dgasmd

Pez: My source is the talk he gave at MACNA and at the CMAS meeting a month ago. Both were the same. From looking at his data, there is some merit to it. I don't think it is the entire story by far and there are way too many variables. Nevertheless, I think he has a point in some respects. From the data he showed though, we DO NOT have enough lighting or flow. The problem is we have limited space volume to provide it. George is right when he says you can't put 10 x 400 watt halides and 6 ampmaster 3000 in a 120 gal tank. It is just not possible. Doesn't mean the corals wouldn't do much better in a larger tank that can withstand much more flow ad much more volume. Then again, what ia the limit? A coral you can sit there and literally see it grow? I don't know. I am still going to provide all the lighting and flow I can within reason. Live food is a huge factor and one that has not been explored enough. Alberto

Just like ICEMAN, I am also running the 20K on e-ballast. Superb color in my opinion. I couldn't see running anything else, but to each its own preference. According to Dana Riddle and his lighting research, he found that since all of our tanks are so under powered when it comes to lighting, it really doesn't matter wat we put in our tanks. The corals will see it as light at 200+ feet depth on a cloudy day anyways. As far as color, he has also found it makes no difference and it is 98% for our own personal preference. He did find that for good color development, blue is needed. I currently have a four 400 watt 20K over my 360. I am leaving it as is for now since I have no money for a while, but when I move and the tank comes down, I am redoing the canopy insides and will add another 3 or 4 400watt 20K Another thing Mr Riddle seem to have found is that water flow is much much much more important to their growth, color, and development than the lighting we are able to provide. So, I will add another close loop with an ampmaster 3000. I highly suggest you look at different set ups with these 20k on PFO HQI and on eballast. The PFO will run them so blue it is almost purple. The HQI is very white and more intense, but burns the bulb quicker. I personally think the eballast is the best of both worlds. Alberto PS: sorry if I rambled on.

I am going to give this one more try and see what happens. I'll use George's method since I ahve some of that same phytoplankton sitting here and have not been using it.

Tony: Setting up a Ca reactor is not that difficult. At least that is what everybody tells me since I have never set one up either. I have one for sale now and I am waiting for a giant size one for my larger system. It is supposed to be here tomorrow. The one I bought originally won't be big enough. Most people seem to feed the reactor with a small powerhead. Once you fill it up with media and water, turn the powerhead on to completely fill it up. Then, just follow the directions Andy sent. By the way, I may need a copy of them since I assume they will apply to my reactor too. That of course is if you don't mind. Most people tell me that you have to wait about 24 hours after you make a chance in CO2 bubble count or effluent rate to see the true results. Keep in mind that they are not good at raising levels, but they keep it there. I think of them as adding what the tank is consuming daily unless the consumption is much higher than the supply and you will see your levels rise up. As far as media, they are all about the same for what I ahve read. Lots of people use crush coral since it is so cheap with great results. Geofloors here and others use it. I plan to do the same as well. What particular questions do you ahve that I could maybe help with?? Alberto

Does anyone know this guy? Where is he located? That is one sweet set up.

8 OZ??? I guess that is only for you guys with the little skimmers LOL...... :D :D In my neiborhood, people do a gallon at one time. Try to work your way up to that and tell me how it went LOL......... :D

I just got done with the first bottle. Can't say I see any noticeable difference except that since my sand bed is virgin I see more pods and little critters than expected. Most smaller sponges seemed to plump up, but I don't know if it was the rotipods or the excess nutrients in the tank secondary to the death os some fish in the rock work. It is cheapper than buying DT, so I may give it a try again for3 months and see.

I just posted some pictures of my recently set up 360 gal tank + 100 gal sump in the gallery section. Coral pictures later on when I get some time. They are mostly small frags though. We'll se one year from now!! Alberto :D

These skimmers do kick butt. I have the aerofoamer 848 ran by a iwaki 100 and it is awesome!! I thought I had a very good skimmer with my 6 feet tall CC, but now I know better!!!

