Bubba's SPS Journey

[erk]

I shoot in raw so whatever color setting in white balance should be ignored. I tried to correct it in Lightroom but it seemed difficult to get it right. I use a computer when I look at all my pics and I actually think my color on the monitor must be off as I had a couple people tell me the one I thought was purple looked correct. Makes me wonder what all the pics I thought were correct actually look like, lol.

I shoot in RAW as well, but can get slight color changes by setting a color temperature in the white balance menu. I will say, this has only happened on my D810 when I adjust the color temperature to the very extremes. Then I get some purple. Could never do this on my D7100 or D5200 if I remember correctly. So maybe it's just the model of camera.

 

[erk]

If it is your monitor, then totally buy one of the color calibrators. I purchased one to set my monitor so I could edit my photos true to color. Not for reef pics, but for my landscape and wildlife photography. It works great. Just need to get the calibrator back from a buddy that I let borrow it so I can calibrate this new monitor. Though I'd really like to buy a legit calibrated monitor specifically for photo editing.

I use the Spyder 5 Express sensor with the open source cal software, DisplayCAL. Much better than the proprietary Spyder software and really improved my editing.

 

[Cristy17]

I have never been much into montis but after having this one a couple months it's making me want more.

I reached out to Adam a couple weeks ago about the Hung's truly unbelievable rainbow and he said he had one frag that he cut off his grafted colony but the frag showed no grafting. When I got it he was right and I seen no grafting what so ever but I have noticed some grafting starting to show up near the bottom.

Bubbaque, where do you keep your beach bum? It looks great! What parameters do you recommend for it? A fellow reefer has one that is struggling and I would love to help her get it back...Thanks in advance!

 

[bubbaque]

Bubbaque, where do you keep your beach bum? It looks great! What parameters do you recommend for it? A fellow reefer has one that is struggling and I would love to help her get it back...Thanks in advance!

Mine is in kinda low par but still gets pretty high flow. It is in my frag tank, almost all the way in the corner. As for parameters I imagine it's the same for all other sps.

 

[Cristy17]

Mine is in kinda low par but still gets pretty high flow. It is in my frag tank, almost all the way in the corner. As for parameters I imagine it's the same for all other sps.

Ok I will let her know. Thanks for the response and I have been following!

 

[BoomCorals]

What a treasure trove of a thread. I've not made it through the entire thread yet, but I had to say wow and thanks for sharing. Gorgeous photos.
Also I think you've convinced me to give a carbon scrubber a try. I've never been too concerned with ph before as corals have grown fine. I figured my refugium was providing enough balance but now I'm curious if it could improve growth even more.

Quinn

 

[bubbaque]

What a treasure trove of a thread. I've not made it through the entire thread yet, but I had to say wow and thanks for sharing. Gorgeous photos.
Also I think you've convinced me to give a carbon scrubber a try. I've never been too concerned with ph before as corals have grown fine. I figured my refugium was providing enough balance but now I'm curious if it could improve growth even more.

Quinn

Thanks Quinn! I follow your personal thread and I never knew it was you who took over for Boom until you posted in it the other day. Your tank and display refugium is just simply awesome!

I know everybody says don't worry about ph and your tank will just fall in line to where it needs to be. After Bulk reef supply put out that video of where they used a scrubber to raise ph and literally after they installed a scrubber they had to double their two part solution to keep up with demand is when I decided to raise my ph.

I had corals that would grow and some that would barely grow at all. After raising ph I was able to see a noticeable difference in growth and the ones that would grow actually started to grow.

I think with a c02 scrubber you will only see a dramatic difference if your ph is low to start with. My ph use to max out around 7.9 and at the low of the night get down to 7.65. I was buying ph calibration fluid all the time thinking it couldn't be right or hoping it wasn't but it was. Now with the scrubber and kalk it reaches 8.3.

I think if someone's ph is already 8.1~ and they only raise it .1 they might not see much of a difference. It's the people with really low ph that will notice the difference.

 

[spartanman22]

Thanks Quinn! I follow your personal thread and I never knew it was you who took over for Boom until you posted in it the other day. Your tank and display refugium is just simply awesome!

I know everybody says don't worry about ph and your tank will just fall in line to where it needs to be. After Bulk reef supply put out that video of where they used a scrubber to raise ph and literally after they installed a scrubber they had to double their two part solution to keep up with demand is when I decided to raise my ph.

I had corals that would grow and some that would barely grow at all. After raising ph I was able to see a noticeable difference in growth and the ones that would grow actually started to grow.

I think with a c02 scrubber you will only see a dramatic difference if your ph is low to start with. My ph use to max out around 7.9 and at the low of the night get down to 7.65. I was buying ph calibration fluid all the time thinking it couldn't be right or hoping it wasn't but it was. Now with the scrubber and kalk it reaches 8.3.

