I hope I remember how to do this

[cmaxwell39]

A few more to share:

Blueberry Granny:

Carolina Reaper:

BC sexfeast milli:

And a couple of blastos:

Thanks for looking.

 

[Miami Reef]

What’s your T5 bulb combo?

 

[cmaxwell39]

Nobody likes my bulb combo until they actually see it in person. It is more white than what most care for, but here it is.

8 bulb fixture. 5 Blue+, 2Purple+, and one Geisman Midday. If I could find the old GE 6500K bulb that is what I would run where the midday bulb is.

It is a crisp white. I would say 12-14K look.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Miami Reef]

Nobody likes my bulb combo until they actually see it in person. It is more white than what most care for, but here it is.

8 bulb fixture. 5 Blue+, 2Purple+, and one Geisman Midday. If I could find the old GE 6500K bulb that is what I would run where the midday bulb is.

It is a crisp white. I would say 12-14K look.

Thanks for looking.

I‘m currently using 5 blue plus and 3 coral plus.

My tank has 2 8x54 watt fixtures.

 

[cmaxwell39]

I ju

I‘m currently using 5 blue plus and 3 coral plus.

My tank has 2 8x54 watt fixtures.

st looked at your tank profile. Very nice. I love large SPS tanks. Do you have an actual build thread? Would love to check it out more.

 

[Miami Reef]

I ju

st looked at your tank profile. Very nice. I love large SPS tanks. Do you have an actual build thread? Would love to check it out more.

I do have a build thread. I’m currently dealing with acropora eating flatworms (I probably had them for about a year without knowing).

I got all the acros in QT.

 

[cmaxwell39]

That sucks. Hope you can beat them. Are you doing weekly dips or what is your treatment protocol look like? Good luck. In

 

[Miami Reef]

That sucks. Hope you can beat them. Are you doing weekly dips or what is your treatment protocol look like? Good luck. In

Dips every 6 days with Bayer for 6 weeks. I cut the bases of all my acros and glued them to plugs.

I never dealt with this before. I’m having reefers who dealt with this, for example, @Sisterlimonpot help me with this. He’s awesome.

I went through all the bases in my DT, and cut off all the acro bases. I tried to absolutely annihilated any source of acropora to increase the chances that the eggs/worms don’t continue their lifecycle.

I went over any remaining acropora bases with kalkwasser paste…2 different times during the week, but I’m still seeing a trace amount of bases left. It’s a VERY small amount. These acro bases are pretty resilient.

My biggest fear is the treatment failing. What if the flatworms survive on the trace amount of acropora? I used bone cutters to remove them, so there has to be some acros laying around in the sand. I removed what I could, of course. I still have doubts. I’m a pretty anxious person, but I think my fears are valid?

 

[cmaxwell39]

Yeah, AEFW just suck from what I understand. Thankfully never had to deal with them myself. Dealt with redbugs, mass stn/RTN events, and a few other things, but never AEFW.

Plenty of helpful people on here have been through it and beaten them though. Have you looked into KCL as a dip vs Bayer? I have switched to it vs Bayer as my dip on incoming corals. Read good things about it, but have not had pests on incoming stuff that I have personal experience with how effective it is. Supposed to be easier on the corals than Bayer is though.

Once again, good luck.

 

[Miami Reef]

Yeah, AEFW just suck from what I understand. Thankfully never had to deal with them myself. Dealt with redbugs, mass stn/RTN events, and a few other things, but never AEFW.

Plenty of helpful people on here have been through it and beaten them though. Have you looked into KCL as a dip vs Bayer? I have switched to it vs Bayer as my dip on incoming corals. Read good things about it, but have not had pests on incoming stuff that I have personal experience with how effective it is. Supposed to be easier on the corals than Bayer is though.

Once again, good luck.

I have KCl! I tried them both. I’m not sure which one is more effective because I don’t see anymore flatwoms. The first dip I did was opaque from the Bayer. I tried KCl 2 days later, but I didn’t see anything.

