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Unread 02/17/2012, 10:58 AM   #176
mr.wilson
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BennyFrank View Post
I'm trying to do the same thing and here is what I came up with. I drilled the rocks in my refugium and slid fiberglass rods through them; long enough to extend out of the water a foot or so. I then attached the mangrove propagules to the rods using "gardener's tape". This allows me to move the mangroves up and down as the roots develop. So far it has worked great but growth has been verrrrry slow. I've had the propagules submerged for about 5 months and so far I have 2 leaves . The roots continue to grow so I'm hopeful leaf growth will pick up when the roots finally reach the substrate.

Hope this helps. Sorry for the mini-hijack Peter; everything looks amazing as usual!

Interesting ideas are never hijacks, they are content. Great idea BTW!

I have one of the mangroves from Peter's shipment in a glass on my window at home. After 9 months it has two leaves and some modest roots. Plants are limited to their root system size. A large root mass will support a large plant. Having said that, the roots will continue to grow to fill the rooting area, then plant growth will become the focus of energy. This is why house plants should have a right-sized pot; too big and the root mass becomes too big, and too small and the plant size is limited.

You will also find that mangroves grown in substrate will have finer filamented roots whioe bare roots exposed to light will be larger. It might be worth compromising and wrapping the roots with coarse landscaping mesh. Rockwool or stones make a mess, but mesh can be cut away cleanly later.

I think lighting is your real limiting factor. I will check the PAR on ours to confirm. If there are no fish or inverts in the tank you can add some nitrogen & phosphorous fertilizer.

It will be a truly awesome display once it is established. I have a friend with some mangroves that he has had for over 20 years in a refugium. They are only 36" tall with a handfull of leaves He thinks scale disease is his limiting factor. He has 250w metal halides (old bulbs) and lots of nutrients in the system. In his case, I think the limiting factor is the compacted substrate. The mangroves are probably permanently stunted like bansia.


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Unread 02/17/2012, 11:08 AM   #177
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I will be the first to admit that I was wrong, but I would still never dim less than 90% and never for more than an hour in the morning and two hours at night. That whole dim sequence throughout be day scheme is still counterproductive in my opinion. The one competitive advantage we have over nature is 100% illumination without clouds or storms. Why give that up?
I agree with you on this one Shawn.

Dimming IMHO is better suited to a short sunrise/sunset sequence. The look of a tank under fading blue light in the evening is something to be seen. I am positive that Peter has spent more time sitting in the dark staring at a faintly lit blue tank than most of us lately.

Acclimating corals using dimming and controlling colors are things that we really should not be doing...again IMHO. There are definitely a lot of schools of thought on both these.

Controlling your colors and changing things around just adds stress to our inhabitants. The recent increase in units with options such as this is really a product of gaining market share through options versus gaining market share through results.

There is no doubt in hobby related industries that bells and whistles sell products. I spent a ton of money on bells and whistles when I used to race RC cars....I remember spending $30 on a bottle tire glue that hardened inside the bottle between monthly meets....what a waste....I went back to the tried and true superglue......cheap and everything that I needed.

I really wish that there was a good way for you guys to share the experience of the tank in those last few minutes of light but it just is too faint and too blue from everything I have seen....maybe Peter can come up with an expert who can bring it to life for us.....or we will all just have to come and see it...how many chairs can we fit up close and personal???


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Unread 02/17/2012, 01:22 PM   #178
Briney Dave
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I love the idea of the mangroves on those rods. I really wanted the roots fully or nearly so exposed to magnify their effect of being a home to all sorts of cling on critters and plankton homes

I still see water trickling through the mangrove stand tank which slowly becomes rich with all sorts of planktonic life that occationally drift off and flow back to my reef display where they quickly become free foods

still toying with how I might divide that tank to allow for a couple of different fish propigation environments at the same time.
If I can not find a good way to divide the tank; it could still house both mandarians and sea horses which are always a student favorite


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Unread 02/18/2012, 09:12 PM   #179
mr.wilson
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Originally Posted by Briney Dave View Post
I love the idea of the mangroves on those rods. I really wanted the roots fully or nearly so exposed to magnify their effect of being a home to all sorts of cling on critters and plankton homes

I still see water trickling through the mangrove stand tank which slowly becomes rich with all sorts of planktonic life that occationally drift off and flow back to my reef display where they quickly become free foods

still toying with how I might divide that tank to allow for a couple of different fish propigation environments at the same time.
If I can not find a good way to divide the tank; it could still house both mandarians and sea horses which are always a student favorite
Cardinals will spawn in mangrove roots as they do in nature. You can mix species to a certain extent because they are mouth brooders.


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Unread 02/19/2012, 05:30 AM   #180
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Mr Wilson i see your a sponsor on RC what is the name of your company?


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Unread 02/19/2012, 08:08 AM   #181
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Mr Wilson i see your a sponsor on RC what is the name of your company?
I have a retail aquarium store and a separate design/installation business, but the sponsorship is through Orphek for whom I work in product design and handle the RC sponsorship forum.


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Unread 02/19/2012, 09:32 AM   #182
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Thank you and have a good day.
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Unread 02/19/2012, 11:40 AM   #183
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Mr Wilson i have a 12 year old 180 gal reef tank and would like to change the center 175 watt eye color aqua metal halide lamp to a led lamp,the tank is 2 fby2f 6 foot long what is a good to do it.


