Eatfrenchfries

Gotta love all the fancy tags we put on corals.

Curiosity killed the cat...….but satisfaction brought it back. Effective Microorganisms Nitrifying bacteria: Biological filtration in reef aquaria. Breaking down organic wastes to be further processed by your system. Without them ammonia levels would rise. We attribute them to be helpful in cycling a tank but in a developed system can be dialed down. Attempts at culturing this have yielded less than appealing results. Isolating pure strains from reef aquaria involve a culture medium tuned to that specific organism not to mention they are slow growers. Inoculum instead is based on whatever was able to reproduce bacteria available in nitrifying reef products. Ammonia - Water glass - Molasses - trace elements ….current cultures are a work in progress. Current methods yield enough to dose back to zooplankton cultures maintaining no water changes for a couple months now. Top off with phyto and RODI plus harvesting for maintenance has been a breeze. No more cleaning. This leads into my next bit about harvesting phyto + zoo detritus to feed bacteria. Purple Non Sulphur Bacteria Effective in consuming organic detritus making it now available to the rest of the food chain Much much easier to get my hands on a few different strains of bacteria not to mention cultivate them. The only thing missing was a growth media which was easy enough to make. Just requires proper sterilization procedure. "Why don't you just buy it?" Bulk buy would cost me roughly $140 - $160 for 2.5 gallons worth. Not to mention I'd still have to culture it. Devising a method to culture my own costs me $5 for the 64oz of rubbing alcohol from Costco, $2 bleach, $5 miscellaneous and leftover nutrient dense matter from my other projects. Managing sterilization and pasteurization to keep it pure. Hardest part about playing with simple organisms is how much even the slightest contamination ruins everything. Utilizing a Still Air Box formerly used in spore prints came in very handy. Current culture methods yield 4 x .65g each batch. Upping production is possible for the base bacteria cultivation but nutritional feeding requires mass amount of organic matter rich in nutrients tailored to your aquaria. Attempts in replicating marine snow underway. This stuff is just awesome. I highly recommend a read online. Been giving out samples for people to try for right now. Devising my own culture methods is very taxing so don't expect any quantity for retail yet. If there is good interest I am considering selling very limited PNSB supply of 8oz bottles for $10 at the Farmers Market to help fund these projects. DM if interested in helping me test out my nitrifying bacteria.

5 - 7 - 2023 Phytoplankton Blend (4) - $8 for 16oz / $60 for 128 oz -(Nanno, Iso, Tet, Thal) Phytoplankton Blend (7) - $12 for 16oz / $85 for 128oz -(Nanno, Iso, Tet, Thal, Por, Rhodo, Sym) *DM for inquiry into single strain pricing/availability* Copepod Blend (4) - $15 for 16oz -(Tig, Tis, Apo, Parvo) L Rotifers - $10 for 16oz Shipping: $15 to ship orders under $100, orders over $100 are free in OR/WA. Local Pickup: Raleigh Hills More Info Here: Highlight001_1.mp4

Once you get the hang of feeding your culture and have it established you'll be able to see how much food they go through before you need to refresh. Helps to split your culture into some tupperware so you can rotate them once you have enough. I rotate three plastic totes of worms to make sure I have enough to feed 2-3 days a week. Surface area is more important. Worm feeders are easy to make if you find fish are dominating the feeding zone. Suggest looking into Paul B. I feed them plain yogurt mixed with spirulina and selcon. Bread soaked in yogurt + medication works too (white or grain). If I am medicating then I will mix medicine instead of a gutload. Pretty much any supplement mixed with the yogurt will be consumed. The food mixture cannot be more than a 1/3 medicine. If the medicine you are using is too dry or vice versa liquid then use RODI/agar powder accordingly. *you will be amazed how agar can help make a lot of DIY foods the perfect consistency for reef application, even possible to just mix medicine and gelatin (diy masstick for brine or making fine foods tangible for larger feeders like ghosts) The nitty gritty is estimating the amount of food your fish consumes in its own bodyweight per day. I'd say a good range for reef fish would consume 2% - 5% of its bodyweight daily. Just look up generic bodyweights if you can't weigh the fish. Therefore a couple days before I'll gut load the worms with medication in advance. The worms will feast for 1-3 days and then you'll weigh them out according to your regimen to feed. Between feeding my fish medicated white worms + adult brine shrimp (gutloading in low brackish is easier) they are pretty much covered. Basically whatever I can't gutload worms with (dewormer) I'll gutload the brine shrimp with.

