Feelers

Bloody edit thing :evil: Should read: Anyway I think at that all anyone has is theorys,

I dont follow the poor food of eukaryotic organisms for their shell casings. After watching the Blue Planet documentary the corals are shown at night catching tiny particles with their extended polyps. As you know every step up in the food chain nurtients/metals accululate - perhaps it's iron or something of the like Also a point on the chitin casing - it is only a casing, I would imagine that they dont bother digesting it, they probably have it in some sort of acidic gut that allows the internals to leech out of the shell without the energy expense of digesting it. When I eat a crayfish I throw the shell away too, but I still manage to get the good stuff out. I definately think that it could be possible for the enzymes in the polyp gut to work around the shell, perhaps by dissolving the ligaments that hold the shell together. I think there is much speculation about the nutritional value of both bacteria and eukaryotes to the corals due to it being very difficult to measure, there isnt much info to go on. The nutritional content of the eukaryotes is heavily dependent on what they have been eating - so much so that it can make the difference between a poor food and an excellent one. And in a DSB- there must be more bacteria floating around in the water, the biomass is huge compared to a BB without one. Anyway I think at that anyone has is theorys with points both for and against DSBs. However from looking at the TOTM's on reef central there is a very definate pattern occuring, it's got to be more than just coincidence. That is why I'm so keen to see Wasp's tank with a dsb added, he will be able to tell whether it makes a difference to his corals or not, its not often you get to see such an experiment. How about you trying it Layton? Seriously - that would be really interesting, you know it wouldnt likely screw up your tank, just give things a wee shuffle. And who knows you might come over to the dark side.

Wasp are you gonna have a siphon into the tank to keep all the pods alive or is this not possible in your setup?

Sounds like a brittlestar..... http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brittlestars.htm Something similar to this thing..... ^^^??? They can have a variety of appearences and colours.

Well some points I think have been looked over, 1st - what do the critters eat? - Bacteria and detrius. Arent they pretty much big shopping bags full of whatever they have been eating? This is similar to nutrient enriching brine shrimp with phytoplankton. They may have less nitrogen weight for weight than bacteria -but a coral wont really be too worried about the density of nutrients in a food source, especially ones that are comparable in nutrition counts. If I eat a hamburger, its pretty much the same as eating a hamburger and a jug of water. Maybe a tiny difference, but nothing major. Granted that chitin will be hard to diest, but phytoplankton also have tough cell walls, and cellulose is harder to digest than Chitin I believe, but is still considered an excellent food source for coral (I think). Perhaps small critters only function as concentrated bacterial delivery systems.

Wasp I'd be really interested in seeing what happens if you incorporated a DSB into your system, I definately think you should experiment with it! As a man who loves his SPS surely it's got you wondering. It would be great to see your results - "DSB addition to an established BB tank". The type of thing that not many try but loads would take interest in. I think the breakdown that happens in the DSB does something to provide corals with that extra oomph.

WOW 7 months, should have read through more throughly! Damn no edit function. That's crazy - crayfish etc are buggered at such temps. What a trooper.

The high temp will increase his metabolism, so he will moult and age faster, die super early and the buzz will eventually wear off. Diary of a P addict shrimp. 8) I wouldnt give him long - perhaps 2-3 months max, although I'd geuss probably one month. How long has he been "high"? :lol:

The 30 to 0 is VERY significant stastically - but there are loads of factors involved, so its probably something other than just coral growth playing a part in that equation. My guess would be that maybe 80% or more of people like the look of sand - and since TOTM is voted for (isnt it?) a BB tank would be hard pressed to win agaisnt those odds - especially with many people activly disliking "yuk" BB, as opposed to BB entheusiasts who are generally indifferent to DSBs. I see places like that coral farm in the states - with their horendous bioload and huge sandbeds - and everything looked great. When I first started reading up on reef tanks I though DSB's were a relic from the UG filter days, but the more I see it seems they can do wonders for some people, and perhaps coming back into fashion after the "tank meltdown" scenario scared people off in droves. The intricacies of reef-keeping fashion, 8)

