obrien.david.j

Harvest #19 done - first time harvesting 5 jars of phyto

Thanks to @NateDawg, I replaced my dead RedPlanet colony with a new branch. Nice and big, even if not the same size - it'll grow! @NateDawg Thank You! Old/Dead New/Replacement!

Harvest #18 done - AND added a 5th grow out jar! Thanks to the last club meeting, I picked up another jar - used. Happy for the increased capacity! Pict 1, harvest done Pict 2, restarted - with phyto jar #5! (black airline tubing)

Thanks! I had so much fun running the frag swap... that I forgot to take bind picks for myself. No worries. It was fun to see what each person got. For the most part, people didn't bring home their own corals. I'll add some of my own picts to the thread here.

Blind Frag Swap was a success! A few stats: 14 club members participated 31 total frags, which includes bonus frags added by Rudy and a few others 9 SPS frags were swapped 11 Softie frags were swapped 3 LPS frags were swapped (the rest were bonus picks sold at $5/each) Open Questions Should we do another Blind Frag Swap? Should it be at the next meeting, or wait a few months? Should we keep SPS/LPS/Softie at the same event, or should we make it One Type Only, per meeting? (a meeting of Only SPS, meeting only of LPS, a meeting of only Softies)? Any other improvements you can think of? Thanks to everyone!

Last I moved a tank, I used these off amazon. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K222FV1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've been growing Phyto at home since March 2022 using the Poseidon Reef Systems setup. 17 successful harvests under my belt. I'm happy with the system, but I still like reading posts about growing to learn and get other perspectives. One of the points made by Poseidon Reef is keeping a culture going is all about sanitization and sterilization. Their system is each harvest is made in a disposable plastic bag, placed inside the one gallon glass culture jar - and uses disposable 1/4" rigid tubing. Harvest and resetting up the culture is fast and easy for me. I'm done in ~45minutes for four 1 gallon grow jars. This morning, I saw an ad for Dinkins Phyto and Pods. They advertise they use lab grade sterilization techniques, and published them. Interesting, probably needed for professional scale grows - but Oh more work than I'm willing to do. Posting here because I found it interesting. Our Process: Dinkins Aquatic Gardens uses lab-grade sanitation procedures every step of the way. First, we culture each phytoplankton strain separately in seven-gallon wide-mouth carboys. Once a batch of phyto finishes, we soak the carboy and rigid airline tubing in Alconox overnight, then scrub it by hand the following morning. After a very thorough rinse, we allow it to dry. Once the carboys are dry, we thoroughly clean the inside with isopropyl alcohol and allow that to dry for about half a day. Late that evening, we fill the carboys with five gallons of saltwater and the appropriate amount of F/2 fertilizer from Florida Aqua Farms. Our saltwater is made using seven-stage RODI water mixed with Hw-Marinemix Professional Salt. This lab-made salt is very high quality and mixes completely clean with no residue. Once the saltwater is added, we then use bleach to chlorinate the water, which disinfects it. Next, we hook up the rigid tubing to our air pumps. The air from the pumps is filtered through 0.2 micron filters to remove any airborne contaminants. We let the chlorinated water bubble all night to thoroughly sanitize the water, the F/2, the rigid airline tubing, and the inside of the carboy. The following morning, we treat the water with sodium thiosulfate to remove the chlorine. Only after all this is done do we add one gallon of starter culture and begin the process of growing our new batch! https://dinkinsaquaticgardens.com/collections/phytoplankton https://poseidonreefsystems.com/

Tomorrow is the day. Looking forward to this club meeting and seeing everyone. This should be a really good one!

Thanks for hosting us one last time!

My advice is about half way in the middle. 1. keep about half the original water. There is good stuff in it. 2. yes, put in mostly new sand - but transfer something like 2-4cups of the old sand to seed the new sand bed. I like your plan overall, pretty sound.

Pictures, Yes post Pictures please!

Those look Awesome! I've heard so much about Golden Basket, but never visited. I'm looking forward to Sunday!

Been there, couldn't afford the all day this time. I've got a cousin in Milwaukee, so sneaking in a dinner with them Thurs eve, and trying to still get out Sunday night after the raffle. Need to work on Monday!

I'll double that statement. Super Generous. Okay Club members... if you want a chance, better bring some frags (2 max) to participate in the swap. For those not a paid club member, it's easy to sign up. and you're in!

My pictures aren't as good, but here's two colonies I'm going to bring frags from. What are others thinking of bringing? WWC Yellow Tip Tort & Upscales Microclados

I generally don't bring much livestock back, but my favorite is kind of a lavender stick from Macna 2017/New Orleans. I got lucky. Grew great in my tank for years. Gave Holly a clipping as a gift. And when I upgraded my tank in 2020, I lost all of the original colonies. Got a clipping back from Holly, and it's still going great! I Always talk lots of pictures. Poke me afterwards, and I'll post them. I could get there through Minneapolis, but times were Ugly. To do it, really wanted me to stay and extra night and fly out on Monday. Didn't want to do that. ORD direct is a much better route. Nice!

Got our travel details all booked. Anyone else attending MACNA this year? BTW - It looked easier to fly into Chicago (ORD) and drive the 1hr+ up to Milwaukee, rather than fly there itself. No direct flights to MKE, but found good direct flights PDX->ORD. https://macna.org/

We visited in 2019 while at Macna. It was a little empty then, but ohh so much potential.

No worries.

OR... If you're coming to the club meeting Sunday, I could be the carrier. John's dropping stuff off at my house (Saturday), and I'm going to the club meeting (Sunday). I'd bring it for you.

Pre 9/11, I used to travel with them a lot. I tried to buy something new in each city I traveled to. But in recent years, I've only been bringing things back from MACNA events, and always made sure it fit in checked luggage.

Excellent Choices!

We will be running a Blind Frag Swap at this meeting as well. See details in this announcement.

Announcing PNWMAS Blind Frag Swap, Aug 2022 We will be running a Blind frag swap at the August 21st club meeting - Bring a Frag, go home with a Frag. Of the same category. - Organized by category. SPS/Stony, LPS/Hard, and Zoe/Shrooms/Softies - Up to two frags, per paid member Here's how it works: - Bring up to two frags, in separate bags. Sharpie the frag name on each bag. - You will get a token for each representing what coral category you brought - At check in, your frag will get hidden in a black bag, and floated to maintain temp - Check-in is from 1-2pm - At 2pm, exchange your token for a random frag of the same type you brought The club will be supplying some bonus frags into the pool as well. Therefore, there will be extra frags. - at 3pm, Remaining frags will be sold for $10/draw, to paid members Two frags per member. Don't make these the worst frags you have. Bring your cooler to drive new frags home. This is not just for the experts, it's for Everyone!

Lay the tank on the side, Or go to home depot. Pick up sheets of styrofoam insulation. Stack it thick enough so when you set the tank on it, and plumbing rests in a hole you've cut in the styrofoam - the plumbing doesn't touch the ground.