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Things are looking great Mark!
Mark's 150 gallon SPS heavy reef
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OP
OP
The tank has turned the corner and growth is exploding again. Let me review how I think things happened and how I avoided and long term damage.
PO4 measured .1 when I finally got around to testing. Had this been two years ago I would have freaked out and adde GFO, killing most of my SPS. THis time I simply started doing drops of PhosphateRx. 1 drop daily, or 2 drops every other day. I know it slowly reduces PO4 so no thinking required, and I know I can add it daily even if PO4 is low without doing any harm. Sure enough the acros started to regain health and now my healthy take indicator has gone on a bender. I don;t call this the crazy bird for nothing.
Besides the purple stylo losing most of two lower branches my Lokani started to STN and the big Valida showed broken and patchy skin. This happened over 3 or 4 days when the Xenia had vanished but the daisy polyps where still disintegrating. I suspect PO4 rose rapidly along with who knows what else. I tested PO4 after the Lokani had lost some skin and started PhosphateRx a few days BEFORE I tested. I know, sorry for the lack of accurate tracking, but time is limited these days.
Here's the Lokani. You can see the lower left of the base is a hard edge and is starting to grow back now. The lighter areas are where the skin died off.
Here's damage (flashlight) to the Valida. It's already starting to heal but still looks pretty bad. Skin underneath is still healthy, only the skin near the tops looks to be effected.
That's about all the visible damage ... fingers crossed this is over!
The Slimer and Miami Orchid are battling to take over where the daisy polyps used to be.
This green cap was a small mass of mostly brown nothing, covered in Daisy polyps. Good grief.
Lokani frags never showed any stress. These are so cool looking.
FTS.
PO4 measured .1 when I finally got around to testing. Had this been two years ago I would have freaked out and adde GFO, killing most of my SPS. THis time I simply started doing drops of PhosphateRx. 1 drop daily, or 2 drops every other day. I know it slowly reduces PO4 so no thinking required, and I know I can add it daily even if PO4 is low without doing any harm. Sure enough the acros started to regain health and now my healthy take indicator has gone on a bender. I don;t call this the crazy bird for nothing.
Besides the purple stylo losing most of two lower branches my Lokani started to STN and the big Valida showed broken and patchy skin. This happened over 3 or 4 days when the Xenia had vanished but the daisy polyps where still disintegrating. I suspect PO4 rose rapidly along with who knows what else. I tested PO4 after the Lokani had lost some skin and started PhosphateRx a few days BEFORE I tested. I know, sorry for the lack of accurate tracking, but time is limited these days.
Here's the Lokani. You can see the lower left of the base is a hard edge and is starting to grow back now. The lighter areas are where the skin died off.
Here's damage (flashlight) to the Valida. It's already starting to heal but still looks pretty bad. Skin underneath is still healthy, only the skin near the tops looks to be effected.
That's about all the visible damage ... fingers crossed this is over!
The Slimer and Miami Orchid are battling to take over where the daisy polyps used to be.
This green cap was a small mass of mostly brown nothing, covered in Daisy polyps. Good grief.
Lokani frags never showed any stress. These are so cool looking.
FTS.
Epic Aquaculture
The artist formerly known as SawCJack00
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Reef Tank 365
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My Tank Thread
Great job getting things figured out and back on track! The tank looks awesome Mark!The tank has turned the corner and growth is exploding again. Let me review how I think things happened and how I avoided and long term damage.
PO4 measured .1 when I finally got around to testing. Had this been two years ago I would have freaked out and adde GFO, killing most of my SPS. THis time I simply started doing drops of PhosphateRx. 1 drop daily, or 2 drops every other day. I know it slowly reduces PO4 so no thinking required, and I know I can add it daily even if PO4 is low without doing any harm. Sure enough the acros started to regain health and now my healthy take indicator has gone on a bender. I don;t call this the crazy bird for nothing.
Besides the purple stylo losing most of two lower branches my Lokani started to STN and the big Valida showed broken and patchy skin. This happened over 3 or 4 days when the Xenia had vanished but the daisy polyps where still disintegrating. I suspect PO4 rose rapidly along with who knows what else. I tested PO4 after the Lokani had lost some skin and started PhosphateRx a few days BEFORE I tested. I know, sorry for the lack of accurate tracking, but time is limited these days.
Here's the Lokani. You can see the lower left of the base is a hard edge and is starting to grow back now. The lighter areas are where the skin died off.
Here's damage (flashlight) to the Valida. It's already starting to heal but still looks pretty bad. Skin underneath is still healthy, only the skin near the tops looks to be effected.
That's about all the visible damage ... fingers crossed this is over!
The Slimer and Miami Orchid are battling to take over where the daisy polyps used to be.
