Pies

Cracker - Its a road to no where. Sorry, am working through getting up as we speak, give it a week, should see some action. Sorry bout that. Pieman

I thought it was common knowledge. So lower nitrates means better looking softies. Alois wrote: your answer is above. Pie

Ive drilled a few holes in it, piece of cake. Especially with a drill press

Most corals can detect 'like' which is a duplicate of themself. Infact is probably more accurate to say that a coral can't detect like, just different. As soon as a different coral is detected, the war begins. Like Acropora, 2 Acropora next to each other will fight until often only one is left. 2 different colonies of the same species will fight with each other. Remeber when you frag a coral or it buds off, its a EXACT duplicate (clone) of the parent, differences are only created when sexual reproduction happens. You can get different colours of the same species, however because they will be different animals they will still fight with each other (you can't join a green and blue acro together for example). Pie

The link in my post - www.reefcentral.com

You can glue anything to anything. They will always be different animals (like tieing a crocodile to a lion) and will fight until one dies. Remember coral is an animal not a plant. Pie

You can find more info on this in books or on the internet: Wet Web Media (Bob Fenner) Nitrates Effect on Fish Fish will feel the impact of nitrates by the time the levels reach 20 ppm or greater, particularly if levels remain there. The resulting stress leaves the fish more susceptible to disease and inhibits their ability to reproduce. High nitrate levels or long term exposure to nitrates are especially harmful to fry and young fish, and will affect their growth and colour. Furthermore, conditions that cause elevated nitrates often cause decreased oxygen levels, which further stress the fish. Reefcentral.com Nitrite Nitrite (NO2) is formed as part of the nitrogen cycle, when the bacteria in the tank breaks down the ammonia, nitrite are produced. While nitrite isn’t as poisonous to fish as ammonia, it is still very dangerous and can easily kill fish. In a mature aquarium the nitrite levels will often bezero, thus not being a problem to fish.Nitrite binds to red blood cells and blocks their ability to transport oxygen, because of this affected fish frequently appear to be oxygen-deprived, even in water with high concentrations of oxygen. Affected fish may gasp at the surface or in water inflow. If nitrite is present at lower levels, fish may only show signs of toxicity when they are stressed further and require more oxygen. Over longer periods of exposure to nitrite, fish can become anemic (i.e., deficient in red blood cells). High calcium benifits are probably negligable, however high KH will buffer PH and provide a more stable water paramaters. Not sure if it does or not. As I understand it, low nitrates increase colour because of the way in which the xanthelle (spelling!) grows, this same alage is what provides colour to soft corals too so maybee the same rules apply? Just a guess though, don't know. Pie

A common problem with Zeovit is RTN when the alk gets to high. Most people run their alk higher (reccomended by eric bourneman) to help buffer PH and hold calcium high. Pie

The expoxy is not strong enough to attach rocks together. It may stop them from sliding, but not strong enough to support s structure. Suphey, drill holes, use curtain rods, cable tidies etc. If you want it to stick to the base, silicone it, this will work. Lots of stuff on RC about aquascaping 'overhangs', tall narrow bommies etc. Silicone, cable tidy, curtain rods seem to be the most common. Pie

Lowe nitrates in any tank. Also nitrates will reduce the lifespan of your fish. Softcorals grow in the same parts of the ocean as hard corals, so it stands to reason they need the exact same conditions. No doubt that softcorals will survive in higher nutrient environment than many SPS but I think thats because they are more hardy. My leathers, softies and hard corals are all doing well, I am sure I am running a low nutrient tank, low fish load, large water volume and little feeding. Pie

I've seen threads on RC of peoples tanks crashing, it happens, but rarely. There is also something often refurred to as 'old tank syndrome'. People whos tanks go past 5-7 years are known to crash, not amount of water changes etc seems to help. Randy Holmes Farley belives this can be attributed to the rock in the tank getting super-saturated by heavy metals etc, and after a while the rock can no-longer absorb it, or starts to leech it back out. There was a big fuss about Instand Ocean and a few other ASW salts that were attributed to this problem, those companies changed the receipe to resove the issue as I understand it. I would like to think you can keep the tank indefinatly, I certainly hope so. Pie

Ohhh IRA, that plenum is a hoax

I am very interested in MM. Not for the MM system itself, just for the fact that I think skimmerless is the 'ultimate'. Little doubt that skimmerless tanks have better success with things like gonaopora (sp?), gorgonians, lps (catiphillia) etc. Going skimmerless/MM is probably better suited to the more hardcore/experanced reefkeeper (that counts me out, eh Alois?), where as a skimmered system (hybrid berlin method) is far more likley to succed, particulary succeed from the excess a new reeker tends to do (over feed, change everything in the tank regulary, hands in tank alot, over stock etc). Good luck with it. Pie

Got the first 2 of my 400 watters on the tank in the weekend. I was running 2x 250watt BLV 10ks and 4x 85watt T5s (2x blue, 2x white). The light from the 10k BLVs is a crisp white and the T5s provide some better spread. We got the 2x 400 watters on the right hand end of the tank. The blulbs are Radium 'blues' which are 20k as far as I am aware. What an AWESOME colour, very crisp and 'white', not as blue as expected. An interesting effect is the blues are so crisp, they make the 10k BLVs look yellow and faded. Also the water under the 10ks looks 'dirty' compared to the clean crisp water under then blues. The blues don't show off the bubbles or anything in the water colum anywhere near as much as the 10ks. So I will add and extra 2x 400 watt blues and run the whole tank under these for a while and see how it goes. A friend (Chis D) made me a folded stainless steel hood to mount the light in as a temporary measure, which is working out perfectly and looks quite nice. once I get the 2 extra 400s on the tank, I will be able to decide how the lighting should look. Not 100% yet as may end up with a 5th 400, also may consider going 20k, 10k, 20k, 10k, 20k but time (and coral growth) will tell. Will post some pics in the next few days. Pie

What about the disproportionate (sp?) number of tanks using skimmers and no MM that look stunning? Check out www.reefcentral.com, beathtaking tanks without MM. So by that logic, you shouldn't use it... Pies

Except Reef, who is hoping to disconnect his. And his skimmer is massive.

