Cellenzweig Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 What benefits would liverock in an unlit sump provide? Would the nitrate reducing algae thrive without light? Or would these rocks turn into bioball-like nitrate factories? Live rock will perform the exact same function with or without light. Bioballs turn into a nitrate factory because they are very efficient at producing nitrates, but have no denitrafication capability. Link to comment
Izzue Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 No Problem whitmda And bye the way, I didnt mean that other ppl couldnt help I was just addressing the fact the BHP and I have the same Finnex you have BHP has a whole lot more experience than I. I havent moded anything on my tank except pluming in a chiller. I have not changed the filtration either, using stock setup. Works for me for now at least. Im sure after I get some maturity in the tank BHP will help me with some mods. I did add a PH inside the tank last week (BHP--told him not to its a waste--lol) for more FLOW. It took awhile to get it right but my Seio 620 gph is flowing now . I have 23 lbs of LR in mine and that made the flow to low for me. I had a fluval 2 when I started the M-tank for water polishing-- it only was rated at 110 gph but has filters in it plus you can add Carbon if needed. I replaced it with the Seio as the tank is maturing. ONe thing for sure whit-- the stock light sucks on Finnex. I replaced mine with 130 watt dual sat current usa-- wow what a difference--the tank is even going through diatome and hair algae stage again Oh well Izzue Link to comment
whitmda Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 I need to do something with the flow soon. Right now I got two Rio powerheads in the tank (200 gph and 50 gph). I was thinking of getting a Seio; is the output from that kinda harsh? I eventually want to get the coralife compact 130 watt with lunar lights. I'll save that purchase for a month or two down the road. Link to comment
Izzue Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 Whit One thing about the Coralife light fixture--if it uses a 420 nm blue light for moonlight-- it will light up the corals within the moonlight ray--if they are placed in the back of tank--not gonna see much. On finnex stock light I added a 420 nm blue that was velcroed in the center of stock light -- had some stuff lighting up fluorescent that was cool at night -- but you cant observe that much The Current USA has one moonlight on the back wall that is white moonlight--IMO the white is better than the blue cause you can see real colors and is brighter so you can see better around the moonray. Just my 2 cents Izzue Link to comment
Izzue Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 Whit Ya the Seio is a little harsh-- but now one end has strong flow and other end of tank where there is no PH is lower flow. Had to move some shrooms and zoas around- but everything seems to be happy I ended up haveing to mount the Seio upside down to center the flow in the tank to make it work post some new pics this weekend. Did ya have any luck with the Protein skimmer?? Izzue Link to comment
whitmda Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 The skimmer is starting to work. Last night (after I re-aquascaped) it started foaming like mad and pushed out some junk for about 1/2 hour. then the foam receded back down to the base of the cone. I just figure there's not a whole lot in the tank to skim out right now. I still have to work on the water flow to the skimmer. I moved the skimmer down and adjusted the flow, but everytime i revisited the tank the cup was full. So for now, I'll keep it raised with a rubber band. As I said before, I redid the rock configuration, and everything fit. I just had to remove everything and start from scratch. So, it seems that my aquascaping fever has subsided for now. I'm going to try to post some pics soon (from my phone's camera-i will have access to a better digital camera in a few days). Link to comment
whitmda Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 How do you post pics? The site keeps saying my files are too big. Link to comment
Izzue Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 Whit It took me awhile to fiqure also-- I use Photoshop elements-- I think its edit-- resize image (not canvas) change to 600 then program changes bottom to 400 and somthing. I usually can only get one or 2 picks per post cause they are still a big file, but managed to make it work. There are other ways of hosting it to free web storage picture places then putting in the address. Do a search on this site and you may find a way better for you. I just wish I had a better camera, mine is a POS 2.3 meg--but it does at least have macro Izzue Link to comment