This green cap was a small mass of mostly brown nothing, covered in Daisy polyps. Good grief.
Lokani frags never showed any stress. These are so cool looking.
FTS.
BoSalman
Active Member
Glad to see things turning out the other way!
Good thing you test every once in a while, i guess you just reach a point where by "looking" at the tank, you kind of know something is off!
I'm not bothering with PO4 at this moment since i'm very lightly stocked coral wise, but i do need to attend them a little bit before my next order for sure!
Keep up the great work
Good thing you test every once in a while, i guess you just reach a point where by "looking" at the tank, you kind of know something is off!
I'm not bothering with PO4 at this moment since i'm very lightly stocked coral wise, but i do need to attend them a little bit before my next order for sure!
Keep up the great work
Arricefe
Well-Known Member
That's cool, I guess you're like State Farm, you know a thing or two because you've seen a thing or two. I hope to someday have the experience and not overreact. I'm glad I joined this forum, lots of great info.
OP
OP
I left out 2 pictures.
Here's the branches of the big Purple Stylo that died. You can see how the tips survived as whatever was happening stopped.
The Hawkins Echinata had a tremendous growth rate through this entire ordeal. Just goes to show how different acros will respond differently to the same conditions. This acro has some losses when my calcium dropped too low and I lost my lemonade acro.
Here's the branches of the big Purple Stylo that died. You can see how the tips survived as whatever was happening stopped.
The Hawkins Echinata had a tremendous growth rate through this entire ordeal. Just goes to show how different acros will respond differently to the same conditions. This acro has some losses when my calcium dropped too low and I lost my lemonade acro.
najer
Valuable Member
Looking great, IME high phos rarely kills things, I still don't understand why .02 is still quoted as ideal?!
(Don't ask as I don't test, shop tested mine at .1 a few months ago.)
(Don't ask as I don't test, shop tested mine at .1 a few months ago.)
OP
OP
I am still moving through a browning phase. The big valida pictured above has started to recover but a green sarmentosa has brown/paled out. Always the delayed reaction, just interesting to see the different responses.
The Hawkins echinata is going insane and is a super bright green/blue. The horrida has encrusted on the base ... it NEVER encrusts. Crazy. All my reds look like crap, healthy but very dull rust rather than red. The little Orange Passion frag is encrusting well and still looks terrific.
I'm continuing 1 drop of PhosphateRx daily, plus nitrates were a little higher than usual (how about Xenia removing nitrates ... you notice when it's gone) so I did a single dose of NOPOX which seems to be what the tank needs to keep nitrates at 5 or below. My best guess is 10ML NOPOX ever other week, but we'll see. Slow and steady.
I dared to start very light dosing of the dewormer in my 40 gallon tank with some softies. I diluted 10 to 1 and dosed a drop ... waited a week, dosed another drop. After 3 drops over 3 weeks the Xenia has shrivelled a little and stopped growing, but hasn't died. Nothing else showing any stress.
The Hawkins echinata is going insane and is a super bright green/blue. The horrida has encrusted on the base ... it NEVER encrusts. Crazy. All my reds look like crap, healthy but very dull rust rather than red. The little Orange Passion frag is encrusting well and still looks terrific.
I'm continuing 1 drop of PhosphateRx daily, plus nitrates were a little higher than usual (how about Xenia removing nitrates ... you notice when it's gone) so I did a single dose of NOPOX which seems to be what the tank needs to keep nitrates at 5 or below. My best guess is 10ML NOPOX ever other week, but we'll see. Slow and steady.
I dared to start very light dosing of the dewormer in my 40 gallon tank with some softies. I diluted 10 to 1 and dosed a drop ... waited a week, dosed another drop. After 3 drops over 3 weeks the Xenia has shrivelled a little and stopped growing, but hasn't died. Nothing else showing any stress.
Tank still looks awesome. Couldn’t tell from a FTS you had ANY issues!
vetteguy53081
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Nice tank , clean plumbing and nice pics !
Arkayology
Active Member
What? Is this a new thing?
OP
OP
I read a thread on it, someone said it worked and gave enough detail to be believable to me so I gave it a shot.
The tank is still unstable nutrient wise and I lost another wild caught, my sarmentosa, when KH spiked to 12! Amazingly the other acros acted like nothing happened, I guess they were healthy? So for the last month I've been trying to change as little as possible in order to get KH back down below 8. Nitrates are hovering above 5 now, and PO4 is still elevated. Yes, Xenia IS a nutrient sponge! I still have plenty of pods and worms (especially bristle) if anyone was curious, but remember my dosing was 10X diluted from full strength.