Some freshwater, reptile (amphibian) stores will carry either white / grindal / black worms. I culture white / black worms but have been slowly moving toward culturing just white worms (Enchytraeus albidus) and ordering bulk black worms to hold since I stopped keeping planted freshwater. Grindals are the smallest and can be kept closer to room temp. (Kept in substrate). Freshwater Portland FB groups has a couple members who keep these. (Can't remember the name) White worms are variable in size. Small colony will be tiny, big colony will have some lengthy individuals. Cooler Temps required. (Kept in substrate) Black worms are lively and easy to spot. They require a bin with water or a spot in your fridge depending if you'd like to culture them or just keep them. Common to find. (Frequent maintenance required)

For medicating foods I try to gutload some sort of live prey with it. -White/black worms eat anything mixed into their diet. -Brine shrimp for fine foods and some medications -Copepods are a hit or miss with gutloading for medicating versus nutrition. - I order mysids by 500 counts when I can't produce or have to train finicky eaters. They're pretty easy to gutload with medicine. Trade off is they are expensive to order in and are a pain in the butt to hold. If not possible I'll use garlic juice / seafood chum (fish guts, fresh oyster/clam guts) to entice fish. I usually feed reef chum (seafood + algae mix) with aloe vera and egg whites to bind the mixture with any supplements (vitamins) I add. Add RODI to consistency. Don't really use garlic past quarantine because it's not ideal long term. I have two quarantine tanks stuffed with macroalgae and 3D prints I can't sell because of possible disease/medicine contamination. The third quarantine is bare bone so whenever I get a fish order I can make note of anything troubling.

Huh. I've been struggling to figure out what the limiting factor is. Someone else who had the Poseidon Reef system also mentioned a similar expierence when trying out my fertilizer and the Florida Aqua Farms which are both one part solutions mixed to use. They had luck trying Fritz Two Part F/2 with their Poseidon Reef systems but they do not have the same issue as you for needing to add extra fertilizer during mid cycle. I have TNC complete, Mercer Montana, and Florida Aqua Farms fertilizer all on hand if you want to do another experiment to see. Sadly I don't have a Poseidon to test. I did launch another 8x1 gallon culture project that I used the fertilizer on and found that the location I chose regularly reached 80s due to light distance. (Normally my cultures run 68 - 72 to maintain calculated rates and cell sizes, Pavlova also doesn't like higher temperatures so it was easier to run everything cooler. Experimenting with this phyto because it is able to be refrigerated while other strains suffer in value). I had to adjust fertilizer usage to account for the increased production rates. Considering to just harvest 1.5 days early to maintain nutritional values versus calculating the curve and catching it. The yellowish light makes it look like the Tetra is starving.

Acrylic net for catching. Brightly colored wands for coralling fish. Helps if you have two people. One person to push the fish towards the other who will lay in wait to snatch it up. You might think still water is good but the fish will sense your movements better.

You would just need to find an area in Hawaii where collection is allowed. If you have time to kill there are a few collection/research agencies I know in Kailua - Kona that exhibit to the public. HOST - Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology has a facility (Indo Pacific Sea Farms is one of the big ones for university students to study with) for clam farming, phyto extraction, seaweed, etc. All sorts of fun projects. They pretty much have their fingers dipped in everything and a lot of things do go through them first. They have a registry of people that have legal giant clam farms on the islands as well as those who work to collect fish/inverts for study and culture. Through them I was able to recieve a quite a few tours of aquaculture facilities within the park. If you have diving certification/expierence then catching your own wildlife is a lot easier than you think. Fish are harder than inverts but any of the inverts worth taking are harder to find and you'd need to look when the sun is going down which I wouldn't advise without a local to watch you (they wont help, just make sure you dont die). You can have your item of collection vetted at the science park first and then at TSA. Biggest issue is anything you want to bring past TSA has to be in a clear container that they'll want to handle without a care in the world. They'll dump any particulate matter. (Literally imagine the girl from finding Nemo shaking your fish, I wanted to grab the agent and jostle them around to see if they liked it). Already stressful enough collecting wildlife and flying it back in a small container. Don't want someone ruining your chances even more. Biggest thing I can stress is if you are planning to go through with collecting your own fish and bringing it back then you'll have to deal with all the criticism made by locals as you proudly parade your catch home. They frown even on those with legal permits because of a few people who like to take advantage for $ but more importantly theyre pissed youre taking from their home. Everyone gets lumped together with that bad bunch. I got heckled more than inspected. PSA: know your airline rules and go over them front to back. Very helpful to have printed pages of the exact regulations you're trying not to break for the agents to go over. They don't have as much expierence with your situation as you think If you know someone with an aquarium on the island, be their best friend. It'll help you keep your catches alive until you're ready to go. Big LFS should do it for a fee and guide you through the process. .........fishing was never banned. Collection was........

