Summer Frag Fest Extravaganza - Ken Feldman

[Gatortailale]

There will be a summer meeting SUNDAY, July 17 @ 1:30
Location will be:
Charles Wesley United Methodist Church's all purpose room
6817 Dean, Dr
McLean, VA 22101

Current plans include;

* Demo on how to frag several types of corals
* RBTA cloning demo
* auction of your aquarium related equipment
* sale of your aquarium related equipment
* vendors with home grown frags

-- More events to be added.

Guest speaker
Ken Feldman - "Waste Not, Want Not: The Story of Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Reef Aquarium."

Bio


Ken Feldman was born and raised in Miami Beach, Florida, where a proximity to, and an affinity for, the Atlantic Ocean dominated his early years. Days spent fishing and snorkeling fostered a keen interest in all things marine, a fascination that continues today.

In 2004, that interest finally culminated in a plunge into the marine aquarium hobby, and today he is the caretaker of a 175-gallon reef tank housing a host of fish and corals whose behaviors continue to educate him on a daily basis. He is joined in his aquarium avocation by his daughter Leah, who has been instrumental in aquascaping the tank, as well as in choosing both fish and corals.

Ken has a day job as well - Professor of Chemistry at the Pennsylvania State University. He spends his aquarium down-time focusing on teaching and research in the area of Organic Chemistry. He has published numerous articles on the organic chemistry of molecules found in the reef environment, particularly from sponges. Currently, his research interests include (a) devising the means to synthesize sponge- and coral-derived metabolites that elicit promising chemotherapeutic responses against some cancers and against some immune system malfunctions, and (b) to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which these biological properties are manifest.

Waste Not, Want Not: The Story of Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Reef Aquarium

Organic Carbon (Total Organic Carbon, TOC and Dissolved Organic Carbon, DOC) has been called "the soil of the sea" for its foundational role in the marine food web. It likely serves a similar function in reef aquaria, but in excess can become problematic; speculation that high TOC levels can overdrive bacterial growth and lead to coral mortality has been offered (Rohwer, 2006). Consequently, a means for DOC export has become paramount for successful aquarium husbandry. Both protein skimming and Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) play a major role in this necessary maintenance function. A discussion of acceptable levels of DOC in marine aquaria will follow. The development of quantitative assays for measuring both protein skimmer performance and GAC performance in removing TOC, as illustrated in the graph below, will be described. Skimmate chemical composition analysis will offer some surprise answers to the question, "What is a skimmer actually removing from aquarium water?" Finally, data bearing on the relationship between marine water TOC levels and water column bacteria populations for a variety of aquarium and authentic reef water habitats will be presented.


WAMAS will also have door prizes and the usual awesome raffle ticket items

Volunteers are requested, please contact flowerseller to offer your help.

[Gatortailale]

Speaker added

[Gatortailale]

bump

[dbartco]

only a few days away, check out the ITEMS NEEDED thread for the fest!

[dbartco]

bump

[dbartco]

Items to frag and raffle items stacking up for a great meeting.

 

monti caps

digitata's

acroporas

gorgs

leathers

acans

chalices

 

all for you MEMBERS! See you all there! Please look at the ITEMS NEEDED thread in the Gen Discussion for things needed. And if your corals are overgrowing your tank, bring it in and we will shorten them. We need more!

[dbartco]

Just 3 more days until this huge event!

[Gatortailale]

Thanks to all who made the meeting special!

- Ken for taking the time out of his summer to come down to give us a great talk. Here are a few articles by Ken:

Further Studies on Protein Skimmer Performance

Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and the Reef Aquarium: an Initial Survey, Part I

Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and the Reef Aquarium: an Initial Survey, Part II

The Development of a Method for the Quantitative Evaluation of Protein Skimmer Performance

Further Studies on Protein Skimmer Performance

Elemental Analysis of Skimmate: What Does a Protein Skimmer Actually Remove from Aquarium Water?

Bacterial Counts in Reef Aquarium Water: Baseline Values and Modulation by Carbon Dosing, Protein Skimming, and Granular Activated Carbon Filtration

 

- Dave Sun, Andy Leiu for opening their homes to our speaker on Saturday.

 

- Thanks to the Club Sponsors for their donations of corals and raffle prizes!

 

- Thanks to the Chip (& Sonya) for their time organizing the event.

 

- Kevin Garrison = Chef and coral sorter for standing in the heat cooking dogs.

 

- Kyle from Pacific East showing how they frag with the little band saw

 

- Thanks to the members who helped run the event, sort frags, set & clean the hall - Doug, Chip, Steve, Carla, Kevin, Christina, Scott, and Rob, and all those I'm forgetting

 

- Thanks to Officers for running the event.

 

Thanks to all the members who came out and got FREE frags - over 300 coral frags given away.

 

 

 

And a big thanks to Doug for all he does in running the meetings - AV setup; food purchase; gathering corals from vendors; raffle prize organization; risking his fingers to cut us frags, and the coutless other tasks he did to make the event smooth. Well done Mr. President!!