I almost forgot to include Ocean Pure^TM in the winners. Sometimes I think everyone already has learned that this is the finest salt.

I have been keeping marine tanks alive professionally for 30 years this Summer. My first salt water aquarium was a 30 gallon METAFRAME stainless steel - Marine Aquarium Special - It was made of polished steel and the glass came up past the edge of the frame. This tank was sealed with black tar. No one had seen silicone glue yet! We had the very first marine aquarium on display in Idaho at the Pet Shop where I worked. It would be a year and a half until we saw our first all glass ten gallon aquarium in the industry.

During the last 3 decades I have tried many types of marine mix - some good, one great, and one bad. I have talked to hundreds of people who grow marine animals for a living. I have been told that Ocean Pure^TM is the best so many times that I have learned, in the aquaculture industry, people think you are either a beginner or a fool if you use other products.

The reason I use it in my labs is quite simple. Ocean Pure^TM is always the same month after month. If I have problem in a system I can duplicate that problem. When I have a great success in a system I can duplicate that success even years later.

THIS TYPE OF PROJECT IS HARD ENOUGH WITHOUT ADDING THE GRIEF OF USING A CHEAP OR UNSTABLE MARINE MIX.

There is very little I am certain about in this hobby - less every day - but I am CERTAIN about this.

The Geothermal Aquaculture Research Foundation, Inc. is proud to announce a new two year research project. During this research we will be purchasing as many types of aquacultured reef aquarium products as we can.

We will also conduct surveys both on the internet and in several magazines. These surveys will collect data from as many people who have purchased aquacultured reef products as possible.

The third part of this research will consist of creating a data base that lists as many sources as possible of captive raised aquaculture products.

During this research we will award several best of the test awards in many catagories. The first of these awards are presented on this page.

DYNAMIC ECOMORPHOLOGY - STEVE TYREE - WINS THE COLORED SMALL POLYP STONY CORAL AWARD

THIS MONTHS SURVEY - SPS CORAL SOURCES

GERALD HESLINGA AND INDOPACIFIC SEAFARMS WINS A SPECIAL AWARD FOR FIRST AQUACULTURED ALGAE EATING SNAILS

You have the good luck of being able to purchase one of the best algae eating snails, Trocus. The reef hobby is learning that this Trocus is one of the few snails that is grown on a farm.

The Trocus snail from Hawaii eats all types of algae the other snails do not. I use these snails to clean up tanks that are infested with long stringy brown diatoms. This slime type algae has a strong smell - like metal - and most snails do not eat it.

The Trocus snail does not get very large so it will NOT tip your corals over. It is a very good glass cleaner, but it does spend time on the live rocks.

These fine snails often come covered in some of finest RED coralline from Hawaii. The trocus group of snails includes the famous MOTHER OF PEARL snail that the finest buttons are made from. These Hawaiian trocus are rare because they stay small. Many of the other trocus get over 5 inches long. This trocus has very nice red and white makings on the shell. It has a cream colored foot that is striped in black. The oddest thing about this snail is the long filaments that extend from around the edge of the shell. The Abalone is the only other mullusk that I have seen these on.

I am using these trocus snails to clean up my Lighted Mud filters. These new filters were used to hold and study PROBLEM ALGAE last semester. I had collected some of the most terrible tank foulers and slimes that I could find. They had been grown and then neglected for several months. You could not see into these chambers. When the last order of Trocus came I dumped half of them into these three chambers. I was adding the glow in the dark mud to the other 12 chambers and I needed to hold the snails in a tank so I could divide them later. These two pictures show what happened in 3 days. They cleaned up ALL of the slime and hair algae and left all of the rare red macro algae. I had not planned on saving anything from these chambers, but now I can use all of the macro algaes.

The sales of these snails will help support one of best marine aquaculture scientists in the world - Jerry Heslinga - while he is preparing to bring you many exciting new and wonderful treasures from his modern Sea Farm in Hawaii. GERALD HESLINGA INDOPACIFIC SEAFARM 73-4460 SEA FARMS # 107 KAILUA, HI 96740 808-334-1709 Indopac@aol.com

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BEST OF TEST 40 watt light - TRITON

Wehave tested many lights and the best 40 watt light we have found is the one from Aquarium Products. We use this bulb in many of our grow -out systems . The Triton bulb is brighter than any other 40 watt bulb and the reef responds.

