Just saying Hi

[BCOrchidGuy]

Hey everyone, I've been off the site for a long time but am back, a number of health issues have kept me off my tank duties so I'm dealing with many types of algae and stuff BUT my sps and lps have done well in my absence with nothing more than fw top offs. Now the water changes start, and I've got to find something that eats, hair algae (not so much) golden algae(no idea what it is but it's course) Caleupra, valona and something that's like caleupra but larger. Hope things are good in everyones tank.

Doug

[Myka]

Ooo you have Orchids? Me too.

Welcome back! Tangs eat most of those algaes...but getting to the root of the issue is a better idea. Nitrates and phosphates are often the culprit even if neither are detectable with test kits. A PhosBan reactor and/or a refugium with chaeto would be a wise choice.

[BCOrchidGuy]

Hiya Myka, yes I'm an orchid freak, used to have 70 mostly species. Phrags were my favorites but the ex wife brought home a very pretty Phal from home depot, with in a week or so all my orchids were dying, I managed to keep 4 or 5 and now have about a dozen.

I had a pretty severe back injury at work 2 weeks before xmas, next day I had a heart attack so I haven't done water changes and at that point I really should have done a biggy. I did two 20 gallon changes last week, done one today, and will do two more next week so I'm hoping to get nitrates down. I'm thinking about siphoning out my sand bed to help reduce nitrates as well. Tangs are a big favorite of mine but with a 60 cube it's a bit small plus I have a lot of rock so I'm thinking I should avoid a tang, but fox faces grow large as well.... I have a 27 long sump underneath the main tank, with a fair bit of caleupra in it, never tried cheato though. I'm building a phosphate/nitrate reactor in the near future so perhaps that will help as well. Thanks for the suggestions, we'll have to compare orchid notes etc.

Doug

[Delphinus]

Hey Doug, yikes man, glad to hear you're still with us!! Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Hey Myka, (As Doug knows..) I'm a recovering orchidaholic too. Before I really ramped up my reefing I was up to several hundred plants ... it was kinda bad Well, not really. But my house couldn't deal with the humidity so I more or less had to pare it down. Well, that, and, I kind of got wigged out by constantly fighting mealybug, scale, etc. Nowadays I'm down to maybe about a more manageable 30 plants, mostly phrags. I just keep the ones that do well for me, luckily that happens to be phrags. Although my "crown jewel" is a largish D. spectabile ... I had about 60 flowers on it this last Christmas (sadly just finishing up though - I can't believe I didn't think to take a picture of it ). Unfortunately my hibiscus tree has dropped aphids on it So that plant is gonna need a bath. And I'm thinking the hibiscus (aka the aphid bait), pretty as it is when it feels like growing, has to got to go.

Anyhow Doug it's great to have you back. Hang in there dude!

[christyf5]

Hey Doug, welcome back! Sorry to hear of your health problems, I hope you're on the road to recovery now

[Joe Reefer]

Wowsers, Was the heart attack brought on by the back injury? Glad to hear your doing well enough to do water changes.

[dsaundry]

Welcome back and hope you are on the mend. Had my heart attack 2 yrs ago and feel great today. As for the Orchids, did you use to sell them out of a greenhouse there in The Ridge"? I think I may have met you a number of years back when I was still married to my not reef friendly 1st wife
Anyway I hope you are starting to feel great and look forward to seeing pics of your tank..

[muck]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Unfortunately my hibiscus tree has dropped aphids on it So that plant is gonna need a bath. And I'm thinking the hibiscus (aka the aphid bait), pretty as it is when it feels like growing, has to got to go.

Simple solution Tony... Every time you see a ladybug this summer bring it inside and place it on your hibicus tree..