# DIY 75G Reef Project



## aquanutt

I'm starting my first 75G reef tank.
Hopefully everything will go as planned.

Thanks for all the help guys!
cheers...


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## aquanutt

*DIY Painting back of the Aquarium*

Painting back of the aquarium. After reading many forums I picked up Krylon Paint from one of the local shops. DIY forums recommended TRUE BLUE color which is sometimes called 
PATRIOTIC BLUE.

It took me six coats! I think the result is not bad.
I really like the color.

Cheers.
PS: Sorry for such a bad camera pictures.


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## caker_chris

nice, I have a 75 gallon stingray tank that I am looking to upgrade to in the near future.

What are the dimensions of yours? From the pic, it looks like the same tank I have.


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## aquanutt

*Tank Dimensions*

My tank dimensions are 48" x 21" x 18"
Is that the one you have?

cheers


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## conix67

I don't think it's worth paying too much attention to the back side of a reef tank. In a year or so, it will be fully covered with coraline algae (ideally) and you won't see much of the color/decoration behind the back side of tank.

For a 75G tank, I strongly recommend having a sump.. it makes the maintenance easier, and all ugly items get hidden..


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## Cowboy

Looks Great!!


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## aquanutt

*Painting Back Of The Tank Blue*



conix67 said:


> I don't think it's worth paying too much attention to the back side of a reef tank. In a year or so, it will be fully covered with coraline algae (ideally) and you won't see much of the color/decoration behind the back side of tank.
> 
> For a 75G tank, I strongly recommend having a sump.. it makes the maintenance easier, and all ugly items get hidden..


Hey Conix67.
I am building 32g sump behind the tank. Kinda different approach and I will explain my sump a little later.

The tank got painted just to hide all the ugly stuff behind the tank. and add a little blue to the tank as well, as you know.

I checked your tank project its great! I wish one day to run a nice clean tank like yours.

Cheers.
Sly


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## caker_chris

aquanutt said:


> My tank dimensions are 48" x 21" x 18"
> Is that the one you have?
> 
> cheers


yep thats the baby. cant wait to upgrade to it. Do you know what kind of lighting you are going to use for this yet?


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## aquanutt

*Light*



caker_chris said:


> yep thats the baby. cant wait to upgrade to it. Do you know what kind of lighting you are going to use for this yet?


I bought a 6 x T5HO Bay light which i'm gonna do DIY project and install it on my tank.
I will post a pictures of it when I'm ready to paint the light.


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## aquanutt

*Deep Sand Bed*

Got my self sand and I'm going with 4"-5" DSB in my tank and the sump.

2-3" of
Aragamax™
Sugar Sized Sand

1-2" of
Sugar Sized Sand Aragamax™
Select

0.5-1" of
Seaflor™
Special Grade
Reef Sand

All my sand is Caribsea product.

I also got few lbs of LIVE SAND by CaribSea.
And friend of mine was kind enough to give me 3 full cups of LIVE SAND established from his 5" DSB Aquarium.

Some pictures.
cheers...


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## aquanutt

*RO/DI installation*

I installed RO/DI filter in the kitchen and I wanted to post a picture of the unit.
Good deals at MAX WATER from CONCORD Ontario.

If I'm spending few hundreds bucks on a RO/DI filter for my aquarium, why not getting a unit which produces water for drinking as well. That is exactly what I did. Now I have RO drinking water at home...

I got 75G a day model which is enough I think. Time will tell...

Installation was easy, it took me about an hour to install underneath kitchen sink.

cheers.
sly


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## carmenh

You know that you're going to need to remove the sand to place your rocks, right? They'll need to rest on the glass or even better, on eggcrate on the glass. If you rest them on sand and it shifts...it's not good...really really not good 
BTW, I installed a drinking water filter for mine, too. Only way I could get it past the hubby. I have a hose that fits on the faucet to get the water to the mixing tub...


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## aquanutt

*Live Rock Scaping*

I have been so busy this long weekend.

Making RO/DI water and adding salt

I got close to 120lbs of live rock, not exactly live rock most of it is dead rock.
I only got about 4lbs of real live rock from another fellow reef keeper. 
I brought the 3 live rocks home with some nice micro algae growing on it. By the time I filled up the tank with right water I noticed most of the live rock start to loose the colors. Oh well...

So about 80lbs of the rock is used in the display tank, the rest is in my sump tank.

Here is some pictures of me and my fiancée trying to aqua scaping reef rock.
I didn't realize how bad I am with arranging reef rocks. I'm so glad my fiancée helped me out with it, otherwise I would be playing with the rocks all night long.

I also decided to go with a shallow reef style instead of building a wall type reef.

Pictures again,
cheers
Sly


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## aquanutt

*placing rocks*



carmenh said:


> You know that you're going to need to remove the sand to place your rocks, right? They'll need to rest on the glass or even better, on eggcrate on the glass. If you rest them on sand and it shifts...it's not good...really really not good
> BTW, I installed a drinking water filter for mine, too. Only way I could get it past the hubby. I have a hose that fits on the faucet to get the water to the mixing tub...


I'm only doing shallow reef with mid size rocks, not much there to shift or move. 
If I was planning to build high wall type reef I would definitely do that.

We decided on the spot to get ro/di unit with a drinking water. 
Investing so much money on the filter why not to use the full potential of it. 
Hey the water taste good as well...

cheers
sly


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## carmenh

LOL, good  When I was getting started, the rock-on-sand paranoia was drilled into my brain by lots of folks on several forums so the first thing I saw in your sand pix was disaster potential 
Looks good!


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## conix67

It looks good, but I question the DSB setup. Are you expecting nitrate issues? For DSB to effective, it is recommended that the depth be at least 5", and in this tank it would be almost 1/4 of the tank height! Anything less wouldn't be any better than just 1" shallow sandbed, and you would need sand stirrers who will also eat detrius...

Also, do consider amount of flow you're going to have in the tank. I forever regret going with sugar size aragonite, just because it looked nice!


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## aquanutt

*Dsb*



conix67 said:


> It looks good, but I question the DSB setup. Are you expecting nitrate issues? For DSB to effective, it is recommended that the depth be at least 5", and in this tank it would be almost 1/4 of the tank height! Anything less wouldn't be any better than just 1" shallow sandbed, and you would need sand stirrers who will also eat detrius...
> 
> Also, do consider amount of flow you're going to have in the tank. I forever regret going with sugar size aragonite, just because it looked nice!


DSB 4" is good enough. Anything above 3" is considered DSB...
Check this link on you tube from someone who is reef keeper since childhood.





Beside time will every setup is different thats the beauty of this hobby.

I have 3 powerheads blowing water all over and the sand doesn't move as much. Its all good so far...

cheers 
sly


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## aquanutt

*When to seed my DSB?*

Someone gave me 3 cups of sand from his aquarium DSB. 
Full of worms and other night crawling creatures. 
My question is when should I seed my deep sand bed with his stuff?
Should I do it before or after the tank cycle?

thanks
sly


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## aquanutt

*Day 2 Cycle Test*

Cycling my tank,
DAY 2 TESTS

PH 8.0
AMONIA NH3 0.25
NITRITE NO2 0
NITRATE NO3 10
PHOSPHATE 1

Any Comments?

thank you
Sly


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## aquanutt

*Day 4 Cycling Tank*

Cycling my tank,
DAY 4 TESTS

PH 8.0
AMONIA NH3 0.50
NITRITE NO2 0
NITRATE NO3 10
PHOSPHATE 2

Amonia and Phosphate are up...
Any Comments?

thank you
Sly


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## 50seven

Yep, your tank is still cycling. Don't worry yet, it'll go...

Just wait until you get your brown algae bloom in another few weeks from all those yummy nitrates...  
My snails and hermits are as busy as can be trying to eat all that crap. I hope it goes away soon...


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## 50seven

aquanutt said:


> Someone gave me 3 cups of sand from his aquarium DSB.
> Full of worms and other night crawling creatures.
> My question is when should I seed my deep sand bed with his stuff?
> Should I do it before or after the tank cycle?
> 
> thanks
> sly


If you leave it in a cup, it will die. Personally I'd put it in right off- the ammonia spike is not too high, and the stuff in the sand is just what you need for the cycle.


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## bioload

50seven said:


> Personally I'd put it in right off


 +1...I've never had any issues

Cycle looks normal.....just keep testing the Ammonia and Nitrites until they fall to zero. My 75 took several weeks for this to happen, but every tank is different.

Just curious what you're using for powerheads, and positioning? I had two maxflows which made me finally remove my sand completely. I tried every possilble location I could think of and always ended up with bald spots.


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## aquanutt

*DSB seeding*



50seven said:


> If you leave it in a cup, it will die. Personally I'd put it in right off- the ammonia spike is not too high, and the stuff in the sand is just what you need for the cycle.


I will do that tonight and I'm also getting cocktail shrimp to speed up the cycle a bit.

Would you recommend putting the seeded sand to my sump DSB or my tank DSB?

Also do I just poor the stuff on top of my dead sand or should i make space in my dsb and put his live seeded stuff then covered back with mine sand?

I'm sorry about all the silly questions but this is so new to me...

cheers 
sly


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## aquanutt

*Tank cycling*



50seven said:


> Yep, your tank is still cycling. Don't worry yet, it'll go...
> 
> Just wait until you get your brown algae bloom in another few weeks from all those yummy nitrates...
> My snails and hermits are as busy as can be trying to eat all that crap. I hope it goes away soon...


So as soon I get all the brown algae is it okay to add hermits and snails?
Which some of you guys call a clean up crew?

cheers
sly


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## aquanutt

bioload said:


> +1...I've never had any issues
> 
> Cycle looks normal.....just keep testing the Ammonia and Nitrites until they fall to zero. My 75 took several weeks for this to happen, but every tank is different.
> 
> Just curious what you're using for powerheads, and positioning? I had two maxflows which made me finally remove my sand completely. I tried every possilble location I could think of and always ended up with bald spots.


2 X Hydor Koralia Evolution Powerhead (1400 GPH)
Also I have to returns from my sump system.

My sand does move but very gently.
Nothing is being lifted up and clouding water.

Now to create my DSB i got help and I was told to make a combination of different layers with different grain size sand. I know most guys will jump on this and say it will all mix together with time... I was told if you do the right combination and thickness of each layer, it wont mix as much. the sugar size sand will always stay in the bottom. Which means no matter how you position your powerheads it wont lift any dust of sand from your DSB.

Now I can tell you from personal experience with in 4 days so far I had no issue with sand whats so ever and I do have lots of water movement all over the tank.

cheers
sly


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## ameekplec.

Since you have ammonia in the tank lingering already, skip the shrimp - it'll only add to your bioload.

Once the Ammonia and nitrites are 0, add your clean up crew - any sooner and you could just be sending them to their deaths.


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## conix67

aquanutt said:


> I will do that tonight and I'm also getting cocktail shrimp to speed up the cycle a bit.
> 
> Would you recommend putting the seeded sand to my sump DSB or my tank DSB?
> 
> Also do I just poor the stuff on top of my dead sand or should i make space in my dsb and put his live seeded stuff then covered back with mine sand?
> 
> I'm sorry about all the silly questions but this is so new to me...
> 
> cheers
> sly


How long has it been sitting in a cup? If it's more than a day, stuff in there might be dead by now..

Since it's supposedly from DSB, with that bacteria which lives in an environment that lacks oxygen (thus DSB), I'd place it deep down at the bottom of DSB if possible...


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## 50seven

aquanutt said:


> So as soon I get all the brown algae is it okay to add hermits and snails?
> Which some of you guys call a clean up crew?


Wait until the cycle is completed, or, just like conix/ameekplec said, you will just prolong it by adding more bioload. Plus, while most hermit crabs are pretty resilient, most snails are quite vulnerable to ammonia spikes. Yes, these guys are the CUC (clean up crew)

If you shop around or look for sales, you should be able to get a variety of snails and hermits for around $1 each.


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## aquanutt

*Tank Cycling*



ameekplec. said:


> Since you have ammonia in the tank lingering already, skip the shrimp - it'll only add to your bioload.
> 
> Once the Ammonia and nitrites are 0, add your clean up crew - any sooner and you could just be sending them to their deaths.


