Tony, I've got another 18 grams of mysis thawing right now, and once thawed, I'll be rinsing them in R/O just enough to get rid of the "juice". After that I'll re-weigh them and soak them.

I'm a little surprised at the results of the unrinsed mysis. I would have thought that the phosphate would have been tied up in the meat of the shrimp and would not have "leached" out into the water.

Rikko, I'm trying this out as far as what methods a typical reefkeeper would choose to feed the tank with. I haven't heard of anybody rinsing nori yet, although there may be a benefit there. I don't know if I'll try that test or not.

Mitch

Tony,

As for your post regarding proximity of macros and SPS, I found that interesting, and it's something that I had forgotten about. Thanks.
I agree, macro algae harvesting (as in throwing it out and not feeding it back to your fish) is only one part of the equation.
Randy mentioned that skimming is another one, and for some of us, the only real means of nutrient export.
One problem with using a protein skimmer is that the suspended detritus/DOC's actually have to make it to the skimmer in order for the skimmer to do it's job. In a high energy, SPS reef/bare bottom set-up with tons of water flow and turnover it's not so much of a problem, but if you add a DSB, densely packed rock piles and some LPS, all of a sudden you have areas of low flow where detritus can build up and cause nuisance algae problems over time.
You could have the best skimmer in the world, but if you have low-flow-only LPS, the detritus will build up and never get to the skimmer. That's where macro algaes could help out, I think.

Just for fun, I tested the P04 in my skimmate. 10ml of skimmate in 1 liter of water showed a reading of .25ppm. That's what, 25ppm P04 skimmate... :mrgreen:
Glad to get that out of my tank!

Mitch

Re: reply
 

This was the thread I'd been reading, though there were others I didn't bookmark:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=288714

It's since grown rather... Large. From what Randy has said it sounds like you need to find the acceptable alcohol input for your particular tank and find it gradually. Add it with a dropped and test your phosphates over time.

I'll give it a shot when my phosphates become a concern.

Thawed and rinsed mysis results added.
The P04 measurement was less than the frozen number, but I think that it was due to the reduced amount of material, not that it was due to the "juice" being any worse.
I'm not sure whether it's beneficial or not to rinse the frozen mysis first, as some people do. The particle size of the juice could wind up being bacteria food, or the corals could indeed be benefitting.
Any opinions?

Mitch

I agree with you on this but I only feed mysis once a week. If I was feeding every day I might be tempted to rinse.

Steve

Just curious Steve, how much mysis do you put in when you just feed weekly?

I cut a chunk off that is about 1cmx1cmx1.5cm I would say. I use it as more of a treet for them and use pellets the rest of the time.

Steve

great info

8 year old thread from the dead...

There's gold in them thar dusty old posts.
As a newbie reefer, I'm just soaking in all these great info.
I'm sure theyre still valid.