pappone and BLU Coral method

[DarkXerox]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10013531#post10013531 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisd1009

I never used the vodka. To be honest, I look at the HGH and Vodka the same way... If I have it, I sure as hell am not going to waste it on my tank.

Nice call haha. Being a college student, I would be killed if I said I was using vodka for my tank instead of for myselfl. They already think im nuts here for spending my money on colored sticks.

That undata is the most impressive by far though as well as the PM. I dunno what you did during those first two months but that thing exploded! Those are notoriously slow growers.

What's interesting though is that you maintained this with only AA and sugar additions, which is a good portion of the pappone's backbone, so there has to be some basis there--perhaps the shellfish is benefitting LPS more. Is your tank barebottom though? I wouldn't be surprised if the corals were getting nutrient limited (amino wise) when you switched over to 10k's (increased photosynthesis and need to produce more protective pigmentation). Kind of like when people start using ozone and the resulting clearer water leads to more PAR reaching the corals causing possible photoinhibition.

I posted my photos over on ReefItalia and they said I really should try using amino dosing also. There is another amino source that I'm going to experiment with soon and I'll let everyone know what it is when I think it is worthwhile. It completely supercedes the use of GH (for those that were still using it) as well as commercial AA additions--plus it's really cheap.

 

[Sir]

Complimenti Criss

2 mesi.








il metodo BC non è solo HGH, ma è un insieme di accorgimenti che portano a una crescita aumentata.
il tutto deve essere supportato da una parte tecnica ben strutturata.
io ad esempio ho una buona crescita, ma colori non molto belli a causa dello skimmer piccolo e dell'impianto luci ( 1 X 400watt 10 000k BLV, senza attinici)
spero di modificare presto queste cose.
ciao

 

[DarkXerox]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10018185#post10018185 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sir
Complimenti Criss

2 mesi.








il metodo BC non è solo HGH, ma è un insieme di accorgimenti che portano a una crescita aumentata.
il tutto deve essere supportato da una parte tecnica ben strutturata.
io ad esempio ho una buona crescita, ma colori non molto belli a causa dello skimmer piccolo e dell'impianto luci ( 1 X 400watt 10 000k BLV, senza attinici)
spero di modificare presto queste cose.
ciao

Translation:

Congrats Chris!

(Sir's photos are two months apart)

The BC method isn't just HGH, but is part of the whole solution that brings enhanced growth. Everything must be supported as part of a well-framed approach (each part adds up to the whole, ie there isn't a one-shot solution).
I for example have great growth, but my colors aren't very beautiful due to my small skimmer and lighting setup (1x 400watt 10k BLV, no actinics). I hope to change these soon though.

-Sir



-----------

Sir, mi piace il corallo sopra la montipora (verde) e un po' alla sinistra. C'è un tipo di Seriatopora? I rami sono molti forti! Anche, che cosa tipo dello skimmer hai usato? Anche, ho pensato che tu abbia avuto una vasca senza sabbia, vero?

 

[Sir]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10020010#post10020010 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DarkXerox
Translation:

Congrats Chris!

(Sir's photos are two months apart)

The BC method isn't just HGH, but is part of the whole solution that brings enhanced growth. Everything must be supported as part of a well-framed approach (each part adds up to the whole, ie there isn't a one-shot solution).
I for example have great growth, but my colors aren't very beautiful due to my small skimmer and lighting setup (1x 400watt 10k BLV, no actinics). I hope to change these soon though.

-Sir



-----------

Sir, mi piace il corallo sopra la montipora (verde) e un po' alla sinistra. C'è un tipo di Seriatopora? I rami sono molti forti! Anche, che cosa tipo dello skimmer hai usato? Anche, ho pensato che tu abbia avuto una vasca senza sabbia, vero?

Ciao,
si è una " seriatopora histerix".
Attualmente il mio skimmer è un deltec TS1250, con una sola pompa, con girante a spazzola.
la vasca è senza sabbia ovviamente.

altre foto dall'alto.













Tenius


Histerix


ciao Fabio

 

[mmotown]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10013248#post10013248 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisd1009
As I've said in many posts in this thread, I don't look at any one thing as the reasons for growth. My tank went through some hardships during my multiple deployments. Along with that, I made some mistakes upon returning home which were very problematic and caused more issues. I really just simplified things.
Major changes I feel I should mention are:
I got rid of my calcium reactor and did randy 2 part on a doser.
I'm changing much more water than I ever have.
I got rid of my refugium. The thing is a toilet bowl. Period. I went with a GFO reactor instead.
I was trying go with 15 and 20K halides to avoid using actinics. Dumbest thing I ever did. Dumped the 15's and 20's for 10's (first I did reeflux... big mistake, then XM) and went back to fluorescent actinics. I should say that I do like the Iwasaki 175 15K.
I stopped messing around with needle wheels and went beckett.
Started playing wth AA/C.

