Origami

Can I put this in the Tank Build Threads area? You can then post updates to the same thread to keep the information together. If you have other, similar threads that you'd like merged, just let me know and I can get that done, too. While long, your last post is entertaining. You got me laughing several times over. Kudos for keeping your humor while surviving various onslaughts and challenges! From your tank photos and description of your powerhead placement, it's not surprising that you'd have a dead zone behind the rockwork. If desired, you might put a small powerhead low on one of the side panels to create a low-level current directed in this "alleyway". On the otherhand, you could simply vacuum this area toward the back as part of your weekly maintenance routine. Having detritus collect in one area can actually make it easier to clean it out. As for PAR levels, anything above 160 or so should be able to grow most corals. For some SPS (not all), I might go a little higher - say 200, but plenty of tanks get by with less. We have a tendency to push a whole lot of light down into our tanks (thinking more is better) and that's not always required. If your corals are growing and the color is good, then you're golden.

Welcome back yagerboy!

I don't know that they're all that different. Both are basically GFO, I believe. One seems to have a more consistent particle size (probably due to the manufacturing approach). But, one site that I saw described Rowa Phos as a "man made ferric hydroxide material," which is another way of saying GFO (since both the oxide and hydroxide ions are trapped in the GFO matrix). Generic GFO may be far cheaper in bulk, though. What difference did you read about? Sudden drops in tank chemistry can stress some corals, so beware of quick fixes. However, for really bad phosphate situations, some have resorted to using Lanthanum Chloride to form an insoluble precipitate with phosphate to remove it. If your tank is relatively small, a big water change may be a safer.

You've done an amazing job. It's been incredible to follow this journey and, while it ended the way it did, I think that we all learned something. I applaud the effort and hope that, one day, we can follow along on another journey like this one.

Reefer gone wild!

Awesome. I love these mid-size, rimless tanks! You've done a great job with aquascaping, both in form and color.

Our tanks can be amazing to explore. If you have a jeweler's loupe or similar strong magnifier (Harbor Freight sells both a loupe set and a clip-on magnifier), it can be used to explore things on the glass and the leading edge of the sandbed. I remember doing that years ago and being fascinated by all the life on and under the sandbed.

Hilary's picture, biographical sketch, and topic/abstract have been updated in the first post.

If you're a sponsor or member that would like to sell on-site at the meeting, send me a PM (@Origami) requesting the space. Thanks!

I don't think they're Collonista, but something else. What speices of snails do you have in your tank now? Did you bring in anything new in the last month or so (like live rock)? Do you have pictures of any eggs that may have been laid on your glass in recent weeks? Sometimes the egg-laying pattern can offer a clue. The shape of at least one of the snails in your pictures reminds me of a nassarius (which I've seen breed in tanks).

I know that there are a lot of questions the first time you go away like this. So kudos to you for your (and your tank's) success!

