Battlecorals Vivid's Rainbow Acropora - Contest Discussion Thread

[PSXerholic]

Here is the link to my ATI lab results from March 8th. This was about the time the growth stalled on my frag. also had a couple random frags STN from the base up, which is still happening once in a while. I know the nitrates and phosphates are a problem, so I have removed filter socks and increased feeding since then. See any other issues with trace elements?

//lab.atiaquaristik.com/share/0321283b7ffe11858817

Thanks for sharing first at all ;-)
That way it's awesome to look quickly at the ATI report.

By the way , in my 300DD build thread I have a post about my opinions on TN issues.

As you said already Nutrients are ........ not there ;-)
This will had been caused some issues for sure and contributed likely indirect to TN issues just simply because the immune system of the coral gets down after a longer starving period. So you got that right.
Don't hesitate to dose Potassium or Sodium Nitrates. See if you can feed much more ooooorrrrrrrr just simply reduce whatever you do to get nutrients down.

All right, so the Nutrients aside, and we won't be able to fully isolate your issues to a few things I noticed on elements. However there are some points, most are not too bad!

ALK too high for an ULNS system, causing tip burn and tissue burn. Better is below and up to 8 as a rule of thumb.

CA a bit high but acceptable.

Bromine and Barium not super low, however both I would raise to the recommended ATI levels at least. I do see that tanks that have low Bromine and low Barium levels tend to have TN issues. Just an observation, no proof!!! I do not have clarity what the lower limits are, but you will see likley better encrusting and a stronger resistance against coraline growth and Cyano if you raise them.

Fluorid. Ouch! Absolutely not acceptable. You will have so much better reproduction of tissue hence better (new Chromoproteins) fluorescence!!!
Here my recommendation, lift daily 0.1mg/L with an Element of your choice up to 1.3, if you want to be crazy go up to 1.5. Don't exceed that limit for now. The max is 2mg/L , above it will irreversibly kill coral tissue! So careful with the bottle on top of the tank.
However this Element is the most influencing trace (it's a Halogen) when it comes to color and growth ;-)
How fast it will deplete I will find out soon since I wait for my next tests to come back.

Some traces are in elevated shape so you seem to dose something to get them above NSW levels.
But all good, nothing concerning high.

Iodine is there, thats good. you may want to get something more. But overdosing Iodine is so easy, so careful. You can leave as is, but slightly higher will increase some purple and blue colors and vibrance, if other elements are corrected of course.

Mo bit high, stop using Kent ;-)

I would dose as a personal recommendation Manganese and Zinc, for improved overall health, but not a must.

Make the best out of it ;-)
-Andre

 

[jerrad]

That was intense! Think I just learned their what it would have taken me 5 years! Thanks @PSXerholic

 

[Caravanshaka]

As you said already Nutrients are ........ not there ;-)
This will had been caused some issues for sure and contributed likely indirect to TN issues just simply because the immune system of the coral gets down after a longer starving period. So you got that right.
Don't hesitate to dose Potassium or Sodium Nitrates. See if you can feed much more ooooorrrrrrrr just simply reduce whatever you do to get nutrients down.

All right, so the Nutrients aside, and we won't be able to fully isolate your issues to a few things I noticed on elements. However there are some points, most are not too bad!

ALK too high for an ULNS system, causing tip burn and tissue burn. Better is below and up to 8 as a rule of thumb.

CA a bit high but acceptable.

Bromine and Barium not super low, however both I would raise to the recommended ATI levels at least. I do see that tanks that have low Bromine and low Barium levels tend to have TN issues. Just an observation, no proof!!! I do not have clarity what the lower limits are, but you will see likley better encrusting and a stronger resistance against coraline growth and Cyano if you raise them.

Fluorid. Ouch! Absolutely not acceptable. You will have so much better reproduction of tissue hence better (new Chromoproteins) fluorescence!!!
Here my recommendation, lift daily 0.1mg/L with an Element of your choice up to 1.3, if you want to be crazy go up to 1.5. Don't exceed that limit for now. The max is 2mg/L , above it will irreversibly kill coral tissue! So careful with the bottle on top of the tank.
However this Element is the most influencing trace (it's a Halogen) when it comes to color and growth ;-)
How fast it will deplete I will find out soon since I wait for my next tests to come back.

Some traces are in elevated shape so you seem to dose something to get them above NSW levels.
But all good, nothing concerning high.

