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obrien.david.j

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Posts posted by obrien.david.j

    Moving Walt Disney lower in tank

    in SPS

    Posted

    I had conversation last night with SunCrestReef last night about our Walt Disney frags.   Both of ours are towards the top of our water column, and at least mine is Just Not Going Anywhere.    Its almost no different from when I added it in June.

    So, I've moved it down to an artificial frag rock at the bottom of my tank.   Let's see what it does.

    1. Frag Rack, about 8" below water level  (next to Oregon Tort, which loves this spot)

    2. Frag Rock, about 18" below water level (next to PC Rainbow, i bought at FragFest and it loves This spot)

     

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    Custom tank?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Stephanie,

    I'm looking for almost the same size tank upgrade.    Approx 4' x 4' x 27" tall, GLASS.   Viewable on front and left side.   right side against a wall, back will be completely hidden.     Current design is whole back wall is a coast to coast overflow, into an overflow trough outside the tank.   

    (Think of this as a 4' x 4' x 27" on three sides, and 26" tall on the whole back wall - feeding an Outside the tank overflow box on the back wall.   Yes, there will be a screen w/teeth to keep fish/snails from going over the overflow.)   

    I haven't surveyed suppliers well yet.   Keep us updated what you find out.

    • Like 1

    Dave's attempt to increase BioDiversity - AquaBiomics

    in Aquabiomics

    Posted

    First Diversity addition complete.  Visited LFS today, goal was to get leveled what's available for non-man made live rock these days.  (when I was actively buying years ago, you Only got raw ocean rock.)

    Conclusions

    • Seems like export shut downs (like Indo) have also reduced live rock access
    • Florida is mining dry (but original ocean rock) and culturing it in the ocean. Should work.
    • Tonga Branch should be available, I'll find out in two weeks 
    • If I'm willing to use a bio brick from someones sump, why shouldn't I consider previously dry (but natural) rock, that's been in a store sump for months.

    Thus, Diversity Addition #1 completed today.  

     

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    Dave's attempt to increase BioDiversity - AquaBiomics

    in Aquabiomics

    Posted

    On 11/29/2019 at 11:45 AM, Lexinverts said:

    How about this stuff?  https://www.liverocknreef.com/catalog/about-us.html

     

    Checked out the site.   Looks like cultured Florida rock, and an offer for cultured Walt Smith Fiji rock.    If I'm buying rock, I'm looking for non-cultured.   

     

    On 11/29/2019 at 7:20 PM, markvo said:

    I'm going to assume that the bacterial strains in Microbacter7 are enough and just dose them on occasion.

    What do you expect to get from having greater biodiversity?

    To me, the starter bottles like Microbacter7 seem to be created for tank cycling.   I feel like for diversity I'm looking for something else.

    And what do I expect...   Honestly, no immediately visible action.  But, I feel like my tank doesn't perform as well as others, and hoping this may be part of the overall improvement.

    Plus, I'm a supporter of diversity and inclusion - in the tank or or in regular life.

     

    20 hours ago, Knuckledragger said:

    I have the same issue with lower bio diversity - nearing the yellow on the graphs. My tank has been up nearly four years and started with dry rock and live sand. Later I purchased some Pukani dry rock and added some other rock from an established tank. I have added multiple corals/frags over the years from many sources in addition to countless cleanup crews and multiple fish. It would seem that each of the items added to the tank would bring bio diversity.......
     

    I am not sure how to increase the bio diversity without risking unwanted hitchhikers or bad pathogens.

    Your "diversity" actions sound link mine.  Purchased or traded live stock additions.  Otherwise nothing else.  BTW, to date I've Not added the tank water from others when adding a coral or fish.   Maybe that has kept me more insulated.

    How to increase diversity... without adding hitchhikers/badness.   Risk vs Reward, I'm just going to try it.   

     

    20 hours ago, MrBret said:

    I have a 60 gallon cube that is rock and live sand collected from the Gulf of Mexico, i'm curious what things in that tank might be like.

    MrBret - I'll send you a PM.  I'd be interested in getting some of your water, and maybe seeding a biobrick piece - if you're willing.

     

    14 hours ago, EMeyer said:

    Here is my thinking about diversity -- diversity is just a proxy for having the right microbes. We don't know exactly what each bug does, but most of us agree there are many beneficial roles for microbes. So if most of the tanks are more diverse than mine and my tank has problems, its likely I need some of what they've got. If my tank's doing great, I've probably got the microbes that perform the important roles. 

    --

    I'm still in if we can get our hands on some good live rock though! 

    Eli, I'll start the hunt for live rock this week & next weekend.   Tgiving weekend has kept me away from LFS access.

    BUT, the link Lexinverts provided introduced a nice idea.   What I'm really looking for is Scraps.  The term used was "Refugium Live Rock."    It's not going in my display, so maybe Small/broken pieces can mean Cheaper.

     

    * I'm still looking for people willing to give me 5-10 gallons of their tank water.   Anyone willing?

    Dave's attempt to increase BioDiversity - AquaBiomics

    in Aquabiomics

    Posted

    All,

    The second AquaBiomics test on my tank came back with the same basic theme - I'm low in BioDiversity.  (see chart below)  Let's discuss how I might increase diversity.

    My Tank, 120g tank w/~30gal of extra sump/etc water capacity.  Running for >10years, and only new additions have been few corals and fish in past years.   Rock/sand/etc has been either dry or with me the whole time.

    I don't know who has "more diversity," and more specifically - I don't know what magnitude of import is needed to increase diversity.    I'm thinking of the following three actions.

    1. Purchase sample live rock from multiple local fish stores, add to my tank.  
      • I already have more rock than I can use, But I'll by a new piece from a few stores.   Easy.
      • I'll have to ask each store where they source their already live rock from.  Looking for different sources.
    2. Seed new/fresh BioBricks into fellow-hobbyist sumps, then relocate into my tank.
    3. Perform a water change on my tank, using tank water from a fellow-hobbyists tank.
      • Easiest, fastest.  I'll need to find water transport containers, but doable.   
      • I'm thinking 10-20 gallons per person.

    Now I need some volunteer fellow-hobbyists.  Anyone fit a whole or half brick in your sump for few months for me?  (I'll provide the bricks.)  If  do the same for you if you want.    Anyone willing to let me have 10-20gallons of your tank water?    I'll buy you replacement salt.

    • Any other ideas to increase biodiversity?  
    • I've considered the risk of importing some negative Bio into my tank.   

    -David J. O'Brien

     

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    New coral parasite discovered - 10% of tanks I sampled had it

    in Aquabiomics

    Posted

    Eli,

    While at MACNA, I met someone I think is controversial but might be interesting for this discussion.  I've read threads on-line which argue his product is not real, arguments he charges too much for it ($50/dosage), etc...   Didn't matter to me.    I met the inventor of StopRTN and PreventRTN.   We struck up a good conversation. 

    He explained he's a Dr and he believes symbiont bugs in coral tissue is the cause of RTN/STN.   And some events enable them to multiply aggressively, release into the tank, and eventually impact corals.    I'm paraphrasing.   He described his product as only able to kill bugs in the water column, and effectively only the surface layers of the corals.  But there was no way to wipe out the ones in coral deep tissue.   But his product knocks down the population, which matters.

    Sounds similar to the topics in this article to me.

    Oh, and I ended up bringing home some of his product.   Haven't tried them yet. 

     

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