Thanks Ameekplec,
It is DAY 6 today of my tank cycling I will test my water when I get home from work tonight... no brown stuff yet. I get coralline algae some here some there. Few green spots here and there.

Water cleared up crystal clear! I could not believe how it went from very fogy cloudy water to crystal clear. I thought the cloudy stuff from my sand will never clear up, but it did...

cheers
sly


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## aquanutt

conix67 said:


> How long has it been sitting in a cup? If it's more than a day, stuff in there might be dead by now..
> 
> Since it's supposedly from DSB, with that bacteria which lives in an environment that lacks oxygen (thus DSB), I'd place it deep down at the bottom of DSB if possible...


It is still alive. I see stars, shrimps and ,many different worms running around at night... should i plant it in my tanks dsb or its too late?

cheers
sly


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## aquanutt

50seven said:


> Yep, your tank is still cycling. Don't worry yet, it'll go...
> 
> Just wait until you get your brown algae bloom in another few weeks from all those yummy nitrates...
> My snails and hermits are as busy as can be trying to eat all that crap. I hope it goes away soon...


I'm waiting, its day 6 today, I will test my water tonight and post the results.

cheers
sly


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## aquanutt

*DIY Light*

My tank cycling and there is nothing else to do, I spent some time on my light fixture.

it is 6 X 54w T5HO slim type bay light.
It came with 98% reflectors on each bulb. 
Also it is electronic ballast.

Here are few things i wanna modify to this light.
1: Change the cord to a longer one
2: Paint the unit black
3: Install cooling fans
4: Install Plexiglas to the bottom
5: either hang above aquarium or mount on top of the aquarium.

Here is some pictures of it.

Cheers
sly


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## conix67

looking good. does this unit have cover on it?


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## ameekplec.

If you install an acrylic sheild, it will probably do more harm than good, unless you also install fans into the fixture to cool the bulbs - right now it probbaly just works off of radiating the heat away from the bulbs to keep it cool - but if you enclose it, the temps of the bulbs will rise, and the useful lifespan of the bulbs as well as the operation of the bulbs will be drastically reduced.


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## aquanutt

conix67 said:


> looking good. does this unit have cover on it?


No cover yet, but I'm gonna install it.


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## aquanutt

ameekplec. said:


> If you install an acrylic sheild, it will probably do more harm than good, unless you also install fans into the fixture to cool the bulbs - right now it probbaly just works off of radiating the heat away from the bulbs to keep it cool - but if you enclose it, the temps of the bulbs will rise, and the useful lifespan of the bulbs as well as the operation of the bulbs will be drastically reduced.


I was going to install two large fans on top of the light to take the air out of the enclosure... I know the bulbs must run as cool as possible.

If I do not close the bottom of the light, I worry about water splashes and so on...

cheers
sly


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## aquanutt

*Day 6 Cycling*

DAY 6 CYCLING MY TANK

PH 8.2
Amonia NH3 0.50
Nitrite NO2 0.10
Nitrate NO3 10
Phosphate 2

nut much change after 6 days, I noticed Nitrites are up a bit and my pH is up as well...

any comments?

thank you
sly


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## 50seven

aquanutt said:


> DAY 6 CYCLING MY TANKl...
> 
> any comments?


Patience....it is a virtue...

I wouldn't worry about your pH until you've got the cycle complete. Also your temperature should be constant to maintain your pH. I had huge swings in pH on my tank until i installed my heater.


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## conix67

ameekplec. said:


> If you install an acrylic sheild, it will probably do more harm than good, unless you also install fans into the fixture to cool the bulbs - right now it probbaly just works off of radiating the heat away from the bulbs to keep it cool - but if you enclose it, the temps of the bulbs will rise, and the useful lifespan of the bulbs as well as the operation of the bulbs will be drastically reduced.


I agree. If the lighting unit gets enclosed with addition of acrylic shield, you want add enough fans to cool the unit down. T5HO is more efficient than MH, but it still heats up considerably. The light output and life span will both be affected.


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## aquanutt

conix67 said:


> I agree. If the lighting unit gets enclosed with addition of acrylic shield, you want add enough fans to cool the unit down. T5HO is more efficient than MH, but it still heats up considerably. The light output and life span will both be affected.


You guys are the best!
Thats why I come here, I have no clue what am i doing.
But I was planning to install some good fans to take out the hot air from the inside of the light fixture.

If i don't close it, which I did once for my FW tank, the water marked my reflectors all over the place and it looks bad, the light is not reflected as well after a while. so I would like to cover the light bulbs with some kind of glass.

cheers
sly


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## aquanutt

50seven said:


> Patience....it is a virtue...
> 
> I wouldn't worry about your pH until you've got the cycle complete. Also your temperature should be constant to maintain your pH. I had huge swings in pH on my tank until i installed my heater.


thanks 50seven.
I think my ph changed because I opened second portion of my sump system, which is about 16 gallons of extra water.

I have two heaters in my entire system so it should be stable.


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## aquanutt

*Light during cycling?*

Should I have light on during cycling the tank?

cheers
sly


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## 50seven

aquanutt said:


> thanks 50seven.
> I think my ph changed because I opened second portion of my sump system, which is about 16 gallons of extra water.


Yeah, that could do it. But don't kill yourself worrying about pH until you are about to put livestock in. If you do your water changes at regular intervals and use the same water source, and keep the tank the same temperature, etc., your pH should also remain stable. If not, first look at changing your water source to RO/DI, etc.



aquanutt said:


> Should I have light on during cycling the tank?


I'd personally recommend to keep them on a *reduced *timer cycle (I have a DIY light fixture and use timer switches from IKEA to turn them on at proper intervals throughout the day)

*The more light you have in the tank now will just contribute to making your brown algae bloom more severe.* My bloom started about a week after the tank cycled, and lasted not quite 3 weeks (now it is about over). I put in a CUC of 10 hermits and 10 assorted snails about a week into the bloom to manage everything, and they have been great so far.

If your LR is cured, you may not have such a problem with algae blooms, but no promises 

Now that the bloom has subsided, I'm putting my lights on for longer, as I now have added a coral, with more to come.

If you haven't been up to SeaUMarine, you gotta take the time to go up and see Ken and his team. You can ask a zillion questions and see cool stuff- it'll blow your mind...


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## conix67

> Yeah, that could do it. But don't kill yourself worrying about pH until you are about to put livestock in. If you do your water changes at regular intervals and use the same water source, and keep the tank the same temperature, etc., your pH should also remain stable. If not, first look at changing your water source to RO/DI, etc.


If you're really concerned about Ph, do get a good Ph monitor. It will allow you to monitor Ph whenever you want, using test kit not possible.

One thing I learned - if Ph is out of range, you cannot correct it with water change. The extreme case is that you can change the water of entire tank, and it won't be corrected. The Ph level of new water will stay temporarily, but will eventually return to the problematic level, so it's important to find the source and correct it there.

Another thing I learned - usually Ph problem is not where the problem is, but rather how you interpret it. There's a normal Ph swing, once your tank is populated with inhabitants, and as long as it does not fall outside of 7.8 - 8.3 range, you're fine. If it does, you'll have to take a corrective action.



> My bloom started about a week after the tank cycled, and lasted not quite 3 weeks (now it is about over). I put in a CUC of 10 hermits and 10 assorted snails about a week into the bloom to manage everything, and they have been great so far.
> 
> If your LR is cured, you may not have such a problem with algae blooms, but no promises
> 
> Now that the bloom has subsided, I'm putting my lights on for longer, as I now have added a coral, with more to come.


I've been told the brown algae (diatom) bloom is caused by silicates released by equipment, etc. So cured LR may not help. I used mostly used equipment, LR from established system, etc but the blooms still occurred. They are just normal part of maturing process of a reef tank. I think the whole maturing process can take a long time!


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## aquanutt

*Day 8 Cycling*

tested my water today

Day 8 cycling

PH 8.0
Amonia NH3 0.25
Nitrite NO2 0
Nitrate NO3 0.10
Phosphate 2.5

thats it
not much changed

cheers
sly


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## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> tested my water today
> 
> Day 8 cycling
> 
> PH 8.0
> Amonia NH3 0.25
> Nitrite NO2 0
> Nitrate NO3 0.10
> Phosphate 2.5
> 
> thats it
> not much changed
> 
> cheers
> sly


Hello,.
nice tank  but is your po4 actually 2.5 ? or 0.025 ?>

if 2.5, you should run GFO ASAP as much as you can replaced daily to prevent from a huge algea bloom.


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## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> Hello,.
> nice tank  but is your po4 actually 2.5 ? or 0.025 ?>
> 
> if 2.5, you should run GFO ASAP as much as you can replaced daily to prevent from a huge algea bloom.


I have no clue what is GFO,
what is it?


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## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> I have no clue what is GFO,
> what is it?


here are some good links 

Iron Oxide Hydroxide (GFO) Phosphate Binders : http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php

Phosphate and the Reef Aquarium : 
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

if you have the time, read all Dr. Randy-Holmes works/articles, GREAT stuff ! and easy to read


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## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> here are some good links
> 
> Iron Oxide Hydroxide (GFO) Phosphate Binders : http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php
> 
> Phosphate and the Reef Aquarium :
> http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php
> 
> if you have the time, read all Dr. Randy-Holmes works/articles, GREAT stuff ! and easy to read


I tested my RO/DI water and its Phosphate free. I tested twice and the reading is ZERO.
So how did I get phosphates in my tank when I don't even have any fish in it...

Should introduce phosphate remover during cycling of my tank or should I wait and start to worry about it after the cycle is complete?

thanks
sly


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## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> I tested my RO/DI water and its Phosphate free. I tested twice and the reading is ZERO.
> So how did I get phosphates in my tank when I don't even have any fish in it...
> 
> Should introduce phosphate remover during cycling of my tank or should I wait and start to worry about it after the cycle is complete?
> 
> thanks
> sly


well po4 can come from many many different sources  and in fact it is part of cycle, just like N needs to cycle, P needs to as well.
one source is the dead bacteria on the LR which gave raise to your ammonia and N sources, when they die, they give off po4 as well.

what do you test po4 with ?

po4 in general is fuel for algea, and high values (usually above 1 PPM) is not good for corals.

as of running GFO while cycling, if its truly at 2.5 PPM, then it is best to lower it before algea starts using it, and GFO wont be able to lower it THAT much to effect the cycle of P.

lastly, have you planned anyways of exporting N and P ? Fuge with macrto algea ?


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## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> well po4 can come from many many different sources  and in fact it is part of cycle, just like N needs to cycle, P needs to as well.
> one source is the dead bacteria on the LR which gave raise to your ammonia and N sources, when they die, they give off po4 as well.
> 
> what do you test po4 with ?
> 
> po4 in general is fuel for algea, and high values (usually above 1 PPM) is not good for corals.
> 
> as of running GFO while cycling, if its truly at 2.5 PPM, then it is best to lower it before algea starts using it, and GFO wont be able to lower it THAT much to effect the cycle of P.
> 
> lastly, have you planned anyways of exporting N and P ? Fuge with macrto algea ?


I have 32G sump, half with live rock other half is waiting for Chaeto. 
The test kit I use for Phosphate is made by company called Seachem.

thanks for all your help.


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## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> I have 32G sump, half with live rock other half is waiting for Chaeto.
> The test kit I use for Phosphate is made by company called Seachem.
> 
> thanks for all your help.


cheato will help with the po4 for sure, that's good.

seachem, its REALLY hard to tell from the colors, so I invested in a Hanna po4 checker, 60 bucks, nice tool if your going SPS path.


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## aquanutt

*Light Bulbs setup*

Okay, I am going to get light bulbs tomorrow and I was thinking of this arrangement. 
Im planning to keep easy to moderate corals most of my tank but I would like to keep one or two corals which are more challenging for learning purpose.

