Bpb Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 Question. Why is it that the spath and the abro have this reputation for being so impossible and or difficult. Impossible to coax and keep color, slow growing. Every specimen I've seen someone get look spectacular. The best acro colors ive seen have been on these two types. Not having that brown mariculture look. Surely SOMEONE is growing large beautiful colonies of them to sell. What's the trick that the most seasoned of reef keepers with large tanks and the best gear seem to have trouble with, but professional growers seem to nail. It's pretty widely understood that some of the best aquaculturists just use typical lighting that everyone else uses, and big calcium reactors. Nothing magical going on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 9, 2016 Author Share Posted November 9, 2016 Question. Why is it that the spath and the abro have this reputation for being so impossible and or difficult. Impossible to coax and keep color, slow growing. Every specimen I've seen someone get look spectacular. The best acro colors ive seen have been on these two types. Not having that brown mariculture look. Surely SOMEONE is growing large beautiful colonies of them to sell. What's the trick that the most seasoned of reef keepers with large tanks and the best gear seem to have trouble with, but professional growers seem to nail. It's pretty widely understood that some of the best aquaculturists just use typical lighting that everyone else uses, and big calcium reactors. Nothing magical going on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I just think we can't supply the amount of light and flow these two need. Plus, like you mentioned, you always see them as these gorgeous colored Mari colonies coming in. Retaining that color may be impossibleas almost every Mari I bring in looks nothing like it did when I first got it. So keeping them the gorgeous pink and green or rainbow colored may not really be a possibility out of the ocean. That's funny you say that regarding nothing magical going on. I say that to people all the time. There's no magic to it, despite what some online reefers will tell you. They have no secret formula to having a great tank. Stable parameters and healthy livestock... That's it. Drives me nuts when people claim more than that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 I figured they got those colors in an aquaculture facility. Not in the wild. Wild colonies usually just look more drab Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 I figured they got those colors in an aquaculture facility. Not in the wild. Wild colonies usually just look more drab Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Nah, these maris coming in come straight to us and don't really spend that long at the holding facility as far as I understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 Reef night scene 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 How's the ice fire looking? Coloring back up any? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 How's the ice fire looking? Coloring back up any?Meh, its trying to. I think my suppressed iodine level is still to blame but we will see. I'll have to get some more when I get a chance and continue to dose it back up. I dumped what's left of your bottle when I got home and that was it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 I'll be interested to see if that does make a noticeable difference. May be the beginning of Ty performing quarterly water changes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 I'll be interested to see if that does make a noticeable difference. May be the beginning of Ty performing quarterly water changes For just iodine? Wouldn't it just make sense to dose it?At the end of the day, I'd just remove the ice fires if I couldn't figure out why the blue is so dull now. Its odd, everything else colored up more with the fish back in the tank except the ice fire... It went the opposite direction. Odd but hopefully I'll figure it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Because if you realized that your micro elements are being depleted over time, wouldn't it just be smarter to replenish them all with a few water changes a year? Instead of chasing different elements with expensive single element dosing products, just conduct a cheap water change 4 times a year and bring them all up to natural levels. I'm sure you took some advanced chemistry and biology classes in school and know that everything that lives needs at least some presence of trace elements for cellular processes to function. Maybe the blue color of your ice fire is a response to several different trace elements in the water, why not just cover all your bases and increase all trace elements? I know a calcium reactor will release many of the necessary elements and minerals back into the water, but not all elements used in cellular processes are deposited in the skeleton of corals and therefore not replaced by melting old coral skeletons into your tank water. Just saying! There's more to life processes in a marine environment than carbon, nitrogen, phosphate, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gott Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 [emoji53][emoji53][emoji53] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 And if you want to throw those ice fires away, I'll accept that as payment for the services I'm providing for your future royalty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 Because if you realized that your micro elements are being depleted over time, wouldn't it just be smarter to replenish them all with a few water changes a year? Instead of chasing different elements with expensive single element dosing products, just conduct a cheap water change 4 times a year and bring them all up to natural levels. I'm sure you took some advanced chemistry and biology classes in school and know that everything that lives needs at least some presence of trace elements for cellular processes to function. Maybe the blue color of your ice fire is a response to several different trace elements in the water, why not just cover all your bases and increase all trace elements? I know a calcium reactor will release many of the necessary elements and minerals back into the water, but not all elements used in cellular processes are deposited in the skeleton of corals and therefore not replaced by melting old coral skeletons into your tank water. Just saying! There's more to life processes in a marine environment than carbon, nitrogen, phosphate, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Fully agreed, but I have some idea of what is deficient with my Triton tests. I like the approach of just singling those guys out and seeing what their effects are first before adopting a water change policy. It motivates me more to keep the foundation elements non-fluctuating with no water changes than to allow them to fluctuate to dose trace elements, especially when I have a good idea of which trace element might need replenishment. Say I'm out of iodine in my system... Say freshly made saltwater has 0.06 ppm of iodine in it and my target is 0.06 ppm iodine, that'd require a 100% water change to achieve my desired trace level of iodine! 