I tried the same thing in my 40 gallon but I can't kill it without harming other softies. In their once I started to make some progress the algae exploded, not pretty, so I plopped in some carbon and that worked to reverse the effects. Xenia is still no healthy, but it's not melting. Other softies are back to normal.
OP
OP
I was convinced I was going to lose everything but apparently the rise was slow and steady over a month, a month where I neglected to test. It was interesting to see how some of the SPS reacted. Birdsnests all have numerous short growth tips, as does the giant purple stylo. The stylo growth is nothing short of massive. The hairy horrida, which is a wild caught, did not seem to react much, nor did the wild caught brown frag, which is still brown and growing. Going to get some top downs on Sunday to see how things look.
OP
OP
So here's where I'm at.
The big Red Robin is looking fine, just a little brown.
The Red Planet (ORA plug) is not so red but I haven't killed it yet.
This is the cool mint/purple tipped unknown. So far unphased, and maybe a slight loss in color.
I've hacked this to bits but all the purple stylo did is use the extra KH for more growth.
Surprisingly the hawkins did the same thing, as did all the birds beside it.
Unknown green on the frag rack is unstoppable.
This is the wild caught Horrida. It's not as healthy as it was and may be in a slow decline. I'm worried but nothing I can do except keep things stable.
Amazingly the Orange Passion frag hasn't shown any issues. I should have waited until after the Foxface cleaned it off.
In the picture above with the Foxface you can see a brown frag of Palmers Blue milli and down on the rocks below an almost dead Undata, which was looking really nice just before the spike. dang undatas are the best looking monti so of course they die easily. It's still has some green and a few polyps so I'm holding out hope.
The OP has graduated off the rack and onto the rocks. We shall see, but me and tenuis have a tenuous relationship.
Vivid Rainbow is has been moved to the rockwork as well.
Check out the Lokani and frags. Once again is seems the Lokani is unphased by Alk issues. The only thing that's harmed this coral is low calcium, so far. I mounted on of the frags pretty high on the rocks to see what it does in high light.
Katropora, which needs trimmed badly. Also note nearly dead Palmer's Blue milli. I kept a frag but tossed this and another milli that was dying.
Monster Valida
Unknown milli like acro on the frag rack. It was starting to color a bit when the Alk spiked.
KH is now 8.2 and still slowly falling. I'm debating where to keep it, thinking 8 might be where to lock it in so things stop changing. Planning on getting a FTS tonight along with Nitrate and PO4 test.
The big Red Robin is looking fine, just a little brown.
The Red Planet (ORA plug) is not so red but I haven't killed it yet.
This is the cool mint/purple tipped unknown. So far unphased, and maybe a slight loss in color.
I've hacked this to bits but all the purple stylo did is use the extra KH for more growth.
Surprisingly the hawkins did the same thing, as did all the birds beside it.
Unknown green on the frag rack is unstoppable.
This is the wild caught Horrida. It's not as healthy as it was and may be in a slow decline. I'm worried but nothing I can do except keep things stable.
Amazingly the Orange Passion frag hasn't shown any issues. I should have waited until after the Foxface cleaned it off.
In the picture above with the Foxface you can see a brown frag of Palmers Blue milli and down on the rocks below an almost dead Undata, which was looking really nice just before the spike. dang undatas are the best looking monti so of course they die easily. It's still has some green and a few polyps so I'm holding out hope.
The OP has graduated off the rack and onto the rocks. We shall see, but me and tenuis have a tenuous relationship.
Vivid Rainbow is has been moved to the rockwork as well.
Check out the Lokani and frags. Once again is seems the Lokani is unphased by Alk issues. The only thing that's harmed this coral is low calcium, so far. I mounted on of the frags pretty high on the rocks to see what it does in high light.
Katropora, which needs trimmed badly. Also note nearly dead Palmer's Blue milli. I kept a frag but tossed this and another milli that was dying.
Monster Valida
Unknown milli like acro on the frag rack. It was starting to color a bit when the Alk spiked.
KH is now 8.2 and still slowly falling. I'm debating where to keep it, thinking 8 might be where to lock it in so things stop changing. Planning on getting a FTS tonight along with Nitrate and PO4 test.
OP
OP
Nitrate 10
Phosphorus ... no, must be wrong, retest ... 62 = .19 lol. Ok, NOPOX dosing begins until nitrate is below 5, then I'll continue with PhosphateRx. Nice and slow.
Xenia certainly is a nutrient sponge.
Phosphorus ... no, must be wrong, retest ... 62 = .19 lol. Ok, NOPOX dosing begins until nitrate is below 5, then I'll continue with PhosphateRx. Nice and slow.
Xenia certainly is a nutrient sponge.
OP
OP
Take pictures, check.
Upload to imgur, check.
