Brew's 187g slice of the ocean

[Brew12]

I should have been working on the tank this morning. Bailey and I went fishing instead.

 

[crusso1993]

I should have been working on the tank this morning. Bailey and I went fishing instead.

Nothing wrong with that! Time well spent with Bailey.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

I should have been working on the tank this morning. Bailey and I went fishing instead.

Love this.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Look at that big smile! The tank can wait. I think you both needed this.

 

[GoVols]

I should have been working on the tank this morning. Bailey and I went fishing instead.

Oh man, that just made our day.

Hope you to have a great day. The reef can wait.

 

[Victoria M]

Hope you had a great day on the water. Wish I lived closer.

 

[User1]

If Bailey is anything like our lab I'm sure she is thinking OMG - LOOK AT ALL OF THIS WATER I CAN PLAY IN!!!!

Always wanted a boat. Never could decide or find a middle ground of what to buy. Better half loved to ski me not so much. Wanted something that could fight both our likes but never did. Maybe another time. Looks like it was a great day all around @Brew12.

 

[KJoFan]

Hey Brew, I know you went from the Aquatic Life fixture w/ the Mitras to Mitras only. I'm actually considering adding T5's, or going completely off Mitras to an ATI hybrid fixture.

I've got 4 Mitras over my 150g (5x2x2) currently. I'm looking at the 61" fixture, which as far as I can tell would only fit 3 of the Mitras. My concern is the 24" width of my tank, and the Aquatic Life fixture being only 18". I'm not sure I'd get the full coverage I'm looking for vs say a 60" 8 bulb T5 fixture.

Wondering your thoughts since you've got experience with both.

 

[Brew12]

Oh man, that just made our day.

Hope you to have a great day. The reef can wait.

Hope you had a great day on the water. Wish I lived closer.

If Bailey is anything like our lab I'm sure she is thinking OMG - LOOK AT ALL OF THIS WATER I CAN PLAY IN!!!!

Always wanted a boat. Never could decide or find a middle ground of what to buy. Better half loved to ski me not so much. Wanted something that could fight both our likes but never did. Maybe another time. Looks like it was a great day all around @Brew12.

Thanks guys, it was a great day. The fishing wasn't very good, but that was on me. I cleaned out the boat to make sure I didn't have any hooks that she could get hurt by. I took advantage of that to re-organize all my tackle. All my plastics got left behind so my fishing options were limited. This time of year on Wheeler Lake the Carolina rigs are king. Oops. No big deal, this was more about seeing how she would do on the boat and she seemed to love it.

 

[Brew12]

So the tank finally got the attention it needed. The skimmer got pulled and deep cleaned. The media reactors are refilled with extra GFO and Rox 0.8. I did a 30g water change while vacuuming the sand. All way overdue. I would have liked to do a larger water change but anything over 30g can be a challenge with water storage. I've done up to 45g at a time, but that takes some advance planning to fill extra buckets. I do plan on another water change this coming week.

Still having algae problems along with some cyano issues. I've got dark green kind of cyano instead of the red stuff. The cyano isn't a surprise or a concern. I had high nitrates despite the crazy durable green algae. I got lucky and a red hair algae started growing in my tank. I think it came in on my new CuC. This stuff took off fast and crashed my nitrates. It also caused the green algae to start dying off. There weren't enough nutrients left to keep all the red algae alive so it has started dying off too. The best part is that the urchins and the snails will eat the red stuff. I'm content to let the red stuff starve out the green stuff and then I'll let it get eaten. I may finally reach a good balance.
I do want a little better nutrient balance in my tank but I don't want to fuel the algae with adding nitrates. That is why I am going to try and control the cyano by aggressively removing PO4. It is still up around 0.1ppm and I want to get it to 0ppm. Once I get it there I have a combination of coral food and amino acids I plan on feeding the tank to help keep the corals growing.

I have lost a few corals during the last few months and I'm not sure what the cause was. Well.. one came unglued (after over a year) and I couldn't get to where my Hippo tang moved it. Beautiful fish, but he can be a pain.

I'll try to get some new pictures posted of the dark green cyano and the new red algae. Pretty cool how quick a change like this can happen.

 

[Brew12]

Hey Brew, I know you went from the Aquatic Life fixture w/ the Mitras to Mitras only. I'm actually considering adding T5's, or going completely off Mitras to an ATI hybrid fixture.

