Aquariareview

My recipe is alot like all of yours with 4 exceptions. 1:2 tsp Marc Wiess Black Powder. All of the soft inverts seem to love it and it's immune systems boosting is good for every thing that gets some. 2: 1 tsp cyanne pepper, another immune system builder that also adds pigmentation to brighten the colors of both fish and coral. Many corals will eat it if you direct feed with a pipet or turkey baster. 3: I add some fresh seaweed from my refuge. 4: Last and most important, I Use a product called "OPC3" as an additional additive. OPC3 is an extreme anti-oxident called olgameric-proanthocyanadine. It boosts the immune system of all living tissue. Its source is from red wine and grape seeds. Since I have been using it in my systems the growth of soft Coral has been crazy. Also the healing of soft coral after prop cuts is very fast. It has the function of fighting cancer in mammals and it seems to reverse tissue loss in stony coral. I have been enriching food for my systems for 4 years and have done a lot of testing in small lab systems and cannot praise this stuff enough. I add 3 tsp of the istonix OPC3 to a blender full as the last part of the process. Email me for a source for it. Also My family takes it (the OPC not the fish food) every day

I can spare some very live sand (I have a 11 inch DSB that is 4 years old). There are lots of critters in my sand. Small bristleworms that stay in the sand and never bother my inverts (even the clams that live on the sand). Tiny starfish, lots of pods. There are some very small astrea star fish but they have never touched my coral. I have never seen flatworms and my Aptaisa have been gone for a very long time. I will bring some zip locks of sand.

one more pic

I also have a Ball Python Oh yea also a wife & a 16 year old kid. A girl I think..

one more, a small Gorg, about 3in long..

Check the Reef Tank and Marine Scene or Dr Mac first, they all have great livestock. Also the coral does'nt have to go thru the stress of shipping. Then check this page in my site It has links to a bunch of online places to check.

This is my new skimmer (MTC). This thing is a beast, about 4ft 6 in tall My Cuke 4of the others critters that live with us

I got busy with the camera A few pics I shot last night

Holmes 8 inch clip on fan Walmart $6.95 screwed into hood, aimed at water lamp timer $8.95 turns fan off and on 15 min cycle low tech and works

Because I have a system that is a little dirty because of the way I feed, I change as follows: On a system with 220 gals of water I do a 30 gal change once a week.. I make the water in a 50 gal container the night before a change.(red sea salt and well water) I let it mix overnight with a power head and a airline so it mixes well. I test salt and ph. To take water out of tank I drain to a line painted on the back of my tank (placed there for this purpose) with a siphon to a nearby bathtub, then I use a small ace hardware sump pump hooked to a 5 ft hose to pump the new water to the tank. By doing small regular changes I dont shock the system and I keep strong mineral and trace levels, low need for additives and very low levels of pollutants. I have been doing this for years with great success.

if you need a sump I have a 20 long that you can have. Call me at 703 926-4147

I have tried the streams and they are cool when they work. The problem was if I had real high calc levels they would jam up. Closed loop is the way to go.

I am moving in under 18 months so I have put off doing another DIY until the move

check my site also listing of good stores you may need a ride some of us do weekend runs to all of the good stores let me know Ps larry I need some xenia

I have bought them at the Woodbridge Wal-mart. I usedthem on my sump and they worked well. (I have since gone to PC system for sump.) If you push them with a ice cap ballast they put out VHO levels and last a very long time. Article on Ice cap web site I have done this on a 70gal reef and it worked well.

I have been out of the loop for a few months. My wife and I have been in the start up phase of a new home based Business and that taken all of my time. We are where it is not so time consuming so I have time to get back to playing with my new system. I built a plywood and epoxy tank and the Wood shop owner liked it so much he bought it from me (for a major Profit). Because i'm such a republican and could not pass up the profit I had to wait to do a new system. The addition of a home office to our townhouse has taken up the space that I was going to use for a larger tank :( . So, to upgrade my system I am re-doing our den. I am placing a new tank the same size as the one I have on a different wall, moving all of my livestock to the new tank then taking out the old tank. Why, you ask? Why would you go thru all of the work for the same size tank when you are done. The new tank will have a taller stand and all closed loop water movment. This will allow me to create a better system with a larger sump and more under tank gear. If any members have pumps they want to sell Let me know. I will post pics and report on how the move goes. I intend to get the system setup and running, then move everything including 50% of the water in one day. Also this will give me a chance to fix the things I wish I had done differently. If anyone has done this let me know how it went and suggestions for making this work are welcome.

I live in Woodbridge (Dale City). It would be easy for me to come over and check your system. Call me today if you can (703) 926-4147

This tank looks great Post some pics of your plumbing setup (refuge)

I have used lime stome from the rock place on rt1 in springfield. 10Cent a lb. I treat it with a good acid drip and then I soak it vinagar over night.. rinse it well then put in your tank I have 150 lbs of it in my tank with 75 lbs of live stuff, the base is grown over with as bright of a corraline as the live stuff.

Michael thanks,

If anyone can name these corals let me know so I can post the right SP on my web sites

This is some stuff I got at the WAMAS meeting

I picked up the plating monti at the cmas meeting last week. $10. It seems to be doing well. they had Anthony Calpho as a speaker and it was pretty good

A little gorg of some kind I think this one will grow up to be nice

I dont have a lot of tools But I do have a case of leftover duct tape ( from the evil terrorist scare) and I have a bottle of school glue and some wd 40. Can we build something with that? Joking aside I dont have a lot of tools but I have access to a full blown cabinet shop. A good friend (who is coming to the next meeting) is just jumping into the hobby with a 175 gal reef. The shop is his. Nice guy, trying to learn about reefs, He will be a good friend to us all. We have already built some skimmers.