ReefBum's Latest SPS Journey

[Big E]

Lookin good Keith.................I'm seeing some familiar corals in that last batch of pics

 

[ReefBum]

Lookin good Keith.................I'm seeing some familiar corals in that last batch of pics

Yes, Ed, a bunch of those corals are from you Awesome stuff!

 

[najer]

Great pics as always, everything looks very happy and healthy!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Very Very Nice and display of what time and patience in this hobby will produce !

. . . . .WITH SOME REEFING TALENT !!!!

 

[Lousybreed]

I went from a 65 to a 250. I used about 70% dry rock but I set it up for a month or two and put some live rock from the main tank in it. Transferred all my tank over. Within a month the SPS were rocking again. I am now at the 4 month mark and the corals are really digging in and growing.

 

[Makers Marc]

I went from a 65 to a 250. I used about 70% dry rock but I set it up for a month or two and put some live rock from the main tank in it. Transferred all my tank over. Within a month the SPS were rocking again. I am now at the 4 month mark and the corals are really digging in and growing.

Maybe I should've used some live rock. I went 100% pukani soaked in LC for months before. So nothing but dry as dirt.

Coming on to my one year anniversary and finally seeing some signs of biodiversity. It has been a painful and expensive (sps) year but my fish stock is solid at 24

 

[Lousybreed]

Maybe I should've used some live rock. I went 100% pukani soaked in LC for months before. So nothing but dry as dirt.

Coming on to my one year anniversary and finally seeing some signs of biodiversity. It has been a painful and expensive (sps) year but my fish stock is solid at 24

I would still recommend getting some real live rock. You need to inoculate the tank with the microbiome from the ocean!

 

[TX_Punisher]

I would still recommend getting some real live rock. You need to inoculate the tank with the microbiome from the ocean!

There is something to this. I’ve gone through the same with this latest tank at 1.5yrs. My previous tank 12 years ago didn’t go through the same issues because of the live rock I’m certain. I’m adding bio digest and other denitrifying bacteria to speed up the process but I may add a piece of live rock from an established bin or tank, too.

 

[2Sunny]

Hey Keith. Tank looks awesome, but I wouldn't expect anything less than that from you. Can't wait to see the photos when the tank hits it's zenith. Should make for hours of further arguing about MH versus LED . . . JK guys JK

Quick aside though as we all learn from each other over time I thought I'd share my recent experience with new LR. This spring I had a total tank crash mostly from neglect as I was super busy with life etc., but I had really been struggling to stop what I could see was the slow decline. Ultimately I decided to try and save my last handful of corals and my anemone with a total restart. Basically I tore out all the old rock and much of the sand, threw away tons of dying coral, and started over with new rock. I purchased the rock here:

KP Aquatics Live Rock

Overnight it was like I brought my tank back 10 years. No more diatoms, algae growth on the glass all but stopped, my sand stayed clean, my anemone puffed out twice in size, I started to get crazy amounts of coralline growth, and the couple corals I still had were happy as could be with great color and growth.. I guess you can put me down as a true believer in LR. I have always been an advocate of the original Berlin System description as key to succss: real Live Rock, strong light, and a skimmer, and now I take your recent story as more proof as to the benefit of naturally bacteria filled live rock as a key element to an aquarium's ecology. It's obviously not a must have, but it sure makes it easier.

Anyways, awesome tank and photos as always. If you decide to frag some stuff, be sure and drop me a PM

Joe P.

 

[ReefBum]

Hey Keith. Tank looks awesome, but I wouldn't expect anything less than that from you. Can't wait to see the photos when the tank hits it's zenith. Should make for hours of further arguing about MH versus LED . . . JK guys JK

Quick aside though as we all learn from each other over time I thought I'd share my recent experience with new LR. This spring I had a total tank crash mostly from neglect as I was super busy with life etc., but I had really been struggling to stop what I could see was the slow decline. Ultimately I decided to try and save my last handful of corals and my anemone with a total restart. Basically I tore out all the old rock and much of the sand, threw away tons of dying coral, and started over with new rock. I purchased the rock here:

KP Aquatics Live Rock

Overnight it was like I brought my tank back 10 years. No more diatoms, algae growth on the glass all but stopped, my sand stayed clean, my anemone puffed out twice in size, I started to get crazy amounts of coralline growth, and the couple corals I still had were happy as could be with great color and growth.. I guess you can put me down as a true believer in LR. I have always been an advocate of the original Berlin System description as key to succss: real Live Rock, strong light, and a skimmer, and now I take your recent story as more proof as to the benefit of naturally bacteria filled live rock as a key element to an aquarium's ecology. It's obviously not a must have, but it sure makes it easier.