I'll have a few more species available the day of the Portland CFM but right now I have some hypnea pannosa, halymenia dilatata / durvillei that could use a little trimming.

Nice tank! You should be able to manage everything good biopellet reactor and carbon dosing vinegar without GFO once levels are a bit more manageable for you. Just don't know if you'll be able to trust your auto feeders on vacation again. Nitrates are easy but phosphates suck without chemical filtration. Nutrient Export: macroalgae for nitrates, soft coral for phosphates. DE filter or DSR power filter during routine maintenance. Continuous WC 1% daily Nutrient Cycling: carbon dose without a skimmer to make N + P more available to larger organisms. 24/7 Phyto drip to keep nutrients available without fouling Nutrient Sink: Tridacna clams and pacific oysters. Clams I'll keep but the oysters I harvest as I reach certain nutrient thresholds to keep from zeroing out. Formerly ran a zeo reactor for dialing in nutrients to acceptable levels before tackling with natural filters. Lanthum chloride for extreme phosphate control (love this for bb tanks that I can't zero in on the nutrient sink).

I got but a bunch of dead rock I started cooking from a tank tear down.

Brown Jelly: bacterial imbalance that can rampage through coral tissue rendering the zooxanthellae inside a gelatinous blob. It is thought the the bacteria responsible exists in all corals but stressors in the environments can shift in their favor. This imbalance may not directly impact harm the coral but it will exacerbate any underlying issues further worsening the situation. Bacteria are extremely hard to combat (certain sponges are critical to regulating them, in a healthy reef these should develop in time based on the situation). The dips we use often require the coral to be healthy enough which in the case of SPS which have almost no tissue is an already uphill battle. Capable of jumping to neighboring corals in the same family. Hard to say if bacteria linked to different areas of collection have to play into different variations of this disease. (Example: Aussie vs Indo LPS being affected by different pathogens, I recall a large # elegance corals being wiped out a few years back from Indo). Antibacterial dips might help but once brown jelly is caught in a tank it is best to enforce isolation measures to preserve the rest from succumbing. Peeling Off: Polyp bailout / shedding of the skin is never good as it is a last ditch attempt to living tissue in hopes of inhabiting another coral of the same family or restarting itself elsewhere in a calmer environment. Fragging healthy bits might work if the piece is large enough to operate on its own without drawing on too much via connective tissues (chunks > frags). High phosphates can inhibit Alk and Ca consumption stunting skeletal growth. If a coral is not growing then something is wrong especially in fast growing corals like SPS. Coral that stops growing its skeleton either has to start throwing away tissue or find a better option. If the tissue is growing faster than the skeleton it'll brown out and also potentially bail itself (hard to control how much tissue to bail on acros when there is not much tissue). Burnt Tips: Usually related to stunted growth because I am missing something from my reef whether it be trace elements, maintenance, water change, etc. Just that one thing I forgot to do to keep it growing will result in burnt tips. This relates back to the skeleton being exposed at the tips because the tissue lacks nutrients to cover it. Exposed skeleton is prime real estate for everything you do not want to be competing with your coral. Also easy access to the inner porous material. Distinct Boundaries: coral necropsy of skeletons can leaves cells behind. Skeletons high in dead bacteria (more bacteria comes in to eat the dead cells which just adds to the competition) take longer to be recolonized by the coral which opts to just grow in a different direction instead. RTN/STN is a heavily detailed topic. There are lots of ways to look at it. Stress for sure is the start of all these issues but the health of your reef will be the best remedy. My belief is that the bacteria populations change hands as different levels of various organic carbon sources build up in a reef tank. *Bacteria are not the direct cause of necrosis issue but just adding more fuel to the fire. In the ocean a reef ecosystem has multiple layers to handle all of its dirty business. Each layer houses micro fauna capable of handling certain events. If the event is more likely to occur then chances are the ecosystem will have some deposit built up to handle it. In a tank the ecosystem you built will 1. handle it biologically on its own (ugliest option......maybe) or 2. your input will handle it (tortoise or the hare) or 3. your ecosystem has reached succession (and not the level you want but a step or two after). P.S. I use a vortex diatom filter to reset my tanks from time to time. Helps deal with issues from established reefs leading into old tank syndrome.

