Hap's Vancouver Coral Nursery

[Haplochromine]

Hi all,

I've been growing coral for some time, but I have moved to a new city, leaving me to start everything anew. Here is the incarnation of my coral nursery in my tiny apartment.


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Ikea Expedit shelves, Koralia 550 and 750, 2x50W Eheim Jager Heaters.

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3 15 gallon 24x12x12 aquariums. One is an extra and won't be set up just yet.

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70W metal halide with NAIS ballast, ushio 20k bulb and hellolights reflector.

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Sunlight supply new wave 4x24W T5HO. Excellent quality for the price.

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Reflectors of new wave.

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Another view

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How many people have been in home depot and when you tell them what you're intending to do for your aquariums, you get "the look"?

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Aquarium set up on the shelf.

I know the Ikea shelf is particle/cardboard honeycomb, but this is far more resilient than many petsmart/petco brand particle stands. I've been using Ikea furniture for years and years to house my aquariums and I've never had an issue.

My girlfriend has been suggesting to get a smaller desk so we can put an aquarium here, maybe another one over there...maybe in that little corner... :D

[reefmanmatt]

looks like a good start ! i too have got the "look" many times over . seems when your buying electrical components they really get nervous !! i have a friend who runs 2 of the sunlight supply 4x 24's , great kits . it appears they have made the reflectors better than they were , higher ! and if your girlfriend says more , i suggest you oblige before she asks for something else instead :) thats a keeper !!!

[Pallobi]

got yourself some nice new goodies :)

GL!

[Haplochromine]

Thanks! Today's projects include assembling the other expedit stand, hanging the lights and creating some frag racks. If everything goes as planned, I will have water in them by this evening.

[Haplochromine]

A small change of plans. I'm going to return two of the 15 gallons in exchange for two 20 Longs. I had avoided this as the 20 longs are 30" and are a pain to find lights for (IME), but as I am hanging the MH pendant and the T5 light, I can use the extra space. Plus, they will fit perfectly on my ikea cabinet, shifting more of the weight to the vertical posts.

[reefmanmatt]

the bigger , the better ! upgrades are inevitable , even on unfinished upgrades ... i tend to find

[Haplochromine]

I've run into an issue and I hope some of you may have a solution.

I am running one of the 20 Longs peninsula style. This is also the one with the T5 light. The hanging rod dips forward about 1" over the length of the 30" span. I've posted a photo.

I think my options are to

a) Create a support bar at the other end of the hanger to counterbalance the weight. I would have this resting on the rim of the aquarium.

b) Get a larger diameter EMT tubing and redo what I've done. I'm not sure what diameter would be sturdy enough to not bend over the 30".

I can't drill into the walls (rental) so I'd love any other creative solutions. I would like to keep the floating light look to it, so I don't want to put anything obtrusive.

Here are some photos:

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Dirty new 20 gallon longs.

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Measure twice, drill 4 times.

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Front view of the peninsula tank.

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Side view. Note the tipping forward. Ideas?

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Other 20 long with the metal halide pendant.

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Rod attachment method.

[reefmanmatt]

maybe get another piece and a union fitting , connect them so it has a bar running down the other side too . may i suggest loosening the fitting , shimming it so it points up unweighted ? seems like the style of fitting your using might be the issue to me , not tight enough , or just too much give on the bolt part .

[Haplochromine]

Hi Matt,

I like your idea of shimming it but I'm having a hard time visualizing exactly how to go about doing just that. Perhaps a small piece of metal under the bar between the bar and the fitting but before the screw so that the screw can push down and use the shim to push it up?

[reefmanmatt]

exactly what i had in mind ! it might just do it for you ..

[Haplochromine]

Sounds great. I'll have a try later this evening. Thanks for the advice.

[reefmanmatt]

you could bend it too.. take your time and use something sturdy with a nice radius . like a light pole !!!

[jmking33]

I use the conduit and just bend it. I keep the bend just a hit above 90 degrees to create a 90 bend once the weight of the light is added. It ends up looking nice and clean.

[muttley000]

Is rust ever an issue on these EMT light mounts?

