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dschflier

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Posts posted by dschflier

    Petland experience

    in Vendor Experience

    I stopped by Pet land on Thursday and bought 3 SPS frags. When I was there I noticed the Instant Ocean salt was $32 for a bucket. I obviously bought a bucket. Zack said this is the standard price for them. This is the best price I have seen. Just figured I would let others in on this. He said this is not a sale price.

    Getting a DSLR camera

    in Marine Photography

    I have to disagree with dschflier's assessment of Nikon being a "better made camera". Nikon does some things better, Canon does others. The end result, though, is that both systems are top of the line. If his statement were true, you wouldn't see all those white lenses at the sporting events of the Canon users.

     

    I wanted to clarify that this was not my assesment.

     

    In response to dshnarw it appears clear he has a good knowledge of the various cameras and some useful information. I have limited experience from my own personal use. One of my neighbors who is now retired, was the National Geogrphics chief editor for about 15 years. I was over his place looking at various photos and artifacts at his place and after asking about cameras, he was the person who strongly recomended Nikon. He had more to say then that, but I clearly remember that. I have two other friends who are photogrphers who have had similar feelings about Nikon. Quality was one of the reasons he had mentioned.

    Getting a DSLR camera

    in Marine Photography

    Most people I have spoken with that are into photography beyond just the hobby level say that Nikon is just a better made camera. I am far from an expert on this subject but I have heard this with some consistency.

    My Tank Cracked

    in General Discussion

    You are asking for trouble if you decide to keep the tank. Consider it a lesson learned and get another tank. From my experience cracking most often occurs from not using enough water when drilling the hole. I am not sure if this was your situation but always keep a good amount of water in the groove when cutting.

    LFS between 495-95 interchange and richmond

    in General Discussion

    As the title explains. I am looking for all LFS between 95-495 interchange and Richmond.

     

    On another subject, if anyone goes down towards Richmond you should check out the Bass pro shop just north of Richmond. I stopped by yesterday on my way home from vacation and besides having the traditional indoor pond tank they are known for, they also have a beautiful outdoor pond and another indoor stream. In the attached restaurant they have a salt water tank which is probably 2-3000 gallons. I asked if I could see the filtration room and they would have shown it to me but the people who take care of the tank left early.

    pump too powerful?

    in General Discussion

    I agree with using a ball valve to control flow. I always prefer having a slightly bigger pump throttled back then one that is not strong enough. I also agree having a second pump on hand is generally a very good idea.

    small clams and sand crabs

    in General Discussion

    I am not sure if anyone has ever noticed but when you go to most of the beaches along the Atlantic coast their are millions of very small clams. They are about 1/4". I have been down at VA beach this past week and I caught about 15 of them. IF I had time I wanted to get more but these will have to do. Does anyone have any experience trying to keep them in their tank? I am thinking the temperature may be a bit warm for them. I took a small pail of sand which has about 15 of them and it also has some of the small sand crabs.

     

    If they dont survive I was thinking of some time down the road setting up a small refugium chilled tank which will slowly let water into the rest of the system. I would use a 10 gallon tank which would be slowly fed water from the overflows and chilled with one of those mini chillers.

    How can I bring out my corals true colors?

    in General Discussion

    I used to have 3 x 250 watt MH lights and my acitinic were Pwr compacts. About 6 to 8 months ago I changed out the ballast of the middle light to a 400watt MH. About a year ago I changed out my Power compacts with VHOs. It was very interesting to see. I had a birdsnest that sat between the 250 and 400 watt MH. The side of the birdsnest facing the 400 watt MH was pink the other side was brown. Because of this I am building a new hood which should bring my lights down about 4".

     

    One conclusion I came to is the stronger light brought out the color. I also feel low Phosphates and clear water for light penetration is very important. I am looking forward to seeing a change when I lower my lights.

    Are all Kalkwasser the same?

    in General Discussion

    Don't forget, though, that Mississippi Lime has various grades of product that they sell as well. They may be a single source, but they have different purities of their product available for different uses. Their standard product, for example, is apparently used in industrial applications for such uses as flue gas treatment and water treatment plants:

     

    True. I think that is the most important part. For aquarium use companies are not required to buy food grade which is more expensive then the calcium hydroxide used in industrial applications.

    Are all Kalkwasser the same?

    in General Discussion

    All I am saying is that, it is likely that the Calcium hydroxide comes from the same place. I do not have any way of knowing how it is stored or kept after it is shipped to other businesses. To answer your question I would say it is likely.

    Are all Kalkwasser the same?

    in General Discussion

    Just to bring the discussion back to the original question. From the research I did, when I first began looking into buying bulk calcium hydroxide, I discovered it was likely that most US aquarium companies get their Calcium hydroxide from one company.

     

    Their used to be three main companies selling Calcium hydroxide, Mississippi Lime company, Ash grove and USG. USG went out of business or at least doesn't sell Calcium hydroxide anymore and Ash grove was acquired by Mississippi Lime. So the base product of most companies likely comes from Mississippi lime co. They sell various grades of Lime. From my understanding 'commercial' is not a grade used in the industry, it may be used for advertisement. They do not sell Regent or Pharma grade, but they sell their Calcium hydroxide to a company called Mallincroet which does further testing and will provide Regeant grade at 500g for $58 so I doubt anyone is using this. Their are other companies that sell Reagent grade and Pharma grade Calcium as well. Besides not being cost effective I also found that just because it is reagent grade doesn't mean it is more pure. In many cases it is the same product that has gone through much more testing. What I was told by someone at Malinckrodt is that Pharma, food and reagent grade have different criteria in order to be classified in one of those categories but often are the same product. She said "You are paying for a lot of analysis."

     

    It appears some companies may add other things to the product which may differentiate their product from others.

    Are all Kalkwasser the same?

    in General Discussion

    · Edited by dschflier

    To answer your question not all Calcium hydroxide (Kalkwasser, when mixed with water)is the same. Not all Calcium chloride,Sodium Bicarbonate or Magnesium is the same either. The purity is very important. I imagine Brightwell uses pure products, but I have not read the label or any spec sheets. I am sure of Reef Choice Kalkwasser because it meets or exceeds Food Chemical Codex specifications for purity. I am aware some companies sell calcium hydroxide which is of lower then food grade. The lower grades tend to cost less but in a reef aquarium can create problems. This link should be informative. Randy Holmes Farley about Kalkwasser

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