mogurnda

I have some flexibility. Sending PM.

I just used a cheap waterproof light socket, and am hanging the bulb bare over the fuge.

I switched to this recently: http://www.amazon.com/VicTsing-Highest-Efficient-Greenhouse-Hydroponic/dp/B018IAWHWC/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1462721649&sr=1-1&keywords=36+watt+led+hydroponics Sorry to hear the MicMol died. The Vic Tsing 36 watt should give you a lot better growth.

For this particular experiment, we are just working out kinks using E. clarki, because other people have already used them and we know what to expect. This is helping in a huge way as we are assembling equipment and protocols for E. diomedea in Baja. We only have five weeks down there, and are about 12 hours from molecular biology supplies. When the fun experiments start (neurobiology and behavior), E. clarki will be the star of the show, because they can be obtained easily and I have been able to rear them. Yes! More is better. You asked for it. This is what a "relaxed" slug looks like. Basically a frilly green pancake with rhinophores (a.k.a., bunny ears). After surgery, a small divot on her left side (bottom). The next day, zooming around and looking for food. We did not get a signal this time around, either because we did not take a big enough piece or (more likely) the mucus interfered with the extraction or PCR reaction. It was really slimy and disgusting. Other labs have figured out workarounds, so I need to write a few emails.

Isotonic MgCl2. Molluscs are nice, in that they rapidly absorb whatever you soak them in. If you replace all the other salts with MgCl2, impulse propagatioon and synaptic transmission stop, and they don't have a care in the world. In the literature, it is called "relaxing" them. She woke up after about an hour, and did not seem too traumatized by the event.

If you can find a way to keep them from being sucked into pumps, I might loan you a few while I am traveling this summer. And yes, they cleared those zoanthids in a few days. They eat like pigs, and are now enormous. The primers are specific to the rbcL gene. I designed primers for both Halimeda discoidea and Bryopsis plumosa (because I had identified both species, and because the sequence in available for both). Turns out the reverse primer is identical for both species. To geek out a little further, I used a pretty low annealing temp so that I would get product even if there were a few differences in sequence. Rather than using the primers to figure out who's who, which can be a slow process, I will just send the amplified DNA off for sequencing and use the database to figure out the species. It will be a little tricky for some species, but sequencing is so cheap that I can mess around a bit. Today, the students finally got to the point we have been aiming for all semester. I knocked out a slug, snipped off a piece of parapodium, and they did an extraction and ran PCR. Given how full they are of Bryopsis chloroplasts right now, we should get a nice signal. Then I can be sure it will work on the Pacific species, E. diomedea, when I am in Baja this summer. Amazing that people are still just guessing at what they eat.

Look ma, no Bryopsis! (sam field as above)

That would be great. Any little bit helps.

They're slurping away. We'll see how quickly they can take care of the new mass of food. The it looks like the babies eat it, but the adults won't seem to touch it. Thanks, though.

Yummmm....

I can't believe how much the gals are eating right now. Until last week, my production had been keeping up, and ERC just dropped off some beautiful algae yesterday, but they are like a small herd of cows. I am starting a second dedicated algae propagation tank, so if you have a good growth you would like to dump off, let me know.

Looks like the tank I started reefing with many years ago! Welcome! I would focus on corals and inverts, and keep just a few fish. A pair of clowns or Banggai cardinals, plus a goby or two would be good. A couple of cleaner shrimp would add color and activity. lots of other possibilities. You could keep just about any corals with that light, but filling the tank with softies, rather than stony corals, would reduce the demand for calcium and carbonate, simplifying your dosing needs while you get the hang of things. You might also consider a large anemone as a centerpiece, rather than corals. Whatever you do, it would be good to increase circulation, with an Ecotec MP-10 or an equivalent. The single most important thing is to take it slow and easy, and enjoy. Let it cycle, enjoy the succession of algae blooms, and ask lots of questions.

Thanks, both of you. Will double check on the app. intrigued by the wireless version, but not holding my breath.

