Sacul1573's 90g - RIP

Very nice!
Your tank is looking great.

 

Tank looks very clean and sharp! Congrats on the new baby girl too!

 

I have an update for tomorrow when the lights turn on. ;D

Yes, I have two of them. Started with more, but they had some sort of wierd communal disease, spent hours researching, couldn't diagnose. Only affected the chromis, and these two were the ones that pulled through. I love them, they're so social, they pull the other fish out from hiding.

Thank you!

Thanks! The baby girl is alright too...

 

Time for an update, Sacul!!!

 

Hoo boy, it ain't gonna be pretty. I've been having issues, but think I'm finally on the right track right now. I was planning on posting a big update tonight with before/current shots. It'll probably be embarrassing, but hopefully others can learn from what knowledge I'm gaining.

 

Either way, I look forward to it.

 

So beginning sometime last fall, I started to notice a significant change in my corals. Polyps began to retract or deflate, and corals paled considerably. At the time, I had just switched from vodka to BPs, and also changed out my old light bulbs for new (one bulb replaced every 3-4 days). I believed it was due to the nutrient spike that came with the switch to BPs. I endured for a while, but finally took the BPs offline after things did not get better. A long story short, I've spent the last 4-5 months troubleshooting everything I could think of as far as water parameters, chemistry, salts, photoperiod, nutrients, feeding, etc. I even pulled out my sandbed over a week's time and ran barebottom. Nothing brought the color or PE back.

Just recently looking back at the big picture, and talking with several fellow 3reefers, I've come to the conclusion that the only possible explaination left is that the newer, more powerful bulbs (ATIs) had cooked the corals, and I needed to raise my fixture off the tank. It previously had been mounted via the legs about 5" off the water. It is now sitting about 14" off the water, 34" off the sandbed. I will document the progress. Here are pics of before this all started, and the current condition. It's not pretty.

P.S. Sorry for the poor quailty of the current pics. But you'll get the idea.

August 2011


Janurary 2012
Green Milli


Purple Milli


Red Acan


Hammer


Frogspawn


Candy Cane in August/Current


Green Slimer and Red Monti Cap in May/Current


New Clam:


Current Light Configuration:

 

Thanks for the update, even tho it wasnt really a positive one. Sorry about the struggle, hopefully the corals get the colors back. I like the sleeker hanging look. Very clean.

Looks like the coralline faded as well, or is it just how it looks in pictures?

 

It has faded in the directly lit areas, but doing well on the sides of rocks and in shaded areas.

 

I see. The ATIs are really strong, they even fade the coralline.

Oh the clam looks sweet btw.