My 10+ year tank

[ravenmore]

Originally Posted by Metal Man 1221

Very interesting. I'm still not convinced that LEDs will replace my T5s. The biggest reason I can think of for switching is no more bulb replacements! That and lower energy costs.

Just my opinion but for a long time I’ve believed corals benefit more from food than from light. The fact that several of my corals didn’t grow much until I found a food they would eat re-enforces that for me. I remember when Dr. Shimek was hanging out here he was of the same opinion. I’m tempted to set up a test tank using frags from this tank and light it only with cheap hardware store lights and feed them like I do this tank and see what happens.

[ravenmore]

Originally Posted by ahmed_iAM

I get algae outbreaks too often from my LEDs, going back to halides with actinic LED supplements. May get back to LEDs in a couple years when the spectrum is improved.

So far no algae issues for me, but I have a 30 gallon fuge filled with lots of algae lit 24/7 connected to this tank, so algae is encouraged to grow there more than in the main tank. Plus I have a super voracious rabbit fish more than happy to snack on any that does try to grow.

Honestly, especially before I ran a refugium I would get algae blooms just changing bulbs on a tank – especially if I went to a warmer color temp. I kind of wonder if your algae blooms aren’t because of the LED’s but just are because of the light change. Just a hunch though – could be wrong.

[Metal Man 1221]

Originally Posted by ravenmore

Just my opinion but for a long time I’ve believed corals benefit more from food than from light. The fact that several of my corals didn’t grow much until I found a food they would eat re-enforces that for me. I remember when Dr. Shimek was hanging out here he was of the same opinion. I’m tempted to set up a test tank using frags from this tank and light it only with cheap hardware store lights and feed them like I do this tank and see what happens.

That would be an interesting test.

That is one thing I have been wanting to do, is refine my tank's diet. I used to grow red ogo in my sump and the fish loved that, it was easier to feed than nori, and I'd like to get back to doing that. I have also been wanting to try PaulB's method of feeding live black worms. But I will need to build a container to keep them alive, as I would likely have to make a large order.

[ravenmore]

Originally Posted by Metal Man 1221

That would be an interesting test.

That is one thing I have been wanting to do, is refine my tank's diet. I used to grow red ogo in my sump and the fish loved that, it was easier to feed than nori, and I'd like to get back to doing that. I have also been wanting to try PaulB's method of feeding live black worms. But I will need to build a container to keep them alive, as I would likely have to make a large order.

I'm looking into feeding blackworms too per Paul B. Actually from the research I've done they don't look like they are too hard to raise.

[ravenmore]

Holy crap - I just did my 2nd water change this month. Hope it doesn't throw my tank into shock.

On a side note - I'm ordering some blackworms. Plus planning a collecting trip down to the Texas coast (plus see the folks )

[ravenmore]

Wanted to post some pics to document my brain - er my brain coral's growth. The thing seems to be growing really fast:

[scubadan206]

Looks better than some tanks people obsess over. Too much aptasia means you can add a copperband, or maybe just some peppermint shrimp.

I would love to grow Ogo algae. I just put a Brute outside that I rinse off my filter sponges in. I'm hoping to use it to farm macro algae and the copepods that stick to the sponges. Problem is, I can't really seem to grow cheato in my system. How dirty does the water have to be? The cheato sits in the sun, and tumbles from the small pump at the bottom, but never changes at all.
Daniel.

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by scubadan206

I would love to grow Ogo algae. I just put a Brute outside that I rinse off my filter sponges in. I'm hoping to use it to farm macro algae and the copepods that stick to the sponges. Problem is, I can't really seem to grow cheato in my system. How dirty does the water have to be? The cheato sits in the sun, and tumbles from the small pump at the bottom, but never changes at all.
Daniel.

Be careful what you wish for. I had a bunch of ogo gracillaris growing in my last tank and none of my fish would eat it so it got totally out of control.

Chaeto is weird. In my current tank it wouldn't grow at all for the longest time, then, suddenly, overnight is started to grow like gangbusters. Water quality was about the same. Only thing I did was to start dosing a small quantity of an iron supplement, but Chaeto growth didn't happen until I'd been doing that for a while.

[ravenmore]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Be careful what you wish for. I had a bunch of ogo gracillaris growing in my last tank and none of my fish would eat it so it got totally out of control.

Chaeto is weird. In my current tank it wouldn't grow at all for the longest time, then, suddenly, overnight is started to grow like gangbusters. Water quality was about the same. Only thing I did was to start dosing a small quantity of an iron supplement, but Chaeto growth didn't happen until I'd been doing that for a while.

I've never had much luck growing chaeto either. Not sure why. I'm about to clean out my refugium and stock it with several different macros. I had some super bright red gracilaria some time back that was very impressive looking. I kind of regret putting in my scribbled rabbit fish without taking some out. He devoured all of it within a day or two. I don't see how gracilaria could be a problem as it doesn't root into anything. Some varieties break kind of easy and that could be a pain, but it should be pretty easy to remove.

[mayjong]

love the maze brain!

[ravenmore]

My toadstool leather was looking really nice this morning so I grabbed a couple pics. It seems to really extend it's polyps at night. When I was neglecting my tank it would extend like this all the time.

[ravenmore]

'shroom shot. Front left side of the tank



Feeding time.

[Bpb]

Your tank looks great. I love seeing a tank with fewer, but larger species filling the space, rather than a million tiny frags. Hope I can show that same discipline in the future. I see you're from Austin. Are you on austinreeefclub.com?

[ravenmore]

Originally Posted by Bpb

Your tank looks great. I love seeing a tank with fewer, but larger species filling the space, rather than a million tiny frags. Hope I can show that same discipline in the future. I see you're from Austin. Are you on austinreeefclub.com?

Thanks! no not a member there yet. Will check it out.

[JRR1285]

Incredible looking tank. It's amazing to see it grow like that with such little maintenance.

[ravenmore]

I was going through some old cell phone pics yesterday and found some pics of the tank from 3 years ago. This is right before I started feeding the Formula One pellets: