reef Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Been doing a bit of reading on this method, sounds very interesting I'll try to add my contribution here. The BCM or Blu Coral Method is a method invented by a marine acquarium shop in Rome - Italy. There have been so many discussions about this method, against Zeovit method, on Italian web communities, that I can't even recall... In substance the BCM is supposed to have a plus, vs the very well known Eric Borneman recepie, because of the use of the HGH. Much has been said about the use of the HGH for coral growth. The "logic" of the method could be summarised as follows: "I am dosing HGH to my corals, hence corals are gorwing faster, hence I need to feed my corals a lot more, I need to give my corals more Calcium (above NSW values) and more Mg (above NSW values)". The logic is there. This is the first version of how the BCM was presented to the Italian online reef community. But I have not read any more on this method since a year or so, so I do not know about the changes it might have gone through. The contrast with the Zeovit method was mainly based on the fact that: - with Zeovit you have thin coral branches and very slow growth of the coral; - with Zeovit colors are sort of "faked colors". With BCM you could solve all of these problems. I must say that the BCM found some users especially within the Roman reefers community. It has been discussed very much, but dropped by the greates part of the community. For whoever knows Italian, or is just interested in looking around, there is a reef community where the method is discussed a lot and where you can find a great number of people using it: www.reefitalia.net Have a great day Matteo Pappone Recipe - Italian Coral Food (Updated 1/14/2007) Materials: 5 Oysters 5 Mussels 5 Clams 5 Shrimp (NOT ****tail shrimp, the big scampi type w/o the head and the shell) 1 Tablespoon of Sugar (not corn syrup, etc.) 200 mL of RO/DI water 10 g of Red Algae (Palmaria palmata; Bisck uses Julian Sprung's brand) and/or 10 g of Spirulina, 10 g of Nori (spirulina is what Bisck prefers) Methods: Make SURE that all ingredients are the freshest possible and DO NOT use frozen foods (unless it is impossible for you). Make sure everything "live" is rinsed and cleaned before putting it into the blender. Put all the ingredients into the blender and blend for 5 min, wait 2 min for it to cool, 5 more min blending, 2 min of waiting again, then finally another 5 min of blending (the pausing is so that the solution doesn't get too hot and "cook" from the heat of the blender/blades). Pour into cube forms (approx 10 mL each). Then freeze it all�you want to minimize how long everything is at room temperature. Procedure: One hour prior to turning off your lights, you have the option of adding Amino acids to the tank*. (For example, 11pm Halides off, add AAs, 12am, actinics off, then add pappone). Take off the cup of your skimmer, but leave the skimmer running (so you don�t have a massive drop in O2 levels overnight). After the lights are off, start with only a half of a cube per WEEK for every 400 L of tank water (approx 100 gallons). Be sure to measure NO3 and PO4 the next morning so that these parameters don't spike after feeding. You can reduce the amount fed if you are having nutrient problems. Also don't forget to put the skimmer cup back on the next morning before the lights go back on. *If everything is going well. It is good to wait and see how the tank is doing for awhile before trying this. The whole point here is that you don't want to change anything too fast, because nothing good happens quickly in this hobby. (Another method to grind up amino acid pills in the next batch of food; however Bisck found that it sometimes causes diatom outbreaks in his tank). joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Been with the gang over at zeovit.com, Reef? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 There were even more interesting threads over there recently, before legal action was threatened and they were deleted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted March 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Been with the gang over at zeovit.com, Reef? Like to catch up on the latest new. It is a very interesting thread and it might try the blu method some time. There were even more interesting threads over there recently, before legal action was threatened and they were deleted Talk other than zeovit and it gets deleted. fair enough if they state that it only for zeovit products but they say it is open forum for all which is not so. All my prodibio posts got deleted. also posted some thread on pottasium test kits and that was deleted as zeovit test kit is very similiar to another brand various components of the system had been tested, and found that both iron and copper were included in significant quantities, well above background levels Pity i missed that, it must have been deleted. From what i read iron plays a significant role in bacteria growth so that would be why zeolite is used in some of the bacteria systems as the bacteria attaches to the zeolite. I would suggest anyone using bacteria type system that they limit iron as some tanks with Miracle mud have also had problems with acropora getting that light colours and then dying. This is if used with products like biodigest/rowaphos etc which has bacteria in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 I can see why they delete posts about competing products. After all, the forum was setup by a distributor of zeovit, after some frank discussions on RC about what really could be going on. (Sure there were a couple people posting uninformed anti-zeovit stuff, but they were the minority.)The zeovit guys threw their toys because they didn't like what was being discussed, and that was the birth of zeovit.com. Anyway, I think the main reason why zeovit want the contents of their product kept as secret as possible is more of a general perception thing. People have been told heavy metals are bad for inverts. That copper kills inverts. But both copper and iron play a significant role in bacteria, cyanobacteria and algae (all coral symbiots). A little bit is great, but a little bit more causes trouble, and a little to one coral symbiot can be a lot to a different symbiot. (If you want more info, google Saharan dust, and the link between it, weather patterns, iron, and coral bacterial diseases) Zeovit users have openly said that they are at the cutting edge of coral keeping, that's why I find it unusual that they aren't so keen to openly discuss the other parts of this system, which from what I've seen and experienced, have the most dramatic effects. Heavy metals are also analogous to phosphorous, in that they are tightly cycled in tanks, they tend to accumulate rather than diminish. Remembering that you only need a tiny amount of phosphorous to keep thriving animals, you only need a fraction of that in iron and copper too keep thing functioning properly. Anyway, at least it's accepted now that one aspect of the product is attempting to induce controlled bleaching to improve coloration. At least for the the initial effects. Personally i'm not really a fan of "bacterial systems" mainly because they are more focused on creating an environment to maintain high bacterial populations, rather than an environment optimal for keeping corals. You can't trust bacteria ;-) Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Well some forums are setup for different reasons. This one was setup by an individual who thought it would be a good way for hobbyists in NZ to meet and share information. Later it became part of FNZAS, which is a non-profit society to promote the hobby in NZ as a whole, with no commercial interest. It didn't want to be abused by people looking to undercut shops, and actively have people post to avoid shops at any cost. Zeovit.com was setup to promote sales and control what was being discussed about zeovit... What disappointing is that some people continue to stir up trouble here, and worse, try to hide their identity. If it puts you out so much that this forum has a vision for the greater good of the hobby, then why bother posting here? Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted March 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Tank using blu coral method http://translate.google.com/translate?u ... uage_tools Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Wow! Lovely pics! Certainly pleasant to get back to the subject instead of reading laytons stupid arguing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 very nice tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDM Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 stunning tank! love the colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Glutten = Sugar? Frustrating tying to read the article. Can't argue with success though, end of the day the results appear awesome even if I can't figure out what the heck they talking about! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Which part are you having probems with??? Its pretty straight foward in italian if you need some help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 ... from the guy who speaks Italian :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 What would you use insted of the clam meat ? Scallops ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted March 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 we should be able to get clam meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 sound interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 well im going to go shoping today, now i just need to find a food prcesoor im allowed to use Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 let me know how you go finding some growth hormones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 haha without the HGH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 For the clam part of it, my pick would be use cockles, preferably gathered from an estuary where they are packed shoulder to shoulder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 found the clam meat too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Make sure you wash everything well before blending it. Inorganic phosphates are commonly used as preservatives in seafood, both live and frozen. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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