Myka's 69 SPS Tank 2015

[Myka]

Photobucket is up again.

The pics in the tank were taken maybe 20 minutes after introduction. I have them on a rack for observation, and then that rack will be outta there!


Dippy dip, and inspection. Nothing came off them.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Myka

I stopped by to post some pics, but Photobucket is down for maintenance.

I tested the tank today...

Ca 410 ppm (Elos), 415 ppm (Salifert
Alk 137 ppm 7.7 dKH (Hanna), 7.8 (Salifert)
Mg 1320 ppm (Salifert)
NO3 undetectable (Salifert)
PO4 0.00 ppm (Hanna)
K ~400 ppm (Elos)
S.G. 1.026

I have over 800 mL kalkwasser per day spread over 24 doses. I mix it 3 tsp RowaKalk, 45 mL vinegar, fill to 1 gallon. If I don't start seeing some nutrients I'll start skipping out the vinegar. I don't have carbon in the tank right now, and I don't use GFO unless I'm having a PO4 issue (which is rare). I do dose Prodibio BiOptim and BioDigest (bacteria and carbon source) every 14 days as recommended - I love this product. I added the first dose the day I transferred the tank.

Fish are eating lots, but there's just the 4 of them right now.

Some fish I'm considering...

- Helfrichi Firefish pair
- Candy Basslet (he can pair with the Royal Gramma lol)
- Yellowtail Damsel pair (hey, I like them!)
- Some kind of Perchlet (Plectranthias sp)
- Yellow Coris Wrasse

`

I love my Prodibio also. How come you add vinegar to your kalk? Do you add 3 tsp/day or just when needed. Maybe I should up mine.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Doug

`

I love my Prodibio also. How come you add vinegar to your kalk? Do you add 3 tsp/day or just when needed. Maybe I should up mine.

The vinegar makes it so you can dissolve 3 tsp kalk per gallon rather than just 2 tsp. It's also a carbon source to lower N and P.

The 3 tsp goes into 1 gallon of RO/DI and that mixture is dosed at a rate of 800 mL per day so the 3 tsp goes into the tank in a little under 5 days. I have room to dose more - it's not affecting pH much at this rate.

[Doug]

So you dose vinegar in addition to Prodibio. Are they not a similar purpose?

Thats a beautiful batch of frags.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Doug

So you dose vinegar in addition to Prodibio. Are they not a similar purpose?

Thats a beautiful batch of frags.

IME, Prodibio has not affected N and P in any tank I've ever used it in even though that's what it's advertised for. I notice SPS color improvement when I use Prodibio BiOptim and BioDigest in tanks with SPS even though I don't see any difference in nutrients or other measurable parameters. I don't notice this difference in softies or LPS. I do think that it helps keep the good bacteria population up so there is less opportunity for bad bacteria in the tank, but that's just speculation.

The vinegar is a carbon source, but the main purpose I use it for is to increase the saturation of kalkwasser.

Yes, the frags are nice! Thanks to Coral Master Greg!

[Doug]

Good info Mindy. Thanks. I use a Tunze kalk mixed, so assume vinegar can't just go in the make up water ?

[Myka]

There's nothing wrong with using vinegar in top off water as a carbon source except it will vary a bit depending how much evaporation there is.

You can't use It in your reactor though.

[Snappy]

Thanks Mindy, looking good

[Myka]

L: Sunset Mille
R: Blue Polyp Nasuta


L: A. lovelli
R: Strawberry Shortcake


L: CM Fiji Cobalt
R: Albino Mille


L: Extreme Insignis
R: CM Sun God Mille


L: ORA Red Planet (showed up nice, but has bleached in my tank)
R: CM Green Dragon


L: CM Golden Sunset Mille (really diggin this one)
R: CM Christmas Hyacinthus


L: DWI - Deep Water Insanity
R: CM Sexy Beast


L: Cherry Popper A. florida
R: For the Love of Ivy

[Myka]

This is the aquacultured Mille that showed up with most of its zooxanthellae expelled a couple weeks ago. I don't see any green sheen anymore (yay). Looks like it will be blue, pink, purple.


This is another aquacultured piece I picked up at the same time. The branched were a rich forest green with blue tips. It's bleaching a bit, so maybe I have it in too much light. It's about 1/3 up the tank. I'm not sure what species it is - some sort of deepwater.


This is Montipora capitata that I've had for a couple years. I like it, so it's staying for now even though it's a Monti.


This is some sort of tabling Acro that came in on consignment at the LFS. There were some big chunks, but I just wanted a small chunk so I don't get weird growth pattern changes. I'm hoping it has more color to it, but I haven't seen any changes yet and I've had it about a month.


This is a weed that isn't going to be staying in the tank.


This was a nice surprise - I picked it up as a skin flap frag that was totally browned out and I had no idea what it was. It it super sensitive to alkalinity swings, and there were a couple low alkalinity issues not long before the tank transfer. I almost lost it. The green is normally a really deep green with neon magenta corallites. Some sort of SSC. It's been my favourite for a long time, but it grows painfully slow It's 2 years old.