I think if someone's ph is already 8.1~ and they only raise it .1 they might not see much of a difference. It's the people with really low ph that will notice the difference.

That’s very interesting I will have to take a look at it. I’ve had good growth and color, but nothing crazy. I’ve always been of the mindset of don’t chase pH it’ll just cause problems, but in my current setup I don’t get pH over 7.9. So I may need to look into this.

 

[justingraham]

That’s very interesting I will have to take a look at it. I’ve had good growth and color, but nothing crazy. I’ve always been of the mindset of don’t chase pH it’ll just cause problems, but in my current setup I don’t get pH over 7.9. So I may need to look into this.

I think it only cost problems if you don’t check Alk every day because once u get that PH up the consumption goes crazy and once the soda lime is gone the growth slows and then your over doseing

 

[Fishfinder]

That’s very interesting I will have to take a look at it. I’ve had good growth and color, but nothing crazy. I’ve always been of the mindset of don’t chase pH it’ll just cause problems, but in my current setup I don’t get pH over 7.9. So I may need to look into this.

I always thought the same. Never chase ph. I had consistently low ph 7.8-7.6. Couldn't grow coral at all. Ran a line outside. Now I'm at 8.0-7.9. Coral is growing much faster and looks much healthier

 

[spartanman22]

I always thought the same. Never chase ph. I had consistently low ph 7.8-7.6. Couldn't grow coral at all. Ran a line outside. Now I'm at 8.0-7.9. Coral is growing much faster and looks much healthier

The challenge will be figuring out how to do this on an AIO

 

[bubbaque]

I think it only cost problems if you don’t check Alk every day because once u get that PH up the consumption goes crazy and once the soda lime is gone the growth slows and then your over doseing

Justin is spot on! I would usually end up wasting a little of the media as I would replace it with new media because I never wanted to wait until the ph would drop showing the media was used up.

I now run two co2 scrubbers linked together to make sure all the media is used in the first one before replacing and it gives me a little buffer in case I forget to replace it.

 

[BigJohnny]

I think the whole dont chase ph advice is important but more to prevent people from using products like "ph up" or "ph buffer". They only provide small temporary boosts anyway and primarily impact alkalinity which some people dont even know!

I use a co2 scrubber as well and it almost doubles my carbonate consumption. I also run a refugium on a reverse light schedule, but all that really does is minimize the drop at night. It does increase the baseline but nothing like a co2 scrubber does for me. Both could be considered "chasing ph" technically but are pretty safe and provide multiple actual benefits, imo.

I agree you definitely need to monitor your ph, co2 media (I have to switch mine before its all turns purple), and alk closely though or your dKH will rise up when your media is exhausted. I like to replace mine one day before it usually starts to become less effective because even a .1 reduction in ph will let my average alk rise up about .1 dKH in about 24-36 hrs (obviously it fluctuates more than that throughout the day). Not a big deal on it's own but unless you make that up everytime it happens, your alk can rise over time.

I have an alk monitor (tests every 6 hours) and two ph probes so I have a pretty firm understanding about how it all plays out. Some people ofcourse wouldnt notice this or it could be offset by an increased demand of corals that have grown larger, its just something for people to consider if their goal is stability. I try to keep it everything as stable as possible.

I believe almost all of my additional carbonate consumption is due to increased calcification, but people who run much higher dKH than me (im only 7.1-7.4) and maintain lower nutrient levels/dissolved organics/magnesium levels could have a significant increase in precipitation as a cause for part of that uptake instead.

That's my $2.00 worth

@bubbaque

Great idea on the dual/back up scrubbers. Do you find it impacts your skimmer performance running two in like like that?

 

[BoomCorals]

Good input @BigJohnny. What is your ph at and the total swing with the scrubber? How about you @bubbaque? You guys are making a strong case! I have an HRV (Heat Retention Vent) in the house bringing in fresh air, skimmer running only for air infusion with outside air line, and a refugium. My ph goes from 7.9 (night) - 8.2 (day), without a scrubber currently.

 

[bubbaque]

I think the whole dont chase ph advice is important but more to prevent people from using products like "ph up" or "ph buffer". They only provide small temporary boosts anyway and primarily impact alkalinity which some people dont even know!

I use a co2 scrubber as well and it almost doubles my carbonate consumption. I also run a refugium on a reverse light schedule, but all that really does is minimize the drop at night. It does increase the baseline but nothing like a co2 scrubber does for me. Both could be considered "chasing ph" technically but are pretty safe and provide multiple actual benefits, imo.

I agree you definitely need to monitor your ph, co2 media (I have to switch mine before its all turns purple), and alk closely though or your dKH will rise up when your media is exhausted. I like to replace mine one day before it usually starts to become less effective because even a .1 reduction in ph will let my average alk rise up about .1 dKH in about 24-36 hrs (obviously it fluctuates more than that throughout the day). Not a big deal on it's own but unless you make that up everytime it happens, your alk can rise over time.

