SuncrestReef

Last night I tried the H2O2 dip and it worked great!  Here's a before and after shot, only 12 hours later:

Thanks for the advice. 😀

2 minutes ago, 503reefland said:

Yeah I just have a 250 and the growth I’m getting is incredible I just hate the hydra 52’s spectrum...lol it has terrible blending imo. I’m interested in the ap700 kessil fixture but I haven’t seen a hybrid t5/led fixture that works with it.

I forgot to mention I also have diffusers on my Radions.  It makes a huge difference to eliminate the disco effect and smooths out the light pattern.  It does cause about a 10% loss in PAR, but I'm only running them at 80% max, so the loss is no problem.

7 minutes ago, 503reefland said:

I’m in the middle of trying to decide on what I’m going to go with on a aquatic life t5 led hybrid fixture. Either two g4 xr15 pro’s or 1 Xr30 any opinions and suggestions?

I've seen great growth using two XR30 Pro G4's on my Reefer XL 425:

1 minute ago, R-3 said:

Does it branch like this?

No, it's not branching.  Each stem is coming straight from the rock.  I also looked at photos of feather caulerpa but it does not appear to match what I have.  The "feathers" on mine are very thin and less dense than the photos I've seen of feather caulerpa.

I have one zoanthid colony on a branch that has gotten overgrown with algae, and I think it is bryopsis. Can anyone confirm this ID? Here's a full frame photo and a macro zoom: 

At the moment it's isolated to this one branch. I'm thinking about removing it from the display tank and treating it with fluconazole as I've read other posts that this is usually effective in eliminating bryopsis.

Any other recommendations?

Here's an updated full tank time-lapse video.  A few new corals, but the same cleanup crew still working away:

Updated full tank shots:

My wife was in Africa for a couple of weeks and took our Nikon D610 camera on her trip.  While I missed my wife, I also missed the camera! 😏  But now that she's back (along with 4,000+ photos of elephants, rhinos, lions, zebras, cheetahs, and so many other great shots), I can get back to shooting macro shots of my corals.  Below are some full-frame shots, each followed by a 100% crop showing details:

California Tort:

Favia:

Oregon Tort:

Green Slimer:

@Krux if you still want to arrange a photo shoot, let me know.  My schedule is pretty flexible (I'm retired...), and I'm not one to turn down a beer & pizza. 😎

Tonight I found what at first looked like a worm on the sand bed.  I siphoned it out of the tank to get a better look, but it does not appear to be a living creature.  I'm starting to think it's fish poop, but I've never seen my fish produce anything nearly this large or segmented like this.  My biggest fish is only 2" long, and this specimen is nearly 1.5".  Or perhaps my pistol shrimp has been busily making link sausages in his burrow every night!  I always wonder what he's doing in there with all those clicking sounds. 🤣

3 hours ago, Krux said:

That's all for now.  If you are in SW Portland, have a DSLR, and want to come for a photo shoot so I can get some good pictures I will trade pizza and beer for your time, hit me up.

Once my wife comes back from her trip to Africa with my camera on Friday, I'd be happy to arrange a photo shoot.  My tank only has so many corals, so I'm getting tired of taking the same photos over and over!  I have a Nikon D610 with a 200mm macro capable of very detailed photos.  Here's an example:

1 minute ago, Willapa said:

Oh gotcha. Just small, frequent changes. I'll check it out, thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, at 1.5 gallons per day, that's about 10% per week for my system.  It's been working flawlessly for months.

10 minutes ago, Willapa said:

You use that Apex dosing pump for the water changes? How does that work, does it feed fresh saltwater as it empties the tank? Do you have to change more than you normally would since the freshwater is getting diluted with tank water as it's running? Yea, I would love to kiss buckets goodbye!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Apex is programmed to run one pump on the DOS to drain 1.5 gallons of water from the sump between 9am - 10:30am through the black tubing into the utility sink.  Then at 10:30am - noon the other DOS pump adds 1.5 gallons of new saltwater back to the sump through the orange tubing from the 75 gallon storage tank on the left.  During this whole time, the Apex has the ATO pump disabled so it doesn't try to top off the missing water.  The ATO pump is located inside the 75 gallon RO/DI tank on the right in that photo and feeds fresh water through the blue tubing.  

I have optical sensors in each of the 75 gallon storage tanks so the Apex can alert me when either one is low.  It will disable the auto water change if there is insufficient saltwater to complete the cycle.

During the water change process the water level in my sump return chamber drops about 3 inches, but there's still plenty of water for the return pump to run.  

5 minutes ago, Blue Z Reef said:

My only advice is don’t ever get a sand sifting goby. Those dumb fish will burry your clam every time you look away! 😡

Well, I already have a pistol shrimp that is constantly building new burrows and creating piles of sand outside each one.  I'm hoping I can keep a clam on the sand in an area that's not too close to the rocks so the shrimp won't bother it, or perhaps put it on one of the lower rocks.

