albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 That algae scrubber you pictured above looks exactly like my evaporative chiller Yes it sure does indeed Paul, but it was not the only model we built in those days. As I posted to Ben, if I find the article on the ones we did build I will post a link to it, but not sure I can still find it as it is so long ago :-) ... Nice cooler ... ! I had seen it before and ... I like ! Albert Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Pet shops sell cheap nets. I think toole would be to course, maybe nylon stockings which may be the reason my wife's have a few 4"X4" holes in them. The hatchery has been on here so many times it is starting to fade on my computer. Thanks Paul for reposting it .. I tried to find it with the search feature but it did not come up probably because I did not know exactly what search terms to put in for the picture itself ... Albert Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 It is cold here today, 11 degrees, it is so cold I seen a chicken with a cape-on. Wow Paul ... that IS cold .. here in ATL it is cold too but nowhere near that cold ... And on another note I am going to the LFS in a short while and getting an Emerald Crab ... a small one and a "hungry" one so he'll hopefully eat those Caulerpa growths for the most and also some Bryopsis that I see growing here and there, not much but I need to get rid of it using an Emerald Crab as I cannot get those rocks out of the tank as there is too much growth attached to it (a Leather, a Yuma if not two, and some Zoas). Keep warm Albert Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 How One Bubble Gum Coral conquered the World © NBC - Live Science Link : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49537508/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/how-one-bubblegum-coral-conquered-world/ Albert Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Deep Water Reef Tank at the Steinhart Aquarium Video Link: http://vimeo.com/11979156 Albert Quote Link to comment
Paul.b Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Wow Paul ... that IS cold .. here in ATL it is cold too but nowhere near that cold ... And on another note I am going to the LFS in a short while and getting an Emerald Crab ... a small one and a "hungry" one so he'll hopefully eat those Caulerpa growths for the most and also some Bryopsis that I see growing here and there, not much but I need to get rid of it using an Emerald Crab as I cannot get those rocks out of the tank as there is too much growth attached to it (a Leather, a Yuma if not two, and some Zoas). Keep warm Albert I am not sure an emerald crab will eat bryopsis but these guys live on the stuff and nothing else Elisia Crispata, or lettuce slugs don't actually eat anything but they suck the chloroplasts out of broyopsis leaving it looking like snot. I once rasise a load of them. http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11846 Quote Link to comment
metrokat Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 And on another note I am going to the LFS in a short while and getting an Emerald Crab ... a small one and a "hungry" one so he'll hopefully eat those Caulerpa growths for the most and also some Bryopsis that I see growing here and there. Keep warm Albert Hello Albert, I might be mistaken but I thought you were running an oxydator? (which I also just happen to have purchased from Adrian in the UK.) I thought one of the benefits of the oxydator was that problematic algae like bryopsis was eliminated. Is this device not working as intended for you? Quote Link to comment
atoll Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I Albert not been on much today as I have been busy and on the temp issue outside it is currently -4 degrees here. A few weeks ago I saw what I believe to be a colony of Rhodactis sp rather than Ricordie's. Most I have seen had been predominately green but this one has a green center with blue polyps. There was no price on it and when asked the proprietor how much it was he said it was not for sale and he bought it from the wholesalers for his wife's tank. However he did decide to sell me it after a little persuasion. he told me it originated from Fiji. I have taken a pic but the blue is not as noticeable in it as it is in the tank. Quote Link to comment
FlCandy Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 So have pictures for you! Their from my phone so bear with me.FTS via iPhone4sAwesome freebie thrown in, it literally GLOWS in the lights.Blue zoas, VERY awesome but this pic does not even come close to doing them justice.Shortly after adding it to the tank.TV side (left)Hall side (right)That's it for now, I am only going to cut frags now from the larger tank then put them in here to fill it out. I think Ric and Zoa/Paly reef will be it and the Gorg is the centerpiece. Hubby likes the gorg, says it's his type of stick! LMAO Quote Link to comment
