Cali Kid Corals

Store closing

It will probably be lower as he gets closer to closing. Manfred is a good and honest guy. And one things for sure he has the highest quality fish Ive ever seen. Ive bought plenty from him over the past year and have never had an issue. He just doesnt know how to run a modern business. Very dark and gloomy in there like other have been saying. Hes a great person but his prices on most of his stuff is ridiculous. I just wish there was someway we could help him.
 
Went there once years ago, pretty simple ask, just needed some snails for a cleanup crew didn't feel like ordering a hundred or so from those bulk places online, and while I was warned he has a gruff/grumpy demeanor it was a bit overblown. That said, the store did feel like it was on autopilot, you know that tank you have that you're topping off evaporation, but that feels like it... except a store full of those tanks. It sucks to see any business go, but it's not like I was a regular customer or anything.
 
Alexander1312 said:
This is another Manfred. He runs what is widely believed the best acro tank in Europe. Since this is in German: He has been doing this for decades and this tank in the video is 20+ years old. He spends approx. 5-6 hours daily on his tank. He seems to be using a Sea Swirl too. Several acros in his tank spawned and grew inside the tank where they landed. Interesting, he knows all the latin names for his fish but he seems to be very unfamilar with the names of his corals...

Click to expand...

I think that’s the best SPS tank I have seen - would love to learn more. Is there any info documented anywhere in English? What are his methods?
 
derek_SR said:
I think that’s the best SPS tank I have seen - would love to learn more. Is there any info documented anywhere in English? What are his methods?
Click to expand...
Tanks is 3000 L, his sump is approx the size of my nano tank, and he seems to using a calcium (correction!) (not kalk) reactor (tbc). It looks like he is using a recirculating system where dedicated pumps suck in the water but it was not well explained. Unfortunately, no mention of dosing etc. Will try to ask Claude where I can find more information about his setup. Oh fun fact: he uses metal halides and T5s, in addition to LEDs, and runs 2,000 PAR on the surface….
 
Last edited:
Alexander1312 said:
Tanks is 3000 L, his sump is approx the size of my nano tank, and he seems to using a kalk reactor. It looks like he is using a recirculating system where dedicated pumps suck in the water but it was not well explained. Unfortunately, no mention of dosing etc. Will try to ask Claude where I can find more information about his setup. Oh fun fact: he uses metal halides and T5s, in addition to LEDs, and runs 2,000 PAR on the surface….
Click to expand...
The guy interviewing the tank owner is named Tobias who has a couple different channels who does speaks English. Ive followed him for a couple years unfortunately he really doesn’t get into the nuts & bolts of his tank tours to much besides his own tank at times. Hmm Octoberfest plus killer coral shops now that would be nice!


 
Kinda crazy that town in Germany filters their whole water supply so folks just add salt to their tap water for water changes ! Only in Germany lol
 
Alexander1312 said:
Tanks is 3000 L, his sump is approx the size of my nano tank, and he seems to using a kalk reactor. It looks like he is using a recirculating system where dedicated pumps suck in the water but it was not well explained. Unfortunately, no mention of dosing etc. Will try to ask Claude where I can find more information about his setup. Oh fun fact: he uses metal halides and T5s, in addition to LEDs, and runs 2,000 PAR on the surface….
Click to expand...
He's running kalk?!?! Why doesn't he have algae and dinos growing on every surface? :)

In all seriousness, would love to know more - let me know what you find out!
 
derek_SR said:
He's running kalk?!?! Why doesn't he have algae and dinos growing on every surface? :)

In all seriousness, would love to know more - let me know what you find out!
Click to expand...

Correction :):

Kalkreactor = not (!) good - tbc if calcium reactor or kalkreactor (he possibly uses a kalkreactor)

Dripping kalk into the tank = not good

Calcium reactor = good

Will do :).
 
Last edited:
BAYMAC said:
Your equation doesn't work.

a kalk reactor also drips kalk into the tank.
Click to expand...

Love the fact-checking, thank you! Calcium reactor, not Kalkreactor. But I need to rewatch what he is actually using. He might still use a Kalkreactor.

Edit: I might have said this previously but just to clarify: using kalkwasser on a fully stocked tank might be fully ok (I am still not planning to do this). The concerns come from recommending this to folks who are starting out who barely have any corals in their tank and who cover their rocks and sand with this.
 
Last edited:
Ahhh yeah, you are probably right about the *calc* reactor. His consumption must be absolutely off the charts. I would indeed be surprised if he was using kalk...

I am on the fence with kalk. I don't think it's bad, but it's a bit of a hassle. I am only doing it because I'd be spending my life savings on ESV if I didn't. The PH boost is nice, but I was fine without it. Growth is growth, I'm not farming corals here.

One of these days I will switch to a calc reactor myself....
 
Alex I know you have negative feelings about kalkwasser but many thousands of people over decades have used it successfully and it has never been logically explained (that I’ve heard) what people in Germany/Europe allegedly don’t like about it.

That said, there is no way a wall-to-wall SPS tank like this could get enough alkalinity through kalk, since it’s limited by evaporation. There is an exception to that rule with vinegar treatment of the kalk, but very few people do that. So while he certainly could be using kalk also, it wouldn’t be the main source of his alkalinity. Almost all tanks that size with that much SPS use a calcium reactor. And many use more than one supplementation method, calcium reactor plus kalkwasser is common since they balance out the pH nudges of each other.

If it’s really true that German reefers don’t like kalkwasser I think we should stop using the German word for it. Limewater and calcium hydroxide are better terms anyway.
 
JVU said:
Alex I know you have negative feelings about kalkwasser but many thousands of people over decades have used it successfully and it has never been logically explained (that I’ve heard) what people in Germany/Europe allegedly don’t like about it.

That said, there is no way a wall-to-wall SPS tank like this could get enough alkalinity through kalk, since it’s limited by evaporation. There is an exception to that rule with vinegar treatment of the kalk, but very few people do that. So while he certainly could be using kalk also, it wouldn’t be the main source of his alkalinity. Almost all tanks that size with that much SPS use a calcium reactor. And many use more than one supplementation method, calcium reactor plus kalkwasser is common since they balance out the pH nudges of each other.

If it’s really true that German reefers don’t like kalkwasser I think we should stop using the German word for it. Limewater and calcium hydroxide are better terms anyway.
Click to expand...
RHF wrote a whole paragraph once about how it should be called limewater iirc

I would like to hear a chemist chime in about the kalkwasser
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top