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Gatortailale

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Posts posted by Gatortailale

  1. BRS got its start many many years ago by sourcing similar grade chemicals and filter media, and then selling them bulk at a cheap rate.  I haven't kept up with prices on their stuff over the years, but seems like it has crept up to closer to retail products like ESV, Brightwell, TLF, Red Sea. 

     

    I've pretty much have stuck to using ESV products as my personal choice.  I like results I get; and Joe at Long Island & his 20,000 reef uses ESV products as my reason to stick with it, haha.  

  2. PuddleAquatics.jpg

     

    WAMAS Platinum Sponsor Puddle Aquatics is donating a Reef Boxx II to the Spring meeting raffle (with free shipping ($135 value)!

     

    You can learn more about the Reef Boxx and puddle aquatics at their website: https://puddleaquatics.com/ 

     

    Thank you Puddle Aquatics for your support of the Club!

     

    The Reef Boxx is a patent pending automatic backup switch that allows users to connect battery backup in many different configurations. Its what will save your fish in a power outage and is a dream come true for the DIY aquarium keeper. you simply plug in your power brick a battery source of your choosing and then the pump that you wish to back up and thats it. When the power goes out the Reef Boxx will automatically switch over to battery power and when the power comes back on it will automatically switch back. You can even charge your phone while the power is out.

     

    2inch_110x110@2x.jpg?v=1672704208

     

  3. SAVE THE DATE!  More details posted soon.

     

    WAMAS Summer 2024 Meeting (in person, not streamed)

    Saturday, July 27, 2024

    Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Speaker starts at 3 PM)

    Where: Green Acres Center, 4401 Sideburn Rd., Fairfax, VA

     

    WAMAS Platinum Sponsors 

    Air, Water & Ice

    - AquaHaus

    Avast Marine
    Blue Ribbon Koi
    - Capital Exotic Fish
    ChemiPure (Boyd Enterprises)

    - Coral Magazine

    - Exotic Reef Creations
    - Frank's Tanks

    - ICP Analysis

    - Maxspect
    - Puddle Aquatics
    Reed Mariculture (Reef Nutrition)
    - Reef eScape

    - Reef Nerd Aquatics
    SaltwaterAquarium.com

    Supreme Reefs

    WAMAS Banner-Only Sponsors 
    Cobalt Aquatics
    Jellyfish Art
    MASNA
    Two Little Fishies

     

    Raffle Prizes:

     

    WAMAS Platinum Sponsor Reef Nutrition is donating three gift cards to our May 4 Spring Meeting:
    • $100 Gift Certificate for Reef Nutrition products (with $40 bump-up for shipping)
    • 50 Gift Certificate for Reef Nutrition products (with $40 bump-up for shipping). (2 chances to win!)
     

    More info. posted soon.

  4. Coveys Coral Cove - out of Bloomsburg, PA, will be on site selling.  Thank you to all the coral vendors coming out to help make the meeting great.

     

    Sponsors On Site, Selling

    Capital Exotic Fish: @CapitalExoticFish

    Supreme Reefs: @Supreme Reefs

     

    Vendors On Site, Selling

    Jason Fox Signature Corals: jasonfoxsignaturecorals.com

    Coveys Coral Cove:  https://www.coveyscoralcove.com/

     

    Members On Site, Selling

    @gws3

    r.Chalice

  5. Mast prize list update above.  Below are some of the recent additions.  Thank you to all our sponsors.  Please be sure to support our sponsors, and if you win, follow up and let them know you appreciate their donation to support the club.

    • Aqua Illuminations Nero 5 powerhead from WAMAS.  $239 value.  1 chance to win!
    • Supreme Reefs - coral frags.
    • Fritz Blue RPM salt, 200G size from Exotic Reef Creations.  4 chances to win! 
    • Sicce XStream SDC pump.  $249 vlue. 1 chance to win!
    • $50 livestock Gift Certificate from Blue Ribbon Koi.  3 chances to win!!

    Fritz blue.jpg

    Nero 5

    nero 5.jpg

    XStream SDC

    SDC.png

  6. Just ordered a set of lids for my Aqueon 65 reef ready tank from https://www.clearviewlids.com/  Getting their new to be rolled out modular lid design.  This new design will let you swap out pieces in the future in your equipment needs change.  Saves from having to get an entire new lid - meaning that say I want to swap out light mounts in future.  Adam at ClearView Lids can create a new back piece to swap out.  I'll have to post pictures once they are built and delivered.  And another great thing is they are a local small business based in Virginia. 

