Space's 15g SPS

spacetime · Nov 9, 2013

So this is how everything is looking. Still not happy, but I think I'll be able to upgrade to a VEGA this month. We will see if it's the lights that are the problem. I certainly hope so haha.

1reeflover · Nov 9, 2013

Awesome looking! Pico & Nano Reefers don't get enough pats on the back for their tremendous work ethic! Takes a lot of work to keep a small tank that so mint looking! Great job & a proverbial ( PAT ) on the back!!!!! LOL

spacetime · Nov 10, 2013

Thanks! Yeah its a constant battle. Started a new job so I have less free time, however, the doing less approach is working better.

paintballer768 · Dec 6, 2013

Lookin good!

spacetime · Jan 27, 2014

Having trouble with the tank still. Likely due to my overfeeding the tank and or switch to LEDs. Not so recenlty switched to a Kessil A360w with ALC controler. Switched salts out from TM Bio Actif to TM Pro Reef. Hope the change will have positive effects. Losing much color and had to frag a few SPS due to STN. On a side note found a wild ricordea on my rocks but it detached itself. Have it in some mesh with a rock hoping it will attach.

Basically I've been doing too much to my small tank, as a result I'm causing some big problems. On a side note my acans ricordea and one of 2 chalice have never looked better. And while my SPS are pale my red monti cap has been growing like a weed.

jservedio · Jan 27, 2014

spacetime said:
Having trouble with the tank still. Likely due to my overfeeding the tank and or switch to LEDs. Not so recenlty switched to a Kessil A360w with ALC controler. Switched salts out from TM Bio Actif to TM Pro Reef. Hope the change will have positive effects. Losing much color and had to frag a few SPS due to STN. On a side note found a wild ricordea on my rocks but it detached itself. Have it in some mesh with a rock hoping it will attach.

Basically I've been doing too much to my small tank, as a result I'm causing some big problems. On a side note my acans ricordea and one of 2 chalice have never looked better. And while my SPS are pale my red monti cap has been growing like a weed.

I have a 20g Tall nano and I had the hardest time with getting my acros to color up while all my other SPS and LPS were looking great. The biggest problem for me was phosphates and getting them down below 0.08ppm or so. I used GFO, I tried Lanthanum Chloride and it didn't really do that much - the reason my phosphates were so high was simply the water I was using. I didn't have an RODI system so I was using distilled - which is hit or miss when it comes to phosphates. While it would read 0 TDS on the meter, it typically had between 0.02ppm and 0.05ppm, plus what I was feeding. Once I got an RODI system and started Vacuuming my sand every single week very thoroughly, my phosphates dropped like a rock and stay at 0.015 - 0.03ppm (Hanna HI-736). Another thing when dealing with phosphates is you 100% need a Hanna checker if you want to know what is going on. Even the Salifert and Red Sea Pro kits test at "0.00ppm" when in fact they can be as high as 0.15ppm. I had a bad batch of water with 0.24ppm in it and my Salifert test was telling me it was 0.03 or less.

Of course once I got the phosphates under control I got AEFW, through my stringent dips, which lost me months worth of growth and a few colonies (including my largest, a hot-pink milli). But, things have finally been able to settle in after those battles and they are starting to color up in the nano. IMO getting acros to color up in a little nano is #1 stability and once that is under control, phosphates. Though, when it comes to stability you can throw money at it by getting a doser or CaRx which makes it very easy - can't do that so much with phosphates. Hope it helps. It definitely isn't the light - 4x T5HO, and now the Kessil, is more than enough for vibrantly colored acros on that tiny tank!

spacetime · Jan 27, 2014

Hanna lo meter said .14 and .07 which is what I take to be .1 which is very high. As far as the light I meant possibly bleaching or just loss due to the switch. Going to keep an eye on things and slowly increase the amout of sea gel and use filter socks again. Thanks for the advice.

I should clarify until recently I had no nutrient problems other than starving my tank of no3 po4. Began target feeding a spider sponge and looks like it got out of control as I removed carbon and didn't have time to wash filter socks

spacetime · Feb 11, 2014

So LEDs are at 40% and I've got my spider sponge back in good health. Zoas are still receding however

spacetime · Feb 12, 2014

Here is a better picture of the sponge. Wish everything else was doing this well. This photo shows the intense shading occurring with my sps

spacetime · Feb 15, 2014

Here are some FTS. Wish I could update the original post.

spacetime · Feb 15, 2014

Here are some more. As you can see still having some brown SPS problems. I've been starting up Zeostart3 dosing but at 1 drop per day or .05 ml. I discovered my nitrate was through the roof (not sure if its OTS or new food LRS Reef Frenzy) so I did a 5g water change and will be doing another today. I've been raising the LED 1% per day and I believe its at 49 or 50% now. Corals appear to be responding well to the additional light. LPS have never looked better and the purple psmacora is putting on serious weight.