THE OFFICIAL ASK ALBERT THIEL THREAD

[albertthiel]

I like the 'scape.

What kind of lighting are you using with this?

How long has this tank been set up?

 

Thanks for the kind words on the scape, I think I will still remove some more rock to open things up a bit more but for now I am going to leave it alone for a few days.

 

I had a lot more sand but have been removing some each time I was cleaning the substrate and may go Bare Bottom once I move some rocks around so I can get more sand out.

 

The tank was set up in early June of this year, 20 Gallon High, HOB filter, HOB skimmer, and for lighting I use 2 100 watt equivalent CFT's (CFL's) rated at 6500K. Circulation using 1 PH @ 750 GPH + the low created by the HOB outflow and the skimmer water return.

 

Plenty of light for what is in the tank ... I had 1 blue 3 watt LED over it for a while but I removed that as it really did not make much difference. I was within the return timeframe to the LFS and so I decided to get store credit and purchase some compounds that I needed with it.

 

All I need now is some more "color" in the tank by adding a few more corals that have more vivid colors.

 

Thanks again.

Albert

[albertthiel]

Video of my Betta Lifespace 1000 taken 3 years ago showing the water movement created by my Tunze Nano Wave Box. This was a very successful tank which regretably I had to break down.

 

Wow ... that is some water movement indeed Les

 

Albert

[Weetabix7]

I hope you don't remove the arch/cave in the middle back, I really like the way it looks.

I read a comment of yours somewhere else that you didn't care for bare bottom tanks, so why would you consider going bare bottom on this one?

Why have you been taking sand out?

[albertthiel]

Tanks looking really good Albert and is maturing nicely.

 

Thanks Les I appreciate it ...

 

Albert

[albertthiel]

I hope you don't remove the arch/cave in the middle back, I really like the way it looks.

I read a comment of yours somewhere else that you didn't care for bare bottom tanks, so why would you consider going bare bottom on this one?

Why have you been taking sand out?

 

The arch will stay for sure but I have big rock on the left that I may want to remove and replace it with a smaller one. Unfortunately the PH is right behind it so that may become visible but maybe I can figure out how to hide it in some other way.

 

Yes, I do like sandy bottoms but what I have come to find out is that in this small tank, that is also narrow, it is hard to maintain by maneuvering around the rock, and in the back of it, to keep it clean.

 

I may replace it with a very fine layer of black larger size chunks that are easier to clean. I have to think about it some more, but each time i clean the bottom, more sand is being sucked out and the layer is getting too thin to my liking, so maybe replacing it with the darker larger pieces is a better way to go.

 

The sand has been coming out when cleaning it even though I try to avoid sucking some out, but that does not seem to work too well, so slowly but surely more and more sand is being sucked out.

 

I could, of course, put it back it but that would then become a time consuming process, if I add it via a flex hose with a funnel at the top so it does not fall on corals or cloud the water and then settles all over the place.

 

Maybe there is some better way to add it back but I have not found one yet that makes it easy to do so.

 

Anyway I am open for suggestions from anyone reading this. Nite Nite

 

Albert

Edited October 6, 2012 by albertthiel

[yman182]

Hi Albert,

 

Any idea what this could be?

 

This is it open

 

 

This is after I poked it and it closed...

 

 

Thanks!

 

Yury

[albertthiel]

Ricordea florida in my Tank, taken yesterday ... looks better

 

I changed its orientation somewhat and now that it is getting light from a different angle, it has opened some more and looks better IMO:

 

 

 

Albert

[atoll]

Morning Albert,

You may find the following interesting and a very good and honest appraisal of the 3 main types of lighting currently available in the hobby.

 

Check out post 266 via top right hand of the following link.http://www.thesaltybox.com/forum/useful-polls/121927-old-sps-vs-led-debate-27.html#post1189384

 

Les

[albertthiel]

Pom Pom Crab - with internal Links to other types of Crabs

 

© reeftools.com and photo by Felicia McCaulley

 

Also includes links to:

 

- Acropora Crab

- Red Leg Hermit Crab

- Electric Blue Hermit Crab

- Yellow Tip Hermit Crab

- Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab

 

 

Link: http://reeftools.com/news/pom-pom-crab/

 

Albert

[albertthiel]

The Electric Blue Hermit Crab

 

© reeftools.com and Photo by Felicia McCaulley

 

The Electric Blue Hermit Crab, a Marshall Islands native, has very unique electric blue legs, with black banding, to go with it’s brilliant orange antennas.

 

The electric blue Hermit crab posses two similarly-sized brownish green claws. In it’s natural habitat, the Electric blue Crab lives mostly inside abandoned snail or triton shells.

 

As with almost any similar crab, as it grows, it may resort to eating a snail in order to obtain it’s shell.

 

 

Keep that in mind if you have smaller type snails in your tank, the shell of which may appeal to the Electric Blue Hermit (a good member of your CUC's but place additional larger shells in your tank to avoid and prevent the predation mentioned.

