albertareef

Good feedback. I have been wondering if there is possibly a better way to facilitate this activity as I think it is great for the club to have access to some exclusive auctions (especially for those of us who don't frequent other platforms) but it would be nice to find a way to help keep it organized. I will post something in the officers forum and reference this thread to see if we can come up with something that might work better for everyone. In the meantime... I am going to enjoy the opportunity to snag some awesome frags while I can

BTW - those are some cool looking zoas Bert! Do they have a name?

That will make a nice addition to the new tank - congrtats @lewisriverfisherman

Just admit that you are evil and underhanded... we all know anyway. Kidding aside - that is a super cool nem - congrats!

You are cleaning up here! That tank is going to be full of prime pieces!

Congrats - that is a beauty!

Nice score Doge. Will be curious to see how that grows out.

Argh... lost track of time. Oh well - Rudy seems to have an endless supply of stunning millis so hopefully we will see more!

Thanks Bert! You must have seen the signal

Hey Brandon... was there supposed to be a pic or link with this?

Yeah - bubble counter for me is pretty superfluous... I have one but don't really use it as a control point at all - as long as there is sufficient flow to enable you to hit and maintain your pH setpoint then you are good. When open, it runs at 1 - 2 per second. Also, if not already clear, I am using a solenoid on the CO2 regulator to actually achieve the pH control. pH raises above the setpoint - CO2 opens. pH hits setpoint - CO2 shuts off.

Hey Dodge - not quite sure what you are asking there re parameters. When I first started to get it online the demand in my tank was fairly low so Alk/Ca/Mg could be maintained pretty easily with a bit of judicious dosing and I had them roughly where I wanted before starting up the reactor. I have had to drop my reactor pH setpoint a couple of times as the load in the tank increased to compensate for the demand and now, if I do happen to take it offline for some reason (like not noticing the CO2 ran out) the Alk can drop pretty quickly. If/when that happens, I just get the reactor back online ASAP and let it come back to equilibrium gradually - usually over the course of a couple of days. So... yes, parameters were roughly where I wanted them before I started but the reactor can/will bring up Alk if/when you happen to have a drop in levels. At least that is my experience. I started out with a fairly neutral pH setpoint of 7.1 to avoid overshoot and am running at 6.9 now. Tank is 125 and pretty full of fast growing SPS specimens. Hope that helps.

Glad to see the Blue Face found a good home - that is one spectacular fish! I was eyeing that quoyi parrotfish myself but didn't really have the room for it. Would love to see some pics of it in it's new home.

Haha - as mentioned elsewhere, I am a fan of the reactor approach but do it a bit differently as I tend to run a steady flow and bubble rate and control directly off of pH. I find it easier with a single variable that is more precisely controllable. Mine tends to hold alk, ca, tank pH very steady once dialed in. I monitor a couple times a week just to make sure and adjust pH in the reactor as coral growth/consumption demands. As Roy notes, however, if you let the volume of your reactor medium change significantly, you will need to adjust for that. I typically just make sure I keep that topped up whenever I notice the level dropping. The only thing I dose is a mix of trace elements and aminos which is a small volume weekly by hand.

Great stuff Roy! Looking forward to seeing this.

Oh man... you are killing me here Rudy. You have the most amazing millepora. Love all the wonderful sunset hues.

You really need to make it up there Bill!

So excited to be headed up to Roy's again! Such a great system and knowledgeable, gracious host. Last meeting there was one of my favorites and love to see what's new in the DT and all the frag system. Oh... and say hi to his viamingi tang puppy too!

Nooooo! Florida doesn't deserve that frag - it should stay in the PNW where it was raised

Tank looks great - sorry to hear it has to come down. Hopefully you can save some of your favorites.

Bummer! Is this the one that liked newly introduced zoanthids as well? Shame you had to find out the hard (expensive) way. Agreed about Garret's acans though - picked up a selection at the last meeting down there and they look really sharp and are doing well.

That is great Rudy! Thanks for trying this.

Yep - are you going to try and make it out again Carla? Was nice to have you there last time around - I think you probably had the “farthest distance traveled” award locked up.

Great write up as always Bert! Hilarious and informative. Not so sure about the fashion sense though... Had a great time seeing a lot of regulars plus some new faces. Always nice to reconnect with the "southern contingent" of the club since they can't always make it all the way up north for the meetings. Garret had the shop looking really good and had some nice pieces on display - had to come home with an Aussie lobo even though I'm not normally an LPS kind of guy. Glad to see several other folk scored some things as well. I will have to remember the putty trick. Andrew - I think we have an open spot in the meeting schedule later this year... I was wondering if the Hwy 30 crowd might like to co-host something at your place again if you were up for it @Higher Thinking We have several members up that way now so might be a nice way to bring everyone together and isn't too much of a drive from PDX. Plus, I'm sure your tank looks even more impressive than the last time I saw it!

Likewise - avoid Facebook whenever possible (just plain old I guess) so really nice to have some "local" auction action on the forum! Thanks Rudy!!!