280 gallon tank project has begun!!!!!! - Page 25

hoover86 · #**601** 06/14/2006, 12:25 AM

I love the colors of the Bennett tort. I've never seen the black and blue combo, deffinetely like that one!

Dudester · #**602** 06/14/2006, 10:04 AM

Great update, Travis, well done. I love how you display your photos in 2 views (front and top-down); this really shows off the architecture and the colors of your corals.

hoover86 · #**603** 07/22/2006, 02:30 PM

Any new updates??

Seems like it's been forever!

Lunchbucket · #**604** 07/22/2006, 04:04 PM

hoover good call buddy

Lunchbucket

tangdiver · #**605** 07/22/2006, 06:40 PM

trying to bump our posts....hahahaha me too.

Grant

i will catch you soon....ya right!

Reefologist · #**606** 07/22/2006, 08:03 PM

That BK is worthy of it's own thread. With daily pic updates! Looks like you could easily whip up some skimmate latte's.....

melev · #**607** 07/23/2006, 02:30 AM

Nothing has been posted by Travis in this thread since 6/13/06. That's odd.

tangdiver · #**608** 07/23/2006, 07:37 AM

Maybe he got eaten by his tank?

Or aliens?

Or worse...wife will not let him post?

Or....

enough Grant get off the computer and do something....

sorry the ovaries said I need to leave reef central.

Thanks,

Grant

Reefologist · #**609** 07/23/2006, 08:42 AM

He has a Bubble King now. No time for RC...

Lunchbucket · #**610** 07/23/2006, 09:48 AM

i'm sure it's because he has been super busy. prolly has a weekend to do something for himself...like camping...at least i hope he hasn't forgoten us. was it melev's thread or Travis's thread that went to heck while they were gone one time...that was hillarious!!

hope he posts some new pics here. i haven't seen his tank in person for 4months or so

hope i can get to see it soon

Lunchbucket

Reefologist · #**611** 07/23/2006, 10:04 AM

Tank, shmank....LET'S SEE MORE BK PICS! please. happy reefkeeping.

maxxII · #**612** 07/23/2006, 01:06 PM

I've been slammed with work, summer storms that knocked out power for several days, and of course...the whole AEFW debacle.
Its been awhile since I've been on the board so forgive the question....

Does Travis, (or anyone else for that matter) have a good QT procedure and treatment for AEFW's in place? I lost all my acros treating them in a seperate QT tank and dealry want to know how to avoid that again.

Nick

arconom · #**613** 07/23/2006, 03:50 PM

Travis???? Where are you?

tangdiver · #**614** 07/23/2006, 05:28 PM

No such luck yet...I just met with Travis today...still no word on in tank treatments...only q-tanks. But MaxxII I have been in contact with Eric B. on marine depot...he is working on the aefw...probably 2-3 different speies with different behavious.

Only treatment so far is the levamosle...and the $$$ coral dip by tropic marin.

Good luck, them and nudis suck

Grant

Travis · #**615** 07/23/2006, 08:26 PM

Hi guys, I'm still here.

Just been taking a break from this thread for the summer as I've been busy with a lot of other things. Haven't really had much time for the tank this summer, but that is to be expected. Don't get me wrong, I still perform my regular husbandry practices, just haven't taken much time to enjoy the tank lately.

I was getting some slow but progressive STN on the bases of a few colonies. I tried many different things and even started fearing the AEFW's could be back. In the end, it turned out to be the Phosban. I was running 1200 grams of it.

I took it off line and then chopped up those corals saving only the healthy branches and discarding the bases. That was several weeks ago and the combination of removing the Phosban and fragging seemed to work as there has been no more signs of STN. My biggest relief is that I was worried the AEFW's were back. But I did some things to check for them and they were not there.

Also have been having a monti problem lately. Not sure what it is. It seems to be some sort of bacteria/virus that will attack the weakest monti in the tank. It makes the coral bleach, the tissue gets thin, and the coral slowly dies (after a couple months). Once that coral is removed from the tank, the infection spreads to the next weekest monti within a few days and the cycle starts over. This has been going on for many months, even since before the AEFW's.

