SamatSLS

We all need to be there!! Strong attendance will encourage the bigger and better shows to come to us!

Shannon, I've been staring at that picture of your sump/plumbing for 15 minutes. It make sense now but I have a headache! Post pics of your bad-@$$ reflectors. I heard you got good ones!! -Sam

There's only one way to settle this..... Grow off! Even though I unfortunately live and breath lighting equipment, I'm the first to admit that the importance of water flow and stability FAR outweigh the importance of light. If you're tank is stable with solid parameters, and you have proper water flow, you will have great success growing coral with either setup. Both lighting systems have positives and negatives. All you need to do is figure out which is better for you personally, and go with it.

A couple years ago when using reflective sheets, or using a "gull-wing" style was the norm, I would of agreed and said to go with a 400W lamp. Now-a-days, if you fork over the extra cash for a good reflector/lamp/ballast, you can really save long-term with the electric bill savings while providing your corals with the same amount of useable light. -Sam

Yeah with the corals I'm pretty sure it's just the K-balance though... My K+ was at 200 or so last Friday, I boosted it up on day 2.. The main thing with I've recognized is the clarity improvement. WOW! It's way better than it's ever been. Even better than the day after adding fresh carbon, changing the filter bag, and running UV like I did in the past. I notice the slightest changes with this tank as it's been running for 3 years. The changes happening in the past week have been pretty exciting.

UPDATE: 1 week down. Tank clarity has reached a level I've never seen. The skimmate has been quite a bit darker and smellier. I've boosted my K+ levels to +/- 380, and slight color improvement can be seen with various SPS frags. I've noticed my monti's have colored up noticeably as well. Overall, the most obvious improvement is in my LPS corals. The Acans are all looking fantastic, and euphyllias are extended further than normal. I'm very impressed so far... Will continue to post updates weekly. Pics are coming soon as well.

I set people up with T5 systems for depths of 36"+ quite often. It can be done! For your dimensions, I would put 8 lamps in there. It will allow you keep anything you want. 8 x 24w = 192W.... Little more economical than a 400 with the additional T5's. Also, if you choose to go MH, the 400 is not really necessary. Get a 250 with good par, pair it with a good reflector, a good ballast, and you'll have enough light. Either way, you're heading in the right direction -Sam

Jeff, A good one to check out is the Aquatic Warehouse. (which is in a complex similar to Waves Marine) It's really big, and has lots of goodies. It's been over a year since I've been in there, but I remember a lot of livestock. The other good one to see is the Octopus's Garden. They are quite a bit smaller but had a great selection of corals when I visited. I heard good things also about a new place called SW Imports. Supposed to be pretty high end.... Looking forward to hearing about where you visited! -Sam

Yes, I got the test kit, and of course you can use it. I'd imagine you'll be fine with a 250ML bottle though. I bought the smallest size of everything, and I can forsee that it's going to last a really long time. The drops, and .2ml of start2 twice daily is a really little amount. Your tank is 1.5x bigger than mine, but I think you'll agree. Let me know when you want to meet up. My Potassium is pretty good, so I'd be willing to let you borrow/use the K-balance strong and the kit for a few days actually to get your levels up. You'll seriously see better color and polyp extension after getting it in line. Plus, by using it you'll really get a good idea of how much to buy.... I would also recommend buying Coral-Vitalizer right off the bat. That's what was recommended to me, and the stuff is truly amazing. Dose it daily, (3 drops for me) and within 30 minutes or so, bam! Your LPS/SPS polyps will pop out like none-other. It apparently improves the health of damaged corals, improves color, and aids in the increase of growth. It's too early for me to say that it's doing any of that, but I'm happy with the polyp reaction anyway. -Sam

Yes, please Joel! I'll find you the distributor. I would love to be able to avoid the mail ordering. -Sam

Joel, Go to the D-D website www.theaquariumsolution.com for info on the salt. It's solar evaporated from the dead sea, with additives. Supposed to be great stuff, but we'll see. Deciding to run zeovit was not a impulse decision. I did my homework, and have a pretty good understanding now of how it works. I somewhat agree with the comment about walking a tightrope. It's quite a bit more involved than the normal system. The results though are worth it to me. I've seen some very impressive zeovit systems out there, and I'm willing to do it. As you know I do travel, and will have to rely on Rick from time to time. That's why I've been training him for a while now... He's read the Zeovit guide cover to cover, and has asked me a million questions. I even created a dosing schedule with a spot for him to initial after doing things. It's posted on the wall next to the tank, and should make it fool proof for both of us. You're right about some of the online vendors. Bottom line for me though, those guys do get amazing results. What the corals from my tank will look like in someone elses tank is not really a big concern to me personally though, I mean, I'm not selling anything. ps. you have Rod's food in stock? Do you carry Elos test kits?

Checked the tracking, tomorrow will be the big day! I'll surely have it up and running tomorrow after work. I'll post a couple pics!