Well after scanning through all the tanks of the month on RC since January 2004 - (30 tanks in total), none were BB. (perhaps one, hard to tell but I think it had a sand covering) About 4-5 were shallow(up to 1/2 inch), about 3 were 1/2 to 3 inches, and the rest were DSB or employed an FBF. Many possible reasons why that is, just throwing it out there. :lol:

And my room was 5C last night, sitting on 80% humidity. :lol: Do these hrv things pump heat from the ceiling down into the house?

I have seen some very nice BB tanks, but I personally think the aquascaping in that one looks terrible. To me it seems more like a piece of minimalist modern art in its styling, which would explain the polarity of opinions. Although one thing I do like about it, due to its' thinness you get an idea of looking at the corals "through a bubble' type effect. Which I think would be perfect for a public aquarium etc, as it is nicely spaced and open, just not something I'd be looking for in my personal aquarium. I'll admit after hearing so much about bomber or bommer or whichever one it is I am genuinely surprised his tank recieves so much attention. The interesting thing is how differing opinions are - some place it in the top 5, and others think its "yuk"; two very different interpretations of the same image - and I believe that's what good art's all about. Then again, I only got a C+ in philosophy 109, so I might be talkin' smack . :lol:

Prepare to be moderated :lol: Nice pics anyhoo. 8)

Arrgh no edit function :lol:

You can work out the temp change easily enough, as whether it will make much of a difference. 30% water change of a 100L tank with water at 15degreesC. Display tank at 25C. (30%x15C)+(70%x25C) New temp equalls...... ---------------------------- =22 DegreesC. 2 Note those are percentages so you have to type 30% as "0.3". So if thats enough of a change to be worried about I dunno, I geuss not?

https://secure.sog.co.nz/store.htm is the website. If that doesnt work www.sog.co.nz They seem quite expensive, it seems that because they are for growing "illegals" theres a 25% market price increase. :lol:

Wow check out the Frag growout tank Notice that the two pics below join in the middle - http://www.miniriff.de/ablegerbecken/links.jpg http://www.miniriff.de/ablegerbecken/rechts.jpg Big selection!

You've gone to so much effort, dont risk it! How annoyed will you be if ws pops up again in a months time? They look cool hanging out in a little troop haha.

Yes - its for the whole nine yards Ira I wrote V instead of W - that should be 48 -72 watts. Bill - I'm not sure about the air pressure thing, I have a friend who is building one aswell - he's very "onto it" with projects like this, and he seems to think the one he has started building definately has enough oomph. Remember those car fans are ducted into different areas - so the flow is divided etc - they might be stronger than they appear?

If you tell them they arent allowed on your property what do they do? Is there some special "MAF warrant" they apply for? Seems really weird to me.

Damn I just found out what I need to do - I need a car fan thats rated less than 140W. Suphew you were right on using the car battery charger - thats the plan but they are rated either 4 or 6 amp(as I just found out) , meaning I need a fan between 48V and 72V or thereabouts depending on the charger I get. Doing it this way (DC) makes it sweet because I can use a variable resistor to change the flow rate as opposed to trying to match the filter to the fixed flow of an AC fan.

Since the motor only cost $20 its not a big deal if I can get an actual cage filter - suphew I dont spose you know how much your one cost? If they are ac that means I need to worry about getting the correct flow rate as they would not be easily altered. Where can I get these squirrel cage fans?

Surely out of everyone there are more than just 3 people with hard to keep corals? :lol: The pics are all very nice btw! More pics!!

Nah it has to be able to create a failry large positive pressure in the second chamber to push the air though the hepa filter. I have made the fan go on a 5V DC computer power supply - Doesnt this mean it's definately DC?

Do you know where I can get a suitable real squirrel cage fan from?