Today I purchased 2 mariculture acroporas. I dipped them in KCl, but I didn’t see anything come off.

So I don’t know if the dip isn’t working, or if the acros are coincidentally coming in clean now. Another fuel for the anxiety.

I did the Bayer today, and I noticed all the acros came out more brown. I specifically decided Bayer because @ScottB said it was less stressful than KCl.

Both seem to add stress, but nothing lethal.

 

[Miami Reef]

Ps, your corals look so beautiful. I love the rich colors you’re getting! I knew your tank was using T5 when I saw pictures of them in a different thread. I love T5.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Agreed, no coral dip is going to be stress free. The goal is the least amount of stress and the most effective against pest. I don't know that there is a right answer though.

Thanks for the compliments on the corals. It is a work in progress. I also love T5. Have had success with it on previous tanks and did t really even consider any other lights when I set this tank up. They just work.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I never dealt with this before. I’m having reefers who dealt with this, for example, @Sisterlimonpot help me with this. He’s awesome.

Right on! I watch this thread, I don't know if I ever posted in it, but I read through the updates.

Have you looked into KCL as a dip vs Bayer? I have switched to it vs Bayer as my dip on incoming corals.

There was a discussion about it in his thread about kcl vs Bayer but he was more familiar with Bayer. Which is a tried and proven method for aefw.

I personally like kcl, but there was no reason to convince him that he should like it more than Bayer.

Here's something funny, I also had a run in with white bugs. Another pest that attack acros. They seem to tolerate interceptor more than red bugs. They require a stronger dose, 1 pill per 100g.

I went to my dogs veterinarian and explained the situation , she prescribed it for me and I went on chewy to get the prescription filled. I must've set it to a reoccurring delivery because I was getting a box every 2 weeks. Which I allowed to go on until I realized I had accumulated 15 boxes. Which is fine, because after each treatment, the acros seemed to have a positive response. They had such great polyp extension that something in the medication makes them happy, it might be the chicken flavor hehe.

I Now treat with interceptor every 12 months whether it's needed or not.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Right on! I watch this thread, I don't know if I ever posted in it, but I read through the updates.


There was a discussion about it in his thread about kcl vs Bayer but he was more familiar with Bayer. Which is a tried and proven method for aefw.

I personally like kcl, but there was no reason to convince him that he should like it more than Bayer.

Here's something funny, I also had a run in with white bugs. Another pest that attack acros. They seem to tolerate interceptor more than red bugs. They require a stronger dose, 1 pill per 100g.

I went to my dogs veterinarian and explained the situation , she prescribed it for me and I went on chewy to get the prescription filled. I must've set it to a reoccurring delivery because I was getting a box every 2 weeks. Which I allowed to go on until I realized I had accumulated 15 boxes. Which is fine, because after each treatment, the acros seemed to have a positive response. They had such great polyp extension that something in the medication makes them happy, it might be the chicken flavor hehe.

I Now treat with interceptor every 12 months whether it's needed or not.

Sorry if it seemed like my intention was to get him to try to switch dips. I was simply sharing my experience with him. As with a lot of things in this hobby, what works for one (me) might not work for the next person. @Miami Reef I sincerely apologize if it came across as if I was trying to change your mind on dip protocol. It was not my intention at all.

 

[Miami Reef]

Sorry if it seemed like my intention was to get him to try to switch dips. I was simply sharing my experience with him. As with a lot of things in this hobby, what works for one (me) might not work for the next person. @Miami Reef I sincerely apologize if it came across as if I was trying to change your mind on dip protocol. It was not my intention at all.

I wasn’t upset at all!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Sorry if it seemed like my intention was to get him to try to switch dips. I was simply sharing my experience with him. As with a lot of things in this hobby, what works for one (me) might not work for the next person. @Miami Reef I sincerely apologize if it came across as if I was trying to change your mind on dip protocol. It was not my intention at all.

