lduncan

Hey Pies, I found a RC thread which you may be interested in, http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=261404 Layton

OK, like I said the congeners are only one of the causes of a hangover, dehydration is another! I for one know the powers of white spirits in causing hangovers, my drink of choice, Long Island, has most of the main white spirits and can produce a massive hangover if you don't drink a lot of water as well. I suppose fish don't need to worry too much about dehydration, unless they live in pies tank Jk. I've never really looked to deep into plankton, but I might just do some research. Layton

I'll see if I can find the post by Randy. I think the zeolite does aid in the removal of PO4 in the same way phosphate absorbers do (probably not as efficiently though). Like i said above the the zeovit system includes a specially selected or maybe even a mixture of different carbon based food source, which specifically targets the strains of bacteria which use phosphate and nitrate. The reason why people can support leathers, xenia, goniopora and the like is that the tank is fed with zeofood which contains amino acids and vitamins. Remember when people talk about requiring nutrient poor systems to keep acros colours, they are reffering to NO3 and PO4 levels, not necessarily food levels. The reason fo vodka, i think is that it is more available than pure ethanol, and is probably the most pure out of all the spirits available. Dark spirits are probably also avoided for the high levels of congeners, which are toxic, and one of causes of a hangover. There maybe another reason, but that is what I think. Well, well see whether the vodka/sugar systems look as good. I've also just got some zeovit, but I might hold off adding it for a month just to see how my corals colour up after the sugar experiment. Layton

Pies, i think that is what they mean when they say your refugium will crash, because of the low nutrients (PO4 and NO3) many macro algaes can not survive. If the point of a refugium is nutrient export, then there goes your refugium, but many people run them for other reasons, such as providing pods a place where they can reproduce without fear of predation. I also remember reading a thread on RC in which Randy Homes Farley was participating, where he stated that he would favour the use of sugar over vodka, from the context he spoke it sounded like the method worked. (that's why I tried it) The reason why sugar and vodka can be used interchangably is because they are chemically similar to each other, sugar is an aldhyde, while ethanol (active ingredient in vodka) is an alcohol. Sugar is the raw ingredient which is fermented into alcohol by both bacterial and enzyme action. The reason vodka works has nothing to do with the process in which it is made, you could buy commercially produced ethanol and it would work. Now the Zeovit system is based exactly on this same principle. The difference is the carbon based food (whether is is an aldehyde, alcohol or a cocktail of other organic compounds, who knows.) has been specifically selected to feed the strains of bacteria which feed on nirtate and phosphate. The zeovit zeolite forms a large surface area on which the bacteria can colonise. Layton

Just an update, tested NO3 this morning and they are completely undetectable, not even a hint of pink in the test water!

I just had a thought, Germans are known for their quality reefing equipment. They are also famous for schnapps... it could be a good candidate, a mix of both ethanol and sugar... the best of both worlds! Never heard of a German vodka yet though, 42 Below seems to be all the rage at the moment, and it's NZ made, but you can't beat Grey Goose for a top shelf vodka. Layton

I clean the front and sides every couple of days. The back is another issue, it is a real pain, so every 4 weeks or so. Layton

Here you go pies... some more pics. First a whole tank shot... Some anthias... Brown seriatopora... Metallic green acro... Large hydnophora... Bannerfish (very hard to get a good photo of) Green montipora cap... Mrs clownfish... Green purple tipped table acro...

Pies, I think that is what happened. The temp spike must have killed off bacteria. I don't think that the sugar is just coincidence, i don't think that the bacteria colonies could re-establish that quickly without an added nutrient, such as sugar. This is my reason for insisting that skimming wetter is necessary during this process, the bacteria can multipy and live much longer with the sugar added, once the sugar is used up, what happens to the bacteria? A large proportion of it dies, leaving large enough population to continue nitrate reduction in response to the tank bioload. So this dying bacteria must be skimmed out to avoid repolluting the water. I just used normal white sugar. Will get some pics up later. Layton