[Haplochromine]

I am going to go to home depot tomorrow and get some 3/4" EMT and a pipe bender. The shims worked for a bit, but eventually the light sagged down again. There is a 1" difference between the back of the light and the front. It will drive me crazy so it's easier to fix now than later.

Also, I painted the aquarium backs but there was some microscopic silicon residue and there are some unfinished portions in the paint where the silicon beaded the paint away. Also, the paint I used (rust-o-leum painter's touch multi-surface) is multi-surface for everything but glass. It sticks reasonably well, but I am going to take a razor blade to it tomorrow, wash the glass with acetone and redo the paint. I don't want to do a half job on these aquariums. The more time and accuracy now, the better for later.

I've used EMT like this for 2 years and I had no issues with rust. I had the EMT bare and I've painted these ones, so it should seal the metal away.

[reefmanmatt]

yeah i would bend them too , those fittings just arent meant for that . the painting is well worth taking your time on . i skipped mine , now ive gone back and hung blue fabric on them because it was driving me crazy when i took pictures to see the wall !!! ive had great luck with h.d's cheap-o- dollar a can spray paint it seems to stick to anything !

[gmneil]

bending the pipe with a pipe bender should work fine for you. and if it ends up having the same problem in the future i have seen some heavy duty pipe in home depot i think for gas lines you mighr be able to try if you can bend that as well.

[Haplochromine]

Thanks guys. I found some old all purpose black spray at work, so I'll try that out. Home depot tonight to get some razors, conduit and bender. The fixture itself isn't heavy, its the span and the fitting.

On a brighter note, I am estimating this weekend that the tanks should have some water. Hang lights, paint the tanks and create frag racks. I also need to pick up 4 T5 bulbs. Im thinking

Blue +
Aquablue special
Kz fiji purple
Blue +

I wish I could drill and set sumps up, but I don't have the space or the stands. I've had 20 longs sumpless before and it worked out just fine. As inexpensive as drilling, plumbing and sumps are, they still add cost to the project.

I will probably stay in my current apartment for another year, so if I feel I want it later, I will drill and set them up as connected systems with a single sump and throw in a skimmer. I can use my tapwater here no problem so large water changes will be easy to do.

[Haplochromine]

Just picked up the T5 bulbs. My LFS carries giessemann and UVL, not ATI. I got

Actinic +
Aquapink
Aquablue +
Actinic +

The aquapink I was told is the kz fiji purple equivalent.

Went to home depot and borrowed the pipe bender in the EMT section and bent my pipe in store (asked the orange aproned guy first). I got 3/4" EMT and bent it to about 95 degrees. I can probably hand bend the rest if I need it. Also picked up some razor blades and some other odds and ends for attaching the light rod to the stand/finishing the rod.

Tomorrow I will remove the paint and cut the rod to size. I'll probably paint the tanks tomorrow as well.

Things are looking good for my scheduled weekend fill-up.

Any idea about cycling a tank with no fish load and no live rock? I've had rockless, bare bottom tanks before but I'm just curious.

[Haplochromine]

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/narhay/IMAG0281.jpg

Actinic +
Aquapink
Aquablue +
Actinic +

[jeff@zina.com]

Any idea about cycling a tank with no fish load and no live rock?
A pinch of fish food each morning will kick off the cycle.

Jeff

[Haplochromine]

Good idea. I may also get a cured liverock into each tank just as a kickstart as well.

[reefmanmatt]

but seriously ... do the sides get all covered + slimed with no rock or stock ??? i have no idea and thats a question i need the answer to also .

[Haplochromine]

You will need a food supply for the bacteria to start the nitrogen cycle, so having it running with nothing in it won't cycle it properly. I can feed the empty tank or just get a piece of live rock. I may go the route of getting some cured rubble for frags + live rock.

I painted the back of one aquarium and the side of the other in anticipation of running one aquarium as a peninsula and the second standard against the wall. A little furniture rearrangement and we have my own little fish den with more space for the aquariums and to make the rest of our apartment work better. I also got some 3/4" EMT, bent it, cut it and painted it black to create a sturdier rod to hold the T5s.

Oh, and they are filled with water now.

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No lights, empty.

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Lights, empty

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Lights, full.