Iodine is there, thats good. you may want to get something more. But overdosing Iodine is so easy, so careful. You can leave as is, but slightly higher will increase some purple and blue colors and vibrance, if other elements are corrected of course.

Mo bit high, stop using Kent ;-)

I would dose as a personal recommendation Manganese and Zinc, for improved overall health, but not a must.

Make the best out of it ;-)
-Andre

Thanks for the detailed reply, Andre!

Agree with Alk, been trying to get it down to 8 even...doing it slowly though and it’s running at 8.5 right now. Although my goal was not a ULNS system....just seems to have happened without any effort, lol. Never dreamed they would be that low in a 6 month old tank. May take out my marine pure block as well.

I have some potassium nitrate and monopotassium phosphate I can dose, but haven’t done the calcs yet to know how much to dose.

On the trace elements, do you have any suggestions on what to dose (As in brands)? I don’t dose anything right now, and haven’t at all in this table ever. I have a calcium reactor and do a little acropower here and there along with about 2 cubes of frozen a day. I do a 5-10% water change weekly with Fritz RPM pro salt as well.

 

[PSXerholic]

Thanks for the detailed reply, Andre!

Agree with Alk, been trying to get it down to 8 even...doing it slowly though and it’s running at 8.5 right now. Although my goal was not a ULNS system....just seems to have happened without any effort, lol. Never dreamed they would be that low in a 6 month old tank. May take out my marine pure block as well.

I have some potassium nitrate and monopotassium phosphate I can dose, but haven’t done the calcs yet to know how much to dose.

On the trace elements, do you have any suggestions on what to dose (As in brands)? I don’t dose anything right now, and haven’t at all in this table ever. I have a calcium reactor and do a little acropower here and there along with about 2 cubes of frozen a day. I do a 5-10% water change weekly with Fritz RPM pro salt as well.

Here is the Reef Moonshiner's TM receipe for a Sodium Nitrate stock solution out of the woods ;-)
Mix 50gram of Sodium Nitrate into 1Liter or 1Kg RODI water which you will have available as a carrier liquid.
To increase 1ppm No3, with this Solution, you need to dose 2.75ml per 100Liter tank volume.
If you want to do only 0.25ppm simply divide the total by 4...... simple math.

As in my Reef Guide, I do increase Po4 purely with Phyto Feast or other Live Phytoplankton products.
They are rich in a healthy mix of a variety of Phosphors !!!

I was about to ask if you use the FRPM salt, but did not! Well, you answered that.
It actually keeps my driveway nicely free of ice in the winter, other than that I can't say much about it ;-)
Did you use it for the first fill?

An official brand is the ATI elements which are less costly than the Triton competition.
I reverse engineered all Elements and most of the ATI ones are also higher in concentration.

I would invest in Fluoride, Bromine and the Barium for now. Then you should see results if Nitrates and Po4 is under control.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Here is the Reef Moonshiner's TM receipt for a Sodium Nitrate stock solution out of the woods ;-)
Mix 50gram of Sodium Nitrate into 1Liter or 1Kg RODI water which you will have available as a carrier liquid.
To increase 1ppm No3, with this Solution, you need to dose 2.75ml per 100Liter tank volume.
If you want to do only 0.25ppm simply divide the total by 4...... simple math.

As in my Reef Guide, I do increase Po4 purely with Phyto Feast or other Live Phytoplankton products.
They are rich in a healthy mix of a variety of Phosphors !!!

I was about to ask if you use the FRPM salt, but did not! Well, you answered that.
It actually keeps my driveway nicely free of ice in the winter, other than that I can't say much about it ;-)
Did you use it for the first fill?

An official brand is the ATI elements which are less costly than the Triton competition.
I reverse engineered all Elements and most of the ATI ones are also higher in concentration.

I would invest in Fluoride, Bromine and the Barium for now. Then you should see results if Nitrates and Po4 is under control.

Thanks, Andre.

I can't seem to find ATI elements for Flouride and Barium, but Aquaforest seems to have part A and part C that are Barium/Strontium and Iodide/Flouride respectively.

lol, I bet your driveway never gets ice in Houston I'm in Austin, didn't realize you were that close. I was considering heading to Houston this weekend for the show, but not sure if I will make it.

What didn't you like about Fritz? I was considering going back to reef crystals, but have 400g worth of fritz left still, lol.

 

[PSXerholic]

Thanks, Andre.

