when putting po4 remover in your deltec mce600. just make sure the bag doesn't float up with the current and block the water return otherwise it will overflow..

speaking from experience.. :oops:

cheers ru

With regard to your test results, the nitrate rising while the other two are staying the same is likely because ammonia and nitrite eating bacteria are nearly up to strength and converting it all into nitrate, which will probably continue to rise for a while yet. Takes several months in new rock for nitrate eating bacteria to get established.

Nice anemone Zev!

My skimmer has that stopper thing that u pull out before putting media in, so hopefully it wont push that up!

As for Diatoms, just plain ol scrub them to get them off the glass?

algae magnet will get them off,

are you using ro/di?

are you using ro/di?

not many christchurch reefers us ro/di

As per Wilson, thats a nope

So I couldn't help myself last night, I decided to play round with the rocks and change things around (wish I hadn't, it looked better the first time!)

Anyways, stirred up ALOT of crap, water went bit cloudy etc. I assumed it would've triggered an increase in something (Amm, NO2 or NO3) but after I left it an hour and tested, there was 0 NH4, 0.01 NO2 and 2.5 NO3 (Less than day before!). Does this confirm that the rock is definatly doing its job?

Skimmer is collecting alot of crap too, haven't seen anything like it since I've had it. Mind you, the tank has never really had anything in it until Saturday. Glad I forked out for the MCE600 rather than getting the MCE300!

ill need a bigger Skimmer when i upgrade again :roll:

Lol, Again?

:lol: yup i started with an 20cm cube tank it was fun but i wanted more corals and some fish so i um upgraded now im thinking of down sizeing my freshwater and turning my old freshwater tank into a marine :-?

Thats what I did

I had 3 Freshwater tanks. Got rid of 2 so I could get the Marine tank. haha

Fmxmatt , since you stirred up the tank the skimmer will collect more.

Just leave the tank and let it cycle no need to test everyday.

As mentioned after about a week add a few corals and see how they go.

Get some biodigest from organism to help with bacteria growth.

Maybe add 1 fish.

biodiges i put 9 in mine

:lol: yup i started with an 20cm cube tank it was fun but i wanted more corals and some fish so i um upgraded now im thinking of down sizeing my freshwater and turning my old freshwater tank into a marine :-?

I'll sell you my unused Deltec MCE600 for what I paid for it (cheap) when you do.

hmmm whats cheap i need a skimmer

I'd better go and list it in the buy/sell, but $750ish (has the new anti-vibration pump etc)

$750 is a bit steep isnt it? You can buy them for around $500 i thought?

I paid $800 for mine

When did they bring out anti vibration pump and how do I know if mines got it? haha

Wasn't going to add fish for at least 2 weeks yet. I'll talk to John on Sat about the Biodigest. Is that basically like the "cycle" stuff I use in my freshwater tank?

ohk, i wasnt too sure, but i thought they were around $550-$600. Obviously not

I paid $800 for mine

When did they bring out anti vibration pump and how do I know if mines got it? haha

Did your Skimmer arrive without a pump? If so, you have my original (unused) pump which doesn't have the anti-vibration bits - otherwise they have a couple of light grey rubber veins on the case of the pump, which stop it chattering against the skimmer case. You could probably just bung a small piece of rubber in there and get the same effect.

Wasn't going to add fish for at least 2 weeks yet. I'll talk to John on Sat about the Biodigest. Is that basically like the "cycle" stuff I use in my freshwater tank?

Kind of, except it contains a carbon source to make the bacteria populate faster. It works quite well.

$750 is a bit steep isnt it? You can buy them for around $500 i thought?

I think they are a little more than that normally - but if you can get them for that price, let me know where!

Mine came with a pump, and its not making any vibrations or noise so it possibly has those bits in it. Not worried either way

When I picked it up from John he asked if I wanted to keep the box as he had someone who wanted the box. Didn't bother me so I left it with him.

Haven't had any experience with other skimmers before, but I love the MCE600.

That box was for me - you do have my pump in your 600!

Is that basically like the "cycle" stuff I use in my freshwater tank?

In a way, but biodigest contains live bacteria which once opened cant be used again.

I doubt cycle is the same as i dont see any overseas hobbyist using it on their reef tank

The long term problems with biodigest /zeovit etc is that they are not allowed in the country anymore unless you have permits which are fartoo hard to get.

Most bacteria products dont have permits.

Fmxmatt , Close the air tap a little as you will get smaller bubbles which means better skimming.