Thanks to everyone who came over for a chat and something to eat. Was good to see you all. Thanks to Steve A who showed us his tank on Saturday, it was looking fantastic and the hard coral growth and colour from his tank is looking excellent. Great to see corals grown from frags and small colonies into large thickets. Thanks to Suphew for shooting out and gassing up the BBQ. Thanks to Jane & Carla for preparing all the salads, breads and cleaning up afterwards! Cheers Pie

I was using ZEOVIT for several months before I moved, somewhere on this forum is a thread with what exactly I was doing, what was happening and photos of my progress. I am currently not using it, as my tank has not been 'display worthy' for 6 months. I have not decided if I will continue to use it in my new tank. I am confident it does work and is a good product, it can get very expenisve to run on a tank as large as mine (2500 litres all up). So if I stop using, cost will be the leading factor. From my limited experance and from what I have read, its a good option for people with SPS dominated tanks who are looking for ways to improve coral colour and coral growth speeds, if SPS colour is not your primary goal however it may not be worth the time or hastle. It worked well for me, and I did get some great coral colour from it and I would not be put off from continuing to use it, it just may be too expensive for me in the longe term. Pie

A syphon will not work, it will lead to leaks and plumbing accidents, garanteed. You do have another non-drilling option, that is a weir. Have a search on Reefcentral.com for picutres. You can make your own if your handy or buy one from the internet, I think TUNZE make them so REEF may be able to source one for you. Don't be to concerned with putting rock in your sump, you don't need it. More rock is good but not essential. Just put your heaters, filter media (carbon, phosphate resin etc), return pump,skimmer in there to start with. A bin or bucket will be just fine. Sumps can be confusing, and its hard to explain whats needed. One thing to keep in mind is that EVERYONES sump here is different, different design, size and configuration. None are right or wrong, but the only way to really know what you want to do, is to build one yourself. You second one will be heaps better than your first Good luck.

Alois - If you do go skimmerless how about selling me your skimmer? You could even trade in my 902 and put it into the cabinet you have made for it as a backup, lesser skimmer. Pie

My cabinet is 950 high and my tank is 730 high, so over all its about 1600 high. No problems just means you need a step ladder to get in and have to watch your head on the roof! Pie

Layton - I think, from my perspective, it doesn't matter whay you use e.g. MM, ZEOVIT, Skimmer, Powerheads or carbon. I think the thing to keep in mind is what effect its having on the tank health/water paramaters. Sure there is no activated carbon in the ocean, or skimmers or MM or Zeovit, but its what effect its having on the water thats important. Thats how I look at things anyway. The other thread about garlic for example, the thing I don't like about garlic is that I don't see it doing somthing that happens in nature, its a real external. However MM may be adding valualbe food/nutrients into the water that would be there in nature (or a reasonable supliment for it). Same with activated carbon, vodka, aspartic acid, phosphate remover, filter wool etc. If its effecting the ecology of the water to help provide more 'realistic' paramaters I have an open mind to it, if its a real 'additive' then I become very skeptical. My 2 cents. Pie

Just to calrify on the filter wool, I use it for 3 days then dump it, and do this about once a week. It is usually a dirty brown colour at that time. So FILTERWOOL = BAD should read FILTERWOOL_THATS_GONE_BIOLOGICAL = BAD. 3-4 days from what i've read is the most, a week is too long. But thats only what i've read, no way to really know. I buy filterwool by the meter, costs me about $5 a month. Pie

Except for when you had hair algae and test kits showing 0 phosphate, but somehow you still think its phosphate? Just a different type of phosphate than the one the test kits detect? I think its more likley likley that other water paramaters could be to blame, or lighting or a combination. If the cure to hair algae was no phosphate, the adding phosban or similar would cure it almost instantly, but it doesnt. Why is hair algae so common in new tanks while cycling when phosphate usually builds up over time? Infact if you were at my house now you could see the hair algae growing on the glass of one of my sumps, nowhere else in my system. I have 0 phosphate (see definition above), I belive I get hair algae in this tank because it gets a bit of natural sunlight. I like it in there though as its loaded with PODs and other critters, doesn't seem to do any harm. Alois - how much MM is in there? Looks good, I am curious about how long it takes for the calurpa to take hold. Will you light it 24/7? Pie

Jeez this turned into a little exercise in symantics. From now on, speaking only for myself, if I am refuring to 0 Phosphates or 0 Nitrates I mean 'getting them as low as practically possible and "undetectable" according to the test kits I have'. I concede that there are probably electron microscopes and all sorts of other tools out there to find trace amounts of there compounds but for all intense and purposes '0' means 'not enough to matter'. Wasp lots of things could cause hair algae other than phosphates. Pie