THE OFFICIAL ASK ALBERT THIEL THREAD

[brandon429]

for that type of algae and agreed upon very creviced type of rock, I would score a test section deeper and use straight 35% as the cleanup and it would be fixed. Its true the holdfasts only run so deep, then theres nothing to regrow at all. the 35% wicks in the crevices better in that type of super holey and convoluted lr. no harm in trying OD

 

a key aspect of the thread was to model what wins before literally doing anything to the tank...if the initial test rock had growback, that wasn't deep enough chemical penetration+ rasping, even additions to the water can be modeled out of the main tank. I would test that rock in a sep container even if just a bubbled bucket of water with direct peroxide at 1:10, about 10x stronger than an oxydator will be, to see if it responds. To buy these things without having the win modeled first is the new risk but in the end its better than dinoflagellates.

[niQo]

for that type of algae and agreed upon very creviced type of rock, I would score a test section deeper and use straight 35% as the cleanup and it would be fixed. Its true the holdfasts only run so deep, then theres nothing to regrow at all. the 35% wicks in the crevices better in that type of super holey and convoluted lr. no harm in trying OD

 

a key aspect of the thread was to model what wins before literally doing anything to the tank...if the initial test rock had growback, that wasn't deep enough chemical penetration+ rasping, even additions to the water can be modeled out of the main tank. I would test that rock in a sep container even if just a bubbled bucket of water with direct peroxide at 1:10, about 10x stronger than an oxydator will be, to see if it responds. To buy these things without having the win modeled first is the new risk but in the end its better than dinoflagellates.

It seems the oxydator has other possible benefits as well and wasn't expensive at all. Otherwise I would have not purchased it (yet).

 

Most likely I'll try again to do some more rasping. One of my rocks does have some corals (montipora) on it, so I'll have to be careful. I did end up losing my last zoa polyp of the frag that introduced this nastiness in my tank when I dipped it in stronger peroxide.

 

It's very interesting to me how certain types of algae will all of a sudden really flourish in the tank. I've found some bubble algae in my tank here and there for the last 1,5 year. But it's never been an issue...

 

The same with the turf algae, it was around for a while but once I started feeding heavier it really took off. But my corals finally do better too!

[brandon429]

I never see those algae as bad and that's funny considering how I gouge them so harshly lol, they are mere hitchhikers.

 

 

 

brush algae and valonia etc are adapted to flourishing on reefs much cleaner than we run, nutrient restriction and plant binding is not how nature balances them, grazers do.

 

the matched grazers to rooted/anchored invaders are the sand poopers- hawksbill turtles. parrotfish, urchins, we model that with a steak knife.

 

That's not to say that nutrient changes and various stasis changes made and sustained in the reef tank can't moderate invaders, threads say they can...but its the variability we want to address in the new ways up and coming

 

its fun to at least know an absolute win can be had without variation, that 35%/rasp is the key trick for sure it works.

 

Agreed the OD is positive to have, especially if you can keep it out of sight. ORP booster, organics offsetting, increases skimming output I rate em well.

[niQo]

I never see those algae as bad and that's funny considering how I gouge them so harshly lol, they are mere hitchhikers.

 

 

 

brush algae and valonia etc are adapted to flourishing on reefs much cleaner than we run, nutrient restriction and plant binding is not how nature balances them, grazers do.

 

the matched grazers to rooted/anchored invaders are the sand poopers- hawksbill turtles. parrotfish, urchins, we model that with a steak knife.

 

That's not to say that nutrient changes and various stasis changes made and sustained in the reef tank can't moderate invaders, threads say they can...but its the variability we want to address in the new ways up and coming

 

its fun to at least know an absolute win can be had without variation, that 35%/rasp is the key trick for sure it works.

 

Agreed the OD is positive to have, especially if you can keep it out of sight. ORP booster, organics offsetting, increases skimming output I rate em well.

That's where nano tanks can certainly be limiting. I can't really have most grazers in an 8 gallon display tank

 

I'm curious to see where this will take me. I'll let you know if the oxydator makes a change.

 

My trochus snails will eat the turf algae after it's been treated with peroxide. However, I don't think they get to the root of the problem (pun intended).