[Sula]

That is a really nice look with side by side tanks and matching cabinets.
But the person in me that does water changes would really want those plumbed to a common sump.

[Haplochromine]

I would like a sump as well but I dont have the space or the room in my apartment or under the tanks. They will both be barebottom, so water changes will be fast and easy.

[Haplochromine]

I picked up the eggcrate, PVC legs and some tools today. Assembled it and glued a little fence around the shelf to keep most things on it. I've done this before and it worked out very well as I had very few rocks/corals knocked over by the hermits/snails.

The LFS was closed, so I will go tomorrow after the Vancouver Aquarium.


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Crooked DFTS (dual fts).

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Lower flow halide tank.

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Higher flow, higher light T5HO tank.

Should have some biota in there tomorrow afternoon.

[reefmanmatt]

looking good . what are you keeping the temperature at ??

[Haplochromine]

Im going for 78. I have a thermometer floating around so I am trying to dial in the right temperature for both tanks. Right now they were sitting at 77 and 76F.

[Haplochromine]

Picked up some live rock today. I got some rubble and others I had to use a hammer and chisel to break apart a larger rock. These should be good for most soft corals. SPS and LPS will go onto frag plugs.

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Rubble in left tank.

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Rubble in right tank.

I got the rock from two different sources. It was cured, so I shouldn't have much of a cycle if anything at all. I'm expecting a package of coral on Tuesday.

[reefmanmatt]

alright ! what did you get ??? aren't you worried about a light cycle killing the stuff , or do you feel the water changes will solidify everything ?? I'm starting something up myself so i'm definitely watching closely keep up the posts P:)

[Haplochromine]

Water changes will make everything go well, at least in my experience.

I'm not sure what you mean by having a light cycle killing stuff. I got this rubble from aquaria that had a regular light cycle and I've not had issues in the past with having live rock under lights. Can you elaborate?

[Haplochromine]

As for hitchikers, I got some unique red amphipods, a couple bristle worms and one smoother grey worm that I exposed while breaking the rock up. I'm sure there are all sorts of other creatures in there. I will also get more when I purchase corals on rock bases.

[reefmanmatt]

i just meant if the ammonia or nitrates were to rise ...if you put too many corals in right away it may magnify any problems that could potentially arise. just a thought .

[Haplochromine]

Oh...a light cycle. The rock I purchased was cured, so I will do a water change before the corals go in and a water change the day after. This should alleviate any potential problems.

I'm confident that it will work out ok.

[reefmanmatt]

yup . sounds good to me . what sps are you going to farm ??

[Haplochromine]

To start, Ill probably go with the montipora and pocillopora. I have some acropora and millipora in my desktop aquarium, so I will harvest those when they get to a proper size.

[reefmanmatt]

i have been having great luck with pocci . my red planet is crushing the others this month for production though . i only have one orange monti cap right now but its growing nicely so i plan to pickup some different types also . i really like acro's ! my tanks will be focused on sps , but i have a 70 g i might make into a softy tank for the local crowd . i have some of the nicest frags of orange crush acans , acro's , millis , digi's , and all people want is mushrooms and zo's ... yikes !

[Haplochromine]

Received an order of coral and it is in my desktop aquarium at work. I didn't want to rush these tanks just yet, so I will transfer some cycled material to this aquarium sometime next week and test out a few pieces of coral. If all goes well, we should be in business quite soon.

[reefmanmatt]

great plan ! do you have a wholesalers permit or are you ordering from a on line store ? have you been running your lights everyday ??? happy with the t-5 fixi? i think i may order one for a comparison , and how was the vancouver aquarium ?? bet amazing !

[reefmanmatt]

hap .... whats the happenin' ....

[Haplochromine]

The aquarium is fine, I go every week. I have been ordering my corals from hobbiests and cherry picking at stores. The cycle is going well...diatoms so I can put the corals in soon. The T5 is nice but nothing is under it yet. I would recommend the fixture.

[sandhog]

Can"t wait to see the frags you are going to farm.Maybe you could send me some in Toronto.

[Haplochromine]

Toronto is a great place to send frags as it is a large metropolitan area and shipment timing works well for coral. I have shipped across the country many times and never had any dead on arrival coral.

