Bpynckel's 180g diary thread

melev

melev

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I went to visit Brian today to see his tank. He and his brother have been doing a beautiful job this year, and he can fill in all the details of their move and the resulting losses they suffered.

The tank is an Oceanic 180g reeftank, using VHO and T5 lighting, a skimmer, a calcium reactor and a sump. That's it. No supplements, no chiller, no other magic. And it is a barebottom tank too.

I asked Brian why he's not made a diary thread yet, and it was basically a time crunch. So I'm gonna get him started, and he can update it as he has time. He and his brother can identify the various corals far better than I can, and can tell you about their husbandry techniques. Such as their love for Oceanic salt. (Correction: Seachem Reef Salt )

Full tank shot.
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End of tank.
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Canopy open.
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The lighting is suspended on chains that are easily adjustable.
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And now some corals.

Montipora capricornis
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Montipora undata (I think)
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Acanthastrea
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Gold Maxima
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Scolymia
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Scolymia
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Some zoanthids - they have a bunch of different kinds in their tank.
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Birdsnest
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Chalice?
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And their newest frag - Acropora plana (Crayola table)
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Awesome pics.
I noticed some zoas growing on the bottom glass. I think it would be cool to have the entire bottom glass covered in zoas. I may go BB in my next tank and try that. 8)
-Chuck
 
@ChuKronos wrote:
Awesome pics. I noticed some zoas growing on the bottom glass. I think it would be cool to have the entire bottom glass covered in zoas. I may go BB in my next tank and try that. 8) -Chuck said:
:lol: funny that you mentioned that, Chuck. What we were hoping for was a "mat" of zoas.. they are growing nicely on the starboard.

Marc, you little devil, starting a thread for me... Great pictures as usual!!
Ill load some pictures from a year ago when I can find an hour or so.. Thanks for the comliments everyone! Its been a rocky road since our move from Houston, but things are on the upslope now and with a little luck it will stay that way! 8)

Brian
Click to expand...
 
A quick overview of the T5 set up. 3 ballast all Icecaps one 660 and two 430's. Each ballast has its own timer and are set to come on at different intervals during the day. We used to run 3 250W MH's, but higher tank temps and the occasional trip to see what mach number our electricity meters dial was spinning at compared to everyone elses stirred the need for change. When the first pictures of the German T5 tanks started coming over is when we made the switch. It has been close to 15 months and we could not be happier.

Here is the timer overview:
11 am-8pm VHO Actinics on (430) 2 60 inch VHO actinics
1230 pm- 730pm First set of T5's (430) 2 60 inch 11K URI T5s
1pm - 430 we set the final ballast (660) to turn on as if it was midays sun..

Staggering the ballast start times was as nuch an effort to save electricity as it was to simulate the natural photoperiod over a reef.. Now I know, we could have taken the simulation a lot farther by adding dimmers and such, but if we did everything upfront then there would be nothing to tinker with later down the road.. 8)

Overall the staggering seems to have worked on both fronts. Pics to follow with growth from 1-08-06 till 12-02-06. We moved in September of 05, and made the switch to T5's in October of that year. To be honest there are only 4 bulbs running in the pictures.. Our 660 crapped out on us, thats why it is not as bright as marc's pictures.. but hey..there are still clams on the bottom of the tank!!! Water quality is everything!
 
The same... If you think about where these corals grow in the wild, 10 -80 feet, you also have to asume that a coral species has evolved such that it can sustain life in different lighting conditions. We saw the most growth during the time we only had 4 bulbs over the tank.. It was quite a shock. So my new testament is that water quality and stablilty are the crucial weapons to combat slow growth..

Im not saying that corals do not benefit from Stronger light (pigment/colration), however, the spectrums we provide them are more important than the power of the lamp when we are talking about growth alone. But if you have prestine water, your coral will grow at the same rate if it has the minimum light for photosynthesis to occur. Bowdown to URI and Geissman for making wicked bulbs.. and that goes for XM, Radium, and the like for you filament melters.
 
Remind me what you call these again? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Pink A. millepora with blue tips
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Bottlebrush? What was the name?
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Blue tipped A. millepora?
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First one is a Rasberry Prostrata, or A. prostrata.. however, I have a difficult time telling milliepora and prostrata apart. I will typically associate the thinner stalked of the two being prostrata, and the thicker to be milliepora.

The second picture is a bottlebrush growth pattern but is named A. speciosa. The coral itself grows into gorgeous bushy coral, but will stay the steel color with a hint of green. Some people claim a purple and blue hue under 20K.

the third coral is again one of the two mille or prostrata. I think that is more likely to be a prostrata. But I have been wrong. :)
 
Thanks! That would be my very first A. prostrata, or perhaps my first two. I've got tons of A. millepora so this is an exciting change. The raspberry is stunning, and even out of the water I just stood there staring at it before putting it in the prop section.
 
Great looking tank! I have a coral that very much resembles the raspberry prostrata (sounds like a good name..I'll adopt it!) that is simply stunning.
 
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