FarmerTy

Wow, the quick responses surprised me. Thanks all! Timfish- The 7 years of reefkeeping have morphed tanks over the years, so the corals and live rock have not been consistent over the years. Starting with a nanocube and currently on a 125-gallon, there are many corals that made the move with me but their maturity has been stunted with all the tank moves (3 tanks). Yes, that was what I was meaning by coloring up but I appreciate the clarification. I know that phosphates can inhibit/slow SPS growth rates so I wanted to lower my phosphates as low as possible without creating a ultra low nutrient environment. Jestep- I am using the Seachem brand of tests. It may be possible that I am remembering the wrong concentration since my test results are written on a pad at home currently. My temps range from 78-80... I change my water twice a month (15% water change)... and I recently bought 2-part calcium dosing mix and magnesium mix from BRS with the intent to dose. But after obtaining my readings, I feel like that is not needed right now. The only thing is I may try to increase my alkalinity since it is a little low and at the same time go ahead and increase my calcium (even though I am happy with 420ppm on the calcium) since the higher alkalinity will allow me to have a higher calcium level so... why not. BTW, just for clarification, I am trying to start organic carbon dosing (aka vodka... though without the vodka). I am NOT referring to using your standard inorganic activated carbon to remove organics from the water/remove the yellow look. The terms are so similar that I get confused myself sometimes when people discuss carbon.

After 7 years of never testing my parameters, I broke down and finally bought kits and tested. Here are my results: Ca- 420ppm Alk- 6.8 dKH Mg- 1360ppm PO4- 0.6-0.8ppm NO3- 2-3ppm **Please excuse the units since I'm doing this from the top of my head and hopefully I remembered all the units correctly. I was very surprised that my tank is sitting pretty close to optimal for Ca, Alk, and Mg without ever dosing. I've been using the Red Sea Pro Salt for a number of years now. If anybody recommends has any suggestions for optimal levels, please feel free to comment as I would appreciate the feedback. I have a mixed reef tank with SPS, LPS, and some softies. Another thing that surprised me was my nitrate and phosphate levels. My macro algae (halimeda and chaeto) have not been growing for the last 3-4 months so I just assumed lower levels of nitrates and phosphates, but I guess I was wrong. I am currently in the process of ordering Ecobak pellets (Amazon) and a reactor from BRS to try to do solid carbon dosing to lower my sulfates and nitrates, in hopes that my SPS will color up nicely and will achieve a faster growing rate. I have a great skimmer that will complement this process. Any personal experience with this is much appreciated. Wish me luck. I will document with before and after pictures so that I can share my own personal experience. Thanks! -Ty

Hi all, I'm not really trying to set up a group order. I just wanted to see if anybody was needing some stuff from BRS. I am currently at $60 on my order and wanted to see if anybody was buying enough to get us the free shipping on orders over $175. I have the discounted prices set up on my account from the last BRS order so it'll apply to your order as well. It saved my $5 as my original order was priced at $65. You can PM me directly if you are interested and have enough to get us free shipping. Thanks! -Ty

Thanks for the advice! I didn't see the message in time or else I might have tried it. Currently, I have a happy little RBTA in my tank. I had the fish store triple bag it and then I stuffed it in a $5 walmart lunch cooler and tossed it in my luggage. Can't say it'll always work but it worked for me. I'll say the little bugger looked pretty pissed when I got him home but he survived just fine. Now to see if I can get my two little ocellaris clowns to host it. -Ty

My money is on the wrasse... I hate those guys.

I'll take them. Pm'ed. -Ty

I'll take them Mark. Just to see if I am blinded by the Plusrite's cheap price or that the Reeflux's are that much better to the eyes. -Ty

I figured for sure triple bagging and hopefully finding a small rigid cooler at walmart. I wouldn't even know where to look for a small styrofoam container. It's gotta be small enough to fit in a regular suitcase (the smaller size).

Hey fellow reefers, As much as we all enjoy the sweet finds when coral shopping, I happen to run across a RBTA in Evansville, IN for an irresistible price . Pretty good sized one 3-5" expanded and bubbled up like crazy. Just wanted to share. Now to figure out how to best pack it in my luggage so nothing bad happens to my new reef inhabitant. If you've taken coral on a plane before (checked luggage) and have some advice, please feel free to add. Wish me luck! -Ty

Thanks for setting this up. It was a breeze to order. -Ty

That's sweet Mark. Congrats!

Tiger tail went creepily into a rock... clam on the sand with a couple of big, flat frag plugs underneath it for its foot to attach... SPS doing fine... and last but not least, the elegance was open and happily waving tentacles already. We'll see if I made a mistake in getting it...

I might need to piggyback, I'm sitting around $150ish right now, unless someone with a small order wants to piggyback with me, -Ty

Sounds good.

My brother had nudis and he bombed his tank and did the whole process including siphoning and water changes... carbon etc... I got some from him anyways. Looked like they were all gone but they were still there. For my tank, I decided wasn't worth it to do that. They got into a large population of them but once I added small chromis to eat all the pods on the glass, my flatworms all but disappeared. I'm sure they are there but the population is in check. Basically, remove their food source and they diminished... no chemicals. I can stand 10-20 flatworms in my 125 gallon tank... doesn't bug me enough to risk my corals or fish. -Ty

Yeah, that was my original order but I didn't account for the 10% off. You said I overpaid roughly $14 so I hit you back up to throw in some green star polyps. Must have gotten lost in translation, no biggie. If it's too late to add on the order then I'll just get the money back from you. I'm sure you had to deal with a million PMs for this order! haha -Ty

I was confused for a bit because all the common names are off one line. That's cool about the clam, I just didn't want them to forget it. Mark, I meant the green clove polyps and not the more expensive orange tip ones. I think I had overpaid you roughly $14 and they fit the price perfectly with the 10% off. Thanks! -Ty

I'm already looking at $120 worth of stuff that I am needing so I'll let you guys know now that I'm in... just gotta narrow it down to what I'm getting specifically. -Ty

I'll take the purple monti cap.

Wow, sorry bud for your diagnosis. I wish you best in your treatment.

Mark, Here's what I decided on: -Crocea Clam WYSWYG ($70) http://www.vividaquariums.com/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=08-3144&Category=Coral%20And%20Invertebrates:WYSIWYG%20Clams&SortBy=Price -Tiger Tail Cucumber ($17) -Elegance Coral (large, $80) -strawberry shortcake SPS ($40) Total = $207 I'll drop off the money this weekend. Thanks. -Ty

Oh awesome Mark! I was looking for a large specimen with a neon green body and pink tips on it's tentacles. If they have that, I'm sold and will finish the rest of my list and drop off the money to you sometime this weekend when I'm back in town. Thanks! -Ty

I'm eyeballing a clam and a large elegance. I'm just afraid to pull the trigger on the elegance because there are so many different color varieties. I'd like to see it in person or know which one I'm getting first.

Count me in for at least $50, though I think I may hit $100 realistically. -Ty

That sounds fair to me. Thanks. -Ty