Thanks alot Bro. I swear its one of the best investments ive made as far as reef keeping is concerned. It just amazes me all the things you can control with it.

It would be really cool if they threw on a few orange or red LEDs for a sunrise/set effect

I finally got the tunze cables to hook up to my profilux controller. Im running (2) Tunze 6055's on short wave pulse. The profilux has a bunch of different modes you can run. For now im sticking with the waves since it looks cool when theyre in synch. Whats really cool is when a "thunderstorm" occurs the waves kick up to 100% and the wave action is pretty dramatic. Heres a quick vid of the wave action(Be sure to hit the HD button)

Just some pics of my favorite hermits....Very peaceful and always get the job done

Such clear pics.

Thanks lani

Yeah man, those shots are really nice. Thinking about getting a Rebel XS kit myself, that or the Nikon D3000. Do you have to use a special lens to get those macro shots?

Thanks B. Well those shots of the hermit were taken with my 100mm macrolens. But most of the other shots were taken with my kit lens.

So i got the new impellers for my euroreef skimmer. This is the upgraded "diamond mesh" material. It should be alot less prone to wear. Here some pics of the old impeller and how worn down it is in a relatively short amount of time. Just installed the new one and ill check in month or so to see how it compares to the old one...

Old impeller



New impeller

I think Robbert told me the problem with the old impeller was it's resistance (or lack thereof) to the saltwater environment. This new one is supposed to be inert. Looking forward to your pics of it in a month.

How are you liking the skimmer? I found mine overflowing this morning and can't figure out why. I did dose two part for the first time last night before bed, so I hope the skimmer is not over-reactive to those chemicals. Also, mine stops foam production with feeding. Do you experience either of these conditions, E?

Hey b..I love the skimmer i havent had one as efficient as the euro-reef. Mine actually produces skimmate while im feeding the tank...I never seen anything like it. Maybe your water level within the reactor chamber isnt adjusted properly. Take a pic of yours and ill tell you what might be the problem.

My water level is right at the fuge chamber divider, but here's a pic anyway:



I had some nice foam head going today, but like I said, after feeding (thawed mysis) it just goes down to small popping bubbles at the water line inside the skimmer. I don't have as much experience with tuning it as you do because I've had so much epoxy in the tank messing with it, so I haven't really had it in stable water yet. But no new epoxy has been in the tank for several days, now.

Sweet eel. I want one, but am worried about it knocking rocks over. Is that gonna happen?

Hey B Do you have the gray cover on at the bottom and have you cleaned the foam piece lately. If so remove the gray cover at the bottom and run some hot water through the foam piece to clean it. Leave the gray cover off.

I'm actually giving the whole skimmer a good cleaning to remove any possible residue from the epoxy.

I'm going to try the other way; I'm going to leave out the foam pad, and seal off two of the smaller holes. That will leave me the two big holes left to tune with (which I can close off completely, which would never be needed, of course). My reasoning is that over time the foam pad will get dirty/clogged with food particles and detritus that the pump takes in but shoots down into the pad instead of up into the foam. Besides possibly releasing nitrate, I think it would be cause to need to adjust the height of the skimmer occasionally until you cleaned the pad again (because the dirty pad would change the flow of effluent).

By going with only hard parts, I am hoping that there will be no variability with the skimmer height over time. Of course, it will still need to be cleaned occasionally.

I am also trying to keep the skimmer as high as possible, to keep the pump as close to the surface (while still being submerged) as possible. This means more air draw Even when the skimmer is all the way up the top of the pump is about 2" under water.

Wish me luck with my experiment! If it fails, I can always take off the gray effluent "valve" on the bottom and try the foam only.

Answer meee!

I agree with you about the pad becoming dirty and restricting the flow of effluent but it also catches microbubbles.So you might want to see if you see any microbubbles make it into the display with that adjustment.







Thanks and nope.

Picked up a jbj nano glo for one of the rear chambers of my cad. I already have a few mangroves back there which have been growing with only ambient light I plan to put some cheato to speed up the nitrate removal process and remove it once levels reach 0.

this may be a noob question, but why remove the chaeto? is it because you don't need it/it will starve if you're running the zeo?

Thats exactly why tim.

That's a really cool fuge light. I really can't wait until LED prices come down!

+1

That is a pretty darn good looking setup mate. How often do you feed that eel? And how do you like the Zeo system? I go back and forth on it but still considering it... It just seems like so much darn work! Ideally I would just setup a dosing pump for each additive... Does the "drops" correspond to ml?

Thank Kramer and b it's the best fuge light for all in ones IMO no heat is transferred to the water.

Thanks alot Urchin I feed the eel every 2-3 days. I just fed him today actually. Beleive it or not he ate a 4" lance fish (frozen if course) He downed in about 8 seconds.

