gatorwpb
Active Member
Originally Posted by camanuch
http:///forum/post/2743824
what amino acids do people use when dozing like this. I have been trying to find out now for about a month.
According to the guys on --, some of the best brands are zeovit, elos and brightwell's aquatics.
http:///forum/post/2743824
what amino acids do people use when dozing like this. I have been trying to find out now for about a month.
According to the guys on --, some of the best brands are zeovit, elos and brightwell's aquatics.
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vince-1961
Guest
Are you saying that stony SPS don't feed on phytoplankton? (My LFS said it did and sells me expensive phytoplankton.)
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mr_x
Active Member
sps are photosynthetic. i believe this is what they rely on. they are planktovores in a sense that they eat tiny particulate matter, but it's a secondary thing. if you never add phyto to your tank again, i bet you'll get the same growth out of your colonies.
btw- those colonies aren't doing too well. they look pretty bleached and browned out. what kind of lighting are you running?
btw- those colonies aren't doing too well. they look pretty bleached and browned out. what kind of lighting are you running?
reefkprz
Active Member
Originally Posted by vince-1961
http:///forum/post/2751143
Are you saying that stony SPS don't feed on phytoplankton? (My LFS said it did and sells me expensive phytoplankton.)
very few corals consume phytoplankton,gorgonians do. but mainly phyto is more for clams and other filter feeding inverts outside of the coral category.
SPS dine on small meaty foods, like digested fish food (fish only utelize about 30% of the nutrition in food before it gets passed out of them. the rest goes into your water. fish poo is a great food (as long as your feeding great fish food) and have enough circulation to keep it suspended. they also catch and consume things like oyster eggs micro fauna (baby copepods, amphipods, mysis shrimp etc. (zooplankton) zoo meaning animal, phyto meaning plant. most corals are carnivores, there are a few exceptions but as a general rule, this is pretty secure.
stop wasting your money on bottled plankton, in the end it is only pollution in a bottle. your paying to crap up your water quality. IF you have creatures that require phyto plankton use fresh live ONLY, not warm shelf crap from the LFS
http:///forum/post/2751143
Are you saying that stony SPS don't feed on phytoplankton? (My LFS said it did and sells me expensive phytoplankton.)
very few corals consume phytoplankton,gorgonians do. but mainly phyto is more for clams and other filter feeding inverts outside of the coral category.
SPS dine on small meaty foods, like digested fish food (fish only utelize about 30% of the nutrition in food before it gets passed out of them. the rest goes into your water. fish poo is a great food (as long as your feeding great fish food) and have enough circulation to keep it suspended. they also catch and consume things like oyster eggs micro fauna (baby copepods, amphipods, mysis shrimp etc. (zooplankton) zoo meaning animal, phyto meaning plant. most corals are carnivores, there are a few exceptions but as a general rule, this is pretty secure.
stop wasting your money on bottled plankton, in the end it is only pollution in a bottle. your paying to crap up your water quality. IF you have creatures that require phyto plankton use fresh live ONLY, not warm shelf crap from the LFS
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vince-1961
Guest
Bleached and browned out, eh? And I thought it was alive and well. I've had it (and the whole tank) for a little more than a month now. No sudden algae "die offs". Polyps come out to feed almost all the time. I removed several large-ish (1" diameter body), brown-ish crabs that were living in them and appeared to be eating them (as opposed to cleaning them) and a sea urchin that seemed to be on them a wee bit more frequently than I liked. As for water flow, I got a single model 4 Koralia water fan mounted inside the DT; otherwise, main pump circulates the 250 gallon total water volume, including sump, at approx. 1000 gph.
From what I have read, brown is a good color for these guys to be exhibiting. My 9 year old daughter came home from a summer camp type ativity and told me that white means it's dead. The white ones in my tank are most definitely NOT dead. They just need some algae to give them color. There is a small amount of purple showing on several of them. As soon as my camera battery recharges, I'll take some up close photos and post them later tonight so ya'll can give me real info!
I give at least 12 hours actinic light per day (4 39 watt T5's), plus 8 hours of 2 more 39 watt actinic T5's, plus 6 39 watt 10,000 kelvin T5's. As I said, I feed phytoplankton every now and then and let protein skimmer run 24/7 although sometimes I'll turn it off for the night after adding phytoplankton.
