Ok so going in wait-list response order @cowbox and @Jakeller if you're still interested please DM me proof of admission ASAP. Never heard from @Jet Black or @Captain Ron so their spots are open.
7/19 Behind the Scenes Steinhart Aquarium Tour!
- Thread starter Darkxerox
- Start date
@Jet Black is pending. @jonmedina confirmed.
cowbox
Supporting Member
I DM’d you my membership pass and I’m confirmed I can attend.
Current confirmed:
@derek_SR , @IOnceWasLegend , @Bad Mojo, @tribbitt @BleepBloopMunchMunch @jonmedina @Bruce Spiegelman @DaddyHook , myself and @Raj Gill
Pending @Jet Black (please message me asap with your proof of purchase or membership card)
@Captain Ron dropped for @cowbox
Next in line who contacted me in the waitlist is @Krustykrab
@derek_SR , @IOnceWasLegend , @Bad Mojo, @tribbitt @BleepBloopMunchMunch @jonmedina @Bruce Spiegelman @DaddyHook , myself and @Raj Gill
Pending @Jet Black (please message me asap with your proof of purchase or membership card)
@Captain Ron dropped for @cowbox
Next in line who contacted me in the waitlist is @Krustykrab
Let's go!!!!
I’m at Philippines tank . No one else is
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
More please!
Also that they use lanthanum chloride because GFO is a pain to work with at that scale. And they have calcium reactors for the tank!
There's a few videos out there:
tribbitt
Supporting Member
I've watched Richard Ross's amazing work, very inspiring stuff. I was just hoping that I'd get to see it in person - it's ok though
derek_SR
Supporting Member
Thanks @Darkxerox for organizing. I had a great time and got my book signed by Charles!
Some aspects of their husbandry that haven't been shared yet (the big reef):
No aiptasia (in the big reef) - the fish keep it down naturally.
They do occasionally struggle with cyano and have a bunch of palys taking over the bottom of the tank that they have started to manually remove.
Charles feels that the reef actually does best when PO4 is fairly high relative to NO3 (opposite the common "red field" ratio dogma) which I thought was interesting. Most of their tanks are pretty high in po4 (0.4-3.0).
Another theme is pretty heavy feeding - most of the tanks are on auto feeders, and they do a lot of target feeding - sometimes several times a day for NPS and more difficult critters. Lots and lots of food being cultured and fed.
They are experimenting with big kessil LEDs - and have a few installed in various locations. The 1000W halide bulbs are getting harder to find and it sounds like they plan to slowly convert everything to LED.
The peppermint angels were actually spawning too, and they had larva making it to the 40+ days point and felt optimistic they'd eventually breed fry. Heartbreaking they lost the mate
No interesting pics to share beyond what was shared already, but I did snap a quick one of the new peacock mantis that was pretty active:
Had a great time BSing with @Raj Gill and @jonmedina too, nice meeting you guys!
Some aspects of their husbandry that haven't been shared yet (the big reef):
- Alk: 10ish
- NO3: 30ish
- PO4: 0.4ish
- No UV, but they do use a tiny amount of Ozone just for water clarity
- No Carbon
- No GFO (they used to use it, but the reactor broke and it was a PITA so now they use lanthanum dosed in front of the filter)
- They do some very specific trace dosing, both mixed into their salt as well as some mixtures dosed directly by hand each day
- PAR is 300-400 at the very top, 50-100 at the very bottom
- Water changes (I don't recall the amount/frequency - maybe someone else got that note?)
No aiptasia (in the big reef) - the fish keep it down naturally.
They do occasionally struggle with cyano and have a bunch of palys taking over the bottom of the tank that they have started to manually remove.
Charles feels that the reef actually does best when PO4 is fairly high relative to NO3 (opposite the common "red field" ratio dogma) which I thought was interesting. Most of their tanks are pretty high in po4 (0.4-3.0).
Another theme is pretty heavy feeding - most of the tanks are on auto feeders, and they do a lot of target feeding - sometimes several times a day for NPS and more difficult critters. Lots and lots of food being cultured and fed.
They are experimenting with big kessil LEDs - and have a few installed in various locations. The 1000W halide bulbs are getting harder to find and it sounds like they plan to slowly convert everything to LED.
The peppermint angels were actually spawning too, and they had larva making it to the 40+ days point and felt optimistic they'd eventually breed fry. Heartbreaking they lost the mate
No interesting pics to share beyond what was shared already, but I did snap a quick one of the new peacock mantis that was pretty active:
Had a great time BSing with @Raj Gill and @jonmedina too, nice meeting you guys!
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The thing that seems to be effective is the lanthanum in front of the sand filters as you mentioned. They back flush those via water changes which pulls it all out.
More info on the systems in one of High Tide's talks last year:
Calcium they keep at 420-440 ppm, mag at 1250 ppm, plus higher alk to balance out the higher waste products. They use a similar paste treatment to the SCTLD treatments in the Caribbean.
More info on the systems in one of High Tide's talks last year:
Calcium they keep at 420-440 ppm, mag at 1250 ppm, plus higher alk to balance out the higher waste products. They use a similar paste treatment to the SCTLD treatments in the Caribbean.
Behind the Scenes post is live! Make sure to go support our page on Facebook + instagram to check out this amazing content!
Big shoutout to everyone who put this together! Jealous I couldn’t make the trip
Big shoutout to everyone who put this together! Jealous I couldn’t make the trip