Sharkey

Far Out !! Your Frag tanks lookin better than my main tank !!! PS Guys dont now whos into Thai Boxing but the S1 is on this weekend :bounce:

I lost a manderine to i thought it was the star but now i think it was the Anemone. Thats my pick for your problem to fay they are natural born killers!!!!

try again it was haveing some problems Upcomming site outage Throughout the night, the Talkingreef site is going to go though periods of maintenance as i upgrade the website code. this is going to introduce many new features, and maybe some bugs, so bear with me This outage will not affect access to podcast episodes, and will only affect this website Looks to be going again?

Do you guys watch the podcast channel? there is a video on it thats really good. http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=674 Some really good advice and I know you guys are reef addicted like me check this out . Notice he adds the vinager then the water.

And I have been doing it this way for a little while. And the cost of adding suppliments has dropped. Best thing ive done in a while

And as others have said put your coral frags (Not the fungia ) on there side they grow heaps faster.

I think its the attention to detail that I like. Every thing done at one hundred percent no short cuts. Very nice

"Wow Why is it that our friends over in Germany have the most amazing tanks? Why is it that a lot of the innovative items coming onto the market come from Germany? New ideas (Balling) actually old but new. The best magazines I'm talking about Koralle magazine that's coral magazine here. which is one of the few magazines worth buying. Need some more examples check this out http://www.korallenriff.de/29interzoo/index.html some amazing products on there way click on the different company profiles on the left Tunze have some neat pumps on the way "

I'm having luck with my Hard corals all growing like crazy But... Candy Cane and green metallic mushrooms are dieing slowly just fading away? Cant work that out?

KALKWASSER | IN DEPTH (Posted with www.reefscapes.net and Breefcase's permission from works written in reefs.org)

When Calcium Hydroxide solution (Kalkwasser) is slowly dripped into your aquarium, it captures free Carbon Dioxide present in the tank water and converts it to Bicarbonate ions (which is a good thing), like this: Ca++ + 2(OH-) + 2(CO2) <==> Ca++ + 2(HCO3-) If you drip too fast or if there is not enough Carbon Dioxide available in the water, your shiny new Bicarbonate ions will be converted to Carbonate ions (a bad thing), like this: Ca++ + 2(OH-) + 2(HCO3-) <==> Ca++ + 2(CO3--) + 2 H2O The Carbonate ions formed will make the Ca++ you are trying to add to your tank get wasted by the useless precipitation of Calcium Carbonate -- the white stuff you are seeing. So, too rapid addition of Kalk may actually cause the Calcium and Alkalinity in your tank to go DOWN instead of UP (a bad thing), like this: Ca++ + 2(HCO3-) + Ca++ + 2(OH-) <==> 2 CaCO3 + 2 H2O In the above reaction, a Calcium ion and two Bicarbonate ions from the aquarium combine to form solid calcium carbonate -- the white stuff you are getting in your tank, which is really just a kind of sand. This can happen even with a slow drip of Kalk if there is not enough CO2 in your water -- something you can't easily control. To avoid this, try mixing and adding your Kalkwasser like this: pour 15ml of 5% Acetic Acid (or ordinary Distilled White Vinegar from the grocery store -- same thing) into a 1 liter (1 quart) container. Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of lab-grade Ca(OH)2 (or commercial Kalkwasser mix) in the Acetic Acid, and then dilute to 1 liter (1 quart) volume with either RO/DI water, or even tank water. 15 ml is more Vinegar than some people are comfortable with, but I use it constantly with no problems. There should be no sediment in the mixture, or just a little bit at most. You can let the sediment settle out if you don't like the white flakes in your tank. I just drip the liquid and the sediment both into my tank. Dissolving the Kalk powder in the Vinegar first will accomplish several very good things. First, it will get more Calcium ions (Ca++) into the solution because you are dissolving the Ca(OH)2 in an acid instead of water, and forming Calcium Acetate, which exists as a dissociated equilibrium of free Calcium ions and Acetate ions. Second, the Acetic Acid (Vinegar) provides an equivalent of all the CO2 you need to avoid precipitating the newly-added Calcium ions as useless white Calcium Carbonate powder. Third, after all the cool Calcium ion chemistry is over, the leftover Acetate ions from the broken-down Vinegar leaves you with free organic Carbon in the water that feeds the bacteria in your tank so that it converts more poisonous Nitrates to NO2 gas (a very good thing). Adding Vinegar in Kalkwasser is one of the few win-win situations for reefers -- it has a great up side and I've yet to encounter a down side to doing it. I don't know why so few reefers do it -- lack of understanding of the chemistry behind it maybe -- but a lot more are starting now that some respected reef writers have discovered it and have recommended it and even written up detailed instructions for it.

