I love Mr Sprung!

I really enjoyed his lecture.  I've always been of the opinion that more then just nitrogen needs to "cycle" so his xenobiotic/alleopathic cycling issues were very interesting.  Very interesting!  Also, I really the video showing advection... that was awesome!

• Periodically stir up a portion of the sand (a storm is a good thing)
• Periodically vacuum a portion of the sand
• Periodically replace a portion of the sand
• Periodically add variety to the sand to keep lots of life in it.
• Use microfauna, Cucumbers and sand dwellers, even a small sand dwelling fish to stir the sand naturally. (Julian did not include Sand Sifting Stars in his list.)
• Keep as much sand open to the water column as possible.
• Disturbing too much of an old undisturbed sand bed causes problems. Take it slowly, a little at a time.

• Keep LR off the sand as much as possible, but recognize that water flow in front of rocks and glass pushes water and whatever is in the water into the sand. And on the leeward side, it pulls whatever is in the sand out and up into the water column.
• Periodically rearrange or replace some LR to stir things up.

• Recognize the great value of the microfauna and microflora (tiny animal and plant life) that live in the LS and LR. Introduce microfauna/flora via the addition or replacement of some LS and LR.
• Don't let one organism become so large or prevalent that it takes over the tank, physically or chemically.
• Do regular water changes to keep the aleopathic chemicals from building up, in the water and in the LS, to levels that would inhibit animal growth. (Julian later told us that, for our understanding, the terms Xenobiotic and Aleopathic are essentially saying the same thing.)
• Use Activated Carbon to minimize the Xenobiotic/Aleopathic effect.

• Phytoplankton is a very good thing. It's part of many invertebrate food products such as Julian's Two Little Fishies brand Marine Snow. Phyto feeds the bottom of the food chain which is a pyramid up to the top predators, so phyto indirectly feeds the highest organisms of the pyramid.
• Algae takes over the job of the bacteria if the sand bed becomes impacted. Thus, one contributor to an algae bloom/tank crash in old tanks.

Julian has 9 aquariums, 7 of which are Reef. He uses little or no Skimming, partly because he keeps fewer fish. He feeds phytoplankton and Marine Snow. He likes and uses Reed Mariculture products. He uses RDP Refugia.

Hope this helps.

 

One of the things I have noticed about Julian is his concern for each person individually. He gives personal attention to everyone, irregardless of that persons position or personality. He is one of the best visitors we have ever had. I have a personal fondness for him. 

 

I worked hard to schedule Julian for 9/14/01 but all our efforts were thwarted by the 9/11 terrorist disaster. 

He graciously took the lead to schedule a visit the following year. Julian's concern for us collectively and individually endeared me to him. I hope we can have him visit again within the next four years.

Please forgive me for the long post and personal reminicsing.