So I got more fish!

[Gonebad395]

https://www.thesprucepets.com/treat-fish-for-ammonia-burns-2925396 Check this out I’m not trying to be mean man. But there are reasons hundreds of pages are wrote on this stuff because there is proof behind it. Your fish might be just fine on the outside but now if you don’t have the the beneficial bacteria and did get a small spike you now made them just a little more weak to infections. Your explanation of why you think adding them all at one time is silly but thank god it worked for your fish. I’m not attacking you and you are right there are all kinds of reef and aquarium keeping practices. But there are basic practices that are used as the general right thing to do for your tank inhabitants that you chose to own. I’ve read your thread and you are going to do things the way you want to do them and it’s pretty clear you are ok with that. As I said happy reefing man enjoy it it’s a blast when it all works out. Going back and forth isn’t worth it hope all works in your favor

 

[Philipgonzales3]

https://www.thesprucepets.com/treat-fish-for-ammonia-burns-2925396 Check this out I’m not trying to be mean man. But there are reasons hundreds of pages are wrote on this stuff because there is proof behind it. Your fish might be just fine on the outside but now if you don’t have the the beneficial bacteria and did get a small spike you now made them just a little more weak to infections. Your explanation of why you think adding them all at one time is silly but thank god it worked for your fish. I’m not attacking you and you are right there are all kinds of reef and aquarium keeping practices. But there are basic practices that are used as the general right thing to do for your tank inhabitants that you chose to own. I’ve read your thread and you are going to do things the way you want to do them and it’s pretty clear you are ok with that. As I said happy reefing man enjoy it it’s a blast when it all works out. Going back and forth isn’t worth it hope all works in your favor

Just because it's popular, doesn't make it a fact. Just because you believe my way is wrong, doesn't make yours right.

If it was just luck it would not be repeatable over and over again.

http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

"A major benefit of this fishless cycling method is that you can now fully stock your tank in one go. This means an average stocking level for your tank size. It certainly does not mean you can stock heavily or over stock"

http://www.fishforums.net/threads/full-stock-after-fishless-cycle.437496/

"Yes, I have fully stocked tanks this way many times. This is one of the benefits of doing a fishless cycle. If one wants to stock gradually, they can do a fishless cycle using smaller amounts of ammonia since less bacteria is needed for this process. The less bacteria one needs the sooner one can reach those numbers. However, failing to take advantage of the full stocking usually means one is reverting to fish in cycling methodolgy as later fish are stocked. This means you may have to deal with some level of both ammonia or nitrite spikes

No, one should not add ammonia to a tank containing fish or inverts."

http://www.fishforums.net/threads/how-many-fish-can-i-add-after-a-fishless-cycle.290977/

"One of the benefits of fishless cycling is you have a decent biofilter in place when finished.

As it says in Fishless Cycling Advice you can pretty much fully stock when completed.
When my finished, I added 12 largish tetras and 2 angels."

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

@Dom

These are pics from online of my LFS. They seem about this busy every time I go in. I do go in near closing time, so I don't think they would have time to ask every person about their parameters, the importance of cycling, bioload, etc.



Coolest fish store I've been to, that's for sure.

You shop at Elegant Reef. When you are there make sure you ask for Mark, the store manager, or Luis, the owner. Both are very knowledgable, eager to help, and seem to be stand up people passionate about the hobby. I've never had the feeling anyone there was trying to rip off or mislead the customer, however some of the other folks in there are more well intentioned than well informed.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

You shop at Elegant Reef. When you are there make sure you ask for Mark, the store manager, or Luis, the owner. Both are very knowledgable, eager to help, and seem to be stand up people passionate about the hobby. I've never had the feeling anyone there was trying to rip off or mislead the customer, however some of the other folks in there are more well intentioned than well informed.

Yeah, the store is pretty awesome. Honestly I don't ask much questions as they are always real busy. Usually just get what I need and head out.

 

[Hemmdog]

Btw the frag you got isn’t coraline lol, it’s an acro. Sps, better figure out your light situation bud lol.

 

[Hermie]

I'm getting low on the reagent, so I will pick up some more tomorrow along with the saltwater reference card. To me this is a gooseegg.

take a picture of the test and the reference card in the same photo (not separate photos). With the test tube in front of the white on the card. Open that photo in photoshop (or some equivalent you find) and white balance the photo based on the white on the reference card. Then, do an eye dropper (average pixel 3x3 preferable, but one pixel is better than nothing) on both the test tube and on the reference card color boxes. Look at the hue measurement and see which hue matches closest to your test tube's hue number (between 0 and 360 or between 0 and 255). This is what I have to do when I am not totally sure about a test because I am color blind. For the record, my guess is 0.125 ppm Ammonia based on the photo

 

[welsher7]

I didn’t read every post in this thread but I think the frag the OP bought is not a live Acro, it is a dead Acro that the is now covered in coraline.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

take a picture of the test and the reference card in the same photo (not separate photos). With the test tube in front of the white on the card. Open that photo in photoshop (or some equivalent you find) and white balance the photo based on the white on the reference card. Then, do an eye dropper (average pixel 3x3 preferable, but one pixel is better than nothing) on both the test tube and on the reference card color boxes. Look at the hue measurement and see which hue matches closest to your test tube's hue number (between 0 and 360 or between 0 and 255). This is what I have to do when I am not totally sure about a test because I am color blind. For the record, my guess is 0.125 ppm Ammonia based on the photo

What I did was compare it to a batch of freshly mixed salt water. They look pretty much indistinguishable to me. I'd say it's 0, especially since my sump bage hasn't moved off of 0 either.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I didn’t read every post in this thread but I think the frag the OP bought is not a live Acro, it is a dead Acro that the is now covered in coraline.