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Unread 02/19/2012, 03:30 PM   #184
Briney Dave
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Cardinals will spawn in mangrove roots as they do in nature. You can mix species to a certain extent because they are mouth brooders.
I think you are right: do you believe that a pair of jaw fish would co-exist or be after the card fry ??

otherwise I will keep searching for a breeding pair of mandarians


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Unread 02/20/2012, 12:28 AM   #185
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Looks like the great barrier reef right in the living room
Soon it will be the only reef tank which can be seen from the moon.

This system should be in the Guiness book.

Excellent work and such a big learning curve.
Thanks guys for the inspiration.

Happy Reefing!!


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LED Lighting (CREE Main Unit 60w x2, T5 and T8 LED tubes), LED RGB-P Light bar, DIY Sump, Bubble King 180 Gen.2 Skimmer, TECO TR15 Chiller, Sicce Multi Return pump, X-Wave Rotary Device, Vortech MP40 ES, Hydor Korallia Wavemakers(2800 x2, 4000 x2), RR Wavemaker, 2x Nano Wavemakers, SIAM Ocean Media Reactor, Kent Phosphate Reactor, 6 Stage RO/DI unit, Ginko Sea Auto-top System.

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Unread 02/20/2012, 12:41 AM   #186
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Mind boggling.


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Unread 02/20/2012, 09:41 AM   #187
mr.wilson
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Originally Posted by Briney Dave View Post
I think you are right: do you believe that a pair of jaw fish would co-exist or be after the card fry ??

otherwise I will keep searching for a breeding pair of mandarians
I agree, jawfish have a big mouth and will likely eat fry. Mandarins are from shallow lagoons so they are better suited, and their mouths are far too small to eat fry. No need for a breeding pair, just buy a male and a female, they know what to do. Do they still teach that in US schools?


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Unread 02/20/2012, 09:42 AM   #188
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Originally Posted by RGibson View Post
Mr Wilson i have a 12 year old 180 gal reef tank and would like to change the center 175 watt eye color aqua metal halide lamp to a led lamp,the tank is 2 fby2f 6 foot long what is a good to do it.
You would be fine with the same fixtures Peter is using.


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Unread 02/20/2012, 12:10 PM   #189
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Originally Posted by mr.wilson View Post
I agree, jawfish have a big mouth and will likely eat fry. Mandarins are from shallow lagoons so they are better suited, and their mouths are far too small to eat fry. No need for a breeding pair, just buy a male and a female, they know what to do. Do they still teach that in US schools?
boo: yes, still taught lol
good to hear about the mandarins not being too tough to talk into things LOL

I love how interesting the jawfish are but they will have to wait for another project to find a home


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Unread 02/20/2012, 04:44 PM   #190
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hey shawn what type of coral is that at the surface of the water on those return nozzles in the main tank. it looks like some kind of softy but i didn't know anything like that could be that close to the light.


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Unread 02/20/2012, 11:10 PM   #191
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Ive been following this thread for quiet some time now and I have to agree with everyone. But now I think you should start a FOWLR system. I bet it would be amazing.


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Unread 02/20/2012, 11:17 PM   #192
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hey shawn what type of coral is that at the surface of the water on those return nozzles in the main tank. It looks like some kind of softy but i didn't know anything like that could be that close to the light.
gsp


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Unread 02/20/2012, 11:20 PM   #193
mr.wilson
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Ive been following this thread for quiet some time now and I have to agree with everyone. But now I think you should start a FOWLR system. I bet it would be amazing.
We have a 130 gallon QT tank we may be recommissioning. If peter decides to pursue the idea of a predator fish tank, it would include corals as well. Many people confuse predator tanks with FOWLR tanks. There's no reason why you can't have both.


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Unread 02/21/2012, 12:16 AM   #194
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This tank is larger than all of my tanks (Including the one I have on order) added together and multiplied times 5. Phenomenal tank. I bet those corals and fish are some of the happiest captive fish in existence


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Unread 02/21/2012, 01:23 PM   #195
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I have a retail aquarium store and a separate design/installation business, but the sponsorship is through Orphek for whom I work in product design and handle the RC sponsorship forum.
Very nice......look forward to visiting some day soon....Congrats!

http://www.reefkeeping.ca/forum/cont...oral-Reef-Shop


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Unread 02/22/2012, 07:04 AM   #196
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Where did you get the abuzz pumps?


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Unread 02/22/2012, 02:30 PM   #197
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gsp
i thought it looked gsp just didn't think it could stand the light


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Unread 02/22/2012, 09:00 PM   #198
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No need for a breeding pair, just buy a male and a female, they know what to do. Do they still teach that in US schools?
Nope...but it's available in an online course now since we have fired all our teachers.....


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Unread 02/23/2012, 12:09 PM   #199
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I looked through dozens of pages, but didn't see any of the final pictures since I started skipping around. What page are the goods on?

Amazing house and tank!


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Unread 02/23/2012, 12:52 PM   #200
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the newest pics are on page 4 and 5 of this split or you can go to Peters websight,the Ffour masters , and see hundreds of them and most of yhr great info sumerized. I tried to past the link but it wouldnt worm for some reason but you can get there by serching the four masters.


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