Really excited to join and start an extremely high-tech tank!

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Brisk]

Welcome!

 

[officialreefbros]

Welcome! Sounds like fun, just be ready for all the automation $$$$

 

[Evil1]

 

[CO2TLEY]

 

[thrillreefer]

Welcome!

You should definitely be made aware of the Reefpi development community! See this long but excellent thread here on R2R.

Love the idea of trying to automate phyto and pods and fully expect it can be done! Phyto doesn’t need sterility per se, just don’t bulk contaminate it with other phyto and it will be fine. I have been culturing a couple types for 2 years, and general maintenance is just to dilute them with fresh medium (saltwater + f/2 fertilizer). Simple to automate.

Have been dabbling with pod culture and their growth is mostly about feeding phyto and then periodic harvest/dilution. The challenge might be in filtering out adults to feed to the tank while keeping juveniles. But you could also just skip this step, if you have a large enough culture going to sustain constant harvesting.

Following along to see your progress!

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here!

 

[Reef Devils]

Hey there! I've been a long time lurker and video watcher. At some point this year I hope to get the funds to start my own small reef tank. Professionally I am a very experienced programmer and one thing I've been excited to try doing is building a fully automated high-efficiency tank eco/system. I will probably look to DIY as much of it as possible so I can get the most flexibility and power out of it.

One thing I'm really interested in doing as I build and mature my first system is to try to find a way to automate and self-sustain a phytoplankton + pods breeder and doser. From my research it seems like a relatively unexplored area of the hobby (automating + self-sustaining) and it looks like fun to try out without much risk involved.

One thing I'm struggling with is that there doesn't seem to be much of a local Queensland group - Do people generally trade or give away frags, macroalgae etc? I thought I'd see more of it or maybe I just can't find it.

Of course these are just words and I'm sure I will continue to be surprised by the depth of knowledge in this hobby, but that's part of the fun!

Welcome!

 

[strich]

Welcome!

You should definitely be made aware of the Reefpi development community! See this long but excellent thread here on R2R.

Indeed I had heard of Reefpi and will look into whether I can pick it up and contribute! I'll have a read of the thread soon thanks.

Love the idea of trying to automate phyto and pods and fully expect it can be done! Phyto doesn’t need sterility per se, just don’t bulk contaminate it with other phyto and it will be fine. I have been culturing a couple types for 2 years, and general maintenance is just to dilute them with fresh medium (saltwater + f/2 fertilizer). Simple to automate.

Have been dabbling with pod culture and their growth is mostly about feeding phyto and then periodic harvest/dilution. The challenge might be in filtering out adults to feed to the tank while keeping juveniles. But you could also just skip this step, if you have a large enough culture going to sustain constant harvesting.

Following along to see your progress!

Yeah it doesn't need to be perfect max thickness cultures. It just needs to be enough to bulk dose into the tank n times a day for feeding. Re the pods - I don't have enough experience to understand how they actually move about in the culture. Do they all stick to the walls or float about?

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[1112-425XL]

 

[Hitokiri]

Welcome.

 

[thrillreefer]

Re the pods - I don't have enough experience to understand how they actually move about in the culture. Do they all stick to the walls or float about?

So I’ve only tried Tigriopus; the adults swim around a lot, but also hang out on surfaces. The juveniles mostly walk around, or drift. And I think the eggs are either more dense and sink, or drift as well. I think if you sampled from the water column in the culture, you’d get some pods to dose. Or could play with the tube being on/near the bottom.

 

[Tahiti]

 

[WalkerLoves_TheOcean]

Welcome to reef2reef! We are glad to have you here!

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R and the salty world. Take things slowly. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here who will support and advise you when needed.