Salty's "new" 125

[TheGreenStag]

awesome pics....

 

[Janice]

@SaltyCracker I just was reading this thread-found it when searching Hanna Checker- and wow your frags are BEAUTIFUL!!

 

[Mark092]

Beautiful Salty. Sorry if I missed it earlier in the thread, but what do you attribute the better colouration to this time around?

 

[Salty Cracker]

Beautiful Salty. Sorry if I missed it earlier in the thread, but what do you attribute the better colouration to this time around?

I improved flow, put corals where I knew they were happiest (certain sps go dark down low, but almost transparent up high), kept the tank super low in phosphates from day 1 (so less available for coral to brown up), and I've taken to broadcast feeding at night. OH and I also added 2 tubes of t5 purples, but they only run 3 hours a day.

 

[Salty Cracker]

So tank stand is 90% done. I just need to get the final trim on the top, cut down the access door a bit, and install the square nails (lots of detail work in other words), but the lower is pretty much done. . Coral has started to perk up too. Strawberry shortcake is growing and FINALLY my sunset millie has put out a couple of small growth tips. That's the first time in about 2 years. It was once the best coral in the tank, before the freshwater bath. Bonsai finally has proper colours too. Very pleased with the progress.

 

[derrick orosz]

So tank stand is 90% done. I just need to get the final trim on the top, cut down the access door a bit, and install the square nails (lots of detail work in other words), but the lower is pretty much done. . Coral has started to perk up too. Strawberry shortcake is growing and FINALLY my sunset millie has put out a couple of small growth tips. That's the first time in about 2 years. It was once the best coral in the tank, before the freshwater bath. Bonsai finally has proper colours too. Very pleased with the progress.
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Lookin good salty

 

[Shooter000]

Very nice buddy, keep the pics coming

 

[jroovers]

Tank and stand/trim looks amazing!

Curious, you might have mentioned this previously, but what are you broadcast feeding at night?

 

[Salty Cracker]

Tank and stand/trim looks amazing!

Curious, you might have mentioned this previously, but what are you broadcast feeding at night?

I have not been....yet.
My biggest problem with the old tank was things overgrowing. If I can get the coral to grow very slowly, it would make things much easier when they finally grow in. I have a can of reef roids that is set for broadcast feeding through the return pump at night, I just haven't started doing it consistently.

I want to get that canopy right, I'm not really happy with it so I've sort of neglected it. I am finishing the bottom today, then looking at how to close in the electrical side, and then build a stand for the ato (or more likely I'll just move the container and just run a line for the water)

 

[teebone110]

looking good

 

[Salty Cracker]

So, very pleased. Not only is the sunset millie showing signs of life, so is the Ultra-grape millie, and more surprising, the Tyree Pink Lemonade that literally has done nothing but encrust since I got it from Darryl 2-3 years ago. So good things are happening in the tank. Slow and steady.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Slow and steady...

Everything is doing well, levels are good, although I still get the best new growth when I up the water changes, but lots of salt here so not a problem. Grabbed a couple of proper peppermint shrimp from Brandon, and wow, they cleaned up the last few aiptasia that had popped back up after the nudis died off. Dropped the strawberry shortcake down to the bottom to see if I can darken the colour a bit, and that seems to be working. My sunset millie is still -sort of- growing new tips, just nothing like the monstrosity I had been. I don't think I've had any fatalities at all. I took the gfo offline for a month just to see, and yup, tuft of HA on a rock, and one on the wavemaker, so I restarted that last week. Anyone that doubts that gfo, run in a canister and changed out every 3-4 weeks doesn't work, well I have news for you... Anyways, a couple of photos for today.

 

[Shooter000]

Need more pics ..... lol looking good bud

 

[Salty Cracker]

Gotta love the bayer dip.

 

[Big_Als_London]

Gotta love the bayer dip.

now we just need pictures of them settled in.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Almost to the point where I need to start trimming pieces that are getting too close to other colonies.
This time around I'm trying to grow everything out so that they look like "natural" mini colonies. In the last tank I would cut all the new growth tips as they made the best looking frags, but this time I'll just be trimming the chaff until everything is really overgrown. Same old problem of not enough space for growth, I've got little colonies growing on the sandbed.
No dinos this time around, no pesky algae, no crashes, the tank just seems to be purring right along. Sorry took the pic with just actinic lights on, best colour is at 7 when the whites go out, but every other bulb in the canopy is lit. I used to have best colour with just the royal blues on, so I'm pleased with the improvement...

 

[Salty Cracker]

...even my tyree pink lemonade has started to branch for the first time in ~4 years.

 

[teebone110]

Looking good, but even better if you add a nice colony of Red Dragon

What are you using for flow?

 

[Salty Cracker]

Gah, I've got a chunk of red dragon I stuffed at the bottom of the tank, and it is still thriving

For flow I only use the wavemaker and the return, nothing else. I think I could improve PE if I increase flow, but then again, I could also likely do the same if I start to broadcast feed 'roids too.

 

[Shooter000]

That keylime Granny is looking killer Glenn. Keep the pics coming buddy