madmac's Reef

[FuEl]

Kimaru, your SPSes are so beautiful, the ones you put up for sale and then withdrew later, why did you want to sell them in the first place.?

You'll be surprised if I told you I don't monitor Ca at all. When you go BB, your alk suddenly becomes very stable, as the dynamics within the SB is remove(due to less decomposition), you actually hv less acids going around and so pH remains stable.. the only test I do is the dkh, and i try to keep it within 7-9 range... the rest are not so important.. I replenish evap H2O sometimes using Kalk and sometimes using Bak Soda and occasionally with SeaChem Ca. Adv.

One thing I must agree with..alkalinity drops much faster in a reef tank compared to calcium.

[madmac]

4 month update since going BB. First up, sadly had to give up Jessie (shown below). I tried to pair her up with a newly acquired male RS Regal, named Jake... when seen at the LFS, Jake was the smallest and looked about the same size as Jessie... Only after releasing him into the main tank, did the contrast in in size show. Jake was at least 10 mm bigger, before long, the friendly Jessie had to relinquish her status as the queen of the tank, it took two weeks for the dominant one to take the stage and I was starting to feel uncomfortable with her continued absence, hiding all the time.

Jess was before, all over the place and hungry, seldom hiding. So Royal if you're readin tis pls take good care of her... I'm prepared to take her back, if you having difficulties in caring after her.

the final pic in a QT, which is IMO not a suitable place for Regal angel(anything > 2 days)

Size wise, she measured 9 cm, from month to caudal fin.

[madmac]

Below is Jake. He is more bluer on the ###### fin and has clear electric blue streaks on the back dorsal. I'm assuming he's male from the gill spine... I've heard that the longer spine reps the male.

[madmac]

In trying to separate the fishes, I had to remove some of the rocks and in trying to minimize removal, I told myself to simply sell the first regal caught...

It took abt a week the newly introduced Jake to get accustom to the surroundings... he got along well with every other fish except the same kind. I remember I usually have to overfeed that tank and this time was no different. Nutrient spike was to be expected. So it was.

This other pic shows the amazing electric blue that the fish carries with it.

[madmac]

Below shows a pic about how friendly Regals are... when they get use to the surroundings, they are forever hungry and will gladly take anything off your fingers. They would even nib on your finger if your entire hand is in the water... It took Jake two weeks though.

[royal gramma]

Is mine Jessie or Jake? Doing well in my tank so far. I must say, it really a beauty. Just discovered some polyps of my zoo are missing. Guess who's the culprit? This jessie or jake is not that shy after all. It comes out quite freqeunt and it knows when it's feeding time. Don't worry, it is in good hands. will keep you posted.

[royal gramma]

Mine is Jessie, I shall not name her anything else.

[madmac]

Tank wise, the four months have been one experiment after another... I first played about with different lighting schedules to see if there are noticeable effects. I started out with 7 hrs halides (single 250W, 10kk BLV) and kept the T5s on 12 hrs. Abt 1 month later I brought it down to 5 hrs and even did 3 hrs. I also tried a two on-cycles for 2 hrs each per day

The short of it all is, I've brought it back now to 7 hrs again. I prefer to see colours as it were when I had the 7 hrs on. I've found that the reduced lighting brought about more browning and quick.

When it losses colours, its happens quick...

from 7 to 5 it was still ok. some corals were quick to brown, other slightly duller

from 5 to 2hr 2 cycles, hardly any improvement, no noticeable detriment

to 3 hr single... worse came about.

'm thinking, I don't have enough lighting in the first place... a single 250W isn't enough. So no choice I'll bring up the photoperiod to compensate for the reduce intensity.

Also the other experiments were with rgds to dosing, jus trying to determine the correct amt/period and flow directions, etc... mostly trival.

Stocking wise... I bought 1 single acro in the period... if the pic looks full... it only because the acros are the same ones, broken and placed in different places, jus experiment to see how the same type do here and there.

I'm am on the lookout if there are some of you with frags.

The base of the tank thats expose to light have coraline, its growing fast. Still dozing for keeps. Baking soda, Seachem's Ca Adv, and kalk at nites. SPS growth is slow... like real slow.. perhaps that could be due to the absence of a Ca reactor... I don't know, but it seems so... will wait and see after 1 month on photoperiod at 7 hrs before concluding

Happy to hear if you have some comments/suggestions etc. thx

[madmac]

Is mine Jessie or Jake? Doing well in my tank so far. I must say, it really a beauty. Just discovered some polyps of my zoo are missing. Guess who's the culprit? This jessie or jake is not that shy after all. It comes out quite freqeunt and it knows when it's feeding time. Don't worry, it is in good hands. will keep you posted.

Royal, thats just wonderful... yup thats her alright, completely unabashed... I think she'll do very well in your tank. Cheers and all the best!

[hotlemond]

eh.., madmac. the regal grown up liao. nice tank, as always

[royal gramma]

Here's Jessie. She always out in the day, not hiding.

