Mr. Saltwater Tank

Mr. Saltwater Tank TV Friday Am Quick Tip #86: Take A Risk And Maybe You’ll Win


The risk/reward curve increases as you move right and up. Β Here’s a way to save some money if you are willing to throw caution to the wind.

Browse the Store! Questions?

Comments for this article (34)

  • Daniel Ransom says:

    Good tip Mark. I know my LFS have some that have browned. See If I can cut a deal πŸ™‚

  • Mark H. says:

    Good tip Mark, I have bought alot of fish/corals to were looking a little ragged and nursed them back to good health.

    I have been told that I have a “Blue Thumb” for this, but the fish/corals are keep in a seperate tank until the are healthly enough for the show tank.

  • colin mckee says:

    hi mark. when you do a water change on your tank do you add cal and mag to the freashly made salt water so that it’s the same level as your water in your tank before you change the water ?

  • BobbyReef says:

    you the man marky mark

  • Matt says:

    Bobby… your a one line guy all of a sudden… πŸ˜€

    Nice… turn us into Reef Junkies and gamblers … That would be one heck of a group meeting … I like it… lol

  • Daniel says:

    Mark,
    Great tip! Quick question…What type of fish is that in the background?

  • Daniel…female Bellus Angelfish

  • Matt…I noticed you haven’t been coming to the Friday Reef Junkie meetings. What’s up with that?!

  • Bobby…I keep my standing for another week! Awesome! πŸ˜€

  • Mark H…”blue thumb”! I like it!

  • Daniel…work the hard line. Don’t leave until your demands are met! πŸ˜€

  • Matt says:

    Working on it mate… You tell me where and when and I’ll do my best… πŸ˜€

  • Tony says:

    Mark, whats the secret ingredient food, vitamins, etc, that you use to pull the most color out of your acros?

  • Matman says:

    I sometime take the risk with brown acros. They usually color pretty quickly in my low nutrient system with some zeovit additives! The red LEDs on the radion also helps getting that brown off faster.

  • Buddy says:

    Nice tip, I’m always looking for a deal.. πŸ™‚

  • Kerric says:

    On the flip side of this…if anyone is sick of their really colorful acro colonies they can send them to me to brown out for them! My tank is really good at making all of the SPS one color…it’s kind of a tanning salon for SPS. Arrrrg!

  • Ray says:

    Great tip, Mark! I have seen many brown corals before at my LFS. I have heard of letting them take time to color up. But,you know, it’s like the lottery. You win, or don’t. By the way, speaking of SPS corals, what are some hardy ones for beginners?

  • Leonard says:

    Mark, I have been battling acro brown out on a couple of my frags for a while now. All my chemistries look good. Do you have any suggestions?

  • Leonard…when you say your chemistries are good, can you explain? Phosphate levels, temp, nitrate levels, etc?

    And has anything big changed on your tank?

  • Leonard says:

    Mark,
    Yes, my last test showed the following:
    sp gravity 1.026
    nitrate 0
    phosphate .002
    alk 11.2
    ammonia 0
    calcium 550
    ph 7.9
    temp 78.8

    Thanks, Leonard

  • Leonard says:

    Mark,
    I have made no new hardware changes to my tank in several months. The last was the bio pellet reactor. I added it because I was having a phosphate problem and this seems to have remedied that. Maybe the phosphates running around 0.9 for a while could have contributed to the problem but shouldn’t it improve by now? I have LED’s running on my tank for 8 hours a day.

  • Jack says:

    Good tip. Even though I don’t have corals I love watching your shows.
    I do have a question. I have a 75 gallon tank. My fish have gotten mild ich. Before this gets out of hand I would like to treat it.
    Should I move the fish to quarantine and treat with copper or hyposalinity or a different treatment.
    Thanks

  • Stephanie says:

    Great tip!

    Your G. bellus is a real beauty and on my dream list! They’re so hard to find! I’ll have to look through your posts to see if you’ve remarked on your experience with her so far.

  • Christopher says:

    Mark,

    How do I order all of your books/guides? The July sale links have expired, but I can’t seem to find a regular link anywhere on the site. Am I blind?

  • Stephanie…she’s been a great addition to my tank. She touches no coral and is very curious when I approach the tank. Live Aquaria has them regularly. The males are the ones that are hard to find.

  • Christopher, at the moment my guides are not available. You can put your name on the list to be notified when they are available again here: http://www.mrsaltwatertank.com/getstarted

  • Leonard…I’d suspect either your lighting (too little, too much or old bulbs) or big parameter swings. Corals don’t like the roller coaster ride of parameter swings

  • Ray…green slimer, digitata and montipora are great starter SPS corals.

  • Ray says:

    Thanks Mark! πŸ˜‰

  • Ray says:

    Mark, I also have another thing too a little on the other side of things. When your tank is ready for more fish, try getting a black ocellaris and regular ocellaris clownfish pair. It’s actually possible and very easy! You can even get the clownfish from different tanks. Try different sizes for easier pairings. When done, you”ll have an awesome fish pair to show off!!! πŸ™‚

  • Jordan Roth says:

    I need to move into Corals….

  • Ben says:

    Mark, I was thinking of makeing my own base rock to turn into live rock iv seen some videos on but was wondering your take on it any info would be helpfull I’m still new 1 year in the hobby thanks

  • Ben…base rock is often more solid than it is porous, hence the name “base rock”. If it is more solid than porous, I’d avoid it.

  • Ben says:

    Ok thanks mark the stuff I’m going to make is pretty porous the water will pretty much run tru it I guess from the DIY videos iv been watching on makeing it thanks again great web site I always look forward for Fridays for the quick tip and I only have to work half day on friday during the summer lol

Comments are closed.