I've got 4 Mitras over my 150g (5x2x2) currently. I'm looking at the 61" fixture, which as far as I can tell would only fit 3 of the Mitras. My concern is the 24" width of my tank, and the Aquatic Life fixture being only 18". I'm not sure I'd get the full coverage I'm looking for vs say a 60" 8 bulb T5 fixture.

Wondering your thoughts since you've got experience with both.

I'm surprised you feel like you need to add T5's. I would have thought you could get plenty of spread with 4 Mitras on your tank. I started with 2 Mitras and the 48" Aquatic Life fixture. The Mitras didn't mount properly in it because they were too big but they could safely rest on top. I then added a 3rd Mitras and removed the T5's but I still didn't have enough spread. Even the widening kit of Aquatic Life fixture wouldn't allow me to mount the Mitras sideways so I built a custom frame out of 80/20 and mounted the 3 Mitras and the T5's to it. I'm considering pulling the T5's and adding a 4th Mitras but haven't made up my mind on that one yet. Just not a fan of the inflexibility of the T5's.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Your Hippo moves stuff? That's hilarious! (And annoying )

And yes, please share pics of ur green issues. I am still battle my own and always like to see cross references.

#inlovewithhusbandry

 

[Brew12]

Your Hippo moves stuff? That's hilarious! (And annoying )

And yes, please share pics of ur green issues. I am still battle my own and always like to see cross references.

#inlovewithhusbandry

He is awful that way. It's funny when he picks up hermit crabs to watch them flutter down. It's less funny when I try to put in a frag rack and he drops the new corals into the sand while I'm trying to acclimate them. It was really "unfunny" when he kept moving my 2" clam until he finally killed it.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

He is awful that way. It was really "unfunny" when he kept moving my 2" clam until he finally killed it.

 

[KJoFan]

I'm surprised you feel like you need to add T5's. I would have thought you could get plenty of spread with 4 Mitras on your tank. I started with 2 Mitras and the 48" Aquatic Life fixture. The Mitras didn't mount properly in it because they were too big but they could safely rest on top. I then added a 3rd Mitras and removed the T5's but I still didn't have enough spread. Even the widening kit of Aquatic Life fixture wouldn't allow me to mount the Mitras sideways so I built a custom frame out of 80/20 and mounted the 3 Mitras and the T5's to it. I'm considering pulling the T5's and adding a 4th Mitras but haven't made up my mind on that one yet. Just not a fan of the inflexibility of the T5's.

Well, I don't know that I need to supplement with T5. I've had a real struggle getting corals to grow successfully in my display, which is 18 months old now. I've actually been discussing it with a local reefer and a fellow R2R reefer and we've all come to a common conclusion that we started our tanks with dry rock this time, which we had not done in past systems and are all struggling. So, our thought is that we're just missing some of the microfauna that live rock provides. So the local and I are going to split a box of Tampa Bay Saltwater rock and see if we can seed our own rock and get things going in the right direction. We've both had zero success with sps this time, and struggled with algae and general imbalance.

For me, I've got a frag tank plumbed into my display, so same water/parameters. I have one sps piece in there that's going well going on 6 weeks now. I know the time is short, but even in these weeks it's shown better success than any sps did in the display. The only real difference between the two tanks is the lighting. Mitras only over the display, and a Giesemann Aurora hybrid over the frag tank.

I feel like, for me at least, LEDs lend to a narrower window of overall success, whereas perhaps older tech like T5 and MH are perhaps more forgiving. You don't need every area of things perfect to find success. I don't know, maybe that's just me chasing something that doesn't exist. But for me at least, it feels like an avenue worth pursuing.

The cheaper route for me would be implelmenting the Aquatic Life fixture, but the LEDs would still be doing the heavy lifting, so I'm leaning toward a complete change to an ATI hybrid where the T5's do the heavy lifting and the LEDs supplement.

 

[Brew12]

Well, I don't know that I need to supplement with T5. I've had a real struggle getting corals to grow successfully in my display, which is 18 months old now. I've actually been discussing it with a local reefer and a fellow R2R reefer and we've all come to a common conclusion that we started our tanks with dry rock this time, which we had not done in past systems and are all struggling. So, our thought is that we're just missing some of the microfauna that live rock provides. So the local and I are going to split a box of Tampa Bay Saltwater rock and see if we can seed our own rock and get things going in the right direction. We've both had zero success with sps this time, and struggled with algae and general imbalance.

For me, I've got a frag tank plumbed into my display, so same water/parameters. I have one sps piece in there that's going well going on 6 weeks now. I know the time is short, but even in these weeks it's shown better success than any sps did in the display. The only real difference between the two tanks is the lighting. Mitras only over the display, and a Giesemann Aurora hybrid over the frag tank.

I feel like, for me at least, LEDs lend to a narrower window of overall success, whereas perhaps older tech like T5 and MH are perhaps more forgiving. You don't need every area of things perfect to find success. I don't know, maybe that's just me chasing something that doesn't exist. But for me at least, it feels like an avenue worth pursuing.

The cheaper route for me would be implelmenting the Aquatic Life fixture, but the LEDs would still be doing the heavy lifting, so I'm leaning toward a complete change to an ATI hybrid where the T5's do the heavy lifting and the LEDs supplement.

What settings are you using on your Mitras? And is it possible you have a flow issue and not a lighting issue?

 

[KJoFan]

What settings are you using on your Mitras? And is it possible you have a flow issue and not a lighting issue?

I am using the project Vinny? Maybe posted while back on the Facebook group. But with a little tilt toward bluer at peek. In the 17k range according to GCC.

It could be flow, I’m running 2x Gyre 280’s in the 150. At 40% max otherwise it’s a sand storm.

 

[Brew12]

I am using the project Vinny? Maybe posted while back on the Facebook group. But with a little tilt toward bluer at peek. In the 17k range according to GCC.

It could be flow, I’m running 2x Gyre 280’s in the 150. At 40% max otherwise it’s a sand storm.

Do you feel you have more flow in your frag tank since you probably don't have sand in it? Ever think about putting some sand near the frags and seeing if it blows around?

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Hope things are well around the home and with Bailey. You and @Fudsey have been on my mind. Time heals all, if you let it. I didnt want to intrude on your original post, of the fishing trip, but I decided to share a pic with you of my late boy, Diesel, he was 6 and in his prime here. 5 years ago. Your photo reminded me of it.

Lake Sebago, Maine. Big hugs bud.

Dang I miss him.

 

[User1]

Well, I don't know that I need to supplement with T5. I've had a real struggle getting corals to grow successfully in my display, which is 18 months old now. I've actually been discussing it with a local reefer and a fellow R2R reefer and we've all come to a common conclusion that we started our tanks with dry rock this time, which we had not done in past systems and are all struggling. So, our thought is that we're just missing some of the microfauna that live rock provides. So the local and I are going to split a box of Tampa Bay Saltwater rock and see if we can seed our own rock and get things going in the right direction. We've both had zero success with sps this time, and struggled with algae and general imbalance.

For me, I've got a frag tank plumbed into my display, so same water/parameters. I have one sps piece in there that's going well going on 6 weeks now. I know the time is short, but even in these weeks it's shown better success than any sps did in the display. The only real difference between the two tanks is the lighting. Mitras only over the display, and a Giesemann Aurora hybrid over the frag tank.

I feel like, for me at least, LEDs lend to a narrower window of overall success, whereas perhaps older tech like T5 and MH are perhaps more forgiving. You don't need every area of things perfect to find success. I don't know, maybe that's just me chasing something that doesn't exist. But for me at least, it feels like an avenue worth pursuing.

The cheaper route for me would be implelmenting the Aquatic Life fixture, but the LEDs would still be doing the heavy lifting, so I'm leaning toward a complete change to an ATI hybrid where the T5's do the heavy lifting and the LEDs supplement.

I've done both and will say both work but there is a pretty large gap between the two with regards to stability and maturing. Back in 2000 when we could still get live rock shipped from Fiji is what I used. Fantastic stuff but still did a mini cycle due to being air freight 2 day air in web news paper. Best tank results I had and some of that rock is still being used today.

Enter 210 upgrade from last year (cycle start date Feb 26 2018, cycle end date March 28, lights, skimmer, and 40 breeder consolidation April 15 2018) and I'm 15 months into and used 150 lbs of dry Pukani and it isn't so great. Original plan was to use TBS rock but as much as I love the stuff and really like Richard I just could not find an affordable way to do it with two children in college that made sense to me. Hind sight being 20 20 I would never recommend or use dry rock again especially Pukani. That stuff leaches phosphate and probably will for another year if I had to guess.

Pressure wash, bleach bath, lanthanum chloride bath, no matter. It needs time to mature preferably on its own before bringing to the display. Again, just my opinion based on my experience. Good rock, lots of holes, nooks, and crannies to place frags but God awful stuff at the end of the day until it is fully matured.

I think you will be very happy with TBS.