deezreef updated

[deezreef]

just added a few more corals and did a little rearranging.  i've added a few new acros, pocillipora, and montipora digita.  i've also moved the actinic to the front of the tank to give it a little bit of a different look.  

[jay2k2]

w0w that is nice keep up the good work!

[Sahin]

The Colours in your reef setup are just amazing!

 

Reds, Blues, Greens, pinks, you got all the pretty colour tones.

 

Your tank deserves tank of the month award.

And it needs to be put on a website.

Its simply one of the best looking nano's I have seen.

[Kapelakin]

Wow, those are great!  Feel free to stop by and aquascape my tank anytime!

[deezreef]

...i would but i have my hands full with this one =)  space is at a premium here.

[deezreef]

sahin thanks... i hope i win some kind of monthly award...they have one at aquatic and they offer $50 for the winners...free corals sounds good.

[Mr Spam]

with so many corals packed to tightly together, wouldn't you see some RTN and or aggression?

[deezreef]

that's the fun part... i've spent many painstaking hours working on this tank making sure they don't touch.  in the 2 years running i have noticed no rtn or negative effects of so many corals packed together.  although my briarium does touch my montipora they seem to be  getting along.  i frag my acro every couple of months...not so fun but i that's where i get the most satisfaction of running this tank.  

[Kapelakin]

What does RTN stand for?  :conf:

[deezreef]

rapid tissue necrosis

[eferna]

nice reef deexreef. What size tank do you have? I hope to have a setup like that one day.

[quiksilver5768]

Nice tank! I was wonderinf whatyou add to it? (Supplements and such...)

[deezreef]

i've changed my regimen lately and move to seachem calc, alk and iodide on occasion.  i dose the calc and carbonate every couple of days or so and the iodide less frequently.  i've also been experimenting with bioplankton.  they say it's good stuff but expensive at $25 a bottle.  i'll post result when i see any.

[SLOreefer]

is the bioplankton the frozen stuff? if it is i would not really use it. i would rather use dts. the stuff in the freezer which at my store is called bioplankton but it is all dead. the dts is live and better for your tank.

[MKramer]

Ah, the fun LiquidLife BioPlankton debate.

 

Technically, it is dead.  More specifically, though, it is cyrogenically preserved, meaning that the cell structure is 100% with no deterioration.  It was live when it entered this state, and only "dies" upon thawing.

 

So, I'll give DT the advantage of being alive.  But the only real difference that makes is that DTs algae will have a slight more tendency to float around, where excess BioPlanton will have a higher tendency to settle, where it will deteriorate and break down, releasing ammonia, like all dead organic matter does.  However, if you have sufficient current in your aquarium, very little of it will settle.  It *is* important to use it sparingly.  Since one pump of it is good for 30 gallons, I try to get just a half-pump, and mix it in a glass of aquarium water.  Then, I'll just use half a cup, twice a week.  I put it in using a turkey baster, squirting the blasts directly at my corals, giving them a higher chance of catching a lot of it initially.

 

Using this method, I have yet to see any increase in my toxin or aglae levels, the top-cited critisism of BioPlankton.

 

Of course, most people wonder why it's even worth the hassle.  The problem with DTs is that algae is not a one-size-feeds-all kind of thing, and the algae in DTs (Nannochloropsis oculata) is a particularly small species.  However, it's about the only nutritious species that will go dormat and not die when refridgerated.  There have also been studies that indicate refigerated live species actually  decrease in nutrition content over time, even in a matter of weeks.

 

BioPlankton adds two other nutritious species of phytoplankton, each increasingly larger, but which will die at refrigeration temperatures.  Hence their choice to freeze the phyto and cyrogenically preserve it.

 

A prime example of why these larger species are important is sun coral (of which I've picked up a specimen and have been nursing back to life).  Sun coral are traditionally thought to require near-daily feedings of  each individual polyp meaty foods like brine.  The addition of DTs has never been observed to benifit them, but its been found that they will actually feed on the large phytos, and several people have successfully kept these critters healthy for years using solely BioPlankton.

 

Since my sun coral polyps have, for the most part, resisted coming out, I've been giving blasts of BioPlankton.  This has actually started to entice a lot of the polyps out of their tubes, at which point I can start givign them more meaty feeds.  But I've also seen some polyps that were already extended, bath in a good dose of it and close back up to feed (presumably).

 

In addition to the three species of algae, BioPlankton also includes a decent dose of rotifiers.  It's possible that these are what my sun coral polyps are feeding on.  Either way, I'm sold on the BioPlankton.

 

By no means am I dissing on DTs, but there are some very real advantages to BioPlankton (and other similar products on the market).

[deezreef]

spoken like a champ mkramer...i've actually heard of people mixing dt's and bio together.