The Worst Thread in RAG History

[MDPinUSA]

Coralline is a result of various forms of calcium with levels totalling 450 ppm.+.

Total Ca at 450 ppm.+ promotes coralline algae. The coralline uses calcium, perhaps at faster rate then SPS corals.

IMO coralline algae serves no real purpose. Except as a food for sea urchins.

E.g. Keep Ca high for SPS. Coralline developes. The corallline requires supplemential calcium.

[olsaltybastard]

My picture taking ability still sucks. Here is a video I took. It's a bit shaky, but you get the idea.


YouTube - 215g Reef 1 Year

[ricosuave]

Very nice, OSB!

[olsaltybastard]

Thanks Rico.

Unfortunately, youtube does not maintain the same quality as the video when it is viewed on my computer, so it looks a bit strange. I need to follow my own advice and get to work on water testing. I tested Ca and Mg after doing a water change today, and the Ca was 350. The tank is REALLY starting to use up the Ca and carbonates. I already have new Elos test kits on hand, so I am prepared to do some daily testing to see exactly how much the tank uses each day. I was dosing a capful of Aquacal each day, but looks like I'll have to double that.

I spoke to the local SPS guy and he is going to let me pick the frags from his tank this Sunday. With this new tank, I have only purchased corals from two people whom I KNOW to have bug free systems. My days of the 12 frags for $99 are long behind me.

I also went ahead and disinfected the RO/DI unit. I put in some really high end filters as I make lots of water. The RO water is coming out at 1.7ppm, so the BFS 150gpd membrane is working like a champ after 1 year of service. This means I am barely using up the DI cartridges. The higher end filters also extend the life of the RO filter, which is good because I drink a lot of the water that I make.

[reefprincess]

Beautiful!

[olsaltybastard]

Here are my testing results:


Ca: 410
dKH: 8.5


After 24 hours

Ca: 370
dKH: 8.0


The Mg doesn't seem to be moving; I can still get away with doing water changes for that. I'll probably be ordering a Ca reactor on Monday.

[CBK]

OSB:

Beautiful work! You've really got a display piece to be proud of!

[olsaltybastard]

Thank you very much for the compliment. My last tank crashed when I decided that it is okay to add un-quarantined corals from a questionable source. This one is a year old and I am really taking my time with it.


Update: I added about 10 more frags from my frag guy (same guy I have been using all along.) He gave me some REALLY nice pieces. There is the annual frag swap this weekend and I hope to pick up another clam to give the bottom of the tank more life and color.

[olsaltybastard]

Here is the tank one year ago:






Here is the tank today:






The survival rate of SPS frags is much higher than it was even six months ago. Although I haven't done anything different, I would attribute this to time. I had great water levels six months ago, yet every frag that was added died. The coralline algae is getting out of control. I will do everything I can to remove it from the back pane of glass next water change. It's taking up way too much calcium; stuff I prefer the corals used up.

I also found that SPS really enjoy high flow rates. Over the past year, I have scaped, rescaped, and scaped again in order to maximize the flow from the Streams and prevent them from blasting any corals directly. Their current location, the location of the rock columns and the amount of flow inside the tank have done wonders to keep the water clear and the bottom detritus free. As of right now, the streams are pulsing between 60% and 100% every ten seconds. The fish have no problems with this; the naso tang can pick algae off the outputs pretty easily.

I am paying more attention to water parameters because Ca and alk are being used up faster than ever. This is why I am going to remove some of the coralline. I am now testing the water two or three times a week to get an idea of how fast things are being used up.

[Thomas]

That's the way my glass looked before my last cleaning. I took off the lights and scraped off everything I could reach. It looks sooooo much nicer.
Tank looks great. When are you going on vacation I still want your Tunze setup and your lights too.