6 x T5HO as follows

Back 1: 6700k
Back 2: Actinic 10000k
middle 2: Actinic Blue
Middle 1: Actinic Blue
Front 2: Actinic 10000k
Front 1: 6700k

Any suggestions ideas comments?
cheers sly


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## aquanutt

*Day 10 Cycling Tank*

Tank Cycling DAY 10

PH 8.2
Amonia NH3 0 (none)
Nitrite N02 0 (none)
Nitrate N03 10
Phosphate 2

comments suggestions ideas?

cheers 
sly


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## ameekplec.

Where are you getting your bulbs? Don't bother with Big Al's - go to Sea U Marine or NAFB, or another SW-specific stores. You'll find much better bulb selections there.

You can't go wrong with ATI bulbs - a typically recommended setup is as follows:

Front to back:
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special 
ATI Blue Plus
Korallen Zucht (KZ) Fiji Purple
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus

Or if you can't find them, look for bulbs of this nature:
Front to back:
Actinic
10 - 12K
Actinic
Any other colour temp/combo
10 - 12K
Actinic


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## 50seven

Ammonia is 0, Yay! 

Wait! Don't run off to the fish store just yet! I let mine run for another 5 days or so just to make sure that everything was okay, I'd recommend you do similar.

Get some chaeto in that fuge, to eat up some of those nitrates and phosphates or else your brown algae bloom will be huge.


----------



## aquanutt

ameekplec. said:


> Where are you getting your bulbs? Don't bother with Big Al's - go to Sea U Marine or NAFB, or another SW-specific stores. You'll find much better bulb selections there.
> 
> You can't go wrong with ATI bulbs - a typically recommended setup is as follows:
> 
> Front to back:
> ATI Blue Plus
> ATI Aquablue Special
> ATI Blue Plus
> Korallen Zucht (KZ) Fiji Purple
> ATI Aquablue Special
> ATI Blue Plus
> 
> Or if you can't find them, look for bulbs of this nature:
> Front to back:
> Actinic
> 10 - 12K
> Actinic
> Any other colour temp/combo
> 10 - 12K
> Actinic


Sounds awesome for the bulbs,
but I had special credit at big al so I wanna use it for light bulbs at least for now to get me started.

so the basic arrangement would be

front

blue
white 10,000
6700k
white 10,000
blue 
blue

back

would that be approved by the pros ladies and gents?

cheers


----------



## aquanutt

50seven said:


> Ammonia is 0, Yay!
> 
> Wait! Don't run off to the fish store just yet! I let mine run for another 5 days or so just to make sure that everything was okay, I'd recommend you do similar.
> 
> Get some chaeto in that fuge, to eat up some of those nitrates and phosphates or else your brown algae bloom will be huge.


tell me about it, I have no ideal how come my ammonia is gone so fast.
I didn't had much bio load from the start. Only few rocks were live rocks and most of the rocks i got was just from a bucket. I can spot more and more Coraline algae spots all over my rocks. I guess its a good sign. I have maybe one or two patches of brown. Some rocks have alot of green algae right on top of the peaks...

No I wasn't gonna run of to a fish store and get load of carp... lol

I'm gonna let it run for another week and post all the water results.

At this moment I'm working on getting some nice chaeto and bulbs for my display tank. I already got the light for my refuge system

cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> cheato will help with the po4 for sure, that's good.
> 
> seachem, its REALLY hard to tell from the colors, so I invested in a Hanna po4 checker, 60 bucks, nice tool if your going SPS path.


I'm struggling with the seachem phosphate reader. The color card is so screwed up... I'm looking for one of those handheld devices you recommended. Perhaps my girl will get it for my birthday???

cheers
sly


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> I'm struggling with the seachem phosphate reader. The color card is so screwed up... I'm looking for one of those handheld devices you recommended. Perhaps my girl will get it for my birthday???
> 
> cheers
> sly


ORG sells them, IF you are planing to keep SPS, it will come handy, but if you dont have a refractometer to measure SG, get that first 

the po4 checker has error margin on 0.004.


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> ORG sells them, IF you are planing to keep SPS, it will come handy, but if you dont have a refractometer to measure SG, get that first
> 
> the po4 checker has error margin on 0.004.


I have refractometer and I keep my sg at 1.023, is that good?

cheers


----------



## gucci17

Seeing as how you're from the West end, I recommend you drop by ORG _Oakville Reef Gallery_.

They will happily answer any questions you may have and they're right across the street from BAs oakville.

I personally feel you should invest in more quality bulbs since you are planning on adding corals to you tank. Your BA's credit can be utilized on more common items such as test kits, heaters, food, etc.

I wouldn't disregard what type of bulbs to use as those are your main source of showing off your DT. You want your corals and fish to *pop* and going with a better/reputable brand will give you just that.

Looking good so far!


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> I have refractometer and I keep my sg at 1.023, is that good?
> 
> cheers


yap its good  stability is more important that the value I have found.

I Agree with Gucci on bulbs though, go with the best. KZ or ATI. SUM has KZ, NAFB has ATIs.

personally I have found KZ bulbs to look better, never tested it actually though.


----------



## aquanutt

*skimmer*

silly question,
If you modify a skimmer for example, by adding a bigger pump would that improve the skimmer at all?

cheers


----------



## gucci17

aquanutt said:


> silly question,
> If you modify a skimmer for example, by adding a bigger pump would that improve the skimmer at all?
> 
> cheers


Not necessarily. There are too many variables to that question.

Name/brand of skimmer to start things off...


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> silly question,
> If you modify a skimmer for example, by adding a bigger pump would that improve the skimmer at all?
> 
> cheers


it depends !

if you go too much bigger, the skimmer will overflow,

with SWC skimmers, you cant fit another pump in there.

you cannt change the volume of the skimmer, but you can change the air intake, which will inject more air to the same volume of water, therefore more skimmate.


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> it depends !
> 
> if you go too much bigger, the skimmer will overflow,
> 
> with SWC skimmers, you cant fit another pump in there.
> 
> you cannt change the volume of the skimmer, but you can change the air intake, which will inject more air to the same volume of water, therefore more skimmate.


So more air in the volume of water makes a better skim. 
In that case, why not install extra air pump where the air intake is?


----------



## Big Ray

Some do connect an Air pump to the air intake of the skimmer, but in my opinion that alters the performance of the needle wheel ! more air is pushed in that can be processed, therefore making bigger bubbles, less surface area and less skimming. there are many different designs of a skimmer. ALOT of factors are important. size of bubbles, ratio, foam integrity ....

here is a good article that will give you alot more info :

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/fm/feature/index.php

also Spotte's work is really nice to read.

"
Two important properties are drainability and stability. Foam drainability is the property that allows the residue to flow away from the newly formed foam by gravity. ... Foam stability is the property that enables foam bubbles to withstand drainage without rupturing. ...

Seawater Aquariums. The Captive Environment.
Stephen Spotte
1979"

Skimmers are one of those never ending discussions


----------



## aquanutt

*Seeding my sand bed*

hey guys

So the few cups of sand I got from a fellow reefer, I could not believe all the stuff was still alive after 3 weeks in a bag. Stars were crawling, some small tiny shrimps, worms and so on.

Anywayz I finally added the live sand into my sump and all the little living things were very happy to go into my new sand. I just sprinkle stuff all over my sand.

I didn't know so many interesting animals live in such a dirty sand.
Water got cloudy for few hours but this morning everything cleared up.

Cheers
Sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Indo live rock*

I got a 7lbs Indo live rock last night.
It looks awesome and the amount live it brought to my tank.
I noticed bristle worms and other worms crawling out from it.
Ghost shrimp I think as well.

The indo rock looks much better then fiji rock.

Cheers
Sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Day 12 Cycling*

I'm so lost with the results.
Is it possible the cycle has completed in just 12 days?

Here is my water results on day 12.

Day 12 cycling

PH 8.2
Amonia NH3 0.00
Nitrite NO2 0
Nitrate NO3 5
Phosphate 1.2

any ideas?

cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*DIY Coralia Skimmer MOD*

so I made a little experiment last night with my skimmer.
I removed the stock pump RIO1100 model from the simmer and I installed MAG 5 pump. I noticed more much more finer bubbles and I do get alot more skim from it.

I left the skimmer running for two hours last night at the same settings as i kept my skimmer with RIO1100 pump. I noticed I got much more darker skim over two hours period.

I guess I'm keeping my MAG 5 pump on a skimmer...

just my $0.02c for anyone if they wanna experiment with coralia skimmers.

cheers
sly


----------



## caker_chris

cycling is just something that takes time and patiance. Sometimes a cycle happens in a few days and sometimes it takes a month.

Stuff that you can do to make help is keep temperature, salinity constant, don't keep adding more rock and sand. Everytime you add more sand and rock will bring your values up again.

Patiance is key in this hobby. I know its hard sometimes especually when your looking at a tank full of rock and nothing else but if your not you will regret it.


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> so I made a little experiment last night with my skimmer.
> I removed the stock pump RIO1100 model from the simmer and I installed MAG 5 pump. I noticed more much more finer bubbles and I do get alot more skim from it.
> 
> I left the skimmer running for two hours last night at the same settings as i kept my skimmer with RIO1100 pump. I noticed I got much more darker skim over two hours period.
> 
> I guess I'm keeping my MAG 5 pump on a skimmer...
> 
> just my $0.02c for anyone if they wanna experiment with coralia skimmers.
> 
> cheers
> sly


what skimmer are you using ? CSS ? never heard of coralia skimmer ?!

how did you mod the mag 5 pumps impeller to chop up bubbles ?! did you install a needle wheel on it ?

post some pics  I'm sure many would be interested to know  Specially if you meant CSS, I have 2 sitting around


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> what skimmer are you using ? CSS ? never heard of coralia skimmer ?!
> 
> how did you mod the mag 5 pumps impeller to chop up bubbles ?! did you install a needle wheel on it ?
> 
> post some pics  I'm sure many would be interested to know  Specially if you meant CSS, I have 2 sitting around


Ops, I ment Coralife Super Skimmer 
I didn't change the impeller the stock Mag 5 just works better with it.

if I do wet skim I have to change cups almost every 15min... Lol
I will do more testing once I'm at home. I'm still at work... 

Cheers
Sly


----------



## aquanutt

caker_chris said:


> cycling is just something that takes time and patiance. Sometimes a cycle happens in a few days and sometimes it takes a month.
> 
> Stuff that you can do to make help is keep temperature, salinity constant, don't keep adding more rock and sand. Everytime you add more sand and rock will bring your values up again.
> 
> Patiance is key in this hobby. I know its hard sometimes especually when your looking at a tank full of rock and nothing else but if your not you will regret it.


I know
Just my amonia and nitrate with phosphate went up and after few days went down to none.
Even my phosphates dropped from 2 to 1 this morning.

So something is happening in a good direction.

Cheers
Sly


----------



## aquanutt

*clean up crew*

Well in few weeks I might be ready for some clean up crew.
any ideas what should I get?

Sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Brown Rusty Algae*

Woke up this morning and I discovered brown rusty color patches on my rocks.
Not completely covered just patches here and there... I just passed two weeks cycling my tank... Any ideas what it is?

here is some pictures




























thanks
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Worm tunels*

I was happy to see my DSB is slowly to be active. 
My first tracks of worm activities, this is awesome!



















cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Skimmer skim*

Is the color of my skim about right or am I doing it too wet?
here is a shot of it.










thanks
sly


----------



## Big Ray

the brown dust is Diatom algea, normal for new systems, make sure your RO/DI water is Zero TDS to prevent addition of SI which will fuel Diatom algea, it will go away prety fast (its best food for pods, so expect a population bloom of pods soon, great fish food)

how long does it take to get that much skimmate ? it looks prety whitish, so it can be that the skimmer is breaking in (takes time for skimmer to break in) or its taking out the cloudiness in water from sand storm OR you could be just getting water splash and not FOAM ! check the links I posted again. if the pump is too big, and the bubble sizes are too big, you wont Skim ! not saying its the case here, just something to think about. if cup fills up in 15 mins, skimmer is overflowing.


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> how long does it take to get that much skimmate ? it looks prety whitish, so it can be that the skimmer is breaking in (takes time for skimmer to break in) or its taking out the cloudiness in water from sand storm OR you could be just getting water splash and not FOAM ! check the links I posted again. if the pump is too big, and the bubble sizes are too big, you wont Skim ! not saying its the case here, just something to think about. if cup fills up in 15 mins, skimmer is overflowing.