The Zeosystem is actually pretty good if you have the patience for it. I totally swear by the Carbon and zeolites They reduce organics immediately upon being introduced. The nitrates and the phosphates are a bit slow about going down to desired levels.However i think it also depends on what your nitrate and phosphate levels are prior to dosing.
For instance Becact started a newly cycled tank with the zeo system and his results were almost instantaneous. Since the nescessary bacteria were already being introduced before the actual start of the nitrogen cycle. Now on the other hand i introduced the zeosystem well into an already established system. But the difference was i broke down my fuge a few weeks prior in preparation for the zeo system and my nitrates soared to ungodly levels. (because i have such a high bioload) Fortunately i hadnt added any corals and was running as a fish only setup for the time. My fish as well invertebrates werent affected at all.
Now was the task of removing the buildup of all these nitrates. I say it cut my nitrates in half after about 4 weeks. Then it just stabilized so my nitrates although lower arent at 0. So in my impatience i decided to add cheato to help aid the zeo. Although i do believe in an additional 6-8 weeks my levels would have eventually fallen to 0. So i feel comfortable saying it will reduce nitrate and phosphate levels quickly but only if they are at reasonable levels. If they are out of control it will take quite a bit longer.
The other good things i love about Zeo is the lack of nuisance algae. I have yet to even have hair algae!If you can believe that. And my sandbed has never been whiter.(Although i have to give BJ the jawfish some credit for that)

Hey E, did you consider upping your carbon dosage (zeostart) to help with that excess nitrate?

edit: BTW, you were right about the sponge on the ER skimmer. I had to put it back in due to micro bubbles being introduced. I still left the two holes blocked, though, as it allows me to keep the skimmer higher up out of the water.

Yep i began doing that a few weeks ago but with no discernible changes.However after researching it other zeo users said it took around 6-8 weeks to drop higher nitrate levels. So i guess ill see in a few weeks. But im positive the cheato will do its job within a few weeks and then the Zeo will just lower it even further.

Picked up a tailspot blenny a few days ago. Its my favorite blenny of all the species ive owned. He wasnt so shy today so i managed to snag a few pics.

Meet Benny

Awesome addition... I love mine!!!

They quite the characters for sure!!!

A big plus one here buddy.

I miss my tailspot sumptin' awful!


Another great choice tho E!

I've never seen that fish before (though I recognize the name). Nice looking fish!

What is your livestock list, E?

Thanks david. You got that right...lol




Thanks buddy. You gotta pick another one up

Thanks alot B.

Everything in the sig buddy

Great fish! The photos are amazing.

I think it was mentioned already maybe but I can't find the info on the camera and lens you are using?

Thanks!

Thanks alot 34G.Im using a canon 7D and most of those photos were taken with the18-55IS.

Im planning to get a CADLIGHT lighting fixture...how does that compare to fixture such as Sunpod?

Well the main difference is the cadlight offers (2) 24 watt t5 bulbs in addition to the leds and metal halide light.however I beleive the sunpod is a bit cheaper.The cadlight also comes with a hanging kit.

HTH

benny is sweet!

Thanks they have the best personalities...

you forgot to mention how loud the fan is.....

HOWEVER, tivo over on reefcentral has said that he's replaced the stock fan in the light fixture with a vantec stealth fan, and that it is super quiet. http://www.buyextras.com/cabinetfans.html. Sounds like it'd be worth looking into (for those of us who don't have super amazing LED setups..... jerk. ).

i don't see how you can compare a sunpod to the cad fixture, though -- the sunpod doesn't have the actinics! for apples-to-apples, you'd really have to compare it to the outer-orbit fixture, because that's the only one that has all of the same lighting. i'd rather have the outer-orbit fixture, but you can't beat the price of the cad fixture.

I didnt know the fan was loud. I never really fired it up before i sold it. But yea i would definitely take the outer orbit fixture over the cad if price wasnt a issue..

when's the 50g artisan getting set up???

it's only $349 for the tank on Cad's website.

that is a flat out STEAL, isn't it??

For a starphire tank, hell yeah it is! I think the stand is more than the tank, though. If someone DIYs their stand it would be a good deal.

Well it would be a steal if you didnt then have to pay for the sump,skimmer,lamp tree,stand and shipping......Once you add all of those things on it will cost around $1100..

Nevertheless Ill probably pick one up when i move in the spring...

That's true, if I got that tank I'd have to spring for a nice cone skimmer and probably a light upgrade as well. But strictly speaking on how much starphire tanks cost, $350 is a good price for the tank only.

Yep if i had all of the other things in place then $350 for the tank would be a pretty good deal.

Question for you since you know more about the Zeovit system than most. If I were to start a tank and let it cycle from the beginning in the ZeoVit system and then transfer over all of my live stock which would basically add double the live rock and a whole mess of corals would everything work out OK? Or would this cause a nitrogen spike through the roof and kill off all my precious corals? Sorry about the hijack, but I'm toying with the idea of setting up a 50 breeder as a ZeoVit system and then transfer over my current tank's (my 24 Nanocube) inhabitants into it. Love the stocking choices. I don't think You could have better ones.

Well as long as the new system cycled thoroughly with the zeovit system you wouldnt have to worry about a nitrogen spike as your current nanocube is fully cycled.However you do have to pay attention to how the corals from your nanocube react to switching to a ultra low nutrient system.In Particular sps need time to acclimate to the new system. So it may be a good idea to begin the zeovit on the already established system so as to slowly acclimate your existing corals.

Thanks alot for the complement.

Cool. I was dosing vodka on my tank, but I got sick of the cyano. I found out recently that MB7 would probably eliminate that problem for me so I might pick it up again soon. I wouldn't be using zeolites at that point, so maybe the vodka and MB7 would be a good midpoint for the cube before getting transferred over. Oh. Is there any problem with a deep sand bed and ZeoVit? I want a yellowheaded jawfish badly for the new tank and was thinking about having a tiered tank where a third to half of the tank has a 4" sand bed while the rest of it had a one inch bed, separated by a foam and LR divider. Kind of a mini drop off I guess. Thanks for the info!

Np. Nope no issues with keeping a deep sand bed. Running zeo will actually help keep your sandbed very clean(free of algae) With zeo and my bluespotted jawfish my sand has never been whiter.