  7. rn_logo_large_58644dbd-94ea-46cb-a4e7-ab82f5c89567_800x.png.96812ed6ccb5e3b9064f62c99befe5a8.png
    WAMAS Platinum Sponsor Reef Nutrition is donating three gift cards to our May 4 Spring Meeting:
    • $100 Gift Certificate for Reef Nutrition products (with $40 bump-up for shipping)
    • 50 Gift Certificate for Reef Nutrition products (with $40 bump-up for shipping). (2 chances to win!)
    Thanks Reef Nutrition for your continued support of the WAMAS Club.
     

     

    giftcard_100.png

    giftcard_50.png

  8. 8 snails is not a big enough cleanup crew for tank that size. You need to add a lot more mouths to control it better.  I was dealing with a hair algae issue in my 112 g system few months ago I added 150 astrea, couple tuxedo urchin, 300 small blue leg hermits, 5 chestnut, 10 Mexican, and 25 banded trochus snails. Also started running an AI prime 16 fuge light in fuge area of sump on reverse cycle. Also added a bristle tooth tang as I find them to be a workhorse at picking on algae.  If the snails eat up all the algae I put small sheet of nori on clip.

    if you can’t find good selection at LFS, I’ve had great success with shipments from reeftopia.com and you can get some good mix of crews for $150ish. 

     

    This video gives a good overview of different janitors and what they generally address 

     

  9. I’m not familiar with the AI Prime, other than the fudge one I recently got. Didn’t play around much in my AI app, but description of the prime on premium aquatic makes it sound like you can control color channels independently. If so, create your own custom schedule.

     

    Alternatively, I know world wide corals and top shelf aquatic share light program profiles on their website.  Scroll down to AI https://worldwidecorals.com/pages/led-lighting-presets

     

    https://topshelfaquatics.com/pages/led-lighting-presets

  10. A few years ago I picked up one of the SR Aquaristik mag-stirrer speed tester mixer and I love it.  Makes things easier and faster than adding some solution and shaking the vial.  It's worth the time and money to pick up any brand of mag-stirrer in my opinion.  I find that by using my speed tester I'm less likely to let the Rich Ross coined term LARS (lazy-ass reefer syndrome) kick in since testing can be done relatively fast.  And then I just plug in the result into the Apex Fusion app. and track my results.  

     

    I've looked at investing in a Apex Triton but haven't decided to spend on one thus far.  Most people can make the Triton work without issues and I'm sure I'm only reading the few who make a fuss on the F-book group; but has me shying away from getting one.  

     

    In short, if you are new to the hobby or seasoned veteran and still doing titration testing by swirling a vial, take a look at speeding things up. 

     

    No I'm not sponsored or paid to say this.  Although I should reach out to see if they will donate some to a future club meeting raffle. 

     

     

  11. Welcome to the club and cheers to getting back in salt. We are looking at ways to add more events besides the quarterly meetings, based on member survey last year others also looking for more activities and interaction.  Hopefully soon we will roll out some LFS tour days; and schedule some coffee meetups as a way for members to meet others in their area since there is a little distance and travel time to get around the capital region.
     

     

     

     

     

  12. Looking at your picture here, it does look like the right bulkhead / gasket is overlapping the larger bulkhead/ gasket on the left.  If that is the case it may be preventing a tight seal - if that turns out to be the bulkhead leaking. 

     

    image.png.cc28cd3c6da0237fc6c4da17597fcddf.png

  13. I bought a bottle of microbacter 7 last fall when I was setting up a 65 seahorse, but ended up going with Dr. Tim's product.  Dr. Tim's makes several types of bacteria products for use beyond an initial tank setup one.  You may benefit from Dr. Tim's.  I just picked up some waste away and the eco-balance probiotic for my main system since it has been running since 2005.  Not that I'm having any problems, but I run ozone, skim heavy & use UV; never tried to replace beneficial bacteria.  I have had experiences of losing a few sps corals to a little slow stn.  Hence hoping beneficial bacteria will help.

     

    As for dosing phyto - I also would hold off a bit longer until you see few weeks of no signs of cyano returning before adding more nutrients - and reestablish beneficial bacteria base.

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