Mr. Fosi's drilled 20H

[Weetabix7]

Ok so wait, are you saying that the Salifert Alk test kits are inaccurate and the Alk is actually higher than the reading the Salifert test kit gives you?

I ask because I've had Alk balancing issues lately, and I'm using a Salifert kit.

 

Also, I'd be happy to test your "homegrown" kit.

[Mr. Fosi]

mkregs: The frags in the pic you posted came from Lalani (red/orange skirts, blue centers and pink palys), bluebastion (rics and toadstool) and my LFS (bright green skirts w/ dark centers).

 

Alas, bluebastion is out of the hobby for now but Lalani is still in and occasionally sells/trades frags.

 

Weet: You were also one of the first people I had in mind. I am making up a list of people to PM about it (mostly people I have dealt with before). Once I have the number of people I will include, I can come up with what it is going to cost for materials and shipping. I'll send out PMs once I have the list finalized and the cost calculated (hopefully before the end of the weekend).

 

About the alk numbers: I am saying that I trust mine more than Salifert b/c I am using the method that is trusted by 100% of water quality and wastewater industry/science. This method is used by virtually everyone who does this for a living, which is why it is published in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater year after year. Certainly not some cryptic method I dug out of some obscure pulication... This comes from the so-called Water Bible (but I was tipped off by my limnology methods book).

 

There are other methods for quickly estimating alkalinity in seawater but they aren't precise and suffer from poor accuracy. One of the more popular alternate methods includes adding a known volume of an acid of known concentration to a known volume of seawater and recording the pH change. No titration, just a one-point estimate and the marine methods books that detail the method say it is accurate "within a few percent".

 

This is fine if you are doing these measurements out on a boat where you can't set up a chem lab or when you otherwise need quick answers in the field. I don't know about you, but I am not happy with that for my home tank and I desire a greater level of accuracy.

 

Since my DIY kit (and the analysis in the Advanced Aquarist article I linked) comes back consistently 10% lower than the Salifert kit, I have no problem saying that the Salifert kit overestimates alkalinity.

 

Now, 10% isn't a huge amount but it is certainly at the limit of what I would call acceptable. 10% is the difference between 3.55 meq/L (9.9 dKH) and 3.20 meq/L (8.9 dKH). Since our range of acceptable alk is generally quoted as 8-10 dKH, I would say that a 1 dKH deviation is a problem.

[Mr. Fosi]

I passed my comps!

 

But one of my zoa frags (the eagle/dragon eyes) has zoa pox. I will have some Furan 2 tomorrow or Wednesday and treatments will begin as soon as I get it home.

[Urchinhead]

Congratulations! Thus you must be ABD?

 

Bummer on the zoa's!

[Mr. Fosi]

I am now officially ABD.

 

Now I need to form a plan of attack for this summer that will get me a part of the D.

[Urchinhead]

Heheh... Yep! And a good mid-morning to you sir! What is your topic?

[Mr. Fosi]

I am working on microbial interactions. Specifically how benthic microalgae (microphytobenthos) and bacteria may form feedback loops.

 

I have a rough outline for my dissertation but I need to tighten it up a bit.

[Deleted User 6]

Hey Fosi - ? about your fuge light. I need a strong 6500k light with a low profile for my new stand I'm wanting to design. I'll need to grow several species of macro algaes (fuge is going to be a display fuge) and perhaps some softie frags. Any idea what PAR your light puts out, or if there are stronger versions of your light? What's the size footprint of your light? How long does it last before you need to replace it? I've been using a 100w 6500k spiral bulb, but it might be too big to fit in my new stand (I'm wanting to raise the display up off floor level a bit).

 

Thanks man.

[Weetabix7]

Hi! *waves*

[Mr. Fosi]

I don't know that my fuge light is 6500K... I think it is probably more like 5000-5500K. Since you want it to be a display fuge, you may want to go with a higher K value such as 10000K because the lower K's will give you a long, loose, light-colored growth. The more blue you add in (up to a point), the darker and more compact they will grow.

 

You don't want to wander too far from a sun-like spectrum because you want their carotenoids to work for them (and thus keep their coloration) but I get interesting growth forms and good color under 14K. Since you want to have some frags in there as well, that's another vote for 10K.

 

From my Phoenix 14K thread.

 

I almost forgot to add that the 20W halogen I use for the refugium puts off 1500 umol m^-2 s^-1 right at the glass, which is ~1.75" off the water which means it is probably on the order of 644 umol m^-2 s^-1 at the surface and maybe as much as 400 umol m^-2 s^-1 just below the surface.

 

You can find 2-3 lamp fixtures in the same area of Lowes/HD that I got mine from: undercabinet lighting. They also have some LED fixtures there too but I don't know what their spectrum looks like or what their PAR is. See my Phoenix 14K thread if you want to see what the spectrum of my halogen lamps (xenon, I believe) looks like vs. sunlight.

 

What's the size footprint of your light? How long does it last before you need to replace it?

 

I estimate (b/c I'm not at home) that the light has a 3.5" diameter, which would be ~9.6 in². It's about 1" deep as well.

