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12/17/2015, 11:05 PM | #26 |
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What a nice display of macros! Beautiful plants! And on a high rise terrace! Too cool!
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As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance, our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018 |
12/18/2015, 04:10 PM | #27 |
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Impressive.
Do you think that the Serpent Stars reproduced in your tank or do you think that you collected them and they grew out.
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Laissez les bons temps rouler, Patrick Castille Current Tank Info: 10,000G. Greenhouse Macro Growout |
12/18/2015, 06:54 PM | #28 |
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Thanks guys!
Hi Subsea, hmmm I cannot tell, about 80% rocks are from previous tank which I overfed too. So they could have reproduced long ago. I have not witnessed spawning in my tank with these stars though one of the local reefer which i sold the stars to reported spawning (release of red eggy thingy) almost immediately after introducing them into the tank. |
12/18/2015, 08:49 PM | #29 |
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Spawning serpent stars would be an accomplishment on its on. Raising larvae to adulthood is a major triumph.
Kudos to you on your accomplishment.
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Laissez les bons temps rouler, Patrick Castille Current Tank Info: 10,000G. Greenhouse Macro Growout |
12/18/2015, 09:44 PM | #30 | |
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Thanks! I half suspect it was due to natural moon-light that they get exposed to every night. It has positive effect on coral, maybe on fishes and inverts too? I have also witnessed and recorded the pair of mandarin fish dancing ritual in the tank at night
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12/18/2015, 10:15 PM | #31 |
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Interesting about moon light. The most massive coral spawning in the world occurs on the same night on the Great Barrier Reef.
When are the lights on?
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Laissez les bons temps rouler, Patrick Castille Current Tank Info: 10,000G. Greenhouse Macro Growout |
12/18/2015, 10:49 PM | #32 | |
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12/19/2015, 08:28 PM | #33 | |
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For certain, macro can absorbed tremendous amounts of nutrients from the food. The macro would have gotten it either way in the form of fish poop. I have the chemical analysis of Red Gracilaria from an outside growout system. It shows the ratio of nitrogen to phosphate to be 50:1. Because I am a commercial facility, economics are first priority. I am trying to maximize macro growth using chemical concentrates. For my application, ammonia is the most economical nitrogen source that I have found.. I also use "Miracle Grow" all purpose, water soluble plant food with major nutrient concentrations of nitrogen at 24%, phosphate at 8% and potash at 16%. While I do not measure trace minerals, they are included in this all purpose plant food. I also use Seachem substrate "Florite" for additional iron using passive automatic buffering. I think macro is like a sponge and it will absorb whatever is dissolved in the water including heavy metals.
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Laissez les bons temps rouler, Patrick Castille Current Tank Info: 10,000G. Greenhouse Macro Growout |
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12/19/2015, 08:31 PM | #34 | |
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On an average, can you approximate how much macro you remove per month.
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Laissez les bons temps rouler, Patrick Castille Current Tank Info: 10,000G. Greenhouse Macro Growout |
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12/20/2015, 02:16 AM | #35 | |
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On a very good sunny month, i could harvest about 4 handfuls of macro. But its very seasonal since i'm relaying on the sunlight mostly. Singapore was affected by very serious haze for over 2-months and that kind of stunt the growth and its monsoon season now so we havent been getting really good sun recently. Anyway this is a photo of the balcony with direct afternoon sun, the tank is on the left side And what i've been dosing |
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12/20/2015, 08:08 AM | #36 |
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Thank you for the kind words about my hobby business. It is something to keep me busy, since I retired from offshore drilling. I also intend to grow Red Ogo for personnel consumption as a specialty produce food source.
Why dose with iodine? I have see it advertised as necessary for red macro algae but have never seen documented evidence of results. Calcium and magnesium are the most prominent elements assimilated into macro. How do you keep up with calcium demand? Considering that you have a macro lagoon biotheme, is alkalinity even an issue compared to a reef tank?
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Laissez les bons temps rouler, Patrick Castille Current Tank Info: 10,000G. Greenhouse Macro Growout |
12/20/2015, 08:52 AM | #37 | |
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I'm also running an ATS which might be helping with the pH swing, but i've not tested the pH at different time of the day thought |
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12/20/2015, 04:05 PM | #38 | |
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I'm even more interested in your dosing of miracle grow. It seems your dosing is invert safe. How often do you dose and how much? Secondly The Florite use as a substrate for macro algae is an incredible idea also. I think a good mix of refugium mud and florite for iron with a cap of sand would be a perfect mix. I hope you post more about your systems.
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I'm a Goby-maniac! XD Current Tank Info: 29g Macro Algae tank |
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12/25/2015, 01:36 AM | #39 |
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So did the Iodine help the ochtodes recover?
They're beautiful
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Failure isn't an option It's a requirement. 660g 380inwall+280smp/surge S/L/Soft/Maxima/RBTA/Clown/Chromis/Anthias/Tang/Mandarin/Jawfish/Goby/Wrasse/D'back. DIY 12' Skimmer ActuatedSurge ConcreteScape |
12/25/2015, 05:59 PM | #40 | |
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Nov-22 Dec-17 |
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12/25/2015, 06:08 PM | #41 |
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You said they started struggling. How are they doing now?