[Haplochromine]

I finally brought the corals to these aquariums. I have fragged most of them already and they are in the process of healing. Photos were taken maybe an hour after they first entered the aquarium, so they are still somewhat closed. I will have some photos of the opened corals another of these days.

Enjoy!

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/narhay/pocillopora-resize.jpg
Pocillopora - Nice green and pinkish colour

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/narhay/Hydnophora.jpg
Hydnophora - Nice shaggy green with polyps extended

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Green Montipora capricornis

[reefmanmatt]

nice stuff that hydno is gonna be great !!

[Haplochromine]

I'm excited to see how they look when I return from work today. Hope everything is open and happy.

[reefmanmatt]

update ??? pictures !!! hope everything is going well up there =)

[Haplochromine]

Hi all,

The aquariums have not been doing very well under my tutelage. I tested the water and everything seemed to check out. Salinity is at 1.025, temperature is at 78F in both aquariums. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate all check out at 0. KH was 11 dkh, Ca around 400 ppm. Phosphates 0 and pH at 8.2. Seems ideal, but it was not to be.

I filled the aquarium with the corals and overnight they started to RTN. The next day, nearly half of them had lost most of their tissue and the remaining corals were in bad shape. I transported some of the corals I thought may live to my aquarium at work. I added a snail and hermit crab to each as mine canaries but they have not done well. The snails have died and the hermits do very little except sit on the bottom of the aquarium. I'm at a loss as to what has happened. I added more live rock and did several water changes, but nothing is really doing very well. I also added a satchel of carbon to each aquarium. There was a diatom bloom quite early, which is indicative of the cycle completing, but I'm not sure. Anyways, I have attached some photos of corals that may be surviving and of the aquaria. I am going to let it sit for awhile and see how it goes in maybe September. If anyone has any ideas, let me know as I am at a loss.

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/narhay/IMG_0293.jpg

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[reefmanmatt]

could just be a bad shot/angle but by the color of the pictures , the phosphate seems to be sitting at .5 ! mine was high ( thinking .07 ) when i added those tiles that werent soaked well enough OOPS! i lost a whole lot of zo's ,probably 2000 heads ... but my paly's , lps + sps faired well. i would get the phos down pronto if in fact it is the # that matches the shade of the picture and youll be fragging again !

[Cheebs]

To me it looks like you may have some ammonia readings in there.. I am innexperiences it jsut straight up frag tanks, but the ones I have seen are often plumbed into a larger system or a sump, and therefore benefit form the bio-filtration of large amounts of live rock, algae and other critters, and benefit from the presence of pods and the biodiversity in general that you find in the water that I believe corals benefit from. I think you'll get all this smoothed out eventually, but it'll take a little more fine tuning before you have nice stable water, because that ever-important biological presence isn't there.

Really cool project though, I hope evrything gets resolved soon!

[c-me-fish]

Cool project. I'm in Vancouver as well so I'm hoping everything works out sooner rather than later for you. In my experience the phosphate shouldn't cause your corals to die off like that; it should really only inhibit growth and affect colours... I would try to get some water from another hobbyist's pristine tank so you can do at least 50% (and ideally 100%) water changes in your tanks... you're welcome to some of mine but I must warn you that although I do water changes with an RODI, I manually top off with tap water. PM me if you're interested.

[Haplochromine]

Hey,

Thanks for all the thoughts. I am using tap water in my office aquarium and I'm sure they come from the same source. My SPS are doing very well and colours are very vibrant. I agree the phosphate isn't the issue. My initial thoughts were ammonia. The aquaria are very young and nothing good happens fast, so I am going to take a hands off approach other than a water change or two for the next month.

I think it may have been a mini-cycle. I am going to let it sit for some time. Thank you for the offer of water. I can always get some from my office if I feel that that is the issue. Nice to see locals on the boards here. I was hoping to have you guys come out on the forum if I posted the location in the title.

Cheebs, we met awhile ago. I was a part of OVAS, Adam. Small world.

