danano

In the beginning.... a modular reefscape, hasn't changed much since, except for a few additional branches and small pieces of rock. #dananosreef

Fairly slow grower, plus they don't bother other corals.

Some BLUEs

As to the colours, I've always liked to look of the corals under T5s. Going with a full LED setup for the 50g, my aim was to achieve the same visual. I played around with the LED light settings/spectrum and program to achieve a similar effect. Light is but one factor. Maintaining optimal water parameters coupled with mixed turbulent flow contribute to bringing out the best in corals. Plus a low nutrient environment means "less brown", allowing the colour pigmentation in corals to standout.

You're most welcome, Muw. And thank you for the kind words! If you're referring to the rose milli at the top left, right above it is an RBM frag. After struggling for survival the first few months, it's starting to show some progress, with polyps extending a little and coralites turning blue .

Some REDs

Mid-day setting for the AI Hydra 52HDs

That's all for now. Hope you like the pics! Stay safe and healthy, and happy reefing all!

And to add some colour to the sand/coral-chip bed, mini-maxi carpets....

Here's another

Short polyp gonios, somewhat more delicate than the long polyp ones.

The pipe organ, a good space filler in between the rocks and corals.

A lone soft coral in an otherwise stony environment. Swaying with the flow. Cespitularia

Thanks Admiral! Clams, love em....

Some other reef inhabitants.... an orange skunk clown making itself at home in a red gonio

Halloween Hermit crab, a member of the clean-up crew.

Purple bonsai grew out from this 1cm frag. Six months of growth.

Aminos and marine/reef snow, daily. No system in particular. For bacteria, I change out the FM Bacto Reef Balls every two weeks. And when I first setup the tank, I seeded it with BioDigest and maintain that as well, along with Bioptim.

Thanks Rob! Gazing at the corals, that's the secret I used to run a CR with my 110g. Now, with a smaller 50g tank, I have an auto-doser, and I've been tuning it the past few months to keep up with the growth and Ca/kH/Mg consumption rate of the corals, which also means weekly or biweekly testing of the three main parameters. The tank is now 9 months, and I've just about reached a steady state with CA/kH/Mg consumption. Auto-dosing also allows me to easily make manual adjustments to the CA/kH/Mg levels to keep the parameters as stable as possible. I'm now playing with the lights, scaling back the intensity a little, to see if there's an impact on the consumption rate without affecting coral colour. I've kept the bio-load low from the start, and maintained a low nutrient system, hence nitrates and phosphates are undetectable. Seeding the tank with beneficial bacteria is important as well. Ca 420-450 dKH 7-7.5 Mg 1380-1450 NO3 undetectable PO4 undetectable

Same hoek w polyps extended

Yes, lots to learn indeed, with LEDs and all the new equipment and reef keeping methods.... it was back to school for me. Here's a growth sequence for a hoeksemai frag I salvaged from the mother colony, a piece that started in a nano tank before the 50g. Attached to a small piece of coral rubble, it's now fully encrusted with a few new growth tips.

Thanks for the kind words all! Jim, it's been a long time... how are you and how's the reef? For those unaware, once upon a time, I had a 110g SPS dominated reef tank. After 12 years away from the hobby, I'm back and still nuts about reefkeeping, with SPS in particular

Weekly water changes, approximately 5% of the total water volume.

Thanks Zander. One more thing I do, I dose aminos and feed marine/reef snow daily. The latter, after lights out. The fish get pellets twice a day.

The millepora was stunted and colours muted for several months, then from January, it blossomed into a rainbow! Tank had finally matured and water parameters ideal...