Have you contacted them to see if they have new shipments or at least large amounts of corals/frags inhouse?? If they do, let me know. Alberto

Thanks for all the sympathy. Eddi: I am going to actually do a 100 gal water change tomorrow. Then, I am going to wait for 2 months before I add anything else and will quarintine the h*ll out of it before I add it to the main tank. I ahve so muhc rock, hiding places between the rocks, and so many corals that it is impossible to get them out once they are in the tank. My other clown fish died and my yellow tang is also severely sick too. The only fish that shows no signs whatsoever is the 6 line wrasse. Then again, he is the only fish left besides the moribund yellow tang. Alberto

Well, they did die. All is left now is the clown, yellow tang, and 6 line wrasse. :( I need a drink ???

Are you planning on making enough cultures to sell a gallon here and there or is it just for personal consumption? I wouldn't mind buying a couple of gallons of each a week if the price was fairly reasonable. This is something that is beyond my personal inclination to do. Alberto

Well, I am pretty upset right now. I have 2 dead fish and 2 more to join them by tomorrow for sure. Let me give more history. About 4 weeks ago, I bought a 360 gal tank set up used. I wanted to trasnplant my 125 into it. The 125 had been thriving and the fish were healthy, growing, and eating well. The corals had colored up pretty nicely and all the frags were growing. I figured the bigger tank would be nothing but a huge improvement to an excellent stock. While the set up was being done, the contents of the 125 were put in a 100 gal rubbermaid tub under NO bulbs. This lasted 2 weeks!! At the end, all the corals remained alive but had turned poo poo brown in color. 2 of the fish died: mandarin and a citron goby (hated him anyways for eating my acropora polyps). All the contents were moved to the new tank. Everything looked great. Going from 960 watts of VHO to 1200 watss fo MH with 20K bulbs was a great move. Corals are already coming back in colors and some are developing new colors they never had. The fish were doing great, so I had the stupid idea of adding some more fish since the tank was new with much more room, better skimmer, and all. Got a flame angel and a hyppo tang. They looked very healthy and were eating well. I had never quarintine fish although I know I should. What happened next? An outbreak of an angry case of killer ich!! My flame angel has not been seen in 2 days (presumed dead inside the rock work), my gorgeous powder blue dies today after getting coated so bad overnight that it looked like I coated him with south down sand, my naso tang and hippo tang are likely to be dead by tomorrow since they are both coated and already show body errosions and opened sores. I tried getting these guys out for treatment, but getting even these dying fish out of a 360 gal tank with about 400 lb of rock is only wishful thinking! :angry: On the other hand, my yellow tang, clown, blenny, royal gramma ( which I now realize I haven't seen in 2 days either), and 6 line wrasse look as if nothing is going on. I still don't know if it was the new fish that brought it in (very likely ), the shock of the move that brought it on, the larger temp swings with the lights on, going from deep sand bed to dead DSB, the rise in nitrates from constant 0 to about 15 PPM, or what the f.... In any case, I am extremely upset. I loved these fish and this is a huge loss for me. I had had kept freshwater fish for 12 years before and never lost a fish once. Not even when I was collecting the rare, disease prone, and expesive goldfish. I had never had a disease with saltwater or even lost a fish until now. Needless to say, I am not buying any fish for a couple of months. Even then, quarintine and treatment before they make it to the main tank. I guess lerning the hard way is the stupidiest and worst way for some of us. Sorry for the post, but I had to vent somehow. :(

As some of you know, my new tank has been set up and running for 2 weeks now. The 2 weeks the corals and fish stayed in the tub lit by NO bulbs was extremely hard on them. All the corals turned poo poo brown. Now under the 20K 400 watss they are coloring up again and some gaining new colors. The tangs were so stressed out that noew they are coming down with and angry evil form of ich. The tank is so large I can't get them out!! The other point I understimated big time is that with my previous sand bed the nitrates were 0 at all times. Since I switched to the new tank with a new sand bed the nitrates have come up to like 15 PPM. To add more insult, the pump I had ordered for a close loop came in wrong, so I had to send it back and I am still waiting for the new one. It will be another week at least! My poor powder blue, naso, and hippo are so full of ich they looked like I coated them with south down sand!! :( I just hope they make it through this. If they don't, it will be a few months before I replace these guys. This is pretty upsetting because I had great luck with this powder blue. So much personality and so much health. He has also grown in the few months I had him. I am still devating whether I will set up a refugium or not. I did buy a 100 gal rubbermaid tub for it, but may end up using it for extra volume only and to do water changes from it. We'll see. Sorry about the post, but I ahd to vent some anger somehow!!

