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sorrie duno the name of the SPS all mother colony pic 4 ref onli (NFS) FCFS, deal @ 085701 SPS1 frag - $25.00 | mother colony ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPS2 frag - $25.00 | mother colony ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPS3 frag - $45.00 | mother colony ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPS4 frag - $15.00 | mother colony ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPS5 frag - $20.00 | mother colony - top/side view

500ml bottles also available at $8

Silicates for Amphidinium Let's address the elephant in the room: silicate? Is this one of those evil contaminants we need to remove from the aquarium? Isn't silicate gonna cause nuisance algae to grow in the aquarium? Just like phosphate and nitrate? Don't we use all sorts of filters (such as ro/di) to remove every bit of silicate. Most of the time, there are some truth to it. However in dealing with amphidinium, silicate is crucial because it is the fuel for diatom growth. Diatoms require silicate to build frustules, which is the beautiful glass like shell. Other than fueling diatoms, silicate can also help in the growth of sponges. There are little other side effects for silicate dosing. All in all, a very safe and effective way to overcome amphidinium. Chemically, sodiun silicate is a colorless solution with very high pH. Being a strong alkali, it can cause skin irritation and injuries. Therefore it is important to be careful when handling the solution. Tips for Silicate Dosing There are a few quirky observations when dosing silicate. It's good to keep these in mind. 1. Start slow, and test the silicate level. Although silicate is not harmful in a reef tank, there is no need to increase the concentration to extremely high levels. In the beginning, when there is little diatoms, the silicate uptake is small. There is no point in dosing a large amount everyday when starting off. Raise the silicate to 2-4ppm or so, and keep it there. 2. High flow. Silicate has a pH as high as kalkwasser, and is more concentrated. Therefore when adding silicate to the aquaeium, it will cause temporary cloudiness just like dosing kalkwasser or kh supplements. The cloudiness will clear away on its own, but dosing in to high flow area is certainly recommended. 3. KH. Just like adding alkali such as kalkwasser, silicate will increase the kh of an aquarium. It's essential to adjust the kh dosing, to take into account of these additional kh added. 4. Phosphates. Phosphate media, Such as aluminum oxide or GFO, will remove silicate the same way they do phosphate. Keep these media offline when dosing silicate. In addition, the silicate level in the aquarium can cause false reading for some phosphate test kits. Don't be alarmed when phosphate reading is very high.

Treating the Amphidinium Situation Since amphidinium does not migrate to the water column, we can't use UV to reduce its population; since it stays on sandbed, and even migrate into the sand at night, hydrogen peroxide is not very effective against it. Algaecides such Dino-X may reduce, even eliminate some species of dino, but there is no guarantee, not to mention it will likely cause havoc in my already sullied ecosystem. Since amphidinium does not affect corals much, and are of negligible toxicity, There is a tried and tested strategy for amphidinium bloom : silicate dosing. Silicates No, silicates do not kill amphidinium. We elevate the silicate level in the reef aquarium to 2ppm or higher, so that diatoms are encouraged to grow. When diatom population rises, they start to compete with amphidinium and eventually suppress them. When diatom finally drives the amphidinium population to extremely low levels, the silicate level can be slowly brought down, and the diatoms will decline in step with the silicate level. As long as there are other micro-organism to occupied the newly opened niche, the amphidinium problem is resolved. Not only that, we end up with a healthier ecosystem with robust microbe population. This will make the aquarium more resilient against future outbreaks. I'm 2+ weeks into this silicate dosing regime. Outwardly the sand bed looks worse. The brown patches are darker. But microscopically, it's nothing but good news. There is finally more diatom cells compared to amphidinium cells, and the number of amphidinium cells decreased significantly. The following two microscope videos for comparison: IPS_2021-11-09.16.04.36.3370.mp4 Nov 9th. Note the large numbers of amphidinium cells. (400x magnification) IPS_2021-11-23.18.29.04.5110.mp4 Nov 23, notice there are much less amphidinium cells, even as the field of view is wider (200x). Also note the large number of beautiful diatoms. This is not a "solve the problem today" method, nor is it effective against all type of dinoflagellate. There are some pointers regarding silicate dosing, which I will discuss in the next post. Until then, always remember, it's essential to ID the dino before treating them.

L1 Lobo - Collected and sold The rest are still up for grabs. Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

I believe elegance is LPS stony coral, not softie? Nonetheless, looks amazing, so envious. How much did you pay for it?