Lee Stearns

Rob- You know where I am at- come by anytime- we will dig out what ever you need form either tank or fuge. Regards, Lee

Interesting proposition- I had always believed the buffering effect of aragonite and was not terribly worried about silicate feeding diatoms. It would argue for a deep sand bed or at least one greater than 3 inches because the lower layer would not get the circulation and may go anaerobic- Whether this anaerobic N2 bubble creating area would have a lower ph and cause some release of calcium and alk form the aragonite would be an interesting question to ask Randy over on RC- Not sure what the PH of the N2 bubbles are or what the anaerobic area conditions would be that could break down nitrates to N2 gas bubbles. I will check when I get my PH meter back- I have two but one is in the calcium reactor and one is loaned

Very very nice- they show encrusting on the plugs too, so they have been growing!

Thanks!

Hey Mike or Byron- any chance of an achilles tang?

I can only say suposed effects- The garlic is fairly proven to stimulate appetite, but some add stimulate immune system- Ginger root is a natural antibiotic so a little in thier food does not seem to hurt any and in my tank the tangs will go for months with out any white spots-- then I will see one or two spots on one or another and just add the fresh ginger and fresh garlic to some of thier frozen food. And within days I do not see it any more- yep the cysts could have dropped off and went to ground and then free swimming stage again but I just do not note any ich for a long time. I believe that if the tangs are fat and happy (not stressed by another fish or the environment) then thier own immune system fights off the ich and that the garlic and ginger just gives them a bit more appetite and boost. Not fool proof but work in my tanks and in some others I have talked to around WAMAS.

I support our local vendors because I like a brick and mortar to go to for the occasional fish, shrimp or animal that I might add to my system. They have food and other basics at the same trip. BRK has the rep of being as reasonable a shopping environment as you are going to find and highly supportive of our club and responsible reef keeping as I have found. I am not beyond the occasional internet bargain- but for the most part if it takes a dollar or two to keep them available for my needs, it is well worth it.

Kalk or pickling lime is balanced calcium and alkalinity. It is all you need until you have so much sps growth that the calcium and alkalinity is being depleted faster than just adding evaporated water back into the system with Kalk mix can maintain. Just adding calcuim chloride will bump the calcium- but you will have a corresponding drop in alkaliniy- As has been said they are in a balance. This large demand of balanced calcium and alk is the point that you will find that you are adding baking powder (alkalinity) to the system to just keep it at 3.0 Meq per liter --- WHen you finally say I have to have a calcium reactor- Either that or you can used the balanced two part mixes ad infinitum to keep the balance, but it will be a daily evolutuion. The Calcium reactor puts that part of alkalinity stabiliy on auto pilot. All this being said I do not recommend getting a tank to the point that you need that much calcium to keep the corals unles you are a die hard SPS fan, and have lots of time- Water quality is several orders of magnatude more difficult when you keep a system at that high of balance point- There are an awful lot of very attractive aquariums that are fish, softie coral and or a few LPS corals that can thrive well under just adding a balanced supplement like pickling lime. And these require a lot less upkeep and thrive with the right mix of fish. Those frags you add of bali slimer and digitatas and monti cap whien first introduced are small and grow well when the system is lightly taxed for calcium and Alk - And you say wow they are doing nicely- this is not so bad and add a few more. As they grow they tax the system, they will reach the point point of needing more than balanced pickling lime can give. Be aware that there is a false sense of how simple it is until the system demands more. Full reef systems with large colonies (not just frags) are amazingly beautiful but require stability and have less forgiveness to water parameter changes. I would point most reefers to a selection of LPS, Softie and beautiful fish, and if you have to have it just one blue tort that slowly grows to a colony .

selcon on mysis and occasionally on other frozen foods- I look at is as a vitamin for the guys. I use fresh grated garlic when I see the need, IE a few ich spots on a tang- for a couple of days on thier food along with fresh ginger- but I do not use any of them on an everyday basis. Partially because of lazyness and partially because I think if it is frozen it just does not as effective, so I am not sure that I would use garlic extreme.- So if the fish need it I add, if not just the occassional selcon added. It does seem to help the sea horses as well.

Very nice! Thanks for sharing- Feel like I got my BRK fix without having to go out there! My pocket book appreciates that, sorry johnny.

I got to see Chips earlier in the week but the pics Erik were awesome. I too was out of town this weekend.