I also keep some polyester fill as a mechanical filter. It is great for catching diatoms and other stuff that makes it through the sponges and wet/dry lava rock. Does that also catch whatever these corals are actually eating? Should I remove it?
BTW, at least the phytoplankton the LFS sold me was refrigerated - - - "DT's Live Marine Phytoplankton, Premium Reef Blend." Label says 2-20 microns.
From what I have read, brown is a good color for these guys to be exhibiting. My 9 year old daughter came home from a summer camp type ativity and told me that white means it's dead. The white ones in my tank are most definitely NOT dead. They just need some algae to give them color. There is a small amount of purple showing on several of them. As soon as my camera battery recharges, I'll take some up close photos and post them later tonight so ya'll can give me real info!
I give at least 12 hours actinic light per day (4 39 watt T5's), plus 8 hours of 2 more 39 watt actinic T5's, plus 6 39 watt 10,000 kelvin T5's. As I said, I feed phytoplankton every now and then and let protein skimmer run 24/7 although sometimes I'll turn it off for the night after adding phytoplankton.
I also keep some polyester fill as a mechanical filter. It is great for catching diatoms and other stuff that makes it through the sponges and wet/dry lava rock. Does that also catch whatever these corals are actually eating? Should I remove it?
BTW, at least the phytoplankton the LFS sold me was refrigerated - - - "DT's Live Marine Phytoplankton, Premium Reef Blend." Label says 2-20 microns.
mr_x
Active Member
Originally Posted by vince-1961
http:///forum/post/2751665
Bleached and browned out, eh?
From what I have read, brown is a good color for these guys to be exhibiting.
yes, "browned out" is when a coral turns brown. it's not dead, but it's not good either.
"bleached" is when a coral turns white. that is worse than the brown.
i'm not trying to insult you. i'm just stating a fact. i have a few corals in my tank that are brown as well.
meanwhile, there are reasons for this. something happened to them to make them unhappy. in my case, it was a 14 hour power outtage.
wherever you read that brown is a good color for corals, is giving you poor information.
http:///forum/post/2751665
Bleached and browned out, eh?
From what I have read, brown is a good color for these guys to be exhibiting.
yes, "browned out" is when a coral turns brown. it's not dead, but it's not good either.
"bleached" is when a coral turns white. that is worse than the brown.
i'm not trying to insult you. i'm just stating a fact. i have a few corals in my tank that are brown as well.
meanwhile, there are reasons for this. something happened to them to make them unhappy. in my case, it was a 14 hour power outtage.
wherever you read that brown is a good color for corals, is giving you poor information.
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vince-1961
Guest
here are the photos of my corals. Each photo is done twice, once with camera on "aquarium" setting and once with it on "underwater" setting. The colors change with the setting.
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vince-1961
Guest
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vince-1961
Guest
chowtownreefer
Member
yea there not doing so hot........
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vince-1961
Guest
I'm brand new at this. Please tell me what to do to make them happier.
I posted above what I am already doing. Should I remove the polyester fill (the white stuff used to make pillows, blankets, etc.) which I use as the final stage of filtration in the over/under/over baffles between the refugium and the reservoir from which the main pump draws????
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I posted above what I am already doing. Should I remove the polyester fill (the white stuff used to make pillows, blankets, etc.) which I use as the final stage of filtration in the over/under/over baffles between the refugium and the reservoir from which the main pump draws????
Attachment 208036
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vince-1961
Guest
It was a fully matured tank when I got it. Came with the sand, rocks and coral. I saved about 75 gallons of the original water and re-filled it with ocean water from 15 miles offshore. Then I made the mistake of lowering salinity and topping off with tap water (got a diatom bloom). Now I use RO water. Since acquiring it, I've added protein skimmer, UV light, and totally re-done the sump from scratch. Plumbing not finished yet, but what I've done so far almost doubled the GPH turn over.
done 2 water tests since I readjusted the salinity to 1.023. Both showed ammonia and nitrites at 0. Nitrates at 40 ppm. (Cheato in refugium is not growing either.)
????