I have an alk monitor (tests every 6 hours) and two ph probes so I have a pretty firm understanding about how it all plays out. Some people ofcourse wouldnt notice this or it could be offset by an increased demand of corals that have grown larger, its just something for people to consider if their goal is stability. I try to keep it everything as stable as possible.

I believe almost all of my additional carbonate consumption is due to increased calcification, but people who run much higher dKH than me (im only 7.1-7.4) and maintain lower nutrient levels/dissolved organics/magnesium levels could have a significant increase in precipitation as a cause for part of that uptake instead.

That's my $2.00 worth

@bubbaque

Great idea on the dual/back up scrubbers. Do you find it impacts your skimmer performance running two in like like that?

I watched real close to see if it slowed down my skimmer air intake but to my eye I didn't notice anything. I mainly went by if I had to adjust my skimmer at all to get the same performance and I didn't have to touch anything.

Good input @BigJohnny. What is your ph at and the total swing with the scrubber? How about you @bubbaque? You guys are making a strong case! I have an HRV (Heat Retention Vent) in the house bringing in fresh air, skimmer running only for air infusion with outside air line, and a refugium. My ph goes from 7.9 (night) - 8.2 (day), without a scrubber currently.

Your ph is already pretty high so I am not sure installing a scrubber would help you as much and it might not be worth the cost of buying a scrubber along with the media. You are in the business of growing and selling coral so maybe every bit helps though.

I think it would mainly help people that never get ph over 8. Those might be the ones who notice the biggest difference.

I still get a .3 swing in ph every day, even with a refugium on a reverse night cycle. Usually bottoms out around 8 and maxes out around 8.3.

 

[BigJohnny]

Good input @BigJohnny. What is your ph at and the total swing with the scrubber? How about you @bubbaque? You guys are making a strong case! I have an HRV (Heat Retention Vent) in the house bringing in fresh air, skimmer running only for air infusion with outside air line, and a refugium. My ph goes from 7.9 (night) - 8.2 (day), without a scrubber currently.

On an average day my pH ranges from 8.2-8.4, usually swinging .15 or less in that range though. If I have family or friends spending the night it can go down to 8.1-8.2. I forgot to mention I do dose .5 dKH equivalent of kalkwasser a day but even with that my ph was 7.9-8.2 without the scrubber. So for me it raised my average up at least .2 and increased ph stability.

One thing I want to point out is that I have to replace the media every 10 days. I used to go biweekly but I was really letting the media exhaust to the point that my ph would go back down to what my tank ran at previously before I changed it. It's very easy to change and takes me less than 5 mins, but it is mildly annoying to have do it that often. Your mileage may vary. My wife and I work from home and my tank is in my office so there's probably a lot more co2 in there on a daily basis then most peoples houses who leave for work.

It can be expensive too (depending on your definition) unless you buy media in bulk from vet or medical supply/scuba supply sites. One way to make it last longer is to have it pull moist air from your skimmer cup or a ro reservoir but I am too lazy to modify my skimmer lid at the moment.

Just fyi I use the BRS scrubber and this media:

SodaSorb Carbon Dioxide Absorbents - 4-8 Mesh - Indicating SODA-SORB-HP
https://www.amronintl.com/wr-grace-sodasorb-carbon-dioxide-absorbents.html

It lasts me almost a year so about $10 a month or something like that. I used to use the brs media in the beginning and noticed no differences between the two.

God I'm long winded tonight, sorry lol. Just trying to help.

@bubbaque thread has too many pics anyway, someone's got to provide some real content ; )

 

[BigJohnny]

I watched real close to see if it slowed down my skimmer air intake but to my eye I didn't notice anything. I mainly went by if I had to adjust my skimmer at all to get the same performance and I didn't have to touch anything.

Cool maybe I'll try that then. Thanks

 

[pshootr]

Yes, t5's and two Sb reef bars.

Which bulbs on your T5?

 

[bubbaque]

Which bulbs on your T5?

Really any bulb combo will work, it just comes down to how blue you want your tank. Going off memory I believe my display is 5 blue +, 2 coral + and 1 actnic. Frag tank is the same I believe but at one time had 4 blue +, 3 coral + and 1 actinic.

 

[pshootr]

Really any bulb combo will work, it just comes down to how blue you want your tank. Going off memory I believe my display is 5 blue +, 2 coral + and 1 actnic. Frag tank is the same I believe but at one time had 4 blue +, 3 coral + and 1 actinic.

I plan on using a 4 bulb fixture, and I want blue but not overly blue. so I'm thinking maybe three blue plus and one Coral Plus

Thank you [emoji106]