I have been using a Biotec Marine USB PAR meter with my laptop, and it has been great. I may be leaving it with a group of students for several weeks this summer, and it they will have more access to Ipads than laptops. Before I start trying adaptors, I was wondering if anyone is using a Biotec or Apogee PAR meter with a tablet.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. There would still be a valve to each tank, but they would come off a single manifold directly under the header tank. My original thought was to use a vertical pipe with valves at each level. In retrospect, that does not make as much sense.

Wow! It took me a little while to find time to map this out. That's room for a lot of frags! I think my strategy will be a little different, with all the tanks in the system fed by a single manifold from the header tank. One concern I did not mention earlier was that each tank receives the same nutrient load. If a tank with thriving algae gets the water first, then the next one in line will get short shrift. I guess this approach is more common than I thought. That is exactly the same idea, but is making me rethink the plumbing. I had originally planned to put the valves to the tanks at the level of the individual tanks, but it might be better to approach it like the septic system and have a single manifold below the header tank.

That's why I am trying to find people who have made it work. The system is in a non-lab area, and the facilities people would have my head if there was a major spill. I do have a moisture detector on the floor that will shut off the return, just in case. I'd like to argue that it was bombproof because Martin Moe used it, but he was known for spilling a lot of water.

My concern is that the rules may get more complicated when dealing with multiple tanks on three levels. Always good to have a safety valve. That is brilliant. I seem to recall The Krib actually had a section devoted to building fish rooms, if it's still around. You are describing it just about the way I had envisioned it. I am not horribly concerned about regulating the flow precisely, but I do want to maintain it steadily within the range that provides adequate turnover without saturating the overflows in the individual tanks. Right now I am using a manifold from the return, but flow pattern to all the other tanks changes if one outlet becomes overgrown and increases resistance. Because a significant fraction of the system is, and will continue to be, devoted to growing nuisance algae, something will always get overgrown before I catch it. With more tanks, the complexity goes up, so the header tank is intended to act as a buffer.

All good thoughts, Tom. MM did not appear to use a second overflow to prevent spills, but it seems like a very good idea. He used a single vertical standpipe from the header, with valves controlling flow from the standpipe to the tanks. Seems like I will have to restrict flow from the standpipe to the sump, so the standpipe remains filled. The extra overflow in the header sounds especially useful in that case.

Hi All, I hope to expand the slug system from 4 tanks + sump to 6-7 tanks + sump this summer. In one of Martin Moe's books, he suggests using a header tank at the top of the system to gravity feed all the rest of the tanks. The idea is that the return feeds the header tank, and the header tank feeds everyone else, maintaining relatively constant flow to each tank when others are added or taken off line. Seems great in principle, but there are details that I need to know more about. Is anyone using, or has anyone used such a system?

Sorry, just speaking from experience with dozens of individuals. Most people, especially retailers, don't even see a difference. Just made the mistake of digging into the scientific literature again. Rhyne and Lin (BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, 79(1): 165–204) revised the "peppermint" species of the genus, and rathbunae is no longer valid for the species I have been talking about. All I can say is that some individuals that look like the one you have are more aggressive, in my experience.

There are multiple species of "peppermint shrimp" from the Caribbean and Gulf. L. wurdemani is lighter and has stronger striping, and is generally very well-behaved. Your looks like L. rathbunae, which can be a little monster. I think they're prettier, but they can't be trusted with small, soft, tasty inhabitants.

Love the patient approach. Keep the posts coming.

Thanks, guys. I am probably a bigger fan of hitchhiker s than the stuff I add intentionally. Since there are no fish to eat them, the amphipods run wild. I keep meaning to add a few small gobies to get the population down.

I discovered this little guy on the base of a frag a few weeks ago. I have since moved it to one of the tanks in the slug system, where it should be happy with the constant supply of phytoplankton that results from nutrient dosing for the macroalgae. The frag originally came from DCReefer1964, who kindly donated some frags infested with a bristly nuisance algae to feed the slugs. Several of the infested plus had live corals, which are doing well now that the algae have died off. This plug has a bonus. Not sure if it comes from Haywood's system or whether a spat rode in with some Caribbean plants, but it is very cute. Looks like a small thorny oyster, but it will be easier to figure out when it gets bigger. Only about a centimeter right now.