I was cleaning my rocks the other day, dusting with my hands here and there so water got cloudy. I check my skimmer and the bubbles are very fine, it creates very nice think foam almost like in a beer glass.

The rate of my skimmer is about half a cup a day and it little darker then the picture...

B.ray, thanks for your help man...

sly


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> the brown dust is Diatom algea, normal for new systems, make sure your RO/DI water is Zero TDS to prevent addition of SI which will fuel Diatom algea, it will go away prety fast (its best food for pods, so expect a population bloom of pods soon, great fish food).


I have TDS meter, its still pure 0. I only produced about 160gallons so far.

Awesome, I did some reading on copepods. I wouldn't even know what it is until you told me... lol

how about all the pods, worms and other creatures from my live rock? arent they going to starve cuz i have no fish in there not a living thing yet to produce any waste?

geez i'm such a newbie!
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Active Carbon*

Is Aqua-pure water purifying blend carbon any good for marine application?










thanks
sly


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> I have TDS meter, its still pure 0. I only produced about 160gallons so far.
> 
> Awesome, I did some reading on copepods. I wouldn't even know what it is until you told me... lol
> 
> how about all the pods, worms and other creatures from my live rock? arent they going to starve cuz i have no fish in there not a living thing yet to produce any waste?
> 
> geez i'm such a newbie!
> sly


that's the beauty of this hobby, new things to learn everyday, and us humans still do not know how oceans work, since we know of only 10% of it !

I wouldnt worry about it for now, they have dead stuff to eat and diatom (Same dead organisms that gave raise to your ammonia 

here are some info on GAC : 
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=7557932
good thread, Boomer knows it all ! lol

you want low ash, and all carbon carry po4, except for acid washed carbon, 
I use seachem matrix, kinda expensive but works good, 
used to use Black diamonds, high ash and high po4 contents, I acid washed it, but after burning the floor, I decided to stop  lol (need HCL at PH 1) you can also Boil it in water (99 degrees ? lol you could decrease pressure to boil it even hotter  ) then let it soak and cool off in RO/DI water for 24 hours. then change the RO/DI water again, let it soak and then use it. after rinsing it in COLD tap water. all this could lower its ash alot and po4 a bit.

BRS carbon is acid washed, cheap too, but in USA.


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> that's the beauty of this hobby, new things to learn everyday, and us humans still do not know how oceans work, since we know of only 10% of it !
> 
> I wouldnt worry about it for now, they have dead stuff to eat and diatom (Same dead organisms that gave raise to your ammonia
> 
> here are some info on GAC :
> http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=7557932
> good thread, Boomer knows it all ! lol
> 
> you want low ash, and all carbon carry po4, except for acid washed carbon,
> I use seachem matrix, kinda expensive but works good,
> used to use Black diamonds, high ash and high po4 contents, I acid washed it, but after burning the floor, I decided to stop  lol (need HCL at PH 1) you can also Boil it in water (99 degrees ? lol you could decrease pressure to boil it even hotter  ) then let it soak and cool off in RO/DI water for 24 hours. then change the RO/DI water again, let it soak and then use it. after rinsing it in COLD tap water. all this could lower its ash alot and po4 a bit.
> 
> BRS carbon is acid washed, cheap too, but in USA.


I found a link to some good info about carbon brands. 
It seem like those two brands do not carry any phosphate

1:Two Little Fishies HydroCarbon2 Granular Activated Carbon
2:Coralife Pelletized Activated Carbon

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_4/V4I2/carbon/artcarbon_comparisons.htm

cheers
sly


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> I found a link to some good info about carbon brands.
> It seem like those two brands do not carry any phosphate
> 
> 1:Two Little Fishies HydroCarbon2 Granular Activated Carbon
> 2:Coralife Pelletized Activated Carbon
> 
> here is a link
> http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_4/V4I2/carbon/artcarbon_comparisons.htm
> 
> cheers
> sly


Stay away from brands that advertise lies !

another thing you will see alot of in this hobby ... 
lol

read about how GAC is made.


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> that's the beauty of this hobby, new things to learn everyday, and us humans still do not know how oceans work, since we know of only 10% of it !
> 
> I wouldnt worry about it for now, they have dead stuff to eat and diatom (Same dead organisms that gave raise to your ammonia
> 
> here are some info on GAC :
> http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=7557932
> good thread, Boomer knows it all ! lol
> 
> you want low ash, and all carbon carry po4, except for acid washed carbon,
> I use seachem matrix, kinda expensive but works good,
> used to use Black diamonds, high ash and high po4 contents, I acid washed it, but after burning the floor, I decided to stop  lol (need HCL at PH 1) you can also Boil it in water (99 degrees ? lol you could decrease pressure to boil it even hotter  ) then let it soak and cool off in RO/DI water for 24 hours. then change the RO/DI water again, let it soak and then use it. after rinsing it in COLD tap water. all this could lower its ash alot and po4 a bit.
> 
> BRS carbon is acid washed, cheap too, but in USA.


You using Seachem matrix, is it ready to use or you still have to boil and soak etc....?

thanks


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> You using Seachem matrix, is it ready to use or you still have to boil and soak etc....?
> 
> thanks


it contains low amount of po4, I feel like its low enough that doesnt need boiling. and also have spoken to Boomer about it, and that's what he has told me. (he is the guy that seachem (and other companies) founder/owners learn from lol)

I rinse it in COLD water a couple times to wash the Ash off, and use it. po4 is reading Zero using Hanna po4 checker.


----------



## aquanutt

*Day 15 Cycling*

Day 15 Cycling results

PH 8.2
Amonia NH3 0
Nitrite N02 0
Nitrate NO3 20 (its up)
Phosphates 0.5 (dropped)

comments suggestions?
cheers 
sly


----------



## aquanutt

aquanutt said:


> Day 15 Cycling results
> 
> PH 8.2
> Amonia NH3 0
> Nitrite N02 0
> Nitrate NO3 20 (its up)
> Phosphates 0.5 (dropped)
> 
> comments suggestions?
> cheers
> sly


I bought phosphate meter from ORG and I tested my water. My phosphates are 2.5! 
Should I perform my water change at this point ? My nitrates and phosphates are high but I don't know if water changes are okay during cycling...


----------



## Big Ray

you need to use GFO or get a Fuge going to reduce no3 and po4. Specially po4, no coral likes that high of phosphate.

now you see how inaccurate the readings on the test kits are ! so assume your no3 to be higher as well.


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> you need to use GFO or get a Fuge going to reduce no3 and po4. Specially po4, no coral likes that high of phosphate.
> 
> now you see how inaccurate the readings on the test kits are ! so assume your no3 to be higher as well.


I got phosban reactor with a phosban media it will be installed tonight.
I also got chaeto and its in my sump for past two days.

Should I start with partial water change at least to reduce the toxic waste?


----------



## Big Ray

I personally think your water is still to new for water changes. give it another week. let the bacteria do their thing. IMO though.


give it a couple more days, say till this friday, double check salinity, and KH daily. then do a small water change and by that time your po4 should be low and no3 HOPEFULLY low as well  Saturday you can introduce first fish  or set of clean up crews, lawnmover blenny lol


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> I personally think your water is still to new for water changes. give it another week. let the bacteria do their thing. IMO though.
> 
> give it a couple more days, say till this friday, double check salinity, and KH daily. then do a small water change and by that time your po4 should be low and no3 HOPEFULLY low as well  Saturday you can introduce first fish  or set of clean up crews, lawnmover blenny lol


I wanted to change some rocks around a bit after the cycle is done.
Then I guess will get some clean up crew.
I have no idea how many snail and hermit crabs I should got my 75g tank.

thanks for all your help B.Ray


----------



## aquanutt

*Phosban reactor with media*

Okay,
finally installed phosban reactor and its running. After reading all the reviews of the media for it I purchased phosban media as well. Hope it works good and it will help my to lower phosphates and ammonia levels.

here is some pic.




























cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Gloves*

I know you guys gonna laugh but I got my self cow gloves... lol










cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Chiller is at home!*

I have no idea if its a good brand or not, but someone offered me deal on it and i took it.
I hope it will last me for a while...










cheers


----------



## aquanutt

*Hitchhikers!!!*

Last night I couldn't sleep so I took a flashlight to check whats happening in my aquarium... Hoping to spots some worms.

Instead I spotted baby blue hermit crab, which was easy to identify.
Also there are 3 more other crabs, all 3 look the same kind. Kinda flat with black front claws and there is a white dot on the front black claws. Those 3 were on the live rock scraping algae and eating it.

Questions is, should i worry about those 3 little guys? 
I'm gonna try to take pictures but they hide every time there is a light present.

ps: I love the blue leg hermit crab, he found some small shell and he is wondering all over my tank now...!

cheers
sly


----------



## bioload

aquanutt said:


> Last night I couldn't sleep so I took a flashlight to check whats happening in my aquarium... Hoping to spots some worms.


And my wife thinks I'm strange for staring at my sump looking for pods .......we're truly a unique bunch.


----------



## Big Ray

Id try to figure out what kind of crab they are ASAP. if hermit crab, they arent bad, they eat algea as u said/.if anything hairy, it CAN eat fish and corals ! get them out ASAP if hair on its legs lol I left one in, and I think they are reproducing now, I have bunch, that come out at night and eat my SPS tips 
they have also caught my gobies and ate them ! lol

PS. most sea creatures cant see red light so get a red light or color your flashlight red, so you can view them much easier at night and they wont run away ...


----------



## aquanutt

bioload said:


> And my wife thinks I'm strange for staring at my sump looking for pods .......we're truly a unique bunch.


tell me about I was up at 3am, the wind woke me up. I told my wife i'm getting glass of water, I ended up looking at my tank for 30min.

lol
we are unique.


----------



## aquanutt

*Where to buy healthy fish*

I was reading some forums and I would like to know where I can buy healthy live stock?

I went from B.A stores to few other companies and they all have sick fish mixed with healthy fish...

If you guys are looking for a live stock where do you go?

cheers


----------



## bioload

An unfortunate side of the business/hobby. I don't have the figures on mortality rates, but the stress of collection and shipping will take its toll on specimens.

I'm not aware of anyone (I may be wrong) that currently would quarantine, segregate, and medicate their livestock before releasing to the public. I guess to find out one would just need to ask to see quarantine tanks......this is likely to be cost prohibitive for most with the number of specimens that arrive in each shipment. Retail operations would need to increase/or set aside current holding capacity.

Best thing you can do IMO is closely observe, and look for signs of stress before buying and acclimate/quarantine according when you get home. Things I look for are visible parasites or abrasions, is the fish active, are they feeding, you can usually tell if something is not quite right......but again QT will prevent anything you missed from getting into your display.

That being said, I've obtained livestock from BA's, NAFB due to proximity. I don't ever recall any stores that I would consider having "poor" livestock....it wouldn't be in their best interest....and should quickly change suppliers.

P.S.....look or tank raised and research poor shippers 

HTH


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> I was reading some forums and I would like to know where I can buy healthy live stock?
> 
> I went from B.A stores to few other companies and they all have sick fish mixed with healthy fish...
> 
> If you guys are looking for a live stock where do you go?
> 
> cheers


almost all stores are like that (as far as I know) but if you ask the right person, they will be honest, and that is why I love going to Sea U marine (its 2 mins from my work lol) as Ken tells me about his live stock and he wouldnt sell me a sick fish ! so that's why you kinda have to assume each fish you get is sick, and each coral infested with bugs, (I never QTed anything, all fish and corals are fine, but 10 months in, and now I have HUGE crabs eatig my SPS away, and red bugs and flat worms and .... I wish I did QT them now lol next tank)

as far as price goes, BA is kinda none sense, example, blue tang from SUM is like 30 bucks, from BA its 90 bucks.

JMHO though,


----------



## aquanutt

Just cameback from Dragon Aquarium in mississauga man so many sick fish there. Almost every fish in that store has some kind of weird stuff on their skin.
Also Aquatic Kindom Mississauga iis pretty bad too, that place has almost cyano in every sibgle tank.