Not all copepods require phytoplankton as they will eat whatever they can in your tank. If you're looking to increase your numbers and establish a population quicker then the addition of live phytoplankton will help. Any of the benthic copepod species will be suitable for populating reef aquaria provided your tank is capable of supporting microfauna. (Tigriopus / Tisbe / Apocyclops)

Current strategy revolves around a consistent feeding regimen + a well rounded diet. Got the idea from Algagen to use blood bags fixed with a drip to consistently dose phytoplankton when I am home but easy to store in the fridge when I'm away so it does not spoil. Each pod culture runs on average 50 - 500mL of phyto daily depending what the pod density is running at. The bulk pod container takes 1.5-4L a day. Used 5 x 1mL samples of each culture taken before harvest over the course of the month to average out density counts Tigriopus : 3.8 per mL Tisbe: 21 per mL Apocyclops: 7 per mL Parvocalanus: 25+ per mL Each 16oz bottle of pod blend has 4oz (~118mL) from each culture. Going by my worst pod density days and the best I average around 5000 - 7000 pods per container. Ideally the adult to naupli ratio in each master culture should seem like a pyrrhic victory to keep the numbers high or you'll hit a birth/death plateau. *Edit (4/28)*- despite the large quantity of pods being displayed on paper the actual viable number is lower. Imagine shoving thousands of critters into a confined space. Can't feed them because they'll waste themselves away. Bigger critters eat smaller critters. Refrigeration is a big no no for copepods. Only Tigriopus can handle the temperature shift making them the most likely to take out all the other pods slowing down. Pods are best kept at room temperature and used immediately. Always check the date. Even if pods are kept species only they can still prey on each other. *Realized people like eye candy so no longer using 8oz bottles for pods but going back to 16oz containers. Originally I would sieve 4oz from each culture into the 8oz bottle. Now I no longer need to condense water volume saving me an extra step in the process. Microalgae (4 Blend ) ---------- Nannochloropsis One of the smallest microalgae strains available making it easy to digest for all. It is so prolific that it can even uptake nutrients in the tank making it great for dealing with heavy bioloads. 2-5 microns Nonmotile High in photosynthetic pigments, fatty acids, and protein Tetraselmis The high lipid content is important for fueling growth in marine organisms. A staple feed used in zooplankton cultivation and shellfish (clams, scallops, oysters). Capable of enhancing its nutritional profile in nutrient limited aquaria. 10 - 14 microns Motile High in lipids, amino acids, vitamins Antimicrobial properties suitable for reef infections Isochrysis The gold standard in live food cultivation. Its nutritional profile is essential for enriching zooplankton and rearing most larval invertebrates. The compounds it contains greatly enhance photosynthetic reactions. It can remain in the water column on its own as long as there are nutrients to consume. 3 - 8 microns Motile High in lipids, acids, proteins Rich in pigments including fucoxanthin (essential feed in photosynthetic coloration) Thalassiosira A beneficial diatom that can take up trace metals, excess silicates, and ammonia spikes to speed up the cycling process. Having such a large range in size makes it a great food source for filter feeders and copepods. 4 - 32 microns Nonmotile Variable cell size allows feed to be utilized in multiple stages of larval development Consumes silicates in aquaria which can accelerate the cycling process (7 Blend) —------- Porphyridium One of the few red marine microalgaes making it an exclusive source for red pigments used by filter feeders. The fatty nature of this algae can help boost immune response in marine organisms. 6 micron Nonmotile High in fatty acids, lipids, red pigment (phycoerythrin) Rhodomonas Very high in fatty acids and protein that when deprived of nitrogen become even more nutritious making it an excellent feed for cultivating copepods, brine shrimp, and rotifers. 4 - 7 microns Motile High in fatty acids, lipids, red pigment (phycoerythrin) Thrives in intense blue light which makes it ideal for reef aquaria Symbiodinium (Zooxanthellae) The symbiotic cells that feed a coral via photosynthesis in exchange for a safe place to stay. Commonly used to enhance coloration in clams, restore bleaching in corals and anemones. 2 - 4 microns Symbiotic dinoflagellates that exist in the photosynthetic tissues of clams and cnidarians (corals, anemones, etc) Coral bleaching is when the zooxanthellae separates from the coral, dosing zooxanthellae can help restore lost pigments and reverse this process Zooplankton (Copepods) *Need to nip this before it gets out of hand but pods do not eat detritus. They contribute to it. Tigriopus californicus Adults are large and visible to the naked eye making it perfect for picky fish. The bright colors make it easy for fish like mandarins and pipefish to spot. Can reproduce in reef aquaria but difficult to maintain Benthic 250 - 1500 microns Highly resilient to temperature and salinity Rich in fatty acids and pigments Tisbe biminiensis A fast breeding grazer of film algae. Even though it is so tiny it produces in such numbers that foraging fish such as wrasse and gobies will be well fed at all times. Perfect for eating leftover foods in the tiniest of crevices. Can reproduce in reef aquaria Benthic 15 - 200 microns Highly reproductive Can provides staple nutrition regardless of gut loading Apocyclops panamensis This pod is capable of adapting food sources, environments, and even reproduction rates to survive but will not outcompete other pods. Perfect for rounding out diversity and feeding all fish, coral, inverts. Can reproduce in reef aquaria Benthic 70 - 700 microns High in acids, pigment, and protein Parvocalanus crassirostris The small size makes it the ideal feed for larval fish. Reproduction rates on par with the densest of rotifer cultures but much more nutritious without the need for gut loading. The cultivation of this copepod paved the way for captive bred mandarins, yellow tangs, orchid dottybacks, melanurus wrasse, butterflyfish, chromis, damsels, etc. Pelagic 50 - 200 microns Highly dense feed akin to rotifers but much higher gut loading potential —------- Amphipods (Grammarus) Bigger than copepods but smaller than your clean up crew. These tiny scavengers can bulldoze all sorts of algae, detritus, and even copepods if there is nothing to keep the population in check. A staple diet for sea horses and a favorite snack among fish. (Larger specimens may prove too large for mandarins) 6 - 12mm Excellent foragers Feed for larger fish —------- L - Rotifers Tiny food fit for larval fish, SPS, and all sorts of filter feeders because of its gut loading potential. Most commonly cultured for being able to double in population within 24 hours but is nutritionally based upon its phytoplankton diet. 50 - 235 microns High reproduction -> high density feed Commonly used in fish fry rearing

