The Italian or the Blue Coral Method

[ShaunW]

What I am getting at is why the need for more GFO then he was using before, it the amount of phosphates if teh L-aspartic acid didn't add any?

A little bit of inorganic phosphate can go a LONG way! especially if you add pure carbon and nitrogen sources in excess like I am doing.

Before adding these C and N sources, they were probably limited and it didn't matter how much phosphate was present (in terms of bacterial growth). Phosphate alone will do nothing if no other important metabolic compounds are present. But once I added them then the phosphate mattered ALOT!

 

[loismustdie]

Think of it this way, Mcdonalds is giving you twice the amount of food as usual, then you got twice the amount of fat people being formed.

Oh my god. I almost crapped my pants. Thanks for the new quote in my signature Dave.

 

[spykes]

shaun is dont think he is getting it still.

LOL @ chris.

 

[loismustdie]

The following photos are taken 1 month apart:

 

[loismustdie]

more

 

[SuRFeR BoY]

wow big diff. really nice reeeff!!!!

 

[loismustdie]

Mike (mshur) was over my house the other day and said that he felt my coral could use a little more food. I highly respect his opinion when it comes to stuff like this.
You guys know I hate adding food to my tank (phyto, cyclops, brine) and I'm also not a big fan of DIY foods. But I decided to give pappone a shot. I'm glad the wife and boy are away for the holiday, because my house now stinks. She would have thrown me and the food out. This is some repugnant sh1t. I slightly modified the recipe and I plan to go exceptionally light on feedings.
Also, another modification of the recipe is that I will not be using HGH. I don't have the means to obtain it and even if I could, I wouldn't waste in on corals.
Here's a pic of the lovely brew:

 

[spykes]

how much did you make?? buckets?

 

[loismustdie]

No Dave, those are actually very small containers and there is a very thin layer of food in each (about 1/4 inch)
Want some?

 

[loismustdie]

Honestly, I'm doing this because I know I can get away with certain things. My Hanna and Dialyseas will come in very handy. If my nutrients begin to spike, I'll tell the Dialyseas to change more water. I'm going to dose very light though, so I don't think it will be an issue. I will also not be pulling the collection cup off of my skimmer at night as the directions advise.
I posted this so if anyone thinks I shouldn't add it, I'd like to hear your opinions.

 

[meschaefer]

I posted this so if anyone thinks I shouldn't add it, I'd like to hear your opinions.

Please go for it. I have been waiting for someone here to try it.

Any reason your not removing the skimmer cup?

 

[loismustdie]

Please go for it. I have been waiting for someone here to try it.

Any reason your not removing the skimmer cup?

Because I'm being a :cat:

 

[ShaunW]

Why mess with a good thing? What are the signs that Mike thinks reveals a coral's need for food?

 

[loismustdie]

You know me Shaun... I got bored.
Mike doesn't like my colors (how dare he). Says to hell with growth, he wants to see my colors pop and he feels food will do it. He wanted me to increase my doses of the 2 foods that I currently use, but that would get expensive. It cost me 10 dollars to make pappone. Also, with the exception of the 2 Zeo supplements I use, everything I dose to my tank for my corals can be obtained at Home Depot and GNC/Vitamin Shoppe. I want to stick with that ,just adding the local fish market to the list. I'm trying to show that we don't need all the BS expensive supplements to have a successful tank and that money can be spent better on quality equipment (What I've been discussing in this thread form the beginning). Still high quality, store bought mysis for my fish though
As you know, I still feel my coral tissue is a little light. Thin. I don't know if food will help this.
I may hold off for a little while. All is not well in my tank. I seriously need to do some fragging and rearranging. My corals have grown into each other and I got quite a bit of fighting going on. Some are simply burning each other a little and growing around, while others are killing the coral next to it and growing on its skeleton:

 

[loismustdie]

I may hold off for a little while.

Oh who am I kidding? I didn't deal with that stench today for nothing. I'm starting tonight.
I took a base line of parameters. Here goes:
PO4:0.02
NO3: undetec
Ca:500
Alk: 12 dKh
Mg 1450
SG: 1.024
I'll do 3 ml tonight. I'll be adding the AA in about 15 minutes.

 

[jhale]

chris I don't think it will hurt to try it.
worst thing is you'll have to make your dialyseas work a bit more.
I had to stop my heavy feeding of the tank. it was not the blu coral recipe, but after 2 weeks of dosing phyto and rotifers my po4 jumped from .02 to .09. My tank is looking good though.
I'm going to add a second tlf reactor filled with rowaphos, and increase my water changes. oh and I'm also getting the bm250 to increase the skimmer output, I hope it works.

 

[loismustdie]

Damn. I just did the first dose and I'm getting a response, but I can't get a pic. I can't believe how far my acros are pushing out polyps. Because of my flow, polyps look like a blur. The PE on my green robusta look like sweeper tentacles.
Jon, it's a very small dose. 3 ml and I'm only going to do it 2 times per week for the rest of the month. After that, I'll adjust accordingly. Having the ability to change all the water I want with the push of a button has given me more confidence though.
First issue: it didn't blend up as well as I thought. I thought I blended it up more than enough too. There were still plenty of pieces big enough to give my fish some food. I will lighten up on their feeding on nights I use pappone.
How did I become the crash test dummy for this? Matt, since you started this thread, I'm going to your house and taking all your **** if my tank crashes.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

lol... chris watch them po4's :bigeyes: :shocked:

 

[loismustdie]

Here's the best I can do:

 

[fritz]

Wow