==> ANNUAL MEETING NOTICE<== In accordance with WAMAS Bylaws, the Officers announce the WAMAS Winter 2023 (Annual) Meeting - McLean High School (McLean, VA) - February 4, 2023 (Saturday) The Winter Meeting of The Washington Area Marine Aquarist Society (WAMAS) will be on Saturday, February 4, 1:00-5:00 p.m. at McLean High School, 1633 Davidson Road, McLean, VA 22101 IN THE CAFETERIA. (Enter through Door #10 at the back of the school. Parking nearby. See post below.) Members get in free; non-members are $5 each (or join at the door - $20/year). Hilary Jaffe Speaker Biography Hilary is a marine biologist who has had a variety of roles in her career including fisheries biologist, educator, animal trainer, service and maintenance technician, and conservation ecologist. She has also taught AI programs, worked at public aquariums and for the last few years has been creating educational YouTube videos. Hilary has been a hobbyist for 15 years. Starting in freshwater and moving to saltwater aquariums, puffers and Boxfish have always been her favorite. She is currently building a new Red Sea 425 reef tank and also has 2 FOWLR tanks in addition to her mini pig and bearded dragon. Topic: Hobbyist and Public Aquariums: Similarities and Differences Remember the last time you were visiting a public aquarium? What kind of things were you thinking about? As hobbyists, we always want the best for our fish and corals, and often we look to the incredible biodiversity and stunning displays in aquariums like Georgia, Aquarium of the Pacific or the Long Island Aquarium. You might be surprised to learn that there are a lot of similarities between our home aquariums and the large scale public aquariums. This presentation will discuss some of the similarities and differences between home and public aquariums, from skills and experience to equipment and husbandry. ==>> WAMAS Elections <<== This is also our annual meeting. The offices of Vice President and Secretary will be filled at this meeting (two year terms). Nominations are now closed and, whereas we have only one candidate nominated for each office, we will move to fill the offices by acclamation at the meeting to make their election official. Meeting Agenda 1:00 PM Sign-in / socialize 2:40 PM Club business (including elections for Vice President and Secretary) 3:00 PM Speaker: Hilary Jaffe 4:30 PM Raffle! 5:00 PM Adjourn & Clean Up Miscellaneous - food & drink provided Raffle Donations The Plank, microdosing autofeeder from Avast Marine. A $209 value Hurricane Dual Home Reef 5-stage RO+RODI system donated by Air, Water & Ice. A $275 value. One $100 Gift Certificate from Reef Nerd Aquatics! (who will also be on site!) One $50 Gift Certificate from Reef Nerd Aquatics! 1-year subscription Coral Magazine. Donated by Reef2Rainforest Media. TEN chances to win! One 53-ounce tub of Cobalt Aquatics Complete Reef from Cobalt Aquatics. A $70 value. $100 livestock Gift Certificates from Blue Ribbon Koi (two chances to win!) $50 livestock Gift Certificates from Aquahaus (three chances to win!) Mystery Box worth $115 compliments of Supreme Reefs (two chances to win!) The Reef Boxx automatic backup switch from Puddle Aquatics. A $100 value! $50 Gift Certificates from Dr. Mac's Pacific East Aquaculture (five chances to win!) Two 50-gallon bags of AccuraSea salt by Two Little Fishies. A $54 value. (two chances to win!) Two Little Fishies Coral Dip and Foods Pack donated by SaltwaterAquarium.com. A $70 value! Three 5-oz size jars of Chemi-Pure Blue donated by Chemipure. A $50 value! One ME Coral Liquid Supplement Pack donated by SaltwaterAquarium.com. A $30 value! One member-curated Beginner's Coral Fragging Kit donated by WAMAS member, Combat Corals. A $64 value! $25 Gift Certificates from Reef eScape (four chances to win!) Ten assorted frags (worth $47.88 each), also from Reef eScape (ten chances to win!) $50 Gift Certificates from Capital Aquarium (that's five chances to win!) 2-pack of 120 grams of Maxspect Professional Coral Putty, a $40 value (2 chances to win!) Please come back to this thread for meeting updates (including raffle prize updates). Special thanks to theses sponsors. Please support them & say thanks next time you shop with them. You can find their website address by visiting their forum or the sponsor page on the WAMAS website. WAMAS Platinum Sponsors - Air, Water & Ice - AquaHaus - Avast Marine - Blue Ribbon Koi - Capital Aquarium - ChemiPure (Boyd Enterprises) - Dr. Mac's Pacific East Aquaculture - FishnReef.com - Frank's Tanks - ICP-Analysis - MASNA - Maxspect - Premium Aquatics - Puddle Aquatics - Reed Mariculture (Reef Nutrition) - Reef eScape - Reef Nerd Aquatics - Reef2Rainforest Media (Coral Magazine) - SaltwaterAquarium.com - Supreme Reefs WAMAS Banner-Only Sponsors - Cobalt Aquatics - Jellyfish Art - Two Little Fishies 2023 virtual meeting support provided by Eureka Strategic Consulting, Discover the Extraordinary. Sponsors on-site: Reef Nerd Aquatics Aquahaus FishnReef.com Blue Ribbon Koi & Marine Members selling on site: @gws3 @Mr.Chalice @Samayoa @TylerZinck @Combat Corals @ECreefer @dmatt56 @SkiCurtis Watch this space for more information to be made available as it arrives!

[emoji1787][emoji1787] Great stuff, Paul! Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

Really glad that it all worked out! Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

Here's something I just found that might help you understand allelopathy. https://reefbuilders.com/2015/05/19/signs-that-allelopathy-might-be-agitating-your-inverts/ Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

Are you running granular activated coral (GAC) in your system. Any chance you're seeing signs of coral chemical warfare (allelopathy) - in this case, the release of chemical toxins from the soft corals affecting your hard corals? GAC can help capture and remove these chemicals from the closed aquarium system. Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

Hear, hear! If there's one thing that this hobby will teach you (provided you survive it), it's patience. Anybody that's been around in the hobby knows the old adage: "Nothing good ever happens fast in a reef tank." That's why it was so difficult for a lot of us to watch the once-popular series, Tanked.

