Aged Salt

Hi, it appears to be a Clavularia species, a soft eight-tentacled coral.Bob

I'm currently using 3-400W HQI ballast- Megachrome 13K with 2 160W VHO Super Actinic[uRI] ~ 12" off the surface water. The MH's are on simutaneously for 8-9 hrs, the VHO's for 12hrs. I do not use dim cycles & my reefs houses a few LPS/Xenias. Bob

Hi Naxo, I really like your reefscaping There are many opinions & as always, there's not correct solution. If you're not using carbon, I'd suggest trying 1 Cup in a filter sock, placed passively in your sump. This will increase water clarity & therefore, light transmission. I run 4-Tunze's in my 100g display reef & found the increased flow promotes improved SPS coloration. Adding another 250W MH will also intensify your SPS coral's color, & growth. Bob

Excellent sequence of the Clathrata, Wei I believe the K-Balance allows the coral's active transport system to absorb PIF/other elements more efficiently, Bob

Hi Stanley, very impressive to say the least Thnx. for sharing, Bob

Farish, thnx. for the link BH is correct, as cyclical changes occur in the oceans ~every 100yrs. or so. Bob

Wei, your coral coloration is very nice indeed Try 3 drops/25g/day for a wk. or 2, then report your impressions. Coral-Vitalizer is not a nutrient food & there are not any adverse effects in excess. It contains particles within the liquid, both are made from elements in proportation to the coral's composition. C-V will improve coloration, growth[amazingly] & health, especially critical in nutrient-poor waters[as Wei's] which is a pre-requisite for 100% SPS coloration. C-V can be helpful in non-ZEOvit systems as well It requires refrigeration. K-Balance is the newest product in the Korallen-Zucht line. It supplies K+ element in those tanks where SPS color fading or lightening occurs. This condition occurs in some reefs from K+ deficiency in some saltmixes, overskimming, & overutilization from extreme bioload. For example, lose of pinks in Stylo's, Pocci's & Seratioporas, color in Monti's or blues in Acro's is a sign of K+ deficit if one's parameters are inline & stable. Unfortunately, there is not tests for K+ at the hobbyist level. The endpoint in dosing is return of pink & blue coloration in the corals. In excess, algae blooms & coral tissue-tip recession can occur. The recommended dosage is 1ml/25g/day until coloration improves, then dose only if color again begins to fade. HTH, Bob

Hi Andy, those lists pertain only to reefs using the ZEOvit method, which is a list that Alexander Girz & I provided for our ZEOvit users on another forum. Those parameters ranges may vary in non-ZEOvit reefs or reefs not nutrient-poor, HTH, Bob

Perfect advise, guys. More light & more flow An important key ingredient to keeping SPS is maintaining all parameters within a narrow range, as swings in these will result in eventual tissue recession. Bob

Hi Kueytoc, here, Stateside, A-V by M.Weiss is not used by many reefers--I have never used this product, or know any reefers who are. My friends are either using K-Z's AAHC or Salifert's Coralline AA's. I've used both & in my system, K-Z's AAHC enhances color, growth, & p-e, Bob

Thnx. Wei, sounds good I'm dosing 10-12 drops/day in my 300g system, using Korallen-Zucht's AA concentrate. Bob

Hi all, if all parameters are inline & stable, larger wild colonies in general are tougher to keep healthy compared to smaller aqua-cultured pieces because of inadequate light & flow to the larger colony's base. Many times part of the base gets shaded by placement in our reefs, which over time renders STN. Same with current flow. As the coral grows so must the flow. IME, KH swings of 1 dKH are too much for Acroporas to tolerate. Loster, if I may make a recommendation, keep the KH within a tolerance of 0.5dKH. Your Ca level to your KH level is too low for long-term health of some SPS. With running a KH of 9 or 10, the Ca should be around 425-450. One can run a Ca of 380 if your KH is in the 6-8 dKH range. Mg levels should always be >1250. I have always had better long-term success with running my parameters at NSW. Bob

Hi DeepBlue, very impressive reef Thnx. for sharing, Bob

A few things I look for when it's time to change MH's/actinics are: 1)extra growth of coralline algae on my panes 2)darkening of my coral's color 3)coral tips lose their "pop" & flouresence Bob

Hi Ciaolong, when you ready to begin the ZEOvit method, please post here your tank's information & the Zeo-users members here will be happy to help get you started in the right direction Bob