FarmerTy

Maybe you should change your thesis instead? [emoji23]

Not to gang up on you here, but doesn't your statement about flat reef coral density support Ty's point? The coral we are growing do not grow in the open ocean. Species at the interface of open ocean and reef would tolerate high phosphates but it seems to reason that interior back-reef corals would prefer lower phosphate. Just a thought. I didn't even see that posssibility Victoly. After you pointing it out, it does make a lot of sense that the interior colonies would appreciate similar conditions in my reef tank with the lower nutrients while the fringe colonies would appreciate higher levels of nutrients.

Yeah, what he said. Your statement of limitations fits me perfectly these days. [emoji12] All good points and good summary of the variations of environments we find these corals. With the variations in mind, I've seen phosphate levels above 0.18 ppm kill acros in my tank, not all, but some start STN'ing the minute my tank hits 0.18 ppm of phosphate. I've not lost an acro to a phosphate level of 0.03 ppm directly so I find it better to err on the lower side than the higher. Montis, birdsnests, stylos to me are a different animal entirely. A lot of them are a lot more forgiving of water conditions than my acros. I can't kill my sunset monti... No really... I've been trying to kill it off the rocks and I keep finding spots here and there.

Please take them as an example of what happened in my tank full of acropora. [emoji4]

I will agree that corals uptake a lot of phosphate and that's why the coral dense areas have lower concentrations detected in the ocean. Take that same concept in a limited glass box and do you really think that applies? The ocean can supply phosphate and the coral population can grow fast enough to deplete the area in its vicinity. Now with a reef tank, with the limited volume, and the ample supply of phosphate we add to our systems via feeding and other biological processes, do you think we have the same scenario? Once growth cannot keep up, we have an excess of phosphate in our systems. Instead of uptaking and growing more coral mass, the increasing phosphate level starts to inhibit calcification. Then it starts to bind to your live rock as your phosphate level grows. Your corals start growing slower and then the phosphate level starts increasing even more because there is less coral uptake. Then more binds in your rocks and then corals start to die and release even more phosphate. Then you apply some form of phosphate control and you'll spend months removing whats in the water column but still have to keep it aggressive to start leaching it out of the rocks. Jump on any of the larger forums and the stunning examples of SPS dominant tanks mostly have their phosphate levels below 0.06 ppm. The only example I can think of that doesn't is Richard Ross' tank but I chalk his up to acclimation over the years. His corals just slowly got acclimated to his higher levels as time went on. I still haven't ever seen a close up of his tank so I really can't even judge the quality of his growth or coloration. If you know of any, put up examples of SPS dominant tanks that have phosphate levels above 0.1 ppm. I'd honestly like to see them out of curiosity. Again, I think you're applying principles in nature to what's going on in our little reef tanks and just my personal opinion, but in this case, I don't think it applies directly.

Man, you should be in real estate with those negotiation skills! [emoji12]

Fantastic! Look at that sweet return pump! Glad you're getting a fresh start again on the hobby. I'll make sure to drop off some trash palys as a tank warming present!

Hey hey, who let this guy in? [emoji50]

Thank you sir.

I go for the sheer volume approach. Some may use just enough glue to hold things together, where they look best and perfect. My method is to dob massive amounts of glue all over it, a hot mess that holds just the same but not as graceful or pretty to look at.

Is there a pitch for C4 somewhere that summarizes the event, cool prizes, speakers, etc that I can just copy and paste to the various other forums I frequent? Yes, I do cheat on you guys with other forums. [emoji6]

I'm all over the MAAST forum if you want me to post. Just lmk.

