Randy's Redsea Reefer 250 and the rest of the Coral Farm

[RandyC]

So after my little masterflex fiasco and nutrients bombing down to nil, my acro growth seemed to have stalled out for a few months. Yes a few MONTHS! It was painful watching nothing grow (at least it seemed like it wasn't).

I'm hoping this is pointing in the right direction.

TSA Princess Peach on March 11.

TSA Princess Peach on April 4. Just waiting (hoping) for it to explode!

TSA Princess Peach with two more months of growth (Pic from 6/1/2020)

 

[RandyC]

Top has turned red-ish, but bottom polyps are more dark pink with yellow tips. I kept meaning to experiment with moving it to lower light, but always forgot to move it. Lights are off now, but I'll try to grab a pic tomorrow to show what I'm describing. I did make some frags a few days so once they heal, I'll move one to lower PAR and see what happens.

@Narzyzz_12 Forgot to post a pic for you. Here you go:

Here’s a frag from the bottom/underside. It’s definitely more yellow/light pink.

 

[Luckyduck]

Welcome from the shadows. That's a beautiful looking set up you got there! Nice work. You got lots of fun goodies and toys on that tank! Looks like you got a few bucks invested in it LOL Any trouble with coral & coraline growth running the alkalinity on the lower end of the spectrum?

 

[RandyC]

Welcome from the shadows. That's a beautiful looking set up you got there! Nice work. You got lots of fun goodies and toys on that tank! Looks like you got a few bucks invested in it LOL Any trouble with coral & coraline growth running the alkalinity on the lower end of the spectrum?

Thanks! No problems at all with growth of either coral or coralline. Any rock, plug or tile I put in the tanks starts to grow coralline in a matter of days. I actually prefer running lower alk as it seems in my experience there's more room for error. Nutrient swings or small major element (alk/ca/mg) swings from equipment errors or the like seem to cause less drama in my tanks when running a lower alk as compared to when I used to run in the low 9s.

 

[Luckyduck]

Thanks! No problems at all with growth of either coral or coralline. Any rock, plug or tile I put in the tanks starts to grow coralline in a matter of days. I actually prefer running lower alk as it seems in my experience there's more room for error. Nutrient swings or small major element (alk/ca/mg) swings from equipment errors or the like seem to cause less drama in my tanks when running a lower alk as compared to when I used to run in the low 9s.

Hmmm that's an interesting fact. I have been reefing for 7 years, tokn a break for 7 and just came back to the hobby. I have a 15 Gallon Column I've had set up for 21 days that just finished cycling. I'm trying to figure out where I want to keep my Alk. I was shooting for 9.5.ut your reasoning make sense maybe I will keep it lower, especially if you're not having any issues. That tank is gorgeous and you have some beautiful specimines so clearly there is no issue keeping it @ 7.5 area.

 

[RandyC]

Hmmm that's an interesting fact. I have been reefing for 7 years, tokn a break for 7 and just came back to the hobby. I have a 15 Gallon Column I've had set up for 21 days that just finished cycling. I'm trying to figure out where I want to keep my Alk. I was shooting for 9.5.ut your reasoning make sense maybe I will keep it lower, especially if you're not having any issues. That tank is gorgeous and you have some beautiful specimines so clearly there is no issue keeping it @ 7.5 area.

It’s really just a preference on how you want to keep your reef. Running a lower alk just works better for me. There are many, many successful tanks that run in the 9.5 range and even higher. There are some advantages to running a higher alk, one being that calcification of coral skeleton can occur faster. There are just some gotchas/pitfalls that you have to be aware of when running a higher alk.

 

[Luckyduck]

It’s really just a preference on how you want to keep your reef. Running a lower alk just works better for me. There are many, many successful tanks that run in the 9.5 range and even higher. There are some advantages to running a higher alk, one being that calcification of coral skeleton can occur faster. There are just some gotchas/pitfalls that you have to be aware of when running a higher alk.

Excellent I will take all of that into consideration. I realize consistency is key so what ever level I settle on keeping it at I will make sure to maintain it regularly. Thanks for your response my friend.