It seems I'm the one to apologize. I wasn't trying to convey that he was right and we were wrong. If my post had a point, it was more about what you're comfortable with. If I prefer to walk to the store, and Miami preferred skipping, it didn't matter as long as we got to store.

If anything we are right and Miami is wrong...walking has less impact on the joints, just kidding, haha. kcl just seems to be the flavor of the month.

If I remember correctly, when used kcl, there was skepticism about it being effective for flat worms, and the preferred method was Bayer. What's it going to be in 10 years? Probably a compound we mine off of mars.

 

[cmaxwell39]

We are good @Sisterlimonpot. It is easy to be misheard on a written forum.

And by the way, that compound of the future is coming off of the moon, not Mars. I don't believe the technology to go to Mars and mine something is feasible in a mere 10 yrs. .

JK of course. Have a great day.

 

[ScottB]

I have KCl! I tried them both. I’m not sure which one is more effective because I don’t see anymore flatwoms. The first dip I did was opaque from the Bayer. I tried KCl 2 days later, but I didn’t see anything.

Today I purchased 2 mariculture acroporas. I dipped them in KCl, but I didn’t see anything come off.

So I don’t know if the dip isn’t working, or if the acros are coincidentally coming in clean now. Another fuel for the anxiety.

I did the Bayer today, and I noticed all the acros came out more brown. I specifically decided Bayer because @ScottB said it was less stressful than KCl.

Both seem to add stress, but nothing lethal.

I gave up on Bayer long ago -- just because it is a pain to work with. Nasty cleanup and opaque dip water. Once long ago, I brain farted, leaving a handful of acros in a bucket of Bayer for several hours and they came out fine. Thus my "gentle" opinion.

My experience with KCl (for acros only) is really good. The worms don't just let go, they nearly dissolve in the stuff.

 

[Miami Reef]

I gave up on Bayer long ago -- just because it is a pain to work with. Nasty cleanup and opaque dip water. Once long ago, I brain farted, leaving a handful of acros in a bucket of Bayer for several hours and they came out fine. Thus my "gentle" opinion.

My experience with KCl (for acros only) is really good. The worms don't just let go, they nearly dissolve in the stuff.

Thank you.

Every time I do the Bayer dip, it seems like the acros come out very stressed. I was extra gentle this time, but PE was really reduced. I didn’t measure the Bayer, just until it is like skim milk.

I will switch to KCl. I know for certain that coral RX was very easy on my acropora.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Well, I have once again proven that I just can't leave well enough alone. I am currently fighting a diatom outbreak.

My theory on what has caused this is as follows. I have been dosing standard BRS 2-3 part with a little bit of their trace element package mixed in, but my pH has been low. 7.6-7.8 at the worst and 7.7-7.95 at best. Of course I didn't think much of it since my tanks in the past have almost all had low pH, but then I start reading the forums and everyone is talking about how pH is so important and if you can improve it you should....


Enter experiment number 1. I replaced 2 part dosing with Kalk on the coral Qt/Frag tank back in early June. Colors and growth in this system have been mediocre to abysmal and while things stayed alive they never really did well. This is a fishless tank so maintaining nutrients is a bit of a challenge, but I always manage to keep them where needed. Kalk turned this tank around. Color has become much more vibrant, and while I wouldn't say there is tremendous growth things definitely picked up.

So I thought to myself; "Self, maybe ther is something to this pH thing. Maybe I should consider switching to a method on the display tank that will help maintain a better pH."

I didn't want to have to mix kalk in that big of batches so I researched Randy's new DIY two part that uses NaOH instead of soda ash for the Alk part. I found some food grade lye on Amazon and mixed up some new alk supplement. Three weeks later and I have this showing up. I am guessing it is a contaminant in the NaOH that I bought. I have switched back to soda ash for my Alk part and will see if this corrects over the next month or so.

So, lesson for today, if things are going well, don't try to make them better because you read something on the internets