THIS BULB IS THE ONE WE ARE USING IN OUR LIGHTED MUD FILTERS.

Palythoa and other polyps get the best color with these bulbs. Many times we control algae problems by just changing to new TRITON bulbs.
Here is some data on the TRITON bulb.

* The first aquarium light made just for the aquatic field-- for the purpose of promoting optimum plant growth in freshwater aquaria and the same tube for hard and soft coral growth as well as Caulerpas in marine aquaria. The "actinic blue" is included in the same tube!

* The highest light output of any fluorescent tube used in aquarium lighting-- TWICE AS BRIGHT! This can reduce the number of tubes required to achieve optimum results. Significantly longer effective life than other tubes (over 7500 hours) with a minimum fall-off in light output over this time

* Gorgeous true color rendering bright or brighter than metal halide lighting--watt for watt; and it will even grow red plants as red as outdoors--green plants more gorgeous than you have ever grown before.

* continues to provide superb lighting right up to the time to replace it--when it ACTUALLY SHUTS OFF, because the light is no longer truly effective for the purpose you purchased it.

* Developed by the leading aquatic experts from around the World and the lighting technology of Thorn EMI of England--under the direction of Dr. Neville Carrington of Interpet, Ltd. This is the best lighting that you will find today and for the future!!

Aquarium Products
180l Penrod Court
Glen Burnie, Maryland
U.S.A. 21061
410-761-2100 LeRoy Headlee

Remember PROPAGATE AND EDUCATE.

IF ANY ONE PRODUCT WAS TO VOTED THE MOST IMPORTANT PRODUCT IN OUR INDUSTRY THIS SALT WOULD HAVE TO BE IT.

The most important thing that you will own in the aquaculture company is your brood stock corals. I have watched people start a small hatchery and have everything go very well until they decided to save a few bucks.

The first few times they bought the other brand things went okay. Then one day they opened a case of salt and the decline started. The cheaper brand is NOT the same every time!

Can you risk your stock for a few dollars. Some of the coral heads they lost would have bought a pallet of Ocean Pure.

Please just believe me when I say that I have tried all of the others and I will always use the best in my labs. Ocean Pure salt will keep any coral alive and any system stable. It will do this next week, next month and next semester.

IF YOU HAVE ORDERED ANY AQUACULTURED REEF PRODUCTS PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO ENTER THE INFOMATION HERE

We want to share as much information as possible with you. If you have ordered any aquacultured live rock or tank raised corals please help with this research!

ALL DATA AND NAMES ARE CONFIDENTIAL - YOU WILL NEVER RECEIVE E- MAIL FROM ANYONE OUTSIDE OUR OFFICE!

Thinning my reefs and planting several new ones

One thing I want to share with you is not only the results of my tanks but the healing aspects of this magnificent life. I am now facing my third surgery on my spine and these tanks are the only thing that truly takes my mind off of my pain. It is so amazing to me that we don't have them in every nursing home and recovery center around the World!

Because of my love and compassion for the World's Reefs I make many babies from my tank every week. Sometimes I find it very hard to decide what I am going to propagate because I want it to stay just the way it looks right then. Believe me they don't, they grow. As time passes, even if you do nothing, they multiply. I place many of the new cuttings in other tanks throughout the Foundation. I do this not only for the beauty to be shared, but for research and education as well.

Every time I propagate these animals I learn so much about them. I have found that by not using the Super reef gel when propagating my Xenias I have a much faster and better success rate. All I do is place the bridal netting around the plug and secure it with a rubber band and in a week it is firmly attached to the plug.

In my cutting tank I have several babies that have grown and by my hands have become mothers. I used to think that because I looked at my tanks everyday I did not see growth. If I was gone a week they seemed to be bigger. Now I can only reflect back on those memories, because each tank is developing so fast! The reason I have these results is that I am dedicated to learning all I can about this incredible life that we know so little about.

