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OP
OP
live sand is pretty fun but I'd bet aragonite is fine too
I have roughly 35-40 lbs of aragonite in my tank and like... 8 lbs of live sand lol
OP
OP
Today I received my pod culturing kit so I’m boiling up a small batch of sterile saltwater to get that going. I’m going to attempt to start a new batch of phyto too, hopefully my holdback from the previous batch is still alive enough for it lol
TheWB
2500 Club Member
Looking forward to seeing your results.
jabberkaycee
Aquatic Addict
I’m interested in hearing how the culturing kit works out. I was thinking about starting one myself. I have 2 wrasses and a dragonet and I’m constantly ordering pods. I dont have a good source locally and we’ve had too many heat waves this year.
OP
OP
Will do! if it goes anything like my first batch of phyto did it should be a breeze, all I had to do really was check on it briefly every day, the preparation steps are not very involved, and it only took about 10 days. Assuming my phyto holdback culture is still good I should have no trouble keeping this going
I definitely recommend getting standby jars because it allows more timing leeway. My kits are all from Reef by Steele who also happens to be an R2R sponsor, and they are very good quality, with handy fill-lines on the labels! They noticed that my recent order was not my first from them, and hand-wrote a little thank you note on the printed invoice in the box and I thought that was nice. The kits come with basically everything you need to get started except for an air pump and the salt, although I also need to get a couple of sieves for harvest day
If you have the room for it I definitely suggest trying it out at least, I‘m enjoying it enough so far to expand to pods anyway lol.
Oh! Another cool option that you and @TheWB might be interested in is hatching brine shrimp! We got an artemia blender at aquarium co-op and like a planters peanuts jar of eggs for a very reasonable price, you just need an air pump and a small heater and brine shrimp hatch in just like 2 days and both fresh and saltwater fish love it. They don’t stick around in the tank at all like pods do, but, on the other hand, the commitment to hatching them is also substantially smaller than cultivating pods and phyto so I think it’s an option to consider! I believe we have the Ziss artemia blender and it was about $50, my wife uses a little 5W USB heater for it lol
OP
OP
Separately admiring this absolute champion of a soft coral, my sinularia finger leather!
I’ve only had it since May, and it’s already grown so much! Here’s what it looked like when I got it for reference:
intense growth, people say GSP grows fast, this thing leaves it in the dust! It’s crazy!
Anyway today I ordered a devil’s hand leather and some stomatella snails from tidal gardens lol
I’ve only had it since May, and it’s already grown so much! Here’s what it looked like when I got it for reference:
intense growth, people say GSP grows fast, this thing leaves it in the dust! It’s crazy!
Anyway today I ordered a devil’s hand leather and some stomatella snails from tidal gardens lol
jabberkaycee
Aquatic Addict
Wow, I’m amazed at how fast it has grown! I had one in a previous tank, but I don’t remember it growing quite that fast. I need to get some pics posted on my thread. I bought a lens kit to use with my iPhone, but haven’t taken the time to get any good pics yet. I have a lot of SPS now and they’re all growing good. And you’ve talked me into the culture kits and I’m definitely going to give it a try.Separately admiring this absolute champion of a soft coral, my sinularia finger leather!
I’ve only had it since May, and it’s already grown so much! Here’s what it looked like when I got it for reference:
intense growth, people say GSP grows fast, this thing leaves it in the dust! It’s crazy!
Anyway today I ordered a devil’s hand leather and some stomatella snails from tidal gardens lol
TheWB
2500 Club Member
Too bad you didn’t post this a couple of days ago. I have extra purple/gray devils hand and I was in your general neighborhood yesterday.Separately admiring this absolute champion of a soft coral, my sinularia finger leather!
I’ve only had it since May, and it’s already grown so much! Here’s what it looked like when I got it for reference:
intense growth, people say GSP grows fast, this thing leaves it in the dust! It’s crazy!
Anyway today I ordered a devil’s hand leather and some stomatella snails from tidal gardens lol
I keep meaning to buy the brine shrimp hatchery that only needs a light. They’re like 30 bucks and the design separates the hatched brine from the shells and has a little reservoir in the center where you shine a light and the newly hatched congregate there. You can gut load them with spirulina powder or whatever and then harvest. I met a member on here in Tacoma who I traded a small tank to for some corals and he had one. Seems super simple which is just my speed.