I was more basing it on the OP's reputation for copious rants over the years that this felt like it could qualify. [emoji12]

I've always read it in studies but to see it firsthhand in the frag tank is truly telling. My frag tank was consuming 2.5 dKh daily and I started to notice the uptake was less each day starting this past weekend up until today when there was no net uptake. I had turned off the doser entirely the past 24 hrs and the alk level is exactly the same 24 hrs later this morning. So what happened? Why did my SPS stop taking up calcium and using alk? Why do I not see any growth? Phosphates went from 0 ppm last week to 0.09 ppm as of today. Why? Because my media reactor pump stopped working. Sure, life needs phosphates. I understand that. How much? Very miniscule really. What are average levels in natural reefs, some a bit higher than average tank levels, some a bit lower. Is that relevant to me or my SPS tank or my SPS frag tank, no. Why? Because my corals aren't in the ocean and I base their ideal growth on parameters I control in my tank and not based on what they are found naturally in. If that was the case, I would be running a more yellow light as well. What point am I trying to make? Let's not try to mimic ocean parameters exactly. We've got enough base information regarding growth in reef tanks that now the data is more applicable to their environment we keep them in. It's like me studying wild dogs to better understand how to keep my shih tzu happy. Ridiculous example I understand but hopefully the underlying message rings through. Proof positive for me, keep your phosphates low if you want to keep your SPS growing at significant rates. I tell people who come by my house constantly, I bet you my acro colony will grow faster than your zoa colony. Why do I say that? Because I feel the average reefer has no idea about how fast SPS can really grow. On some of my stags, you could see daily growth. Like visually see it getting longer each day! Keep that phosphate below 0.05 ppm folks if you're growing SPS. Trust me on that. Now don't confuse that with keep all nutrients low. I've found an ideal nitrate level to be 5-10 ppm, not the zero everyone was aiming for a few years back. This gives you great, rich colors in your acros and I also feel is a lot healthier for them. They aren't at the brink of starvation just to show you their best colors. SPS in ultra low nutrient systems are like the supermodels of the reefing world, starving themselves to look pretty. Give them a little food (nitrates) and they'll be much healthier and happier while still looking good. Sorry for my SPS and phosphate level rant. [emoji50]

Welcome!

Even better! Thanks for the heads up! I never sound like I know what I'm talking about when it comes to computer networking anyways so I think they'll believe it easily. Appreciate it sir!

Thanks for the advice Bige. I'm going to do exactly that this week and see if that resolves the issue!

So much for your previous comment "But a microwave that auto updates the firmware for itself". 3 Points to Victoly. Dang that Victoly!!!

Ahhh... the humbling moment you try to calibrate a pH probe for 30 mins and then realize it hasn't been zeroing in on the solution because you grabbed the ORP probe instead... That's what a sleepless night will do for you. So, just to keep everyone updated on the controller. I got to try to mess with it a little Friday evening and completely crashed it due to the wireless issue noted above. The engineers are working on it now but for some reason, the units don't like the Time Warner Cable brand of routers/modem branded Technicolor. Mine decided to have the most severe reaction and stopped loading any apps at all. So, after having some time today to chat with tech support (I'd like to note its a Sunday afternoon and he picked up... which sounded like from his home since I could hear the TV on in the background and a dog... what awesome tech support), he ran me through how to open up the Vertex, remove the flash card, format the flash card, and reinstall entire OS for the Cerebra. Some fun pics of the inside: Boom, it reset my system and everything is working perfectly again besides the wifi issue which they are addressing for the TWC box. Not a big deal since I have ethernet run to both my frag tank and my display tank. Just to mention, nobody else has had issues with the wifi that doesn't have the TWC box so there are plenty that are cruising right along with their wifi. I'll maybe dabble a little with programming tonight but that might be delayed since I'm running on 3 hrs of sleep. Programming is probably not something you want to do while in a sleep-deprived state I'm guessing.

Give me an update in a few months when the ApTysia comes back out of nowhere![emoji12]

Your tank was looking too good so I sabotaged it. Dibs on your first cowrie babies.

Can I come? Give me an Aquadome shirt Gary!

But a microwave that auto updates the firmware for itself. [emoji106]

Congrats! Should be a nice show tank!

I can't be killed! I'm like the aiptasia of the reef club world!