In the picture below you see my captive raised calm. This clam is beautiful yet takes up an incredible amount of room in my 55 gallon. Anyone who has clams in their system you must remember to check for those tiny little white snails that sometimes come in on soft corals. These tiny snails will kill your calm if you do not remove them. This procedure needs to be done at least once a month even if you don't introduce any new soft corals to your tank. The white snails are very hard to see, but just last week I plucked over 12 of them off of mine. If you take very good care of your clam it will live in captivity for a very long time. I know LeRoy is tempted to buy me a bigger tank so that I have more room for them to grow.

I have found that each time I propagate from my tank that there seems to always be a second layer of life growing under the animal I am thinning. Many times I will work on my tank for several hours removing several cuttings and no one at the Foundation can tell the difference

I have found that each time I propagate from my tank that there seems to always be a second layer of life growing under the animal I am thinning.

Many times I will work on my tank for several hours removing several cuttings and no one at the Foundation can tell the difference other than that my cutting tank is full or I have placed them in one of the other systems. My tank is growing so fast that sometimes it is very hard to keep up with all the propagating that needs to be done. LeRoy always lets me know when he feels I have to much bio-mass in my system. I know then that I must propagate and move some of the life from my tank.

The new babies seem to enjoy the freedom of movement and space. The mother is grateful for breathing room. I make sure that all the animals that I remove go into the same water conditions that my tank tests at. I have taken complete responsibility for adding the supplements, magic reef dust, and janitors to all the Foundations systems. The most important ingredient needed to maintain a healthy reef system is consistency. You can not forget to do what you have been doing just because the tank looks good. There is a reason it looks good.

I feel very confident each time that I am asked to share how I maintain and grow the vast amount of animals that I do. I say this because I have not just tested it on one system or in just one tank but in many of them. I am a firm believer that there are several ways to do a reef system right however. I have become more and more disturbed when I see people not willing to stay with program they decided on.

I have witnessed time after time people try something new, different, or not even yet fully researched or documented. I think of the animals and the stress they go through each time they try this new idea. I say if something is working and you have great results don't change just because someone is trying to convince you that their way is better. I know of several people who have taken apart their systems and tried something different every six months.

It scares me when these things are reported to me. I want everyone to have as positive of an experience as I have had. I realize that there is a lot of conflicting information out there. One of the surest ways to loose all of what you have worked so hard to achieve is to keep putting those animals through more stress than is needed.

I always look to LeRoy or what happens in Nature to find my answers. I also know that our results in our systems and the ones we have set up speak volumes on the success we are sharing. We can not promise those results if people do not share the same commitment.

If you remember from my last article in the newsletter I was just setting up my new 55 gallon. It has tremendous coralline algae growth and all of the animals you see in the picture below came from my mother tank. I tested the tank with low lighting first to promote the coralline algae growth and have just moved up to two VHO's. I am having a new hood made for it and have planned for six VHO's that I am going to increase two lights every six months. Soon I will be adding cuttings of my sps corals but I want to wait until the coralline algae establishes itself stronger in my tank.

THIS TANK IS A BULLETPROOF REEF - TWO POWERHEADS - LIGHTS - HEATER

90 PERCENT OF THE ROCKS IN THIS REEF A ARAGOCRETE^TM

YOU CAN SET UP VERY SIMPLE REEFS TO GROW OUT BROOD STOCK

One more exciting bit of news to report is that the Girl scouts here in Boise were diving for their scuba lessons and found Idaho's first ever fresh water jellyfish in a pond here in Boise. We where the recipience of their find and will be releasing the babies into our fresh water ponds soon.

Only Sally Jo could get this much positive PR from something as big as a dime and as clear as glass ;) LeRoy

We thank you for all the e-mails we have received in the past month and hope that you will continue to keep sending us your new ideas and share your questions. We welcome all of your input and try not to step on anyones toes.

We want you to continue to learn along with us and pass this information unto other individuals who are interested. We believe the only bad question is the one that wasn't asked. If we have been slow on responding to any of your letters we are sorry. We are working hard on the Tour and Seminar, at times it feels like the day just started when the lights go out.

This tour and seminar is a strong financial committment on our part to take part in the International Year of the Reef. Those of you who are coming will walk away with so much knowledge and can purchase on site some of our babies. LeRoy and I cannot thank you enough for your letters and comments.