Other than that, things are really rockin'. Growth and color are the best they have been since starting this tank. Not sure what has boosted everything but I'm sure treating everything for the AEFW's didn't hurt anything.

I am really happy with the tank right now. In fact, it is pretty rare that I ever say that as I am so anal about the tank and everything has to be just right for me to be happy about it. But I can honestly say that at this moment I'm very pleased with how things are looking.

One interesting observation I've made is that I recently (about 3 weeks ago) started feeding chopped frozen shrimp only. Before that I was feeding my frozen concoction of many different things including probably too much GP's, Cyclop-eze, phyto, etc. When I was feeding that concoction, the tank would run around .20-.35 PO4. That is why I decided to try the Phosban. Even with 1200g of Phosban running aggressivley 24/7, it was only holding the PO4 at .06. I took the Phosban offline around the same time I started feeding just the shrimp. Since then, my PO4 is holding steady around .03-.06. It is apparent, that the concoction I was feeding was polluting the water.

A few weeks ago I also started running filter socks on my returns. I got tired of turkey basting the detritus in the sump daily. Now I just clean the filter socks every 3 days or so. I was expecting this to lead to a rise in nutrients but this isn't the case. The PO4 has been unaffected. NO3 has risen from 0 to .05, which I am actually happy about. I have always believed that a little NO3 in the water is good for the corals. So I am pleased with the results I'm getting from running the filter socks thus far.

I have also tuned my BK to very dry. It pulls decent and takes about 4 weeks to fill the 4 gallon collection cup. I am pleased with the results for now.

I think that should cover most of what has happened this summer. Might not be posting pics for a while cuz my camera took a poopie on me.

NexDog · #**616** 07/23/2006, 09:33 PM

Not suprised you want to take a break after what you went through with the FWs. That was some serious work you put in! Glad to hear everything is going okay now.

disbjohn · #**617** 07/23/2006, 11:05 PM

so phosban isn't good for SPS or is it because you were using too much of it??

hoover86 · #**618** 07/23/2006, 11:47 PM

Glad to hear things are going well for the most part. I had a long saturday at "work" that gave me lots of time to catch up on the threads

You're deffinetly an inspiration and I aspire to know as much as you someday!!

Lunchbucket · #**619** 07/24/2006, 08:08 AM

Travis - glad ot hear everything is good. figured you were just busy

i have a colony that are showing that STN from the base. i've been changing my phosban more often in an attempt to snuff out the bryopsis. wonder if that is the case. i keep searching for AEFW's but never see anything. hmm...hope it is the phosban or Rowa i use.

the color is better then before...good lord! i remember what it was liek before. i definately need to stop by and see the tank....i'll bring my digital camera and take some pics for you too

later buddy
Lunchbucket

Chrisrush · #**620** 07/24/2006, 09:23 AM

John,
Phosban is fine for SPS but only to a certain point. Travis was using 1200g of it. I can't remember the exact dosage, but 1200g is quite a bit, even for a 280g tank.

Travis,
How do your fish like the chopped frozen shrimp?

Chris

Chrisrush · #**621** 07/24/2006, 09:26 AM

FYI,
150g. Treats 150 gallons.

Chris

Travis · #**622** 08/24/2006, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Chrisrush

Travis,
How do your fish like the chopped frozen shrimp?

Sorry, I must have missed some updates to this thread. The fish love the chopped shrimp.

Travis · #**623** 08/24/2006, 10:58 AM

Managed to get the ol' camera working for a few pics last night. Quick and dirty but you get the picture.

Been using filter socks for the past month or so. I'm too lazy to order extras so I've been keeping the same ones in for about 3 days at a time before washing them and putting them back on. During this time, I have also started skimming dry instead of wet. The combination of the dirty filter socks and dry skimmate has allowed my nitrates to rise from undetectable to .025. I prefer to run a barely detectable nitrate level as I feel it is beneficial to the corals so I've been pleased with the results. PO4 has been hanging around .12. Coral growth over the last half of this summer has been the best it has been since the tank was filled with water.

Here is a pic of what the skimmer has been pulling lately:

Ball · #**624** 08/24/2006, 02:12 PM

Looking good!

melev · #**625** 08/24/2006, 03:23 PM

My numbers are never that low. That's great.