https://www.kjmagnetics.com They sell dipped magnets suitable for reef aquaria. Used them for years and buy from them regularly for all sorts of DIY projects. Make sure you get the correct grade for your tank's wall thickness. I wouldn't recommend dipping yourself unless you trust your own craftsmanship. There is a laser cutting file for making acrylic discs that can be fused (Weldon #16 in the fridge works) together with a magnet in-between. I highly recommend this since cost / labor are minimal compared to the item aesthetic / function. Most people I've met in the community are rather generous in helping other reefers with fabrication projects provided you supply the material.

I vaguely remember Whitlyn receiving a piece and there is a user on reef2reef from Texas, possibly just outside of Austin that has a pretty good representation of one with "lineage"

@obrien.david.j 1. (Scalpel) Current and most favorable method for concentrating phytoplankton is through a centrifuge. Least amount of die off and loss of optimal cell nutrition. Downside is having a centrifuge to spin large volumes of phytoplankton is $$$. Most I can spin at a time is between 100 - 200mL depending how much I value my safety. Usually condense 1 - 1.5 gallons down to 18oz for bivalves. Problem with storing any live culture in high density will starve if not cared for properly (use sooner the better). Recently started playing with the notion of creating phytoplankton concentrate starters in test tubes to inoculate larger cultures in case of crashes. So far I've condensed all of my phytoplankton strains into 50mL test tubes I keep in the fridge long term in case of a crash and I need a healthy start. I've been able to use these starters and turn them into 20 liters (about 5 gallons) within 15 - 20 days depending on strain. 2. (Hammer) I enjoy using a 5um sieve and then a 1um sieve to harvest phytoplankton for making paste. Paste isn't live and loses a bit of nutrition. It is insanely dense and is great for feeding critters in bulk but will foul the water if nothing consumes it. Recommended for heavy filter feeders, zooplankton(pods, brine, rots), less mechanical filtration and more natural filtration the better. PSA: don't use dense phyto and oyster larvae at the same time

