November Update
Time for an update...
The tank is ticking along with no critical issues.
About 6 weeks ago I noticed a lot of coralline appearing. It's taken the longest time but a good sign that the tank is maturing. I often wonder if the timeline would be different if live rock was used instead of "real reef".
Most corals are doing well, but the acro's could be better.
They are growing, but not very quickly. I'd also describe the colour as 1/2 way between browned out and awesome :)
Anyway, I'd like to do better and have been looking at ways to improve the state of the acros:
Flow
After watching a recent BRS video with 2 gyres on the brs160, I decided to try a 3 hour sine wave on the vortechs in this tank (monkey see monkey do!). I have noticed some improved PE on other corals, but nothing radical. I'm optimistic that this is a good template to work with.
Lighting
A couple of months back I purchased an apex PMK (par monitor) which has been a great way to map PAR around the tank. To summarise, the middle of the tank (under the AP700 @40%) has between 210-300 PAR.
To the sides, high points on the rocks measure 110 and unshaded sand at 60.
I've since ordered another AP700 (just need to pick it up) to make for a more even distribution.
Hopefully the PMK will help with acclimation to the new fixture too.
I'm on the fence about keeping or losing the T5's. Once I have the 2nd Kessil I will try some different configurations.
Chemistry
Water chemistry in the tank has been stable, but I have slightly elevated NO3/PO4 (8ppm/0.04ppm). Some more biopellets were added last night to help with the nitrates and I will slightly up the amount of GFO in the reactor on the next change. Other than that, triton seems to think it's ok.
I have been sticking to the AF dosing regimen (the 4 little bottles + components 123), and a month ago decided to try the reef essentials amino + vitamins. Within a week, I started to see much more PE from the SPS and slightly improved colour.
Thanks for reading & happy reefing :)
The tank is ticking along with no critical issues.
About 6 weeks ago I noticed a lot of coralline appearing. It's taken the longest time but a good sign that the tank is maturing. I often wonder if the timeline would be different if live rock was used instead of "real reef".
Most corals are doing well, but the acro's could be better.
They are growing, but not very quickly. I'd also describe the colour as 1/2 way between browned out and awesome :)
Anyway, I'd like to do better and have been looking at ways to improve the state of the acros:
Flow
After watching a recent BRS video with 2 gyres on the brs160, I decided to try a 3 hour sine wave on the vortechs in this tank (monkey see monkey do!). I have noticed some improved PE on other corals, but nothing radical. I'm optimistic that this is a good template to work with.
Lighting
A couple of months back I purchased an apex PMK (par monitor) which has been a great way to map PAR around the tank. To summarise, the middle of the tank (under the AP700 @40%) has between 210-300 PAR.
To the sides, high points on the rocks measure 110 and unshaded sand at 60.
I've since ordered another AP700 (just need to pick it up) to make for a more even distribution.
Hopefully the PMK will help with acclimation to the new fixture too.
I'm on the fence about keeping or losing the T5's. Once I have the 2nd Kessil I will try some different configurations.
Chemistry
Water chemistry in the tank has been stable, but I have slightly elevated NO3/PO4 (8ppm/0.04ppm). Some more biopellets were added last night to help with the nitrates and I will slightly up the amount of GFO in the reactor on the next change. Other than that, triton seems to think it's ok.
I have been sticking to the AF dosing regimen (the 4 little bottles + components 123), and a month ago decided to try the reef essentials amino + vitamins. Within a week, I started to see much more PE from the SPS and slightly improved colour.
Thanks for reading & happy reefing :)
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