Done! Um, forgot a step.
Did the Valida hit the back wall?
This is the maybe Cali tort that I did not get a top down of. Looks to be another unstoppable acro.
Now that the OP is on the rocks the algae is well trimmed (I can still see it though)
Upload to imgur, check.
Done! Um, forgot a step.
Did the Valida hit the back wall?
This is the maybe Cali tort that I did not get a top down of. Looks to be another unstoppable acro.
Now that the OP is on the rocks the algae is well trimmed (I can still see it though)
Last edited:
Everything is looking really nice! OP is one of my favorite new additions, and a fast grower!
OP
OP
It's been way too long so I figured I'd post and hopefully back it up with pictures soon.
So the story goes like this....
I used diluted goat dewormer to eliminate Xenia and star polyps. It worked. PO4 and Nitrates started to rise dramatically and eventually led to a reduction in growth which led to a KH spike all the way up to 10.5. This led to the following, which I don't think can be explained by just the KH spike alone, t's just a list of observations:
Purple Stylo growth exploded.
Most monti caps suffered greatly and I lost an undata. The spongodes did fine, the red cap browned but survived, the weedy purple cap is all but dead. The orange digitata doubled in size.
Acros did ok, but some base recession started. My Red Planet frag browned but hey, it didn't die. This is a first for me, I thought I was going to go 0 for 3 in Red Planets.
My two expensive frags, orange passion and vivid rainbow, acted like nothing happened.
So now I start the correction. I stop dosing and start using NOPOX and PhosphateRx to reduce PO4 and nitrated. It works well, unfortunately faster than the KH drop, so tip burn everywhere. Every acro remained colorful but had dead tips. My hairy horrida showed a lot of stress and I was worried. It lost skin in a shaded part but did not have tip burn or show any other recession. The branch that did the best was shaded by my old blue stag, which died during this ordeal.
This was 4 weeks ago, since thing I've been at 7 KH and keeping Nitrates around 20 and PO4 around .1 It appears I need to come up with a NOPOX dosing schedule and stick to it if I want to get nutrients back in line. That dang Xenia really sucked up the excess!
It's now time to chop off all the dead tips as the acros are starting to grow again. Alk usage is very low, 50ml per day vs 180ml when everything was at full health. The purple stylo looks fantastic but stopped all growth when I lowered KH and I suspect my Alk usage will climb dramatically once it starts growing again. Might be time to get rid of the beast, or cut it back to just a small frag.
Speaking of cutting back, I tore down my 40 and a few favorites are no in this tank, including 2 hammers and a torch. I see the future of this tank as one full of more LPS with some favorite acros on top, kept small via more aggressive trimming. Since I almost never trim this will be a big change. haha.
So the story goes like this....
I used diluted goat dewormer to eliminate Xenia and star polyps. It worked. PO4 and Nitrates started to rise dramatically and eventually led to a reduction in growth which led to a KH spike all the way up to 10.5. This led to the following, which I don't think can be explained by just the KH spike alone, t's just a list of observations:
Purple Stylo growth exploded.
Most monti caps suffered greatly and I lost an undata. The spongodes did fine, the red cap browned but survived, the weedy purple cap is all but dead. The orange digitata doubled in size.
Acros did ok, but some base recession started. My Red Planet frag browned but hey, it didn't die. This is a first for me, I thought I was going to go 0 for 3 in Red Planets.
My two expensive frags, orange passion and vivid rainbow, acted like nothing happened.
So now I start the correction. I stop dosing and start using NOPOX and PhosphateRx to reduce PO4 and nitrated. It works well, unfortunately faster than the KH drop, so tip burn everywhere. Every acro remained colorful but had dead tips. My hairy horrida showed a lot of stress and I was worried. It lost skin in a shaded part but did not have tip burn or show any other recession. The branch that did the best was shaded by my old blue stag, which died during this ordeal.
This was 4 weeks ago, since thing I've been at 7 KH and keeping Nitrates around 20 and PO4 around .1 It appears I need to come up with a NOPOX dosing schedule and stick to it if I want to get nutrients back in line. That dang Xenia really sucked up the excess!
It's now time to chop off all the dead tips as the acros are starting to grow again. Alk usage is very low, 50ml per day vs 180ml when everything was at full health. The purple stylo looks fantastic but stopped all growth when I lowered KH and I suspect my Alk usage will climb dramatically once it starts growing again. Might be time to get rid of the beast, or cut it back to just a small frag.
Speaking of cutting back, I tore down my 40 and a few favorites are no in this tank, including 2 hammers and a torch. I see the future of this tank as one full of more LPS with some favorite acros on top, kept small via more aggressive trimming. Since I almost never trim this will be a big change. haha.
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