirc in the kalk reactor too). He asked if the Reeflux bulb had cracked, since the UV coating on the inside of SE bulbs will fail if there is a crack (it hadn't). At the end, he suggested I replace the bulbs with the Radiums, reduce the photo-period to 4.5 hrs per day for a week or so, frag corals that look like they're heading south, and cross my fingers. So now, the Radiums are in place (man, they're blue. really blue.) and the photo-period is reduced. I clipped a few more bare-skeleton branches off my blue-tipped green elkhorn colony. Just for kicks, I checked out the blown Reeflux bulb. I've been keeping the bulb-corpse... R-3 suggested I check with Phishy Business (where I bought the bulbs from) to see if they'd help me out a bit, and I wanted to keep the bulb as evidence. Anyways, guess what I see on the blown bulb? Yup, a big old crack on the bulb -- not sure how I missed that first time around. I don't know if the problem ever was pH related, it probably was UV all along... exacerbated by the increased PAR of the XM bulbs. Travis has crazy psychic powers. So far, I've lost two A. tenuis frags, two A. caroliniana frags, an orange cap colony, a purple monti dig frag, a green S. hystrix frag, an M. confusa frag, a small cyphastrea colony, a green stylo frag, and an ORA tort frag. My pink S. hystrix colony, A. efflorescens frag, purple haze colony, purple-edge monti cap, and blue-tipped green elkhorn are looking like they probably won't make it. My ice-blue Acro colony, A. echinata and A. confusa frags have been slightly affected but look like they'll recover. Mysteriously, an A. valida frag is browning out during this radioactive firestorm. I wish I could blame Coralvue (the Reeflux manufacturer) for the failed bulb, but I think it was my fault. I still have the last vestiges of a bulb-burn on my elbow; I got the burn from the bulb that failed, while cleaning the tank's front panel. The crack on the bulb is semi-circular, a bit bigger than the burn. Live and learn, I guess. This has been a pretty nasty shot to the tank. I've lost a lot, and stand to lose more but I haven't lost everything. Several SPS colonies and frags seem to be okay -- including a neon-green slimer that was *right* under the bulb and looks better now than it ever has (UV irradiation yields Hulk-like coral!). My acans, micromussa, blasto, rics and zoas are fine. My big pink stylo, Oregon tort, Blue staghorn, orange monti dig. and other colonies look great. Clams and fish seem unaffected. All in all, it could have been a lot worse. I'm not sure the tank will be worth a Tank Tours stop in July, but on the positive side at least I've got a lot of room for new corals... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef-fisher Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Sorry to hear all that. I hope things improve soon.(sad) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Sorry to here about the bad news Andy(sad) It seems when everything is going good the bottom falls out or at least thats the way it is in my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 Thanks guys, things like this seem to be part of the hobby -- it's like you aren't a real reefer until you've powered through your first catastrophe. I guess I'm blooded now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benny503 Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Now I know why you call it "My 55+ Gallon Money Pit" I hope things get back to where it was or even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted July 27, 2008 Author Share Posted July 27, 2008 I did some PAR measurements, results here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 Thanks to a bulb trade with MadMike (thanks, Mike!) I'm back to Reeflux 12K bulbs. The Radiums were just too blue for my tastes when run on the eballast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef-fisher Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 How are the survivors? Thats got to be rough...(scary) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Still a bit dicey, but getting better. Getting the nitrates back down should be the final recovery step. (fingers) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 New Lights I've replaced my lights. The 250W Radiums are out and have been replaced by two 150W Phoenix 14K HQI. I like the look a lot better, plus I'm pretty much convinced that I had way too much light in the tank before... SPS were bleaching out, not growing, etc. New lights plus low nitrates (in the 1 - 2 ppm range thanks to carbon dosing) will hopefully lead to happier corals. Cross your fingers. (fingers) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Geez Andy!, you change lights more then most people change their underwear! (laugh) :p :p (whistle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 People change their underwear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgreenthumb Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 whats underwear?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I have heard of that before....thought it was a myth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 ...but yeah, I've pissed away no small amount of coin on lighting. DOH! Going to 250W was a small mistake, subsequent move to Radiums was a big one (too much PAR for an 18" deep tank IMO). I think (hope!) the DE Phoenix bulbs are the final move. Heck, they gotta be cuz I ain't got no mooooney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 17, 2009 Author Share Posted January 17, 2009 Clams seem okay with the switch to 2x 150W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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