I think this may be correct. Kind of deceptive as I thought it was just the way the coralline grew lol.

 

[Hemmdog]

I think this may be correct. Kind of deceptive as I thought it was just the way the coralline grew lol.

Purple specks are coraline, they don’t have structure. Things sticking out are acros, which have structure and a skeleton.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Purple specks are coraline, they don’t have structure. Things sticking out are acros, which have structure and a skeleton.

@welsher7

Well I thought it was a branching type of coralline, as that is how it is listed on ebay. I think you and others are likely right that it is a dead coral covered with coralline algea.

Some examples of what I thought it may be similar to.

https://www.marinelifephotography.com/marine/seaweeds/hydrolithon-gardineri.htm

https://soundwaterstewards.org/ezidweb/seaweeds/Corallinales.htm


Similar posting.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Live-Rare-...-Algae-Plant-Refugium-Saltwater-/302204406549

Reading the posting more it does not sound like it is a dead coral covered in Algea. From the description ir sure sounds like it is just branching coralline algea. Thoughts?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Thick-Bran...se-Rigid-41-/254020127743?txnId=2405532656015

 

[Hemmdog]

@welsher7

Well I thought it was a branching type of coralline, as that is how it is listed on ebay. I think you and others are likely right that it is a dead coral covered with coralline algea.

Some examples of what I thought it may be similar to.

https://www.marinelifephotography.com/marine/seaweeds/hydrolithon-gardineri.htm

https://soundwaterstewards.org/ezidweb/seaweeds/Corallinales.htm


Similar posting.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Live-Rare-...-Algae-Plant-Refugium-Saltwater-/302204406549

Reading the posting more it does not sound like it is a dead coral covered in Algea. From the description ir sure sounds like it is just branching coralline algea. Thoughts?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Thick-Bran...se-Rigid-41-/254020127743?txnId=2405532656015

No the debate would be is it a turaki Acropora

Or a Caroliniana Acropora

Both of these can be pure purple. It’s a live acro frag. It’s also a sought after acro so please don’t kill it lol. I would gladly get one if one of my LFS had them. It’s an animal it’s not food for your puffer.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

No the debate would be is it a turaki Acropora

Or a Caroliniana Acropora

Both of these can be pure purple. It’s a live acro frag. It’s also a sought after acro so please don’t kill it lol. I would gladly get one if one of my LFS had them. It’s an animal it’s not food for your puffer.

The seller confirmed it is Hydrolithon gardineri, that it requires similar light to an SPS and that I should be OK not dosing but they dose...well I just copied his reply below.

"Good question. We use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals in our system. Though we dose 8different supplementations, namely: Red Sea Coral Colors A,B,C,D, Brightwell NO2 and PO4, Aquavitro Fuel, Brightwell ALK, because we keep a handful of corals, inverts and macro algae that need these additional supplements and we only do 5% water change every 3months to keep everything in balance.

I don’t think you’ll require dosing if you do regular water changes and keeping a few corals in general."

 

[welsher7]

I was giving him the benefit of the doubt because you can buy coraline frags on eBay. But looks like I was wrong.

I would ask the seller if you can back out the purchase. With how young your tank is you have very little chance for success for that coral.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I was giving him the benefit of the doubt because you can buy coraline frags on eBay. But looks like I was wrong.

I would ask the seller if you can back out the purchase. With how young your tank is you have very little chance for success for that coral.

Bummer, I think you are right but it has already shipped today.

@Gonebad395 Ok, go ahead and say "I told you so". You are right in that I lack patience, but hopefully I will learn to be more patient. Hopefully I will learn this very quickly. (The last sentence was a joke).

 

[Why-Me]

lol patience quickly

 

[welsher7]

You definitely need to upgrade your lighting if want the coral to have any chance of surviving

 

[Philipgonzales3]

You definitely need to upgrade your lighting if want the coral to have any chance of surviving

Yes I agree. I'm still undecided. Choices are used SB reefer 16" extreme wifi, new AI Prime HD, or new AI Hydra26.

I wanted to consider the AI Hydra52, Radion 15w or Radion 30w but I won't be able to swing those options at the moment.

The SB reefer 16" and the AI Prime are really attractive due to price. The possible non UL certification of the SB reefer is definetly a concern although I'm honestly still considering it.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I created a specific thread in the macro algea forum to get specific advice related to trying to see if I have any shot at saving this frag. Feel free to roast me in this and/or the other thread.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hydrolithon-gardineri.551327/

 

[Gonebad395]

Bummer, I think you are right but it has already shipped today.

@Gonebad395 Ok, go ahead and say "I told you so". You are right in that I lack patience, but hopefully I will learn to be more patient. Hopefully I will learn this very quickly. (The last sentence was a joke).

Hey man the last thing I want to do is say I told you so. Matter of fact quite the the opposite I want to see you succeed with little to no set backs or tank losses. As I said none of my questions were to be mean or wish you bad luck. They were more to try to figure out your ways of viewing things and reasonings behind them. And to provide answers or thoughts on how things that are proven to work do really work and for what reasons. I never want to see someone fail, ripped off or get and believe false information.