My 65G Shallow Reef Tank

[trout]

Freshly taken Acropora pictures. Pigments are a little darker than I would like due to high PO4. Other than that I am happy.

Today's test result (apart from NO3):

KH - 6.7 dKH (Salifert)
Ca - 415 ppm (Salifert)
Mg - 1380 ppm (Salifert)
K - 390 ppm (Salifert)
PO4 - < 0.18 mg/L (Elos High Resolution)
NO3 - 5 ppm (Salifert) (6 April 2021)
Daily dosing (for 250L net volume):
Bacto-Balance (2.4 ml)
A- Elements (2.5 ml)

I am not currently using any PO4 adsorber even though PO4 is much higher than I would like.

 

[ineption]

Belisimo Mr Trout!
I bet you any money if you took them pictures with orange lens and did some majic with your white balance it would look unreal!
just like most corals do from most known big vendors (tsa, wwc) ect

 

[trout]

Belisimo Mr Trout!
I bet you any money if you took them pictures with orange lens and did some majic with your white balance it would look unreal!
just like most corals do from most known big vendors (tsa, wwc) ect

Thanks for your compliment.

I am not aware of what other people use to take coral photos but I used my point-and-click camera, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ3, with the aid of a coral viewer. I used the camera's macro setting.

 

[ineption]

Thanks for your compliment.

I am not aware of what other people use to take coral photos but I used my point-and-click camera, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ3, with the aid of a coral viewer. I used the camera's macro setting.

Most people take shots with orange filter/lens with white balance set to 10k or higher under Heavey blues I.e 450nm to 470nm this is the colour that brings out that coral pop . This would be in my case Samsung S20 in pro mode.

 

[PhantomCavie]

Hi! How does your majestic angel fair with your coral? Are they fairly well behaved?

 

[trout]

Hi,

Thanks for your query. my majestic angelfish inspects corals all day long and touches them (I would not call it nipping though). It touches the only gorgonian in the tank harder than the hard corals. As a result, the gorgonian shows shorter polyp extension. SPS corals extend their polyps. Coral growth has not been affected by the fish's presence.

Below is a another video illustrating the aforementioned behaviour of the angelfish. As you will see, addition got this fish to a tank containing soft corals may be risky.

 

[trout]

Below is a short video I recorded earlier this evening. Coral growth is really good despite high PO4 reading (0.18 mg/L) against historical average (< 0.092 mg/L). Other water parameters are within acceptable range.

NO3: 2.5 ppm
KH: 6.55 dKH
Ca: 415 ppm
Mg: 1380 ppm
K: 390 ppm

The fish seem happy. They are fed 3 times a day with RS mysis.

 

[trout]

Test results as of 20th June:

KH = 6.55 dKH
NO3 = 5 ppm
PO4 = 0.092 mg/L

 

[Doreno]

Very nice tank and corals!

In your FB notes about ReefActif I found this:

The biopolymers used in REEF ACTIF are of marine origin and can only be degraded by specialized marine bacteria, but they live in symbiosis with sponges, corals, mussels, tubular worms and most other filtering marine animals. This usually means that the filter feeders harbor these symbiontic bacteria and feed them food, but excess bacteria are digested by the filter feeders. Thus, with REEF ACTIF, the zooxanthellae are starving and partially ejected, but the coral polyps and other filter feeders are nourished

but still can't understand why the zooxanthellae are starving if coral have enough bacterial food, what is the relationship?

 

[Koestby]

Gorgeous tank, very inspiring.. And i love your fish stock. How are your angels with all that coral?

 

[trout]

Gorgeous tank, very inspiring.. And i love your fish stock. How are your angels with all that coral?

Thanks. Among my angles, only the majestic angelfish nip at the corals, but that does not seem to cause any harm to them. They grow as normal. That said, there is less polyp extension than in the past.

 

[trout]

Very nice tank and corals!

In your FB notes about ReefActif I found this:



but still can't understand why the zooxanthellae are starving if coral have enough bacterial food, what is the relationship?

In my FB note, I quoted Hans-Werner Balling, who stated

• “The biopolymers used in REEF ACTIF are of marine origin and can only be degraded by specialized marine bacteria, but they live in symbiosis with sponges, corals, mussels, tubular worms and most other filtering marine animals. This usually means that the filter feeders harbor these symbiontic bacteria and feed them food, but excess bacteria are digested by the filter feeders. Thus, with REEF ACTIF, the zooxanthellae are starving and partially ejected, but the coral polyps and other filter feeders are nourished. By the way, hungry Zooxanthellen [Zooxanthellae] also give more energy in the form of organic compounds to the corals. The corals can therefore afford to expel a part of their Zooxanthellen [Zooxanthellae]. And that can be controlled quite well. If you add less REEF ACTIF, the lightening effect diminishes, if you add more, the effect is strengthened.”

My take on this is that the biopolymers used in REEF ACTIF feed symbiotic bacteria living on coral tissue, which then provide food for corals. As corals get the nutrient they need from a different source, they rely on the symbiotic relationship with Zooxanthellae less and less, meaning and they provide Zooxanthellae with carbon dioxide and water less and less. Starving Zooxanthellae then leaves the coral tissue the symbiotic relationship breaks down to a certain extent.

 

[trout]

Since my last update in June this year, the tank has progressed quite well. The corals have grown so much that I am considering either removing some colonies or change the aquascape, or both.

The most noteworthy change is that after a long period of hesitation of reusing Fluconazole to treat bryopsis due to its ineffectiveness in the past two treatments, I felt I had no choice but to use it again. However, this time I waited for up to 3 months after the last pruning of the algae to ensure that any spores spread during last pruning before the treatment had a chance to take foothold first. I have read a scientific article suggesting that pruning bryopsis can cause the algae to multiply. I therefore hypothesised that efficacy of Fluconazole may be adversely affected if pruning takes place shortly before the treatment as there is no data to suggest that Fluconazole is effective in killing bryopsis spores..

The treatment has been effective and the algae have not shown up again since last August. I intend to apply another course in a few months time regardless of whether the algae show up or not.

One slightly negative news is that my female bellus angel is transitioning to become a male and has thus lost her vivd blue colouration.

Finally, here are some latest photos of the tank:

 

[trout]

Here are some top-down photos I took a few minutes ago:

Red Dragon Acropora

Hurlock Acropora

Pinky the bear

Acropora sarmentosa

Acropora granulosa

Acropora gomezi

Acropora millepora

Acropora microclados

Acropora hyacinthus

Acropora desalwii

 

[rusgum]

Since my last update in June this year, the tank has progressed quite well. The corals have grown so much that I am considering either removing some colonies or change the aquascape, or both.

The most noteworthy change is that after a long period of hesitation of reusing Fluconazole to treat bryopsis due to its ineffectiveness in the past two treatments, I felt I had no choice but to use it again. However, this time I waited for up to 3 months after the last pruning of the algae to ensure that any spores spread during last pruning before the treatment had a chance to take foothold first. I have read a scientific article suggesting that pruning bryopsis can cause the algae to multiply. I therefore hypothesised that efficacy of Fluconazole may be adversely affected if pruning takes place shortly before the treatment as there is no data to suggest that Fluconazole is effective in killing bryopsis spores..

The treatment has been effective and the algae has not shown up again since last August. I intend to apply another course in a few months time regardless of whether the algae show up or not.

One slightly negative news is that my female bells angel is transitioning to become a male and has thus lost her vivd blue colouration.

Finally, here are some latest photos of the tank:

Super