Anyways, awesome tank and photos as always. If you decide to frag some stuff, be sure and drop me a PM

Joe P.

Hey Joe, great to hear from U and thanks for the kudos! This can be a very humbling hobby and it is amazing how one can still hit sizable bumps in the road despite years and years of past success. I have certainly had my challenges of late but it always comes back to having patience and perseverance to get through the rough patches. Sorry to hear about your troubles.....I can certainly feel your pain but I am glad your tank has turned around. When I rebooted my tank a year and a half ago I was on a mission to find some quality live rock....and it was hard to say the least A lot different today versus the "old days". Nonetheless, let's hope we see more options like the one you mentioned. Biodiversity is key when starting a tank and the live rock is so important to get things rolling.

Will certainly hook you up when I start fragging.....you did me a big solid when I started my 225g tank and I would like to return the favor

 

[Lousybreed]

Hey Keith. Tank looks awesome, but I wouldn't expect anything less than that from you. Can't wait to see the photos when the tank hits it's zenith. Should make for hours of further arguing about MH versus LED . . . JK guys JK

Quick aside though as we all learn from each other over time I thought I'd share my recent experience with new LR. This spring I had a total tank crash mostly from neglect as I was super busy with life etc., but I had really been struggling to stop what I could see was the slow decline. Ultimately I decided to try and save my last handful of corals and my anemone with a total restart. Basically I tore out all the old rock and much of the sand, threw away tons of dying coral, and started over with new rock. I purchased the rock here:

KP Aquatics Live Rock

Overnight it was like I brought my tank back 10 years. No more diatoms, algae growth on the glass all but stopped, my sand stayed clean, my anemone puffed out twice in size, I started to get crazy amounts of coralline growth, and the couple corals I still had were happy as could be with great color and growth.. I guess you can put me down as a true believer in LR. I have always been an advocate of the original Berlin System description as key to succss: real Live Rock, strong light, and a skimmer, and now I take your recent story as more proof as to the benefit of naturally bacteria filled live rock as a key element to an aquarium's ecology. It's obviously not a must have, but it sure makes it easier.

Anyways, awesome tank and photos as always. If you decide to frag some stuff, be sure and drop me a PM

Joe P.

Hey brother, you nailed it on the head. When I start up my next tank (1500 gallon beast) I do plan on starting with a literal TON of Marco Rock (before cutting and shaping) but most importantly I will also be buying 100-150lbs of KP live rock to get it going. I am also taking the approach of stocking fish and inverts before I begin to stock any corals. My plan is to give the dry rock 2 months to cycle. When I start the dry rock cycle, I would begin the QT period for the real live rock from KP. After two months add some KP, a few inverts, and fish, let cycle for another 2 months. Add a whole lot more fish and inverts (ultimately finished stocking levels) and let it run for another 1-2 months. After that it will be transferring over some hardy SPS and LPS colonies. Wait another month after I see skirting out and growth. Then it will be transfer and go time.

 

[ReefBum]

Ok, some more pics.....

Cali Tort

Tyree Sunset Monti

Tyree Purple Monster

AquaSD Rainbow Millie

Sexy Corals Orange Passion

Some Zooanthids......

Neon Green Alveopora

Tyree Red Dragon

 

[ReefBum]

Here is an updated shot of the tank....still going strong.

 

[Beardo]

Looks great!!
Love the Choati Leopard wrasse.

 

[ReefBum]

Looks great!!
Love the Choati Leopard wrasse.

Many thanks! Yes, the Choati is one of my favorites

 

[Rickyrooz]

What camera do you use for your YouTube stream? The quality is very clear, do you have a video editing program so that YouTube does not compress the quality?

 

[ReefBum]

What camera do you use for your YouTube stream? The quality is very clear, do you have a video editing program so that YouTube does not compress the quality?

It is an Axis Network camera:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...m1-20&linkId=d3caf1e3b38b383b26923be48f096da2

And I use software called CamStreamer to broadcast to YouTube.

 

[Rickyrooz]

Thank you

 

[ReefBum]

Here is the latest video of my tank......

 

[ReefBum]

Some updated pics.....

Oregon Blue Tort

Tyree purple Monster

Tyree Icefire Echinata

Brad's Insane Defuego

Zoanthids