Cheers


----------



## aquanutt

*Vertex 100 Skimmer*

I found a deal on Vertex 100 skimmer and i'm not sure if i should get it

any good?

thanks


----------



## aquanutt

*clean up crew*

I have no clue how many of clean up crew I should get for my 75g tank.

5 snails
5 hermit crabs

is that too much?
what else beside snails and hermit crabs i should consider?

cheers
sly


----------



## gucci17

aquanutt said:


> I found a deal on Vertex 100 skimmer and i'm not sure if i should get it
> 
> any good?
> 
> thanks


There's quite a few positive reviews, you may want to check out the vertex club in reef central and get a feel of what people think about it.

I can almost guaranty it will do a better job than your current skimmer.


----------



## aquanutt

*Day 19 cycling*

DAY 19 CYCLING

PH 8.2
Amonia NH3 0.25
Nitrite N02 0
Nitrate N03 20
Phosphates 0.59

ideas comments suggestions?

thanks
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Phosphates*

I must say Chaeto and Phosban reactor combine worked very well.
Thanks for all your advise guys, my phosphates dropped from 2.5! to 0.59.
That is only after 4-5 days running phosban reactor and Chaeto in my sump.

Thanks guys

sly


----------



## aquanutt

*My tank after 15 days*

I noticed some micro small plankton all over my aquarium and sump system. 
Is that what B.Ray was telling me about having PODs bloom very soon?

It is so small you can barley see it, but I can tell when its alive when its on the glass cuz its moving fast...

cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Day 21 tank cycling*

DAY 21 CYCLING

PH 8.2
Amonia NH3 0
Nitrite NO2 0
Nitrate NO3 15
Phosphates 0.58

I am wondering if I'm ready for Clean Up Crew.

Also should I perform water change to lower nitrates or should I run some kind of media to remove absorb it.

thanks
cheers


----------



## Big Ray

well you are basically done the cycle, IMHO ...


time to get clean up crew and maybe first small fish.

double check salinity as clean up crew are sensitive to that.

the little guys on your glass are pods, fish food, and they eat detritus !

regarding no3, you need to decide at this point. IMHO, the water is still too new for a water change, but regarding media to absorb it, it depends on what you like to keep ! cheato in fuge should be good, if not removing much, be sure the flow is good and lighting is good, (is lighting on 24/7 ? ) Im guessing you want to keep soft corals mostly at first ? if so, your no3 is not that bad, although its better to keep it under 10 PPM.


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> well you are basically done the cycle, IMHO ...
> 
> time to get clean up crew and maybe first small fish.
> 
> double check salinity as clean up crew are sensitive to that.
> 
> the little guys on your glass are pods, fish food, and they eat detritus !
> 
> regarding no3, you need to decide at this point. IMHO, the water is still too new for a water change, but regarding media to absorb it, it depends on what you like to keep ! cheato in fuge should be good, if not removing much, be sure the flow is good and lighting is good, (is lighting on 24/7 ? ) Im guessing you want to keep soft corals mostly at first ? if so, your no3 is not that bad, although its better to keep it under 10 PPM.


Thanks,
I just rearrange my rock and did big clean up of my tank and all the items. My powerheads were covered in nasty stuff, so is the glass. But i'm glad my water cycled already... I will be shopping for clean up crew this weekend!

cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*rock crabs*

I got 3 rock crabs on my live rock... tried to catch at least one of them with a shrimp in a glass trap, for some pictures so I can post it here... NO LUCK! they dont like meat... lol

So, its not hairy, so I think.
It has white and dark spots all over his body.
His front claws are mostly red with a tiny white dot on each.
All they do is come out at night and scrape my rocks....

How can i catch one of them for pictures?
they are not interested in a shrimp...

cheers sly


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> well you are basically done the cycle, IMHO ...
> 
> time to get clean up crew and maybe first small fish.
> 
> double check salinity as clean up crew are sensitive to that.
> 
> the little guys on your glass are pods, fish food, and they eat detritus !
> 
> regarding no3, you need to decide at this point. IMHO, the water is still too new for a water change, but regarding media to absorb it, it depends on what you like to keep ! cheato in fuge should be good, if not removing much, be sure the flow is good and lighting is good, (is lighting on 24/7 ? ) Im guessing you want to keep soft corals mostly at first ? if so, your no3 is not that bad, although its better to keep it under 10 PPM.


I started to leave my fuge light on 24/7 about 3 days now...
is that any good?


----------



## aquanutt

*Reef Tank Temperature*

Reef Tank Temperature

so many different opinions on the internet...

so my questions is,
what temperature do you guys keep your reef tanks?

I keep mine about 76f,
is it too cold?

cheers 
sly


----------



## caker_chris

i keep mine at 78f.

I believe ideal reef temps are 76 - 84f. 76f in my opinion is too cold because it is right on the border, if the temp falls your in bad territory so i give myself a cushion for error. I also dont like to go any hotter because this helps keep evaporation to a minimum.

I would bring your temp up a couple degrees for that cushion of error.


----------



## explor3r

I keep mine 78 to 80... i think that what it should be


----------



## aquanutt

*Day 25 Cycling*

Day 25 of my aquarium

So after doing major cleanup and re-arranging my live rock.
Also I kept dead shrimp in my aquarium for two days trying to catch a hitchhiker.

Here is my water results today

Ph 8.2
Amonia NH3 0.25
Nitrite NO2 0
Nitrate N03 10
Phosphates 0.80 (with phosban off for past week)

comments
suggestions
ideas

cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

explor3r said:


> I keep mine 78 to 80... i think that what it should be


Someone told me reef likes a bit cooler water, specially live rock... 76f.
So I started to do more reading about it and man there are so many different opinions....

cheers
sly


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> Someone told me reef likes a bit cooler water, specially live rock... 76f.
> So I started to do more reading about it and man there are so many different opinions....
> 
> cheers
> sly


Bacteria can live in a WIDE range of temp. 
so do many pods and other creatures on the LR. (they also live in pacific ocean by the north pole lol ) 
depending on what corals you like to keep though, you need different temps. and higher temp = increased metabolizm of bacteria and corals and therefore better or faster growth and higher uptake of elements and nutrition.

Stability is the most important though. I keep my tank at 79.5-80.0, cant go any higher due to seahorses.


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> I started to leave my fuge light on 24/7 about 3 days now...
> is that any good?


leaving the lights on 24/7 has some positive results. 
1. PH stabalization, as the lights in your DT goes out, PH starts to drop, and having lights on fuge on will lower this PH drop during the night.

2. the algea wont go asexual and wont get into your DT.

but some have had better success with having it on for like 18 hours a day and a couple hour sleep. (I dont do that, cause I believe planktons are generated more with more light, and I also dont grow any cheato anymore  not enough nutrition.)


----------



## aquanutt

guys help need it,
how do you catch hitchhiker that doesn't like meet... lol

i can't catch the rock crabs...

cheers
sly


----------



## KeMo

Gonna be a hard one to rally them all up. What I did to get rid of my unwanted crabs. "Trust No Crab is My Philosophy " 
I found out what rock they were in. The rock was about a 8-12 lb bolder.
I did not have anything stacked up on it so taking it out was easy. So I took the rock out really fast so they would not jump out back in to the water .
Placed it in a bucket and with in like 2 secs of being out they all jump out of the rock and into the bucket.
Smash smash is what I did with my Work boots. No more crabs nipping at my fishes. 
+ with the way my mandarin fish just sleeps right out in the open on the sand bed I take no changes.


----------



## aquanutt

I found few of those on the glass.
Looks like snail but it has no shell.
Rounded a bit and it has tentacles at least 6 or 8...

any ideas what it might be?

sorry for the bad photo, but i do not own a great camera.

cheers
sly


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> I found few of those on the glass.
> Looks like snail but it has no shell.
> Rounded a bit and it has tentacles at least 6 or 8...
> 
> any ideas what it might be?
> 
> sorry for the bad photo, but i do not own a great camera.
> 
> cheers
> sly


Hydroid ?

the pic doesnt look like a snail.

does it move on the glass ?


----------



## ameekplec.

aquanutt said:


> I found few of those on the glass.
> Looks like snail but it has no shell.
> Rounded a bit and it has tentacles at least 6 or 8...
> 
> any ideas what it might be?
> 
> sorry for the bad photo, but i do not own a great camera.
> 
> cheers
> sly


If it looks like a slug, then it's probably a stomatella.

As for the crabs, put some shrimp in a tall jar and tilt it onto the rocks where the crabs are - at night they'll climb into the jar to eat the shrimp, but if it's tilted at enough of an angle, they can't climb out.


----------



## aquanutt

KeMo said:


> Gonna be a hard one to rally them all up. What I did to get rid of my unwanted crabs. "Trust No Crab is My Philosophy "
> I found out what rock they were in. The rock was about a 8-12 lb bolder.
> I did not have anything stacked up on it so taking it out was easy. So I took the rock out really fast so they would not jump out back in to the water .
> Placed it in a bucket and with in like 2 secs of being out they all jump out of the rock and into the bucket.
> Smash smash is what I did with my Work boots. No more crabs nipping at my fishes.
> + with the way my mandarin fish just sleeps right out in the open on the sand bed I take no changes.


Tried it, no luck.
I kept the rock out of water for about 2-5min. No crab come out from the rock....

this is harder then I thought.
sly


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> Hydroid ?
> 
> the pic doesnt look like a snail.
> 
> does it move on the glass ?


It doesn't look like Hydroid I compared the pictures on the internet...
It doesn't move on the glass... It doesn't swim either just water current carries it to another place... Thats how it travels.

sly


----------



## KeMo

For the crabs try the raw shrimp in the jar trick
Get a glass jar, and toss in a piece of krill/shrimp . Put the lip of the jar on a rock so the crab can crawl in to get the bait. Have the jar at a 70*-80 * angle so once he drops in from the rock he cant run up the glass side of the jar.
I have also herd of people very quickly putting rock in soda water but never have tried that.


----------



## aquanutt

*Diatoms bloom*

I came back from work today and I noticed brown algae bloom in few spots of my aquarium.
I was wondering is it possible for diatoms to bloom twice ???

here is a pic of it.


----------



## aquanutt

*Wierd hair algae*

I have some strange algae growing out of the glass?
Long hairy very green type.... anyone knows what it is?

here is a pic of it.


----------



## aquanutt

KeMo said:


> For the crabs try the raw shrimp in the jar trick
> Get a glass jar, and toss in a piece of krill/shrimp . Put the lip of the jar on a rock so the crab can crawl in to get the bait. Have the jar at a 70*-80 * angle so once he drops in from the rock he cant run up the glass side of the jar.
> I have also herd of people very quickly putting rock in soda water but never have tried that.


I'm gonna try it on the weekend.
I will let you know if it worked....

cheers


----------



## ameekplec.

I'm glad my suggestion was so great it was suggested again! 

Yes, diatoms can bloom more than once - they can come back later on too. The algae is infact hair algae - but it could be any of a number of algaes commonly referred to as "hair algae".

It's a good sign your tank is ready for the first few inhabitants.

I'd remove the algae before it starts to spread. I recommend turning off all the pumps, then scraping the algae off, then sucking it up with a siphon and do a WC.

Also, check your phosphates and nitrates - likely they could stand to be lower (via water changes for the nitrated and phosphates, or the use of granular ferric oxide (GFO) to bind the phosphate).


----------



## aquanutt

*Kalkwasser*

Got my self kalkwasser today,


----------



## aquanutt

*First Snails*

Got first 5 astrea snails,


----------



## aquanutt

*Hermit Crabs*

1 Red Hermit Crab
2 Blue Hermit Crab

Got them last week, seems they are happy and doing fine.
One of them got tons of algae growing on his shell


----------



## aquanutt

*My First Fish*

Two days ago I got my first fish.

So far he is eating and doing okay...
but he does have a ick, so I have to read more about it.


