Word. Your right. The only thing that happens fast in this hobby is BAD. :-)

Back from Maui
 

Just got back from Maui after 2 weeks, and tank and inhabitants all looking good. Parameters all near perfect, with dKh at 8, Ca at 400, and P04 and N03 both at zero. Did not feed the fish for the 2 weeks, yet they all look good and healthy. They are eating vigorously today, though. Corals all good. Glass needed a good cleaning and skimmer was pretty dirty, as expected.

Here are a few pics from today.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psbac76ae3.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2e567bdf.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps57415852.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7f2b56b3.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...pse5872c80.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps403b9ebf.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps045751eb.jpg

And my frags aren't getting any smaller. Really need to unload more of these orange digis.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps340a89a6.jpg

And a couple pics from Maui snorkeling, right outside our hotel condo.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psa31a4f82.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psfdd53df3.jpg

Looks great, very nice colouration

Did you have a flash when taking pics of the reef when snorkeling?
All my videos seem to have a lot less colour

Thanks, I have an Olympus TG-2 and is great for underwater pics.
Did not use flash. My TG-2 has several underwater settings for different exposure and shutter speeds, as well as for white balance which gives you correct color for under water. I had it on telescoping stick so was easy to use while snorkeling. The TG-3 is out now, and has wi-fi, so even better.

I did some vids as well, but haven't gone thru and edited them yet.

Update
 

Doing a little reno on this side of the tank. Still need to cut back more my pink lemonade and red planet colonies.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3b23ec7b.jpg

And some of my newest additions (boxing day).
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psdf2f04ae.jpg
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8053b301.jpg
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps28e989a5.jpg
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psc299abf7.jpg
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psd61c60f3.jpg

Never ends...
 

Just some rock encrusting left where my big pink lemonade colony used to be. But it did allow me to place some new frags.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6a653adb.jpg

Now I have a couple more space challenges to solve <sigh>...

Green bali acro getting crowded out. Looks like more pruning..., but where do I put it?...
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps45db7b3c.jpg

And my pink milli is getting eaten by my sunset monti. Will have to frag and move it somewhere,... but again, not sure where.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps81df4d7f.jpg

I got tons of space on my Tank Walter :lol:

Never ends...
 

Not sure why, but my photobucket pics above got deleted, so am reposting...

Just some rock encrusting left where my big pink lemonade colony used to be. But it did allow me to place some new frags.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps400fe9bb.jpg

Now I have a couple more space challenges to solve <sigh>...

Green bali acro getting crowded out. Looks like more pruning..., but where do I put it?...
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps23cd94f4.jpg

And my pink milli is getting eaten by my sunset monti. Will have to frag and move it somewhere,... but again, not sure where.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7cb22ac7.jpg

Well, come on over,... my clippers are ready,... and still have frags for sale on plugs, too.

nice coral. gotta hate our first world reefing problems!

Walter, tank is looking great. You have done a great job bringing out the color on those corals. May I ask what your parameters are at?

Thanks, guys, definitely still a work in progress. I need to move a few corals and rocks around more to balance the look a bit better. I have some fast growing corals crowding each other, but also some frags in other areas that are taking forever to take off.

I actually had better color and growth a year ago. But last spring I disconnected my bio pellet reactor. My nitrates had been zero for so long, and didn't seem to be consuming any pellets. That turned out to be a big mistake, as the nitrates started climbing, 5, 10 and to a high of 30 ppm before my re-installation of the bio-pellet reactor gradually brought them down again (took about 3 months)

Then in the summer, I had another big problem where my alk doser line plugged, and before I realized what was going on (I was away a lot, too), my KH had dropped to 6. I brought it back, but the damage was done. I had burned tips on some of my SPS and some were STNing as well. And full RTN on some, losing a few of my nicest pieces. During this time, my P04 also jumped a bit resulting in algae outbreaks, so my tank definitely took a few steps backward. Lost a lot of color, and most SPS basically stopped growing.

By Oct, things were under control again, and color and growth returned. At this time, everything is looking pretty good again, and even some badly damaged corals are starting to grow again. Interestingly, there were some SPS corals that were affected a lot less and bounced back more quickly. These included my pink lemonade and red planet. And of course my orange digi weeds never did miss a beat.

I keep my nitrates at zero all the time now, with my bio pellet reactor. I also try to keep my phosphates at zero or close to (Hanna checker). When they get up to about 0.04, I change my GFO (usually every couple months). I do stir up my GFO in the reactor every 3 weeks or so, which seems to make it last longer. But after stirring it up, and not dropping back down on my Hanna, then I know it is time to change it.