250 gallons! Or I can just dose iodine at $10/bottle. Same with strontium or boron... 100% water changes if my levels are zero, which they aren't. The point I'm trying to make is only large scale water changes would bring me back to levels for trace elements and the repercussion it might have with the more important foundation elements seems not worth the risk at all for me personally. This is all assuming that it is a trace element and not something biological with the color change on one acro species out of 40+ in my tank. Perhaps ice fires just take longer to adjust to higher nutrient levels. Could just be as simple as that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Hey, I'm all about singling out elements and controlling every other variable to determine if it has a distinguishable impact! I also don't think you should do one massive water change once a year to get those trace element levels up, that's why if you break it into several smaller water changes you will be able to keep up with the micro consumption occurring in your tank. Maybe initially dump a bottle of iodine into the tank to bring it up to natural levels, and then from there perform smaller water changes at the beginning of every season to replenish what was lost or consumed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 Hey, I'm all about singling out elements and controlling every other variable to determine if it has a distinguishable impact! I also don't think you should do one massive water change once a year to get those trace element levels up, that's why if you break it into several smaller water changes you will be able to keep up with the micro consumption occurring in your tank. Maybe initially dump a bottle of iodine into the tank to bring it up to natural levels, and then from there perform smaller water changes at the beginning of every season to replenish what was lost or consumed.I hear ya bud. Until I get to a point where I can't get around water changes, I plan to go as long as I can without. So dosing a couple trace elements once in a blue moon to me is less convenient than water changes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Hey, I'm all about singling out elements and controlling every other variable to determine if it has a distinguishable impact! I also don't think you should do one massive water change once a year to get those trace element levels up, that's why if you break it into several smaller water changes you will be able to keep up with the micro consumption occurring in your tank. Maybe initially dump a bottle of iodine into the tank to bring it up to natural levels, and then from there perform smaller water changes at the beginning of every season to replenish what was lost or consumed.I hear ya bud. Until I get to a point where I can't get around water changes, I plan to go as long as I can without. So dosing a couple trace elements once in a blue moon to me is less convenient than water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 Wait... Is that really an open canyon in the middle of my tank? Ignore the cable in the background, I'll hopefully get a chance to paint my background soon! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Oh...glad you cleared that up. I was going to ask if you were laying optic fiber cables through that canyon. Tank is looking great as always!!! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 Oh...glad you cleared that up. I was going to ask if you were laying optic fiber cables through that canyon. Tank is looking great as always!!! Haha, fiber optic cable! [emoji23] That's my trans-Atlantic cable I'm running...I wish I could Photoshop that ugly cable out of the picture... Gives me more motivation to paint the bankground sooner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sissy36 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Wait... Is that really an open canyon in the middle of my tank? Ignore the cable in the background, I'll hopefully get a chance to paint my background soon! So I've been studying these pictures and thinking "why does it look so empty? Something looks off, other than the fact there is a cable and a huge hole on the left where some colonies used to be, and the sand looks empty. What is it??... FISH!"*enlarge picture* There they are! NONE of them are swimming in the open! How weird is that? Otherwise tank looks great! Sent from Sissy's phone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gott Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Lol, I always forget about fish. It's the inverts that interest me. Good eyes though! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sissy36 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Lol, I always forget about fish. It's the inverts that interest me. Good eyes though! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Inverts are my thing too. I have a "set up" completely dedicated to thin striped hermits Sent from Sissy's phone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sissy36 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Lol, I always forget about fish. It's the inverts that interest me. Good eyes though! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Inverts are my thing too. I have a "set up" completely dedicated to thin striped hermits Sent from Sissy's phone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 Wait... Is that really an open canyon in the middle of my tank? Ignore the cable in the background, I'll hopefully get a chance to paint my background soon! So I've been studying these pictures and thinking "why does it look so empty? Something looks off, other than the fact there is a cable and a huge hole on the left where some colonies used to be, and the sand looks empty. What is it??... FISH!"*enlarge picture* There they are! NONE of them are swimming in the open! How weird is that? Otherwise tank looks great! Sent from Sissy's phone Its because I tape a picture of a shark on the front of the camera before I take pics. You can't show off your aquascape when there's a ton of fish swimming around! [emoji4] 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 12, 2016 Author Share Posted November 12, 2016 Wait... Is that really an open canyon in the middle of my tank? Ignore the cable in the background, I'll hopefully get a chance to paint my background soon! So I've been studying these pictures and thinking "why does it look so empty? Something looks off, other than the fact there is a cable and a huge hole on the left where some colonies used to be, and the sand looks empty. What is it??... FISH!"*enlarge picture* There they are! NONE of them are swimming in the open! How weird is that? Otherwise tank looks great! Sent from Sissy's phone I photoshopped fish in the tank so it wouldn't look so weird to you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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