TOTM March 2011 - Troy Valentine

[BSJF]

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z113/bluespotjawfish/marchtotm.jpg

This month we had a great opportunity to explore Troy’s well-aged and amazingly diverse Mixed Reef that was established in August of 2004. Troy has been in the saltwater hobby for over 17 years and became a MAAST member in 2002.

This thread is devoted to Troy, so come and sit for a while and ask him questions about his setup. If this isn't enough for you, we will also be highlighting video of his tank at our 1st Quarter TOTM Social.

-- TOTM Committee

CHECK OUT ARTICLE: 11135

[allan]

Tony,

I really like your quote about everyone leaves a little something in your tank. The Blue and red/Purple and Pink under 20K that you gave me from Ping's tank are growing exponentially. As soon as I get the chance I will pass them onto another member.

Awesome tank!!!

[hobogato]

great looking tank troy - you have been an inspiration to many people thru the years.

[Kristy]

great looking tank troy - you have been an inspiration to many people thru the years.

Very, very true! Great to see such a mature tank.

[Bill S]

Great job, Troy. Like others have said, your tank has inspired many on MAAST.

[Mr Cob]

Troy! Great tank! I'm proud to say that I got a frag from that transparent green frogspawn in the bottom right corner....my little thumbnail frag I got from you almost 2 years ago is well over the size of a softball now....one of my few personal corals that I've never fragged. For those that have never seen Troys frogspawn colony....it's massive, like beachball size.

Love the write-up on your tank. Awesome job committee!

[ErikH]

Looks great Troy! I am going to be following your lighting scheme with the 175s it looks like. :) I found the Sanjay review on them, looks too good to pass up!

[justahobby]

I love seeing this tank and how diversified it is. Troy, you have been an inspiration so many times. Look forward to what you do with the new bulbs. Great job Lorraine, Karin, Kristy, and whoever took that great shot of my old scopas? To this day I have not seen a better looking Scopas.

[Scream311]

Way to go Troy ! Congrats Bro. You do have one of the Most Amazing tanks I have ever seen. And I'm Proud to say that I've held a Lenghty Conversation with the you in fron of this Unique and well designed setup. We've agreed on many things, and I'm glad to have found someone I work with to be able to share such interest with. Good job

[Kristy]

Oh whoa, don't give me any credit! This was all Lorraine and Karin and Cory on photos!

And speaking of giving credit, I really cannot think of a single other member who has been so generous in taking the time to teach newbies as Troy has over the years. (Ours was a very patient lesson on dripping kalk!) I think we all have a Troy Valentine story that pushes us to be better mentors in this community. Troy, I'm pretty sure we all have a little piece of you in all of our tanks as well!

[Europhyllia]

and whoever took that great shot of my old scopas?
Cory is our super awesome photo guy. Not only does he take hundreds of shots in the hours we are there for the interview, he comes back later for more! :)

[BSJF]

Fish are very hard to get good pics and Corys patience really pays off.

[Third Coast Tropical]

An nice aged tank that is to be admired...looks great Troy!

[CoryDude]

I loved that Scopas too! It and a coris were pretty camera shy.

What really struck me about Troy's tank, was the nice balance between sps, lps, softies, clams, etc. He had a bit of everything in there. I also love his approach to fighting nuisance algae.

Plus, he only lives less than 2 miles from me so I'll be back over there as many times as he'll have me.

[BSJF]

That algae is crazy diverse. Troy how do you prevent the more agressive alges from taking over.

[Troy Valentine]

Thank you all for the kind words. It has truly been my privilage to meet each and every one of you. I must thank the founders, and people who have kept it successful through the years. I know like any organization we have had our troubles, and much sleep has been lost over it. But we members are fortunate to have people commited to the success of the organization, and ask for nothing in return. This hobby and its community have given me so much, thats words cannot describe. I have made lifelong friends because of it. So many have come and gone through the years, that to this day when an old member calls, its as if we are family. I can only pray that I will pass along some of the passion that has infected me. To this day I still get excited when I know other hobbiest are coming over. I hope I never lose that feeling..... Thank you MAAST

[Pennies2Cents]

Congrats Troy! :) Very well said.

[Texreefer]

making a list of all the people I want frags from:bigsmile: great job, great tank!

[Troy Valentine]

Also, a special thank you to Lorraine, Karin, and Cory for spending the time with me while I bloviate about my system. You guys spend a tremendous amount of time and money traveling to see our tanks. You and all the other Commitee members are the real commodity, I am so glad you found this hobby so we can have people like you. Its you who inspire me. Thank You

[Europhyllia]

Aww, Troy it's been such a pleasure to visit. I am really grateful you agreed (after some gentle prodding) to let us feature your tank. I think all three of us came away from our meeting excited and with new ideas for our own reefkeeping. I couldn't wait to get started on your article - you had so many interesting things to share!

Like Cory I am really intrigued by your approach to nuisance algae!

[Troy Valentine]

That algae is crazy diverse. Troy how do you prevent the more agressive alges from taking over.

What works for me is to view my system like a human body, and the refugium is the immune system. I keep a little of every potentially "dangerous" algae. That way when I get the algae in my system, it isn't foreign to it. My system can begin breaking down the trace element immediately. I found its not really the algae, it is what its feeding on. Our systems are not closed. Just look at the amount of dust particles in the air, much of which is our own skin. Not to mention different airborn chemicals from air freshners, candles, cat dander, and when we cook foods. There is so much foriegn stuff getting into our systems everyday, and our tanks lack an air intake filter to block this stuff from getting in. Like the human respiratory system. Our skimmers do a decent job of this however it is after the foreign element is in our system.

Thinking of my system this way sounds simple, and it is. But it is something I can wrap my brain around. There is so much in this hobby that doesn't make sense. Forinstance, I have learned that you can do everything right from setup, water changes, and lighting. But over time your tank doesn't respond the way you would like it to. It chooses to go its own direction. Might as well go with it.

[TaknByD]

Well I must say that this is no surprise whatsoever... Troy, you have a great talent in this hobby and your tanks show off how talented you are... You're tank is a HUGE inspiration to me and I am sure to many others as well.. Congrats on winning the TOTM!

[cbianco]

Troy,

You have a spectacular tank! I love how mature looking it is; keep sticking to your hands off approach, obviously it works.

Thank you for sharing it with MAAST.

Christopher :)

[Troy Valentine]

Thank you Dustin and Christopher for your encouraging words.

[MIOR6485]

Congrads Troy on a beautiful tank. Keep the experimentations going. Thats what improves the hobby and keeps us hooked.

[BSJF]

I find myself looking at my tank and saying, what would Troy do. Strange!

[CoryDude]

I find myself looking at my tank and saying, what would Troy do. Strange!

WWTD! I'll get the bumper stickers and bracelets made up this weekend.

[Europhyllia]

I ask myself that too now all the time Lorraine!

[TexasTodd]

Very Nice Troy! Sorry I didn't get on here earlier, March was a crazy month.

Todd

[Troy Valentine]

Thanks Todd...


I find myself looking at my tank and saying, what would Troy do. Strange!

It complicated, I first pour a glass of my favorite wine. Then stare at my tank for along time, after a few glasses the wine will begin to make me sleepy, and completely unmotivated to mess with my tank. This is much more fun if you can share this experience with another hobbiest. Any Volunteers?:)

I have a tendency to fix things till there broken.

A good early morning cup of Joe with fellow hobbiest can also be quite effective in solving the worlds problems one tank at a time. Good times:)

[BSJF]

You are so right Troy. Good times for sure!

[Big_Pun]

the invitation is still open troy, we can still check your refractometer lol