atoll Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Hello Albert, I might be mistaken but I thought you were running an oxydator? (which I also just happen to have purchased from Adrian in the UK.) I thought one of the benefits of the oxydator was that problematic algae like bryopsis was eliminated. Is this device not working as intended for you? Oxydator's are an aid to help reduce algae. You will find as Albert has that the glass on the aquarium stays far cleaner with less algae growth on it when using an Oxydator. We do not want to eliminate all algae as many of our corals contain such. What an Oxydator's does is to increase the redox and oxydises compounds which in term helps with algae reduction. Caulerpa as I am sure you know is a higher form of algae (for want of a better word) and IME has little effect of Caulerpa why I do not know but I suspect it is because the Oxydator does not neutralise phosphate and nitrate it just helps. I also read somewhere that some algaes can switch food sources and there is always some nutrients available in the aquarium no matter how good your filtration. Oxydator's will help keep hair algae at bay however. Note I said help. Quote Link to comment
Trogdor447 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 This thread is harder to keep up with than Metro's thread!! jeesh take a day off and im confused!! Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I am not sure an emerald crab will eat bryopsis but these guys live on the stuff and nothing else Elisia Crispata, or lettuce slugs don't actually eat anything but they suck the chloroplasts out of broyopsis leaving it looking like snot. I once rasise a load of them. http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11846 Yes Thanks Paul, I know those and indeed they are real good at that. In fact it is in my new book, and I have posted links to articles on them before here on this thread as well ... but thanks for the reminder as some followers may not have seen those. My issue is that I have that Caulerpa also and a few short hair algae here and there, nothing major and nothing out of hand, so it will take care of those and hopefully if I am lucky it will go for some of the Bryopsis also as some do but most do not. It is hard to tell ... Hopefully this one will but there is no guarantee :-) but then in our hobby there really is not much that is guaranteed as you and I and many others have found out :-) Emerald is acclimating a little now and will be in the tank in another 5 minutes or so as it has been on the drip for about 20 minutes already. I'll post a pic of it later ... it's a very small one ... Albert Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Hello Albert, I might be mistaken but I thought you were running an oxydator? (which I also just happen to have purchased from Adrian in the UK.) I thought one of the benefits of the oxydator was that problematic algae like bryopsis was eliminated. Is this device not working as intended for you? Hi Kat, and yes that is a very good question, and if you read Les' answer you will see what the oxydator does, and let me assure you that the Oxydator will do what it is supposed to do. In my case the small growths of Bryopsis were in the tank 'before' I actually put the Oxydator in place, and it has not spread further thanks to the unit, but the tufts or patches of growth that were present are still there, they are just not spreading to other spots in the tank. The Caulerpa appeared out of nowhere, and I have been trimming it back but because it keeps regrowing of course as Caulerpa does, I need to get it out of the tank and the Emerald will help in making that happen. How the Caulerpa got in the tank is not known to me, but I can take a guess at it I assume it came in when I added the two pieces of rock that David gave me (dliing) and then started growing. The oxydator is not an algae killer ... it improves the water quality, and keeps any small growths at bay, but as we all know some algae will show up and need additional intervention. It may also be that I may need to run a stronger peroxide solution to make its effectiveness even higher. It will purify the water to such a degree that the brownish film algae that grow on the glass will be far far fewer. In fact I have not cleaned the front glass for quite some time (I should as it has some coralline algae on it). The oxydator is not to be considered as an algae eradicator, but an aid in minimizing it, and eliminating or preventing some of them from growing, but there may still be some that show up, and they would mostly be algae of the "macro" type and not algae of the pest type such as film algae. The main function of the unit is to raise the oxidation level of the water and make it clearer, and able to reduce dissolved organics, and increase the dissolved oxygen level in one's tank, and that is what it is doing. Hopefully this and what Les posted will alleviate any concerns you may have about its efficacy. It will make a difference for sure, I do not doubt that at all, and it has in my aquarium. The fact that I have some Bryopsis is not indicative and should not be construed as an indication that the Oxydator is not bringing about a water quality improvement, because it will do just that. What I may have to do as I said is run a stronger peroxide solution to get even more effectiveness out of it as right now I am running 4% and I should probably run 6 or 9%, and I will have to get that again, as I diluted all of the 35% I got to 4%. If you have any other concerns or questions let me know Kat and thanks for the post. Albert Quote Link to comment