----------



## aquanutt

*aiptasia*

I start to have about 6 aiptasia here and there...
should i start removing them from my rocks or is it too soon?
Someone told me injection with lemon juice gets rid of them well.

cheers
sly


----------



## Big Ray

Ameek is giving you all info you need, rest is up to you to research and actually do it .

aiptasia, hair algea, crabs, all bad, will spread and can cause serious ISsues. you gotta take care of them. (we have all been there )

I left 1 crab in my tank, and now it has multiplied and I have 100s of them, eating my SPS colonies away ! aiptasia is a hundred times worse. 

to kill aiptasia on a rock, u need to cook the rock for days, then soak in RO/CI water, then cook again to be sure its dead, and it may still come back ! 

for now, Id say get a bunch of peppermint shrimps in there, and see if they take care of the aiptasia. but you gotta take action before it spreads, Skim wet, and do huge water changes to keep water parameters fine, this will help your clown with ich as well.

good luck ..


----------



## KeMo

I had 3 really small aiptasia in my tank. Got them on a frag. Don' t waste money on joes juice and you prob dont need to cook it unless it is out of control . Get some vinegar and a syringe from the drug store. Load up the Syringe. Now you have to get the vinegar right into the mouth of the Bastard's . It might take a few try's but this has worked for me and I have not seen the 3 in more then 2 months.


----------



## Big Ray

KeMo said:


> I had 3 really small aiptasia in my tank. Got them on a frag. Don' t waste money on joes juice and you prob dont need to cook it unless it is out of control . Get some vinegar and a syringe from the drug store. Load up the Syringe. Now you have to get the vinegar right into the mouth of the Bastard's . It might take a few try's but this has worked for me and I have not seen the 3 in more then 2 months.


of course all that done outside of the tank,

that much vineager in tank will deplete oxygen within seconds.


----------



## KeMo

As for the Clown . Poor Guy
There are only two proven ways to cure a saltwater of Ich, copper and hyposalinity. Neither treatments can be used in the main display aquarium if there are invertebrates/LR present, so the treatment must be used in a quarantine tank.

Hyposalinity is the preferred treatment among the online reef forums because it is not as dangerous to the fish and it is thought to ease osmotic stress on the fish. Hyposalinity is adjusting the salinity of your aquarium’s water to a specific gravity of 1.010 to treat Ich. Hypo means under or below, hence lowering your salinity below normal levels. Hyposalinity should be in a quarantine tank with all your fish in it, lowering the specific gravity by doing water changes every 12-24 hours with less salt. Once the salinity of 1.010 is achieved then the water should be maintained with this specific gravity for 6 weeks.

Copper treatment is toxic to fish and invertebrates every reefer should now that copper and a reef tank do not mix. If you should choose to use copper treatment make sure that you use a quarantine tank and label the tank copper so you do not use the tank in the future for anything other than quarantine.

When using copper make sure you are testing it with a copper test kit that is the same as the copper treatment you are using. As of right now there are two typs of copper treatment that are used they are chelated copper and ionic copper. Copper binds to any calcium carbonate so it should be used in a bare bottom tank only.

There are other treatments such as Uv lights, Diatom filters and raising temperatures but none are as effective when combating marine Ich as copper and hyposalinity
Good Luck.


----------



## ameekplec.

KeMo said:


> There are only two proven ways to cure a saltwater of Ich, copper and hyposalinity.


I used neither. Must be more than one way (or two) ways to skin a cat.

Keeping up excellent water parameters, feeding well with a nutritious food (and varied diet helps too), and avoiding further stressing the affected fish (ie, no new additions, remove from aggressors) will help to heal mild cases of ich.


----------



## Big Ray

ameekplec. said:


> I used neither. Must be more than one way (or two) ways to skin a cat.
> 
> Keeping up excellent water parameters, feeding well with a nutritious food (and varied diet helps too), and avoiding further stressing the affected fish (ie, no new additions, remove from aggressors) will help to heal mild cases of ich.


+10 on this, I have alot of tangs, all came with ICH, none have ICH now ... .


----------



## aquanutt

*Skimmer upgrade*

I have a choice of two skimmers, just wanted your opinion guys which one would you pick...

vertex in-100

or

euro reef rs 135

any comments?

thanks
sly


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> I have a choice of two skimmers, just wanted your opinion guys which one would you pick...
> 
> vertex in-100
> 
> or
> 
> euro reef rs 135
> 
> any comments?
> 
> thanks
> sly


I currently use a Euro reef RS 80. LOVE it.

check to see which one has a better pump. Id go with the one with the highest air intake rating.


----------



## Kweli

How would you inject the aipastia outside of the tank? Dont they close up and hide when something like that would happen?

I have 2 babies in a colony of zoas.. waiting for them to come out of the colony before i treat (as they are to small now and Zoa's cover them)

As for the ICK.. Im currently doing a hyosalinity with my 2 clowns. They have been come very hungry.... AGRESSIVE hungry and will eat all day long. Seems to be helping... its alot of work though


----------



## Big Ray

Kweli said:


> How would you inject the aipastia outside of the tank? Dont they close up and hide when something like that would happen?
> 
> I have 2 babies in a colony of zoas.. waiting for them to come out of the colony before i treat (as they are to small now and Zoa's cover them)
> 
> As for the ICK.. Im currently doing a hyosalinity with my 2 clowns. They have been come very hungry.... AGRESSIVE hungry and will eat all day long. Seems to be helping... its alot of work though


aiptasia will close up, you will need to get it right on its foot. not an easy task, but if you like to inject your tank with vineager or lemon juice be my guest and report back 
as for waiting for them to come out ... I dont think that will happen lol they will multiple before you know it if water no good.

as for hyposalinity, good  but that is not the only way, PS. I assume you are checking the salinity with a calibrated refractometer, and in a QT tank right ? most of the times, if ich is taking over, just the move to QT and filteration gone is enough to make the fish go over the edge and ... .


----------



## KeMo

I killed 3 ap with small amount of vinegar in a needle. I had no ill effects on the tank. Lets not forget that people dose vinegar just like they dose vodka as an organic carbon source to drive bacterial growth and thereby reduce nutrients.


----------



## KeMo

Getting them Right In the Mouth is the Key here. When it is open you gota hold it right out side its mouth. Inject it right down the Little Buggers throat . If you can use two hands I found it works great because it's hard to really hold it steady and inject without moving and that will cause the Bastard to go in. So use two hands . (gloves on of course when in the tank) One to steady and the other to hit the Plunger on the needle.


----------



## Big Ray

KeMo said:


> I killed 3 ap with small amount of vinegar in a needle. I had no ill effects on the tank. Lets not forget that people dose vinegar just like they dose vodka as an organic carbon source to drive bacterial growth and thereby reduce nutrients.


and how much vinegar did you dose in 29 Gallons ?

I am one of those "people" who dose organic carbon, but that doesnt mean u give ure aquarium a shot every time u drink ... there is a whole methalogy behind it, anyways ... you continue with saying no ill effects, yet we have threads here from you with problems ! perhaps the term "no Ill effect" was spoken too fast !.

after all, its your tank and your fish  so you do as you wish, but Im giving u some useful facts here, organic carbon = bacteria bloom = oxygen depletion. if you have skimmer to remove it, lower effect, if you dose as much as ure system can handle and skimmer can pull out, then you reduce nutrition. drunk fish dont eat N and P


----------



## KeMo

I dont think a little shot like from a needle will really through off you parameters.
Those posts with me having problems ?? oh the light ? ummm diatoms ?
thats about it. 
Were all here to learn Ray but it seems that when someyone goes against what you think its wrong ?


----------



## Big Ray

KeMo said:


> I dont think a little shot like from a needle will really through off you parameters.
> Those posts with me having problems ?? oh the light ? ummm diatoms ?
> thats about it.
> Were all here to learn Ray but it seems that when someyone goes against what you think its wrong ?


if I was posting my opinion, then sure, you can disagree. it will open my eyes to a new perspective as well. 

facts .... well I guess you can disagree to those as well.

what it comes down to, is that if you use lets say 0.1ml of vinegar to kill ONE aiptasia, then ure fine, PH will lower a bit, but if flow is really high the creatures in water wont mind it. if you do the same with 40 aiptasia, you will run into Issues. 
HOT kalk paste works much better, less dangers. even joes juice or lemon juice I'D inject outside water.

now you may ask, vinegar has PH of 4.0, kalk has PH of 12.0, Reef tank PH of 8.0, so both will shift PH ! why did I say no vinegar yes to kalk ? cause vinegar has two properties ! it is an acid and will have an immediate impact on PH (not much) but after mixed in water column, it will break down into organic carbon, fuel up bacteria and O2 consuming creatures and lowers PH by alot more at this stage, which can be lethal to creatures inside a reef tank ! 
kalk on the other hand, will pull out some co2 out of water once dosed, therefore increasing the PH, but once its mixed and broken down, it just increased your CA ! no secondary effects on other stuff 

now all these work for the aiptasia that you can see ! if u see one, there is most likely other ones around as well, so getting a couple of shrimps will help keep them in check as well (peppermint).

again, if I disagree with anything, I bring my reasoning and facts which made me believe that way, ID never base that on what I "think" like certain sites. and I love it when ppl correct me , with reasoning and facts, cause it will teach me a new thing as well  no hard feelings I hope.


----------



## Kweli

I heard of hot lemon & water as another strategy?


----------



## KeMo

Ray I said to use A needle also know as a syringe. 
I used less then 10 cc . That is like a pin prick. 
Not much at all. I dont think such a small amount on a 75 gal tank will really do much mind you he did say he has 6. So then he would need more . I only gave him an example of what I did. He might have more he might not.
Anyways they cell the Syringes at any Drugstore . So what ever rout you take you prob gona need one of them anyway.


----------



## Big Ray

KeMo said:


> Ray I said to use A needle also know as a syringe.
> I used less then 10 cc . That is like a pin prick.
> Not much at all. I dont think such a small amount on a 75 gal tank will really do much mind you he did say he has 6. So then he would need more . I only gave him an example of what I did. He might have more he might not.
> Anyways they cell the Syringes at any Drugstore . So what ever rout you take you prob gona need one of them anyway.


you gotta love the "I think"s


----------



## aquanutt

*powerheads*

Is it bad to have too much water movement in the DT tank?
I mean my sand doesn't move and clownfish swims okay in the tank... but the two powerheads I have rated for 125g tank, my tank is only 75g...

any controllers out there to control the speed of the powerheads? nothing too expensive please...

thanks
cheers


----------



## Kweli

Controllers only work for powerheads that are designed to work for them. Typical powerheads do not have this feature so you will need to research this.

Flow really depends on what you want to keep in your tank. You CAN have to much flow if you have all LPS's that like low flow.... Or your flow might be perfect for a SPS tank that want lots of flow

its also about positioning.. try to position the flow towards the things that like it, and 'dead' spots for the ones that dont like flow (mushrooms/bubble corals, etc..)


----------



## Big Ray

+1 on what Kweli said, but you do not want dead spots !! you could have areas with lower flow and higher, but you do not want dead spots, as all detritus and mulm will build up in that place and ... . 

wavemaker ? red sea is the cheapest and can be run with MJs. you can have your ither power heads, and place a couple MJs around for a bit of wave action. 

Wave action increases mass transfer in corals by 30% !!!


----------



## aquanutt

*Frags*

Anyone has any frags for sale? or anyone wants to give away some frags?
sorry guys i have nothing to swap at this point, my tank is brand new...

cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Euro reef RS 135*

I got the skimmer, so much bigger then my coralife, lol...
I will be installing Gate Valve Mod on it sometimes this weekend, i will post some pictures before and after.


----------



## aquanutt

Anyone interested in specs of there skimmer here it is...

Rated for aquarium systems of +/- 135 gallons with a medium bioload
Compares to other skimmers rated from 250 to 500 gallons
Space required for skimmer in filter/ sump: 10" x 11" ~ 7.25" x 13.25" ~ 9.5" x 12" (Variable)
Overall Height: 24"
Ideal operating water depth: 6.5" constant
Max operating water depth: 11 "
Reaction chamber diameter: 6 "
Reaction chamber volume: 1.65 gallons
Inlet size: .75 "
Outlet size: 40mm
Pump (included): SP3- Euro-Reef modified SEDRA KSP-5000A0 water pump
Pump power consumption: 40 Watts @ 115/120 VAC 60hz
Air intake: 660-720 lph**
Water flow through rate under specified operating conditions: 250 gph

cheers 
sly


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> +1 on what Kweli said, but you do not want dead spots !! you could have areas with lower flow and higher, but you do not want dead spots, as all detritus and mulm will build up in that place and ... .
> 
> wavemaker ? red sea is the cheapest and can be run with MJs. you can have your ither power heads, and place a couple MJs around for a bit of wave action.
> 
> Wave action increases mass transfer in corals by 30% !!!