[jimmy frag]

am i missing something. you have no filter of any sort. no sump. there is no oxygen or exchange of gasses. what are you thinking is going to happen in this set up. a guppy would be gasping for air in there never mind sps. exchange of gases is a must, ime

[reefmanmatt]

am i missing something. you have no filter of any sort. no sump. there is no oxygen or exchange of gasses. what are you thinking is going to happen in this set up. a guppy would be gasping for air in there never mind sps. exchange of gases is a must, ime
+1 to this ... any of those levels will be bad for tanks that small and new ... and i remember someone questioning you about the rock you bought ,and a cycle which was inevitable... just a few weeks ago ....me ! i couldnt agree with you more on the cycle . i just wonder why you posted "everything checks out" with pictures that show quite the opposite ??? best of luck with the cycle , hope some of the sticks make it 4 you . ibe never seen anyone test nitrites in a reef ?

[Haplochromine]

Hi Jimmy,

Thanks for checking in. The aquariums are open top and the pumps agitate the surface quite violently. There is more than enough oxygenation. Im not sure how you think a sump or filter would do otherwise. The gas exchange is fine, I am running the same setup at work and it is doing great.

am i missing something. you have no filter of any sort. no sump. there is no oxygen or exchange of gasses. what are you thinking is going to happen in this set up. a guppy would be gasping for air in there never mind sps. exchange of gases is a must, ime

[Haplochromine]

Hi Matt,

Nitrite testing at the beginning of an aquariums life is quite normal. Ammonia is transformed into nitrite then nitrate.

You can see from the tests that there wasn't ammonia in the water and the diatom bloom are indicative of the cycle completing. I think I posted ' I hope everything will check out' . Unfortunately, this is not the case so far. I will keep anyone interested updated.


+1 to this ... any of those levels will be bad for tanks that small and new ... and i remember someone questioning you about the rock you bought ,and a cycle which was inevitable... just a few weeks ago ....me ! i couldnt agree with you more on the cycle . i just wonder why you posted "everything checks out" with pictures that show quite the opposite ??? best of luck with the cycle , hope some of the sticks make it 4 you . ibe never seen anyone test nitrites in a reef ?

[reefmanmatt]

i was told from day one dont waste your kit until the tank is clean beyond getting sg , possibly my misunderstanding . if you just wait for the nitrates to hit 0(and diatoms), you dont mess around with useless expensive kits :) also the fact that reef kits just dont come with them prompted my " _ ". i am still very interested , just thought you didnt look at the colors of the kit very well, apparently neither did i ! . once i saw the phos was off i replied . i have no experience with this type of prop , but i would think a filter would only help ...a place to run carbon if need be at the very least . i wish you the best of luck and look forward to updates !!!

[Haplochromine]

Hey Matt, I appreciate you sticking around for the build from the beginning. Let's hope things only get better from here on out.

[duncantse]

am i missing something. you have no filter of any sort. no sump. there is no oxygen or exchange of gasses. what are you thinking is going to happen in this set up. a guppy would be gasping for air in there never mind sps. exchange of gases is a must, ime

1. The LR rubble are the filter because it can be colonized with bacteria
2. You do not need to have a sump to keep a successful tank.
3. There is a koralia powerhead in both the tanks so I don't know why you said there was no oxygen.

[jimmy frag]

15 day to cycle a tank with a hand full of cured live rock only and a power head is is not going to cut it and is not a filter for sps. he didnt add any carbon to his tank untill after 15 days and adding freshly cut frags. now his cycle has started with a build up of ammonia witch is killing his coral. i wish the OP all the best but i have neer seen a sps tank survive in a set up like this. rodi ? he is not just trying to keep his coral alive, its a grow out and frag set up.

[Haplochromine]

Hi Jimmy,

Some of the corals were indeed freshly cut. However, several of them were well-encrusted and not fragged. The survival rate of both of these in my aquarium at the office are about 40% of each type, so I doubt this was an indicator.

I have added more live rock rubble to the aquarium as you can see. I thought this may serve as a larger matrix for bacteria to colonize. Corals are very low bioload and I have not fed the aquarium, so sources of ammonia would be the die off of coral and possibly the denizens of the live rock. I appreciate your opinions and I would like to see this come out in a positive manner.

Ducant, I agree with everything you have said. As I have mentioned, I have duplicated this setup several times before and this is the first time something of this scale has happened.

I will keep everyone updated for those interested.

