I went to the Tampa Bay Reef Club meeting at Brian’s this weekend after hearing all about the meeting last year I knew it would be worth the four hour round trip drive. WOW is all I can say. The pictures will say it all:
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I attended my first reef conference today and it was a wealth of information. I learned a lot about what local organizations are doing to preserver and restore the Atlantic and Caribbean reefs, details about clams, and some things I should do with my water management.

Butch Ringelspaugh, curator of the Pier aquarium in St. Petersburg, Florida and formerly with the Florida Aquarium, discussed his extensive research on coral propagation and coral spawning. He discussed the techniques his team implemented when they conducted a cultivation of some Acropora spawning session. He discussed the timing of the spawn which was the same time every year, the special system they set up to cultivate the spawn after capture, to the implantation on porcelain tile.

James Fatherree, a professor at Hillsborough Community College, has written over 150 articles and 1,000 photographs in various aquarium magazines in the U.S. and Europe, and has written and illustrated several books on the topics of reef organisms and marine aquariums, the latest of which is Giant Clams in the Sea and the Aquarium. He discussed proper husbandry for Giant Clams with the biggest surprise for me being that all clams have to be raised under Metal Halides. Anything less will result in loss of the clam over a short period of time. He also explained how Giant Clams gain the all of their energy needs from the symbiotic relationship with Zooxanthellae and only need to gain nitrogen and phosphorous from the mulm created from fish. In most situations, you do not need to supplemental feed them.

Chris Brightwell, president of Brightwell Aquatics, discussed water quality for the marine tank. Of interest, I learned the supplementing of iron is necessary as it is usually limiting nutrient in a marine tank and inhibits algae growth. When properly supplemented, you can identify other underlining nutrient issues and utilized carbon exporting to reduce the overall nitrate and phosphate levels over time. He also discussed how the phosphate photometers on the market today should be used with caution as there is a larger room for error on the measurements (+/- 0.04 ppm). He recommend the usage of Hach phosphate test kits.

Overall, it was a great time and I learned a lot from the event.

More Information:

Fatherree, James. “Reef Aquarium Lighting: How Much Light is Enough?” Liquid Medium Marine Aquarist’s Magazine. June 2008. Liquid Medium. 08 May 2009. http://www.liquid-medium.com/1_1/how_much_light.htm

I had another good time at the TBRC meeting and it is a step outside my normal routine to do any activities outside my normal stay at home routine. Debbie had two wonderful tanks, one fish only 650 and another mixed reef 350 with the largest toadstool leather I have every seen. Next time I need to bring my camera.

Learned a new trick. Use a MJ 400 to blow off your rocks using your thumb to “throttle” the flow. Which has me thinking… Is there a portable powered mini vacuum to use to spot siphon hair algae or anything else you would like?

Tank Shot as of today:

Tank as of 2009-01-18

I did something which is out of the ordinary for me. I joined and attended a Tampa Bay Reef Club Meeting. I had a good time and spent most of my time taking it all in and listening to conversations. I am still very new at the Reef side of the hobby so I did not have much to say. It was nice to see another’s work at the hobby. Stephen Boyd and family did a good job putting this on and I am hooked. I am already planning on attending the next meeting in January. Can’t wait to learn more from people who have been doing this much longer.

I sort of won a SeaCem Strontium text kit. Actually another member kept winning the raffles and she started giving her winning tickets away after three prizes. Think she won six times.