I can't seem to find ATI elements for Flouride and Barium, but Aquaforest seems to have part A and part C that are Barium/Strontium and Iodide/Flouride respectively.

lol, I bet your driveway never gets ice in Houston I'm in Austin, didn't realize you were that close. I was considering heading to Houston this weekend for the show, but not sure if I will make it.

What didn't you like about Fritz? I was considering going back to reef crystals, but have 400g worth of fritz left still, lol.

We had a hard Winter ;-)

Just use the individual elements, not combo supplements, that causes other issues.
www.Aquacave.com has the ATI Elements as well. Very good vendor and competitor to BRS.

I won't be at the show for certain reasons, but that's not for this thread.
Let me say that I did see repeatedly issues with Fritz. Since many people contact me and share their issues, it seems that they recently to older mixing and quality issues now also added other traces in elevated levels and this seem to cause issues, but again no proof.
I just went back to Tropic Marin Salt, that salt is a bit more pricey but never did let me down.
Not yet at least.

-Andre

 

[PSXerholic]

Thanks, Andre.

I can't seem to find ATI elements for Flouride and Barium, but Aquaforest seems to have part A and part C that are Barium/Strontium and Iodide/Flouride respectively.

lol, I bet your driveway never gets ice in Houston I'm in Austin, didn't realize you were that close. I was considering heading to Houston this weekend for the show, but not sure if I will make it.

What didn't you like about Fritz? I was considering going back to reef crystals, but have 400g worth of fritz left still, lol.

By the way, Reef Crystals is what I used for my 1st fill on the 300DD, it was a very disappointing test result :-(

 

[madweazl]

I'm not sure how much I trust the need for nitrates and phosphates at xx levels; what you typically see recommended is nitrates of approx 5-10ppm and phosphates at .03ppm. My levels are far lower; nitrates are typically undetectable to 1ppm and phosphate results from triton have have been 0, .05, and .01 over the past year.

With that said, my Hanna ULR results havent matched those results at with .05, .15, and .06 I believe. Phosphates have been pretty steady at right around .05 on the Hanna for months; I have no idea which to believe. None of the corals have shown any difference between any of the measurements so it leads me to believe that as long as there is something, it's largely fine.

My Aquatic Log for anyone interested (results show in preview but not in post so you'll have to click the image and follow the link it looks like).


Edit:
Triton July 2017
Triton Aug 2017; found a screw on a fitting in the sump that I thought might be causing the tin levels so I sent another sample.

I use Instant Ocean salts and add no supplements of any kind. Fish are fed twice a day with LRS Reef and Herbivore Frenzy along with Julian Sprung SeaVeggies (green) most days.

Weekly 10g water change and dose 2 part (16 times daily, every 90 minutes).

 

[Caravanshaka]

We had a hard Winter ;-)

Just use the individual elements, not combo supplements, that causes other issues.
www.Aquacave.com has the ATI Elements as well. Very good vendor and competitor to BRS.

I won't be at the show for certain reasons, but that's not for this thread.
Let me say that I did see repeatedly issues with Fritz. Since many people contact me and share their issues, it seems that they recently to older mixing and quality issues now also added other traces in elevated levels and this seem to cause issues, but again no proof.
I just went back to Tropic Marin Salt, that salt is a bit more pricey but never did let me down.
Not yet at least.

-Andre

still can't find the individual elements of Barium or Flouride, even at aquacave. even a general google search yields no results in the US for sources.

 

[PSXerholic]

still can't find the individual elements of Barium or Flouride, even at aquacave. even a general google search yields no results in the US for sources.

http://www.aquacave.com/catalogsearch/result/?cat=0&q=ati+elements

 

[PSXerholic]

http://www.aquacave.com/catalogsearch/result/?cat=0&q=ati+elements

Well, it's a joke. I can't find the ATI Fluoride anywhere in the US ?!?!?!

However, just google "Reef Fluoride Element" which will likely provide you alternatives on supplements on the market.

 

[leahfiish]

Good discussion going here, guys! Keep it up! I'll go through the thread at the end of the month and post an official updated list of who is still in once the month turns. Sorry I've been pretty busy lately.

 

[PSXerholic]

Well, it's a joke. I can't find the ATI Fluoride anywhere in the US ?!?!?!

However, just google "Reef Fluoride Element" which will likely provide you alternatives on supplements on the market.