OP
OP
I have room for more corals still haha! Maybe there will be another opportunity in the nearish future and by then hopefully I’ll have some more phyto that I can share with you
That hatchery sounds pretty cool too! The artemia blender doesn’t need a light which is nice, but you do have to use a sieve to harvest. There seems to be a way to separate the hatchlings from the eggs during harvest time because my wife usually gets 2-3 days worth of feedings out of a single batch of eggs, but I haven’t observed that part of the process yet so I don’t actually know how it works exactly lol. That hatchery sounds cool and convenient though and I want to try it now too haha
OP
OP
My wife just informed me that not only does she also know of that brine shrimp hatchery, but she’s also seen 3D-printable versions of it so I’ll probably be trying to make at least one of those soon
TheWB
2500 Club Member
It’s this one from Brine Shrimp Direct.
It looks like it would be pretty easy to 3d print if you’ve got one.
I’m happy to share corals as long as I can make sure they are clean of Vermetids. I’ve been lucky with pests but that’s one that’s made its way into my tank.
OP
OP
Oh yeah I have several lolIt’s this one from Brine Shrimp Direct.
It looks like it would be pretty easy to 3d print if you’ve got one.
Highly compatible hobby with aquarium keeping, I make all kinds of stuff myself
That does look super printable… aha: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5582904
TheWB
2500 Club Member
You’re out of control, lolOh yeah I have several lol
Highly compatible hobby with aquarium keeping, I make all kinds of stuff myself
That does look super printable… aha: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5582904
I’d love to get one but A) I have no place to put one, and B) I’m somewhat technology challenged. I feel like I’d have all kinds of trouble with one and it would just end up sitting there. Designing things is also a little intimidating although by now there’s so many downloadable files created by others that it probably wouldn’t matter.
OP
OP
For me the printers themselves are a hobby in themselves so it kinda makes sense in a way but yeah it’s definitely more than I need lol
for people who only want to dabble I usually suggest the library! Looks like the pierce county library has a 3D printer at the parkland/spanaway branch and they even have blocks of time where the library staff can help prep files for the printer e.g. https://calendar.piercecountylibrary.org/event/1923009#branch they’re getting easier to use all the time. My two newer ones are virtually maintenance free as well, but they’re kinda spendy for that privilege lol
You’re also not wrong that, the hardest part at least imo is actually learning CAD in order to make your own designs but there are several websites dedicated to sharing models for printing so a lot of mileage can be gotten without even touching CAD, but there are some friendly options available there too
I could probably use mine a bit more but I do use them pretty frequently, not just for the aquariums but I print parts to fix stuff around the house and solve my own specific problems and I print stuff for people on R2R occasionally too, like I have designed nanomat adapters for a couple of tanks and have printed a few for people.
OP
OP
If you do try using the library printer for aquarium stuff I recommend using only black or clear ABS or PETG plastic, so far those options have been invert safe in some of my wife’s freshwater tanks for several years now. PLA can be OK in a pinch for short term stuff or if coated in epoxy, but it’s somewhat biodegradable so unlikely to hold up long term especially under reef lighting
jabberkaycee
Aquatic Addict
Do you happen to have a link to the kit you purchased? I got the link that @TheWB posted for the brine hatchery
OP
OP
https://reefbysteele.com/collections/plankton-culturing-kits-1
I got the single active with backup for phyto and then a single active pod only for the pods but if I were going to do it again I would just get the double active with backup
I chose isochrysis galbana because the nearish shops that have phyto carry mainly nanno blends and/or tetraselmis so I figured why not try something different? And for pods I chose apocyclops because I have benthic pod populations already so why not cultivate a swimmer?
TheWB
2500 Club Member
My friend @tharbin was kind enough to print a part I needed for my Klir7 filter roller. He’s in AZ though so it’s not real practical for me to be bugging him when I decide I need something. Some of these prints take a long time so I don’t know how the library would feel about that but it’s an interesting idea. I’ll probably break down and get one eventually but it’ll be another year or two. Maybe by then the ones you described as being less maintenance will be more affordable.
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