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Coralline generally starts off with a bunch of pastel green stuff, then goes red, then purple.
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Feb 10, 2011 17:19
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That's a little disappointing, I liked my green tank  but I'm sure I'll come to like my purple one in time. The green stuff is already spreading to the glass...I heard razor blades are typically used to remove that, but is it really safe to use on glass? I'd be scared of scratching it.vvv thanks yeah I eat ass fucked around with this message at 17:27 on Feb 10, 2011 |
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Feb 10, 2011 17:21
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A straight razor blade will work beautifully on glass as long as you don't go at it on an angle. They use them all the time in constructions. Will not work on acrylic. I would check out one of these to go with your glass cleaner. algae scrapper - http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/glass-cleaners/easy-blade-algae-scrapers-black.html glass cleaner - http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/glass-cleaners/the-piranha-float-magnetic-glass-cleaner.html
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Feb 10, 2011 17:24
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Okay so I have a 25 gal QT tank, but the lighting is no where as intense in there as it is in my DT. I know most corals will need to be adjusted at least for a day or two near the bottom of my DT, but what about fish? Will they take care of themselves and hide if not adjusted?
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Feb 12, 2011 00:30
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Yeah light isn't going to be a huge factor for the fish
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Feb 12, 2011 00:32
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That easy blade scraper is my favorite algae cleaning tool, I had to order them special to carry them in the store I work at.
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Feb 12, 2011 03:57
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Any old credit card works but it's a pain in the rear end compared to a razor blade
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Feb 12, 2011 05:10
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The easy blade is a razor blade attached to a magnet cleaner. It's all the ease of a razor blade with the laziness of a magnet cleaner.
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Feb 12, 2011 06:51
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will I get inaccurate reading for Nitrite/ammonia if my sand bed was disturbed? Even after cycle?
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Feb 12, 2011 18:51
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My sand bed is constantly disturbed and I never notice any fluctuations in those levels. I guess it would depend on the depth of your sandbed, and how often it gets disturbed. I have read that bad stuff like that can build up in an undisturbed sand bed, so I would guess if that is the case it could cause those levels to be higher than normal. I'm sure someone else can give a better answer.
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Feb 12, 2011 20:51
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I just bought a used MRC1 calcium reactor along with most of the necessary other components, as that's my next project. My tank has 2 huge rear end maximas in it plus a variety of other clams so it's using up calcium from 2-part dosing like no tomorrow. So basically what I'm doing is I'm going to drill 2 additional holes in the top of the reactor in addition to the one for the effluvia, one will be for the pH probe (connected via controller to the CO2 regulator solenoid) and the other will be for CO2 recirculation (so that the gas doesn't escape into the tank water, the air tube will go back into the reactor's pump and extend the life of the CO2 tank). I plan to have all this operational by next weekend so then I can take out my 2-part dosing and sell that off.
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Feb 13, 2011 01:58
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I'm starting a 75 gallon tank from scratch, and it's my first project. I have the tank, stand, a ~10 gallon acrylic sump, and protein skimmer on hand. Coming in the mail are my return pump, powerheads, GFCIs, and a few other odds and ends. So, come this weekend, I'll hopefully be able to plumb it and do some "dry" (wet) runs to check for leaks. Anyway, I'd like some advice on how to initially "cycle" my tank. I've heard that using dead rock is better because you don't get any of the pests that can be on live rock. On the other hand, you don't get any of the beneficial organisms either, and it takes much longer to cycle. I've been thinking about doing half-and-half, and letting the live rock seed the dead rock, but if I'm going to be using any live rock off the bat, should I just use ALL live rock and save myself some time?
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Feb 19, 2011 11:28
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Anony Mouse posted:I'm starting a 75 gallon tank from scratch, and it's my first project. I have the tank, stand, a ~10 gallon acrylic sump, and protein skimmer on hand. Coming in the mail are my return pump, powerheads, GFCIs, and a few other odds and ends. So, come this weekend, I'll hopefully be able to plumb it and do some "dry" (wet) runs to check for leaks. Have you bought any rock yet? Live or dry? If you have the budget then go with all Live rock. It's generally easy to take care of pests before you stock it with livestock. (I had a few aiptasia before fish went into my setup and they were easy to nip in the bud.) If money is an issue you can always do what I did ( I just setup a 75gal myself) and buy 60-80 lbs of dry rock and then 10-30 lbs of live rock (make sure it's quality nasty looking stuff, lots of bio on it). It will speed up your cycle a lot, not to mention giving you a whole bunch of critters you will most likely come to love. Note: The 'live sand' bags are usually not 'live' that you will buy in a LFS. Talk to your local reefers, reef club, and see if someone can give you a cup or two of sand from their tank, or find a LFS that sells live substrate (non-bagged)(be careful with the LFS substrate and make sure you get recommended by a local reefer, you don't want pests).
