Samantha's 50 Gallon Mixed Reef Aquarium

And, now for the other new acquisitions...

Teal Hammer Coral:


Green Slimer:


Season's Greetings Monti:


Pokerstar Monti:


Green Acan:



I'm going to try to take real good care of all of these corals for you Nicholas! Good luck with your new set-up!

Beautiful pictures Samantha, I can't wait to see how all of these grow in your tank!

WOW! I haven't updated this in FOREVER! Whoops...

Okay! Time for an update!


Update:

So...

This summer it was time for me to change out my T5 bulbs, and I decided that I was sick of spending my money (and using up all of my birthdays/Christmases) on light bulbs.


Solution: Switch to LED lighting!

Anyway... I did a lot of research, and, IMO, AI Sols were the best option. They have been tested for a long time, and, while there are plenty of nay-sayers, many people have had great success with them. Also, people have been selling used AI Sols for a good price lately because of the new Vega.

So, I bought 2 used AI Sol fixtures this August and am currently in the process of acclimating my tank to the LEDs.

Wish me luck! Lots of people love or hate these LEDs, and I'm hoping I'll be in the former category!

I'll keep you all updated...

Time for an update...

Well, shortly after switching to the AI Sols, many of my corals started declining. In the past month, I've lost the majority of chalices from Nicholas and many corals are still bleaching...

HOWEVER, it turns out that the issue may not be the new LEDs. I had been blaming the LEDs this past month and tinkering with them every week trying to make the corals happier...BUT, then I decided to test my water just to make sure everything was okay. AND BOY WAS I WRONG! My Alkalinity had dropped to levels equivalent for a FRESHWATER TANK!!!

Anywho, these past few weeks I've been trying to get my Alk back in check. It's weird, because I can get it up to around 10dkh, but it falls back to 7dkh by the next day. Most of my corals are bleaching, not growing, so I'm not sure what is using up the Alk...

Hopefully, I'll get things normal again soon. MORAL OF THE STORY: Testing your water is SMART and will SAVE YOU A LOT OF CORALS and MONEY!

ive heard that there is a way to max out the amount of dosing possible in a tank and still have low alk (too many corals) resulting in swings but i doubt you have that many corals?

howre you dosing your alk?

I can't imagine that i just have soooooo many corals that i've maxed out. It's so weird because this has never been an issue...

I've been dosing with Part A & B, baking soda, and now Brightwell's Alkalinity booster stuff.

that is weird.. there was something else that could cause alk swings.. i wish i remembered it.. :\

Remember, Eric!

this isn't it but plants/algae can cause huge alk swings

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=306527

maybe that'll help, i'll keep looking(:

Thanks, Eric

I love your tank sam , very nice , where did you get that sticker on your sump I must have one , also Mr grump gills

Thanks, Wes! I got the sticker on Ebay; there were a bunch of funny ones to choose from.

that one just sums up what I think , touch my tank and die , I even hide the fish food when people come over lol

xwesx1978 wrote:

that one just sums up what I think , touch my tank and die , I even hide the fish food when people come over lol

Yeah, whenever my cousins come over I hide all of the food, magfloats, etc. The last time they helped my "magfloat" my tank I found sand everywhere and the glass scratched...

Still struggling trying to keep my Alkalinity up. Dosing Part A and B in the morning and Brightwell's Alkalinity 8.3 stuff in the evening.

Took some pics trying to get a good shot for the October PotM, so figured I'd post a few of the good ones here...

ORA Hawkins (the PotM I entered):


Acro and Monti conglomeration:


Sean and Sydney in the Hammer Coral:

Say goodbye to the 50 gallon! I'm in the process of upgrading to a 100 gallon!!

Before:


After:



My 50 gallon kind of looks like a black lagoon right now. All fish and corals have been moved to the new tank. No losses so far (but I accidentally fragged a few corals in the process). Look out for my new build thread for the 100 gallon!

That is one gross looking mess you've got there!

Can't wait to see what you do with the new tank!!

Can't wait either ... Plans for the old tank as well ?

Plan is to sell it