5 minutes ago, Willapa said:

Thanks! I'll try those ideas. Part of me is leaning towards running a few permanent pex lines between the water station and tank. One for fresh saltwater, one for top off, and another hooked to my manifold for emptying tank water. Sure would eliminate dragging buckets around.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I set up my system from day one with 1/4" tubing inside a conduit running from my sump through the wall to my mixing station in the garage for automated water changes and ATO.  That was probably the smartest thing I did in my whole setup.  Aside from when I first filled my tank and did a 100% water change after cycling, I've never needed to drag a hose or buckets into the house.

I’m looking for some advice on adding the first clam to my aquarium.  I’m still relatively new to reefing with my tank only up and running for 3 months now, but I’ve read a lot of articles and forum posts warning that clams should not be added until a tank is at least a year old.  What isn’t clear is whether that advice is to ensure the tank has matured to a certain level, or whether they are saying the aquarist needs to take that long to learn how to maintain a stable system.   

I have a Reefer XL 425 with about 35 small corals (mostly SPS and a few LPS), a small bio load with only 6 small fish and 2 shrimp, one BTA, and a good sized cleanup crew of snails and hermit crabs.  Since I’m retired, I spend a lot of time maintaining my system, routinely test water parameters daily, and I’m meticulous about keeping records of everything so I can analyze data trends over time.  I have most things automated with my Apex and have alerts set up so I know right away if something is out of line.  I also keep a stock of spare parts (return pump, powerheads, heaters, etc) so I can quickly address most system failures.

Here are my water parameters:

• Temp: 78 F
• Salinity: 1.026, using Red Sea Coral Pro salt
• pH: 8.1 - 8.2
• Alk: 9.0
• Ca: 420
• Mg: 1350
• PO4:  < 0.03
• NO3:  < 1

For lighting I’m using two Radion XR30 Pro’s, with PAR of 350 at the top of the rocks and 150 - 200 on the sand bottom.  My Apex does small water changes of 1.5 gallons per day, and controls dosing BRS 2 part.  I run carbon and GFO reactors, a UV sterilizer, and grow chaeto in my refugium with the grow light on opposite schedule of my Radions.  I haven’t had any algae problems since the end of month 1 after finishing cycling the tank.

All of my corals are healthy, and I’ve seen good growth on both SPS and LPS.  All the fish are healthy and I feed them LRS frozen twice per day.  I also target feet corals Reef Roids once per week.

So, with all that said, is there any reason I should not add a clam at this time and wait until the tank is more mature?

Any first-hand experience and guidance would be appreciated!

46 minutes ago, Gil&Fin said:

THAT is funny. You know who I'll be PMing when I can't get my new APEX programmed to control said CR, don't you?!

Sent from my SM-G928P using Tapatalk
 

I'm sure I'll live to regret making that Apex help offer....🤣

41 minutes ago, Flashy Fins said:

I'm also looking forward to seeing pics!

I know she'll blush, but I think a certain member deserves special recognition...

When the raffle for the AI Prime was drawn, the winner was not present. Written on the back of the ticket was Liz [illegible last name], but with no forum username or other contact details, we had little choice but to redraw, with @Gil&Fin winning the second time around. Not long after, the mysterious Liz was back, having just stepped out of the meeting for a short time. Holly graciously handed over the prize, earning her unofficial status as PNWMAS MVP!

Karma will reward her.  Hopefully her calcium reactor will spontaneously work flawlessly from now on. 😊

🤣

Andy,

It was nice meeting you today, and thank you for the beautiful corals!  Here's a nice macro shot of the Citrus Mistress. I love the colors and texture:

26 minutes ago, Flashy Fins said:

Ah, thanks for reminding me. @badxgillen & @Jeremevans will be grilling up burgers for all to enjoy! We'll also have mac salad, potato salad, and veggies. Everyone is free to bring something to add if they'd like, but it's not required or expected. 

Sounds great!  Thanks.

@Flashy Fins The initial meeting announcement mentioned details to come about food, but I didn't see any info since.  Just wondering if I should eat lunch prior to the meeting, or if food will be available?

14 minutes ago, Krux said:

Don't know the name on it, but I got a frag of the same coral from Jeff a couple of months back.  It was the same olive green like yours with just the hint of purple on the tips.  This is what it is looking like now under 12k LED... my best guess is it is something similar to Paletta Tricolor but it is still growing into a different shape.  It is losing its finger-like shape and is starting to put out significant radial corallites.  The really light purple coloration that you see on the right hand side started developing within the last three weeks.  I have mine under ridiculous par, ymmv.  Please excuse crappy iphone pic.

Wow, nice coloration!  Mine is also starting to show more purple and a hint of growth, but it's only been a few weeks.  I have mine near the top of my tank at 350 PAR.  What's your definition of "ridiculous" PAR?

This might be the prettiest frag I've purchased so far!  Thanks @CuttleFishandCoral.

I like that the Neptune ATK has an optical sensor, mechanical float valve, and a timer to limit pump run time if the other sensors fail.  Three levels of protection against this issue, and an immediate email/text alert if the timer is exceeded.

More day/night comparison photos:

Day:

Night:

Day:

Night: