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Simplified Reefkeeping F.A.Q 4 of 4 2-6-2001 |
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and polyps are corals. I'm not absolutely sure about dusters probably would be an invert
I hope that isn't a really stupid question. I am asking b/c I love the green frilly mushroom, red and blue mushrooms, green star polyp, yellow polyp, and the Hawaiian feather duster would those be suitable for my tank?sure... although the large Hawaiian dusters don't really last long
What types of low light corals are you talking about? allmushrooms, bubble coral, ricordia, flower anemone aka anthroplura anemone EXCELLENT animal and cheap!, all polyps, leather coral aka sacropothyn, colt coral, sun coral, tongue coral aka slipper, candycane aka trumphet, definitely elegance RECOMMENDED!! that should fill your tank up
I also like the blue linckia starfish and fire shrimp are those OK?yes fire shrimp very nice but $$ make sure you get at least 2-3 scarlet cleaners
In regards to fish know the last thing to be added--but would the Regal tang work OK for me in a 3-some?I would have small fish in a tank your size. Keep in mind that fish should really only be a highlight in a reef tank and your better to buy those yourself Do you live near Amarillo? if so that's where scooter is from and she may be able to point out some decent stores.
We currently have a 110 gallon aquarium and are in the process of setting up a 125 gallon reef tank. One of the occupants of our 110 gallon is a dwarf red lobster. How much risk, in your opinion, would it be to introduce him into the reef tank? We have two small red leg reef crabs and a mated pair of coral banded shrimp, and he has never bothered them.Lobsters are predatory by nature and although you sometimes see them in a reef aquarium I would advise against it. Also most of them are quite shy once they have allot of hiding places as with live rock I seriously doubt if you even see it. They can be almost impossible to remove once they find adequate hiding. Although they are all crustaceans you really cant compare red leg hermits or coralbanded shrimp to dwarf lobster. Of course you can try it but I personally would advise against it. Maybe trade him in at the local store for something less destructive.
The corals look happy, but I haven't had success with anemones. Are they really that hard to keep?yes - most of them. You need very strong lighting. There are a few hardy species such as pink tip, anthroplura, did you get the Practical guide to corals? If so I could point out the few hardy ones. here are a few pictures Here very hardy and beautiful
Here pink tip in my tank very hardy beautiful I think you need more live rock. If you have room buy the nicest rock you can find, so it not only will provide denitrification but enhance the beauty as well. couple of more questions ... what type of lights do you use? are they reef specific? how much wattage do they put out? how old is the tank? you should be having 0 or very low nitrate, but as I've said 20ppm isn't bad and possibly just keep an eye to see if it climbs.
While on vacation a friend of mine was 'watching' my reef aquarium. In order to 'help me' this friend used a kitchen sponge to clean the glass. Over a period of 2-5 days my plate coral, open brain, and torch coral bleached and did not open fully. As you profess in your book I let nature run its course with the exception of water changes and full time use of Kent Activated Carbon (I usually use for three days month).excellent
With three or so weeks of no change I began to worry until a strange thing happened. the plate coral and open brain developed brown lines funning from the center out. At this point (three months later) the plate has returned to its full brilliant red, the torch as well has regained all color and the open brain is still a combination of green and this 'brown', all corals are opening more fully than ever before. My question to you is 'have you ever heard of such a phenomenon?'From my experience, what you observed is the coral expelling waste. This brown mucus like substance is its way of elimination. I've seen this happen with all my corals from time to time. It doesn't seem to be very predictable but never the less happens. A few corals particularly leathers close up or "sloughs" which is another type of regenerative process. I'm very glad to see that you took the simple advise to let nature take its course, because quite often taking drastic actions cause more problems than necessary. You absolutely did the rite thing by doing water changes and using carbon.
Are the brown colors precursors to zooxanthelai?I'm not exactly sure. I'm fairly confident that corals do expel waste and because of the improved conditions you provided they were very happy. Keep up the good work
You have not mention anything's about keeping sea fans in your book, does this means is a hard inverts to keep?They are not that common in North America so I would venture them being difficult to keep
why do I have to take the damsels out? are they incompatible w/ the reef?Yes their compatible... but the damsels can be territorial particularly if they are introduced first. Most folks like *nice* fish in the tank. What usually happens is you start with the damsels then want to add other fish... and then you see a fish that you cant live w/o so the damsels begin to fall very low in the pecking order of *select* livestock. Meaning you want to be choosy on what you add, because it can be very difficult to remove once the tank is up.
I've bought a used 75gal. marine tank w/ 130 lbs. of Tonga rocks. The rocks have been siting out dry for several days. They are now in the tank & everything is running. Do I need to buy about three Damsels to get the cycling started since the rocks is dead?well the damsels will start a cycling... but will only build to the level of 3 damsels. You'd be better off buying some nice rock to really "seed" the dead rock. I would... buy as much liverock as you can afford or will realistically fit in the tank (you may want to sacrifice some dead stuff) then cycle that. Then add inverts then corals and fish last If you put the damsels in now, not only will they not do much for 75 lbs of rock, but you'll have to take the tank down to get them out Will that work for you?
I recently set up 65gal tank. In it are 80lbs of live rock, some small blue leg crabs, some snails, a red leg hermit(red legs/yellow eyes), a chocolate chip starfish(which is being returned for a less damaging variety),a yellow tang, a spotted hawk(I think), a sebae clown and two damsels. I have lost 2 Sally lightfoot crabs(one who lost his legs shortly after intro and just lost the other which was intact and seemed to be doing fine). I don't want to introduce anything else to the tank in fear of losing it.off hand it sounds like the hermits may be attacking the sallies. Red leg hermits are very aggressive and strong Other could be poor specimens to begin with. Possible remedy would be to either relocate the large (red) hermits and try again, try other sallies or abandon the idea all together. I take it the other livestock are doing well which leads me to think of poor specimens or predation.
I was feeding this evening when I noticed the most disgusting looking creature hiding out in a dark burrowed cave under my liverock. He looks like a crab, but NOT like the description you give in your book, he's very rounded, and he looks almost like he is covered with detritus.possibly a decorator crab. Although they arent usually that shy. Decorator crabs are not that attractive...but they are very interesting. OTOH it may be a mantis shrimp.which could be a problem. do you hear a snapping popping sound coming from the tank?If so its a mantis, if not I'd bet its a decorator crab. Harmless and interesting
You mention a marine betta. I have looked everywhere and cannot find information on them. Could you please reply with the Latin name or where I should look for information concerning these fish. Thank you.The Latin name for a Marine Betta is Callopleslops altivelis. Probably any marine fish atlas would have information on them. From my personal experience, they are a gorgeous fish, solid black in color covered with white specks they are relatively easy to keep although shy, particularly if you have any real hiding places. They are a very impressive, relatively large (up to 6 inches in length) peaceful fish.
Hello. I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. I did until I returned to College Station and saw my anemone lifeless, tentacles flattened, and detached AGAIN from his spot. Robert I am worried. Is my water all messed up now b/c I didn't get that anemone out of the tank as quickly as possible?no, that will cycle out in no time. Don't worry about it. In a day or so just check the water for ammonia you shouldn't have any.Because the anemone died it probably has began to decay *slightly* so your mini cycle should be minimal to non existent
I left for Thanksgiving Wednesday night around 7:00 pm--he looked fine. I returned Thursday night (Thanksgiving night) around 8:00 pm, and he was rolled over on his side against a rock with all of his tentacles flattened except for maybe 3-4 that were still waiving in the water. I assumed he was dead so I flushed him. What do you think?I think you had the powerhead blowing on him too much, or fed it...prematurely.You really don't need to feed them ..maybe 1x per mon 2x max and minimal at best.
Here is a possibility. My roommate left Thursday morning around 9:00 am to go to Dallas and watch the Cowboy-Viking game. He turned the thermostat off (past 90 degrees so the AC wouldn't come on) and when I returned home that same night around 8:00 pm my tank was around 82-84 (closer to 84) degrees. Could that have killed him?I doubt it
I told you I placed that order for all of those inverts last Tuesday, well, they are arriving here this next Tuesday. Should I cancel the order and make sure everything is OK with my tank? or should I just go ahead and receive it?Well, You didn't say anything about going away untill *after* you placed the order. I would think it best for you to be there for the time... month or so after they arrive.What if... something dies and your roommate does not know what to do etc
When I go to the pet store either tomorrow or Sunday what change in water parameters should be evident if I left that anemone in their too long?ammonia
Lastly, am I doing something wrong? Why do all of my livestock seem to die?I think your doing fine. (belive it or not) I should have answered the email about you feeding it and blowing the powerhead on it. on the other hand it could have been dying when you got it. Did you purge it as I describe in my book?talks about putting it on a etc. you said it was a redtip I'm thinking pink tip and sent you the link/picture of my pinktip was is not like that one? Those are very hardy.Then you said Haitain... do you know the specific name? Try and not get discouraged once you get the rest of the inverts I think you'll find them to be more lifelike and hardy
I got the book you recommended but it only covers only corals. Do you know of any book about anemones?not any that are really too specific for aquarium use. I'm sure there are book available I'm just not that up to date on whats available.
To sum up about your nitrate problem.. everything seems ok with the possible exception of adding some more liverock. *Your lighting seems adequate, *no external media *not overstocked with fish * you are performing waterchanges its possible the tank is still a bit "new" (2 months) so you many just want to wait and see. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes down on its own. Again 20 -even 30+ppm isn't really a reason to worry. Particularly if the livestock looks good. Also note and record an reading so as to see if the nitrates rising
I'd also like to know what you think about a foxfish, can't find much information about them, but have seen them in allot of pictures of reef tanks.Unfortunately I've never had one so I cant personally say. Id suggest doing a web search to get some info.Also, wanted to let you know if you're interested I can host a page or 2 regarding your tank. If you take pictures you can send them to me and Ill put the up have a look at http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/stanks.htm I do this to make my site an interesting resource for others. There is a fellow now who is making a 240 gallon and plans to document it and place it on my site also have a look at this guys tank a 300 gall http://user.mc.net/~enash/reef/reef2a.htm
He seems to have a red face (I think), and comes out of his lil' cave whenever I feed. This is the first time I have ever seen him and I AM POSITIVE I wouldn't pay for something that disgusting.hehehe... welcome to reefkeeping! If you look at the tank at night with a flashlight... you would be very surprised what came in the rock and shows you how much life is unseen.
I don't know why, but this "thing" is completely grossing me out. He doesn't seem to fit any of your descriptions for animals on live rock--so what do you think he is? Did he eat my gobie? Will he eat anything else? I really don;t want to take my tank down right now, so I was hoping there may be another resolution--he doesn;t come out and the only way I can see him is with a flashlight. Please advise.See if you can get a better look. Is it a crab? Or worm? Roundish or oblong. do you hear a popping or snapping sound? Just keep an eye out and don't be too surprised what you see
My hermit crab looks like its going to reproduce what should I do?First I have to say that I'm not an expert on land hermit crabs, My interests are in reef aquariums. Having said that I've dug into my books and have come up with the following.. apparently the female crab will lay eggs in a suitable material e.g. sand or soil the male will then fertilize the eggs eternally and the crabs hatch in "several months.." I cant say whether the female will lay eggs if a male is not available, or how to actually sex the particular crab. Sorry I couldn't be of more help although If you're persistent and keep looking on the web Id bet you eventually find the answer. In my quick search I came across and interesting page http://www.xs4all.nl/~pal/hermit.htm
How long have you had the livestock in your tank?around 10 years
I've just finished filling up my 2 tanks with corals and was wondering how long they'd last, assuming nothing goes wrong with my tanks.Good question. When I started my question was "how long does live rock stay live for assuming nothing goes wrong" come to find... it seems to last indefinitely as long as oxygen and light are included.
I have approximately 100 lbs of live rock, some soft and hard corals, 5 fish, yellow tang, sailfin tang, blenny, blue/green chromis and yellow corlis wrasse, brittle star, serpent star, 2 cleaner shrimp and a couple of crabs.I think you'll be fine by removing half& half over a period of a week.If you like why not participate in my survey? The link is at the bottom and I'm always looking to add more hobbyists, its a good way for new hobbyists to see what others use.
I wanted to review, and hopefully leave you alone for some time. I have devised a list of inverts to add to my tank in the next two weeks. Following that list is an invert/coral list I plan to add some time around the beginning of year (I am going skiing twice over the Holidays and I'll be away from my tank until January 10 and I can only leave my roommate with so much to do). Please comment on these.
LIST 1--NEXT TWO WEEKS
Name Size Quantity
1. Pacific Cleaner Shrimp M 2
2. Coral Banded Shrimp M 1
3. Serpent Starfish ~~ 1
4. Blue Linkia Starfish S-M 1
5. Scarlet Reef Hermits ~~ 12
6. Red Leg Hermits ~~ 6
7. Trochus Snails ~~ 6
the blue linkia is a cool looking animal but very shy and from my experience they don't last long your mileage may vary Id recommend the blue leg opposed to red/scarlet The blue don't grow as much or as fast. They reds as they grow get pretty nasty. In fact large larger reds... say about 2.5"dia are able to open a 4" clam!!! I've see it! if that's all you can get... ok but be warned
LIST 2--January-FEBRUARY 1999
Name Size Quantity
1. Elegance Coral S 1
2. Yellow Polyps S 1
3. Green Star Polyps S 1
4. Green Frilly Mushroom S 1
5. Pearl Bubble Coral S 1
6. Yellow Sun Coral S 1
7. Green Finger Leather Coral S 1
8. Blue Mushroom S 1
all good Let me know when you get the shipment and how everything looks
"BRISTLEWORMS" Over the past 2-3 months I've noticed a few bristleworms in my 110 gal. reef tank. One of them seems to be quite large (3-4" long). Do you have any suggestions to remove existing worms, and preventing the addition of new ones when adding live rock? How detrimental are they, if at all, towards feather dusters, anemones, starfish, hermit crabs, and snails? Thanks in advance for the quick reply (I really want to get rid of these...........)
this is a FAQ http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/Q&A/F_A_Q.HTML below is quoted from that page. You may find it more readable if you just go the page yourself FWIW, bristleworms are now considered beneficial if you have a thick sand bottom. This should give you some useful ideas Regards Robert Metelsky index.htm Simplified Reef Keeping Reef Keepers Survey http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/n/survey7.htm Simplified Reefkeeping's F.A.Q http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/faq.htm
Removing Crabs, Bristleworms, Mantis shrimp from live rock
Place the rock in a tub and cover with wet newspapers (water from the tank) go away for about an hour+ or so... then quickly remove the newspaper and be ready to deal with the crabs/bristleworms etc.
Using this method usually works, they come out of hiding looking for water.
You may have to repeat this a couple of times. How to remove undesirable creatures
Put the tub (upright) on a counter top, floor or what ever. The tub is to keep any dripping water in place.
You can use a CLEAN (no soap residue) dish pan, large picnic cooler (recommended) or a Styrofoam packing box etc. or a 5 gal bucket
Take the rock out of the tank and place it in the container get another container 5 gal bucket or so and siphon some water from the tank, this is to wet the newspaper.
Get just enough to wet the newspaper ( a towel will also work) just dunk some newspaper in the water bucket so it gets kind of damp/wet and cover the rock with it.
This just gives the rock & undesirable creatures a sense of security.(darkness) Some of them will begin to venture out if... you don’t make any noise vibrations and such you leave it alone for an hour or 2 then....
Quickly snatch off the newspaper and get ready to separate them from the rock.
For crabs & mantis shrimp, I like to use a regular kitchen spatula to either whack them or to quickly flip them away. The bristle worms once they are out of the rock don’t have a chance!
I have tried nylon pantyhose to catch bristleworms-no luck.
That will work, but you need the proper method... Use the stocking on a piece of fishing line. Make a small bundle like 1 1/2in by putting in and tying some *fresh* seafood like chopped clam, squid, fish and place in the tank where you suspect he is after the lights are out (that’s when they are most active). Wait 1/2 hour and check it with a flashlight usually he will be on there and then pull out the stocking with the fishing line. They are pretty gross so... have a bucket or something nearby!
I just read in Fama magazine today that bristleworms clean up the reef sand and are beneficial.Yes they are useful to the sand but they can eat zoanthids polyps etc. Also they can get very large!! I have had 12in+ fall out of rock when it was taken out and moved So one that size is eating something!!!!
Unless they multiply in excess it recommended to leave them alone. What do you think?You can wait and see Its funny some creatures of the same species have different levels of aggressiveness. I would try the nylon on fishing line and see what you come up with
I was wondering what your opinion on the Arrow-crab was. I've heard they may eat bristle worms but I've also heard that they might like feather-dusters. Is there any truth in that ?Not in my experience, but EVERYONE ELSE seems to say that! I am always hearing stories about the same creatures with different habits. These Arrow crabs, chocolate chip stars, pencil urchins etc. The Arrow crab is very interesting and will probably eat bristle worms and he "might" eat your duster worms also So I would not get him, because you seem to have so many it would be a shame to have them disappear!
Were there bristle worms in the bottom of the shipping box? One way to have a look to see any is again, after the lights are out for about an hour or so carefully examine the tank with a flashlight (you know I like that)
IMO their destruction is subtle for the most part, they Aren’t that bad but its odd..not all creatures of the same species have the exact same habits. Generally bristle worms are considered to be destructive especially when they get large I have removed up to 12 in + now that fellow isn’t eating just sand! I'm sure they eat some polyps, sea mat, gorgonia but that what you will find in the long run...some stuff disappears and other life forms take its place. The best advice I can give is to remove what is obvious as in shipping and washing the rock. watch the tank as to what you have and what seems to be missing, if you begin to see life mysteriously disappear then take corrective measures. For bristle worms look with a light to see them and remove what you can VIA various methods traps nylon stocking with bait, more drastic remove the rock cover and wait until they fall out.
I have two anemones (bubble anemones) in my reef tank (set up only two weeks ago). One anemone seems to be thriving while the other one shrivels up every night and then spreads out during the day. I have a 34 gallon tank with 15 lbs. of live rock, 40 lbs. of live sand, 2 blue damsels (1/3" each), two anemones (thriving one is about 1.5" in diameter and shriveling one is 3" when spread out), a maroon clown (1/2"), a percula clown (1"), and a fire shrimp (1"), which has molted once already. I test the water every 2-3 days and ammonia has never registered, nitrite was .25 and yesterday is back to 0. Nitrate is 15, pH seems to fluctuate between 8.1 and 8.2. What is wrong with my shriveling anemone? Are they not compatible in a reef aquarium?One of the most important components for anemones are new and powerful lighting. Most anemones need upwards of 5 + watts per gallon of *quality* reef lighting ie white & blue actinic and new bulbs. A hardier species of anemones are anthraplura (aka rock anemones) not apitasta but a very hardy anemone pink tips also do well. Most anemones aren't worth the trouble unless they are a hardy species. They need allot of light often to the detriment of the rest of the tank, they can wander and sting corals and eat fish... below are 2 anemones I can recommend (they are also very affordable and beautiful) here is an anthroplura http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/../images/45053.htm here is a pink tip anemone in one of my tanks http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/../rm4.jpg both of the above are inexpensive and hardy
ha! good question. People always want to know how to cool the tank inexpensively he are some facts a small dorm style refrigerator will *not* cool a tank sufficiently. a larger refrigerator would providing you had enough ratio of tubing looped into the refrigerator I'm not sure of that ratio but I would guess one would have to experiment with different size tubing and amount of tubing inside the refrigerator. Of course a pump is needed and that also plays a role. One would want a pump that did not circulate to fast giving the water time to cool; or, in the case of a freezer a faster pump. This would be a great experiment and I have given it some thought and would even try to fool around with it, the problem is I don't have the time rite now. The bottom line is to use AC in the room with the tank or use a chiller IF needed. Keep in mind there are many who feel 82 - 84 deg isn't a bad temp for the tank especially when the change is gradual
for us. We live in the desert and while we were gone, we had a hot spell. Our chiller unit couldn't keep up and my neighbor didn't turn on the air conditioner. As a result, we our clam died, and our corals are doing awful. They look like they are not going to make it. Is there anything we can do to help the corals out? We would really appreciate any information you could e-mail us.I don't think here is a miracle cure to use or a way to reverse heat shock. The main thing to do is to keep the tank stable. You may consider doing some 30% water changes, say every 3 days. When you do the first one see how the corals react... if they seem to improve continue in 3 day increments, if they don't seem to like it...stop the waterchanges. The main thing is stable temperature. Sometimes water changes will help, other times...not. Your corals may or may not make it, you'll just have to see. I wish I could tell you more than what I have here but I cant. Keep the tank stable and try 30% waterchanges. Let me know how it goes Good Luck
I have recently moved and am facing what may be a problem. The (new) aquarium is a 48" X 24" X 24" Oceanic 120 gallon tank. Filtrations is 180 lbs live rock (Fiji and Ponga), and a 'Berlin 'hang on' skimmer. Never before, nor now are ammonia on down an issue. The fish and corals are all 4-6 years old and handled the move perfectly. Here's the problem-the tank never gets direct sunlight;however, temp rises to 83 degrees during the day and drops to 79 degrees at night. I have raised temp to 83 to eliminate fluctuation. After one week my Purple Tang and Flame Angel died, heavy breathing and Ich. I live in Crested Butte, CO elevation 9,200 feet. I think that oxygen may be a problem, even with the skimmer functioning perfectly. My first thoughts are several air pumps and air stones, or and additional skimmer.When did this problem start? When you moved? Is that when the temperature & elevation changed? First the 83 degree temperature is on the high side but not unacceptable and a swing from 79 - 83 is also acceptable. Over the long run that fluctuation seems ok I'm wondering if the fish became stressed during the move? If you bagged them and while bagged they experienced a significant temp change that may have caused the outbreak of ich. For a quick remedy... see if you can find a few cleaner shrimp, they will take care of the ich quickly
Is 83 degrees (for 5 months a year a problem, Starting in late Sept I can gradually reduce to 78 degrees or so-you should experience our winters) a long term problem for fish and corals, should I pursue a chilling unit in the spring.I don't think its necessary. I would pay attention to how the tank is affected by room temperature. Use small fans over the top of the tank in the summer and consider air-conditioning the room. In the meantime you could add a few air pumps and then consider a larger skimmer
it sounds like your pump is maximum size for the skimmer
Hi, again Robert! I have another question. When I added corals to my tank the water level in the skimmer column rose, up to the point that the bubbles seem to burst prematurely, quickly filling up the collection cup, and down to the extra container. The 1 gallon container was filled up overnight! And instead of the muddy brown color the liquid was clear, indicating clean water. I suspect that the skimmer is "overskimming", or there's too much water flow from the pump, so I quickly installed the gate valve that came with the pump and turned it down a little to restrict water flow. I'm now waiting and observing the skimmer. Did I do the right thing? Is the "overskimming" caused by the new load (corals) in the tank? I put in about 14 pcs. of assorted corals, and the tank size is about 80 gallons.well usually when you put your hands in the tank the skimmer cuts out ie: no bubbles that lasts anywhere from a couple of hours to maybe a day. the skimmer looks like its shuts down When your running the skimmer the water level inside is at the top of the black box correct? and your saying... you added corals and the water level went UP?? that's strange. Also I was under the assumption you had the gate valve in place because how could you then adjust the water to be at the top of the black box. (I'm a little confused)
Great! the correct height (tuning) is the churning water just even or slightly above the black box. Thats it. hah... once it really gets going be sure to have adequate overflow for the waste. You can, but I wouldn't recommend it- adjust it to "blow it out" by closing the main gate so for the water to rise way up into the main column. But this is best left alone and would only be done as a temporary cleaning "blowing out" of the thing. For now just let it run as is, it sounds like its doing well.
Thanks also for offering your help. I do have an immediate problem: I just bought an ETS clone skimmer. Unfortunately because it's a clone it didn't come with an installation manual. I need help in installing it. The skimmer has a black rectangular base which has a threaded socket at the side of the column. There's a gate valve that I think is supposed to go into this socket (about 1 1/2" diameter)
usually its an 1 1/4" buy if you could get or use a 1 1/2" all the better
Question: is this the inlet or the outlet?outlet to the sump or water container being pumped back into the tank (clean)
Beside the column there's a tube that has bio balls inside. At the top of this tube there's a 'U" shaped elbow pipe (pointing downwards on the other end) that has a connector for a hose. Is this the inlet or the outlet?inlet from the pump (tank water dirty)
Also is the whole unit (including the base) supposed to go in the sump?no. Ideally the base of the skimmer (black box) should be *above* the sump *or*... at least above the waterline in the sump.
The ''U" shaped elbow is loosely fitted above the tube. Can it withstand the pressure generated by the pump, a RIO3100?yes. its loosely fitted and there also should be an airhole to intake air along with water down the tube with bioballs
Also the collection cup can't be removed for cleaning. But I noticed theres a drain plug at the base of it. Am I supposed to connect a hose from this plug to another collection cup?sure you could run a hose into a sink drain or large container. Also to clean the skimmer you just take the whole skimmer outside and wash with a hose your whole skimmer sounds very typical and should work fine. The main thing is to have the base of the skimmer *above * the sump this insures gravity and the large valve to work . The ETSs have a VERY high water so you don't want any restrictions. They work very well but need proper position
I have a fish only marine tank, apart from a few turbo snails and hermit crabs,. It is 70 gal. and has a UGF with two powerheads and a Fluval canister filter. The Fluval contains prefilter media, BioMax, and the required foam discs. I do not use any carbon in my system. I also run a powerhead with a quickfilter attachment that I replace after every water change, which is every two weeks.First, UGF canister filters or quickfilters aren't really used in a modern reef aquarium
I also have a 14" Lee's counter current protein skimmer installed in the tank.Sounds a bit small for your tank. Modern reefs rely on liverock strong skimming and high water turnover
The tank was set up in early March of this year and I have not had any problems with it. The skimmer seemed to work fine. I was getting about 7-8 ml of dark green water from it about every 24 hours.Ok, you don't want watery skimmate. This is a typical misconception when people first implement a skimmer. The skimmate should be cruddy thick foam... accumulating in the upper neck which you would wipe out with a paper towel at first until it kicks in. Sounds like the skimmer is adjusted too high.
On Saturday I cleaned my Fluval filter. I removed it from the system and rinsed the pre-filter and the bio Max media in old tank water and I replaced one of the two foam filter discs. I also cleaned the filler cup for my skimmer at the same time. I also cleaned the spray bar for the Fluval , which had a good deal of green "slime" in it. I reinstalled the Fluval and all seems fine with it. I had to top up the tank since I lost about 5 liters of tank water as a result of the filter cleaning. I used about 2 liters of old tank water and I mixed up 4 liters of water with my salt mix to make up the rest. I used some of my distilled water to make the mix. I use normally only use the distilled water to top up my tank for evaporation loss. The odd thing is that ever since I did this the protein skimmer has stopped working properly.This is typical when you have your hands in the tank for a period of time. The skimmer will seem to go "dead" and depending how long your hands were in the tank will affect how long it shuts down. I'm sure it will come back within a day
The unit seems to be adjusted properly. The foam forms in the column and rises to the correct height above the water level. The problem is the foam will not rise up the column and spill into the collection cup. The bubbles seem to "breakup" too soon. At first I thought perhaps my Ph was off. So I checked it as well as other water parameters. My Ph was at 8.2, and it has been steady at this value since I started the tank. My nitrate was measured at less then 12.5 ppm , this too has been very steady since my tank finished cycling. I do 20% water change and vacuum my substrate with the syphon every two weeks. My ammonia and nitrite are at zero. I cannot figure out why my skimmer stopped working! I checked my temperature, it is 77 F as always, my salinity is at a steady 1.022. It seems as if something has changed in the water, but what?? Any ideas?? I also removed the skimmer and cleaned it thoroughly and replaced the air-stone yesterday but there is still no change. Bizarre! Everything in the tank looks fine, but no skimming.Your tank is fine the skimmer will bounce back within Id guess, at the most 2 - 3 days You'll see, don't worry. Its because everything was in balance and then you "cleaned" everything (changed what the tank /skimmer was used to processing) Your reef sounds like its in good shape. Possibly give some give some consideration to my suggestions as they will help your tank in the long run.
Question number two: If you use an ETS design do you still need to cut the capacity in half?No they are pretty much rated up to snuff! However, I would get one "slightly" larger than you need, In other words just because its an ETS don't under rate it. Again the 2 suppliers will help you get the correct one.
And are they worth the extra cost?I think so, they are the easiest to maintain and the main pump is really the only mechanical part to it.
I am going to built an protein skimmer according to your spec in your book.Now the question is: 1. Can i use 6 inches X 32 inches PVC pipe as the skimmer column instead of having a clear acrylic ? (cost saving)yes you can, but... If you use plexi for the bases etc and PVC for the column you end up with incompatible materials that will need a certain glue to bond dis-similar materials. You will need a product called marine tex that can be found in any boating supply. If you attempt to try other over the counter materials you may end up with a troublesome leak. 6 inch clear tubing costs around $5 - $6 per ft but then you use a product called weldon that does the job as its made specifically to bond or "weld" the Plexiglas. My suggestion is unless you're very adventurous I would use the plexi as its much easier to glue. The weldon adhesives are very inexpensive and come in a variety of consistencies. You can find a supplier called Modern Plastics on my FAQ pages anything else let me know
I just purchased a new skimmer and I'm hoping to pick your brain a little. I have surfed around the web and found a good chunk of information, but not what I need to know. I have a well established tank now that I have just connected a skimmer to. I have made all of the appropriate adjustments, but the bubbles keep popping, they do not seem to be picking up any of that so called sludge. It has only been running for the last couple of hours. Does it need to run for days before you start to see results?definitely! You need to run it probably a few days to a week in order for it to produce. Also, don't make the mistake of adjusting it (water level in the skimmer) too high in order for it to produce foam. Just be patient once it does kick in you'll be happy. Keep in mind that telling me you purchased a "new skimmer" isn't too descriptive/helpful. At any rate you still need to be patient
Lately my skimmer has been producing a drier foam, meaning the entire collection cup is filled with big unburst bubbles, and I get almost zero liquid waste (dark brown color). that sounds like the skimmer is doing perfectly. Normally you don't remove tons and tons of waste. The drier the foam the more efficient the skimmer is running. From time to time you'll notice more waste than others but dry foam is good. Wet watery foam means you have the skimmer adjusted too high. Again, dry is good Is this good or bad? (My impression is the wetter the foam the more waste it contains) If I want it to produce a wetter foam can I just increase water flow from the pump?that would do it, but its not recommended
you built it already??? wow!
Documentation-poor. But it will do. I have modified your configuration by adding an additional 3/4''x2'x2' cap on each end. Basically I built it per the model then just added the additional side caps to increase stability and give it a better finished look.sounds good
I find myself asking many protein skimmer questions. This being the primary filter. Can you give me some additional advise. I have a guy that will sell me a 6'x4" venturi "style" for $150.00. He says it's rated for a 3-400 gal tank. It seems really big and I didn't want something that big but the price is right.well for a 240 It sounds about right and the price sounds rite too.Venturies work well.The arent w/o problems though. Many time a large one like this can/will overflow and either you're prepared by having a generous container for it to have the waste connected directly to the houses plumbing :-) Id say for the $$ its about rite I take it that's w/o a pump? If so and depending on how much of a hurry you're in you would be better off by building a ets.
The ets downdraft is really w/o argument the best design esp for large tanks such as yours. at the end of this message look at the links I have for downdrafts The materials will cost around 150 + the pump
The other question I have is: You place the skimmer in the middle of the sump box cycle, if you will.beginning actually from the tank into a box pumped into the skimmer- thru the prefilter back to the tank with "clean & dirty sides"
That is all the water must first pass thru the skimmer prior to re-entry into the tank. If I want really good flow 6-8 times per hour turnover, how can I get a skimmer that will handle 2000gph?? Is this possible? do I need 2? or should I just feed the skimmer from the sump and let it handle as much as it can?what happens is... you have 2 sides clean & dirty so the water is separated and is self leveling. In other words if the skimmer is putting out more it will overflow the clean side and vise versa. The most common [affordable / practical pump is the little giant 1200 gph which even though is under the 6x per hour should be fine other than that you have enough buy a larger pump quite a bit more $$ I have a 200 + a 55 refugia + 45 gal sump 1/2 full and use a large 1200 for the skimmer [pressure pump] and large 1200 [flow] for the main spraybar works more than adequate
yes its much better keep in mind that they are fairly tall unless you get the Gemini which is 2 columns and shorter for your tank either a module 700 or 1000 either will work very well
PLEASE CAN YOU INFORM ME which IS THE BEST IN ORDER TO BUY IT FROM SPAIN , MY TANK WILL BE 115 GALLONS. IF YOU CAN INFORM ME TELL ME MANUFACTURER ,MODEL AND WAY TO CONTACT THEM. FOR PUMP IN SPAIN WE HAVE 220V 50HzI not really familiar with the voltages in Spain but the manufacturer is A&E Technologies, phone 914-838-9044 the owners name is Gary Loher if you call tell him that I recommended you I've spoke to him several times and he is very pleasant also he is going to contribute to the new version of my book. He should be able to give you some answers. Also for pumps and supplies see my links page http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/../links/themeindex.html get in touch with either Brian at reefers or Marc at Northcoast marine both are very knowledgeable and will either answer your voltage questions or be able to ship supplies at very good rates again tell them I recommended you Any other questions I may be able to answer feel free to write
To what I've read, and from what I've learned (I'm minor in Oceanography), I do believe you can overskim.Ok, keep in mind that the book was written 2 years ago and many of my views on subjects are either changing or evolving.
Even though people are suggesting that when the bioload and organic matter content in the water is low, the skimmer can't produce foam, so basically you can't overskim, but the fact is, skimmer remove more than just organic matter.Of course
Skimmer export all sorts of nutrients such as nitrate, DOC, iodine, trace elements and other minerals, and a powerful skimmer can export such trace metals from the water FASTER than it can remove DOC. Therefore, if one choose to use a oversized and too powerful skimmer, I do believe one can overskim his tank, especially if it's a reef tank with all sorts of hard/stony/soft corals, leaving the tank with insufficient amount of nutrients required for the corals to thrive.Also true to a point. However, I have no evidence of problems caused by using a *good* skimmer. One would not want to put a ets1000 on a 20 gallon tank. For one, tanks are realistically limited by their size as far as how much *water flow* the tank can handle. This is around 6x per hour. Some people get up to 10xph but that's about it.My view on this subject is changing regarding keeping soft corals where the demand for nutrients DOC in the water is greater than SPS. Here one ideally would like to have a refugia tied into the main tank and underskimmed via reduced water flow to it. Let the life forms build up in sufficient numbers, then *flush* the refugia into the main tank with increased water flow. You would do this approx once a month or when the population in the refugia is noticeable. When you do this flushing... your main skimmer is turned off (hopefully for cleaning) for a day or so and then reconnected and repeated.
To me it seems there is always debate on relatively simple procedures where one cooks up unique circumstances. Frankly I'm shocked that the online community is so argumentative. Asking a simple question as "which salt is best" or "how much lighting do I need" generate endless opinions. One of the most significant things I've learned in the past few years is... There are many, many, many, different approaches to doing a reef tank some very unconventional but never the less work... for *that* individual. There is *no one way* to do everything for everybody. My book is for beginners of for someone who is interested in other methods. I don't speak for the reef community as a whole.... BUT... if you start telling new hobbyists "its good to keep a dirty tank" *that* WILL lead to problems. I believe my recommendations on skimmers are on the mark though
Buy the best skimmer you can afford cut the factory rating in half process the water 6x per hour match the skimmer pump to the main pump in the tank
And if one were to strictly follow my advise...I'm a proponent of frequent waterchanges so, that replaces the tank with minerals and Trace elements. If you want a laugh... and see what people agree on & use look at http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/n/results.htm Scroll down to water changes.... I wonder how they came up with their schedule. Also look to see what people think is a challenge (all different) The survey, although small is *very* useful. To me it shows averages of what people use. Topics such as lighting, salt mix, photo period etc. And much of what is there is not far off the mark of what I recommend. As I state in the book one gets their own experience... they can use that knowledge to their future endeavors. FInally, I do think it *is* possible to overskim the tank (under certain conditions) however I don't suspect those conditions to be with the *average tank by average hobbyists*. Example I have a 200 with a 55 refugia, I have one home made ets 1000, that works well, I would venture adding another to be overskimmed ( and un necessary. I also believe there is a fine line between properly skimmed, and overskimmed, and that line would be a difficult one for a beginner hobbyist to maintain.The best indication is how well the corals thrive.I've not had poor results with my recommendations.
I currently use a skimmer that is somewhat undersized and inefficient. It is an Oceanic Plus and I am unable to control the flow thru so consequently it skims very wet. I am looking at Mangroves as a possible alternative to another skimmer. My water quality is very good. Nitrite <.25, Nitrate 0, Phosphate <.5, ph 8.3, Calcium 570. this is 2 weeks after I removed the last of the bio balls from my trickle. I return half the flow from my discharge back to my sump due to the size of the pump in relation to overflow and I believe this helps with increased aeration. I will wait for your reply to the use of Mangroves.My opinion would be to correct your skimmer location. I'm very adamant about that. What you are describing above is typical of an improperly placed skimmer.Mangroves are going to need *substantial* lighting, are you prepared for that? And I would only recommend to try them once you get some experience running a standard reef tank. PLEASE don't mis interpret my tone here... I'm not flogging you
I don't think its a big deal as its not that established. Just to be safe remove half one week and the other half the following week. That should be fine. Its definitely best not to have *any* internal media, I'm glad your aware of that
How would you feed the skimmer? usually one needs a holding tank to control water flow. There are plenty of sump less tanks but they use hang on the back skimmers and don't have nearly enough water flow / oxygenation IMO
I don't advocate powerheads in the tank they always suck up creatures and end up clogging with something or other. I'm pretty sure your 500 gph on a 65 with the 3 ft of head will be plenty especially if you use the spraybar and overflow box. Water come in from the bottom and out through the top. It gives you a nice circular motion [looking at the tank from the side]. Id say try it first without the powerheads and see how it goes. IMO you don't need them.Its very gratifying to hear you using the eggcrate method. I'm sure you wont be disappointed keep me posted and say hello to your students for me!
I have 55 gal marine tank running with two power heads and a undergravel filter , and one whisper 3 carbon filter running great. Can i build a reef, running this system with out a complete break down?You could try... but I wouldn't recommend it. What usually happens is, the idea to start small and basic but as you go along and see different livestock you realize you will need this and that: ie: skimmer, good reef lighting, water purification etc. The livestock is fairly costly so one shouldn't go in unprepared and intern the equipment is expensive so it all goes hand in hand. Start off rite. Not necessarily high cost but with the correct equipment as you can afford it and build from there. Undergravels are not used today, nor are the whispers. It could be tried as an experiment but I wouldn't recommend it as I seriously doubt if you'd be happy with the outcome. If you have a minute see my survey of other hobbyists that will give you a general idea of what's involved
Can i use the under gravel as a plenum ? Leave the lift tubes , and run the power heads with out any trouble. And should i dump the whisper and get a skimmer.yes
Should live sand even be added to the system .you can have live sand by all means... in a proper set-up
Great Ill be looking forward to them!
BRIEF RECAP - 90 GAL ---4 VHO'S , 10 HRS / DAY --- 4.9 WATTS/GAL---- 2 MAGNUM 350'S PUSHING WATER UNDER MY LIVE ROCKS , SETTING ON EGGCRATE PLATFORM ---- TAKING WATER FROM THE TOP OF THE AQUARIUM --- TEMP, 79 TO 80 ---- CHEMICALS CHECKED LAST NIGHT, PH 8.2 , AMMONIA, NITRATE & NITRITE AS LOW AS CAN BE --- SALT IS AROUND 1.025 CALCIUM , 350 TO 400 --- BY ALL I KNOW IT SEEMS PRETTY WELL BALANCED. I USE A SKIMMER ON THE BACK ABOUT ONCE A WEEK FOR APPROX. 24 HRS WHEN I THINK THINGS NEED TO BE CLEANER. APPROX. 15 GAL. WATER CHANGE EVERY 2 TO 3 WEEKS.All sounds very good EXCEPT only running the skimmer once a week. Who told you to do that?A skimmer should run most if not all the time.
I HAVE RUN INTO A PROBLEM THE LAST WEEK OR SO --- SEEMS THERE IS A LOT OF MUCUS (?) RISING FROM THE MUSHROOMS AND OTHERS.That is normal
THIS FORMS A SCUM ON THE TOP OF THE WATER. I HAVE DEVISED A CRUDE CUP THAT ACTS AS A SKIMMER TO PULL WATER OFF THE TOP SURFACE. LAST NIGHT THE SCUM WAS TOO THICK TO BE PULLED INTO THE CUP WITHOUT BREAKING IT UP WITH A LARGE SPOON., AFTER A COUPLE HOURS, I WAS ABLE TO GET THIS CLEARED UP. SEVERAL OF THE CORALS HAVEN'T LOOKED THEIR BEST THE LAST FEW DAYS ---- MAYBE IT'S JUST THAT TIME OF THEIR MONTH, BUT THE WHOLE PROCESS HAS ME STUMPED --------------ANY IDEAS ???That's NOT good! You have to do something about that. It sounds like to don't have enough surface skimming OR waterflow. If you did... this scum would be removed
HAVE YOU ANY KNOWLEDGE OF A PRODUCT TO SKIM OFF THE TOP WATER AND INTO MY MAGNUMS?How are these magnums fed? do you have the typical in & out hoses for the magnums? that's NOT good!Magnums are not the best choice. You should have a sump and then possibly could use the magnums as pumps only. If you do use the magnums definitely *do not* use filterfloss of internal media.
OTHER THAN THE PERMANENT DAMS THAT ARE BUILT INTO THE CORNERS ---- WOULDN'T LOOK TOO GOOD ON AN AQUARIUM THAT IS VIEWED FROM BOTH SIDES.You could purchase an overflow box (they hang on the back) from any online dealer or drill the back of the tank Although I think a overflow box would be much better.Check my links page if your looking for an online dealer. If you need a clearer answer let me know Ill do what I can You have to get rid of that surface scum
Well I'm sure you get lots of emails so I will try to keep it short, but i was so impressed by the sitethank you
that I would like some advice and to comment. I am a 21 year old Canadian male who started up salt water on the spur of the moment, bought the works over night and had excellent staff support in starting, minus the bumps (smirk). Basically what i wanted was a reef system. and I have a few questions about this, 1. I live on the top floor in a apartment building with a 66 gallon tank, and a fluval 403 currently. i have close to 50? lbs of live and DEAD rock, 2 LARGE Hawaiian feather dusters a sebae anemone. and a few STRONG fish, mostly damsels and chromis's. now my main question is. i plan on living in this apartment for the next year roughly until i can put my down deposit on my house in the fall, i have had my tank for about 1 this January and would like to know if i should continue to build it up or wait till i move,humm.. good question. Personally I would just run the tank as is. There isn't really *too* much you could add to it and I'm sure when you do move you'll end up with a bigger tank.
Well, that will give you 5.12 wpg which is very acceptable although *slightly* on the high end. Ice cap is a great choice. The ballast's run very efficiently and cool and are considered to be top of the line in all areas, Performance, efficiently and longevity. If your concerned about too intense light you could have one ballast on a timer that would only be on for say 2/3 of the total lighting period. If you're going to make the box ... meaning you have to commit to a decision now then I would recommend including 2 ballast's. If you have the option to add another ballast (easily) later then you may want to experiment with just one and see how it goes. Really... I has to do with what types of creatures you plan to keep. If they are in the higher league then most definitely use 2 ballast's. If you're sure you will only have medium and low light then absolutely no sense to have 5.12 wpg. so, only you really can make the decision Hope this made some sense. If you need to, feel free to write back.
Hi Robert I'm in the process of designing a 55g reef tank and been new to the whole lighting thing need a few straight answers as everyone seems to offer something different. I plan to have at this stage pretty much a clown fish tank with anemones and corals in the future and therefore don't want to have to re-purchase later if I can get the right equipment now.Are you sure set about having the clowns and anemones? My advise is always to think well before you start as at this stage you have the opportunity to do things differently. PLease see my talk ../METELSKY.HTM Everyone loves the symbiotic relationship the clowns have with anemones, but this has a long term price tag associated with it. No doubt the initial expense but moreso the long term cost of lamp replacement every 6 months and a very substansial electricity cost (trust me) My one 200 gallon has 6 six ft fluorescent @25 ea. = 150 x 2 (every 6 months) so 300 a year for the lamps and I've estimated the electricity just for lighting to be 40 per month = 480 + 300 rounds up to about 800 per year. Even if you took 1/4 of the cost, your tank being a 55, you're still looking at a minimum or 200 per year. This is also the lower end of the lighting, my tanks being in the 3.6 wpg range. Just something to consider
Not necessarily... I suspect your problem to be linked with your filtration methods. Your lighting schedule is typical in the hobby.
MH seem so expensive, but DIY seems and option (the only thing is what does everything mean and where best to buy all the individual parts). The normal recommendation is 3-4 watts/gallon therefore I would need +/- 220 watts. I have also been told that the average bulb length (VHO or similar) is 2' therefore I would need two hoods etc for a 55g @ +/- 48" in length - or not ? The other alternative is PC, but which is better ?? So many questions and no straight answers. I spoke to a local aquatic supply store in San Diego (my home town) and he tells me (from what I gather he is meant to be quite an expert ie: talks at conferences etc) that he is in the process of bring some NEW and never before seen bulbs from Germany that are going to revolutionize the industry, just as good as MH, but no heat as MH and cheap - heard anything ??My advise is unless you are particularly handy with tools and get satisfaction for doing it yourself, is to simply purchase a hood / canopy for the tank. Firstly, a 55 isn't something you want to invest $$ and time in. A 125 yes. but a 55 you will never get your money back for the lighting. There are many online stores that have reef specific hoods that are affordable. (more affordable than building it yourself) I would suggest going to http://www.reefers.com see guy named Brian tell him I recommended you. He's a fair guy and will treat you rite.
As far as 2 ft bulbs go... on a reef you want 4 ft vho on ice cap ballast's. Also PC is a good choice, pcs are supposed to last a little longer however I've never tried them. I use URI ho and vho. The 2 ft bulbs sound like a freshwater hood If you really want to diy you can get all the parts online but I assure you its more work and time. On the other hand if you like to do that - then I'm sure you can find plans online or.... I have a complete section of how to in my book.
Other than the source (bulbs) I also don't know what to do about hood, ballast etc as firstly I'm unsure, as in visually, how they all fit together and although I've been to 100's of sites still can't figure out what I will or won't need (retrofitting etc). Another problem with the hood is that I don't like the standard available colors and as it will have to fit into our living area I will either I guess have to DIY or repaint a bought one. Talking about hoods a guess this will also be determined by which tank I should buy ie: acrylic or glass (they both have so many pro's and con's)Overall - it depends on your time, skill level and workspace. Only you can really answer that. I would not recommend a plexi tank for a reef. Allot of different types of algae grow inside the tank including the desirable pink coralline, getting that off of the from of a plexi tank will test anyone's patience. My recommendation would be to rethink your reef plans, write up a list of the estimated cost. If you do this you will find out ahead of time what your in for and that will help you to make a better decision. MY main point here is that reef tanks are *extremely* expensive and I always advise getting the absolute largest tank you can afford. In your case this may not be a 55 because a 55 is a very common size and not something you will get a good return on. A 125 is a better bet. Compare... and then look at the resale. Myself, I always opt for functionality over looks where as a bit of unsightliness of lighting or filters can be ignored, but that's not for everyone. Some people like *nice* and nice = $$$$ well enough of my rant, Id suggest browsing my site regarding the survey of what others use and the cost per gallon etc. If you have any specific questions let me know and Ill see what I can do.I'm not too sure if I answered your question here...
Me again, I now have 2 VHO IceCap ballasts ready to be installed on my 125 gallon tank. My question is should the 4 bulbs be evenly spaced front to back, or is there another preferable arrangement.I would space them evenly. Usually when you're actually installing the end caps you find that you must space them relatively evenly due to the size of the endcaps wiring etc.
Space them evenly... OR what you need to complete the install.Excellent
Should 2 of a kind be on one ballast or mixed. For instance if one ballast is timed to be one 1/3 longer, should it be the actinics?Well, that will give you 5.12 wpg which is very acceptable although *slightly* on the high end. Ice cap is a great choice. The ballast's run very efficiently and cool and are considered to be top of the line in all areas, Performance, efficiently and longevity. If your concerned about too intense light you could have one ballast on a timer that would only be on for say 2/3 of the total lighting period. If you're going to make the box ... meaning you have to commit to a decision now then I would recommend including 2 ballast's. If you have the option to add another ballast (easily) later then you may want to experiment with just one and see how it goes. Really... I has to do with what types of creatures you plan to keep. If they are in the higher league then most definitely use 2 ballast's. If you're sure you will only have medium and low light then absolutely no sense to have 5.12 wpg. so, only you really can make the decision Hope this made some sense. If you need to, feel free to write back. I'm not sure if it matters to mix the bulbs on a ballast providing they are the same wattage. However, I would keep them the same. Use the timers to control the intensity. I think you'll be very pleased with the lighting
3. I now have 2 actinic blue NO bulbs and 2 Coralife full spectrum 6500K NO bulbs. If I want to add one more bulb should it be actinic blue or full spectrum daylight?I would use actinic white
couple of more questions ... what type of lights do you use? are they reef specific? how much wattage dook if that's a 55 gal then 160/55=2.9watts per gal which is in the medium to low range (but IMO acceptable) for anemones and high light corals 5WPG is closer to what people use.
The 2 actinic blue turn on 1.5 hours before the full spectrum and turn off 1.5 hours after the full spectrum goes out. I have the full spectrum on for 9 hours and actinic blue for 12 hours.how old is the tank?
about 2 months. Secondly, are normal output bulbs 10000K's, actinic 03's, 50/50's, etc.? Right now I have two 24" lamps--one is a 50/50 and the other is a 10000K--is that good or do recommend something else?you should research this yourself as anything I may say may conflict with current products available. consult the dealer where you purchased from.
I did have a quick question that I wanted you to answer me back on. I was pondering metal halide lighting and I thought about a more cost-effective way, if it is a possible one. Why not just buy I fixture that could power a 75W-100W bulb from a home improvement store (Builder's Square; Lowe's; etc.) to power these metal halide bulbs?no... the MH lights / ballasts are special... one *could* buy the fixture in a HIC but in the long run its not worth it. And the bulbs in a HIC are definitely not going to work. They have to be specialized reef bulbs for solely the purpose of giving the reef creatures the correct spectrum HIC=home improvement center
Since I only have a 37 gallon tank, that (75W MH) would easily afford me the correct lighting as suggested in your book, and way, way below fish stores prices on the actual lamp to power these high output bulbs. A fixture is a fixture isn't it?not really.. Unless you purchase HO or VHO fixtures then purchase *reef* bulbs
I mean if this lamp can run a 150W bulb why in the world couldn't it run a 75W specialty bulb?it just does not work that way
I haven't gone to Lowe's here in town to see if such a fixture is even available but I am almost positive one exists (I have seen floor lamps advertised in stores that offer 75W max fixtures), at least in the 75W max range or even more in a spotlight type fixture. I know you encourage fluorescent lamps, but my top won't hold more than two, I don't want to build a top to hold more, and as far as I am concerned this theory would be decently aesthetic and I am sure we could agree that although MH lighting may not be the best, it is a definite improvement from what I have now.well Id say if you choose low light creatures... then see what happens how good they look. Keep in mind this is one of the pitfalls of starting with the wrong size tank, something I highly stress. One can let it snowball to an extremely costly tank of undesirable size that wont return the investment. So if anything.... maybe just get *new* reef bulbs for your fixtures that in its self will do a lot. You never said how much wattage you have? 2ft 3ft ?? low light creatures really don't need allot of light.
I was wondering if you could help me in the area of lighting. There seems to be a lot of contradictions out there as to the type of equipment that is best for a reef, but all seem to agree in the area of wattage, 3 - 5 watts per gallon.Really? that's news to me. Lighting seems to be the most controversial subject. I've been suggesting 3-5 watts per gallon for 4 years online and have taken quite a bit of heat about it. I've tried to put an end to the "controversy" by doing a survey of what people actually uses (see my survey page), An average of 100+ hobbyists... the average wattage is 5 WPG.
My book was first published in 1996 and I suggest there a min or 3 to a max or 5. I maintain that advise to anyone who asks. Typically if someone is asking they are just starting out, and they hear all stories about super intense lighting.
It all comes down to
what type of creatures you plan to keep
The quality of light (use lamps specifically designed for reefs)
Understanding the higher watts = substantial more money to run
For someone starting out I recommend 3 - 5 because this is the requirement of the easier to keep specimens
extreme high light is for the more difficult to keep animals
I want to start a reef in a 75 gallon aquarium ( 48x18x20, I think) would 3 VHO 110 watt lights ( 1 actinic blue and 2 actinic day ) be appropriate? VHO's are cheaper and produce much less heat than Metal Halides. but I would rather get what I need than save a few bucks on something that wont be sufficient. Thanks for your help!lets see 75*4=300
so your 3 110 will be fine (if you don't plan to have extremely high light animals)
Can you have 3 vhos? I was always under the impression that they ran in pairs?
I suppose if you used an ice cap ballast for 4 and disabled one would be ok.
Are you sure you can have 3?
yes use a maximum of 1.75 per gall most of this is on my FAQ you know
I am asking this b/c I saw Scooter's tank (Amarillo--Texas?) and yours tonight and they look filled to the brim with rock?she just took close up pictures. My tank uses my eggcrate method which is all explained in SRK
I also wanted to let you know that I am following what you said and the brown algae build-up seems to be somehow going away (I think it looks that way). Could that be a sign of my tank nearing cycle completion and getting closer to the "magic" of it all? your tank is very close however balancing takes time so... brown algae is just diatoms that can come from dieoff etc. Also, I know you preach patience, but in my case, how long do you think it will take me to have a comparable tank (for my 37 gallon) to that of you or Scooter's? 2 -3 months before everything totally balances and you have significant coralline growth And, when it comes that time, would you mind assisting me in selecting livestock for my tank, not only which, when, and how many, but a good supplier of these specimens (local pet stores are way too expensive)?I don't really understand the ? but by that time you'll have significant experience. I take it when you buy your 125...?
It may or may not come back as purple it may be nice bright red. IF the company is reefers Brian Griffen he is a good friend of mine and can be trusted. The white stuff is dieoff and is causing the ammonia it will comeback you have to be patient!
I thought maybe I was not seeing the rapid purple growth I was expecting b/c there was no current through my rocks (I have them stacked in a pyramid style with plenty of cracks and overhangs) so I mounted a powerhead and angled it off of my glass to create some current through there. Good idea or irreverent? In addition, I have started noticing some white "stuff" crusting over the purple parts of some, not all, of my live rock. Why is that? Is there something I am/am not doing to properly care for my rock? The temperature is always between 76-80 degrees F and I run my lights (2 24" 10000K & 50/50) between 10-12 hours daily. Are my rocks dyeing?no. look.... here is what you need to know
1 add all liverock then cycle. Be patient don't add anything, don't sweat it
2 make sure you have a good source water ie ro or di water
3 make sure you have reeflighting min 3 - 5 watts per gallon
4 have adequate circulation tank volume 6x per hour
5 once the tank is cycled do regular waterchanges 15% 1x per mon and regular
additions of kalk ie all evaporation
6 don't add any other "supplements
7 don't fall into the trap of information overload pick one method and go with
it resist trying a little of this and a little of that
8 patience... patience... patience. once you have the first cycle then add the
remaining creatures and then beginning the monthly maintenance THATS when the magic happens you'll see. however don't try and accelerate it. Id venture a guess you tank is under one month old maybe 3 weeks because it hasn't cycled. Anything that's dead created ammonia that need to be removed by the natural biological process and what your experiencing is the magic beginning to take place. Ie -- a reef balancing out in your home your tank WILL look as awesome as others but patience and sticking to one school of thought is key to begin. One this happens , you will get your own *experience* as to what takes place and develop your own feel. But like everything else its a process so be patient
No, but I think I have a pretty good estimate as to the % volume occupied by the liverocks. My tank is 75 gallons and I would say the liverocks are 10 gallons in volume. And by the way, in calculating the % of water change do I take into account water displaced by the liverocks? Meaning 10 to 15% of 65 gallons?As a pretty fair guess, Id say you should have approx 30% of water volume do you have room for more live rock?
I've been reading that you advocate using the appropriate amount of liverock & sand. It wasn't clear if this total is cumulative (sand + rock).that's a huge controversial topic. My opinion is to use a min of 1 lb to max of 1.75 lb of live rock.I haven't been an advocate of sand as my system uses raised eggcrate wit a spray bar in the lower rear. However, my opinion on sand is changing. One can of course have sand, but IME using more than 2 lbs per gall may make the system too biologically dense. I feel a 2 lb per gal max of sand & rock to be a safe limit. Think about it... how much is too much? a tank full of sand & rock. Using more than 2 lbs per gal may lead to accumulated waste creating a food source for microalgae.
For a 55G tank I believe you calculated 82.5lb of Rock: 1.5 lbs x 55 =82.5 1) Is this total rock? live and dead, when starting out what i s the appropriate % of dead and live (seed) rock.I never bother with dead rock or base rock. Use all live rock. Using eggcrate, one maximizes the display w/o the need to build up with un-necessary waste accumulating base rock
2) If using a plenum with 3" of live sand cover. What % should be aragonite vs live (seed).Depends on your budget. If money is no object use all live sand. If your trying to be somewhat conservative use 50/50 aragonite on the bottom live on top. Is all live sand necessary? no Is all live sand better? not necessarily. 50/50 is fine
Since I will be using a plenum (i haven't set this tank up yet), how much more rock should I add to the sand base?I would calculate how many lbs of sand you plan to use then make the balance up with live rock while trying not to overshoot the 2 lbs per gal.
Just received your book yesterday and it's great. Unfortunately for me I bought after the fact but ce la vie I currently have about 64lbs of fiji rock in my 75 gal tank. I'm looking to finish off per your suggestion at about 110-115lbs total. However, is there a "preferred" live rock. I'm seeing solomon island, fiji, Florida, bahamian and I'm not sure I know the benefits or drawbacks of any. Do you?I havent actually purchased live rock in several years, however, probably the most popular rock is still fiji- followed by tonga. Your situation 75 * 1.5 = 112.5 - 64 = 48.5 or about 1 box. One thing you have to be very careful about is not to cycle the new rock in your tank if you have any livestock in it. Purchased rock (even if its claimed to be cured) will still cycle ie ammonia spike. If you have only rock in the tank now then you can use your tank. If you have livestock- fish,corals,crabs,starfish etc. you really should cure the rock yourself in a new plastic garbage can until the is no ammonia or nitrite. Another thing to be careful of is stacking the rock. Id suggest the new rock you buy to be large pieces or even better branch rock that will help to minimize stacking.
I don't really think you did too much, if anything wrong (for long term) I know I speak strongly recommending the egg crate and no sand... but that's just my experience and that of my associates. As I've said quoted from my IRC talk "I would first like to say that if there is anything I have learned from talking to hundreds of reefkeepers is that there are as many ways to set-up and maintain a reef tank as there are people doing it. I have truly been amazed with the drastically different approaches. Believe it or not, some today refuse to use protein skimming or purified tap water or kalkwasser. When I would mention the potential problems they would respond “ hey I have had this running for X years and everything is thriving so why should switch methods now?” How can you argue with that? Of course I have not actually seen their tanks. My point here is, there are many, many approaches to a reef aquarium and I also have my own which has worked very well for me."
I guess that's price you pay for trying something new without doing a sufficient amount of homework on it first.well don't get too discouraged
I had two questions that are bothering me thus far in regards to the chapters I read tonight. 1. Can I, really, get away with my poor lighting?yes... providing you go with the creatures I recommended in previous email (below) again from my talk For the beginner I would strongly recommend to have an idea of what type of livestock you plan to keep. This will have the largest long term factor dictating the remainder of your decisions. Also note in a reef tank live rock plays the largest stocking role I use and recommend 1.5 to 1.75 lb. per gallon. The live rock itself is not extremely light hungry. Inverts Next is invertebrates, Crabs such as decorator, hermit, arrowhead, small horseshoe are all hardy additions to the tank . Shrimp ... coral banded, scarlet cleaners, red fire are all beautiful easy to keep creatures. Urchins, pencil, pincushion are very interesting and hardy. Starfish, brittle chocolate chip, serpent stars are easy to keep also. Algae eating snails such as Astra/ Turbo in sufficient # are a must for algae management. Note these above creatures are not high light requiring. Anemones are photosynthetic and there is a concern for them moving around in the tank possibly stinging corals. If you would like to keep some of these, select the relatively stationary variety. Tube anemones move very little and are beautiful as are the common rock anemones (not apitasta) . The common rock anemone( the scientific name eludes me rite now...) are fairly large 3 to 4 in dia greenish in color and relatively flat they are inexpensive, stationary, very hardy and beautiful. I have found the light requirements for these above creatures to be within the 3 to 5 watts per gallon range. Corals Your selection of corals will have the largest impact on light requirements. Here is a list of low to medium light corals that are hardy and relatively easy to keep. Note low to medium light=3 to 5 watts per gall. All the mushrooms, open brain, branch soft coral, elegance, false brain, leather, finger coral, star polyp, red/green polyp. If you need to know the scientific names of the above I would recommend a good coral identification book such as.. A Practical Guide to Corals by Ed Puterbaugh and Eric Borneman. All of the above corals I would recommend to the beginner. These corals will demand a modest amount of lighting some where in the 3 to 5 watts per gallon range. Fish Finally, fish should be added, in the smallest numbers. They are the largest consumers of food, and therefore produce the most waste. Having only a few fish will mean that you will be putting in less commercial food. This reduces the risk of food going uneaten and accumulating in the prefilter, possibly becoming food for algae and/or leading to diminished water quality. Your fish should be reef-compatible only; that is, they should eat algae but not coral. Here are a few very common reef fish I would recommend Yellow tang, sailfin Desjardini, hippo tang a.k.a.: surgeon fish. Angels, flame, resplendent, coral beauty. Blennies/Gobies such as bar goby, lizard sand goby, algae blennies,flame goby, flashing tile goby, forktail blenny, barber post gobies. Clowns, maroon, tomato, percula are hardy although if they don't have a host anemone they can sometimes try and substitute one of your corals. Chromis/Damsels are the easiest to keep...yellow tail damsel, electric blue, Fiji, Starks, Domino are all suitable although in a small tank they can be territorial. Other fish such as hawkfish, flame hawk, long nose hawk, marine bettas, pearly jawfish, gold neon gobies are all good.
Since I am not in the market for a light upgrade at this point (I want to wait for my bigger tank and permanent residence) is there anything you can suggest to make the best out of sub-optimal situation?sure... go with the corals I recommended in a previous email What types of low-light corals are you talking about? I think really the question is how may WPG (watts per gallon) you have a minimum of 2-3 should be sufficient for the below species. One main point is to be sure the bulbs are new... and good quality ie: reef lighting from previous email "all mushrooms, bubble coral,ricordia, flower anemone aka anthraplura anemone EXCELLENT animal and cheap!,all polyps,leather coral aka sacropothyn,colt coral,sun coral, tounge coral aka slipper,candycane aka trumphet,definitely elegance RECOMMENDED!! that should fill your tank up"
thanks for any input you might offer and if you felt it worthwhile, feel free to post my opening comments about your book and my good fortune.Thanks and let me know how you make out best Regards Robert
Looking forward to your next release of Simplified Reef Keeping-yes... me too I have approx 1/2 of it done and it should be complete this fall. A few things that you may be interested in. I've compiled a diskette that accompanies the current book this can be downloaded from my site http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/user/disk.html also if you have any pictures of your tank I can host a web page for you. Look at stanks.htm or of course my survey at the bottom link
There will also be a CD included in the new edition.
First, I must say that you've done an excellent job with your web page and its ability to market your book. Moreover, you enthusiasm to help people rather than just telling them to "Buy the book" is very admirable. I hope your efforts are handsomely rewarded.Thank you very much. I do consider myself a very personable fellow and one who attempts to simplify a hobby that can be made very complicated.
I have a question/comment re. the book and it's availability. Being a "cheap Bastard" (hence my buying your book), I tried the on-line book store "Amazon.com" to try and shave a few bucks. It was not available through them. Is it avail. through any other discount operations?
No, the book will not be offered at discounts unless it gets bought completely from me. I do offer dealers discounts but Amazon has not yet asked about it and frankly I don't have the time or patience to deal with them.
I'm not at all familiar w/ the book/publishing biz and I'm sure there a factors/circumstances I am not aware of but wouldn't Amazon be a good outlet for the book?Most definitely
I'm going to pick the book up one way or the other and just wonder how many others would do the same if they were aware of its existence (Amazon reaches a ton of people).I have been working on a revised edition of SRK which will reflect my current mindset regarding different types of tank setups such as refugia, thick sand beds, as well as current techniques. It will also include a fairly large tips section guaranteed to save you money. This section alone would be worth the cost of the book! A 20+ page Q&A will reflect the questions I have received in the past 18 months. Just about every image in the current book will be redone & improved. The DIY will include a poor mans chiller, calcium reactor & downdraft skimmer. The current preview text is located at bookrevu.htm. Also I am offering a separate update package for FREE including all the new text and images to anyone who currently has the book and returns the enclosed questionnaire in the SASE. The update version will be approx 70 + pages. There will be other significant improvements that I cannot discuss at this time but will definitely enhance the value of the book. At this time I cannot say exactly when it will be complete. I will say it should be done in the near future. SRK is geared toward the beginner although I'm quite sure anyone in the hobby will pick up some new ideas to make the book worth having. I believe I will be much more aggressive when the new version is complete. Its a long story but basically I wrote/produced/ and published the book myself. The new version will be very up to date complete and then it will be a closed case for me.
Got your book the other day. I want to take a moment to thank you for the engaging conversation and for calling me when I couldn't get through on the phone. It was refreshing to talk with someone who actually approaches the hobby as just that, a hobby.Thank You very much! and I'm sorry It took a so long to get back to you.
It seems almost impossible to get any sort of unbiased feedback from anybody. I'm a pharmacist, I had 6 years of chemistry. It all makes sense(too much at some times) but who cares! The question in my mind is what works, why, and can it be made better to sustain life longer. If I have to diagram a 17 step biological process to get my meaning across to some guy in an overpriced fish store one more time I'm gonna kill someone.grin yes well... online you will get *allot* of opinions. I try to focus on what I know, have learned, and has worked well.
Thank You Ian.
Hey, Again, thank you for your time and your experience,check out these links and if i wasn't clear here just ask luck and I enjoyed talking to you as well
Robert,I really appreciate all the advice you give. It has given me the courage to jump in to this project.Very good.. Thanks!
If I could, I wanted to express my disappointment with the whole reef thing. I try, everyday, to do the right things with my tank. Whatever people tell me, I do. I feel like I am running around in circles and not only wasting my time (study time at that) but my money. I look at these pictures of others reef tanks 500 times the size of mine (I saw Las Vegas' Mirage tank tonight--incredible), and 2.5 gallon mini-reefs that all look better than mine. I am frankly pissed off and wondering why I chose this non-recreational hobby in the first place.
Yes I understand.... the online community has turned me off with all their debate, controversy and argumentiveness.
So I thank you for your friendliness in lending a helping hand.I'm happy to do it. You seem like a sincere fellow and that is really the reason I've taken on writing my book in the first place. If you haven't already I offer you to peruse my site there is a wealth of info there and it may be advantageous to complete my survey. This give me and others you contact with a reference for your tank. Be patient.. you tank is well underway
In a previous e-mail you said I could go ahead and add corals and inverts when my life rock load had completely cycled--your book says inverts, cycle, corals, cycle, fish, cycle. Which advice should I take?I don't belive I said that Its always liverock cycle- inverts cycle- corals cycle- fish can you show me the mail where I said differently?
On a personal note, and if you don't mind me asking, do you have a degree in some type of marine biology? Just wondering.no quoted from my -Meet the author- "By no means do I consider my opinions and methods in the text as the only way to approach a reef aquarium, nor do I ever claim to have all the answers, or lastly consider myself an "expert". I do however claim to be a successful reefkeeper and an advanced over the edge experienced hobbyist, someone who has accumulated substantial, practical information.
I will be the first to admit that there are many others who have a wider range of knowledge than I. The main difference is. . . I took it upon myself and my own resources to write, produce and publish this much needed, informative book.
The text has been put it together in a complete, easy to understand format, something I feel that has up until now, has been missing in this hobby. My readers have confirmed this personal belief. "
I'm glad your reading it. I'm sure it will help avoid potential problems or at least give you some useful tips, guidelines and ideas to go further. Let me know how its going, or if you have any questions
It has been quite awhile since I last spoke to you. I trust you had an enjoyable holiday season and are enjoying 1999. But Robert, I must thank you for your advice and your book because as you instructed, time is the best advice for reef keeping. My water is pristine, my rock is almost solid purple, my sand is clean and white, and everything seems to be doing very, very well. So I thank you.well, I'm glad you listened. As you can see (and now have your own experience...) patience and letting nature do its work are the best advise and really carries through more advanced aspects of the hobby; although companies like to have a carrot in from of the hobbyist with a new product to further their businesses promising better conditions etc. You'd be surprised that many hobbyists *like* to spend money! That's never my recommendation and turns off the big $penders
no
Tetra test kits?yes those are mainly lower "hobbyist" grade
Do you know if these are any good? They're from Germany.Id recommend Salifert best quality for the money
2. Is is a good idea to buy electronic versions of: (If so, which brand?) a. salinity meter b. PH meterYou don't *really* need either one. Your salinity shouldn't change very much, not enough to be monitored. It will change slightly with evaporation, but you will be adding top off water to make up for that. The pH meter is nice to have... but the probe dosnt last long (6 months) and they cost around $60 to replace. One pitfall here, is to be monitoring and reacting to the readings. My advise is to react to the tests very slowly. Therefore the electronic meters are really just a luxury.Having said that the manufacturer Pinpoint probably are the oldest and most used by hobbyists.
that's fairly typical of cycling don't sweat it for now. If you wanted you can remove it by dislodging with a bottle brush
When I have removed algae from the glass etc. I have been sponging it up from the bottom edge and completely removing as much as possible from the tank. The filamentous algae appearing on some of the rock is much more difficult, as I'm sure you know.yes, use a bottle brush to swirl it out. You say your readings of phosphate are very low now and that you removed all the substrate... once you do a bunch of water changes the algae should subside. some how I get the feeling that the original water *may* somehow be contributing to the problem. Call me a cynic or what ever... but the problem you describe sure sounds like it.You have removed all the substrate (and I'm sure done some water changes) used carbon to remove suspect algae causes skimmer is producing... and you have filament algae! kind of points to the water. (or old light bulbs) Anyway, some well water is not so good I've used well water for a long time and along with a commercial DI unit, it does a number on the resin. You will see what happens when you set up your ro unit.
I have been experiencing an algae bloom of sorts although all parameters test well. I have also just purchased a doser and intend to dose Kalkwasser. My Ca level is a bit low - in the 360-370 ppm range - but consistently there. Also, this is a relatively new setup that has cycled through and has minimal livestock at the moment.I think the 360 range isn't bad... especially if you don't have a high calcium demand. KAlkwasser is very good to add, and a low cost alternative is Pickling lime used for canning. Ask for it in your local food stores or you can order it directly. It is food grade calcium hydroxide same thing as reef kalk the difference is the lime is $1.49 per lb a case of approx 12 lbs will cost around 24 shipping included.
I have about 60lbs of Fiji Rock, a number of Turbos, some Red-legged crabs, a few Scooter Blennies, a Condylactis that we discovered hidden in a rock but is doing quite well. Initially I had some coral gravel as a substrate, but discovered it was leaching P04 in a serious way and removed it all. At the moment the bottom is bare. I had fought with lowering the P04 for a month or so and it is now down below 0.1 ppm. As I mentioned, all other parameters seem in good shape.Are you using ro or di water? That is usually a source of phosphate
I went through an algae bloom earlier on, which led to the discovery of the P04 leaching, but seemed to get that under control until some minor bubble algae began, and then green filamentous algae which grows literally, like a weed.sounds like the tap water to me
As a result, and because I felt overall the tank was doing well enough, I added a 3" Yellow Tang in the hope it might consume some of the algae. After reading in your book about canisters and plastic media in trickles I am concerned that may be more of the source than anything else.Possible, but again I'm more inclined to think of the source water. Its best to of course limit all potential algae causes as the problem usually becomes worse.
I am wondering what kind of role phosphates play in the algae situation. One of our local pet stores had an outbreak of algae and said it was due to an unchecked phosphate level. Is this true?yes phosphates = algae phosphate in significant numbers primarily comes from uneaten food, overfeeding or substantial decomposing organic material. however phosphate in low #s is common in a tank
I tested the water yesterday and came up with Ph @ 8.2, Phosphates @ .15, No2-.2, No3-10, Ammonia @ 2.5, Silicates and Phosphates @ 0. Should I do anything or let the cycle take its course?It sounds like your tank hasnt completely cycled yet. When its complete you'll have zero nitrite & zero ammonia When that happens do a 30% water change with ro or di water and you should be all set.
Robert- Thank you for answering my last question (re:drip plates) several weeks back. I'm humbled by your vast knowledge on reefkeeping. I'm setting up this 180 very slowly, making deliberate steps. On Wednesday of last week I received 136 lbs. of live rock (premium figi/Walt Smith distributed) and 50 lbs of live sand. I had filled the tank with ro/di water and mixed with Tropic Marin salt the week before. I dipped the rock upon receiving it into a bucket with salt water (from the tank) and placed it in the tank. The new skimmer is working great placed in the 40 gal sump with no bio balls and the halides are on 12 hours per day.That all sounds wonderful!
On Saturday I noticed a brownish bronzy cast (velvety algae?) beginning to cover the rock in places. Today it's only getting worse, covering about 1/2 of the rock. Is my rock dying already?No its not dying at all. I would suspect a temporary adjustment of cycling.
In the mean time, you should get a bottle brush (new) and use it in a swirling motion to dislodge and remove the algae. This will keep it at bay untill the conditions balance. A more common algae that occurs (after cycling) is the common brown diatom. This is just a coating on the glass and need to be removed via strong magnets. The brown diaton is a thin powdery coating, and for most people unavoidable. You just have to clean the glass weekly. It should not however noticeably cover the rock- you should remove it with the bottle brush method
yes absolutely. In fact distilled is the most pure however also most difficult to obtain. If you have a good supply then you're all set
I have purchased an RO unit but haven't set it up yet. I live on a farm and am on a well that has been acting up a bit the past couple months so I wanted to get that under control prior to running the RO. I have been purchasing water that is ro/di as well as another source that is distilled. It's relatively cheap where I live. the tank was set up with this water and all makeup water has been the same. see previous comment. As well, I mentioned having some coral gravel that I found to be leaching P04. I never even thought to test it ahead of time on the off chance and sure wish I had now. When I ran a P04 test on some that hadn't been used the test was so dark blue it was almost black. Needless to say I felt this was the originating source of the P04/algae problem. I have been trying very diligently to look for and eliminate any potential source of phosphate.What brand of substrate was that? Humm..
I have only found R/O DI tap water filters. Where can I find a DI only filter? R/O filters use way to much water.The only single DI unit I know of is by Ultralife. Its a commercial grade that sells for about $200 buy IME well worth it. Look for ultralife online
I personally don't have any. I was planning to get some for my refugia but never followed through with it.
I am considering some in my sump. I have heard that the roots tend to get pretty complicated and wanted to know your experience.
From what I understand, Mangroves are similar to algae filtration. And they do work. although I don't know how experienced you are,but somewhat feel they are for more advanced hobbyists. Recently, in the past 4 to 6 months they have become in demand by people who want to experiment with alternative filtration.
no I don't recommend it. If you want to use any charcoal its best to use it: sparingly infrequently not for extended periods of time and in the sump (so its easily removed)
can i add strontium to doser with kalkwasser?thanksIts better if you don't, really there is no advantage of doing this but its a possibility to lessen the effectiveness of the kalkwasser. My advise is to mix the kalk separately and use it. Then add strontium separately.
The material is known as light diffuser material and used in suspended ceilings. Available in 2x4 ft sections. White is the common color found. But black is the ideal color for aquarium use. Black is very hard to find, you have to look in the yellow pages under sheets tubes and rods. Or on my website I have a supplier Modern Plastics who will ship black eggcrate anywhere. The information is in my FAQ. Any other questions please feel free to write. This week I'm out of town again but have online access next week things should be back to normal
Lastly, I was planning on fixing rock to the eggcrate with black zip ties (cable ties, whatever) through holes drilled in the rock. Any better/different suggestions?You could use plastic dowels stuck into the eggcrate and rest the rock on that. I've never used the actual fastening method. My approach is to simply & carefully stack to rock so the upper piece rests on the piece below. The zip cabling of rock was Earls idea Personally I don't think its needed unless you wanted to do something very elaborate, which I don suspect is the case. Id be very interested in seeing the pictures
Where have you looked?I'm sure there are plenty of skimmers available that can accommodate a large pump here is one page http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/links/themeindex.html look under suppliers ... Reefers (Brian Griffin) or Northcoast (Marc Desatnik) either of those guys will help you pick a skimmer. Both guys are knowledgable and I buy supplies from them.
Use a smaller hose. If you look carefully in LFS you can find nice *small* gravel cleaners with an approximate 5/16 dia hose. Pinching the hose will also give you some control, even if you just use small dia clear vinyl tubing by itself will clean the nooks and crannies.Of course, if you only want to remove detritus you can strain the water coming out through some filter floss in to a 5 gallon bucket and pour the water back in.A magnum would also work... but its one more thing to maintain, the clips...O-rings etc
very observant of a very poor picture [that one as well a all the others are getting redone] but yes it could be used for that although that's over my dripplate / prefilter so I put the airline in another bulkhead rite above the skimmer.That bulkhead is really used for water changes so I just pump my new water into that area. Also note that if you do drip kalk in the prefilter it will clog it fairly quickly and if left un attended will clog entirely. Tell me what size tank you have
with sink and drains right next to the tank. Do you think a 5 gallon surge bucket will be enough for a 125 gallon tank?It should be. I have a 10 gall on a 200 and it does well. I'm sure a 5 would be nice.Make it just as I explain in the book, all your troubleshooting is in there.I'm very interested in your results implementing the surge device
I've plumbed the tank with three 1 1/2" overflows, do you think that is enough to handle the 5 gallon surge bucket?yes, it should be. I have 4 on my 200 and only use 34 was overkill but I was playing on the safe side. Keep in mind you can always turn them down via a valve but its difficult to add later
T
hanks for the reply on the plumbing, one additional question...is it really necessary to angle the main drain pipe off the back? It would really be a pain in the butt since I have already drilled the holes in the wood back of the tank. Maybe you have an innovative idea.what I did was add a 90 coming out of the back of the bulkhead... pointing downward looking at the front of the tank...with the sump on the left side... the bulkhead on the extreme right has just a 90 going into the end of the slightly angled main drain... the next bulkhead has a downward pointing 90 with a 1/2" piece of tubing then going into a T the "center" bulkhead has a 90 with a slightly longer piece of tubing say 3/4" then they get incrementally longer as it gets near the sump. Id say its important to do that. It will keep air pockets from forming and keep the water flowing naturally. You really need to have an open air space in the pipe to avoid pockets and insuring a good flow. If you need a further explanation give me a time and day to call
The new idea I had is just that, untested. It seems to me that people spend a lot of time adding "make up water" to their tanks. You can either do the slow siphon from the 5 gal bucket(I think you use that one)or you can get fancy with the float and extra water method. My cool concept is to take a 5 gal. water "bottle" from my local Crystal Water guy and fill it with make up water. This bottle of make up water is then placed in the sump with the open neck of the bottle on top of a 3"id piece of PVC with multiple holes drilled in it(to allow water to plow through the pipe past the neck of the bottle). The neck of the open bottle should be at the exact water level that you wish to maintain in your sump(the height of the 3"id PVC will be dictated by the ideal water level in your sump + the length of the bottle neck). As the water evaporates and falls below the level of the bottle neck you hear that nice "water cooler glug, glug".you could probably remedy that by simply inserting a length of flexible hose going inside the jug above the waterline, then "venting" out
Your sump returns to the ideal level with no moving parts and no guess work. You could get more fancy too by adding several bottles connected to the sump by bulkhead fittings connected to PVC with a 90 degree elbow at the end. It's important to remember that the open mouth of the bottle neck must me at your ideal water level and that the neck of the bottle fits into the top of the PVC. I hope this makes sense, I plan on using it when I finish my sump. If it doesn't make sense but still sounds like a good idea call me,sounds like a good idea some things that caught my attention you're going to have to "wrestle" with this 5 gall container?? flipping it upside down etc? wont it take up allot of room sitting in the sump? those water jugs are pretty tall...and having a relatively open sump will increase evaporation will this makeup water have kalkwasser in it? one should be adding kalk via makeup. Not saying your idea is ng, just from a standpoint that "been there.. done that" I've tried I'd say just about every easy way.... and found that the ole 5 gall above the sump with the source water supply close by is the easiest way to go. belive me after a few years 9+ it gets to be a chore...
Robert, 2. The 55gal of water does it include the water in the sump as well or just the display tank only?well its a 55 gallon tank and approx 15 gal sump your 6x36" sounds like it would do the job nicely
The plumbing on the back is my next question. I'm going to run 5 1.5" bulkheads off the back.that's more than enough, but probably what I would do. I have 5 1.5" on my 200 and really only use 4 nevertheless Its better to err on the safe side.
Do I run each as an individual to the sump? Your book shows them running in to one main line,yes all the bulkheads go into one relatively horizontal slightly angled toward the sump. You use a T to tie into it
it will have to be 2" for my bulkheads.why 2"? if you're using 1.5" you could use the same for the main drain tube. Obviously 2" would have a better flow but the adapters etc arent really worth it. 1.5" is fine
Robert, I didn't realize how intrusive 1 1/2" overflows would be in the tank.Is it that bad? a very good alternative is to use grey pvc that blends in much better
Do you try to cover them by placing the live rock around them?not really because they are so high up and having rock up that high can sometimes inhibit water flow
What is the level of the water in the tank?about 1/3 to 1/2 way up the fitting You should be able to adjust the water flow with the fittings
(Should you try to hide the water line?)the water line should be high enough so as to be above the front trim of the tank In other words you don't see the water line unless you look at the tank from the top
I have 90 degree pvc turned sideways inside the tank that can be adjusted. In one of the photos of your sump it looks like the return line from your protein skimmer entered you sump on the dirty side and crossed the baffles to the clean side. Is that the way it is?yes! very observant!!
Would 1" pvc be sufficient to hold up the eggcrate on the bottom.You never say what size tank. IF you did I forgot.. sorry up to a 55 1" or 1/1/4" is good above a 55 definitely use 1 1/2"
Will a 2" main line to the sump handle 2000+ gph? If not how do I accommodate this big flow through the tank and to the sump?My 200 does 1200gph through 1.5" *effortlessly* the main concern is to have the pipe vented. I have a crude drawing showing the location of the vent. You then buy a fitting called a "no-vent" about $2 and use that as a nice cap. the internals of the no-vent come out as you don't need then have a look at sumpdiag.gif
oxygen redox potential simply put its a measurement of the amount of oxygen in the water. For most hobbyists running a modern reef aquarium with good skimming ORP is rarely an issue, although it does have merit for those who prefer things on a more complicated level. IME its not necessary Robert
its best to drip in on/near the intake of the skimmer
From my reading, many people recommend having additional pow