[duncantse]

15 day to cycle a tank with a hand full of cured live rock only and a power head is is not going to cut it and is not a filter for sps.

I can cycle a tank in less than a minute. I don't know what you are talking about.

[KrissiIZme]

tagging along

[reefmanmatt]

chemicals ? do tell duncantse

[jimmy frag]

I can cycle a tank in less than a minute. I don't know what you are talking about. hi duncan. we all have our tricks to cycle tanks. i do it for a living. BUT there was no cycle in this set up. and adding freshly cut sps to a tank in that state is asking for truble. to suggest that sps dose not pollute is a under statement. the gunk and slime that comes out is unbelieveable and smell. no skimmer action or carbon :headwally:. Duncan...this is not a damsel tank. lol

[reefmanmatt]

hi duncan. we all have our tricks to cycle tanks. i do it for a living. BUT there was no cycle in this set up. and adding freshly cut sps to a tank in that state is asking for truble. to suggest that sps dose not pollute is a under statement. the gunk and slime that comes out is unbelieveable and smell. no skimmer action or carbon :headwally:. Duncan...this is not a damsel tank. lol

thank you very much ! and i quote .... lol ! i was waiting for a reply from him , i would love to learn that trick .

[jimmy frag]

if it were only that easy matt. there is a world of info on RC about setting up the simplest tank to full blown reefs and other than having a tank and light, the op has nothing to support life. Hap, i have 4x 36x48x12 frag tanks with 6 others for colonies. i have a bit of knowlege on this matter. what you wish to accomplish....growing coral, not just housing them is going to require a bit more work and equipment. im sorry duncan if i came on to strong but there is a big difference between keeping damsels and growing out frags. #1 is starting out with 0.0 tds. #2 a ballanced enviroment. we are all here to learn when we can and help as well.

[Haplochromine]

Hi Jimmy, thank you for your opinions. I too have been doing aquariums for 18 years now so I have a bit of knowledge coupled with some experience. I understand you do not like how I set up the aquaria, however I have duplicated this setup thrice in the past years and I have never had issues until this time.

Your comment about oxygenation made me reconsider the validity of your other points as an open top with adequate water flow is more than sufficient for oxygen exchange. What about biocubes and closed tops? What about those that use glass tops?

A public aquarium has quarantine tanks set up very similarly to this. Those aquaria can support life just fine and large quantities of fish pass through the system and are usually just fine. There are many other bare bottom and limited live rock aquaria on this and other websites that illustrate that a sump, skimmer and filter are not required equipment on a reef tank. Do they help? Sure, but on such low volumes such as these, water changes are sufficient.

[jimmy frag]

wish you the best Hap. keep us posted.

[Haplochromine]

Will do. The part of this hobby I enjoy is that there are many different methods to achieve the same goal.

[duncantse]

hi duncan. we all have our tricks to cycle tanks. i do it for a living. BUT there was no cycle in this set up. and adding freshly cut sps to a tank in that state is asking for truble. to suggest that sps dose not pollute is a under statement. the gunk and slime that comes out is unbelieveable and smell. no skimmer action or carbon :headwally:. Duncan...this is not a damsel tank. lol

I didn't say that it was right to put sps frags in a tank so fast. All I said was that I can instantly cycle a tank. You wanna know how? Just put a couple pieces of fully cured LR/Rubble into the tank. That way, there is a colony of bacteria so you do not have to add any ammonia into the tank to start the cycle.

[jimmy frag]

again...am i missing something here. 2 guys trying to convince them selfs and others that this is the ideal system to grow out sps frags. now there is a tank full of dead animals...yes animals witch you killed. dont seem to bother you much seeing you are going to do a water change than throw some more live stock in there. for the cost of the dead stock, it could have paid for a sump or other needed equipment. there is a beginner section that has a lot of good info you could learn from seeing you dont want to take any addvice here. good luck to you both. lol

[Haplochromine]

Thanks Jimmy. I have nothing else to say as your posts speak volumes about you and your experience.

[Mr_N1ce]

Hi

taking the sarcasm in the last posts aside, how does the biological stability of a frag tank like this work? I am fairly new to reef tanks so I never set up a frag tank myself. However, I have seen several examples of frag tanks that work completely without life rock as some see it as a source of problem in the "clean" monoculture environment set up by the SPS frags.

