Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread

[Electrobes]

What a tease! I just checked the reefcast site and I see new picture.. but the episode is not posted yet.. yer killin' us Smalls.. err Marc!

I swear it like giving a fat kid an M&M and then showing him a cake inside a sealed acrylic box with air holes to smell it. Hmm.. cake...

[selgado]

Originally posted by Micki
selgado, how much iron do you dose?

5ml twice a week in a 75 gallon. My cheato showed signs of dying last, I'm assuming because it is a relatively slow grower anyway. I would think that is the case with Marc's mangroves also.

Marc, I just re-read your post about the cyano in the fuge. Sounds like the feather caleurpa is releasing its nutrients into your tank. Watch your levels closely.

[melev]

I did dose some Iron a few days ago, but I probably should do so again today.

Sorry about that Electrobes. It will be available in the morning when Evan links everything to the site. I just reviewed the show and created the show notes for the downloads page, which he'll also insert when he gets up.

[selgado]

Micki - here is a good explanation of iron dosing:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

The iron section is more towards the bottom.

Hope you don't mind Marc.

[melev]

No problem at all. Thanks.

[jake2045]

Why would you be worried about the cheato in the sump not growing? Isn't the idea of using the Prodibio to reduce the nutrients in the tank? Seem to me if you start to add thing to make it grow you will just slow the Prodibio process down. I could be wrong please explain if I am, as I just started using it to.

[Micki]

selgado, Thanks for the link! I have a large bottle of the Kent super chelated iron. I used to dose but stopped for some reason. I don't remember how much I dosed before, but I have a larger system now. 245 gallons total water volume. Any thoughts?



jake2045, I love your sig "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion" Our dog iof 11 years was certainly faithful to us to the last beat of his heart. We lost him on March 2 of this year.

[jake2045]

D a m! Sorry to hear that!

[Micki]

Thanks jake, it was a difficult time.

[Electrobes]

Haha you're apologizing for taking the time out of your busy schedule to make us all laugh and stuff? Marc you're awesome!

Out of curiosity I just recently changed the front part of my sand bed and used Oolite live sand by CaribSea. Was it supposed to form a monster cloud.. because the last time I used their sand it didn't do that...?

[Konadog]

Originally posted by Micki
Our dog iof 11 years was certainly faithful to us to the last beat of his heart. We lost him on March 2 of this year.

Was he a blond lab? He looks like my "Kona" dog that I had to put down a few years ago, sorry for your loss. I know how you feel!

Marc, I will be looking forward to your Prodibio testing.

[melev]

The new episode is available, y'all. Next episode will be in 14 days.

Electrobes - Oolitic sand is very fine and can create a cloudy mess, but usually this will clear up within a couple of hours. When I added a new bag of sand to my tank a couple of months ago, I had all the pumps turned off, cut open the bag and lowered it into my tank to pour it out right at the substrates level. It looked good for two days, but now I see the same familiar low spot in my tank, and the other spots are higher again. Oh well.

Ken - I'm not going to jump into this without getting all my facts straight. I'm seeking help in a few threads as well as the new Prodibio message board so that I can do this right and hopefully not hurt my reef in the process. For example, one or two people recommended I don't use Reefbooster for the first month, focusing on the other products first. I'd like to get confirmation one way or another before I break open the first ampule.

I don't know if I posted my proposed schedule in this thread yet, so here it is (again, perhaps). I'll revise it to what I believe to be accurate when the dosing begins.

[Micki]

Konadog, Thank you, he was a yellow lab mix. He was awesome!



Mac, looking forward to listening to the reefcast!

[selgado]

Originally posted by Micki
selgado, Thanks for the link! I have a large bottle of the Kent super chelated iron. I used to dose but stopped for some reason. I don't remember how much I dosed before, but I have a larger system now. 245 gallons total water volume. Any thoughts?

Since Randy is fairly sure that there are no ill effects from over dosing, I feel comfortable with the eye-ball method. It generally takes about 5-6 days for me to have to clean the aquarium glass. If I need to do it sooner, I know the macro algae doesn't have what it needs to do its job and I would step up the dosage in 1ml increments.

[Micki]

Great thanks!



Marc, could you point me in the direction of your "spider" that you foundin your tank? I didn't see i on your ID page. Thanks...

[melev]

Yeah, let me find it for you. This is a zoanthid predator.



Here's more information, although the spider looks far more vicious.



If your zoanthids are in trouble, look closely for a creature that like the one above. Amy discovered this on her sick little zoos, after reading this article* by Ron Shimek. Upon further discussion in a thread on Reef Central**, she learned the best way to remove these from her tank was to put the zoanthids in quarantine. Once they come out in the open, remove them from the colony, but continue to observe the colony for weeks or months in case babies appear later. Hopefully you will never find a predatory Pycnogonid in your tank!

*Ron's article: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/rs/index.php

**RC Thread:http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...11#post3818011

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

wow....melev, wouldn't think you dosed so many different products?
figured you for a calc. reactor and w.c.'s?

[Micki]

Thanks Marc!

[melev]

Originally posted by E-A-G-L-E-S
wow....melev, wouldn't think you dosed so many different products?
figured you for a calc. reactor and w.c.'s?

Right - I've never dosed other products, but this year I've been trying some stuff. I tried dosing Kent's Iron for the macros twice this month. I tried dosing Salifert's Amino Acids over the past 6 weeks or so, but can't see any difference.

I'd like to see what happens with Prodibio because the pictures of Iwan's tank just seem amazing. Will my tank look like that? Probably not as I'm not adding the Zeo stuff as well. However, I'm willing to see if I notice any difference at all with the french product for 90 days. I got all 5 items in my shipment, so I'm trying to come up with a good dosing schedule that will not cause havoc on the tank and still give it a real test run.

[Lordhelmet]

Marc i have the great (mis)fortune of working in the Dallas/Fortworth area this summer. any chance of a tour of Melevs reef? and if you need a little incentive that could be arranged as well

[melev]

Sure, you are welcome to visit.

[bheron]

Lord Helmet. We meet for the first time, for the last time.

(sorry guys. I couldnt resist.)

[jeffbrig]

Originally posted by bheron
Lord Helmet. We meet for the first time, for the last time.

Quality!

[chrisd4421]

Originally posted by bheron
Lord Helmet. We meet for the first time, for the last time.

We've gone plaid!!

LOL

[JohnL]

This thread was automatically split due to performance issues. You can find the rest of the thread here: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=809315