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Adam Haycock 
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Joined: August 23 2003
Location: Fiji
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Points: 2647
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 Posted: February 24 2005 at 7:00pm |
Fertilizer provides the elements (N,P,K,Fe,I etc) needed by the algae for growth and reproduction. The algae also needs CO2. If doing a batch culture (like described by Mark), there should be strong surface aggitation or air bubblers for best growth.
Batch cultures work great, but the density will continually decrease until the culture crashes. Before a batch culture is started, all the culture material should be cleaned with a dertergent and light acid bath (5% hydrochloric acid). Ok, this may be going a little to the extreme, but it is important to keep contaminant-free equipment if you don't want to constantly be starting new cultures. Anything that has touched aquarium water especially needs to be cleaned.
So why go through all that trouble to have clean equipment? Well, if you don't, you will end up with biological contaminants in your culture and it will either crash or have a severly decreased density. Even if the culture looks dark, it may only be a fraction of its potential density. Any culture aquired locally WILL have contaminants and there is no easy way to get rid of them. Ok, now im starting to ramble..
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nellans
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Joined: December 12 2004
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Posted: February 24 2005 at 9:32pm |
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an interesting note on "cleanlyness"...
homebrewers often use something called "one step" to sanitize things
that will touch the beer while they're brewing. this is a powder
that when disolved turns into hydrogen peroxide, so oxygen is the
cleaner. there are also iodine base sanitizers as well. i
prefer the oxygen based myself but there are arguements for both.
if you're trying to keep clean, one step is a cheap alternative that
won't harm your water by adding excess idodine.
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Richard L.
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Joined: November 17 2003
Location: United States
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Posted: February 25 2005 at 4:00pm |
Boy this could easily turn into one of those testosterone contests ;
Adam's Gumbo vs Mark's Magic Waters . . . .
by the way Shane- What do you have? Shane's Super Suds?
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Richard
Alpine, UT
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pmpt
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Joined: May 12 2004
Location: Saratoga Spring
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Posted: February 25 2005 at 4:18pm |
So how would be determine which is better? Any volunteers on tasting the gumbo and magic to see which one taste's better?
Edited by pmpt
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Suzy
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Joined: January 03 2003
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Posted: February 26 2005 at 9:04am |
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Guys, green water is soooo last year! Some of us have orange
flavored water!
I need to get more fertilizer. Should we do a group order?
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nellans
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Posted: February 26 2005 at 10:11am |
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i'm in on fertilizer... how long does it last suzy? the $26
version claims it is good enough for like 8000 liters? that is a
LOT of green!
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pmpt
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Posted: February 26 2005 at 10:13am |
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Where do you guys buy the fertilizer from?
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WhiteReef
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Joined: September 03 2002
Location: Magna, UT
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Posted: February 26 2005 at 10:23am |
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Suzy - do you use the stuff from Florida Aqua Farms?
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----------------
Richard
Former 47G Column Reef, Magna
20" x 18" x 31"H
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nellans
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Posted: March 18 2005 at 12:33pm |
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I just bought and recieved a gallon from flordia aqua farms,
there is no way i could ever use all this with my minor phyto needs so
i'd be happy to share the cost of it by selling some of it to anyone
that needs some.
-dwn
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Suzy
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Posted: March 18 2005 at 2:33pm |
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Darn! i ordered from FAFUSA, too! we could have shared
shipping!
I do use the FAFUSA fertilizer, and it has worked great for me!
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Mark Peterson
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Joined: June 19 2002
Location: Murray
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Posted: March 19 2005 at 8:55am |
I've never ordered fertilizer, because I know that I can always get it from you guys! Thanks BananaTropics 
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Adam Blundell
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Joined: June 24 2002
Location: Davis County
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Posted: March 19 2005 at 2:21pm |
I've never ordered fertilizer, because I know that I can always get it from you guys
That's funny because I've never ordered fertilizer because I always knew I could get it from you Mark.
Adam
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Come to a meeting, they’re fun!
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Adam Haycock
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Joined: August 23 2003
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Posted: March 19 2005 at 3:57pm |
FAFUSA has never given me an estimate on shipping and it always seems to be outrageously high. I remember spending $100 there and shipping ended up being $50+. They definately need to update their online ordering format. Other than that they are a good company.
No Mark, thank you for all you have done for me (i.e. delivering 800+ lbs of sand to my door for FREE!)
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Posted: March 19 2005 at 5:36pm |
 BananaTropics wrote:
No Mark, thank you for all you have done for me (i.e. delivering 800+ lbs of sand to my door for FREE!)
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You mean Mark didn't charge you a $5 delivery charge? Huh, I thought that was the going rate?
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: March 19 2005 at 5:57pm |
I don't have Mark deliver it. I just have him make it while we're all at dinner after the meeting
Adam
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Come to a meeting, they’re fun!
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: March 21 2005 at 12:45pm |
Thanks for the confidence in my fertilizer and it's delivery.
Hey, I don't know if I said this before, but I'm having extraordinary good luck with culturing phyto so that it doesn't crash or turn yellow. I've been using 5 gals at a time, half of the culture, then replacing the 5 gals with new saltwater made with tapwater. I do this about twice weekly.
Using half, refilling the container and culturing the phyto for 3-4 days before using half again seems to keep the culture going strong. I believe in the past I was trying to concentrate the culture too much which took it to the point of overpopulation and starvation. 
 ask me how often I do a water change.
5% semi-weekly! So that's 40% each month. And the water is green tapwater! I wonder what Calfo would say?
Oh, and with this much phyto at my disposal, I've begun to keep 2 large jugs going with rotifers fed solely on phyto. Right now I'm dumping 2-3 galons of rotifers into my system about once/week leaving a cup or two in the bottom to be refilled with greenwater. Just call if you need rotifers! 
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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