Coral Maternity in Portugal

[sqwaksqwak]

i love your work when i say love i mean LOVE!

 

[Machado deSousa]

First of all, I should like to convey my sincere apologies for not responding to your many interventions earlier. Unfortunately, there just does not seem to be enough hours available in each day to fulfil my responsibilities.

Ffrankie, Aj Flip, mammut89, mltmtascp, kristen4109, Riner, Chibils, labrec06, ipiniowa, Fazulka, Kraylen, reefer4sho, ZURCSREEF, yardboy, dean11111, peterpiper, jesseownss and sqwaksqwak. : Thanks for your very kind words and generous comments.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12399329#post12399329 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FunkieReefJunkie
... :lmao: But I have one important question for you. When the last Day Care addition blocks the exit/entrance how long will the beer supply sustain you?:beer:

You have sense of humor and a very fertile imagination. When the beers cannot run into it will be the end of the empire! In store I have enough beers for a month, if I have no friend visitors. Otherwise there will be for few hours long…

Cheers,

 

[sps_addict]

i didn't notice the connecting channel between tanks the last time i looked at this thread. that is a great idea Machado.

 

[mecpc]

Machado deSousa, how many tanks such as nurseries you gonna add to the prop? 4 more? Will be the sumps expanded also?
All the best!

 

[Dxmarinefish]

Awesome thread.
..and the point of RC...Knowledge, sharing, fun, dedication, enthusiasm, love of our natural world.....

Thanks Mr deSousa for sharing all you skills and experience with us.

 

[DL_Canuck]

Hi Machado, great set up. do you have any picture of your Deltec Eco-Cooler running, how do you like it? DLCanuck

 

[Machado deSousa]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12453499#post12453499 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mhaith
machado,

I have been following this thread for a couple of months now and have read every page. Unfortunately, I can't remember (or I'm too lazy to go through 20 pages) the bulbs you use.

Were they Aquablue and Blue Plus and what brand?
Also, how do you keep the systems so clean of Coralline etc.?
What specifically do you use for a clean-up crew?

Thank you!

All bulbs I use are ATI brand.

The system is kept clean because it is recent, it is a poor nutrient environment and the clean-up crew does all has left. As I said before «to keep my prop tanks free of algae i make use of grazers like some shelled grazers (snails like Turbos, Trochus, Astraea, stomatellid, etc.), eremit crabs, sea urchins, herbivorous fishes, i don’t feed heavily fishes and corals, i use adequate skimmer according to the water volume and organic matter inputs, i try to have low or null levels of phosphates and nitrate in the system, when i notice some algae i close CO2 supply to the Calcium reactor and i stop using all kind of aditives such as trace elements, iron, etc., i provide strong water flow, i don´t explore tubes too much, etc., i avoid contaminations, i do regular water changes, and so on...».
Stability of the physical and chemical parameters like temperature, salinyty, kH, Ca, Mg, etc. helps very much too.

Cheers,

 

[Machado deSousa]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12456980#post12456980 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yardboy
After reading this entire thread I was inspired to make some major changes to my prop system. First I changed out the VHO Actinic Whites I'd been using on a 30L to the T-5 ATI Blue SPecial and Blue Plus. Wow, what a difference. I would have never thought that the corals would respond so quickly to the new light but within a week new branches began on the Pocillipora and the color of the A. millepora began to change to a red. A simple brown Montipora cap now glows green under the T-5 influence. Thanks so much for the new direction, plus it helps a tiny bit on my electrical consumption!

I'm glad you like the thread and am pleased you were able to glean some useful information.

Cheers,

 

[stephencraig]

Machado,
I to would be interested in hearing your comments about the Deltec Eco-Cooler and seeing any pictures you might have.

Stephen

 

[Machado deSousa]

Hi stephencraig,
Recently I have made some significant modifications in the system about the eco-cooler utility. Tonight i gonna take some pics to talk you about the improvements i have done.

Cheers,

 

[stephencraig]

Thanks Machado. I look forward to seeing it.

Stephen

 

[tbittner]

My hat is off to you! That is pure genius! And your method of fragging seems to be the best way because it is the least intrusive to the mother colony.

Excellent job! And BEAUTIFUL tanks!

 

[Falcao]

you make our country proud!

 

[Tahoe Reefer]

very cool tanks and frags!

 

[Machado deSousa]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12697609#post12697609 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DL_Canuck
Hi Machado, great set up. do you have any picture of your Deltec Eco-Cooler running, how do you like it? *removed*anuck

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12699552#post12699552 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stephencraig
Machado,
I to would be interested in hearing your comments about the Deltec Eco-Cooler and seeing any pictures you might have. Stephen

As you know, my Eco-Cooler was mounted over one of the compartments of the sump.
This device is very efficient, economical and easy to maintain, but I have experienced some problems with it, not easy to resolve.
The Eco-Cooler is designed to operate in such a manner that the moist air flow coming out of the equipment is not kept in the room, and that isn’t easy to me to do it in my garage. If moist air flow is kept inside the room the ambient temperature and humidity increase so much making the environment unbearable, even in a room like mine with an air renovation ratio superior to 22 times per hour. In addition the efficiency of the equipment decreases drastically with the rising humidity in the room because the cooling performance of this kind of equipments depends on ambient temperature and humidity, though it operates on the cooling effect through evaporation. I would recommend an Eco-Cooler if it is possible to keep it outdoors or to blow the air flow coming out of the equipment strait to the exterior.


Eco-Cooler shots taken some months ago

The solution I found for my temperature and humidity problems, as well as the Eco-Cooler performance, was to move this device to the WC and mount it near the ceiling, facing the ventilator air intake. Thus, the Eco-Cooler will receive the air directly from the room and moist air coming out from this device is blown onto ventilator to be expelled immediately to the exterior.



Opening a hole in the wall

 

[Machado deSousa]

The grid in the place and room free from rubbish

Tubing and thermo controller

View of the Eco-Cooler close the ventilator

 

[Machado deSousa]

Eco-Cooler drainage close up

Sump before and after the Eco-Cooler to be moved

Actual room ventilation scheme

DL_Canuck, by now, I can’t take pics with Eco-Cooler operating because actually, as you can see, it is mounted in an inaccessible location. When I take it down for maintenance I´ll take some pics for you. Any question is welcome.



Thanks to all for your words and comments,

Cheers,

 

[JCTewks]

machado...I'm still interested in your "single polyp" fragging. Do you actually just remove one polyp from the parent colony and place it on a floral tube? SPS polyps are VERY small, and you would end up with a frag that is less than 1mm in dia. I have not seen any pics on this thread of frags that small. Do you have any detailed pics of the actual fragging process?

 

[fatrip]

Hi machado. I was wondering what you use in your mangrove tanks to anchor the roots? I have seen people use eggcreate over marical mud as well as rock. just wondering your take on that method as well. thank you.

vince

 

[Machado deSousa]

Hi Aj Flip!
Very soon i’ll post some pics.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12474749#post12474749 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sditch
Great Setup......Is eveything going through a central filtration system? I am building a Propagation system now with two (48x24x16) tanks and wanted to know if I should use seprate filtration systems for each or have them just share a large sump.

Yes, all tanks flow to a common sump. You can do the same if you want to save one sump.



dean11111, peterpiper, jesseownss, Ffrankie, sqwaksqwak, sps_addict, Dxmarinefish, stephencraig, tbittner, Falcao, Tahoe Reefer: Thanks for your words and sympathy.

Cheers,