[brandon429]

 

 

yes agreed fully\

[atoll]

When my hard drive on my laptop died I lost Paul's ebook and recently got another (no I didn't pay again I just emailed the company and told them and they sent me another, that was kind of them) Anyway I have just been reading a section on Manajo nems. I recall back in the day encouraging them to reproduce and gave many away to other reefing friends. We didn't consider them a pest of course but welcome freebies. I don't recall having any Aiptasia nems they seem to have been introduced much later and yes many cultivated them. We didn't seem to have flat worms either then they were another later introduction as far as I recall not that we tried to encourage them to breed they did that fine without our help. They particularly enjoyed sunbathing under metal halides and they seemed to appear when HQI lighting took off.

Before HQI lighting we just had a couple of T12 light tubes over our tanks and all that was available then were northlight and growlux tubes and little else certainly nothing we could call daylight tubes. The blue of the growlux would help neutralise the yellowness of the warm white tubes many used. Most just had a tube of each over their tank but of course we had no SPS corals back then apart from white ones that never grew apart from growing hair algae on them.

Sometimes we would put baking foil under the canopy to help reflect light down but over time it would deteriorate and much of itn would end up in the tank. We did lots of DIY then as much of the high end equipment well what there was of it was extremely expensive with Thiel Aqua Tech being amongst the most expensive lol along with Tunze and Dupla. I recall paying £300 (about $400) or my first 250w HQI light which had a 4300k double ended bulb in it, later I exchanged it for a 5400K bulb. This would be around 25 years ago so in truth much of the equipment we now use can be considered cheaper. Not that I have given up on DIY far from it I still enjoy making filters and other items for my tank.

In many ways reefkeeping was so much easier as we had little in the way of fancy equipment, no skimmers but there was sander ozone reactors that were far from reliable and expensive. We kept few corals maybe a few softies and surprisingly the odd nem if you had the lighting for them. On the front cover of one of Alberts books entitled "Ten Easy Steps" and on some editions early ones I think there is a pic of my H.Magnifica nem hosting common clowns. Alberts book was bublished in 1991 by which time I was running 2X 250w HQI lamps on my 6'6" tank along with a 120 5' actinic T12 lamp. That nem was considered by the "experts" impossible to keep for more than a few months, Mine lasted me many years until I broke the tank down and sold it on.

The book has seen better days now but here it is.

[Paul B]

Those rocks with majano's on them were called "Anemone rocks" by "Robert Straughn" ( The Father of Salt Water Fish Keeping)

We had a hard time keeping majano's and aiptasia alive and we fed them, sung to them, pet them etc.

[atoll]

Those rocks with majano's on them were called "Anemone rocks" by "Robert Straughn" ( The Father of Salt Water Fish Keeping)

We had a hard time keeping majano's and aiptasia alive and we fed them, sung to them, pet them etc.

and proudly showed off our success at being able to cultivate them Paul.

[atoll]

Saw this and thought of you Paul.

 

[StinkyBunny]

I always wanted to meet Robert Straughan, seemed like a stand up guy. I ordered fish from him a few times, much to the chagrin of my parents. I would go to the airport and pick them up in the middle of the night and haul it home to get them settled. I have every book he wrote.

[atoll]

I always wanted to meet Robert Straughan, seemed like a stand up guy. I ordered fish from him a few times, much to the chagrin of my parents. I would go to the airport and pick them up in the middle of the night and haul it home to get them settled. I have every book he wrote.

Those books must be pretty old now I guess?

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Robert-Straughan/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ARobert%20Straughan

[Paul B]

I still have "The Salt Water Aquarium in the Home" By him

[albertthiel]

Saw this and thought of you Paul.

 

? ?

Those books must be pretty old now I guess?

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Robert-Straughan/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ARobert%20Straughan

They sure are

I still have "The Salt Water Aquarium in the Home" By him

+ 1

AT

[StinkyBunny]

Those books must be pretty old now I guess?

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Robert-Straughan/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ARobert%20Straughan

They were all written in the 70s. I used to lay in bed reading about his collecting exploits and dream of doing that myself. I did do it once with some folks out of Big Pine Key who started collecting with him. It would be a tough way to make a living.