Trogdor447 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Albert, Now that I am running the gfo etc, it appears like my corals are extremely hungry they are bringing the feeders out constantly if i blow a little food in front of them. I know its natural for corals to eat all day in the wild. But i really think I'm going to have to pick up the feeding from 1-2x a week on the entire tank to 2 times daily. Everything is starting to truly look fantastic once this pesky algae is gone its going to look fantastic. A few rough spots still yet they are fading fast! Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I Albert not been on much today as I have been busy and on the temp issue outside it is currently -4 degrees here. A few weeks ago I saw what I believe to be a colony of Rhodactis sp rather than Ricordie's. Most I have seen had been predominately green but this one has a green center with blue polyps. There was no price on it and when asked the proprietor how much it was he said it was not for sale and he bought it from the wholesalers for his wife's tank. However he did decide to sell me it after a little persuasion. he told me it originated from Fiji. I have taken a pic but the blue is not as noticeable in it as it is in the tank. Very nice looking Les, and although I am not entirely sure as I cannot see it well enough it could be Rhodactis inchoata which comes from various areas including Fiji and as per the article referred to below in many different color variations. It could however be an unidentified species of Rhodactis ... Julian Sprung wrote an article on Corallimorpharia and maybe this will be of help as it shows what looks like what you have + other Rhodactis species Link : http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/10/inverts Hope this helps in further ID'ing it. Albert Quote Link to comment
Trogdor447 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Here is my 1 month before and after shots.. the water has cleared up SO much on top of the algae dying back! you can actually see the white light is penetrating the tank again Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 So have pictures for you! Their from my phone so bear with me. FTS via iPhone4s Awesome freebie thrown in, it literally GLOWS in the lights. Blue zoas, VERY awesome but this pic does not even come close to doing them justice. Shortly after adding it to the tank. TV side (left) Hall side (right) That's it for now, I am only going to cut frags now from the larger tank then put them in here to fill it out. I think Ric and Zoa/Paly reef will be it and the Gorg is the centerpiece. Hubby likes the gorg, says it's his type of stick! LMAO Thanks Randi and looking real good ... and yes I know that taking pics with a phone camera is not that easy ... I have the same issue as I use the iPhone too to take them and they do not always come out as well as I would like. The tank looks great though ... but then I have high res pics of it that you sent me a while ago so I have seen real spectacular pics of it. Thanks for posting them Albert Quote Link to comment
atoll Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Very nice looking Les, and although I am not entirely sure as I cannot see it well enough it could be Rhodactis inchoata which comes from various areas including Fiji and as per the article referred to below in many different color variations. It could however be an unidentified species of Rhodactis ... Julian Sprung wrote an article on Corallimorpharia and maybe this will be of help as it shows what looks like what you have + other Rhodactis species Link : http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/10/inverts Hope this helps in further ID'ing it. Albert Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Oxydator's are an aid to help reduce algae. You will find as Albert has that the glass on the aquarium stays far cleaner with less algae growth on it when using an Oxydator. We do not want to eliminate all algae as many of our corals contain such. What an Oxydator's does is to increase the redox and oxydises compounds which in term helps with algae reduction. Caulerpa as I am sure you know is a higher form of algae (for want of a better word) and IME has little effect of Caulerpa why I do not know but I suspect it is because the Oxydator does not neutralise phosphate and nitrate it just helps. I also read somewhere that some algaes can switch food sources and there is always some nutrients available in the aquarium no matter how good your filtration. Oxydator's will help keep hair algae at bay however. Note I said help. Thanks Les and see my additional response to Kat ... and where the Bryopsis originated from and how I think the Caulerpa got in my tank. I am very pleased with the results of using an Oxydator but, as I said, I may have to increase the strength of the peroxide I am using to get even better results. It is doing what I was expecting, and its effect shows in the pictures of the corals in my tank that I posted yesterday and the day before and also in what they looked like when I took the device out and then put it back, and I posted pictures of that as well. Big difference when the unit was not in the tank versus when ti is, as you remarked yourself in a post you made. Albert Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 This thread is harder to keep up with than Metro's thread!! jeesh take a day off and im confused!! :-) yes there are days when the thread moves really fast, and there are lots of posts, but then there are days when it does not .. but I agree one needs to do a lot of reading sometimes to keep up with all the posts := ) I hope that what you read and the links I post are of help to you. Now on Kat's thread ... I think that one moves very fast as well ... and sometimes it is hard to keep up with too but that is good as it means that a lot of people are posting info ! And I guess that is the general idea of a forum :-) so as they say: I like ! Thanks for visiting and posting. I appreciate it. Albert Quote Link to comment
