Battlecorals Vivid's Rainbow Acropora - Contest Discussion Thread

MTBake · Jul 28, 2018

snakejacques said:
I'm running out of room

And I thought I was running out of room. Now that's a full tank! I like it.

madweazl · Jul 28, 2018

It has to be, at a minimum, a combination of things. If it were the light itself, the problem would manifest in everyones tank. I've had good growth and coloration of acroporas with the A360WEs running color from 60-85% (I dont like it any blue than 60%) and intensities from 40-85% (PAR values of 105-330). The lights do ramp up from 0% color to 60% for two hours in the morning and then back down, two hours in the evening (eight hours with them at 60%). Intensity ramps up over six hours from 0% to my current max and then back down for six hours. Something you could play with while you await the new fixture if you're inclined.

Do you have any ICP data that could be useful for assisting in what may be leading to your poor results?

MTBake · Jul 28, 2018

It's been a couple months since I've had an ICP test done. I do have a Triton kit on hand. I'll go ahead and send that out on Monday.

The fact that I've noticed an improvement in the overall health since adding the T5s tells me something wasn't quite right with these lights on their own. I am going to slowly adjust intensity and color to try to hit 50% on both settings to start out with. I was even thinking of adjusting the photo period as well. My Kessils are on from 11 to 8 and the T5s from 10 to 9. I do not ramp my lighting as I don't have a controller. It's just on and off.

madweazl · Jul 28, 2018

What were your previous results? Do you keep log entries on something like AquaticLog? I'm certainly not suggesting that the T5s arent doing something positive, they're an outstanding lighting solution. I run a Kessil/T5 hybrid because I didn't have a better option due to how I mounted the Kessils through my canopy when I went acropora dominant but I did have a couple acroporas that were doing well prior to the addition.

MTBake · Jul 28, 2018

madweazl said:
What were your previous results? Do you keep log entries on something like AquaticLog? I'm certainly not suggesting that the T5s arent doing something positive, they're an outstanding lighting solution. I run a Kessil/T5 hybrid because I didn't have a better option due to how I mounted the Kessils through my canopy when I went acropora dominant but I did have a couple acroporas that were doing well prior to the addition.

I'm sure I can muster up the ATI results from my last test. Give me a bit for this one.

I noticed the same thing, some acros did fine under Kessils only. Some just seem to exist. And others just crash and burn. I haven't had those same issues since adding the T5s. The ones that were just existing are now starting to color up and encrust. Hope I'm on the right track to sps awesomeness

MTBake · Jul 28, 2018

Not sure if this link will work or not. This is the results from end of April or beginning of May this year.

https://lab.atiaquaristik.com/publicAnalysis/17556

MTBake · Jul 28, 2018

Double post

MTBake · Jul 28, 2018

AquaticLog looks pretty cool. I'll have to get signed up for that. Thanks for the help @madweazl

madweazl · Jul 29, 2018

Have you explored running considerably lower alkalinity (e.g. 7 dKh)?

MTBake · Jul 29, 2018

madweazl said:
Have you explored running considerably lower alkalinity (e.g. 7 dKh)?

I've been thinking that would help some. Odd thing is, I don't dose anything to the tank. And I use Red Sea salt in the blue bucket. That mixes to 8 dkh. Really not sure why my alk is always at 9.0-9.4 dkh. I've been thinking of dosing muriatic acid to bring it down. But the thought of dosing acid into my reef kinda scares me to be honest.

MTBake · Jul 29, 2018

The other thing that I think would help is to bring my pH up. It reaches 8.0 max on a good day. I'm going to order a co2 scrubber to hook up to the protein skimmer airline. But BRS is out of stock for the media for them. Looking at other sources now.

madweazl · Jul 29, 2018

MTBake said:
I've been thinking that would help some. Odd thing is, I don't dose anything to the tank. And I use Red Sea salt in the blue bucket. That mixes to 8 dkh. Really not sure why my alk is always at 9.0-9.4 dkh. I've been thinking of dosing muriatic acid to bring it down. But the thought of dosing acid into my reef kinda scares me to be honest.

If your tank's inhabitants are consuming less than what is being added via water change, it will creep up over time. A safer alternative to adding the muriatic acid to the tank is to do it to your water change water. While muriatic acid does lower alkalinity, it also cause the pH to plummet which requires considerable time to recover (I typically wait about 18 hours before I use the fresh mixed water but it may not take that long). Bad news for the display.

MTBake said:
The other thing that I think would help is to bring my pH up. It reaches 8.0 max on a good day. I'm going to order a co2 scrubber to hook up to the protein skimmer airline. But BRS is out of stock for the media for them. Looking at other sources now.

A pH of 7.8-8.0 wouldn't be cause for concern for me personally.

Caravanshaka · Jul 29, 2018

MTBake said:
The other thing that I think would help is to bring my pH up. It reaches 8.0 max on a good day. I'm going to order a co2 scrubber to hook up to the protein skimmer airline. But BRS is out of stock for the media for them. Looking at other sources now.

I want to say I get mine at a place called shopmedvet...way cheaper than BRS for the same stuff.

MTBake · Jul 29, 2018

Caravanshaka said:
I want to say I get mine at a place called shopmedvet...way cheaper than BRS for the same stuff.

I just came across this on Amazon actually. Thanks for the tip!

MTBake · Jul 29, 2018

madweazl said:
If your tank's inhabitants are consuming less than what is being added via water change, it will creep up over time. A safer alternative to adding the muriatic acid to the tank is to do it to your water change water. While muriatic acid does lower alkalinity, it also cause the pH to plummet which requires considerable time to recover (I typically wait about 18 hours before I use the fresh mixed water but it may not take that long). Bad news for the display.

A pH of 7.8-8.0 wouldn't be cause for concern for me personally.

I'm going add some muriatic acid to my next water change. I'll bring the alk down to about 6 dkh and wait 24 hrs before the water change. I typically only do a 12% wc every week. May up the frequency of water changes till I get the display down to 7 dkh. I could also change out more water per change if that would help also.