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Feb 19, 2011 13:04
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So I think my tiger pistol shrimp killed my carpenter's flasher wrasse...I hadn't seen him(the fish) for a couple days and I shined my light down into the shrimp's cave and clearly see a fin. Has anyone ever heard of this happening with not-tiny fish? I know they can stun smaller fish and will eat them, but the wrasse was about half an inch(around 3" total length) bigger than the shrimp and was very fast. The only thing I can think of is he must've gotten him at night when the wrasse just kind of sits around in a cave and he just didn't defend himself like my goby would if the shrimp came at him. Assuming this is true, how would I go about getting the shrimp out? I'd like a trap or something so I can take him back to the LFS. I don't want to lose another 60 dollar fish
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Feb 21, 2011 14:18
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There are a number of traps you can buy for catching something like a pistol shrimp. Just keep trying different baits til you nab him. If you don't want to drop money on a trap, you can take a 16 oz soda bottle, cut the top quarter off, invert it and put it into the bottom 3/4s. Drop some bait into it, fill it with water and then wait. I've heard of people sucking them out with hoses if they're small enough. Not sure how good this is for the shrimp, though. I would guess you're assumption is correct. The shrimp probably got close enough to the wrasse while he was sleeping and nailed him. Did you feed the shrimp directly or just let him scavenge? It's possible he was that hungry to go after a bigger fish like a wrasse. Or the shrimp is just a dick and decided to kill him for kicks. 
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Feb 21, 2011 15:12
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I fed the shrimp regularly, so I don't think he was just hungry. I would drop/squirt stuff down to his cave entrance and he came out and ate it while I kept the goby away from that side of the tank until he was done. Hopefully my semi-picasso clown stays smart enough to sleep in his frogspawn coral and doesn't go down there. e: Now that my tank has a "vacancy", I was considering another semi-pic clown. I know if you add a female when another female is already in the tank, they will fight, but I've read in some places that if you get them young enough they won't have a sex yet and it would be safe to add the un-sexed one with the female. I assume mine is female since it is the only one and has been in my tank a few months, but I have to admit the fish gender thing is still a little confusing to me. I know a place that sells them as juveniles(where I got my current one), but given what they are and how much they cost, I'd like to be almost absolutely sure they won't kill each other. yeah I eat ass fucked around with this message at 21:45 on Feb 21, 2011 |
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Feb 21, 2011 15:39
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a duck posted:I fed the shrimp regularly, so I don't think he was just hungry. I would drop/squirt stuff down to his cave entrance and he came out and ate it while I kept the goby away from that side of the tank until he was done. Hopefully my semi-picasso clown stays smart enough to sleep in his frogspawn coral and doesn't go down there. If the place has had those clowns for a while and they're in the same tank, you can observe the social interactions, there will be a big one that's chasing little ones all over, that's the one that's turning female and the others are either turning male or still juvenile.
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Feb 21, 2011 21:50
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Well, the problem is my tank already has a clown. I am talking about adding an unpaired one from the same place I got my current one, not an established pair, where they say the ones I buy will be < 6 months old. I believe they get new ones in all the time since they are a fairly large place, so the one I buy won't be from the same group as the one I have now.
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Feb 21, 2011 22:00
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I would do some research on RC. I think it depends on what sex the one in your tank is now, which I am not sure how that works when they are alone. Like you said, if yours is female then you just buy the small young one at the store and it should stay male. I think if you buy another female you'll have problems. Again, assuming yours is male.
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Feb 21, 2011 23:22
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Yeah, that's what is confusing the hell out of me right now. I looked on RC and nano-reef threads wondering similar things and the consensus seems to be once it bonds with an anemone it "turns" female if it is alone, but I don't have an anemone, I have a frogspawn coral. So I'm wondering if coral/anemone are interchangeable when it comes to this, or what. I'll keep reading through RC/etc, but it's hard to find someone in the exact same situation as I am. Maybe I should just get another wrasse after I take the pistol shrimp back...
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Feb 21, 2011 23:40
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I have seen some people suggest removing the single clown, returning it to the LFS, and buying 2 new clowns. I dunno.
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Feb 21, 2011 23:55
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Any clown that remains by itself will turn female, doesn't matter if it's hosted by an anemone. If you have a solitary clown that's been there for months it's probably well on its way. Any juvenile clown in a tank is likely to be either unsexed or male, since it takes months for the process to go unsexed->male->female. Clowns that have not yet separated out into pairs will only support one female in the big group, all the other clowns start out as unsexed juveniles and turn male. Breeders will set up colony tanks like that with a known female, which prevents all the other juveniles from taking the final step.
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Feb 22, 2011 00:18
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Well, there you go. I guess just find the smallest and puniest clown your LFS has to offer and you're good to go?