[Dorado]

Hi madmac, nice regal.

I m scared of angel, do they nip at your SPS?

Thinking of getting one

[madmac]

Royal, thats wonderful to hear... she's getting accustom to your tank surroundings very quickly... one of the great joys of getting fish from a reefer is not having to go thru' the hassles...(better qualify here, but must beware of who you get from... heard of some shoddy deals too)

Dorado, I've not come across personally, but have read of incidences from RC. Generally no I wud say. What do you keep?

Hot, thx.

[royal gramma]

Madmac, I would like to say big thank you for allowing me to have such a beauty.

Regal angel is a fish that I have yearned. Of course, with guilt have killed a couple. For the past few months, I have been "setting up" my tank, removing the agressors so that I could provide a stress free environment, just waiting to put a regal into it. Guess it has paid off. Getting a very stable regal is even more rare.

Looks like Jessie has brought us to meet each other again after 22 years.

[Melvyn Tan]

So during my weekly maintenance of 25l water changes, (I buy NSW), I siphoned out the old-water first, with some of the top sand, there was this particular patch of jus black sand directly under the top layer, near the rocks, the blackness was not jus under the surface, but the deeper I push the tubing, black sand still continued to be sucked out. I think its some kind of sulphur... whatever it was its no good, not everywhre had it, it was spotty... I think this is due to poor flow areas. My sand bed was 3-4 inches deepest, at other points, they're bare, due to two pistol shrimps.

I've been reading in RC about bare bottoms or is it bare-bottom... anyway, BB seem to be the way to go. So guess what I did over the weekend? This pic below show the start...

acidjazz: Thx for the warning ... I've have them 18 months running and so far so good... i dont think the dreaded tank crashes are more due to canister filters than and other filters/equipment/sump or even DSBs... what do you use now? I'll still be using them.

Agree....it is more likely something else rather than the cannister filters.

Well done Brother - a fantastic tank and skills you've got there in maintaining a tank of this size and stocks.

[Melvyn Tan]

LaW: Thx for your compliment. The 2011 was easier to set wet than dry, although I've achieve that before, I find the tuning a touch challenging, after each time I cleaned it. So I jus set it as wet and it works great. The canisters are great, just great... it just not trendy these days... you'lll never know, one day they'll come back as the in-thing to have in reef-keeping.

weishun: Thank you.

prec: they've worked well so far... "if it ain't broke dont fix it.", has always been my thinking.

I believe in cannister filters as much as you do...in fact i am having 2 running for my tank.

[madmac]

Melvyn, I was running two too, until 4 months ago. You'll be surprised to know how many cannisters I have at home now. 2 spare in the cupboard, and 1 driving the chiller. I'd love the use a sump though, jus the current setup prevents employing one. Oh yeah and thx!.

Royal... shooz, don't you feel jus old these days... my bones jus creaked...

Happy to hear that bro, do keep us posted when she starts to take food, there's no turning back, she'll lay her rightful regality claim as queen of the tank again.

[Dorado]

Hi madmac, Nice to hear that it didnt nip on sps, love to have one,

maybe should try

Well, I have sohal tang, 2 BT, bicolor angle, fairy wrasse, six line wrasse

bicolor goby, dotty back, 2 false clown and pair of bartlett in my 4'x2'x2'

with mixed reef of softies and sps.

[weileong]

regal always been very chio fish

[alanseah]

wow cannister filters... powerful stuff...

too bad i dont have place for that...

[madmac]

Alan, only using one now. The other two are kept in the store room. If possible I would like to have the entire tank changed ... maybe even built an in-wall tank at a later stage, but for now this 3 footer will have to do.. still much to learn from this hobby.

WeiLeong, yes, they are beautiful. I'm in super awe at your tank... can I pay visit some time to feast my eyes... serious request. thx.

[royal gramma]

WeiLeong, yes, they are beautiful. I'm in super awe at your tank... can I pay visit some time to feast my eyes... serious request. thx.

Weileong, can I tag along too. Would like to see your beautiful tank.

[royal gramma]

Jessie was already eating that very next day. gracing the tank now with no fear.

[yiling]

wow Regal !

such a beauty

[madmac]

Hi madmac, Nice to hear that it didnt nip on sps, love to have one,

maybe should try

Well, I have sohal tang, 2 BT, bicolor angle, fairy wrasse, six line wrasse

bicolor goby, dotty back, 2 false clown and pair of bartlett in my 4'x2'x2'

with mixed reef of softies and sps.

Hi, I don't think it'll do any damage to ur corals... its the acclimatization of your regal that cud post an issue at the start. They tend to be very shy and can be intimidated into hiding and subsequently lose appetite to eat...

If you can help, jus spend some time observing for the first few days.. you'll need to see which fish bullies when the regal tries to take to the open waters, choose a small one that feeds is your safest bet and yes no injuries... not a single dot, mark, fin fraying. best to you, bro.