Good to hear! I was told to use Coral Vitalizer and bring up my Potassium in addition to the basic 4, but don't even consider doing anything else for 6 months or so... Feeding heavily with Rod's food is good to know as well. I love that stuff. I heard Joel at Waves carries it now, so I should probably go see him and pick some up. I'm using Seachem's Reef Salt right now, which I believe is pretty good for Zeovit. I may be switching though, as I (SLS) just became the main distributor for the new deltec salt, D-D's H2ocean which I'm eager to test out. ps. Uhuru, I got an ATB like you do, and I can't wait to see if I can't get skimmate like you. Your skimmate pictures were the reason I pulled the trigger on that purchase -Sam

A zeovit system is a method of reefkeeping developed by Korallen Zucht. www.zeovit.com is a extremely helpful forum. If you check on the general discussion english forum, you'll see a bunch of people asking questions. I posted a thread titled "New to ZEO, seeking advice"... You'll see what I mean. There is a guy on there named "aged salt" who helps newbies all the time. He completely layed out a dosing regiment and answered all of my questions. You can also find links to the zeovit guide by Korallen Zucht that is super helpful in gaining a basic understanding of it. It's rather involved, requires a fair amount of tank awareness, regular dosing, andtesting, but the results are stunning. I've seen a handful of tanks running ZEO in person, all were jaw dropping. It's expensive though. If you check out www.zeovitusa.com you can see what I mean. It was a little over $500 to get me all set up. I did get some extras, including a couple products I won't use immediately, and I also got Korallen Zucht's brand of calcium reactor media/Magnesium media as well. As far as blogging is concerned, of course! I need to track my progress and parameters anyway in determining future dosing regiments, tweaks, etc. I plan on taking photos to monitor growth and coloration as well. I'll lay it all out there. What I'm dosing, when I'm doing it, how much, my parameters, changes, problems, literally everything. I wish I'd come across something like that when I was deciding on taking this on!

NEVERMIND.

I'm on it. Oh yes. Just picked up my stuff! I can't wait to get it all going!! Many months of going back n forth, reading, studying, and dreaming of beautiful corals have led to this! I got a 1.5 liter reactor, the basic 4, K-balance strong, K+ test kit, CV, carbon... Went ahead and got Korallen Zucht's reactor media, and Zeomag for my calcium reactor too. I hope this crap works. -Sam

Picture of the stand?

DITTO. Thanks Shannon for the frags!!! -Sam

Nice, he lives near my house and we tend to frequent the same bar a lot (Hot Seat).... Very nice guy.. All of them seem to be nice guys. I'm really impressed with the turnaround in characters playing in P-Town!!! -Sam

First of all, Darius Miles isn't even playing this year. We are not the same team as the Jail Blazers of the past. Take a look at Greg Oden- Started Team Oden with a goal of finding kids in our area mentors. Brandon Roy- Brandon Roy foundation which tests kid for learning disabilities... Affiliated with UW I believe. Anyway, those are just two examples. The teams image is positive, and I believe any of them are good role models. We've managed to assemble a really good team with really good people. This is why we should be proud of them. They've come a long way this year. Next year will be even better. GO BLAZERS!!!!

Looks like Shannon and I are gonna work out the trade... Thanks for looking! -Sam

Shannon, Cool! Yes, I'll call you today. I'm not after anything specific. I'm just getting started again. I'll call you later today about the swap. I'll just let you put together an assortment that you feel is fair and doesn't take away too much from your colonies. -Sam Ryan, thanks! I really like it. That picture was taken in the evening, I cleaned it about 4 hours prior. Not bad!

[ATTACH]2296[/ATTACH] Here's a picture... -Sam

MODEL FR 509 Looking for a good frag pack, I'm not a picky person, but I like color. SPS ONLY. I wouldn't mind some cool chalice's, but am after an assortment of acro frags. I bought this reactor recently, and it's not really needed... I don't know what I was thinking. I think the Deltec sticker sold me on it. I need to make room in the sump anyway... It's used, but has been running for less than 2 weeks... I still have the box. It retails for 200, so please make fair offers! -Sam

The Portland Trailblazers are a great basketball team and I'm a huge fan... For those of you who have re-gained your fanhood this season, welcome back. If you aren't convinced they are solid, watch some games! This year has been huge for many of our players. Look at the progression of Martell Webster from Seattle Prep. The kid has potential. He got much thicker in the off season, and has come through big on multiple occasions this season. Travis Outlaw. WOW. He's developing every game. He is in my opinion the perfect natural basketball player. His build is perfect, his vertical leap is insane, and he is a great shooter. Jarrett Jack is developing and playing hard every game lately. I'm happy with his progress. Joel the thrilla Pryzbilla is a powerhouse. He is our only muscle right now, but he plays hard day in, day out. There is also #12 Lamarcus Aldridge. He's going to be big in the NBA for years to come. He fouls a lot though. I think he's #2 in the league right now. And let's not forget our reigning Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy was an All-Star this year during his second year in the NBA. The other guards for the west were Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, and Steve Nash. That is a pretty elite list of guards to be named with. Anyway, tomorrow night we play the Timberwolves, with Green, Telfair, and Al Jefferson to name a few. This will be an exciting game. It's in the Rose Garden, but if you have comcast, you can watch it on channel 37 or if you have HD on 788 (mojo) NEXT SEASON. Let's pray Rudy Fernandez comes to the US to play for us. If you google or youtube his name you can see what he's about. He's previously played with our Sergio Rodriguez, and they are great together. He's a baller. And obviously Greg Oden is going to make the big difference. With Joel backing him up on the bench, the post is going to be very physical for our oppponents.