Having all these live cultures that need daily - weekly input makes traveling anywhere for an extended period of time worrisome to say the least. Usually the zooplankton is fed 2-3x daily with live phyto blend and I need to harvest as well to account for the additional culture volume. Not wanting my dog sitter to do a million and one things I streamlined the process by making algae paste. Anyone who brews phyto knows at one point you'll have more volume than you know what to do with. Phyto if maintained properly can last for months. There are a a few methods of concentrating phytoplankton. Method 1: allow the phyto to sit in the fridge for 2 days and allow it to separate. Skim the water out and keep the phyto on the bottom. Simple. Takes longer for larger cultures to settle. Method 2: use a centrifuge and spin the phyto between 3500 - 5000rpm. (4200). Small amount only. Dremelfuge is fun but dangerous. Method 3: use 1 micron mesh to filter phyto. Requires vacuum or constant manual stirring to keep from clogging. Most labor intensive and waste material cost. Regardless of which method you'll end up with phytoplankton concentrate almost like a nice creamy spread. If you use multiple phytoplankton strains it'll come out nice and grainy with odd iridescent hues. To get the "paste" you'd use agar or egg whites and it'll thicken up and solidify enough to be manipulated. From there the "paste" is put on wax paper and placed in the freezer to draw out any excess water. Microalgae paste can be quite strong so there is a bit of caution to be had. I weigh out one gram pieces to make feeding cultures easy. Paste is not live since it is stored frozen and thawed per each use. Removing as much water prior to freezing keeps the cells viable for feeding. Benefits of having a long shelf life and being able to concentrate gallons of phyto into milliliters. Live phyto is always preferable for feeding so instead of making the paste one could just stop at concentrating the phyto and using that solution. Downsides are the phyto is so dense it need to be properly maintained or it'll be less "live" over time.

Did you 3D print the shader on the AI light?

Go bigger. They have 1lb containers with 90% hatch rate for $50 or less for standard brine. If you need SF strain then it is a little under $80 per lb. Separating brine egg shells from naupli should be free if you think about it.

1. I have an ORP probe that is cleaned when in use at least once every two months. If my reefing is consistent then I don't monitor it a lot, but if I vary then I check it. Wouldn't bother to replace it unless I need it for running ozone or seeing if my heavy natural filters haven't failed. 2. Never ran ozone without a probe. Im all for visual indicators but this isn't one of the things that can be done in such a way I wouldn't worry. (When my probe went faulty on my NPS tank I didn't fret because I had all the other parameters dialed in and my ph was still performing as expected, orp and pH should have appropriate daily swings) 3. I'm chasing too many dragons as it is. I've actually been dialing back my testing. Don't need to look at ORP if you're not running ozone. Denitrator or Deep sand bed may be useful to look at ORP. Ozone is too effective in our tanks but a highly influential tool in manipulating natural processes in an artificial ecosystem.

Don't go overboard with the organic dosing since it can strip water of nutrients + elements relatively easily once it's dialed in. Fueling the reactor depending on size can take a bit of Nitrates to maintain appropriate Phosphate levels. Some people still run GFO to take the edge off of the bacteria while running the reactor so they don't bottom out. The refugium is a nice touch since they'll fuel each other with byproducts but I'd imagine the trace would deplete rather fast. Maybe not iron per se depending in what order the system is run. Keep the reactor away from light sources. Reactor quality is important to prevent clogging. Pellets are less particular so long as they enable good flow through.

It is a possibility that their fertilizer is diluted more than needed. The way it goes is one part contains trace elements and the other part contains major nutrients each mixed with RODI. They do this to leave less margin of error for dosing one really concentrated solutions versus two less concentrated. I believe the opposite to be true most of the time. *(hydrochloric acid can be used to lower pH to prolong shelf life. There is a good chance that the concentrates are separated to prevent unwanted growth in an unfortunate scenario. You'd have to allow for some sort of outside contamination for this to happen. Usually it is bacteria that kind of looks like black beard algae). The only reason I can imagine they separate them is to avoid precipitate that naturally happens over time (solution:shake well). Never have I had an issue with elements "binding" in the solution rendering it less than ideal. Obviously I use always before the recommended shelf life but I've pulled F/2 over a year old and used it with no issue. Just separated in a few layers, a little heat + stirring and it was good as new. At the next meeting I can bring some F/2 if you'd like to try. Been playing with pasteurization techniques + micron filters. If you're really dire to try something then you could make a knockoff with any liquid trace + iron + N (16) + P (1).

Koji Wada Pink Nepthea - Fiji Yellow Umbrella - Fiji Yellow Spaghetti Finger