New 125 gal build! :)

[luxauterna]

For now I am going to just not over react. I moved the monti further shaded to see if the light was just too intense, and I will continue to monitor parameters.

 

[kireek]

It could be your mag or temperature fluctuations.I have also noticed that montipora are sensitive to detritus resting on them and coral aggression,including nearby softies.

 

[luxauterna]

I'm going to test mag tonight. I just got my mag test in the mail. I have a power head pointed right at the monti. It doesn't look like much detritus gets on it. No other corals are near it

 

[Tahoe61]

Perhaps take just one frag of the montipora showing stress and move it down to an area of less intense lighting, give it a couple days and see if you notice any improvement.

I would be really surprised if mag was the issue in such a new tank receiving routine water changes.

GL

 

[luxauterna]

yea I will try doing that as well

 

[luxauterna]

Something that I forgot to post was my phosphates test too. It came out 0 ppm as well. Something else that I noticed tonight was that when my t5's were off and the whites on the led fixture were off, the PE was getting better. My ReefRadiance Lumentek Pro 240 is running a ramping up and down schedule starting at 9am and goes until 9pm. At 9am it goes 1% white, 5% blue and ramps up to 20% white 70% blue at 1pm, then ramps back down to 0% white and 25% blue, and then just moonlights turn on for the last hour. The T5s (two 39w CoralPlus bulbs) turn on at 11:30am and turn off at 3:30pm. To me, it really does not seem like a lot of light or even very bright compared to what a lot of people run.

 

[tanker922]

nice setup cant wait to see the final

 

[luxauterna]

Sad sad day :/ I hope it isn't a complete crash of parameters, but a power strip failed while we were away and most of everything in the tank is cold and dead. Urchins and crabs and a fish are still kicking though! bright side?

 

[luxauterna]

Well , I just did some testing. I can't believe it, but ammonia is zero , nitrites and nitrates are zero.

 

[luxauterna]

The war is on. This brown algae bloom from the equipment failure is crazy. Each morning I wake up to a layer on the glass which I find myself wiping off twice a day. I have my t5's completely off now and running the GFO reactor. I added an extra urchin who seems to be mowing down on the rocks. I have a feeling this algae battle is going to be a long arduous battle. The cloudiness in the water is such a bummer to look at.

 

[Ahruk]

So sorry to hear about the power failure How cold did your tank get? Did any of the coral survive? Algae is the worse but on the bright side at least you have an idea what's causing it so in THEORY it should go away after a few weeks of water changes and constant attention

 

[luxauterna]

Tank got down to 68 degrees. Most of the SPS died. There are some tips on the stylophora that are showing PE and signs of life. My blasto survived and the favia looks like its doing ok. Ya, I am definitely trying to look on the bright side. I plan on continuing a lot of water changes in the next few days

 

[Ahruk]

Youch sorry to hear that.

 

[luxauterna]

So things have settled quite a bit. The urchins are going to town on the algae. They have made a lot of headway. One of my monti's is coloring back up and has PE. Most of the other montis are trying to hang on (most color is gone and no PE). My blasto made it through unscathed, and my christmas favia seems to be doing fine. All of the fish are good. My GFO seems to be helping with the algae growth as well as having the T5s off and running with just the LED fixture since the incident.

Tests today:

Amm, nit, nat = 0
PH = 7.8 -8.0 (I think I need to get this up a little higher)
Alk = 8 - 9
Cal = 440


I think I need to get my lighting figured out a little better. I'd like to get the T5s back on. I have two T5s supplementing the LED fixture with Coral Plus bulbs. A friend of mine who does aquarium maintenance for a living is thinking I should switch the Coral Plus bulbs out with something bluer. Help with coral growth and less algae growth.

I don't like blue plus bulbs in combo with this LED fixture. It looks too fake blue. This is mainly because the LED fixture doesn't completely cover the full length of the tank, so the far sides end up having the color of the T5 bulbs. I have two Geissmann Azure blues but they look too white.

What do you guys think about Geissmann Actinic Blues, or Geissmann Super Actinics or ATI True Actinics ?? [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

 

[Ahruk]

Glad to hear your tank is recovering

 

[luxauterna]

Glad to hear your tank is recovering

Thank you. I still have some work to do against that algae, but things are looking better. I am hoping to figure out the lighting soon. (Something that I have had issues with ever since I got this fixture)

 

[Ahruk]

Sorry can't really help with that. Not really into the tech end of this hobby. I got really lucky and get all my boyfriends old used equipment including a kessil so I never really looked into lighting.

 

[luxauterna]

no worries

 

[Tahoe61]

Geissmann Actinic Blues, I bought the Super Actinics, did not really like the color.

Nice to hear it was not a total loss.

 

[luxauterna]

Geissmann Actinic Blues, I bought the Super Actinics, did not really like the color.

Nice to hear it was not a total loss.

Thanks!