What ever happened to Albert Thiel?

DrDNA · 03/13/2007, 04:07 PM

Hi all,

I have been getting back into reefkeeping over the past several months after being out of it for about 10 years. I noticed one of the guys that used to be ever-present has disappeared from the hobby... Albert Thiel. Whatever happened to him?

Redstratplayer · 03/13/2007, 05:03 PM

Occupation: forensic science

Lol the case of the mising Albert Thiel

goldenTee · 03/13/2007, 06:05 PM

Dunno but it was funny that you mentioned him. I was just chatting with someone wondering the exact same thing.

reefkeeper2 · 03/13/2007, 06:45 PM

I have a old sump made by him. It's still in use.

Rhodesholar · 03/13/2007, 06:58 PM

I throw his name out for time to time and have noticed he has pretty much faded into obscurity. The LFS I frequent has a singed bound copy of his Reef Notes. I thought his insight and research back in the 80s was really cutting edge at the time, and he was a pioneer in the field. Alot of the things he was trying back then have been become common place today. The last I heard he was doing research on the successful keeping of Gonipora coral, however I believe that was a few years ago.

goldenTee · 03/13/2007, 07:00 PM

"research on the successful keeping of Gonipora coral"

Best of luck to him.....Goni's are such fragile creatures...

Rhodesholar · 03/13/2007, 07:29 PM

Goldentee,

You are 100% correct. There has been great strides made in the long term care of these creatures, and they are no longer impossible. Forgive me for I can't remember in detail what those strides were. I do recall that one of the pitfalls was that they damage very easy in transit. Many parished through no fault of the reef keeper but becuase of shipping injury. Even a slight injury meant certain death. The other was feeding. I read and article where a guy claimed long term success because he believed the waste from his Purple Tang had something to do with it. He actually would capture (Tang Bombs he called them

) and then target fed the coral, at which the coral would have huge PE.

To stay on topic I think I read some of this from Albert Thiel. I know Thiel also did alot of research on elegance corals if memory server me correctly also.

He was also an advocate of AlK levels that most reefers would raise and eyebrow to. His recommendation was 12-17DKH with 15DKH being the average to shoot for.

I bring that up from time to time when I need to get verbally pummeled.

DrDNA · 03/13/2007, 07:35 PM

Yeah I was just curious, he and Julian Sprung (among others) were some of the cutting edge type of guys. I still have two of his two books, "Marine fish and invert reef aquarium" and "Advanced reef keeping", sitting on my bookshelf, right next to Martin Moe

I do pull them off the shelf sometime to see how far the hobby has progressed in the last 15-20 years, it is amazing how much "easier" things are nowadays, much less alchemy!

raddogz · 05/07/2007, 10:49 PM

Albert suffered from a medical condition many years ago - I can't recall if it was a stroke or a heart attack. Ever since then he's pretty much dropped off the radar.

GuySmilie · 05/07/2007, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DrDNA
Hi all,

I have been getting back into reefkeeping over the past several months after being out of it for about 10 years. I noticed one of the guys that used to be ever-present has disappeared from the hobby... Albert Thiel. Whatever happened to him?

That's interesting that you should mention this. I, too have resurfaced after a 10 year drowning and was wondering what became of Albert. I used to really enjoy reading his books and his newsgroup when I was first getting my feet wet. I see his website is still around, but not much going on there.

Seems like he had his 'peak' just before the information age exploded with the Internet and all. Too bad his timing was a little off. He definitely danced to a different drummer.

Peter Eichler · 05/08/2007, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rhodesholar
I throw his name out for time to time and have noticed he has pretty much faded into obscurity. The LFS I frequent has a singed bound copy of his Reef Notes. I thought his insight and research back in the 80s was really cutting edge at the time, and he was a pioneer in the field. Alot of the things he was trying back then have been become common place today. The last I heard he was doing research on the successful keeping of Gonipora coral, however I believe that was a few years ago.

You mean Marine Reef, Reef Notes was Sprung. I still go back and look at Marine Reef from time to time and get a good chuckle. There was a time period there where he advocated keeping dKH at 18 after the numbers Rhodes eluded to didn't seem good enough. I can't tell you how much freaking buffer I went through trying to keep my tanks that high

The other one was blasting my tank with ozone to get my orp above 400.

The guy contributed a lot to the hobby but he also took many of us for a ride... Anyone remember the premixed gallons of Kalkwasser (yes a little calcium hydroxide and a gallon of water) that sold for close to $20? Then there was that miracle product, Liquid Gold...

Tang Salad · 05/08/2007, 03:56 AM

I saw his name mentioned recently. Someone was paraphrasing his stance on mangroves in refugia. Not sure if it was a misquote or not, but the claim was that mangroves can be more benefitial than protein skimmers.

Rhodesholar · 05/08/2007, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Peter Eichler
You mean Marine Reef, Reef Notes was Sprung. I still go back and look at Marine Reef from time to time and get a good chuckle. There was a time period there where he advocated keeping dKH at 18 after the numbers Rhodes eluded to didn't seem good enough. I can't tell you how much freaking buffer I went through trying to keep my tanks that high The other one was blasting my tank with ozone to get my orp above 400.

The guy contributed a lot to the hobby but he also took many of us for a ride... Anyone remember the premixed gallons of Kalkwasser (yes a little calcium hydroxide and a gallon of water) that sold for close to $20? Then there was that miracle product, Liquid Gold...