Well almost, test this morning at around 1ppm! 5 days ago tested at 9ppm. I'm very happy with the results of dosing sugar. I don't plan on dosing it regularly however. I believe the source of my nirate problem was my temperature problems a couple of months ago, as the tank had been running for almost a year with no detectable nitrates. Now that that has been corrected, hopefully this has helped to stabalize some of the bacteria populations. I case anyone else is considering dosing sugar here is what I dosed: Wednesday: 1 teaspoon sugar for my whole tank (180g) Thursday: Noticable bacteria bloom in water coloumn, only when looking end on through 6 feet of water. Skimmer working overtime, best to skim "wetter" during this stage, as the resulting bacteria die off when food source (nirates, and aparently phosphates) could foul water. Friday: 1 teaspoon sugar for my whole tank. Tested at 6-7ppm. Sunday: Water had become crystal clear again. Today: Tested at 1ppm. Side effects, none as yet, but will keep a close eye on things. Hopefully this was the kick start the tank needed to start denitrifying again, and I wont have to dose sugar again, but it looks like this could be the closest thing to a quick fix in reefing, I for one didn't think it would work this fast. I think the key is to really get the skimmer to work over the three or four days. Layton

Pies I have a hydno myself about 1.5 to 2 times that size, fast growing and definatly produce sweepers, i've seen 4-5" sweepers from mine, but some people report over 10" and they pack a puch, some people even get irritated hands when handling these corals. Layton

Dr Felix, some people will go running if you even mention silica based media in a marine environment. Silica is thought to be the limiting factor, in many cases, for diatom growth. So the thought of adding a silica based media may scare some people. I myself believe that diatoms are the "nicest" form of algae, in that they are easily blown off rocks, as opposed to hair algae, and are easily removed by an efficient skimmer, eventally, if there is enough silica available, somthing else with become the limiting factor in their growth, which may be something like nitrates, meaning silica may actually help to keep nitrates low. It is still a highly debated topic. I have been experimenting lately myself with dosing cane sugar (an aldehyde closely related to alcohols), it is along the same theory as dosing vodka, give the tank enough of the right type of nutrients (carbon based) to kick start a mini bacterial bloom, which hopefully will reduce nitrate. IT works, very fast too. Started 3 days ago, and already nitrates have dropped from around 9ppm to 6-7ppm. As far as the bacterial bloom was concerned it was not noticeable when looking from the front to back of the tank (2 feet of water) but was noticable when looking down the 6 foot length of the tank, a slight milky colour. The skimmer has been working overtime removing junk. Corals do not seem to be affected so far, all showing their normal polyp extension, and fish seem unaffected. Apparently this method also removes phosphate, however I have never had any detectable phosphate in the tank, so I can not confirm or deny that. It will be interesting to see how my acros colour up in these reduced nitrate conditions. Layton

Hope it all turns out well for your tank Pies. Layton

Nice Pies, I'll have to get a frag of that! Layton

Pies, don't forget the domino damsel, royal gramma, puffer, and of course the Morish Idol... maybe reef can help out. Layton

nice pic, but i have to say I prefer the ocellarius clowns over percula myself. Layton

Just a small correction Nick, it's actually an "L" not an "I" in lduncan, everyone seems to make that mistake. Is there any way of changing my username without re-registering? Anyway no big deal Layton Duncan

Yeah I know the one. Interesting coral. Layton

that's the one, it looks purple to me though, do you know what it is? Layton

I like the purple monti, or porities, whatever it is. Layton

True, a lot of local rock can be volcanic bassalt typ rock which is dense. Then there is the other extreme, pumice which floats! Live rock as used, in marine aquariums, is the dead skeletons of corals, as such it is porous, without floating, and can support dense bacterial colonies. The site Pies is reffering to is "Garf" www.garf.org, there is a lot of information on their site, a lot of it is crap, but they do have a large section on diy rock. Honestly your best bet is to buy base rock. At around $13 per kg, it's not cheap, but far more effective than anything you can make yourself. Layton

Still no Acros or any sps at Redwood yet though Caryl. Which is a shame cause their big tank would look great as a sps tank. Layton

Very Nice!

Looks good! (edit your post so the second and it should display the image "inline") The tangs all look fat and healthy, watch out for that clown tang when it gets bigger, they have a habbit of turning other fish into sushi! Layton

Here's an updated pic of the table acro. It has started to develop pinkish purple tips, with green corallite openings, and green branches. Looks like it will colour up really well. Layton