I haven't in a very long time so I'm pretty sure that my microbiome is less than balanced. However, when I did, I was dosing Brightwell's Microbacter 7. It's possibly off, but here's an article on AquariumScience.org that tested a variety of bacteria-in-a-bottle products (in a series of freshwater aquarium tests) and summarized, "that bacteria-in-a-bottle products do not help establish a cycle any faster than adding nothing. None of them will do anything to "avoid new tank syndrome."" It did not, in any way, talk to whether the products can be used to establish or re-establish diversity in the microbiome, though. This begs the question of whether the same outcome could be expected in saltwater environments. Chart from the linked article:

Part of the value of having this community available is the support it can provide to aquarists at all levels that have questions or who want to share their experience in the hobby. But, with so much buying and selling going on these days, I think that sometimes this gets lost - especially for those new to the hobby who don't think to ask or solicit help from the community brain trust. I want those with questions or lessons/experiences to feel free to share for both personal growth and for the collective benefit of the community. For example, recently, a new member reached out to me via my WAMAS email and, attaching a few pictures, asked for advice about his relatively new tank. It's just the kind of discussion that can happen in the forum and should happen here. With that, I'm going to share a portion of the exchange and ask that you respond with your two-cents as well. The member said, "I got alot of algae growth I'm not sure why. Could over-feeding do it? I also changed my light intensity a while back. Everything was doing good. Now I'm starting to see things not looking so good. Duncan's have algae building up around it. And anenome's looking smaller. I'm going to Tropical Lagoon today and have Steve check my water. But I'm going do a 15gal water change today also." Not knowing exactly how much experience he had, I decided to start from the bottom and provide a ecological view of his situation. I responded with: "Algae grows when conditions are favorable for it. Namely available water, nutrients, and light. "Your tank is an ecological system seeking balance. You add energy in the form of light and food. Consumers of that energy include your fish and other animals (including coral), algae and bacteria on surfaces and in your live rock and sand bed. And, they're all in competition. "Each time you feed your tank, you're adding nutrients. Both fish (animal) waste and uneaten food decomposes and, in the process, release nutrients, including phosphates and nitrogen compounds. These two are required for life. Phosphates especially are often in short supply in the natural world and are quickly snapped up. Thus, it's likely that your water will test clean of phosphates and likely low for nitrates given that the algae is consuming it nearly as soon as it's available. In a very real sense, the presence of algae is reporting on the availability of nutrients and cleaning it up for you. "Bacteria also compete with algae for these nutrients. In fact, the process of decomposition is performed by bacteria so they typically get the first shot at it. Combined, we refer to this bacterial microbiome as your biological filter. If not well developed in sufficient numbers or if excess nutrients are available (e. g., from overfeeding), algae will fill the ecological gap. "If your tank is relatively new (under a year old), the Algae bloom is not uncommon. Tanks go through a long cycle to find balance. As tanks stabilize, the sudden onset of algae growth often comes as a result of some change in husbandry practices, typically overfeeding. Of course, a combination of factors is always possible. New entrants to the hobby are often guilty of overfeeding. "To manage nutrients, you can reduce them at the source; increase consumption or shift the balance of competitors; or remove them. "Reducing them typically means reducing feeding. Not always good unless your feeding too much to your fish. "Shifting the balance of competition could be as simple as dimming the lights. Many corals do quite well with less light than are prone to provide. By lowering the light, you give the bacteria an opportunity to develop in greater numbers and to compete with a larger force. If you recently increased your lighting, the appearance of algae may be a response to the change. "Removing nutrients is as simple as performing more water changes, vacuuming detritus from your tank and dump, or increasing skimming. But note that skimming, while a means of nutrient export isn't all that efficient at targeting phosphate and nitrate removal. There are chemical methods, too, but I wouldn't recommend them to you at this point in your experience. "Algae is doing you a favor in cleaning your water of excess nutrients and binding it up in its plant material. If you physically remove the algae (with a toothbrush and a siphon), you're effectively exporting those captured nutrients. "My recommendation is this: Reduce feeding if you think you're overfeeding. Dial your lights back some. Scrub and siphon off the loose algae. And wait, continuing these measures as needed. Let the Algae do its job and clean your water but don't let it get out of control. Eventually, when your biological filtration catches up, the Algae will starve out and die back to unnoticeable or tolerable levels. " What words of advice (or encouragement) would you add for this aquarist?

The Board has set provisional meeting dates and locations for 2023. They are Saturday, February 4, 2023. Winter / Annual Meeting. Fairfax County, Virginia (site TBR) Saturday, May 6, 2023. Spring Meeting. North Bethesda Middle School Saturday, July 22, 2023. Summer Meeting. Green Acres Center, Fairfax, VA 2:00pm start. Saturday, October 14, 2023. Fall Meeting (FragFest). North Bethesda Middle School

Agreed. It would be very strange to sell DI water as drinking water.

For brick and mortar LFS's there have been a few to come and go: The latest that I'm aware of is AquaHaus which has taken over the space in Brookfield Plaza (Springfield) that Quantum Reefs used to occupy. Worth a look if you're down that way.

Beautiful grandkids, Paul! I have 4 now. Karen and I retired a year ago, June. Busier than ever. Life is good. Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

Reef Roids might also work - especially for the feather duster. Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk