Michael's Reefer 170

[GoVols]

Flatworm Update

11 weeks ago I noticed flatworms on the glass, they seemed like the non-predatory ones. Added a Coris Wrasse and began Flatworm Stop. Once I noticed them, they were everywhere on my rock and frag plugs. It's possible the population increased (or at least stayed the same) for the next few weeks, then they started to disappear. They are almost completly gone. I'm a big fan of the Coris and Flatworm Stop.

I planned to use Flatworm Exit and reuse none of the water during the tank upgrade, but now that population is basically non-existent, I'll try to reuse all the water and skip Flatworm exit.

The growth in the previous post feels like it's been very recent, like all in the last few weeks. It could be it was just getting settled, but I wonder if the flatworms annoyed some of the corals. The growth seems to have really kicked into high gear the last few weeks

Great news, Micheal

Is "Flatworm Stop" an KZ product?

 

[El.Kae]

Tank looks amazing. I have been itching with thoughts of upgrading also. Now that my stuff has settled in, I like the filled look, yet you already know the 170's limited space.

 

[HolisticBear]

Great news, Micheal

Is "Flatworm Stop" an KZ product?

Yes, using 1.5ml of Flatworm Stop & 0.75 ml of Coral Booster every night. That latter apparently goes well with Flatworm Stop.

I admit there is vodoo with some KZ products, but I intend to stick with them. This bottle will last many months.

 

[HolisticBear]

Triton ICP Results

It's been 3 months. I did more water changes than normal and I've been running KZ Flatworm Stop & Coral Boost.

• Elevated Tin & Aluminum. Not at levels Randy says are a problem, but not sure where they came from. RODI is a possibility (old building). Unlikely in KZ
• Low strontium and boron. This has been true in every ICP test, I think Red Sea Blue Bucket is low on these
• Iodine too high. Likely from KZ Coral Boost. I'll stop boost, stick with Flatworm Stop (reducing dose thou)

All is well in the tank. I should transfer everything to the CTC 80 in the near future.

 

[HolisticBear]

The Triton containers still leak. My order from a few months ago leaked and so did my Boron supplement. You can see the box is wet and that white ring is my alkalinity precipitated out.

I run triton other methods (which I think is regular triton with less iodine + iron). I'll probably switch to ATI when this runs out.

I think AF, Triton, ATI, and Fauna Marin's Balling are interchangeable with no real tank stress. Switching export method (carbon dose, bio pellets, fuge, ats), that's a big stressor. But I can change my Alk,Mg,Ca, and trace mix with no real issues I suspect.

I'm sticking with Red Sea Blue Bucket + ICP tests every 2-3 months.

 

[El.Kae]

The Triton containers still leak. My order from a few months ago leaked and so did my Boron supplement. You can see the box is wet and that white ring is my alkalinity precipitated out.

I run triton other methods (which I think is regular triton with less iodine + iron). I'll probably switch to ATI when this runs out.

I think AF, Triton, ATI, and Fauna Marin's Balling are interchangeable with no real tank stress. Switching export method (carbon dose, bio pellets, fuge, ats), that's a big stressor. But I can change my Alk,Mg,Ca, and trace mix with no real issues I suspect.

I'm sticking with Red Sea Blue Bucket + ICP tests every 2-3 months.

Dang that sucks. Will they be replacing the items?

 

[HolisticBear]

Reef-a-Palooza Trip Report

• Thanked @revhtree for the amazing R2R community and told Rev that @GoVols gave his regards
• It was great to met @justingraham in person
• BRS didn't have a booth, which was interesting given their huge presence last year heavily advertising Triton
• Talked with Red Sea, and their guy a) didn't understand why their 7 part program requiring two dosers was more inconvenient than the 3/4 parts from AF, Triton, Fauna Marin. He also said he personally doesn't refrigerates Reef Energy A/B and told me I didn't need to, which contradicts every other correspondence I've seen from Red Sea.
  