I'm sure i don't have dead sposts, I change the direction of flow at least once a week.

thanks


----------



## aquanutt

Kweli said:


> Controllers only work for powerheads that are designed to work for them. Typical powerheads do not have this feature so you will need to research this.
> 
> Flow really depends on what you want to keep in your tank. You CAN have to much flow if you have all LPS's that like low flow.... Or your flow might be perfect for a SPS tank that want lots of flow
> 
> its also about positioning.. try to position the flow towards the things that like it, and 'dead' spots for the ones that dont like flow (mushrooms/bubble corals, etc..)


I have hydor Koralia 1400, manual says i can use controller on it.
I don't know if i want to creat wave motion at this point in my tank. I don't trust my aquarium stand which I bought from BA. It would be nice to be able to control the speed of the powerheads at least...

cheers


----------



## aquanutt

*Water Tests Oct 18*

PH 8.3
Ammonia NH3 0.15
Nitrite N02 0
Nitrate N03 0
Phosphates 0.2
Calcium 300

Here is my water conditions after having Clown Fish for two weeks now.
He is doing fine and I noticed he gained appetite...

Also my Calcium levels are still low after dosing kalkwasser for about 4 days.

cheers
sly


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> PH 8.3
> Ammonia NH3 0.15
> Nitrite N02 0
> Nitrate N03 0
> Phosphates 0.2
> Calcium 300
> 
> Here is my water conditions after having Clown Fish for two weeks now.
> He is doing fine and I noticed he gained appetite...
> 
> Also my Calcium levels are still low after dosing kalkwasser for about 4 days.
> 
> cheers
> sly


dont dose kalk, it will just ramp up your PH, and also not so much effect on calcium.
ALSO, kalk will bond and percipitate with your po4, (you may have noticed a drop in po4 after dosing kalk) now that is good and bad, cause po4 tets wont read it, BUT algea/bacteria contains enzymes which can break down that bond and use the po4 straight ...

here is what kalk is
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

now if you want to add kalk to increase your CAlcium, mix kalk with ro/DI water, then add some vineager to it, that will draw in co2, lower its PH, and let the calcium be used. (pulling more calcium out) but that's hard .... sooo

what is your KH ? I bet that is lowering as well (as it does in every tank) so you are better off dosing for both.,
you can use calcium chloride mixed with RO/DI water for calcium supplement
sodium bicarbonate mixed with RO/DI for your KH needs,
(arm and hammer and chemical companies have them, if not, go with fauna marine)

dose calcium during the day and KH in morning.

DIY calcium and alkalinity dosing :
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> I'm sure i don't have dead sposts, I change the direction of flow at least once a week.
> 
> thanks


those spots, behind the rocks, which get lower flow are called dead spots, not dead fully, just lower flow, so detritus can build up. its up to you if you do or not though 

Im just giving u info ...


----------



## aquanutt

*Calcium Chloride*

Where do you guys get your Calcium Chloride ?

thanks
sly


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> Where do you guys get your Calcium Chloride ?
> 
> thanks
> sly


ORG has fauna marine salts ... very pure ...
chemical companies .... but they will most likely not sell it to ppl !! no Idea why .

and of course a quote from Randy Homes Farley :
_
If Dowflake calcium chloride or a repackaged version (such as All-Clear) cannot be located, Peladow or Dow Mini-Pellets, which are dehydrated versions of Dowflake (that is, they have less water in the crystals), can be substituted. In addition to the Peladow brand name, Peladow also is sold as Prestone Driveway Heat and possibly as some other common brands. Kent Turbo Calcium is also suitable and is an anhydrous calcium chloride. Any FCC (food), USP (pharmaceutical) or BP (pharmaceutical) grades of calcium chloride should be suitable.

Peladow, Dow mini-Pellets, Prestone Driveway Heat, Kent Turbo Calcium and other dehydrated calcium chloride products are more potent than Dowflake. The dehydration makes them both more potent by weight, and more dense, so they are much more potent by volume. The problem is that it is rarely clear how much moisture they contain. Peladow specifies 90% calcium chloride minimum, but it may be higher in some cases. Dow Mini-Pellets say 94% minimum, but it actually has a lower bulk density than Peladow. The best guess for an amount to use is based on the hydration levels and bulk density provided by Dow for these products. Using these numbers, I suggest that aquarists use 20% less VOLUME of the dehydrated versions in the recipes than the Dowflake they call for. So a recipe calling for 5 cups of Dowflake would use 4 cups of Peladow, Prestone Driveway Heat, Kent Turbo Calcium, etc.

Choosing other unknown brands of any of the products may be fine, or not. I've not tested them for purity._
from http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#4


----------



## aquanutt

*Nov 01 water tests*

PH 8.2
Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphates 0.15
Calcium 320

I need to raise my calcium.


----------



## aquanutt

*Feather Duster & first coral*

Got my self Feather Duster and Polyp type coral.
Coral seem to be doing well, it did open right after the lights came on.
Feather duster seems to be open during night time...

cheers
sly

PS: pictures coming soon.


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> PH 8.2
> Amonia 0
> Nitrite 0
> Nitrate 0
> Phosphates 0.15
> Calcium 320
> 
> I need to raise my calcium.


nice nice, when raising calcium, be sure to monitor KH and PH as well.


----------



## aquanutt

*my cbs*

My coral banded shrimp molt last night, at first I thought he died. 
He got such a nice bright colors now!


----------



## caker_chris

any pics yet?


----------



## aquanutt

caker_chris said:


> any pics yet?


im working on the pictures but my camera suck big time, cant even zoom on it nicely...

cheers
sly


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## aquanutt

*Nov 09 water tests*

PH 8.2
Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphates 0.05
Calcium 340
Salinity 1.024
Temperature 79F

Tank is doing great,
my rocks are covered with a neon green type coral algae.
I cant get my calcium up for some reason or something is wrong with my API test kit... lol
Anywayz, I need more purple! alot more purple I only few spots here and there.

pics coming soon.
cheers


----------



## Big Ray

nice nice  coralline algae takes a while to cover, but it will  dont worry .

what is your KH though ? KH and CA++ and MG go hand in hand (in hand I guess) with each other to make corals grow and Coraline to grow.


----------



## aquanutt

*Pictures Time!*

Here is updated picture on a Clown Fish










He is doing great, got much stronger colours


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## aquanutt

*Pictures time!*

Here is my feather duster,
I noticed in just one week he got much nicer colors in my tank.
I think he likes his new home...










awesome!


----------



## aquanutt

*Pictures time!*

My first coral!



















second shot less light...


----------



## aquanutt

*Pictures Time!*

My Fox Coral, this coral is so pretty..


----------



## aquanutt

*Pictures time!*

My coral banded shrimp, i love this guy...


----------



## aquanutt

*Pictures Time!*

My Aquarium after 3 months, I think.
random shots.


----------



## 50seven

Nice! and a picture is always worth a thousand words...


----------



## aquanutt

50seven said:


> Nice! and a picture is always worth a thousand words...


Thanks, but your tank is much better then mine... I'm just a newbie.


----------



## aquanutt

*New fish*

If I wanna bring new fish to my DT tank, what solution should I dip the fish in?. What do you guys use? Same with corals, can I use the same solution on fish and corals or is it diffrent type all together...

PS: i'm scared to bring a new fish home... just by reading all the bad stuff that happens if I bring sick fish. I know most of them are from local fish stores.


----------



## gucci17

aquanutt said:


> If I wanna bring new fish to my DT tank, what solution should I dip the fish in?. What do you guys use? Same with corals, can I use the same solution on fish and corals or is it diffrent type all together...
> 
> PS: i'm scared to bring a new fish home... just by reading all the bad stuff that happens if I bring sick fish. I know most of them are from local fish stores.


I wouldn't go with a dip method. Are you able to setup a small quarantine tank for new fish?


----------



## aquanutt

gucci17 said:


> I wouldn't go with a dip method. Are you able to setup a small quarantine tank for new fish?


See I'm trying avoid setting up another quarantine tank, if my wife see one more thank in the house I will have to pack my bags... lol

If I have to I will! Man power all the way!

lol
cheers


----------



## gucci17

aquanutt said:


> See I'm trying avoid setting up another quarantine tank, if my wife see one more thank in the house I will have to pack my bags... lol
> 
> If I have to I will! Man power all the way!
> 
> lol
> cheers


Ah ok...well then I dunno haha. Just tell her she won't even notice it if it's under the main tank.


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> If I wanna bring new fish to my DT tank, what solution should I dip the fish in?. What do you guys use? Same with corals, can I use the same solution on fish and corals or is it diffrent type all together...
> 
> PS: i'm scared to bring a new fish home... just by reading all the bad stuff that happens if I bring sick fish. I know most of them are from local fish stores.


for fish, just look at it to be sure nothing wrong. in my opinion, all fish have the "virus (lets call it virus) of ich in them, and it bothers them and comes out when water is not good or when they are not fed well, like us, alot of viruses are in us, and only come out when we get weaker. so I dont think diping all fish in a good Idea, QT is, but Im not willing to set up a tank just for QT  all my fish had ich at first and made it through.

as for corals, I never dipped mine, and now, I have red bugs :S which are eating my SPS away ... so I would consider dipping for corals. I like revive the best ... seems to kill the most creatures lol Iodine dip seems to not do much IMO ...

QT seems to be the best bet in both cases, so you can observe them over a week or two to be sure ...


----------



## aquanutt

*goreef or bulkreefsupply*

do you prefer to shop at goreef.com or bulkreefsupply.com???

cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> nice nice  coralline algae takes a while to cover, but it will  dont worry .
> 
> what is your KH though ? KH and CA++ and MG go hand in hand (in hand I guess) with each other to make corals grow and Coraline to grow.


For KH is the Hanna Alkalinity tester any good?
goreef.com have it for $59 bucs...

thanks


----------



## Kweli

QT is the only way to treat a fish with illness before it has a chance to infect other fish, or use the rocks to always get away from your net.

With that said, if your not going to QT then the best option is to really inspect the fish (and all the inhabitants in its tank) before purchase.

The biggest fear is ICH: Based on its lifecycle it falls off the fish and after days, or weeks, it spawns again and goes through the water system to find a new host. Most fish tanks have connecting tanks, so you can assume that if one tank has an outbreak there is a good chance that the others will soon. 

Most hobbist just live with ICH and keep their fish healthy & happy. The problem is, ICH can come in on liverock (if the fallen parasite lands on the rock and forms its cyst there).... so unless you QT everything then there is always a chance of introducing the ICH parasite to your tank


----------



## ameekplec.

aquanutt said:


> do you prefer to shop at goreef.com or bulkreefsupply.com???
> 
> cheers
> sly





aquanutt said:


> For KH is the Hanna Alkalinity tester any good?
> goreef.com have it for $59 bucs...
> 
> thanks


Haven;t used the Alkalinity tester, but Alk is one of those parameters where it's just as easy to use the standard test kits. If anything I'd get the phosphate meter fro Hanna.

As for the two suppliers, I've shopped at Goreef.com and BRS - but if you see soemthing on BRS that goreef has, ask Mathieu (goreef) if he'll match the price for you.


----------



## Kweli

I had good customer service experiences with BRS.. havent tried go-reef yet


----------



## Big Ray

ameekplec. said:


> Haven;t used the Alkalinity tester, but Alk is one of those parameters where it's just as easy to use the standard test kits. If anything I'd get the phosphate meter fro Hanna.
> 
> As for the two suppliers, I've shopped at Goreef.com and BRS - but if you see soemthing on BRS that goreef has, ask Mathieu (goreef) if he'll match the price for you.