[Mr_N1ce]

Hi

taking the sarcasm in the last posts aside, how does the biological stability of a frag tank like this work? I am fairly new to reef tanks so I never set up a frag tank myself. However, I have seen several examples of frag tanks that work completely without life rock as some see it as a source of problem in the "clean" monoculture environment set up by the SPS frags.

[Haplochromine]

Hi Mr. Nice,

Your name is refreshing to see in this thread :)

The way that this aquarium intended to work is 2-fold. The bare bottom allows me to remove detritus almost completely when I do my routine maintenance. This allows me to remove potential sources of decay quite effectively, lessening the burden on the biological filter. I do have several pounds of live rock rubble in the aquarium to serve this purpose. In essence, it is a low nutrient system without all the equipment because very little is introduced or stays in the system for very long. I do a 50% water change every week or two and this replenishes trace and macro nutrients while removing any buildup of nitrate.

My thoughts are that the coral was introduced too fast and too much at once.

On a brighter note, the blue-ish sps is regaining some of its colour so I am thinking the system has recovered slightly.

[Island1Day]

Goodluck, I'll follow along to be proven wrong.

2cents - 40% survival rate in any type of farm is devastating.

[Mr_N1ce]

Hi Haplochromine
Thanks for the explanation. So its actualy not that different from a 'normal' setup apart from that your bioload is much lower so less life rock is needed and the skimmer is not needed if you do water changes to remove the waste.
Never though of the bare bottom as benefitial but here I can see it. However, I could think, that it would be easier to maintain a stable environment if you connected both tanks via a sump to get a bigger total volume.
Looking forward t see more updates :)

[jimmy frag]

i think (stable enviroment) is the key word here. still following.

[BillyC]

Another thing to take into consideration is the intensity of the lights. What kind of lighting did the freshly cut frags come from? Many corals that I've seen go from lower quality lighting to full blown brands new lights like metal halides haves failed quickly.

[Haplochromine]

Hi guys,

Our office is moving, so I transferred the coral from that aquarium to these on Wednesday.

Everything is doing very well. I will have pictures later tonight. Everything has opened, polyp extension is excellent and colours are vibrant.

[Haplochromine]

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/narhay/IMG_0476.jpg

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/narhay/IMG_0474.jpg

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/narhay/IMG_0466.jpg

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/narhay/IMG_0461.jpg

Here are a few of the corals that have been in the aquaria since Wednesday. Some of these were nearly dead and I transferred them to my aquarium at my office. They recovered nicely and here they are today. So far, everything is looking quite good and I'm hoping to let the system stabilize a little bit.

[jimmy frag]

wow, what a quick recovery that was. mine take months to recover never mind coloring up like that. whats your trick

[Haplochromine]

The coral looked like it did on page 2 of this thread for about a week when the polyps came out again. You can see the difference in the hydnophora from several weeks ago to today. Same coral, different states of health. The zoanthids were closed up, thin and sickly looking but they have recovered to a more plump shape. Even the sarcophyton looked like a sack of turds but now has excellent polyp extension.

[Haplochromine]

Some updates from today:

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/narhay/DPP5_00096.jpg

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/narhay/DPP5_00097.jpg

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/narhay/DPP5_00099.jpg

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/narhay/DPP5_00098.jpg

[muttley000]

looking great

[whatcaneyedo]

Ahhh I knew those looked familiar. Haplochlormine or should I say narhay? Why don't you hang out on Canreef anymore? Not that it matters. I jump back and forth too.

While I have kept coral alive in a very bare bones system before for various lengths of time I do find that its much easier to do it in a complete system containing fish and all of the usual bells and whistles.

[Haplochromine]

Hello there! Yes, don't they look familiar?

BTW I also played Magic the Gathering for quite awhile but never had a djinn like that one.

How's your aquarium doing? Still throwing live corals into your calcium reactor? Ha ha!

[whatcaneyedo]

My system is doing not too bad. I had some issues when I tried out solid organic carbon dosing. But since I've gone back to my tried and true methods thing have gotten better.