chimera

aye

thats news to me, mine was $30 i know some people,... some good people :bounce:

well we all agree that large levels of iron can cause unwanted algae growth since it acts as a fertiliser, but on the same hand at the right levels it can bring out colours in corals. so the idea is largely to get a balance right? how do you know zeovit zeolite is not tested for a maximum 'leach factor?' layton, what im confused at is you've said testing for levels of iron is not going to tell you much because of the iron uptake by animals, bacteria etc,... but thats after you quote habib and others testing zeovit and stating these "elevated" iron levels as "facts". these "facts" contradict your iron testing theory. if an iron test is performed, surely thats going to give a good "rough" indication of iron levels in zeovit vs non-zeovit tanks since both systems would have roughly the same uptake of iron? but then at what levels are considered 'elevated' - what is the level of iron that is considered detrimental to your tank? the levels of iron in nsw are extremely low, but is that to say that this is "the norm?" or can corals adapt and thrive with increased levels? i maybe able to get saltwater tested for levels of iron - if this is going to help...?? oh, and just to quote RC again (also quoted from the previous zeovit debate on this site )

no, the difference being a water change takes out what you're putting in. i've heard of bleaching and RTN when people overdose on all sorts trace elements though. so those that state they have had bleaching with zeovit, you sure they followed instructions? did they dose other things at the same time? did they follow the maintenance routine that goes with the dosing? probably not. Maybe? Overdosing, or rather, elevating levels of almost anything that causes rapid changes to a reef tank is almost always detrimental to coral. Thats what i believe the issue is with those who have coral bleaching, they are likely to be either impatient and want change quicker than the zoox can adapt too or those that think they are scientific genius' and believe they know exactly what to dose themselves. RTFM.

back on topic, i had 2 x M1100's. one was whisper quiet and worked flawlessly, the other needed a whack to get going and was noisey (rattley) i sold the quiet one and still have the (faulty) one in my fuge. take it back to the shop you bought it from, they are cheap for a reason

depends with what force you swing it. the manual states 3 times but i find using a good hammer throwing technique, i can get it going with 1 swing (and a brick wall)

i usually find throwing it against the wall works best

so that is your theory. ok, so are you now saying that zeovit causes "elevated" iron levels or are you saying it just does dose some iron? if you are taking the facts from the test performed in 1998, then as far as i can see you are stating that the iron levels from dosing zeovit are "elevated". so would the large levels of iron that come from ASW be called "elevated" also? (serious question)

if i were to do the same again, i would have made a 'push fit' standpipe (where it joins to the vertical part of the bulkhead). mine is screwed on. with push fit you could 'pop' the standpipe off for maintenance if you ever needed too. so long as it was reaonably water tight it would still serve its purpose. as pies says, there are merits to adding a ball valve to the overflow (or rather to the pipe just outside the bulkhead) if any part of the glass/perspex overflow ever leaked, you can turn the ball valve and save your tank draining! not a big chance of that happening of course, but for the sake of a $30 ball valve its peace of mind for me (this obviously wont save ya tank if the thread on the bulkhead was leaking!)

i find coralline grows exponentially. the more there is, the faster it grows. i also found by personal experience (and now backed up by the faq above) that replacement or addition of bulbs causes a die off. i added a new 150W to the centre and the MASSIVE amounts (as in about a dozen layers thick!) of bright pink coralline that was under it died off, turning a whiteish colour. imo its just a matter of time for it to adjust to the new lighting conditions and start growing again. however, i think i definately need to get rid of the light covering of hair algae that took its place on some of the rocks (outcompeted the coralline in growth!) i attribute this to a number of changes (new bulb, starting zeovit, infrequent water changes and overfeeding) im not overly worried though, as I know (once i get back on-top of the unwanted nutrient addition) its just a matter of time before the tank adjusts and coralline grows back. if you see some signs of coralline growth, just be patient and it will take off over the next few months (so long as you keep up your regular maintenance) if not, try seeding the tank, get your calcium levels right, dont make any major changes and in time you will see the cool colours of coralline growing!

aye carumba, a shrine to coralline algae! http://www.saltyzoo.com/CorallineGrowth.html

also, might be handy for you: check out the "salinity, evaporation calculator" under "water chemistry" section on the reference sites 'sticky' at the top of the saltwater section... http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/here-vp75310.html just goes to show how important it is to top-up fresh water as close to the exact amount of evaporation each day otherwise over time salinity will rise.

not that i've measured, salinity seems to be around 1.026 I dont think it would vary that much around nzl? i wonder if salinity could be higher if you took a sample from the top of the water (where agitation of the waves makes the salt more 'frothy') versus deeper under the water? temperature is the only outside influence i know of that effects salinity.

dont heat it up either, although i used too. temp drops from 25 to 23 when doing a 20% water change. not enough to worry about.

i had to "whack" start one of mine. banged it on the side of the tank stand to get it to run then chuck it in the tank

depends on your current water quality, anywhere from every 4 - 8 weeks. personally i change about every 6-8 weeks.

just dont overdo the carbon, maybe 100 grams per 100 litres?

could do if you had a powerhead circulating/oxygenating the water. i change immediately after collecting, otherwise have to wait 2-3 months in the dark - not you, the water

been there done that! happened with my closed loop :-? ALWAYS used teflon tape (but not too much, probably only wrap it around 3-4 times)

at about 4,000lph return, water level sits just short of an inch up the overflow comb. so i'd opt for at least 1.5" height

no idea what the bouncy guy means, just thought it was appropriate

:bounce:

5mm gap, 5 mm comb.

I believe RO/DI is very important. If you think about how much you topup from evaporation (and as Brian says, if you also use ASW) then every dissolved solid in the water you are adding to the tank is adding another nutrient. I have a TDS meter on my RODI unit, shows on average 75ppm of dissolved solids in and 0ppm out (of course this is different depending on where you live) If I were just to topup straight from the tap, at 3-5 litres a day, thats alot of dissolved solids being added over a couple of weeks, especially considering we are striving to keep nutrients in a reef tank to a minimum. Heres my 4-stage unit: If you are looking at RO/DI, I think Michael @ Pet Planet was looking at bringing some in at a good price. Otherwise Anthony Preston in Howick (Ph: 09 534-5127) does them for probably around the $400 mark.

totally agree. if you stick with clear piping, just make sure that its in a very low light level otherwise you'll get algae growth in the pipe causing reduced flow over the years. also agree. my water level sits about 3/4" above the overflow! thats with a return doing 4,000lph. if i remember correctly yours is ALOT more!