+1 on po4 meters, they are cool. although mine registers 0 all the time so .... :S


----------



## aquanutt

*Midnight Madness*

Went to BA midnight madness sale on Saturday, got few new corals.
Green Grape Coral
Green Flower Pot Coral
Metalic Green Star Polyp

Looks great!

cheers


----------



## aquanutt

*Last Week*

Last week I also got two new fish,

Yellow Tang
Kole Tang

Just 3 days in my tank and both of them are still very shy, every time I approach the tank they zoom quickly to hide out places.... I have problem feeding them both yet, trying different type of foods but like I said both fish are way to shy...

clown fish is getting fat, eating all their food alone 

cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Nov 23rd Water Tests*

Here is my water tests after two weeks

PH 8.2
Amonia 0.25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphates 0.1
Calcium 380 (going up slowly)
Alkalinity 1.7-2.8 Normal range
Salinity 1.024
Temp 79F

cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*my tangs wont eat my food*

I have a problem on my hands
My tangs won't eat any of my food.
No flakes
No pellets
No frozen stuff
No seaweed

Its been five days and the moment I approach my tank they are gone
Hiding in places... So when I feed the food just floats around.
Clown fish is having good feast for sure!

Anyways my tangs are glazing rocks like crazy all day and they
Are pooping a lot which I assume they are eating.

Its been like this 5 days and I don't know what to do...

Cheers
Sly


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## Big Ray

tangs should eat like a cow and if they dont there is a problem 

although I know what you mean about them being scared of u  

get a nori clip, or just somehow clip a sheet of nori inside the tank at low flow area, and lave, stand on the other side of the room, the tangs will soon find it and eat it. then get used to it so u can feed them that way daily.

same goes with frozen, turn pumps off, drop food in and step away, let them eat and then turn pumps on again


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## aquanutt

*my tangs*

Still no luck on making my tangs eat...
I noticed they pick on pcs of floating seaweed here and there.
They wont touch the seaweed clipped to the clip or even to the rock using elastic.

should i try to lace the seaweed in garlic juice whatever its called? where do i get that kind of stuff?

stuborn fish.
cheers


----------



## aquanutt

*green potted coral is sick!*

I noticed my green potted coral is sick, brown jelly stuff all around the bottom eating the coral so fast! I didn't see anything when I get the coral and it just apeared last two days... I check the net and they called it Brown Jelly disease...

what a week i'm having!
cheers


----------



## conix67

aquanutt said:


> I noticed my green potted coral is sick, brown jelly stuff all around the bottom eating the coral so fast! I didn't see anything when I get the coral and it just apeared last two days... I check the net and they called it Brown Jelly disease...
> 
> what a week i'm having!
> cheers


I would avoid getting corals from Big Als in general..

Not sure what triggers brown jelly disease. I suspected few heads of my frogspawn were having something similar months ago, so I fragged them out. Since then they disappeared. It might be a good idea to take out ones with brown jelly on them.


----------



## aquanutt

conix67 said:


> I would avoid getting corals from Big Als in general..
> 
> Not sure what triggers brown jelly disease. I suspected few heads of my frogspawn were having something similar months ago, so I fragged them out. Since then they disappeared. It might be a good idea to take out ones with brown jelly on them.


I know BAs don't have great reputation so I'm taking a big risk. My other four corals are doing great so far...

I removed my sick coral to QT tank but it didn't last two days. The brown jelly sickness ate the whole coral all the way to the rock. I have never seen anything like it! Its a nice pcs of rock so I'm gonna boil the rock and then cure it again for my tank. I like the shape of the rock.

I need post updated pictures of my tank,
I have more corals and more fish now...

cheers
sly


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## aquanutt

Big Ray said:


> tangs should eat like a cow and if they dont there is a problem
> 
> although I know what you mean about them being scared of u
> 
> get a nori clip, or just somehow clip a sheet of nori inside the tank at low flow area, and lave, stand on the other side of the room, the tangs will soon find it and eat it. then get used to it so u can feed them that way daily.
> 
> same goes with frozen, turn pumps off, drop food in and step away, let them eat and then turn pumps on again


I noticed last night both tangs were ripping apart seaweed and eating floating leftovers! They won't touch the seaweed from a salat clip, but clipped to a rock they will nip at it time to time...


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## aquanutt

*My Tangs*

I didn't know Tangs can recognize people in the room!
Friend of mine came over and all the fish were gone... only clown fish was enjoy the free space for a moment. I noticed they are getting used to me a bit cuz I always work around the tank daily after work... So I noticed they are not as shy anymore with me. I can sit down and enjoy watch them swim here and there. Yellow tang loves to keep me company she would swim right to my face and give me this weird dance with wide open fins...

PS: Kole Tang just follows yellow Tang everywhere, became best buddies!

cheers
sly


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## aquanutt

*Question*

I wanna clean up my powerheads and back of the glass aquarium from algae and stuff, but I noticed my fish keep eating stuff from it all the time... They are not eating any flakes of pellets yet so I wanted to know, should I leave the cleaning alone for now? Or should I clean up and let the fish look for another source of food, which is hopefully ME! lol...

cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*Power Outage*

What do you guys do or what do you run as a backup when you get Power Outage?

cheers
sly


----------



## Big Ray

aquanutt said:


> What do you guys do or what do you run as a backup when you get Power Outage?
> 
> cheers
> sly


I just pray it comes back fast lol

you could get battery back up for your pumps or a generator though ..


----------



## aquanutt

*My pumps are too loud*

I'm kinda getting tired of the noise my pump makes, 
is styrofoam safe to use in the reef tank? I wanna put underneeth the pump in my sump... the pump is resting on the bottom glass and makes a loud noise.

thanks
cheers


----------



## gucci17

What pump are you running? You would have to weigh down the styro quite well or it'll float away. Some people use mouse pads. Not sure I feel safe using them. Some people use silicone heating pads that you find for your kitchen.


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## aquanutt

*9000K lights*

Would 9000K Color: 8000~9000K white
Luminous Flux: 576~612 LM work as a addition to my T5 lights work?
Is 9000K colour safe for soft corals?

Cheers


----------



## aquanutt

*Dec 06 Water Tests*

PH 8.2
Amonia 0.10
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphates 0.05
Calcium 420 (going up slowly)
Alkalinity 1.7-2.8 Normal range
Salinity 1.024
Temp 79F


----------



## aquanutt

*Tangs are eating!*

After almost two weeks both tangs start to eat seaweed.
Both of them are ripping apart until its all gone. They still wont touch any type of marine flakes or pellets.

oh well, step at a time I guess.


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## aquanutt

*Tangs*

My tangs had a nice feast on a frozen mysis shrimp... they loved it!
It took almost two weeks to make them eat frozen stuff.

cheers
sly


----------



## aquanutt

*kole tang my yellow eyed friend is dead!*

I am devastated, I lost my favorite fish in my tank. 
This fish had such a nice shy personality, I'm gonna miss him.
I had him for almost two months.
Here is a recap of what I did to try to fight his ick.

Friday night he brake out in white spots all over his body
I left my UV 24/7 and reduced the flow

Saturday fresh water bath and QT tank

Saturday to monday I fed him frozen meet foods only
He wouldn't touch any flakes.

Tuesday all his spots disappeared 
and nice vibrant colour came back

tuesday-wensday he was doing well
Eating only frozen foods

Thursday night all white spots cameback much worse

Friday morning I found him dead.

Cheers
Sly


----------



## Kweli

Sorry to hear that, Did you drop the QT to 1.009 hypo?


----------



## aquanutt

Kweli said:


> Sorry to hear that, Did you drop the QT to 1.009 hypo?


No i didn't, I'm so new at all this.


----------



## aquanutt

*Water tests Dec 20*

PH 8.6 (at 7pm)
Ammonia 0.20
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphates 0.05
Calcium 420 (going up slowly)
Alkalinity 1.7-2.8 Normal range
Salinity 1.024
Temp 79F


----------



## Kweli

Ammonia is something to keep an eye on, you dont want that anywhere higher then 0. Typically caused by something rotting/decomposing in your tank, or seen at the begginning of a cycle (new tank)

With ich, theres 2 schools of thought... Feed the guy and keep him healthy and he will fight it off (think of it as a cold/flu)... and hope he doesnt get stressed again (as it will come back)

Or QT him for 4-6 weeks in hyposalinity (my choice, easy on fish) or in copper treatments (much more hard on the internal organs of the fish)

Either way, After 4-7 days on the fish ICH will jump off and create a cyst where it lands. It will stay there for days to weeks (up to 6 i think?) and pop open and re-infect all fish in your tank. 

The only way to remove it from your tank fully is to have it fishless for that time while treating everything in QT.

I wouldnt do anything drastic... but wait and see if any of your other fish get ICH


----------



## aquanutt

*Yellow Tang Ick*

My Yellow Tang is sick now and didn't eat anything this morning.

I should have QT everything before adding to my DT tank. Now all my fish suffer. My clown fish is sick and my other two green chromis have white spots.

man I got my self a real poblem for holidays.
I have to deside what steps to take to eliminate that ick out of my DT tank and QT all my fish....

ideas comments are welcome,
thanks
cheers

PS: HAPPY HOLIDAYS GUYS!


----------



## Kweli

Best thing to do is feed them, if you have garlic or selcon (sp?) then use that as well.

Basically strengthen them up for now to overcome the sickness. Although they will keep getting it over and over, either they will build resistance against it, or die.

Your plan should be to setup a quarantine tank up. Easiest treatment is hypo-salinity if its ICH, drop salinity over 48hrs to 1.009 and keep it there for about 3 weeks, then raise it back up to 1.026 very slowly (over the course of a week). 

Your display tank will need to be fishless for about 6-7 weeks to kill ICH

Its a pain in the ass... I went through it... which is why I QT fish before putting them in the DT.... its hard and requires alot of will power

The other option is to live with it, and hope that your fish are healthy enough to survive. Any shocks/stress may bring it out again.

Also, keep your hand out of the tank for a while, let them relax... you dont want to add unnecessary stress... as I could imagine it will be very stressful getting some of the fish out (like the clown goby, who is very fast)


----------



## aquanutt

*ident please*

This is growing on my rock and some places on the glass.
I have no clue what is it... can someone tell me?



















thanks
cheers


----------



## sig

I have no knowledge to share, but wish your the best. All these troubles are in the future for me also

*100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3*


----------



## carmenh

Reef Sanctuary has a great hitchhiker forum, you can ask on there. Or if I can borrow your pics, I will gladly ask. I'm really curious!


----------



## aquanutt

sig said:


> I have no knowledge to share, but wish your the best. All these troubles are in the future for me also


of course you can borrow pictures...
thanks


----------



## carmenh

Ok, I'll let you know if I find anything out...


----------



## carmenh

Botrylloides violaceus? A colonial tunicate?

http://depts.washington.edu/fhlk12/links/StudentProjects/Settlingorganisms.html


----------



## aquanutt

carmenh said:


> Botrylloides violaceus? A colonial tunicate?
> 
> http://depts.washington.edu/fhlk12/links/StudentProjects/Settlingorganisms.html


thanks man,
i wonder if its bad or good...


----------



## carmenh

I wouldn't worry about them unless they are in the way. I have all sorts of oddball sponges and tunicates, I just leave them. They are good little filter feeders. 



aquanutt said:


> thanks man,
> i wonder if its bad or good...


----------



## aquanutt

*Reusing GFO*

I took my old phosban media coked in a boiled water about 3 times, RO water that is.
Then i put on a baking sheet and baked in the oven for about an hour. Next day rinsed with RO water again and put it back into my phosban reactor. After doing water change in my DT tank, I took the old water from my aquarium and installed the reactor with a small pump. I tested the water before and after...

Day one
phosphates 0.1

Day two
phosphates 0.05

Day three 
phosphates undetectable! by my Seachem test kit.

so looks to me like we don't need to waste all the phosban media, after cooking and baking for few hours it is reusable... I don't know how many times it could be reused but I will keep trying and I will post the results here...

cheers


----------



## 50seven

aquanutt said:


> so looks to me like we don't need to waste all the phosban media, after cooking and baking for few hours it is reusable... I don't know how many times it could be reused but I will keep trying and I will post the results here...
> 
> cheers


Fascinating... I'm interested to hear more...


----------