Chris why did you get rid of your calcium reactor and your fuge? I was thinking about getting rid of my fuge because it is fed from my return from my main tank. Could this be part of my undectable nutrient problem?

 

[chrisd1009]

mmotown:Both calcium reactors I used sucked. Much more work than they are worth. Filling CO2 tanks, media that turns to mush, constant fine tuning, I hated them. I'm not going to say that I like making the Randy 2 part. To be honest, it's getting old, but you mix it, put it in a bucket and I'm good for 3 months. Then I just refill the buckets and let the dosers do the rest. I know there are Ca reactors that are better, but the better reactors are far more money. Not worth it IMO.
When I use the term fuge, I'm talking about a tank with sand and macro algae. Fuges are not for SPS tanks. They are swamps where tons of crap settles and a mass of cheato can't possibly keep up with the nutrients. People who do well with them tend to have exceptional skimming and they treat their fuge as a separate tank and most technically aren't fuges at all.
It's becoming very common to see "I'm building a sump/fuge". That's fine if your keeping LPS/softies and some lame a** fish like mandarins, but it will fail for SPS guys. It's dirty. It's way to small to have any positive effect on your system. You are intentionally building a toilet into your system.
I'm going to tell you exactly what I tell everyone else who isn't happy with their SPS colors. Take the fuge out. Keep your sump clean and vac out all the crap that settles in there frequently. Run GFO if you feel the need to for PO4. Usually within a month, they are sowing me pics.
Sir, graci.
DarkXeroxI think the first few months was immediately due to the removal of the fuge. I had 3 friends come over and check out my tank and all 3 said the same thing. "Get rid of the fuge and run tons of GFO". Those were the first improvements I made. That first pic of the undata was near death. It's gotten even bigger, I just haven't taken an updated photo. I go through spurts of growth. Fast for 2 months, then it stops for 2 weeks, then fast again. I think my current slow down is due to my corals growing into eachother and lots of shading. I need to thin out my tank a little. I run a DSB.

 

[mmotown]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10025098#post10025098 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisd1009
mmotown:Both calcium reactors I used sucked. Much more work than they are worth. Filling CO2 tanks, media that turns to mush, constant fine tuning, I hated them. I'm not going to say that I like making the Randy 2 part. To be honest, it's getting old, but you mix it, put it in a bucket and I'm good for 3 months. Then I just refill the buckets and let the dosers do the rest. I know there are Ca reactors that are better, but the better reactors are far more money. Not worth it IMO.
When I use the term fuge, I'm talking about a tank with sand and macro algae. Fuges are not for SPS tanks. They are swamps where tons of crap settles and a mass of cheato can't possibly keep up with the nutrients. People who do well with them tend to have exceptional skimming and they treat their fuge as a separate tank and most technically aren't fuges at all.
It's becoming very common to see "I'm building a sump/fuge". That's fine if your keeping LPS/softies and some lame a** fish like mandarins, but it will fail for SPS guys. It's dirty. It's way to small to have any positive effect on your system. You are intentionally building a toilet into your system.
I'm going to tell you exactly what I tell everyone else who isn't happy with their SPS colors. Take the fuge out. Keep your sump clean and vac out all the crap that settles in there frequently. Run GFO if you feel the need to for PO4. Usually within a month, they are sowing me pics.
Sir, graci.
DarkXeroxI think the first few months was immediately due to the removal of the fuge. I had 3 friends come over and check out my tank and all 3 said the same thing. "Get rid of the fuge and run tons of GFO". Those were the first improvements I made. That first pic of the undata was near death. It's gotten even bigger, I just haven't taken an updated photo. I go through spurts of growth. Fast for 2 months, then it stops for 2 weeks, then fast again. I think my current slow down is due to my corals growing into eachother and lots of shading. I need to thin out my tank a little. I run a DSB.

Chris that's interesting that you should say that about the fuge. Let me ask you this. My tank has been set up going on 3yrs. My fuge is fed from the return so it's getting tank water. So you're right It is a toilet because I have not touched it. It has sand and chaeto and what ever filth that collected on the bottom. So are you saying it's harboring nutrients? I am sure it is now that I think about it because I had red slime and other stuff growing just there and no where else. If I get rid of it what can I expect to see in my tank?

 

[DarkXerox]

yeah my "fuge" is basically just a chaeto chamber with no sand and just rocks that I use for gluing frags to when I need them. Its full of copepods, bristleworms, and baby nassarius snails (I have the huge ones that keep reproducings) and they eat up all the detritus in there. I can only imagine how much gunk there would be if I had sand in there.

 

[mmotown]

So are you guys saying I should eliminate the sand? IF so and in doing so what can I expect in the improvement of my corals etc?