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Feb 22, 2011 00:30
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Thanks arioch and IE, I never really looked into this because I had no intention of ever breeding clowns. My problem is I ordered my current clown online from a store in south Florida, about 5 hours or so from me. I could order another, but they just give a "under 6 months" guarantee, but in my mind that isn't enough to guarantee the fish will get along. I am also dumb and wouldn't want to get rid of my current guy or any of my current fish( which is why I'm also having a hard time getting rid of my pistol shrimp despite him being a ruthless killer), so taking my current one to the LFS and getting a confirmed pair isn't much of an option.
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Feb 22, 2011 00:44
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I'd call up "Booyah's Reef" to see if he will ship you a juvie perc, he is known for Onyx percs but also has semis and Picassos and some other varieties as well. He breeds them and runs a place you can drop in and visit in Algonquin, IL but he may be willing to ship, and he has good guarantees on survival and coloration. You can google him up or PM me for the phone number.
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Feb 22, 2011 00:57
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The debate continues for me with pygmy seahorses. The pluses, of course, are the low price (compared to other species of seaponies) and the colors. The minuses are that they need a small tank so more prone to fuckups and need two daily feedings of bbs. I've had marine tanks before, but never with seahorses. Sharks, yes. Eels, yes. A reef tank and FOWLR, yes. I don't want to kill any seahorses in a trial.
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Feb 22, 2011 02:31
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Dono posted:Have you bought any rock yet? Live or dry? I'm thinking I'm gonna go with mostly dry rock, so that I can aquascape it and stuff. Plus, in theory it should be cheaper. Any suggestions on where I can buy cheap dry rock online? ALSO: sand/substrate. How much and what type should I use? quote:The minuses are that they need a small tank so more prone to fuckups and need two daily feedings of bbs.
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Feb 22, 2011 04:12
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@Anony Mouse I recommend you use https://www.marcorocks.com They sell Dry Rock / Aragonite sand for really cheap and they dont skimp on quality pieces for good aquascape. The sand is really fine they sell so if you do use it (I did), then you need to find some good positioning for your powerheads so sand is not disturbed and your tank clouds. I would buy 70-80% of your rock as Dry Rock and the remaining as live rock no less than 15-20 lbs of live rock to seed it properly and I would avoid buying that in rubble. As for sand, dry sand from Marco is great buy I would buy at least a 20 lb bag of "live sand" from a LFS (make sure there is a lot of water in the bag), or grab a few cups of sand from a fellow reefers tank you know is established so you can help jump-start your bacteria. Hitchikers you might see on Live Rock include: Good: -Copepods -feather dusters -snails/starfish -beneficial bacteria -worms Bad: -Aiptasia (sting everything and spread rapidly) -flatworms (eat coral) -I've heard of Ich travelling through LR, but the only ones who see it are one's dumb enough to add fish early in their cycle. Which those fish won't live anyway. There are plenty more, but you can find out a lot more about pests from here (READ THIS ALL, IT HELPED ME AND IT WILL HELP YOU TOO): http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074 quote:If you have a larger tank already established, can't you set up a smaller tank next to that and share the water volume between the two? In theory that would keep water fluctuations to a minimum and make it overall more healthy, right? It's called a sump/refugium. Unless you intend on setting up a mangrove/frag/Quarantine tank next to your Display this is what you want. Typically your sump will be below your tank under the cabinet and house your protein skimmer, algae farm (refugium) or DSB or both, and your return pump back to your tank. It most certainly adds volume to your tank and stabilizes your parameters, not to mention give you the ability to add a ATO (or auto top off system) where you can set a separate holding tank to top off your tank with RO/DO water to compensate evaporation and help your skimmer maintain a constant skim w/o having to redial all of the time.
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Feb 22, 2011 04:56
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Internet Explorer posted:Well, there you go. I guess just find the smallest and puniest clown your LFS has to offer and you're good to go? This is what I did with my Ocellaris ( who's been hosting in a feather duster for months after his Sebae got vaporized by a powerhead ). I got a small, juvi Ocellaris about half the size of my current one and they bonded pretty much as soon as the juvi got in the tank. I was told that the best, most surefire way is to bring the solo back and get a mated pair but like duck, I just couldn't bear to get rid of my very first Ocellaris. He's been a trooper and survived so many mistakes on my part that just returning him would be, well, mean.
