JoeBlog

When you say "positive effect", what do you mean? Higher growth rates?? deeper, richer colors?? And, over what timeframe?

I'm going to have threadfin cardinals (true schooling fish), chormis (which don't really school well), anthias (also don't school well) and chalk bass (which supposedly school). I would love to have Idols (but they usually die) or schooling banner fish (but they are a bit larger and thus poop more!). I want lots of activity in my tank with a minimal bioload.

Real productive statement. :roll:

Dude, you've done an amazing job with that 4-way. I think the OMs are one of the best alternative flow devices on the market, but it's true that plumbing can be a bitch. I know from my own experiences and certainly wouldn't want to show anyone on this forum the back of my tank given their responses. :evil: You can certainly have confidence that anyone here talking smack couldn't do the OM 4-way plumbing better!

What triggers do they have?

To get around the cost of the tube, I used those pressure sprayer bottles that you get from Bunnings for $9.95. I bought 6 for my new skimmer (cut them apart and glued back together), so I have the whole body (4' tall) for only $60 and the top is tapered perfectly to fit my collection cup from my queen that I bought originally.

This has been my problem unfortunately. I broke open a couple of my STNed corals and sure enough, there was a green core. :evil: I get the zero readings on my test kits, but know my damn rocks are quite full and releasing/sheading slowly, and thus algae blooms (minor scale) from time to time. :evil: It's just way too much of a PITA to "cook" them for a couple months outside the tank.

I've asked around to the usual sources, but no luck. You wouldn't happen to know where I can pick one up?

Where are you going to get your big UV sterilizer from? I have a birthday coming up soon. Since it's basically the only time that I can make the bigger purchases without catching HELL, I better take advantage of it!

I certainly don't want to start that again!! It's the cost initial cost of the UV that is holding me back from going that route right now. I would imagine that the running costs of the UV would be more as well taking into account replacement bulbs along with electricity, but that is simply a guess. Also, I have a small UV now (16 watt) and the sleeve gets coated with calcium fairly quickly, which makes it useless. The bigger one that I want has the wiper to assist in this, but I don’t know how well that will work against the calcium buildup. Is using ozone really dangerous if you use it with an ORP controller and carbon? Hey Layton, have you seen that light as well and going to join the BB crew????

Nitrates... DAMN. I haven't heard much of that from others, but most of the posts are from new users and may not have run it long enough to experience that negative effect. I've also been thinking about some sort of a "zeo-" system and have been perusing the zeovit website recently just to see what all the hype is about (good and bad, although the information on their site is a bit biased toward “goodâ€). What brand zeolite do you use Reef? Tunze? Is this a Zeovit equivalent? Sorry for such a basic question, but what does the zeolite stuff actually do, i.e. absorb nutrients, break them down for easier removal via skimmer, etc… all of which would lead to “clear†water and healthy, colorful SPS corals?

Very interesting... The whole reason that I considered it is because many of the tanks that I have seen and thought were very impressive on RC were running ozone. This may also be a function of the "Bomber influence" since most of these tanks are associated with his threads and BB. At any rate, what do you mean as far as improving the filtration method? My goal is to simply use a BIG skimmer, very high flow with BB, heaps of rock, ozone and possibly a large UV. The comments that I especially like about the ozone is that it makes your water crystal clear. Everyone that has started using ozone has mentioned in their posts that they "thought" their water was clear until they started using it, and now they can't believe it. I just mention this since I am anticipating everyone chirping in with "well, my water is as clear as it gets...", but they still haven't used ozone on their tanks before to compare. I would like to hear how those that are using or have in the past used ozone thought of it.

Hey Wasp, what brand of bulbs are you using? I was a bit worried about the "yellow" factor as well. That's why I decided to try the XMs since most people have said that they are quite white in appearance. Also, the tanks that I've seen pictures of using the bulbs seem to be pretty crisp.

Does anyone use ozone in their tanks? I am thinking of adding an ozonizer to my system and just wanted to ask for others experiences. If anyone has one for sale, please let me know as well.

No Chimera, this time I am going through Reef Depot in Singapore http://www.reefdepot.com.sg/. I've never used them before, but I got put on to them via high recommendation. So far, I must say the service has been excellent!! The prices seem to be the same or even lower in some cases, and shipping should be cheaper.

I've been pondering the same thing for quite a while now. I am currently using the Hamilton 14K DE bulbs and HATE them. My coral growth has been weak, quite a bit of fading of colors, etc... all of which many others have complained about on RC. :evil: So, I've decided to give the XM 10K's a try. I've read many good things on various forums about these bulbs and seen many very nice tanks running them, e.g. I believe Bomber from RC uses these bulbs (??). I'm a bit partial to his tank as well since he convinced me to go bare bottom, and LOVE IT. But that is a whole different argument. At any rate, I am going to place an order with Reef Depot for some of these bulbs. Here is the quote I currently have on price: "Price of 250W XDE bulb is SGD $115 each. We give 5% discount if customers order 6 or more. Shipping quotes for 5 DE bulbs Air mail (9 - 11 days): SGD $42." If anyone wants to go in on the order, please let me know ASAP. If you have experience with these bulbs, please let me know what you think. Cheers, Steve

What is the issue with using too much carbon with "super colorful acros"? Can it cause the loss of color? I'm not using carbon, but have recently started using Purigen. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but shortly after adding it I noticed a couple of my more colorful corals lightened up considerably. It has been a couple months and they have not returned to their original colors still. Could the Purigen have caused this?

If you are thinking of getting a Euro Reef skimmer, it might be worthwhile to check out ASM. They use basically the same design, but are HEAPS cheaper. On RC, there is a huge debate on which is best/better for the $. I am going to just order two Sedra 9000 pumps and add them to my Euro Reef DIY skimmer as recirculating. Here is a link to about the cheapest place to purchase the ASM skimmers and also provides instructions on modification options: http://www.asmskimmer.com/ Here is a very long RC thread on ASM skimmers: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=426125&highlight=ASM+skimmer+club Lastly, here is a link to an ASM FAQ's thread on RC: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=608439&highlight=ASM+skimmer+club

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=392144&highlight=faux+sand+bed There are quite a few threads on RC about faux sand beds. I think this is one of the first. Basically, it is just an epoxy mixed with sand that is attached to starboard (cutting board). It gives you the sand look without the nightmare of sand drifts, bare spots, etc... that is quite hard to avoid with high flow. The downer is that (as with almost all BB) coraline growth will start to cover the bottom over time, and you won't see the nice sand bottom unless you scape it off, lucky enough to have an urchin to eat it off, etc... I will deal with that hurdle once it becomes a problem.

Ditch the sand and go starboard equivalent. I'm currently bare bottom, but will probably be adding a faux sand bed bottom when we shift house.

I use Laguna as well with no problems. A relatively cheap, good pump.

Well, I was nominated as the next host during the last meeting, but things have been a bit too crazy for me with trying to sell the place (open homes, etc...) and all the end of semester BS at work. So, I'm not going to be able to host for at least a couple weeks. Maybe we should have another volunteer to host the next meeting and I will take another future spot.

Corona?!?!?! I grew up in Riverside and used to race motocross at the long gone Corona Raceway, which now I think is just another series of track houses. :-?

If you are really interested, I am willing to sell quite reasonably. I've only used it for ~6 months and thus has well over a year before half is required to be replaced. Send me a PM if you want to talk business.

As close to "giving away" as possible, Critter Kingdom down here in ChCh has "dark surgeons" (whatever that is) for $25. Not the best lookers around (at least at this stage. but they seem to be fairly juvinile, i.e. couple inches), but still a pretty good price for a tang.