GQLMAO's Small Peninsula Tank

[gqlmao]

Had some time for some quick pics! The corals are still getting used to the lighting, I am starting to see color changes in a couple SPS pieces. The surprising part is I don't even have the light running more than 3 hours!! It's been rough trying to get the corals use to the T5s, they are so powerful.

This one is actually neon yellow:




Hairy Green Acro:



Pinkish Milli:



Blue Tenius:

[matt_C]

looks good!

[gqlmao]

Dragon eyes from Reefwars:



Devil Paly from Fragbox:

[gqlmao]

Just a small update:


I have been noticing a decline in my montipora and birdsnest for some reason. After reading online I had a hunch it was a potassium deficiency. My current vodka dosing is .5ml per day split into two doses, 3 hours prior to feeding and right after feeding. I suspect the additional carbon source is generating more bacteria, therefore slowly up taking the potassium. I guess over the course of 3 months it took its toll and by using a salt low in potassium and I started noticing these affects more and more after 4-5x 10 percent water changes. I decided to give potassium a shot, after dosing and switching to a salt with higher trace elements, the colors have come back significantly.


I have noticed that the majority of my SPS were darkening to the point where it was brown... I have stopped using KZ vitalizer, pohl's xtra, SPS amino acids, LPS amino acids and sponge power all together. The only thing I use is coral snow to allow for water clarity and to possibly bond to small organic waste that the skimmer otherwise isn't able to pull out. I have stopped the KZ for approx. 4 days and the results are considerably better, the dark tissue began to lighten and I can start to see the actually colors again. I suspect that there wasn't any need of the AAs at this time in my tank, I do feed heavily once a day. Once the corals lighten up more, I will begin dosing KZ in small moderate amounts to see if I can tweak everything to how I wanted.


I am able to ramp my lights up to around 5 hours for the 6 bulb channel and 9 hours for the 2 bulb channel at 100 percent, my SPS seem to be getting really use to it and I am seeing significant color changes on the blues, and purples,. Greens are good. Reds and pinks will need more work... I suspect it was too much KZ giving my corals unneeded nutrients causing excessive amounts of zooxanthellae to hide the actual colors. I should see better results in a couple weeks time!


Just wanted to post some tank details and current situation since I have noticed that this thread was more of a photo dump. If you have any suggestions feel free to chime in.

[kien]

That sounds reasonable and i would agree with your assessment. Sounds like you've got it all under control. Just remember, brown doesn't mean dead, so there's hope. Keep on reefin' on :-)

[gqlmao]

Thanks Kien!

Well, since I moved everything to my old little cube, things are looking better. I would say certain zoas will need atleast a week or two before they get back to their original size and color. Overall I am happy that I did it,

On to some pictures, the tank is lit by only Royal Blue Leds. Color balanced is pretty much maxed out with the camera and editor, any more yellow would create excessive noise.

Green Ric:


Blue Ric:


Multi Color Ric:


Bella Blue:


Rastas:


Fruit Loops:


La Lakers:


Orange Oxides:

[gqlmao]

I just got my order from Hydrologist (Bigshowfrags), I had to take some pictures cause these Acans are out of this world. Only pictures can explain how happy I am with these pieces.

Reverse Monster Mash:




Yellow Hornets:





Red Turtle:





Green Sunset:



Flamer Thrower:





Frosted Tigers:





Rainbow Universe:





Mango's Revenge:





Tropical Jungle:





Fall Fair Carnival:





Blue Sunset:





Yellow Passion:





Raspberry:



Green/Orange Acan:

[Steve...]

How do you like your ATI fixture? Im waiting for mine to come in from Concepts, I cant wait. I used the Radions as well before... What is the biggest difference you see between the two fixtures?

[wayner]

Orange Passion ? 😄

[gqlmao]

I am still using both fixtures, I have the radions over my little LPS and zoa tank. In my opinion LPS and zoas look the best under RB leds, T-5s don't give me enough of that fluorescent pop. I am using the T-5s in my SPS tank, I cannot give you a direct comparison when I was using the 2 since I would need another Radion fixture to match the coverage of the T-5s. However after going T-5s on SPS, I would not go back to LEDs unless something game changing comes out, all depends on personal preference. Some good things with T-5s, uniform coverage, no spot light affects, very uniform and gradual spectrum, no discoball effects.

Originally Posted by Steve...

How do you like your ATI fixture? Im waiting for mine to come in from Concepts, I cant wait. I used the Radions as well before... What is the biggest difference you see between the two fixtures?

Haha, I knew you were going to ask that. Yes I did get some.

Originally Posted by wayner

Orange Passion ? 😄