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Feb 22, 2011 16:51
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Just cause because I like it when this thread is active, posting an update about my situation. Finished building the frame for my 90g tank with 40g breeder sump. Going to skin it with oak cabinet grade plywood and try to finish that up. Order my RODI with Chloramine remover, as my water source has that. Got a 4 bulb T5 light to hold me over, got a mag9.5 return pump, and an Octopus 200 NWB(?) skimmer. Also picked up 80 lbs of dry rock this weekend. Working on picking up 2 1 year old K4 powerheads to hold me over until I can get something better. Ordered all the plumbing supplies from BRS yesterday. Trying to figure out what to do for RODI storage and salt water mixing. Then I really should just need some live rock. Hoping to have it all together by March 15th so the cycle will be done by May 15th, when my local reef club is going to have their yearly frag swap. Exciting stuff! This is a very addicting hobby. I find myself thinking about it pretty much constantly.
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Feb 22, 2011 19:01
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Internet Explorer posted:Exciting stuff! This is a very addicting hobby. I find myself thinking about it pretty much constantly. Pictures of the whole thing would be awesome. And yeah, it's quite addicting. If I had realized how addicting it was back in the day....
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Feb 22, 2011 19:12
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Emancipator posted:Pictures of the whole thing would be awesome. Yeah, I would have picked a cheaper habit. Like cocaine.
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Feb 22, 2011 20:48
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Speaking of cocaine, I just picked up a REALLY loving CUTE little peacock mantis shrimp at around 1.5" ... I never see them come in that small, usually I see like 3" monstrosities.
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Feb 23, 2011 02:06
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Argh. I want to plumb my tank with flexible 3/4" I.D. vinyl tubing. It seems like there are ball valve and check valves with barb fittings for hoses, but I can't find any union joints so that I can disconnect my pump easily. Do they even exist? I'd rather not have some kind of lovely vinyl-pvc-union-pvc-vinyl set-up for simplicity's sake (and $$$'s sake.) Also, it's not necessary to use check valves if the plumbing is done right, is it? I know that in certain set-ups, if the return pump fails, siphon pressure will dump all the tank water into the sump. But, that only applies if the return line empties BELOW the water line, right? If I have the return line dump the water somewhere above the water line, it isn't an issue, because if pressure loss occurs the return line can't siphon anything except air. The only issue that would cause is noise from the water splashing, right? Man, setting up a tank is like learning biology, chemistry, carpentry, plumbing, and electronics all at once.
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Feb 23, 2011 08:20
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Your biggest fail safe for a powerloss and not flooding your house is making sure the drain pipe is at an appropriate level (http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php/sump-volume) and your return pipe isnt several inches under water. I keep mine near water level because even though I have a hole drilled on the bottom of my return PVC that is barely submerged I know that poo poo will get clogged when I least expect it.
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Feb 23, 2011 14:54
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Don't fill up the sump all the way, run the numbers on how many gallons will drain back and that's what you're using. Also you don't generally use vinyl tubing all the way up in your return plumbing, just the last length of a foot or so to the pump is all most people do, so it's pump->vinyl->pvc->union->pvc
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Feb 23, 2011 15:37
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Well it's time for me to downgrade my relationship with my tank from Marriage to really close girlfriend and setup an ATO system. I'm going to go for all DIY here but I'd like some input. I found this kit (http://www.aquahub.com/store/product27.html) which is cheap and uses the float valve + motor, but I've heard too many times how the float valve sticks and floods the room. This makes me seriously nervous. I have a 25gal reservoir and what I'm thinking is a gravity fed tube from the bottom of the reservoir into my sump using soft tubing, a gate valve, and a 0.5 gph drip sprinkler head for extra reduction. Will this even work? I get anywhere from 1.3-1.5 GPD of evaporation, so I figure the gate valve can help further reduce the 0.5 drip even further. Suggestions, tweaks, or different setups that eliminate a pump/float valve are accepted!
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Feb 26, 2011 04:56
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Heard good things about autotopoff.com, which is what I am going to go with. They sell systems with dual float valves, just in case one gets stuck.
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Feb 26, 2011 15:50
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In my opinion don't use 2 float valves, use something like the Tunze ATO which uses 2 types of switches.
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Feb 26, 2011 16:33
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| # ? Jun 11, 2024 00:45 |
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Dono posted:Suggestions, tweaks, or different setups that eliminate a pump/float valve are accepted! If your reservoir is above the level of your sump you are already good to go. Attach a piece of vinyl tubing (wider than airline tubing) from your reservoir leading into your sump. Have the outlet end of the tubing fixed inside your sump, pointing downwards, at whatever top off height you desire. Then make sure that the reservoir is air tight and that the only outlet is said piece of vinyl tubing. When the outlet hose is under water nothing will happen. The pressure inside the reservoir will keep the flow from the tube to the sump closed. When the outlet end of the hose hits air, due to evaporation from your system, it will draw air, alleviate the relative negative pressure, and release water out until it submerges itself once again. Two pieces of tubing, at almost the same height inside your sump, will eliminate any gurgle (if you hate noise like I do). RndmCnflct fucked around with this message at 17:44 on Feb 26, 2011 |
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Feb 26, 2011 17:42
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