He used to write a monthly article and the edition I read was all these articles in a bound book that he signed. It was not an official book or anything, just a compilation. I really thought it was Albert Thiels Reef Notes however I may be wrong. I will contact the LFS and get the scoop for accuracy. I don't like providing inaccurate information.

Peter Eichler · 05/08/2007, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rhodesholar
He used to write a monthly article and the edition I read was all these articles in a bound book that he signed. It was not an official book or anything, just a compilation. I really thought it was Albert Thiels Reef Notes however I may be wrong. I will contact the LFS and get the scoop for accuracy. I don't like providing inaccurate information.

It's sitting right next to me, it's called Marine Reef

Rhodesholar · 05/08/2007, 12:20 PM

I contacted the LFS and the copy is:

Marine Reef Newletters VOL 1 and 2 issues 1-34 and is one of 5 signed and bound copies from the Chicago Trade show circa 1990.

Yea, I wasn't even close. You win this round Peter.

03/13/2007, 04:07 PM	#1
DrDNA Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Loomis, CA Posts: 1,152	What ever happened to Albert Thiel? Hi all, I have been getting back into reefkeeping over the past several months after being out of it for about 10 years. I noticed one of the guys that used to be ever-present has disappeared from the hobby... Albert Thiel. Whatever happened to him? __________________ O O o o O O o o o o o o O <º)))>< <º)))>< <º)))>< <º)))>< Jeff Current Tank Info: 300g and 540g on one system, 165g sump, lifereef VS3-72 skimmer, LED lighting

03/13/2007, 05:03 PM	#2
Redstratplayer Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: NJ Posts: 241	Occupation: forensic science Lol the case of the mising Albert Thiel __________________ New Jersey Reefers club Saving the World's Reefs one living Room at a Time. Current Tank Info: 20G long &10sump/fuge

03/13/2007, 07:35 PM	#8
DrDNA Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Loomis, CA Posts: 1,152	Yeah I was just curious, he and Julian Sprung (among others) were some of the cutting edge type of guys. I still have two of his two books, "Marine fish and invert reef aquarium" and "Advanced reef keeping", sitting on my bookshelf, right next to Martin Moe I do pull them off the shelf sometime to see how far the hobby has progressed in the last 15-20 years, it is amazing how much "easier" things are nowadays, much less alchemy! __________________ O O o o O O o o o o o o O <º)))>< <º)))>< <º)))>< <º)))>< Jeff Current Tank Info: 300g and 540g on one system, 165g sump, lifereef VS3-72 skimmer, LED lighting

05/07/2007, 10:49 PM	#9
raddogz Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Bay Area Posts: 3,167	Albert suffered from a medical condition many years ago - I can't recall if it was a stroke or a heart attack. Ever since then he's pretty much dropped off the radar. __________________ Eileen If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style. - Quentin Crisp Current Tank Info: 180g Reef

05/08/2007, 03:56 AM	#12
Tang Salad Algae skeptic Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: 78702 Posts: 3,098	I saw his name mentioned recently. Someone was paraphrasing his stance on mangroves in refugia. Not sure if it was a misquote or not, but the claim was that mangroves can be more benefitial than protein skimmers. __________________ Your algae is not special. Current Tank Info: TBD ADA 120-P SPS NLPS

03/13/2007, 06:05 PM	#3
goldenTee Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 61	Dunno but it was funny that you mentioned him. I was just chatting with someone wondering the exact same thing.

03/13/2007, 06:45 PM	#4
reefkeeper2 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Bridgewater, MA Posts: 1,234	I have a old sump made by him. It's still in use.

03/13/2007, 06:58 PM	#5
Rhodesholar Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Crivitz Wi Posts: 754	I throw his name out for time to time and have noticed he has pretty much faded into obscurity. The LFS I frequent has a singed bound copy of his Reef Notes. I thought his insight and research back in the 80s was really cutting edge at the time, and he was a pioneer in the field. Alot of the things he was trying back then have been become common place today. The last I heard he was doing research on the successful keeping of Gonipora coral, however I believe that was a few years ago.

03/13/2007, 07:00 PM	#6
goldenTee Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 61	"research on the successful keeping of Gonipora coral" Best of luck to him.....Goni's are such fragile creatures...

03/13/2007, 07:29 PM	#7
Rhodesholar Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Crivitz Wi Posts: 754	Goldentee, You are 100% correct. There has been great strides made in the long term care of these creatures, and they are no longer impossible. Forgive me for I can't remember in detail what those strides were. I do recall that one of the pitfalls was that they damage very easy in transit. Many parished through no fault of the reef keeper but becuase of shipping injury. Even a slight injury meant certain death. The other was feeding. I read and article where a guy claimed long term success because he believed the waste from his Purple Tang had something to do with it. He actually would capture (Tang Bombs he called them ) and then target fed the coral, at which the coral would have huge PE. To stay on topic I think I read some of this from Albert Thiel. I know Thiel also did alot of research on elegance corals if memory server me correctly also. He was also an advocate of AlK levels that most reefers would raise and eyebrow to. His recommendation was 12-17DKH with 15DKH being the average to shoot for. I bring that up from time to time when I need to get verbally pummeled.

05/08/2007, 12:20 PM	#15
Rhodesholar Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Crivitz Wi Posts: 754	I contacted the LFS and the copy is: Marine Reef Newletters VOL 1 and 2 issues 1-34 and is one of 5 signed and bound copies from the Chicago Trade show circa 1990. Yea, I wasn't even close. You win this round Peter.