OK! Enough chat...Starting a 1000g+ Reef

[chris wright]

Originally posted by jnarowe
if I had some pictures! I can't wait to get the glass clean and see what is really going on in there. Maybe I'll find that damn crab too!

One good thing about taking down this system is that i will probably find that gold ring I lost back in '05.

The crab's probably wearing it now

[melev]

[jnarowe]

Someone is I am sure. The jeweler said the lapis may be bad, but the gold should be just fine. It was a custom ring and the Hammerhead sucked it right off my hand.

[michika]

jnarowe,

Can you give me a better description how you wash your foods? I'm looking for a better solution then what I'm doing now.

Everytime I find your thread, its split again!

[chris wright]

Originally posted by jnarowe
Someone is I am sure. The jeweler said the lapis may be bad, but the gold should be just fine. It was a custom ring and the Hammerhead sucked it right off my hand.

Aren't you supposed to turn off your pumps when cleaning them

[jnarowe]

Originally posted by michika
jnarowe,

Can you give me a better description how you wash your foods? I'm looking for a better solution then what I'm doing now.

Everytime I find your thread, its split again!

Sure! What I do is thaw them out and put in large bowl and fill with RO/DI water. The more water you have the better. I stir it up and let it settle. Then I drain out as much water as I can, and pour the food into an appropriate sized strainer, sometimes with a coffee filter or paper towel. I let it finish draing and then rinse thoroughly with more RO/DI water. Once it has drained thoroughly, it is ready to be included in the fish food.

[jnarowe]

Originally posted by chris wright
Aren't you supposed to turn off your pumps when cleaning them

I found that out. In fact, I nearly soiled myself when my hand got sucked into the BH.

[chris wright]

Geez mate, you seem to learn alot the hard way

[Kent E]

I'm curious where the ring ended up. Did it actually fire through the pump?

[jnarowe]

No kidding Chris! It just took me by surprise as I had taken off my screen for cleaning.

Not a clue as to where it ended up. I thought it might have gone to the fuge since that is the first pipe off the manifold, but I emptied that and no banana. So as I vacuum the sand out of my tank, I watch to see if it comes out. I have a feeling it is in a pipe somewhere though. Since I will have to dismantle this tank, I am sure it will show up.

[chris wright]

It will certainly be interesting what condition it's in

You'll know how good the jeweller is too

[Micki]

Was this your wedding ring?

[jnarowe]

No Micki...if it was, I would have taken the tank apart!

[michika]

Originally posted by jnarowe
Sure! What I do is thaw them out and put in large bowl and fill with RO/DI water. The more water you have the better. I stir it up and let it settle. Then I drain out as much water as I can, and pour the food into an appropriate sized strainer, sometimes with a coffee filter or paper towel. I let it finish draing and then rinse thoroughly with more RO/DI water. Once it has drained thoroughly, it is ready to be included in the fish food.

Thank you. Have you ever considered trying a strainer, similar to those used for phytoplankton, but larger?

[jnarowe]

I have but haven't. I have tried a variety of strainers and it really depends on the food you are straining. Typically though, the food I feed my tank is larger than the holes in my plastic colander.

I believe that if your food particles are that small as too need a phyto strainer, then you are probably polluting your tank. But this gets into reef keeping philosophy at its core. Many reef keepers believe that you should feed your corals. I do not. Neither do most of the tank owners I personally know.

[michika]

I agree with you on the coral feeding front. I've tried it, and never seen any benefits either way. Granted I think I will try again one last time once I recover from my recent crash, although this time possibly with amino acids just to see.

[melev]

Originally posted by jnarowe
I believe that if your food particles are that small as too need a phyto strainer, then you are probably polluting your tank. But this gets into reef keeping philosophy at its core. Many reef keepers believe that you should feed your corals. I do not. Neither do most of the tank owners I personally know.

If that was the case, then why would corals have polyps that capture food and transmit it to a digestive tract? Corals do need some type of food, there is no doubt. Those tanks that are starved of food result in bleached & faded corals. Propagation systems with no fish in there see the same issue.

Little amounts of food definitely benefit corals - the trick is to provide enough for the corals and not over do it. I'm bad about overfeeding - then again I like to eat so I act on those feelings with my pets as well.

[mrcrab]

Originally posted by melev
I'm bad about overfeeding - then again I like to eat so I act on those feelings with my pets as well.

FAT fish are PHAT fish!!!

[jnarowe]

No idea what just happened to that post...

It's not a question of their nutritional mechanism, but more of a question of what they eat and when. I believe that in the typical reef tank there is plenty of food already without adding additional stuff to the water column. I have often wonder about trying oyster eggs, but the fact is, my corals seem to be getting enough food already.

I have nice polyp extension on ALL corals, good coloration, and good growth. I have not "fed" my corals anything in about 14 months, with the noted exception of very occassionally feeding an LPS small pieces of meaty foods.

Water quality is of paramount importance and IMO coral foods wreak havoc with that. A good example is the aiptasia explosion I had back when I was feeding the corals, but after visiting with notable large tank owners, I discovered that not one of them feeds their corals.

So I feed my fish and the corals get a bite now and then directly, but mostly they are being fed indirectly by the fish.

[michika]

So...I have to ask, any FTSs? Anything recent?

[gkarshens]

Calfo told me the best coral food is fish poop.

[chris wright]

I do feed mine, including the SPS, once a week generally. But considering I feed my Goniopora, every 2-3 days, there is enough food to not worry if I forget.

When I do dose phyto, purchased stuff, it's only a small amount. I don't see the harm. I'm with Marc, I like things to be well feed.

[jnarowe]

michika...michika...haven't you learned anything from this thread?

Chris, dosing phyto is like adding straight phosphate to your tank. If you see any problems with nuisance algae or coral health issues, that would be the first thing I would stop.

With phyto:



Without phyto:



Luckily for me, my skimmer pulled most of it out. And the "purchased" stuff goes bad so fast, it is rediculous. At least if you insist on dosing it, make it fresh so you can feed live phyto.

And Gabriel...why would you listen to Calfo? What the hell does he know? Wasn't it him that recommended 35x turnover? Oh wait, I want that!

[chris wright]

But's it's the only time I get skimmate whaaaaa

I'll have to dilute some in Ro/Di water and do some tests. Now that you mention it, I do have a little green algae growing, and my clean up crew hasn't matured enough to handle it.

Next set-up I'll try propagating my own, just have to stick to scraping the glass for now.

[michika]

I learned some...

1) This thread moves so fast that you better be online 24/7 to keep up.
2) Take your rings off before putting your hand in your tank
3) hot pumps & acrylic don't play well together.
4) FTS are rare and far between

See I learned something....

I'll take a skimmer shot...it is a photo in a way.