• Had a great talk with the guys from @Reef Nutrition. Talked their ear off, learned that their Mysis is sourced the same as the PE Cubed Mysis and their Arctic Pods is the same as the PE Calanus. Got some free samples, no need to split cubes again
• Had a great talk with Phil Gilbert of @Polyplab. He was very generous with his time and let me talk his ear off. @tristanfish is a big fan of their product line and his R2R SPS photo thread and Instagram posts are amazing. Besides the famous ReefRoids, I want to learn more about their approach. Once you get past all the basics, some of the finest tanks on IG use Polyplab. I want to hear more from them. There are 10 million Triton posts, but I haven't seen too many show tanks. It's the singer, not the song. You can be successful with anything, but I'd want to hear more from the people with epic corals.
• Talked with Eric from @eKoProCS. They had a $800 controller that included an ultrasonic water level sensor and leak detector, so I could replace my Profilux. They are based out of Taiwan and I met their lead engineer. I was tempted, their SW design philosophy appealed to me than GHL. It's a tough tough market, but I think there is an opening especially if you consider international markets. I don't know how much financial backing they have to stay the course.
• Bought a few acros, tried to grab yellow + orange color since I don't have any of that. Will post pics tomorrow.
• It was a bit like a frag flea market. So many people selling just nubs. The tiniest things. Some lovely warpaint scoly, but few other LPS of interest. Honestly, @GoVols sends me pictures of better looking stuff all the time

Polyp Lab

• We all know Reef Roids. BRS's Reef Chili contains things Reef Roids does not and vice-versa, the two make a good mix
• Their RF-Plus + Colors seems to be a direct competitor to Red Sea's Reef Energy A/B???
• RF-Fuel is a carbon source + aminos acids. So this is like a NoPox + 1 part of Reef Energy
• Poly-Booster is another Coral Food, wonder if it's like KZ Pohl's Xtra
• RF-Genesis - A bacterial blend. Sounds almost like AF's Probiotic in a way. I don't know
• One is a single solution Alkalinity/Mg/Ca. I need to research Randy's forum to understand how this chemical approach compares to the traditional 2 or 3 part. Just curious the plus/minus of the single vs the 2/3.

 

[justingraham]

Great meeting up with u as well and putting another face to a name on here.

I ended up getting two frags from wwc the small mircobalis and a paradise city google the paradise city it looks new and amazing

Once again great meeting up with ya

Justin

 

[HolisticBear]

So my eyes and experience failed me cause I got 3 corals from WWC that looked pretty cool under actinics, yet disappointing green under daylight. The QT tank is daylight color, maybe they will look pretty at night during Windex colors. So here are Yellow Fever, Ding Dang, and Do the Dew:

;Nailbiting

For good news, I grabbed some acros from Paulywalnuts or Paul Sileo @ New England Coral Connection. I have no idea if I got a deal or got robbed, but I like all of them. The first he called pumpkin patch, reminds me of Battlecorals 'Sun god prostrata'

This one might be a Pink Floyd (?) or Skittles(?), it's has better colors in person

This one is red in person, like the red above, but photographed really brown.

 

[GoVols]

They look happy...

 

[HolisticBear]

They look happy...

Thanks, all have solid polyp extension except that middle WWC one. I think they are fine, one hour on the train is minor travel compared to 24h with fedex

 

[justingraham]

My Pink Floyd’s were yellow

Unless ur dressing them up they look good to me in daylight

My two purchases in “daylight”

They look rough here but fine on my phone I could just text it to ya haha

 

[HolisticBear]

I'm leaving the tank for 11 days, wish me luck

Growth has been great. Two milli's have grown almost inch. Hammers are getting uber hostile, stinging a cyphastrea, need to upgrade asap.


Guesses for growth:

1. Coris wrasse + flatworm stop. This growth phase happened after I treated them
2. I nuked my fuge with the H380 and started carbon dosing since clean chaeto was out of stock
3. Would have happened anyway, just needed time

 

[Fudsey]

Good luck

 

[HolisticBear]

Tank is shut-down and @justingraham is the proud new owner.

Everything moved into the CTC 80

 

[jsker]

Tank is shut-down and @justingraham is the proud new owner.

Everything moved into the CTC 80

Good news!!

 

[bubbaque]

Saw this T-Shirt on Facebook and laughed as I'm daydreaming about the next tank

That is a great shirt!! I need to get a nice brain coral like the one you had.

I seen in one of your earlier post you were using latex gloves. Is that just a standard non powdered glove?

 

[HolisticBear]

That is a great shirt!! I need to get a nice brain coral like the one you had.

I seen in one of your earlier post you were using latex gloves. Is that just a standard non powdered glove?

I just use those BRS Grower's Edge Gloves (with a rubber band to keep water from going down).

The new tank is 26", so I just switched to this shoulder length Coralife Gloves, $20 highly recommended! They are really thick compared to BRS, so they might annoy you for fine motor control for gluing a small frag.

I burn thru those BRS gloves. It keeps me from crazy-gluing my fingers together.

 

[bubbaque]

I have those larger gloves you mentioned but don’t use them due to them being so much thicker and it’s hard to do things with frags.

Thanks for the link to the brs ones. I’m gonna give them a try.