Just reached out to Ben, he hopefully will be able to clarify why ATI's Fluoride is hard to find in the US ;-)

Will see.

-Andre

 

[FarmerTy]

Thanks, Andre.

I can't seem to find ATI elements for Flouride and Barium, but Aquaforest seems to have part A and part C that are Barium/Strontium and Iodide/Flouride respectively.

lol, I bet your driveway never gets ice in Houston I'm in Austin, didn't realize you were that close. I was considering heading to Houston this weekend for the show, but not sure if I will make it.

What didn't you like about Fritz? I was considering going back to reef crystals, but have 400g worth of fritz left still, lol.

Another acro keeper in Austin? Awesome! If you aren't on austinreefclub.com too, you should be. Us acro lovers have to stick together when we can, there are so few of us.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Another acro keeper in Austin? Awesome! If you aren't on austinreefclub.com too, you should be. Us acro lovers have to stick together when we can, there are so few of us.

Hey FarmerTy...I've actually been over to Gig'Em once already and he mentioned I should have contacted you when I was there. I'm down in south Austin, so about 45 mins from there. I'm on Austinreefclub, but haven't found it very active so have stuck to the big forums since I moved here 6 months ago.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Just reached out to Ben, he hopefully will be able to clarify why ATI's Fluoride is hard to find in the US ;-)

Will see.

-Andre

Thanks for the help, Andre.

Well, I finally got in a test kit for Nitrates and Phosphates that didn't shatter or explode in transit. Looks like my efforts to change husbandry to boost nitrates has not worked, sample was as clear as RODI on the red sea test kit....phosphate had a tinge of color to it, so I think the .01 is about what I am getting on this kit as well.

I have mixed up 100 mL of the solution you suggested and dosed enough to raise the ppm to 0.5 last night. I will do the same dose again around lunch today, and then test again tonight and see where we stand.

 

[FarmerTy]

Hey FarmerTy...I've actually been over to Gig'Em once already and he mentioned I should have contacted you when I was there. I'm down in south Austin, so about 45 mins from there. I'm on Austinreefclub, but haven't found it very active so have stuck to the big forums since I moved here 6 months ago.

Yeah, helps that he's one of my best buds and lives 3 mins down the road. You should definitely do a combo visit next time around and make the most of the drive time.

It's not crazy busy, at least nothing near a national forum but nice to know locals in the area with the same interests. Helps with group orders and even banking corals in case you lose yours. I won't distract from the thread any further but just hit me up next time you drive North. [emoji16]

 

[Caravanshaka]

Yeah, helps that he's one of my best buds and lives 3 mins down the road. You should definitely do a combo visit next time around and make the most of the drive time.

It's not crazy busy, at least nothing near a national forum but nice to know locals in the area with the same interests. Helps with group orders and even banking corals in case you lose yours. I won't distract from the thread any further but just hit me up next time you drive North. [emoji16]

Sounds good! I lost the Red Dragon I got from him so need to head back up there anyway for that!

 

[PSXerholic]

Thanks for the help, Andre.

Well, I finally got in a test kit for Nitrates and Phosphates that didn't shatter or explode in transit. Looks like my efforts to change husbandry to boost nitrates has not worked, sample was as clear as RODI on the red sea test kit....phosphate had a tinge of color to it, so I think the .01 is about what I am getting on this kit as well.

I have mixed up 100 mL of the solution you suggested and dosed enough to raise the ppm to 0.5 last night. I will do the same dose again around lunch today, and then test again tonight and see where we stand.

Very nice. Did you use Sodium Nitrate or Potassium Nitrate?
My receipe was for Sodium Nitrate.

 

[PSXerholic]

Very nice. Did you use Sodium Nitrate or Potassium Nitrate?
My receipe was for Sodium Nitrate.

Here is the Reef Moonshiner's TM recipe for Potassium Nitrate ;-)
Mix 50gram of Potassium Nitrate into 1Liter or 1Kg RODI water which you will have available as a carrier liquid.
To increase 1ppm No3, with this Solution, you need to dose 3.26ml per 100Liter tank volume.
If you want to do only 0.25ppm simply divide the total by 4...... simple math.

So you see it is weaker than Sodium Nitrate solution and need some more!
The amount of Potassium increase is extremely low for our tanks and only increases 0.63ppm which is nothing compared to a standard value of around 400-410ppm. Just in case you guys are interested on the potassium increase ;-)

@Caravanshaka