Well, I can see the board now the way it was at the begining. This is great!!!!!!!!!! :p :p :p :p

Heck, I would be upset about that too! That I would think is a no no, especially in someone's store that is trying to be supportive of the club and hobby. I mean, he still needs to make bussiness and make sales to pay bills. I think it is great he is allowing the get together at the store and bringing in a shipment of corals with the meet in mind. I hope people have the common decency to not bring corals to trade with others. If you want to trade him some I would think it is OK, but with others I would think it is crossing the line. Maybe that can be done at the regular WAMAS meeting.

PEZ: No need to take this personal and get defensive. I did not mean to imply it is your fault in any way. I ahve never had a complain about you guy's work with the site. I just find it odd that the board looked and worked just fine in my computer under Netscape after it came back on and continued to work fine for days. Then, the second time it went out it came back all screwed up and hasn't changed since. The CMAS board is also an IKON board and I am able to see it just fine from Netscape. I thought it was maybe my computer, so I cleared the cache and have rebooted a few times since and nothing changed. Maybe it is my computer still.

I was the one that posted originally. I actually saw the post on the CMAS site and called and asked about the discount. I was told over the phone 15% off and that he would honor the discount, which I was told then was 15% for a total of 30% off. I did go to the store yesterday and the discount was only 10% as you pointed out. I don't understand if you implied that he was upset he has to honor the club discount and not make more money off the sales. I say this because I actually found out about it through his post on a club's post. In any case, the guy was extremely nice and helpful. He had lots of frags, which is the only thing I will personally buy and he was even willing to sell me a tiny frag of a colony he had since I was not interested in buying the entire thing. Will definately come back when he has a larger selection even if the sales (just the club's discount) discount is not there.

Well, this BB has turned into a pain in the a.... with having to open another browser and all to be able to see anything and post!!

Well, Coral Connection had put a small post in the CMAS site and I though I pass it on here. They have a 15% off sale on all livestock this weekend. I spoke with them a few minutes ago and they are also throwing in the WAMAS discount on top of that, which makes it a total of 30% on livestock only. I may swing by tomorrow and see what frags I can ****** for my tank. Have never been there though and have no connection to them. I just figured people my take advantage of it. Usual legal disclaimer applies here. :p Alberto

As some of you know, I just finished setting up my 360 gal tank. It has 4 inch of SD sand, but it is all new. I know the LR will seed it in time, but I want to accelerate the process a bit by adding some LS. If you are near the Baltimore area, I would love to get some live sand from you. I can come pick it up. I will take as much as you can spare and can replace the volume with some SD from a bag if you'd like. Just reply to my personal e-mail since I am having a ton of problems accessing the BB from my home computer on Netscape. Thanks, Alberto dgasmd@netscape.net

Michael is right about survival rates been pretty low. Nevertheless, there is quite a few people that are able to keep them for extended periods of time (2 year+). As far as their diet, it is well known they eat sponges, veggies, and just about anything else. Rarely if ever do they pick on SPS or LPS, but have been known to pick on some of the softies. I did an extensive search in RC and the concensus seems that they require large amounts of swiming room. Most people that keep them have 180+ gal of open water for them to swim. They also seem to be pretty easily intimidated by other fish. The key is to find an specimen that is eating well, swiming about, picking at things and looking around curious. They have the best survival rate as low as it may be. This is a fish I would NEVER get mail order. Like I said, there a replenty of people keeping them, but you just don't hear about it much since like me they get crucified in RC when even mentioning the name of the fish. Do a search there and you'll find plenty of good info after you get passed the hostile replies to some posts.

the board looks great in IE, but when I go to it from Netscape 7, it is incredibly degraded and it does not even have a lot of the function icosn like post or reply. I can't post anything from there It was working fine for days actually after the change in boards and now all of the suddent it is a handicap running low on sugar..........

What's a big ATS???? By the way, there is a current thread in RC about bottomless tanks. Some interesting points of view there to read and consider.