P.S.- the coral colonies look exactly the same now as they did before we broke the tank down and moved it to my house. During the move, all rocks, coral, fish and sand were removed from the tank and put in other containers with sufficient water. It took me 3 or 4 days to get the whole thing up and running again, during which time I did everything I could think of to keep everyone happy in their temporary containers. The only casualties that were apparent from the move were some of the critters in the sand (shovel chopped some in half, etc etc)
done 2 water tests since I readjusted the salinity to 1.023. Both showed ammonia and nitrites at 0. Nitrates at 40 ppm. (Cheato in refugium is not growing either.)
????
P.S.- the coral colonies look exactly the same now as they did before we broke the tank down and moved it to my house. During the move, all rocks, coral, fish and sand were removed from the tank and put in other containers with sufficient water. It took me 3 or 4 days to get the whole thing up and running again, during which time I did everything I could think of to keep everyone happy in their temporary containers. The only casualties that were apparent from the move were some of the critters in the sand (shovel chopped some in half, etc etc)
reefkprz
Active Member
Vince
what kind of lighting is on that tank? most of your corals are dying, and probably were before you bought the tank. a 225g tank is difficult to light and SPS dont usually fare well low in a tank that doesnt have kick a$$ lighting.
also by your pictures it shows you have quite a collection of larger fish, this generally isnt a problem in a big established tank but you dont have much live rock to provide filtration, SPS can be very sensitave to nitrates since the tank seems to be relying on bioball media for filtration your producing nitrates but no way to remove them, except through your water changes.
can you list your water parameters please.
what kind of lighting is on that tank? most of your corals are dying, and probably were before you bought the tank. a 225g tank is difficult to light and SPS dont usually fare well low in a tank that doesnt have kick a$$ lighting.
also by your pictures it shows you have quite a collection of larger fish, this generally isnt a problem in a big established tank but you dont have much live rock to provide filtration, SPS can be very sensitave to nitrates since the tank seems to be relying on bioball media for filtration your producing nitrates but no way to remove them, except through your water changes.
can you list your water parameters please.
reefkprz
Active Member
as for the poly fill, you should change it often enough that its almost always white, once you start seeing brown its getting dirty and just harboring nitrates. use a smaller portion of it and change it more often.
rinsing the blue sponge is imperative too, any mechanical filtration like that traps debris and needs to be cleaned ritually and OFTEN.
rinsing the blue sponge is imperative too, any mechanical filtration like that traps debris and needs to be cleaned ritually and OFTEN.
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vince-1961
Guest
Ya'll posted while I was busy editting my last post.
Lighting: I give at least 12 hours actinic light per day (4 39 watt T5's), plus 8 hours of 2 more 39 watt actinic T5's, plus 6 39 watt 10,000 kelvin T5's.
I agree with using a smaller portion, b/c then it lowers the height of the water in the wet/dry section; but when using less, it's hard not to get "gaps" where the water just flows around it. What you see is only 2 days old since I last rinsed it white. What you can't see well, are the two sponges above the drip tray. They're the black and blue ones used for ponds. black = larger holes, blue = smaller holes, then the drip tray. 3/4's the the lava rock is relatively new (about a month old).
Water parameters listed above during the editting.
Lighting: I give at least 12 hours actinic light per day (4 39 watt T5's), plus 8 hours of 2 more 39 watt actinic T5's, plus 6 39 watt 10,000 kelvin T5's.
I agree with using a smaller portion, b/c then it lowers the height of the water in the wet/dry section; but when using less, it's hard not to get "gaps" where the water just flows around it. What you see is only 2 days old since I last rinsed it white. What you can't see well, are the two sponges above the drip tray. They're the black and blue ones used for ponds. black = larger holes, blue = smaller holes, then the drip tray. 3/4's the the lava rock is relatively new (about a month old).
Water parameters listed above during the editting.
privatejoker
Member
Even if you bought the tank used and got everything from an est. tank that doesn't mean that you can start it up and put SPS right in. You will more than likely start a mini cycle from moving the gravel not to mention the stuff you released when taking the gravel out. Get a RO/DI unit and stop using ocean water. You never know what critters your putting in your tank. IMO you need to get those corals to someone who has an est tank and let them hold them for a few months. When your tank is ready take them back and see how they do.
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vince-1961
Guest
I don't know anyone else who has a saltwater aquarium, so that's just not an option. Have been using RO water already. Got any other suggestions?