 

If you protect the fixture from salt spray and clean the glass occasionally, the fixture will last for a long time. If you let salt spray get into it, it will corrode the fixture contacts within ~7 months and you'll need a new puck. The lamps last (if you are careful not to jar them while lit or recently lit) for 7 months or more of 14 hr continuous-use days.

 

You can get a 3-pack of xenon lamps for ~$10.

 

Hey weets! Got my first case of zoa pox... But I've got Furan-2 as well.

[Weetabix7]

Uh ohs, which ones got poxed?

Furan-2 does work well, just follow the instructions for the dip.

[Deleted User 6]

So for the 10k spectrum (and without spending a lot of $$) what would you recommend for a display fuge lighting situation given my space constraint concerns?

 

Thanks for the advise, btw.

[Mr. Fosi]

The Eagle/Dragon Eye frag (from my LFS). I didn't recognize it at first though.

 

I did one of Prop's alk dips and picked off some of of the cysts while I was waiting for the Furan but not all of them came off.

 

I did my first dip last night:

 

1 cup new water

1 packet (same dose as a tablet) Furan-2

20 min

 

My Furan-2 isn't blue though, it's yellow. The yellow dyed the mucous that the frags spit out and all the frags dropped a lot of organic detrital crap during their dips which is interesting. The pods didn't seem to mind. I still had some large amphipods shooting around the cup after an hour of exposure. Too bad they had to take a ride down the drain slide.

 

I dipped all my easily moved frags, even those that don't yet show symptoms. I really don't want this to spread and the frags have recovered well from their ordeal. I'll be dipping them again tonight and tomorrow as well, followed by a week of observation.

 

Also, my orange monti has gotten a lot lighter than it used to be. It's been this way for almost two months and I have left it alone thinking that it would eventually darken back up but it hasn't. It's still growing, but slowly and my brown digi looks fine.

 

I decided to move the orange down to the sandbed and we'll see how it does there.

 

I have some stuff on the way from Sue that I plan to use to make some freebie packs for locals and an up-coming trade.

 

So for the 10k spectrum (and without spending a lot of $$) what would you recommend for a display fuge lighting situation given my space constraint concerns?

 

Could you do a small DIY PC fixture?

 

13W lamps are small, worked well for me in my 5.5g and they don't need an expensive ballast to run. You can get cheapie magnetic ballasts for them, mount them elsewhere and run wires to the lights.

 

EDIT: Fixed broken link.

[Deleted User 6]

I guess I could do a PC retro - still, it'd end up being over $100. Maybe I could try to find one used. How many watts do you think I would need for growing Gulf-based macros (rocks and macros coming from FL)?

[Mr. Fosi]

Did you get my PM?

 

Macros have done best for me when I have given them a lot of light. 20W halogen in a 10g gives me great chaeto and coralline growth but 30W of NO fluorescent (with a more sun-like spectrum!) didn't do squat.

 

130W PC in a 20L/H has been good for Caulerpas, Chaetomorpha, Sargassum and Botryocladia. Fine for mushrooms and chalices but not so much for frogspawn.

[Deleted User 6]

Got it - thanks.

[zemuss]

Mr. Fosi I would be interested in testing your kits.

 

I wouldn't think anyone would have a problem with a $20 price tag for that many tests.

 

"Z"

[Mr. Fosi]

My two latest setbacks...

 

My poxed frag... Still dipping this guy in Furan-2.

 

 

 

 

What used to be my purple chalice. I was moving it to a more secure spot with my long forceps and I dropped it... Right onto the micromussa, flesh to flesh. It started to bleach immediately. Perhaps it will reover under this overhang and perhaps not...

 

[Mr. Fosi]

I have 14 potential names on my list for the field test of my alk kit. They are "potential" because some of the people don't know that I am going to ask them yet. I'd like to have 24 because that will help spread the cost of the materials.

 

As it stands, with 24 people, the materials cost per kit would approach $10 but they would contain ~3x the number of tests in a standard Salifert alk kit. Additionally, if the testers save their plastic ware they could mail it back to me for refills for a fraction of the cost of a full kit.

 

Testers pay only for materials not for my time or profit. I also want/need to hear feedback about what they think of the kits' usability/user friendliness and accuracy/precision.

 

So... If you think you might like to test out a new alk kit that will you most of a year of daily testing, leave a post here. I'd like to get NR/SW veterans more than noobs but some noobs will be included.

[Lalani]

I'm in.

[Mr. Fosi]

You were already on my list.

[Weetabix7]

I'm on it too, right?

I also already have a Salifert Alk test kit, so I'd have a great standard of comparison.

[Mr. Fosi]

To keep other from asking here's the list that I have right now:

 

1) Weetabix7

2) Urchinhead

3) scottyreef

4) Biblesue

5) MrAnderson

6) nano-paul

7) Lalani

8) yardboy

9) lakshwadeep

10) ribbie

11) Carlton's Tank

12) fishdaddy0831

13) DHaut

14) zemuss

 

Some of these people haven't been contacted yet and may not be willing to participate... These were just the initial names that popped into my head (like scotty and MrA) as well as the people who have already expressed interest (Weet, UH, etc).

[Lalani]

You were already on my list.

Yay

[Deleted User 6]

I'm one of the noobs that were included.

 

Edit: that means I'm in.