I dose Ca and alk. Ca is usually about 400 -420, and KH 8 - 9. I add Mg when I do water changes and try to keep it around 1400. Temp is around 78F.

Thanks for the replay Walter! I am in the mist of getting some all in one pellets and hopefully only run one reactor in the tank. I will let you know how it goes and maybe get you to switch..:biggrin:

Yes, have heard of them... And will be very interested to see how they work for you.

It's nice to hear that everything is doing well now.

I think the long wait is over, I will dropped by there soon. I'll shoot you a pm. :lol:

By the way, what GFO do r u using?

I use the HC GFO, from various sources.

Your tank is looking great Walter! :D

Thanks, Janet, everything is healthy and growing good now. But I still need to do some rearranging to get some corals better placed, and maybe make some room for others. I just need to figure out how to do it, without tearing my whole tank apart...

PS: I do want to make it over to your place sometime to see your tank. Your pics were awesome.

Sorry to hear about your problems keep testing the water. What is that red lavender marron acro you got

Problems were last summer. Water and tank are good now. Coral color and growth have returned.

Are you referring to my red planet?

Crappy day outside,... so let's take some pics.
 

Why I like SPS... Got this frag about a month ago, was completely white, now starting to show some interesting colors.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psa1pfbfrb.jpg

What was left of my Pink Lemonade colony,...encrusting is starting to show branches already. Won't be long before I have another giant colony from this one. It has very good genes...
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psel7eqd94.jpg

Another recent frag. Looks a lot like my Pink Lemonade encrusting,... but the mother colony was more fuzzy yellow, so will have to wait and see.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psqgkk2gej.jpg

Not sure what this recent frag is either. But seems to be settling in nicely.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...pslxfpd99v.jpg

Some of my old favs.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psdj9faqce.jpg
And from another angle.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psj8acby58.jpg

This one's been around for a while, but had to move it a couple times due to being crowded out by my plague mushrooms.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psreuq22eo.jpg

Red Planet color and growth has returned.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psvi7uosmn.jpg

My poor Setosa still losing the war with the Red Planet. But it is spreading elsewhere...
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psogu3gegf.jpg

Sunset Monti doesn't lose any wars... Latest victim was my Pink Milli, which I had to frag and move.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psw6nzn5aw.jpg

Bonzai trying to escape the mushrooms...
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psnjwdlmeh.jpg

Pearlberry(?) doing fine...
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps73cupkzt.jpg

Green Bali getting crowded out, too.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...pschylitei.jpg

Nothing can stop this Valida...
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psfxsipgcc.jpg

Miyagi Tort
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psp5ojr2yq.jpg

Amazing pictures walter. What is the blue sps you have 7 pictures down? Its awesome looking.

Looks great Walter! How about a full tank shot buddy?

Thanks, Nick. It's a blue milli.

Thanks Rich. You know,... for the life of me, I can't take good FTS's. I always have poor focus and/or reflection off the glass (acrylic). Not sure if it is the cameras I have tried or just me. And the color is not right either (WB).

But I did take some not too long ago, so maybe I'll post a couple pics.

Full Tank Shots
 

OK, here are the FTS's, from about a month ago. But not a lot has changed since then.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psmt04tzh7.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psiy0ky6ky.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psmyjtgngj.jpg

Wow. Nice corals & pics. Superb colours.

I mean, c'mon! You've only been reefing a few years and your tank looks like that?
Did you make a deal with the Devil? Practice underwater voodoo? Sacrifice your first born?
Absolutely incredible! BRAVO!

Ya Warren it's a beautiful tank for sure, nice setting in the wall of the kitchen beside the center island. Great job Walter.

You're all way too kind, but thanks. Have had my ups and downs, and lots of lessons learned. And the journey continues,... still wrestling with a few challenges. I guess that's what keeps us in the hobby. If it was easy, it would be boring.

Had the camera in the tank for a few frag shots, so also did a few colonies for a journal update. Not a lot of change in my tank, just everything getting a little bigger and some pruning needed here and there.

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psa0etotta.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psyhbwrwr5.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psbdhiieby.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psdxmxry0f.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psdekbxqag.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6hg62wp9.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psdic8ajke.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psxe14npij.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6kxmio6k.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psa5wv4iit.jpg

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psbyfxoa1b.jpg

lovely corals
Growing quite well

Awesome shots

Nice couloration.

WOW.

Holy hell.......jaw dropping!

Thanks, everyone.

Lots of great looking stuff, well done!

Thanks, Greg. And for the inspiration with your beautiful tank and helpful advice to all of us.

Tanks looking awesome Walter!