Yes, I love BRK's set up in front with the frags and that friendly sohol comming to beg for a treat. If anyone has missed it - it is well worth the trip to see that tank.

Welcome aboard- look forward to some pics of what you are doing with your tanks.

WoW has been said but could be repeated. And Yep and this is why the rest of us hate to open the door to out sump area to those that have pimped up systems-

Welcom to wamas, Good club- lots of great members who will help you with whatever you may have going- lots of great meetings , swaps and tanks to see. Looks like you have the basics set and have been reefing for a while- et us know how we can support, whether it is a baggy of sand for innoculation to chaeto for the fuge. Regards,

I second the comments on cyclopese for anthias- I think is is more like what they pick out of the water column in the wild and very nutrient rich. EVentually all of mine became pigs for whatever hits the tank but the first few weeks the cyclopese got them going esp at dawn and dusk lighting periods. Sorry about the male-

Sorry Chip , I am out of town this coming weekend- My loss- what a neat set up- would love to see the recent growth. Regards,

Mogul or DE bulbs John?

Mississippi lime bulk buy was awesome- the clubs has done it twice. Hey I beat Howard to a thread!

I just use a 5 gallon water bucket that I always have full of new salt water- I have a power head running in it all the time and a heater. Never had any issues with anything growing in it, or floating-- though I have had some calcium build up on the sides- Change out one or two 5 gallon buckets worth a week depending on if I have time- usually on friday and sunday, for a 150 gallon tank with 35 gallon fuge/sump. SO I estimate about 15-20 percet per month, just in small quantities. Simple: I just put in a rather large premeasured scoop of salt into the bucket and fill it with RO water and 24 hours later it is ready to use or it just sits till I do use it- the Power head keeps it stirred and areated- the heater at about the same temp as the tank. No terrible precision is required as it is such a small percent of the total tank water- clean out the 5 gallon bucket about once every six months. I actually use the salt water ouit of my main tank to change the water in my sea horse tank which is only a 54 gallon tank- so it is getting 10% or more a week. I then pour the sea horse tank water along the fence line in my back yard - which does a great job in keeping the weeds down along the fence I check the salinity in both the main and horse tank about once a week with a refractometer- but it is alway steady so I imagine you could go several weeks with out testing salinity. I almost never test the salinity of the new Salt Water- what is the point if the main tank is remaining about the sameand I use the same scoop of salt in a 5 gallon bucket of RODI water. Of course top off during the week for the slightly over 1 gallon per day evap rate is with fresh Ro/Di water through a kalk drip on the main tank only.

Pikling lime- usually near the vinegar.

Welcome aboard- Great club for finding out the basics and someone near you to discuss how to tweak your reef- Good socials and great frag trading and help for beginners with soft corals. Regards, Lee

Ok - I have a real mixed bag of lights that I have adjusted and added to over time. Do not have the pics to show as Yomeister66 did. Thought I would note my recent addition- I had seen how much par folks were getting out of the T5s and so I picked up a TEK T5 retro kit from BRK. I was running 4 VHO actinics and two DE 250W 10K AB metal halides. I thought to add the two T5s as white light as 440 watts of actinic VHO is plenty and I wanted to graduate the lighting though a photo period. SO I now have: VHO actinics on at 10:00 AM T5 actinic white at 12:00 MHs on at 3:30 PM MHs off at 8:00 PM T5 whites off at 10:00 PM VHO actinics off at midnight I run the lights of america 6500K light on the fuge at night off cycle of the main tank. WHen I changed out 10K Ab bulbs in the past I aclimated by leaving the top of the tank open which raised the new bulbs about 12 inches and angled the light about 30 or so degrees for a few days. When I added the T5s last week I did not do any aclimation but am runnning the MH about 2 hours less a day than I was- and see no problems in my corals aclimation- The main reason for adding the T5s was to extend bulb life on the MHs, get a bit more light at peak period, make the photo period a bit more like nature and add a bit less heat. It also burns a bit less electricity. If and when the T5 actinics ever become as effective as VHO actinic I might change out the VHO just to reduce electricity cost and get greater bulb life with some less heat- but all in all I am very pleased with my lighting now and my coral colors. Besides their is no more room in the canopy to put anything else Next toy is to get the calcium reactor up and running.

Very nice pics- tank looks great.

Very nice pics of the guys you sent me- Looks like these will not be as difficult as you thought. BRK does a fine job of acclimation.