Triggerjays new 125g Build thread

[framerguy]

It looks like a species of Favites though deciding which one would be tough.

Nice corals!

I thought I recognized Johns name from somewhere, I check his goni site a lot.

[Frankie]

Looks great Jason! I thought there is supposed to be about 2" of water above the media in a ca++ reactor?
I like the 20 long carbon idea. Can you refill the pads so you can save money?
You should send that acro to me I can see its a Fish frag. I recognize the cement plug

[Triggerjay]

Not sure about the media level in the CA reactor,... John filled it up. It has about 2" below... don't know if that makes a difference... The level has already dropped slightly since it was installed... (used up some media). My CA tests at 430 now,... PH stable at about 8.1 ish... Wish I could get it up a little more.. I still need to run my skimmer air intake outside. I am thinking of bringing in a 2" PVC line, with an inline HEPA filter, then plumb the 2" to accept my air line from the skimmer.. this way I don't reduce the CFM to the skimmer with the restriction of such a long run on the air intake at 3/8".. this should give me the volume, and air filtration I desire to use outside air, and help to raise my PH a little. We have a lot of pollen in our area this time of year, and I think it might be bad to suck it into the tank water,.. hence the hepa filter..

Jason

[tbittner]

Fantastic job! Your goni looks really healthy too. How long have you had it? It's definitely an Expert only coral.

You can find and download software, for free, that will stitch pics together. Some do better jobs than others but what do you expect for free?

[Triggerjay]

I may try to photoshop it. That particular specimen
of goni is about 6 years old. It has been in my possesion for a little over a year, and has grown out about 3/4" all the way around. This species can be difficult to find,
but fare
much better than the typical green "flower pot" variety in captivity. Even with John Kelly being a personal friend, I still killed a green goni. John told me that the greens and pinks a the most common, but fare the worst in captivity. Thanks 4 lookin!

Jason

[tbittner]

SIX YEARS??!?!? Whoa!!! That is the LONGEST time that I know of for keeping one of these in our aquariums.

And that is great to know that all goni's don't have the same requirements. It really is pretty!

[Triggerjay]

Originally Posted by tbittner

SIX YEARS??!?!? Whoa!!! That is the LONGEST time that I know of for keeping one of these in our aquariums.

And that is great to know that all goni's don't have the same requirements. It really is pretty!

Thanks. Here is a couple of older shots of it:
It was in my old 55g tank here:



You can see it in the far back of the tank here. My old diamond watchman liked to cover my corals with sand:


This was it right after I put it in the 125g:




And the above pic again for comparison. All the whiter polyps are new growth:


Jason

[Triggerjay]

And some Blasto growth comparison pics:
Then: (9-10-07 shortly after purchase)


Now:


Frogspawn growth:
Then (9-10-07)


Now:


Candy Cane:
Then: (Kind of hard to see it.. Middle-upper-left)


Now:


Jason

[Triggerjay]

lol, you can see my camera skills have improved slightly too!

Jason

[Frankie]

Love that second to last shot!

[lcstorc]

Great growth shots.

[Triggerjay]

Thanks guys...

I just finished testing my water, and params are as follows:
PH 8.4 - Red Sea kit
Temp 79*
Sg 1.024 via refractometer
Alk 1.8 meq/l converts to 5.04dkh or 90ppm- Red Sea kit
Calcium 400ppm IO Reefmaster kit, and Red Sea Kit
Nitrates >5ppm IO Reefmaster kit
Ammonia 0 API test kit
Nitrites 0 API test kit
Phosphate .03ppm Salifert test kit
Magnesium 640

Mag and Alk show low, but this was both using a Red Sea kit. I will get different kits, or have LFS check it to verify. If these #'s are true, whats the fix? I assume the Alk can be corrected with the calcium reactor, and I can prob dose Mag? whats your opinions?

Jason

[Triggerjay]

Ok, after a little reading, If I increase the Co2 count on the reactor, it should boost Alk and calcium both, but the flow rate to the tank from the reactor will need to be adjusted to maintain proper PH within the reactor to prevent the media from dissolving too fast. It also looks as if my Mag may be a major contributing factor on the low Alk. I have a little room to play with the reactor, as my calcium is only 400ppm, so I can safely increase the Alk to 8.4 dKH, and the calcium should settle around 425PPM, but the mag will remain low. If I add Mag, it should raise both the Alk and calcium without having to play with the reactor too much. I feel that until I get the Magnesium level where it needs to be, tuning the reactor would be a waste of time, as things would still be out of balance.

Jason

[framerguy]

I agree with the waste of time comment. Get the alk in balance then mess with it.

Keeping a Goni for six years is amazing! I had a red one that did absolutely wonderful for about nine months, then in two weeks it croaked. A long time ago I tried a green one before realizing they didn't fare as well and it didn't last long at all no matter what I did. I feel like I did everything correctly as per Johns website but they are tough to keep. Congratulations on a job well done!

[Triggerjay]

Originally Posted by framerguy

I agree with the waste of time comment. Get the alk in balance then mess with it.

Keeping a Goni for six years is amazing! I had a red one that did absolutely wonderful for about nine months, then in two weeks it croaked. A long time ago I tried a green one before realizing they didn't fare as well and it didn't last long at all no matter what I did. I feel like I did everything correctly as per Johns website but they are tough to keep. Congratulations on a job well done!

You mean get the Mag in check, then mess with the reactor right?

I have not had the Goni 6 years, The guy who had it before me had it 5 years, then I got it. I have only had it for a year. I dont want people to misunderstand. Sorry for the confusion.