My Acro collection/ Lagoon

Perry · Apr 12, 2023

Time to move on to something new :)
112 gallon acropra lagoon, built by Innovative Marine 3ft cube. Here I will document all my goodies. Trying to get organized, so a teaser pic while I get back to work.

RoTtEn FinZ · Apr 12, 2023

I’d love those IM tank…!!! And the eurobrace..!!

Troylee · Apr 12, 2023

Oh snap! Love your sticks man! Hope that dino battle is going well.. :rolleyes:

Rick5 · Apr 12, 2023

It's already full, @Perry

Looks great as always.

Perry · Apr 12, 2023

RoTtEn FinZ said:
I’d love those IM tank…!!! And the eurobrace..!!

So say that I am impressed is ab underscore, never rimless again ;)
Cheers

Perry · Apr 12, 2023

Troylee said:
Oh snap! Love your sticks man! Hope that dino battle is going well.. :rolleyes:

Thank you!
Oddly, between lights being out, tank transfer, 50% new water added, and brand new plumbing glass, etc, and fingers crossed, but they look to be retreating. As a precaution, dosing bacteria, and running UV in remote sump.
A few unhappy ones, but 90% are healthy and colored.

Perry · Apr 12, 2023

Rick5 said:
It's already full, @Perry

Looks great as always.

Indeed, I have to start on the growout trough, hopefully this week, I didn't expect the tank, so WAY ahead of schedule, I have off until Mon next week, so I can monitor things.
Thanks Rick!

Daniel@R2R · Apr 12, 2023

Cool!! Excited to follow along!

Gumbies R Us · Apr 12, 2023

Great looking acros!!!

reacclimating 2 the hobby · Apr 12, 2023

Love the tank! My next tank will be a shallow peninsula

Perry · Apr 12, 2023

Daniel@R2R said:
Cool!! Excited to follow along!

Thank you Daniel :)

Perry · Apr 12, 2023

Gumbies R Us said:
Great looking acros!!!

Thank you, looking forward to seeing them grow in here :)

Perry · Apr 12, 2023

reacclimating 2 the hobby said:
Love the tank! My next tank will be a shallow peninsula

Thank you for the kind words.
I like how natural looking a shallow scape looks with acros, no need for height building, the corals will eventually do that work, also keeps rock limited.
Cheers

InvaderJim · Apr 12, 2023

That's a sweet tank. Can't wait to see it fill in.

Perry · Apr 12, 2023

InvaderJim said:
That's a sweet tank. Can't wait to see it fill in.

Thanks Jim, the dimensions are perfect for the tank's location, and the quality is quite on point! Way to go @Innovative Marine

Reefahholic · Apr 12, 2023

Perry have you ever considered running a lower nitrogen level? Dr. Balling has some interesting thoughts about nitrogen so I figured I’d explore it a bit deeper to see if I can appreciate a difference in growth or other factors in the tank. I used to run a lower NO3 level of about 2-3 ppm, but it was a long time ago and I can’t really remember if things were better then or not. I know I haven’t had many problems as long as there is some nitrogen available. It seems like most people I know keep their Acro’s in about 10-20 ppm. Lately I’ve been keeping mine in about 10 ppm. However, maybe it is excess, and maybe it could be feeding undesirables. IDK. I can’t really tell a difference from 2-20 ppm. This time when I bring it down I will look very closely to see if anything is different. Here are a couple quotes from Dr. Balling below that I found interesting:

Hans-Werner said:
The background is that algal growth in reefs is limited by nitrogen (nitrate) and iron. Corals need phosphate for growth and they can't extract it from the rocks and gravel like algae and cyanobacteria do. So I give the corals enough phosphate and trace elements for good growth to outcompete the algae in nitrogen (which simply is not possible with high nitrate ratios or concentrations). Until the low levels of nitrogen (and iron) are achieved the corals may darken, but as soon as the zooxanthellae get nitrogen and iron limited they lighten up and colors of corals improve a lot.

The pastel colors achieved in my way of keeping corals have nothing to do with dangerously low nutrient levels or a critical situation. Nitrogen limitation affects zooxanthellae (algal) pigmentation, that's all. In my experience it is not possible to kill or even damage a coral with nitrogen limitation as long as you have a few fish that get fed in the tank. With phosphate the situation is completely different.

In fact it is vice versa, nitrogen limitation limits zooxanthellae growth (like algal growth in general in reefs) and initiates the energy transfer from zooxanthellae to the other partners of the coral holobiont. Corals may even regulate the behavior of their zooxanthellae by limiting the nitrogen transfer to the zooxanthellae.

In my eyes this is the way that is most stable and makes the least problems, but again experiences may differ. :)

Hans-Werner said:
The half saturation constants of nitrate uptake for dinoflagellates are at or below 0.5 ppm. This means concentrations above 1 or 2 ppm nitrate are not of much use as a nutrient. If there are additional effects of nitrate above these concentrations they must not be explained by nitrate as a nutrient but by other mechanisms, i. e. by nitrate being an oxidant, i. e. for bacterial and archaeal respiration and inhibiting iron(III) reduction.

So there is hardly any straightforward and easy approach to explaining the effects of nitrate but the situation is always a bit more complex.

Perry · Apr 13, 2023

Reefahholic said:
Perry have you ever considered running a lower nitrogen level? Dr. Balling has some interesting thoughts about nitrogen so I figured I’d explore it a bit deeper to see if I can appreciate a difference in growth or other factors in the tank. I used to run a lower NO3 level of about 2-3 ppm, but it was a long time ago and I can’t really remember if things were better then or not. I know I haven’t had many problems as long as there is some nitrogen available. It seems like most people I know keep their Acro’s in about 10-20 ppm. Lately I’ve been keeping mine in about 10 ppm. However, maybe it is excess, and maybe it could be feeding undesirables. IDK. I can’t really tell a difference from 2-20 ppm. This time when I bring it down I will look very closely to see if anything is different. Here are a couple quotes from Dr. Balling below that I found interesting:

Good morning,
I have stated in several previous posts, dating back over several months to a year or more, that I never wanted to run elevated N03. Unfortunately, something in the 90 gallon locked them in, I am of belief that rock, and sand both were saturated with both N03 and P04. That said, I still maintained good color and growth, but ONLY water changes lowered.
Once the sand was removed, I saw #'s that I hadn't seen in quite a spell, finally both N03 and P04 seemed more manageable. Unfortunately, pulling the sand shifted the biome, and the "D" word swiftly followed. That word is not allowed in my home, lol...
My new system was tested yesterday, and I saw my lowest #'s yet, 7ppm N03, and 0.00 ppm P04. I immediately dosed 5ml of phosphorus and will test today, 24 hours later. I am curious to see the P04, and will not test N03 until normal test day, Saturday. For now, I will test P04 daily along side alk.
I do think that the colors will likely shift to more pastel, which I actually prefer, but many hobbyist have complimented my deeply saturated colors for years, so I kind of gave up on the pastel look, lol. It's achieved by low n03 and p04, along side heavy metal dosing. I don't think these are starving corals, just what the new indoctrinated belief system has shifted to, that corals die with zero nutrients and pastel is bleaching....
Cheers