[atoll]

My most recent purchase a Magnificent Foxface. I wouldn't normally buy such a fish but as my Yellow Tang has so far decided not to eat my nuisance low growing Caulerpa (unlike my previous YT which cleared it all before I sold it on) The Foxface has been in 7 days and at first it was very shy partly because the YT was showing it who is boss in the tank and partly because they do take a while to settle into a new tank and surroundings. Now its out and about and picking at algae on the rocks but so far I am not sure it's eating the Caulerpa as yet. I guess it's a case of wait and see. It;s about 3.1/2” long and I got it for a good price I believe just £21. I just hope it will do the job I bought it for. Fingers crossed.

Here it is.

[albertthiel]

My most recent purchase a Magnificent Foxface. I wouldn't normally buy such a fish but as my Yellow Tang has so far decided not to eat my nuisance low growing Caulerpa (unlike my previous YT which cleared it all before I sold it on) The Foxface has been in 7 days and at first it was very shy partly because the YT was showing it who is boss in the tank and partly because they do take a while to settle into a new tank and surroundings. Now its out and about and picking at algae on the rocks but so far I am not sure it's eating the Caulerpa as yet. I guess it's a case of wait and see. It;s about 3.1/2 long and I got it for a good price I believe just £21. I just hope it will do the job I bought it for. Fingers crossed.

 

 

Here it is.

 

Hope so for you Les

 

AT

They were all written in the 70s. I used to lay in bed reading about his collecting exploits and dream of doing that myself. I did do it once with some folks out of Big Pine Key who started collecting with him. It would be a tough way to make a living.

Must have been nice !!

[atoll]

Well they are reported to eat just about any green algae Albert so we shall see.

[albertthiel]

Well they are reported to eat just about any green algae Albert so we shall see.

Yes they do indeed

 

AT

[atoll]

I have just rung them (the shop) and yes it would/should have been £35. However they made a mistake as the smaller ones around 2" or so are £26 and they sold me it at the smaller size price plus a good discount, but they are not bothered as I have bought lots of them. Happy days.

[StinkyBunny]

 

Must have been nice !!

The 70s were a good time to be a kid in the USA Albert. The world was a much smaller, slower place back then.

 

Collecting with George was a hell of a lot of fun. We spent all day on the water, I nodded off on the way back to port. Got to go to a lot of pristine places that not many divers went to. I need to get this video tape converted so I can load it on YouTube. We had an Eagle ray come by and its remora detached and went towards my wife. I've never seen anyone backpedal in the water that fast in my life. I had to surface because I was laughing so hard. Learned how to use a barrier net. He had an order for The Steinhart Aquarium for 8 large angels which we got. He had a series of bins on deck that he attached to the livewell pump to keep fresh water flowing to them.

[StinkyBunny]

I forgot to mention, atoll, that's a very good price on the Foxface. They cost about $50 US to get them here from Bali. I lost my pup last week and I've been in a haze.

[atoll]

I forgot to mention, atoll, that's a very good price on the Foxface. They cost about $50 US to get them here from Bali. I lost my pup last week and I've been in a haze.

 

I have posted similar on various UK Facebook forums Bunny and it seems the prices vary quite a lot around the country For instance one member says they are between £60 and £80 in the North East of the country. However bear in mind when I say the NE of the UK I am talking no more than a 3 hour drive tops. London is around a 4 hour drive where prices tend to be more expensive being the capitol. I live in the North West UK less than an hours drive from Liverpool. Where I live in a town called Horwich Bolton my good LFSs of which I have 5 or 6 are all around a 45/50 min drive from me. So there is stiff competition and if prices are too high in one shop then I can always go elsewhere. .

[Paul B]

I still refer to those old books, mostly to see what a certain fish eats as Straughn was a diver when they invented the sport.

 

But I think it was only Super fish al then

[StinkyBunny]

That was back when sex was safe and diving wasn't Paul. I just got back from the water, caught some fish and filleted them to make food. The jumping mullet are massing to head south. If I'd have had a boat I'd be up to my chin in mullet right now. I think we may have bought a boat while we were there, lol.

[Paul B]

I went to Boston to speak this week and I think my fish like the Supermodel who watches my tank better than they like me.

My arrow crab will shed tonight but I am worried for him because the larger bristle worms have been licking their chops waiting for this.

Everything else is doing great, even the Bangai cardinal who is near the end of his lifespan. He still eats but not like he used to. That is the first sigh of dying of old age. I am not sure what I will replace that pair with but I definitely want a pair of something that will spawn.