When I snorkel, those are my favorite... in the sunlight, they shimmer with translucent multi colored branches. They're usually on the breaker rocks where the surf can be fast and even a little violent.
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Failure isn't an option It's a requirement. 660g 380inwall+280smp/surge S/L/Soft/Maxima/RBTA/Clown/Chromis/Anthias/Tang/Mandarin/Jawfish/Goby/Wrasse/D'back. DIY 12' Skimmer ActuatedSurge ConcreteScape |
12/25/2015, 06:41 PM | #42 | |
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12/25/2015, 07:33 PM | #43 |
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Ok. If you figure out any special needs, please share.
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Failure isn't an option It's a requirement. 660g 380inwall+280smp/surge S/L/Soft/Maxima/RBTA/Clown/Chromis/Anthias/Tang/Mandarin/Jawfish/Goby/Wrasse/D'back. DIY 12' Skimmer ActuatedSurge ConcreteScape |
12/29/2015, 08:48 PM | #44 |
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What species are those brittle stars, and where did you get them? I love their patterns (even though they're brown). I've always wanted to have aquariums, little ponds in bins/buckets, mini aquaponic systems and all kinds of plants outside on my deck (which is HUGE), but the harsh MN winters don't allow that. You're lucky you can do that, and your deck and the stuff on it is absolutely stunning!
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Ah, Minnesota, The Land of 10,000 Lakes (Actually, there are 11,842 that are 10+ acres) Current Tank Info: n/a |
12/31/2015, 12:19 AM | #45 | |
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Thank you Genera!
It has always been a dream to integrate aquarium with lush greenery too, i'm still adding more elements from nature to make it natural. Currently i'm growing vertical plants on the trellis which is also the 'doors' of the aquarium rack I have no idea which species these are, they do get really big so definitely not those "mini-stars". I saw many little arms in one of the liverock in LFS and brought it home, and they multiplied. Quote:
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12/31/2015, 08:20 AM | #46 |
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This is an enjoyable tank to say the least. I admire the fact that you can have one on your balcony.
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Vince ______________________________ Current Tank Info: Frag tank at the moment, planning another |
12/31/2015, 09:51 AM | #47 |
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I'm so inspired that I'm going to set up a small garden greenhouse shelf plumbed to my DT and make it into a combo ATS/macroalgae refugium facing the sun.
I hope Texas weather is more forgiving in the future. My last external tank suffered mightily against the extremes. I still remember looking at my yellow tang under a plastic canopy in 30F weather during a hail storm and wondering... What am I doing?? The water never dipped below 74 but my electricity meter was running backflips...
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Failure isn't an option It's a requirement. 660g 380inwall+280smp/surge S/L/Soft/Maxima/RBTA/Clown/Chromis/Anthias/Tang/Mandarin/Jawfish/Goby/Wrasse/D'back. DIY 12' Skimmer ActuatedSurge ConcreteScape |
01/08/2016, 07:48 PM | #48 | |
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I have found that the extreme heat in Austin is a bigger issue than the brief cold fronts that we get in the Hill Country. I had to include a 40% shade cloth on greenhouse roof to get daytime PAR values below 1200 during 60% of the warm season of up to 6 months. With some months electric bill near $1000, I shut operations down for 18 months. I have recently restarted a three tiered tank system buried in the ground, consisting of 150G Rubbermade tanks each with different mono macro systems.and uncured live rock. It was my intention to get Gulf Coast critters that were hardy to temperature extremes. I decided on pods and utilitarian macro algae with some red decorative species. With minimum cost for heating and cooling 60-90 degrees as maximum expected range.
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Laissez les bons temps rouler, Patrick Castille Current Tank Info: 10,000G. Greenhouse Macro Growout |
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01/09/2016, 10:46 AM | #49 |
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Using the right glass is key, I think, to allowing visible light and uv in but reducing IR. I have a thread on glass and surface treatment options
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...2537919&page=2 My inspiration was the Berlin greenhouse renovation a few years ago. Geothermal or at least earth-mass cooling (like a concrete in ground pond) would help but I can usually manage with chillers and evaporative cooling, as long as the humidity is low enough. I did run geothermal tubes but never finished the project... But definitely a good consideration when giving the sun easy access to the system.
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Failure isn't an option It's a requirement. 660g 380inwall+280smp/surge S/L/Soft/Maxima/RBTA/Clown/Chromis/Anthias/Tang/Mandarin/Jawfish/Goby/Wrasse/D'back. DIY 12' Skimmer ActuatedSurge ConcreteScape |
01/09/2016, 10:48 AM | #50 | |
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Failure isn't an option It's a requirement. 660g 380inwall+280smp/surge S/L/Soft/Maxima/RBTA/Clown/Chromis/Anthias/Tang/Mandarin/Jawfish/Goby/Wrasse/D'back. DIY 12' Skimmer ActuatedSurge ConcreteScape |
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