Hello from Italy!!!!!

buck50bmg · Apr 4, 2009

Well Im in Martina Franco, about 1 hour from Bari Italy. Im here for work till the 20th. All I can say is that its 12:26 am and for 4.20 euro you can get 2 liters of local red wine thats 16% alcohol. Im feeling really good with 3/4 of the bottle gone. Im going to visit some of the Papone based (blu coral) feeding tanks here. I have off tomorrow and a 3 day weekend next week.

Boy can these guys eat and drink!!!!

If you ever have the time and money, get over here! They really know how to live.

Im going to get my drunk butt to sleep.

Happy reefing
Pat:smile::smile::smile:

cloakerpoked · Apr 4, 2009

Well, I'd tell you to have fun, but it doesn't seem that you need any encouragement in that area.

Paul_N · Apr 4, 2009

Glad to hear your having a great time. Have a couple of drinks for us poor souls stuck back in the states.

Tswifty · Apr 5, 2009

Haha... that's great.

I bet those tanks are going to be awesome. I can't wait to hear about them. If you can remember... check what Amino Acid supplement they were using (not the HGH... LOL). I remember there being a big question mark on the brand they were using since they didn't seem to have the access to a "reef tank" marketed priduct, such as Elos or Zeo ammino acids.

miatawnt2b · Apr 6, 2009

Buck,
You OK over there? I heard about the massive earthquakes.
-J

raynist · Apr 6, 2009

miatawnt2b said:
Buck,
You OK over there? I heard about the massive earthquakes.
-J

I was thinking the same thing. I think he is in Southern Italy so hopefully he was not affected.

bigmatt1992 · Apr 6, 2009

if there was a earth quake most of europes power lines are underground so i doubt bucks gonna be online till he get back to the states. let all hope hes ok.

cloakerpoked · Apr 6, 2009

Was hoping and wondering the same thing. Look forward to hearing the all clear from ya man!

raynist · Apr 6, 2009

I just looked up Martina Franca on google maps, it looks like he is on the heel of the boot, should be far enough away from Rome hopefully.

buck50bmg · Apr 9, 2009

Im Ok guys, thanks!

Ive been busy with this project here. These guys live in a whole different concept of time. We thought that we would not be able to work this weekend and als have Monday off. We just found out that the plant is shutdown tonight till Wednesday!!! Im still leaving on the 21st. If we get a hard delay, its not my fault....

Now that I have 5 days, I can get a good look at these Italian tanks!

So what AA do you think it is? Alot is lost in translation. I can pick up anything at a drug store here.

Paul_N · Apr 9, 2009

Glad to hear it:haha: The question is what can you bring back from the drugstores over there to the states. See if you can bring some of this back: Growth Hormone (GH)- somatropin. :xd:

If customs calls, I have no idea who you are....lol

bigmatt1992 · Apr 9, 2009

hahah bring back some roids i need to buff up for college jp. i dont think how home land secruity is that you would be able to bring back most headach meds lol. glad to hear your ok buck.

Tswifty · Apr 9, 2009

buck50bmg said:
So what AA do you think it is? Alot is lost in translation. I can pick up anything at a drug store here.

Hey Pat, glad to hear your ok.

I'm not sure really... I believe the conclusion was that they seemed to be purchasing it at a pharmacy, drug store, or whatever. I don't think anyone was able to get a brand name out of them though.

When specifically asked, most of the Italian's responses seemed to insinuate they didn't feel the "brand" or source was that important. However, if you have the chance to talk to them, you may be able to work a little more info out of them. If you do happen to find out, put me down for a bottle of whatever it is.

Also, I'm curious to know what their fish load in those tanks looks like. MAN I WISH I WAS THERE! LOL

Tswifty · Apr 9, 2009

Paul_PSU said:
If customs calls, I have no idea who you are....lol

LOL +1 :tongue:

Paul_N · Apr 9, 2009

Tswifty said:
Hey Pat, glad to hear your ok.

I'm not sure really... I believe the conclusion was that they seemed to be purchasing it at a pharmacy, drug store, or whatever. I don't think anyone was able to get a brand name out of them though.

When specifically asked, most of the Italian's responses seemed to insinuate they didn't feel the "brand" or source was that important. However, if you have the chance to talk to them, you may be able to work a little more info out of them. If you do happen to find out, put me down for a bottle of whatever it is.

Also, I'm curious to know what their fish load in those tanks looks like. MAN I WISH I WAS THERE! LOL

Some of those pics I saw, there was no room for the fish to swim :dribble: They were quoting these water params:

"Water parameters are: Ca 500, Mg 1500, KH 14-16, pH 8.2-8.4, nutrients below detection limits (PO4 always below 0.01 ppm). Look at the alk!

In reading some of those translated Italian sites it seems that even though they used GH the end result that they were looking for was an increase in readily available AA's. The GH is just broken down into AA's, so they started adding AA's to the mix along with the heavy feeding. I may be way off, but that was what I got out of it. The GH is out of the question here in the states so I guess it's AA's and feed the hell out of the tank. I bumped my feeding up to 3 times a day along with the AA's for the past 2 weeks, but with the vodka and vit c dosing my nitrates are still zero.

Tswifty · Apr 10, 2009

Wow, I hadn't seen the KH posted that high before. As for the ammino acids.... They added the GH to the food mix, and dosed the ammino acids separately before feedings.

I am hoping to incorporate AA's and nightly feedings once a week soon, but I want my tank to recover from my lighting disaster first.