 

[RandyC]

I find that pink is a hard color to come by and actually sustain in corals. Anything I buy pink, it usually just turns red pretty quickly. Enter this little piece. I found it at an LFS back in March and I believe they just fragged it from an imported piece. They only had four frags and I debated whether or not to buy it because I knew I would just get burned and it would turn red. Happy I took the risk. Here it is - all pinked up - even slightly more than when I bought it.

I just got a new iPhone 11 Pro and under the right conditions, it's surprisingly good at taking video without a filter. Colors still slightly off, but pretty dang good.


Here's a picture of when I got it from 3/11/2020:

 

[RandyC]

Playing with the new iPhone 11 Pro and the camera. Have to say, this phone is putting out some pretty darn good shots. Making me think whether or not DSLR might not be coming o
ut as much anymore.

Here’s one of my first few acro pieces I ever got. I believe it’s an acro horrida I got around 4 years ago. It has some nice purple and teal/green hues.

 

[RandyC]

Oh man....I’m on a Goniopora run. Just got this thing in the tank today. It’s a wild colony that came in from Indo last week. Here’s to hoping it’s a hardy one.

 

[TopShelfAquatics]

Stunning thread!

 

[RandyC]

My hammers & frogspawns/octospawns never get attention.

 

[Flameback Pair]

My hammers & frogspawns/octospawns never get attention.

@RandyC awesome pic !!!!!

 

[RandyC]

Stunning thread!

Thanks @TopShelfAquatics! Appreciate the like. Just for you, here's one of yours in a before and after shot. Anyone want to take a guess what makes acros go horizontal vs vertical?

TSA Optimus Prime (7/28/2019)

TSA Optimus Prime (6/23/2020) - forever encrusting! Finally getting some vertical growth though!

 

[RandyC]

Pictures really are the only way I actually realize how things are growing over the long term. I wish all my acros did this! Here's a progression of BC Aquatic-Man Table that I got back in April 2019. @Battlecorals Here's one of your babies!

BC Aquatic-Man Table (4/27/2019)

BC Aquatic-Man Table (6/9/2019)

BC Aquatic-Man Table (7/26/2019)

BC Aquatic-Man Table (8/7/2019)

BC Aquatic-Man Table (9/23/2019)

BC Aquatic-Man Table (2/12/2020)

BC Aquatic-Man Table (4/4/2020)

BC Aquatic-Man Table (6/25/2020)

 

[Michael Gray]

i hope my T5 additon to my LEDS finally allow me to keep SPS... i want these!

 

[melanotaenia]

Great growth progression in those last photos. Well done.

 

[RandyC]

Seems to happen a lot nowadays, but I have one of those named acros that just came and went never to be heard or seen from ever again. I can't find reference to it anywhere anymore on Cornbred's site or barely anywhere on this interwebs-thingy. I actually got this piece back in Oct 2018 from one of Cornbred's eBay auctions. If I remember correctly, it didn't do too well initially and started to die, but I left it alone and it just lingered around for a while doing nothing. Now, for whatever reason, it seems to be growing well and developing some nice colors.

Only picture I seem to have of the frag before 2020 is after it had its bad start, lost some tissue and then seemed to be in survival mode for a long while.

Cornbred Wonderland Acro (2/26/2019)

Cornbred Wonderland Acro (2/12/2020)

Cornbred Wonderland Acro (7/10/2020)

For reference this was the picture that was on the original eBay auction.

 

[RandyC]

Up close & personal macro shot of some random no name chalice.

 

[ajjw0828]

Awesome build thread Randy! I am definitely going to do your GEO calcium reactor modification. After reading through your whole thread I think you've convinced me to buy a Trident after hearing about your alk plummeting to 1.2dkh while away. Couple questions. With the CaRx mod, that will put more co2 into the tank versus getting trapped in the reactor correct? Also, it seems you are having great results growing your chaeto, can you tell me what light you are using and where you purchased it from? I've been considering making my own DIY one from Rapid LED, but would like to know more about yours, since it's working well for you. I really appreciate you posting your corrections to problems you've encountered. This helps everyone!