Umm yeah, that is in simple terms White vinager right?

Sea Chem Mg Alk & Ca love it And Kalkwasser with a touch of acidic acid

I remember reading that the natives from the islands would dip there hunting spears in them to make there spears highly toxic. Apparently its very easy to get serious hurt/Killed from there fluid? neurotoxin so it attacks your nervous system and you die fast.

Very cool Nice camera work. :bounce:

very interesting. I don't test for Ph but have started to add white vinegar (Acetic Acid) to my Kalk after reading this. http://www.saltcorner.com/1024/index1024.htm Works a treat but what is it doing to my PH? I'm still doing test as my feeling is because the kalk is more soluble it will be used a lot easier. And I will have to adjust my dosing accordingly. Something eles that I found very interesting Third, after all the cool Calcium ion chemistry is over, the leftover Acetate ions from the broken-down Vinegar leaves you with free organic Carbon in the water that feeds the bacteria in your tank so that it converts more poisonous Nitrates to NO2 gas (a very good thing).

Wow cool video Thanks for sharing. Some very good information. Anyone got a jewllery saw? I want to do some cutting got a orange fungia thats very healthy. Ive read they take a long time to heal but thats ok.

looking good Ben :bounce:

looking Good . Loved reading about the build youve given me some ideas for my next one Hows the trigger ?

very nice any chance of a full tank picture . Is it hard to get stock down there ?I used to go to riverton as a kid to visit my Grandparents nice tank and the best oysters in the world just down the road you got it made

Looking good love the ideas in the sump Were can we read more a web page etc? Are the super squirts expensive?

Hi Guys Good Question Wasp only two fish, clowns. And one large Starfish. Had a Mandarin but he got eaten by something starfish or the BTA ? I wont talk to much about the fish I have lost that could be depressing. But I will say I know about white spot, The need for a good overflow cover, The importance of a good lid and also the need to also cover the quarantine tank . Yes lots I want to give my fish the best environment I can so I believe I will get something small and only one more for my tank volume. I'm more of a coral nut than a fish nut so corals first. But I really want to try a new fish. A long nose hawk would be nice or something similar.

Thanks Guys. But its like Wasp said when you look at it every day you dont see the changes . Got a shock when I looked back at the old photos ,Chimera Always looking to frag. But will give that one a little more time to grow but its doing well wont take to long. Heres some info on the tank. For you guys that are like me and like the details Main Tank Width 31 hight 25 Depth 17 Gallons 57 Liters 216 Sump Width 26 hight 25 Depth 17 Gallons 38 Liters 144 Total 360 Liters 95 Gallons Lighting BLV 250 W 10000k Light Only NSW 5 inch DSB yes 5 inch ( Who says size dosnt matter?) Skimmer Red sea berlin protein skimmer Modified but in March moved to the Deltec camp Dont have calk Reactor so I dose daily Mg I use 0010 per day Ca I use 005 per Day Alk I use 05 Dkh aday or 0.17.5 Meq/Lper Day So I use only seachem . But in the future would like to try Mr farleys mix of reef central Alk Reef Builder 0.65 of a teaspoon a day Ca Reefcomplete 1.75 Caps a Day Mg 5tsp a day Worked this of the seachem web site. And it works note the high useage of Mg. Strange but it works retest and every things spot on . But found the tsp are flat not heaped

Hi Guys Just looking at some pics from last year and some more resent ones. Hope it gives the new guys some hope. I started out on a very tight budget. April 2005 April 2006 PS thanks to all the good guys in the hobby who have helped me out . I owe you !!!! Hope to pay you back in frags

but seriously whos tank is that? I want to save the fish