atoll Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 YVW Albert, I have been asked a number of times both on Nano-Reef and other forums if Oxydator's work so good why aren't we all using them and how come we have never heard of them? My answer is always the same, it seems to me it needs a well known author like Julian Sprung who writes in one or two of the marine aquaria magazines to test one and report of it to give it kudos. I can understand people being sceptical and I believe the makers of Oxydator's do themselves no favours by not advertising them. Its almost as if they don't want Oxydator's to catch on too much. I have posted that IMO they are the best kept secret in the hobby before. I have been ridiculed for not carrying out laboratory, repetitive and clinical test to support my observations and experiences using Oxydators for the last 30 years or so. I am just a simple hobbyists and have never had more than 2 tanks at any one time let alone access to a lab etc. I do of course stand by everything I have said about Oxydators and have always reported on my experiences using them rather than theory. Les. Thanks Les and see my additional response to Kat ... and where the Bryopsis originated from and how I think the Caulerpa got in my tank. I am very pleased with the results of using an Oxydator but, as I said, I may have to increase the strength of the peroxide I am using to get even better results. It is doing what I was expecting, and its effect shows in the pictures of the corals in my tank that I posted yesterday and the day before and also in what they looked like when I took the device out and then put it back, and I posted pictures of that as well. Big difference when the unit was not in the tank versus when ti is, as you remarked yourself in a post you made. Albert Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Albert, Now that I am running the gfo etc, it appears like my corals are extremely hungry they are bringing the feeders out constantly if i blow a little food in front of them. I know its natural for corals to eat all day in the wild. But i really think I'm going to have to pick up the feeding from 1-2x a week on the entire tank to 2 times daily. Everything is starting to truly look fantastic once this pesky algae is gone its going to look fantastic. A few rough spots still yet they are fading fast! Well that is good to read .. not sure if they eat more because you have GFO in the filters, but I would have to think that as the water quality is improving and as those algae are starting to disappear and not pollute the water as they decompose, that the corals sensing the water quality is better, that are opening more and of course will capture food if you add it to the aquarium. Not sure 2x a day is needed but maybe 1x a day as opposed to once or twice a week. Glad to read that the algae are slowly but surely dying off and disappearing .. I guess the phosphates were indeed high and that is what made it all happen, but now that you are filtering them out everything is starting to look and get better. Albert Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Here is my 1 month before and after shots.. the water has cleared up SO much on top of the algae dying back! you can actually see the white light is penetrating the tank again Wow what a difference indeed ... looks like you have a "new" tank. Power to you ! Glad you are taking all the steps needed to get the water quality back up to where it needs to be. A little more time and the tank will be free of algae and you will amazed on what it will do for your corals too as when they are in better water quality they will open more and look a lot healthier and based on a previous post that is already starting to happen. Great Albert Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Very nice looking Les, and although I am not entirely sure as I cannot see it well enough it could be Rhodactis inchoata which comes from various areas including Fiji and as per the article referred to below in many different color variations. It could however be an unidentified species of Rhodactis ... Julian Sprung wrote an article on Corallimorpharia and maybe this will be of help as it shows what looks like what you have + other Rhodactis species Link : http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/10/inverts Hope this helps in further ID'ing it. Albert Empty message Les, not sure whether you were responding to my post as no text appeared Albert Quote Link to comment
wavemaster Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Hi Albert, My Falco Hawkfish was doing so well. Looked normal this morning and now looks pale. Any ideas on what is going on with this fish? I have never seen him change colour before. He still seems to be acting normal and still comes up to see me when I come to the tank. Quote Link to comment
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