Update on 12g eclipse

[Signmom99]

Wha hoo!  I finally got the 32w pc smartlite installed in my 12g eclipse hood along with the original 13w pc (I installed it so I could keep both).  The LR is loving it.  Have been advised by others around here to leave my lights on for 3 days straight to give the LR a chance to "blossom" with what is already on it.  The 13w light did not have enough kick to start the LR into motion.  

 

Ammonias are at 0, nitrites at 0, and nitrates at 12.  Removed the emerald crabs, they were doing too much damage to the LR by scrating below the algea and into white rock.  Removed the 2 damsels cause I didn't want to keep them when done cycling and knew from past experience that I would have to disrupt the rock (prob all of it) in order to get the damsels out.  So.........I have put in there (to keep the cycle going) a tomato clown fish and a polyp.  The polyp is opening a few of its flowers and there is an interesting hitchhiker coral on there too!  What a treat to get that for nothing.  

 

I have Micro-Vert and Coral-Vite.  Can anyone tell me what to do with these.  I want to have a killer reef in the end.  Also got some liquid calcium as my calcium levels are slightly low.

 

Everything is coming along quite well.  Next time I can slip the digital camera out from work I'll upload more pictures.  Am going to wait until the tank is 6 weeks old before doing a water change unless the nitrates climb into the red zone.

 

Any comments or suggestions are appreciated as always.  Thanks

[KoAps]

First off, Bad idea to leave your lights on for three days. It's more likely to cause a algae bloom then anything. If I was you I would only run the white lights for 4 to 6 hours for a few weeks and run the blue lights(if you have two timers) for like 12 to 14 hours, by doing that you are exposing the coral to light longer on the right K's but the algae won't grow in that range.

 

In terms of clean up crews, I love blue legged hermits, they are small, don't grow fast, and seem to eat some annoying algae. I also wouldn't use any fish to cycle any tank, it's mean and not necessary. A tank doesn't need a fish at all, the coral and shrimps and snails and hermits will #### enough to feed the bacteria. I personally don't have nor want fish in my tanks, Invertebrate only tanks, fish trash the place.

 

Also be vary weary about the water you use, because tap water and most human bottled water is poison to a reef tank and if you use RO water you will want to use the coral-vite or essential elements, add a few drops of calcium and iodine here and there, not too much, you can test for it if you really want. I also add in a buffer for ph and it has a coralline accelerator with seems to be working nicely. For the Corals I put in Strontium and Molybdenum, it to help them stay attached to rocks and open up more. Mirco-Vert is pretty thick so only use a few drops every now and again, few weeks or so, if you feed flake food to your tank for any reason( I feed my shrimps sometimes with it) the powder on the flakes is fine enough for filter feeders, but you can also grind some flakes with your fingers to make it smaller.

 

All in all I know some people (Namely Chris) hate additives, and that's kwel with me, but I did use them and I saw no bad side effects and my tank is growing like crazy.

 

 

 

(Edited by KoAps at 12:48 pm on Mar. 4, 2002)

 

 

(Edited by KoAps at 12:50 pm on Mar. 4, 2002)

[OscarBeast]

most human bottled water is poison to a reef tank

 

Most "drinking" and all "distilled" water is fine.  I know people that use mineral water as well.

 

What exactly is the poison that is in the bottled water?

[KoAps]

Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Drinking Water,

 

When I say human water I mean like that. Bottle water you would buy at 7-11. If you read the label you see that it has extra stuff in it for humans, bicarbonates, chlorides, nitrates, calcium and magnesium. This is why I always start with clean water, RO Water, and add in what the corals need, instead of having tainted water that has minerals in it I can't readily remove.

[Signmom99]

What about using the water that comes out of the filter on our refrigerators?  This has a filter and is supposed to be cleaned up.  

[KoAps]

If it is a true Reverse Osmosis Filter, sure, I highly doubt it is adding minerals to the water, unless it's run through some sort of mineral filter that adds to the water.

 

Since it's still using Tap water technically, there are elements that might pass through the membrane, also your tap water may be harder then you can deal with and you would just be better off buying water just for the tank. I personally just go to Safeway and buy their bottled RO water, Beweary what you buy, drinking water isn't the same as purified, make sure it say that it uses RO on the label, or you might as well be using raw tap water.

 

I also like buying water in 1 gal jugs because I can either use them to mix salt in, our are a closable source for top off water. My tank was filled and topped off with nothing but Safeway water(not the machine outside either, the actually Safeway brand pre-bottled water)

 

Remember, if a LFS is using tap water to mix salt, even if it's run through a RO unit, the water from different cities will not be the same. Every city has their own way of dealing with waste water, so they all have their own properties, as do the plumbing in each building, all it takes is old rusty pipes adding to the water and your reef tank can have major issues. I think my personal success from day one with my tank has to do with not keeping fish and using top quality water. There is a water store near me, and I think I might start bringing 3 gal jugs there to fill them, I know their water is the best of the best of the best. It goes through many types of filters, from RO to chemical reaction, so it is totally pure H20, just got to be sure they don't add in anything.

 

(Edited by KoAps at 11:55 pm on Mar. 4, 2002)

[Signmom99]

So am I to understand then by using RO water that the trace elements must be replenished?  In other words is dosing is not an option for me, that would mean that I would have to use additives on what...a daily basis?

And if this is the process how would I know if I was over adding on the minerals, etc.?

[KoAps]

Pure RO water is just H2O nothing else, the membrane insures that only hydrogen, oxygen, can carbon can pass, usually same our own cells membrane. So yeah if you use pure H2O you would want to add in a bit of elements. I personally use the kent stuff and it's meant for 20 gal and I have 6 gal tank, I add in like two drops and I only do it after a few weeks after a water change and many RO top offs later. The water change should add in elements if you use good salt, I use reef crytals.

 

So Don't stress the elements too much and don't add too much, I use vary little cause it's highly concentrated