 

[Maeda]

Tank still going strong.

Dosing 2ml a day now. (9010 on a 30g with tons of GFO in a reactor)
Phosphate still reading 0 on the salifert scope

My daily 2 part dosing is starting to get a little insane. I need a dosing pump.

I'm going to cut back AA to twice a week. I swear daily AA additions are causing a light light coating of diatoms on my sand.

chrisd1009: get those iwasaki 15k's! They'll make your sps grow 12 inches overnight! Like magic! j/k I have them and they're a nice color (if you like bright 10000k).

 

[xinumaster]

Is there a GNC AA I could used as an alternative?

 

[Canarygirl]

chrisd1009: get those iwasaki 15k's! They'll make your sps grow 12 inches overnight! Like magic! j/k I have them and they're a nice color (if you like bright 10000k).

I have these and they haven't had that effect on my corals. I have the 175 watt though....I still like the bulbs though.

 

[DarkXerox]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10058636#post10058636 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Maeda

Tank still going strong.

Dosing 2ml a day now. (9010 on a 30g with tons of GFO in a reactor)
Phosphate still reading 0 on the salifert scope

My daily 2 part dosing is starting to get a little insane. I need a dosing pump.

I'm going to cut back AA to twice a week. I swear daily AA additions are causing a light light coating of diatoms on my sand.

chrisd1009: get those iwasaki 15k's! They'll make your sps grow 12 inches overnight! Like magic! j/k I have them and they're a nice color (if you like bright 10000k).

Cool, let us know how your gorgonian does, I've always wondered if they can eat this.

 

[chrisd1009]

xinumaster: Almost all supplements I use in my tank are purchased at GNC, The Vitamin Shoppe and Home Depot. All of my supplements for the entire year cost me under $80. Put cheap salt on top of that (IO and RC are fine by me) I actually spend very little on salt and supplementation which is good for a guy who changes a minimum of 75 gallons per month.
I was considering switching from Zeo AA to Seachem due to availability. You need to use quite a bit of Seachem Reef Plus though. You only need a couple of drops of the Zeo-AA so it works out to be much cheaper. A tiny bottle has lasted me close to a year.
Maeda: I'm already using an Iwasaki. I really like them, but to be honest, it looks nothing like a 15 K. It looks close to an XM 10K. I may use them on my frag tank.
Also, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the Salifert PO4 kit sucks. If your test shows crystal clear (and also by looking at your tank) your PO4 is obviously low. Just so you know though, I did a test with my Hanna against a Salifert kit on multiple tanks and here are some numbers for you to think about:
The slightest tint of blue which is lighter than the 0.03 on the Salifert scale tested between 0.20 to 0.26. As it got closer to the color of the 0.03 on the scale, I was getting numbers between 0.26 and 0.30. At the 0.03 scale, Hanna tested 0.36.
Look into a Hanna. Once you buy it and consider the amounts of tests it actually works out to be slightly more expensive than what you would spend on multiple Salifert PO4 kits and it is far more accurate.

You'll love having a doser. I originally dosed by hand which got old fast. I first bought the aquamedic twin which is not the best doser in the world, but beats manual additions. You'll see a significant change in growth with frequent small doses (stability). I now let my dialyseas do it for me with their calcium pumps. It doses 48 times per day to equal 400ml per day.

 

[trueblackpercula]

Great thread wiil be right back with some questions.
Michael

 

[Maeda]

DarkXerox: I swear this gorg eats the pappone. It usually closes up here and there sporatically, but its never ever closed for feeding time. It's also regrowing branches that were merely thread like skeletal remains.

chrisd1009: i've heard of the salifert test being less then accurate. I got the kit for free from a friend who didn't need it(for same reasons). Right now i'm just using the 'peepers PO4 master test'. If i get algae i cut back feeding.

I'm sure i'll invest in a hannah at some point, but first on the list is a dosing pump(that and a house).

 

[MarineTeng]

i've read about po4 testing to be hard since it clings to rocks or something like that so it doesn't get in the water tested therefore giving in accurate lvls, also i've read several threads on problems with the alk salifert test, so i'm going to check mine with a lfs soon, i think i'm going to start feeding something similar to this soon though, i just need to make it

 

[mandm25254]

where can you get this GH? and how much does it cost? how much should you put in ?

 

[mr.wilson]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10070287#post10070287 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mandm25254
where can you get this GH? and how much does it cost? how much should you put in ?

You can extract it from the pituitary gland at the base of your brain for free.

You can also get it from a cows pituitary gland, as they share the IFG-1 hormone with humans.

 

[DarkXerox]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10070287#post10070287 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mandm25254
where can you get this GH? and how much does it cost? how much should you put in ?

it isn't required so dont worry about it. Just use amino supplements like everyone else is.