Boret

Which one looks like the Cali Tort? My tort (first picture) or the other one?

Look at this one, blue polyps: Do you think they photoshoped the green out of it?

Hey Ron, I had the same problem in my tank. I end up putting a layer of crushed coral on top. Just make sure you rinse it thoroughly before you dump it in. I put 3-4 cups of crushed coral in a bucket. Rinsed it several times (6-7) with RODI water. Then took small amounts in my hand and slowly dumped it on top of the fine sand. Had I known before hand I would have donde the fine sand with a 1/2 inch layer of crushed coral on top.

Looking great!! Very nice tank.

This is a close up of my Oregon Tortuosa. The polyps are green!!! Is that normal?

Thanks guys!! Some more:

A few close ups. And also this coral, that I have had since I had the 55. I have no idea what it is... It doesn't grow very fast but it has some amazing combination of colors:

I cleaned up the glass!!

I think you need a few ricordias in there to provide some more color! Looking great!

+1 I love Astreas for the glass, and Cerith snails for my sand bed. I also like the tiny blue legged hermits....

I think we are mixing concepts or ideas here. My understanding is the Steve wants a comparison of the Current Orbit Mh DE solution vs a Lumenarc, Lumenbright, etc... reflector (regardless of it being DE or SE). On top of that he was asking what do we prefer (DE or SE) and why. The Current Orbit MH reflector looks like this: That's for the reflector only, I think Steve's its inside a fixture with T5s as well. This is what a Lumenarc looks like: I understand you have reflectors that will allow you for both SE and DE, the point here was, why to choose one over the other. For me SE is more convenient as I don't need a glass pane between the bulb and the tank. Makes changing the bulb a very easy task and it is one less thing to clean. As far as reflectors, and after researching I think the Lumenarc, Lumenbrights, etc... blow the old designs out of the water... they give you better light spread, and make better use of the light bulb. But don't take my word for it. You can read some good articles online This is an interesting article on reflectors (its a bit old but the methodology is sound and the results are revealing): http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2003/feature.htm

i think you will get more out of the Lumenbright than the Orbit. I remember, over a year ago, when I was going through the design of my lighting that I read a bunch of articles and some of the reflectors out there really make a difference. I really like 2 things about the SE, no need for glass pane to protect against UV and ease of installation, without worring "too much" about touching the glass. I can replace the light bulb without taking the fixture out. When I have 2 DE 250w in my 55 I had to remove the whole fixture to replace the bulbs.

Coincidentally I had to stop the CO2 before you mentioned it, because the tube inside the peristaltic pump broke. I already replaced it with the spare one but didn't turn it on. I am almost certain it is light related Bruce. Just by changing the photoperiod and the time of the VHO I can see better blues. I have my single Lumenarc reflector supported with a chain that allows me for different heights, all the way up to 16-18 inches from the water (distance of the bulb to the water). I might try that as well. But I think I should leave things as they are for 2 weeks and then move on to the next change, otherwise I will never know what did it. If I can get better colors with less light usage i will be saving quite a bit of cash on the electric bill... so that's a plus.

Thanks for the input Tom. How about stopping the three for a few days? What do you think? I wanted to report that reducing the time the VHO Super Actinics were on and increasing the main light (MH) 1 hour (to 7 hours) has already proven a good move as I have much deeper blues. The Tort doesn't have the green tints anymore and I can see better colors out of the rest of corals with blue coloration. I am extremely happy!! I stopped dosing Potassium as I still don't have a test kit for it. Plus I didn't want to have too many factors and therefore be unable to tell which one was to blame for the green coloration on everything. I still don't know which one is to blame, the lesser time of the VHOs or the 1 hour increase with the MH, but I am pretty certain it is lighting related. The NO3 remains at 5-10. Still above 0 so I will deal with that... still I have never been able to reach 0. Thanks for all the input.

Thanks David! Yes it is!

Look at March 09 vs November 09 MARCH 09 NOVEMBER 09

You really think so?? I've been letting the coraline take over the walls because I thought the blue background kind of camouflaged the blue out of the corals and that I can see better with the purple. My wife also wants me to clean it out. I guess I'll take the razor out this weekend for a spin. The coraline is really brittle and breaks into tons of small flakes... how would you guys deal with that? If I was cleaning more often it wouldn't be an issue, but with the large amount of it all over the glass I am a bit concerned.

+1 on the JBJ ATO. I bought my JBJ from BRK almost 3 years ago. It has work flawlessly and all I do is submerge the float in vinegar for several hours every 6 months clean it and put it back in the sump. Still using the original floats switches.

You are welcome to come over anytime to have a nice cappuccino and chat about reefing! I still would like to get your input on the skimmer.

Thanks man! Big mistake selling it!!! lol What are you going to build? or are you getting out completely!

PICTURE UPDATE!

I am all up for later closing time during the week. I have no idea how much business the store gets in the morning (10-11am) so I don't know if it make sense to you as a business owner to move to a 12 to 8 or even increase it to 9pm, but as it is right now I have no chance to make it to the store during the week. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to provide some input. B.

Mg increases the buffering of the water allowing higher lvls of calcium and alk before they precipitate. I wanted to lower my alk and ca, so I'm thinking that less Mg will allow me lower it without stpobf my Kalk and Ca daily dosing.

No way!! They are back?? I had a Copper Band and he died sucked in my Close loop intake. I really like that fish, congrats on getting a healthy and aiptasia eating specimen. All the fish I ever got from BRK have done great. As a matter of fact, the only thing I got from them that died was a clam... that I guess wasn't meant to be. If I could now get my blue slimmer to turn blue.....!!

In one of the articles that Bruce linked i found this: I think that might be my case as I run 2 Super Actinic VHOs for 10 hrs and the other 2 for 9hrs. I changed it so I run actinics only 1:30 before and after the main MH. I already see more blue just one day without the VHOs! I got a low range NO3 test and I am at 5. I am also at 8 Alk and 400. From the 11 and 480 a month ago. This happened because I ran out of the Mg supplement, so I have not been dosing it automatically and rather sporadically (manual dosing). I can see the zoas in better shape. I am going to stay off the Mg for a bit see how the tank responds.