ttsNYCreef

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thanks everyone for your comments. I am happy that the tank is finally looking like it should and corals are showing good growth and color. i'll try to post new coral photos soon.

I have started calk/alk supplementation seriously now that there are numerous acros in the tank. there has been a lot of discussion on some forums on the Balling Method. for those who want to read up there is a lot of info I can point you too, as i've been reading as much as I can. I've found a great deal of the critical info, like how you do it, but still have many questions. I would love to hear of others who are using this method to supplement about their practices and results.

here is the basic recipe. this recipe is a modified balling light (and is very similar to typical 2-part).
jug 1: calcium chloride (recipe 1 1gal kit from bulk reef supply)
fauna marin Strontium Barium Complex
fauna marin Heavy Metal Complex
jug 2: sodium carbonate (recipe 1gal kit from bulk reef supply)
fauna marin Iodine Fluoric Complex
jug 3: Magnesium chloride/magnesium sulfate (again from BRS)
fauna marin ultramin S

dosing is automated by a Litermeter III. i started with 30ml of each Jug added daily. by measuring the cal/alk/mag levels every few days i have adjusted the additions to keep the parameters in range. right now i am adding 70ml of calcium, 40ml of alk and 40 of magnesium. i am still working out the quantity of the magnesium addition, and expect that all the amounts will need to increase as coral growth accelerates.

true balling relies on adding NaCl free salt with the magnesium and the removal of equal part tank water to balance the salinity. for me balling light is easier, and the negatives are countered by weekly water changes. balling light also uses sodium hydrogen carbonate (traditional 2-part recipe 2). the choice of alk additive was for no other reason than its what i had and others have shown it to work fine. although eventually I may go to a true balling and see how it differs.
 

ttsNYCreef

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I haven't had much time to post any updates with work being so busy. But I had a great time at the swap this weekend, and my controller will be here tomorrow. I will certainly post updates on the tank and my impression of the Apex controller...
 
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ttsNYCreef

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brooklyn
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finally a little time for an update... My son and I took my father (also a reefer) to Manhattan Aquariums today since he was in-town for a visit. we came home with a few new things.

picked up an undata frag and a small acro frag. also shown is a spectacular neon frag from seascape.
new_stuff.jpg
http://www.pipeline.com/~tts/new_stuff.jpg

these I picked up at the fall frag swap.
goni.jpg
http://www.pipeline.com/~tts/goni.jpg

dendro.jpg
http://www.pipeline.com/~tts/dendro.jpg

if you look closely at the right side you can see a new head thats started to show.

and a few more recent additions.

side.jpg
http://www.pipeline.com/~tts/side.jpg

redmonti.jpg
http://www.pipeline.com/~tts/redmonti.jpg


front.jpg


this one I got from emmanuel has been growing fast. had a spot stung but it hasn't had much effect.
purplemonti.jpg


even the tubb's purple polyp birdsnest that was one of the few pieces that survived the overheating has recovered. there are still a few spots that have not grown in but the rest is showing lots of new growth.
birdsnest.jpg
 

ttsNYCreef

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brooklyn
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tank has been doing great while i've been laying low for the last 6 months. some corals have grown significantly and all show signs of their full beauty.

I've made some equipment changes which I hope to update in detail in the near future. Updates to include full details on the Apex controller, new Deltec skimmer and Acan Lighting AC103 LED fixture.

bad phone photo teaser...
2010-08-04_update.jpg
 

ttsNYCreef

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brooklyn
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here are some photos from tonight. got home from work late so lights were mostly blue. I just installed the LED yesterday. LOVE IT!. the color is infinitely adjustable and the chiller did not run at all today.

10-0805_birdsnest.JPG

purple polyp birdnest has grown significantly.

10-0805_ORAbluemille.JPG

as has the ORA blue milli

10-0805_wholetank.JPG

tough to see in this shot, but there are a lot of small frags that have been added over time.

10-0805_wholetop.JPG

I have the light on the mount that came with it. still trying to deciide if it OK like this or if I will hang it like the MH it replaced.

10-0805_deltec.JPG

replaced the original skimmer with this one from Deltec. Its a big improvement in some ways, but the previous skimmer did a good job too.

I'll post more details soon.
 
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ttsNYCreef

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brooklyn
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update part 1
Tank has reached the 1-year point. The last 6 months have been mostly good. Lost a few corals that were added, and a few fish while I was away for a long vacation, but things are mostly thriving. Most of the corals that have been in the tank from the beginning have grown a lot, while the newer ones are still acclimating but beginning to grow. check out the growth on the tubb purple polyp birdsnest in the last 6 months alone.


Since last updated I have added 3 significant pieces of equipment. An Apex controller, Deltec skimmer and Acan Lighting LED. The skimmer was more of a want than a need, but the other 2 were things I really needed to do.

The Apex was the first piece added. I have the basic package, controller and single EnergyBar 8. Setup was simple, connected it to my laptop with the network port and through the web based interface to program the basic functions.

main pump program
main-pump.JPG


chiller program
chiller.JPG


Mostly, I use the controller as a monitor. I have it setup to be viewed from any computer through the web. Its great to be able to monitor temp (my biggest issue) from anywhere I am.

Temp graph image before LED.
reef_8-4.JPG


Since adding the Apex, I have also changed to LED lighting. The overall power consumption of the light is significantly less, but also the chiller runs much less. I’ll post an update about the light soon, but the image below give you soke idea of the electrical saving from the LED and chiller running less.

reef_8-6.JPG


stay tuned for detailed report on the LED and skimmer.
 
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