Hart's 120 3/4" starfire expansion!

[hart24601]

I better keep an eye on my longspine too. I know he like coralline, that's ok, but he better keep off corals. He has also gotten big and I don't love him anymore since he has poked me a few times and he falls right on the lps and I worry it damages them. But my gf loves him so he stays for now...

 

[hart24601]

A while back I got a original purple monster acro. I have been waiting for Diver's Den to list one, they have some of the only parent colonies I trust for Oregon tort and the purple monster but not many released. Not normally a LE lineage coral guy, but those two are special IMO. I have had the Oregon tort from them for a while and it sure grow slow, plus it was a micro frag which is surprising from DD, but it has been growing great and is crazy blue. The new PM seems to be settling in well, fingers crossed. It looks like it's non-florescent coral so I am curious what it will eventually look like under LEDs in the 20k range.

 

[hart24601]

I get pretty much the last coral that has been on my "want list" today. Jason Fox Flame acro. I really like these and there are enough around to see pictures in real world tanks that still look nice. This pretty much (over)stocks my coral so I doubt there will be any new additions for a while.

I posted in another thread, but I think I am going to use the saltwater out on the AWS to feed a frag tank. I have all the equipment and it should be really easy and not require an ATO or anything. Not sure about a heater though. The apex DOS has been working like a charm and switching to IO seems fine after 50g exchanged. I also switched from vodka to vinegar and that seems to have gone smooth too.

I have an automatic shut-off on my RO/DI container, so I added 2 float valves a bit more tubing, 2 3-way splitters and 3 ball valves and now my kalk reservoir and salt reservoir brute cans can fill with RO/DI automatically with just a turn of the ball valves. Really happy with it and not a lot more $$, just valves and BRS float valve. I was filling both with buckets from the RO/DI container, so I am pleased!

 

[MRRBW]

Out of curiosity, why the switch to vinegar?

 

[hart24601]

I have been using vodka for years now, but really I just wanted to see if I would notice a change with vinegar. Since the dose is so much larger I can spread it though the day and a couple times at night. So far no big changes, but that is good since things were going well. Lol. I did see a bit of cyano when 1st switched and I never saw that in the tank ever before, but it was gone quickly. With vodka I did have some strange slime-looking algae, very little, but it would sometimes get on coral and I would have to blow it off. Hoping that is less, but not sure yet.

 

[frogman_reefer]

Just cut that branch! It's better to frag it and allow the rest of the coral to heal. Plus, if the other piece needs, you can always put it in your quarantine tank and give it time. Or make two cuts, the put the white part in you QT and sell the other piece to me

 

[frogman_reefer]

I have been using vodka for years now, but really I just wanted to see if I would notice a change with vinegar. Since the dose is so much larger I can spread it though the day and a couple times at night. So far no big changes, but that is good since things were going well. Lol. I did see a bit of cyano when 1st switched and I never saw that in the tank ever before, but it was gone quickly. With vodka I did have some strange slime-looking algae, very little, but it would sometimes get on coral and I would have to blow it off. Hoping that is less, but not sure yet.

I had that same problem with little white powdery dust forming on my rock. When I started mixing Kalk with vinegar I noticed that went away and my calcium went to a higher number with no PH spike. My corals seemed to respond wonderfully to the change.

 

[hart24601]

Just cut that branch! It's better to frag it and allow the rest of the coral to heal. Plus, if the other piece needs, you can always put it in your quarantine tank and give it time. Or make two cuts, the put the white part in you QT and sell the other piece to me

Hehe, that spot recovered quite nicely. It just localized bleached but there was still tissue there. Here is a shot of that same coral from today, pretty much can't recognize it with all the growth:

 

[frogman_reefer]

Hehe, that spot recovered quite nicely. It just localized bleached but there was still tissue there. Here is a shot of that same coral from today, pretty much can't recognize it with all the growth:

Good to hear. Tanks looking awesome

 

[MRRBW]

Interesting about they cyano. I find I get that with the Vodka if I dose for too long. I may try the switch too

 

[hart24601]

Seems like I should update, but nothing much to update! Things seem to be running smooth. I switched the vinegar dosing from a few set times to automatically dosing every hour:

Fallback OFF
OSC 000:00/004:30/055:30 Then ON
If pH < 7.80 Then OFF

Same that I use for the kalk dosing except the times of course and the pH cutoff. I did pick up another yellow pyramid butterfly fish and a black pyramid too. Don't see them very often so I nabbed them last week from LA. Look nice and healthy, eating well.

I have been messing around more with colors in the coral and nutrient levels. Nothing definitive yet, but am trying passive GFO to increase nutrients a bit - colors have darkened up.

AWC with instant ocean have been smooth still. Really pleased with the DOS. Changing 2g/day currently. I have also been playing with the skimmer, I wasn't really getting skimmate like it used to. I think I had it drawing too much air so the bubbles were too large and the foam wasn't very strong. I reduced the air by removing the ozone air pump and closing built in air "thing" on the vertex intake. Looks good so far.

 

[hart24601]

Been getting into sponges recently. I thought they were all just doomed, but there are plenty of success stories. Seems like you just have to get lucky with getting one that wasn't exposed to air and some systems support different sponges better, so I am going to give it a try. With carbon dosing there should be food in the water, and I also feed 1-50um golden pearls which should be small enough for them. Have a few on the way, but 1st round is a yellow and maroon ball sponge aquacultuted from Divers Den, and a red ball sponge from LA. Also have some coming from KP and Pacific East. Hopefully some of them thrive. I will be adding glass water (silica) to the AWC reserve to dose around .1ppm/day with the 2% daily WC.

I think my now many people realize the blanket statement of "never expose inverts to air" is false as starfish hang out at the surface and their arms are uncovered from time to time, but check out my urchin cleaning the return. It looked really strange to see him almost totally out of water with the spines still moving around!

 

[hart24601]

Been getting into sponges recently. I thought they were all just doomed, but there are plenty of success stories. Seems like you just have to get lucky with getting one that wasn't exposed to air and some systems support different sponges better, so I am going to give it a try. With carbon dosing there should be food in the water, and I also feed 1-50um golden pearls which should be small enough for them. Have a few on the way, but 1st round is a yellow and maroon ball sponge aquacultuted from Divers Den, and a red ball sponge from LA. Also have some coming from KP and Pacific East. Hopefully some of them thrive. I will be adding glass water (silica) to the AWC reserve to dose around .1ppm/day with the 2% daily WC.

I think my now many people realize the blanket statement of "never expose inverts to air" is false as starfish hang out at the surface and their arms are uncovered from time to time, but check out my urchin cleaning the return. It looked really strange to see him almost totally out of water with the spines still moving around!

 

[hart24601]

Quick review of some recent vendors since I have been getting some sponges. I hear over and over how absolutely critical it is to not be exposed to air so I will include that for the sponges.

Live aquaria (cali) - red ball sponge arrived with no air in the plastic bag. Nice!
Diver's Den - aquacultured DD yellow and maroon sponge. Packed like fish 50/50 air/water.
KP aquatics. My 1st time from them. Great service and selection, happy with that. Sponges were in 50/50 air water but wrapped with paper towel. Maybe helps them when exposed to air? They sent some extras, always cool!
Pacific East. No air in bags! The blue sponge looks pretty pathetic compared to the photo, the others are great.
Diver Tom's (Caribbean Tropical). No sponges, but had DOA inverts - they were very nice about reshipping and helped with shipping cost. DOA from post office delay.

 

[gettaReef]

Thanks for the quickie reviews of vendors. I'd LOVE to hear your experience with sponges, and anything you will be able to give regarding keeping them healthy and thriving. I absolutely love the sponges available and would really like to be able to add several to my tank but am hesitant due to what I've heard regarding their care (low light, nutrient rich tank, perfect parameters, dosing of iodine, strontium, other trace elements, etc). Thanks and I look forward to seeing pics and hearing about your experience!

 

[hart24601]

Fast sponge update. As many have said before the quality of the sponge before it arrives is important! The red ball sponge from LA, despite being packaged well doesn't look all that great, I would think it can come back if conditions are ok, but clearly it was from shipping or collecting. The yellow ball sponges look good, in particular the aquacultured one from DD looks great. I ordered a blue aquacultured Haliclona from DD yesterday since the other guy looks so good. KP aquatics says on their website the air thing is a myth (except for the blue vase sponge), they should know. But they did send the blue vase sponge with paper towels and air in the bag and it doesn't look great, so they might be right but I don't know why they sent it like that. The red tree and frilly look good from them though. Also the ones from pacific east are ok. The photosynthetic purple/blue guy still looks terrible, not happy with that one, but will wait it out.

Silicate dosing at 0.1ppm/day with the auto water changes is going fine. A hint of brown on the glass instead of green film (like Randy experienced) but no growth anywhere else.

 

[buzzword]

Could I ask where you got your Vidarock from?

 

[hart24601]

No problem. I got them from aquatexture. http://aqua-tecture.com/

Their stock seems to vary quite a bit, but it sure is nice. I have not seen any other ceramic rock (or artificial rock) that looks as good IMO. Sometimes it seems like they have a ton of centerpieces, and other times almost nothing in stock.

 

[buzzword]

Yeah pretty much nothing at this time. Thanks.

 

[uppermost]

Slowly getting in more parts... Sicce return pump, ordered max spect riptide to use with the 2 mp40's. Got a coral viewer to look top down. My can with Saran wrap just didn't cut it. The coral look better in real life, just photos straight from iPhone 6+. I need to learn to take better pics with it, but it does better than my old iPhone.

These look amazing