 

Includes internal links to other crabs such as:

 

- Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab

- Red Leg Hermit Crab

- Yellow Tip Hermit Crab

- White Tip Hermit Crab ... and

 

- The Right Critter for the Job

 

Link : http://reeftools.com/news/electric-blue-hermit-crab/

 

Albert

Edited October 6, 2012 by albertthiel

[albertthiel]

The Gold Spotted Rabbit Fish - Algae eater ? Coral eater ? Or both ?

 

© MorpheusDreamer13

 

 

And a Video that shows the "basics" on the Gold Spotted Rabbit Fish

 

Gold Spotted and other Rabbit fish can help in ridding the tank of pest algae, and some are reported to even eat Green Bubble Algae, but:

 

- they can grow pretty large

- if not well fed they may harass, pick on, and even consume coral flesh ... so caution is definitely in order, and reading up a lot more on them too, before using one in your tank. This is just one of many Rabbit Fish.

 

Video Link :

 

They make great additions to FOWLR tanks and can sometimes be used for a short period to clean a reef tank of undesirable algae, but caution is in order here when using them so they do not damage anything else.

 

Albert

[atoll]

Hmm my link doesn't seem to show lets try again.

http://www.thesaltybox.com/forum/useful-po...tml#post1189488

[albertthiel]

Hmm my link doesn't seem to show lets try again.

http://www.thesaltybox.com/forum/useful-po...tml#post1189488

 

Yes thanks Les, I did manage to use the first one by copy and pasting it ... very good info in a general sense indeed.

 

Thanks for posting it

 

Albert

[atoll]

Hi Albert,

 

Any idea what this could be?

 

This is it open

 

 

This is after I poked it and it closed...

 

 

Thanks!

 

Yury

 

 

I doubt that its a Aiptasia but possibly a Manjo although it looks like some sort of button polyp but its not so easy to tell from the pic's supplied.

[albertthiel]

Hi Albert,

Any idea what this could be?

This is it open

Thanks!

Yury

 

yman182:

 

Yuri can you post a close up of it maybe as the pic is not giving me much to look at ... I don't think it is an Aiptasia but some kind of polyp or maybe some kind of small anemone but as I said from the picture it is hard to tell and taking just a guess at it would not be good as it may not be the correct one.

 

Can you describe it a little more maybe: like tentacles and whether there is one row or more than one, color of the tentacles and the polyp itself and whatever else you can give us as a description.

 

Thanks

 

Albert

[albertthiel]

Sea Star Eating Mussel Video ... Watch as the Sea Star gets consumed

 

© thelivingocean.net and offbeat

 

This may be the coolest sea star predation video of all time.

 

Watch helplessly from the mussel’s shell as the sea star’s stomach extrudes and begins to digest the mussel alive!

 

Link: http://tinyurl.com/8l6dwky

 

A video to watch (short and in increased speed)

 

Albert

[albertthiel]

Interesting Pictures on Richard Entrup's site

© Richard Entrup and the photo Owners



























Albert

[albertthiel]

Is all Floss the Same density and does one brand do a better a job than another?

 

With HOB and other filters, it is not unusual for many hobbyists to use floss as part of the mechanical filtration for their tanks.

 

Does one brand work better and trap more dirt than another brand?

 

I can only relate my findings on two brands (shown below)

 

 

Works pretty well but is kind of less dense than the next one, and although it does trap particulate matter, it does let a lot of it through. It can obviously be used, but I had a much better experience with this one:

 

 

It is much denser, feels that way too, and traps finer particulate, yet does not reduce the water flow through it. I found that in the same amount of time after stirring up the dirt on the rocks and in the tank, the Blue Ribbon one trapped a lot more detritus and other matter than the Accurel one.

 

They are about the same prices so my choice from now on is for the Blue Ribbon one, unless I find one that traps even more detritus.

 

Posted for your information and not an endorsement of the product.

 

Albert

[albertthiel]

ZEFWN - Zoanthid Eating Flatworms/Nudibranchs

 

© The owners of the links shown below

 

 

 

 

 

Links to sites that discuss ZEFWN .... and Video:

 

Video:

 

Links:

http://www.zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gall...p;g2_itemId=384

 

http://newagereefs.com/forum/54-reefnotes/...autiful-killers

 

http://www.practicalcoralfarming.com/zoonudis.html

 

Albert

Edited October 6, 2012 by albertthiel

[albertthiel]

Amazing what Filter Floss removes after stirring up the detritus on the rocks,

 

behind and in between it, and off the Sand

 

I am now using the Blue Ribbon one that I posted about earlier. The picture below shows what the floss picked up in just over 30 minutes.

 

 

I replaced the floss of course and will check again in a few hours to see what else was removed. Just a good indication of all the detritus that accumulates everywhere, and that if not removed will break down and add to the nutrient levels in the tank.

 

As I pointed out before, the more often the rocks etc. are blown off and the more often what is on the sand is stirred up, the better IMHO.

