chimera

Indeed, but that doesn't mean that the intensity at the tropics is the most they can handle before growth is inhibited. Corals can adjust quite well to a number of conditions, the point of this question is at what threshold of light intensity does growth start to slow? (again, assuming all other factors are consistant)

As everyone else has said, keep it simple. that is way too complex and connecting sumps like that is more room for error. remember matching pipe size is important too - both from and to the skimmer as well as size for return pipes etc. on the downflow go with 40mm pipe, purely because it's cheapest and can be easily reduced to match the size of the skimmer inlet or anything else you plumb up to it (plus allows for upgrades later without changing most of the plumbing ) baffles are the key to reducing micro bubbles. however you will still get them if you dont design the baffles right. they can be effectively reduced by simply keeping the water level in the return section as high as possible (in relation to the height of the last baffle). they should be about 2" apart (also because this is the easiest when siliconing them!!!) Micro bubbles only occur after the baffles because water dropping off the last baffle creates some turbulence when hitting the surface of the water. if you keep the (normal) running water level in the last section so that the water only drops off the baffle an inch at most (water level will drop a bit during the day because of evaporation too) then this will reduce the bubbles alot. also make sure that the baffle height (in relation to the sump height) is low enough to compensate for any back flow from the return pump. Work out the surface area of the display tank and multiply by the water surface down to the top (plus a bit) of the return outlet. whatever that volume is is what you will need to have in the unused area of the sump (from the top of the shortest baffle to the top of the sump multiplied by the surface area of the sump) Easy peasy!

yeah, perhaps. i have 14k narva's on the right and left and a 20k XM in the centre. neither brand are doing well with growth (in other words corals in the centre are not growing faster than the left/right or visa versa) aesthetically the narva's are much more pleasing to the eye than the 20k XM IMO (even though i know that what we see is completely irrelevant to what the corals prefer!)

nuts alright, most triggers are not reef safe. then again some say they've kept them mostly with success, and only had them nip on inverts and clams. good luck with it!

interesting, thanks chris. will see if i can dig up some more info

well at least i'm prep'd with all the right gear when i upgrade to 6x3x2 next year its all experimental stage now, i believe less and less information i read on the net about reef tanks these days. everything is subjective and you can only learn from your own experiences (other than the obvious)

I staged my upgrade to the 400W with lumen arcs over a couple of months (or thereabouts) - a lack of money thing however noticed EXACTLY the same thing - all the corals started growing towards the right hand side 400W'er. A bit like outdoor plants really, they're all photosynthetic and grow towards the sun so it kinda makes sense. However the only question for me now is whether too much intensity actually inhibits growth! All other (water) parameters are stable and at optimal levels. The only other thing I did was stop dosing zeovit about 8 weeks ago but I'm sure the lack of growth started occurring before that.

Just curious... I think my coral growth has been inhibited by the 400W halides (or to be more specific, I think the height of the bulbs from the surface of the water maybe too close) The corals have adjusted to the higher light intensity (and I'm not getting any bleaching and am getting better colour), so the question is, if they are getting too much (or more than sufficient) lighting, could this inhibit growth? Some points: - Acro colour is good (actually, better with the 400's) - I still do get growth - just doesn't appear to be as much - Ca, Alk, Mg levels are all the same as they were prior to the 400W'ers - The lux meter indicates that the it's about 100,000 lumens at the waters surface, this is on par (no pun intended ) with sunlight in the tropics In summary, I'm running 3 x 400W'ers with the lumen arc design reflectors over a 5 foot tank and the bulbs are approx 9" from the water. Is this set too close? Or is it just coz I'm getting older? Is Darth Vader still alive? What happened to the ewoks? If anyone can shed any info, would be appreciated

i have a grotech reactor, some zeofood and zeobac you can buy off me if you want. you just need the media. theres about 50ml zeofood and 35ml zeobac left - but thats heaps and should last ages in your size tank. pm me for price if interested.

it will most definately be high nutrients or inadequate lighting, more likely nutrients. i think my stag is too light brown, although it has almost purple coloured tips rather than blue. interestingly all my corals started getting lighter once i stopped dosing zeovit (which i had done for a year. i thought (and had hoped) they would get darker. i've started feeding heavily again. this happened after the 400W'ers went on. it's certainly not bleaching, but perhaps too much light (am considering lifting lights higher although lux levels seem about right at the surface) i think your tank is far too new to be concerned about colour at this stage. i agree with this, but also disagree with dropping feeding. at the lower level - yeah perhaps but you're better off utilising better nutrient export methods, ie: bigger/better skimmer, more LR, rowaphos or the likes etc.

if we're the sheep, does that make reef little bo peep?

sweet bro, a frag for me :lol: btw, that beer is still cold and has your name on it

cher dude!

argghhhh!!! damn anemone keeps moving up and down the same rock :evil:

i think the water change is just coincidence. upon reading the net on articles to get mine to move, plus experimenting what it likes and dislikes, it moves simple when it cant get comfortable. this seems most likely to do with where its pedal disc is attached. they seem to like crevices more than ledges, a rock that is V in shape the anemone will put its disc on one inner side of the V and lean onto the other, taking up all the space in that area. i've found its easy to get them to wander, as wasp mentioned to me, turn the rock so they're on top - they clearly hate that and start moving reasonably quickly. if you have too much "flat" rock it might not ever find a suitable "home". provide more diverse rock arrangement with more crevices available and it will stop moving once its happy enough

ira yes what?

take your pick... any will do... except the 2nd one... http://images.google.co.nz/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=yawn&btnG=Search

Joe sounds like a lonely bloke, desperate perhaps, a recovering alcoholic who still has the odd drink, someone who takes excessive amounts of drugs to cover up the pain of his shattered childhood... poor Joe... he, without a doubt, needs a heavily diluted fish tank to take his pain away

it's still alive... i should feed it up on other spiders until it's huge

oh dear, that reminds me... i found a massive white tail walking across the kitchen floor couple of nights ago. put it in a jar and sealed the lid tight then put the jar on top of the pantry... best i call the wife and see if its still alive :-?

oi, stop posting at exactly the same time as me

serious?! that would make me move pretty quick!

EU4/G4 removes down to 10 microns, the HRV has an electrostatic filter that removes down to 1 micron. When you see what the difference is in what a 1 micron vs 10 micron filter removes, its quite considerable. Controller would probably be the biggest difference at a guess, the fan speed dynamically adjusts on the HRV depending on what the temperature in ceiling cavity vs house is. No use pumping air in at a fast speed if its colder than the rooms (although there is a button you can press to cycle the air at the fastest speed possible - called "burnt toast" mode ) So, since fan speed changes, m3/hr obviously changes. Not sure on the range. Still,... can't beat a system 1/3 of the price

already waited a couple days! just changed the rock arrangement to see if it moves again. it did move, but still stayed on the same rock, just wedged itself into a crevice

ask any american and they will tell you its as common as hotdogs and french fries