Myka's 69 SPS Tank 2015

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Zoaelite

Originally Posted by mseepman

Wow, no surprise your tank is looking great Mindy! Nicely done.

Originally Posted by duncangweller

Corals look really healthy. Nicely done.

Originally Posted by ReefMadness

there are some really intense pieces in that tank. great work!

Originally Posted by hillegom

Beautiful. What have you done to get such intense colours. Big difference from last year!!!
Your photo skills have come a long way too
Mad jelly

Thanks for the comments everyone.

The magic ingredient for my tank is Zeovit Pohl's Xtra which is dosed 2 mL every evening after I turn off the skimmer (I just remove the skimmer cup, goes back on in the morning). Aside from the Aquaforest 1+2+3+, that's the only thing being dosed into the tank. Well, I add 2.5 mL Coral Snow once every week or two, and I try to remember to add 6 drops or so of the ProBioS once a week, but I often forget. The particulate feedings (Reef Roids, Reef Chili) really didn't seem to make a difference for the corals, same with AcroPower when I tried that. I'm told that Xtra is ammonia, nitrate, and aminos. Seems to be what the tank needs, and simpler than adding all the other things.

The bright red/burgundy algae all over the rocks is what drives me nuts (and the Bubble Algae) - gives the tank a very dark look. The urchins eat it, but they don't eradicate it. Oct, Nov, Dec I was inconsistent with waterchanges - once a month or so and I noticed colors fading on the Acros. Last week and this week are the first two "weekly" water changes I've done in awhile, and things have started to perk up. Water column nutrients are still pretty close to zilch - NO3 <0.25 ppm, PO4 <0.01 ppm.

Lighting is 6-bulb ATI dimmable. Blues for 12 hours 100%, Whites I've been ramping up in time and intensity, now at 7 hours 100%. PAR through the tank is 200-400 tested yesterday, but I need to switch out some bulbs...

[WarDog]

Looks really nice Mindy, good work!

I swear, everybody has that one nuisance algae in there tank. Thought about those new medications? I am hearing (and seeing) positive results in peoples tanks.

[Ryanerickson]

Sps is looking great looks like pohls has really helped, have you thought about trying vibrant to zap the bubble algae? Been told it works well.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by WarDog

Looks really nice Mindy, good work!

I swear, everybody has that one nuisance algae in there tank. Thought about those new medications? I am hearing (and seeing) positive results in peoples tanks.

Thanks Warren, your turn now.

Originally Posted by Ryanerickson

Sps is looking great looks like pohls has really helped, have you thought about trying vibrant to zap the bubble algae? Been told it works well.

I'm too chicken to try any of those meds. It's my own fault. I'm just not in there removing it manually enough. None of my client tanks have this issue - there's no way I'd let it happen. But my own tank, it slides... ugh.

Originally Posted by Galizio

Nice pics!!!

Thanks!

[DKoKoMan]

Your acros definitely coloured up from the beginning! So nice and the contrast in colour really draws the eye. Great work!

[Amadod2]

Mindy how long have you been using Xtra? i been contemplating on which coral additive to give my corals colour. i tested my P04 today and it still reads 0, even after i added 4 anthis over the past 3weeks. i heard Acropower is good, how long did you use it for with no results?

[Myka]

Originally Posted by DKoKoMan

Your acros definitely coloured up from the beginning! So nice and the contrast in colour really draws the eye. Great work!

Yeah, it took me a long time to figure this tank out. It was just too clean, and I couldn't get anything to work.

Originally Posted by Galizio

Lol, I do not understand why my message only showed "great pics"...
Wanted to know about your skimmer routine as I read is off a night time. Do you have a set schedule or just goes off every single day?

I was turning it off at night, but was thinking that's not a good idea (gas exchange), and someone else mentioned that too, so now I just remove the cup at night and put a tupperware container or it so it doesn't spray everywhere. In the morning I put the cup back on. I've been thinking to experiment with leaving the skimmer on 24/7 again, but it's bad timing with there being no fish in the display right now.

Originally Posted by crimper

Great progress there Mindy, all corals seems very happy and vibrant. Thanks for sharing.

Just a question though, I noticed there is no fish on the current photo, did you remove all your fish?

Yeah, they're in a QT. When I added the Perchlet I didn't quarantine him because my QT was was full of clients' fish. Unfortunately he introduced Ich. Fortunately it was a very mild strain and they all lived with it since July last year. I felt bad for the fish though, and decided to medicate them. I needed to remove the Tomini Tang and Yellow Coris anyway since they were getting too big for the tank.

Originally Posted by Amadod2

Mindy how long have you been using Xtra? i been contemplating on which coral additive to give my corals colour. i tested my P04 today and it still reads 0, even after i added 4 anthis over the past 3weeks. i heard Acropower is good, how long did you use it for with no results?

I used AcroPower daily for 5 months. I started adding Xtra daily on Nov 4th, so it's been over 3 months now.

Just because a product is a good product doesn't mean your tank needs it. This is the same reason why some people claim "crazy results" from starting potassium dosing or some kind of amino acids dosing. If your tank needs it, there will be a noticeable affect. If not, there will be little affect.

[Amadod2]

I picked up pohls xtra special today because all my corals are pale, but I think I'm going to do half the dose three times weekly to get started.

[crimper]

Originally Posted by Myka

The magic ingredient for my tank is Zeovit Pohl's Xtra which is dosed 2 mL every evening after I turn off the skimmer (I just remove the skimmer cup, goes back on in the morning). Aside from the Aquaforest 1+2+3+, that's the only thing being dosed into the tank.

Mindy, quick question regarding Aquaforest 1+2+3+... How do you dose them, I mean... do you dose them all at once or do you wait for a few moments before dosing the 2+ then the 3+? What's the best time to dose these?

Thanks.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by crimper

Mindy, quick question regarding Aquaforest 1+2+3+... How do you dose them, I mean... do you dose them all at once or do you wait for a few moments before dosing the 2+ then the 3+? What's the best time to dose these?

Thanks.

I wouldn't recommend using any type of balling method without a doser. Balling meaning "plus trace elements". The reason is you'd do adding a bit shot of trace elements at every dose which isn't recommended by most. The exception would be if you're not dosing very much, then it wouldn't matter. The timing doesn't matter too much, though if I was not using a doser I would probably dose in the evenings after the lights are out so that the corals are more likely to take up the elements than say, algae. Dosers will add the 3 parts anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes apart. I would definitely wait longer than "a few moments".