For this month's Reefkeeping (http://www.reefkeeping.com) show I am joined by Eric Borneman. Eric has an article coming out in the July issue of Reefkeeping that discusses the importance of looking at various products and systems with a skeptical eye.

Article:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/eb/index.php


<A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Talkingreef">http://www.talkingreef.com/podcasts/podcast-feed.gif

http://www.talkingreef.com/podcasts/podcastIcon.gif (http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?http://podcast.talkingreef.com/audio/SkepticalAquaist-TR-Ep59.mp3) Or click here to download the individual episode
And Please consider taking the listener survey
http://www.talkingreef.com/podcasts/podtrac_survey_microbar.gif (http://www.podtrac.com/audience/start-survey.aspx?ver=1&pid=-XLkuU37Aw8$)

i just want to say every week i listen to the podcast and everyweek the show just gets better and betters. loved the show rob.

also where is the counter on the main page? i couldnt find it..

i just want to say every week i listen to the podcast and everyweek the show just gets better and betters. loved the show rob.

also where is the counter on the main page? i couldnt find it..

thanks wes,
what counter are you talking about?

i thought during the show you mentioned a counter on the main page that says how many people download the show? i could of been in space at the moment though lol

nope. there is not download counter thats public

ok i think i will listen to the show again lol sorry for the confusion..

bornenamans very talented in the field, i look forward to listening to it tonight

hey rob, are some of the heavy hitter in our field really becoming aware of the site or what?

lol blubbers here, thats all the weight u need

well, Eric has known about the site a while, as i contacted him to use some of his stuff many month ago. as for the rest, they are interviews i have gotten through my relationship with reefkeeping.com. each mont they ask there authors if they want to do an interview for the show.

so indirectly they are learning about it, but only a few are continuing to leverage the site and show once the original interview was completed

the biggest & brightest are already in here, but the extra high society will join us soon enough , like field of dreams, " u build it, they will come"

the biggest & brightest are already in here, but the extra high society will join us soon enough , like field of dreams, " u build it, they will come"
that was stolen from the mob's motto......lucky luciano and benjamin siegel.:mrgreen:

oops.....it was miles lansky that said it to siegel and then siegel who pitched it to luciano.

Great podcast, Borneman was great. Do you have a link where I can find the studies Borneman was talking about that Steven Pro did?

yep, check back in the podcast episodes, i interviewed him on it..
there should be a link to his article in that show

Thanks man, will do.

np, make sure to check out that show to if you havent heard it..

Listening to it as I type.

Rob,

Great interview. It's great to get a reminder every now and then about "miracle products", and why there are none. BTW - you mentioned there are foods you no longer use that caused an increase in the phosphate levels of your tank. Spill the beans, man! What foods? Name names! Thanks!

i think they were tetramarine and bio blend
the bio blend has less PO4's

i now use formula one flake, as shows nothing o indicate any type of phosphate

rob hey i figured out where i got the counter thing at. i thought the chat room was updated with the podcast but it was on podcast number 28 lol.. sorry man..

Excellent show Rob!! Really enjoyed it.

Excellent show Rob!! Really enjoyed it.

yeah me too. i like borneman. he's had a great career!
abit wayward on the end with connection which cut it alittle short, but rob, nice work. thanks for teeing these up for us every month

thanks.. it was a fun show to do..
Eric was great to work with..

Rob,

After listening to this show for the second time, I would have to say that it was one of my favorites for sure. Eric was a pleasure to listen to casually speaking about a consumer philosophy we all hopefully have undertaken. It would be nice to see this thread turn into more information about products that people have questions about and are skeptical of using. It is often the case that information in this hobby is along the lines of don't do this, or don't use that without any concrete proof that it is going to be a problem for people. If reefers are having success with a product, I think they should come forward and say what they have found and not be scared of others booing and hissing to your observations.

I have been taking care of a reef tank for a long time now and owe most of my learning to Jason ? I wish I knew his last name. I would love to pic his brain again to see what he is up to with his tanks. He moved to Florida in 1996 to pursue a career in Marine Biology. The store that him & a friend closed was Reef Fanatics in Bloomingdale, IL. I frequented the store for the better part of a year and would spend a couple hours or so with Jason rapping about keeping reefs. If anyone knows Jason it would be much appreciated to get in contact with him again. In 1995 he was keeping reef tanks with SPS flourishing when this type of refkeeping was in its infancy throughout the hobby world. He had a refugium very similar to yours Rob(70G or so tub), housing tons of copepds, Cheato, and other macroalgae. When I purchased live rock from his huge refugium for curing his rock, I had so many amphipods and copeods it was ridiculous. If I pulled a rock out of the water, I had little buggers crawling all over me in the daytime. Anyway, the point of all of this is to bring up a product I have used for the last ten or so years and Jason advocated for himself.

Reef Solution

I have been wanting to ask the reefing communiy ever since I have noticed that Reef Central existed(3 months ago - can you beleive that) and mostly in listening to Talkingreef. I have really been out of the hobbyside of keeping reef aquariums for the last 6 years or so. I remember listening to Jason talk about his conversations with Julian Sprung at MACNA events at that time reciting his thoughts on the benfits of Reef Solution(being the only trace mineral additive available to the reef hobby at the time, even before Two Little Fishes Combisan). The premise behind the benefits revolved around if we are trying to create an oceanic system, how can we negate the addition of trace minerals we know exists in our oceans. If we do not add trace minerals(currently most do not with the exception of water changes) and/or the benefits of trace minerals has been studied, how can their be any proof that not having them is what is most natural for our reef aquariums. It was so convincing to me that this was something necessary in proper water chemistry.

I guess all of this time I have taken that to heart and after many years of observation of how Reef Solution has benefited my tank, I really don't think I want to stop. After hearing Eric talk about what we should all be skeptical about is that if you don't know what is in "it", how can you add it to your tank.

Reef Solution lists ingredients, but not all of them.

Ingredients: contains mutliple minerals and trace elements found in natural sea water. Iodine, strontium, magnesium, etc.. Also contains multiple vitamins.

Now what in the world does that mean? Etc.?

I know I should be skeptical. I have not noticed any negative effect from using this product. I have definitely seen fish and corals retain their color for a long period of time. My clowns are as orange as they were as 3 month old fish. I have never had ich in my tank and have housed two baby tangs for 4 years, as well as other fish commonly seen with ich. I am not saying Reef Solution is a cure for ich. I beleive Reef Solution has possibly raised the immunity of the fish to prevent this from ever happening. My corals have always polyped in my tank. I have had periods of time where I used 1/2 to 1/3 the amount i usually will dose for 3months at a time. Within a month I would notice the polyp extension to be noticeably less. After a couple months I would realize how much this reduction has effected the corals in the tank.

I guess others can be very skeptical in my observations and you should be. I am really curious if others are using or thought of using this product. I was really hesitant to even ask this question as I am afraid people are going to tell me to stop using it and I really don't want to. I am sure most will reply with I have never used it and probably never will. I would really appreciate some comments on Reef Solution if you have any useful information. I am in no way saying this is the only way of keeping a reef aquarium or am I telling anyone to go out and try it. I am simply questioning the use of it myself as I never see anyone on any forum speak of it. Which makes me wonder as well if this was a fad ten years ago and everyone is already aware that it is not something to use for your tank.