 

I know most hobbyists clean their tanks regularly but I am starting to wonder whether "regularly" is enough, and whether maybe it should be done more often. Just my thought.

 

Albert

Edited October 6, 2012 by albertthiel

[atoll]

Amazing what Filter Floss removes after stirring up the detritus on the rocks,

 

As I pointed out before, the more often the rocks etc. are blown off and the more often what is on the sand is stirred up, the better IMHO.

 

I know most hobbyists clean their tanks regularly but I am starting to wonder whether "regularly" is enough, and whether maybe it should be done more often. Just my thought.

 

Albert

 

Albert,

One of the things newbies constantly get wrong is if they say have an external power filter with filter floss or indeed an internal one with floss or sponge they wrongly think they are removing detritus etc fro the water where it can do no harm. This is simply not true of course as the mulm and detritus etc is simply still in the water circulation and not really removed at all. In fact it might well be the case that the detritus will break down and dissolve into the water even quicker than if it were left in the aquarium in the first place.

 

The action of fast flowing water over and against the detritus may well assist in it dissolving and speed the whole process up. The only way is to clean floss and songes etc regular and there is a case for cleaning it daily removing it before it gets much chance to break down and re enter the aquarium as dissolved nutrients.

 

Les.

[albertthiel]

Albert,

One of the things newbies constantly get wrong is if they say have an external power filter with filter floss or indeed an internal one with floss or sponge they wrongly think they are removing detritus etc fro the water where it can do no harm. This is simply not true of course as the mulm and detritus etc is simply still in the water circulation and not really removed at all. In fact it might well be the case that the detritus will break down and dissolve into the water even quicker than if it were left in the aquarium in the first place.

 

The action of fast flowing water over and against the detritus may well assist in it dissolving and speed the whole process up. The only way is to clean floss and songes etc regular and there is a case for cleaning it daily removing it before it gets much chance to break down and re enter the aquarium as dissolved nutrients.

 

Les.

 

Indeed Les, and it reinforces what I have been posting quite a few times already and that is that cleaning mechanical filtration media (whatever is used) is an important part of tank maintenance, and as you rightfully point out, moving it from inside the aquarium to another location (e.g. trapped in floss or spongy material or inside filter socks or canister filters) does not solve the problem.

 

It will still decompose unless it is removed regularly, and I would even go as far as saying "very" regularly.

 

It is amazing too how much of such matter accumulates everywhere in the tank, on rocks, in their crevices, behind them, underneath them, and on and in the substrate.

 

The more cleaning gets done the better IMO, and then of course cleaning whatever traps that dirt and detritus, as you too point out.

 

Thanks for the further clarification.

 

I am now cleaning my tank "every" day, and have been doing so for about 10 days or so, whereas before I was only doing it once a week.

 

Based on what I remove every day it has become obvious that once a week was not even "nearly" enough.

 

Albert

[Weetabix7]

What kind of differences have you observed in the health of your tank between the time you didn't clean as regularly and the last 10 days when you have been cleaning daily?

[NanoTopia]

Hi Albert,

 

Any idea what this could be?

 

This is it open

 

 

This is after I poked it and it closed...

 

 

Thanks!

 

Yury

 

Certainly does look like a rock anemone, Epicystis sp.

 

They are generally not fast spreaders from my experience, however I would keep a close eye on it or maybe remove it with kalk solution injection or with electricity. They will contract into the rock when touched so manual removal is next to impossible.

 

Christine

Edited October 6, 2012 by NanoTopia

[albertthiel]

What kind of differences have you observed in the health of your tank between the time you didn't clean as regularly and the last 10 days when you have been cleaning daily?

 

No brown detritus on the bottom, or maybe I should say far less, phosphates and nitrates lower. I just did a test on the aquarium water for Phosphates, using the Phosbuster product, and the floc is very noticeably lower than it was when I did it before, and actually even lower than what I saw as floc when I did it yesterday.

 

Tank water looks clearer and corals appear in better shape (more stretched and larger).

 

Water bubbles at the top popping just about immediately, meaning less DOC in the water as that would increase the surface tension of them and make them not pop that fast, and skimmer not removing as much dark looking matter from the tank, meaning I guess that there is less to remove. I had to raise the level a bit more over the last few days to get it to remove "some" matter from the water.

 

Overall all that seems positive so I am going to continue that method since it really does not take long to do as I just blast everywhere with a good strong baster to blow up as much detritus as I can.

 

Also no tiny algae growth on the glass, the one you actually don't really see but that is there anyway, which I can determine when I run the Magic Eraser sponge over the inside of the front, as I hardly see any green material on it now, whereas before I had quite a bit more of it.

 

And it seems that as i do it every day there is less and less detritus getting into the water as there is no accumulation of it now like there was before.

 

That is "my" experience of course and it would be interesting to see whether anyone can duplicate that after doing the same for about 10 or so days.

 

Overall I only see positive results from doing it.

 

Albert