whitmda Posted August 5, 2005 Share Posted August 5, 2005 Here are the parameters for my tank for the past three days: Day Temp PH Amm NO2 NO3 1 76.8 8.4 .5 .1 N/A 2 77.2 8.4 .5 .5 10-50 3 77.5 8.4 .25 .1 10-50 I put my rock in on day 0. With changes going at this rate, my cycle is going to be over in a couple days. Could this be the case or am I missing something? Should I be gearing up for a water change soon? Link to comment
The_Barbe-Hatten_Project Posted August 6, 2005 Author Share Posted August 6, 2005 Skimmer: It sounded like it was at about the right level the first time you asked (.5" above the bottom of the cone) if the collection cup is acctualy filling up your skimmate is WAY WAY WAY too wet... i ususally get about 1/2" over a 3 day period... that's not to say that you don't have a lot more scum in your water, but it sounds like your skimmer is running wet none the less... Parameters: Sounds like you're water is cleaning up... Do a WC wait until ammonia is 0 and watch your PH for a week or 2... if your ammonia is 0 and your ph is being maintained you should be good... you added a hell of a lot of rock at once so it may take a while for ammonia readings to drop... DON'T add any ammonia detox or any other chemical like that... a little stress coat wouldn't hurt... I assume you are using instant ocean salt... anything else at this point would be a waste of money... Instant ocean salt and agralive sand ("special grade" would be best) are the bast at buffering PH... PH is the single most important thing to keep up with... it will tell you if your salinity is droping, if you are having an ammonia,no2, or no3 spike... keeping it a 8.2 will prevent a lot of headaches... Rock: Leaning it against the back wall is fine, don't let it touch the sides or front! otherwise you'll be left with big gouges in the acrylic... tossing your extra rock in the back is fine... put it in w/ the skimmer and you'll have some extra cured rock, but it won't really be benificial to the tank other than holding some copeopods... you can use it to make plugs for fraging other corals... Tip for cycling... Add some reef safe carbon and take out those ceramic rings... also skim for all your worth Link to comment
whitmda Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 Thanx for the info. Now I got a new problem. All of my beautiful live rocks' color is fading. What's going on here? Do I need to add some doses. My coraline is disappearing. ' Link to comment
The_Barbe-Hatten_Project Posted August 7, 2005 Author Share Posted August 7, 2005 it's just the stuff that died on the trip to your tank... you will probably get another big ammonia spike here soon... if you want to give it a boost though Use "Marc Weiss- Coral Vital" once a day for a month... after your cycle... don't abuse it though... Link to comment
whitmda Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Let me see if this works. Sorry if the pics are too small. Link to comment
whitmda Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 changed to jpg, lemme see if this works better. damn, im such a newb. Link to comment
Izzue Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Whit Looking Good man--plenty of LR Is the water cloudy ?? Was gonna try to get a pic of mine but after I feed my Sun coral Day light bulb shut off. Ill get one tommorrow evening-- no feed day Izzue Link to comment
whitmda Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I think the water was clear. I took the pics with my phone so that's probably why they are hazy. There's a better digital camera somewhere around here that I havent unpacked yet. BHP, thanks for the good info. My calcium is reading 300ppm that's a bit low isn't it? I got some B-Ionic I havent broken out yet. When should I start the water supplements? Link to comment
Izzue Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Hey Whit Watch your tank for any small (not real deep) stress cracks in the acrylic(OUTSIDE OF TANK). I started noticing some in my tank bout a week or 2 ago and seems to be spreading. They are on the most part running perpendicular and are located in the front top of the bow on each corner. Also getting some on the bottom left corner-- also a few on (facing tank) left side where the return is. Im not sure how old my tank is LFS said he purchased 4 at a Show and had this last one I bought from him in storage. Wondering if it might be related to temp storage before I bought the tank. When I asked LFS about waranty -- he would check with one of his employees that has the same tank from the 4 he had purchased. Thanks Izzue Link to comment
whitmda Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Damn that sucks. I'll check mine tonight. I actually had bought a Nano 12G DX, but sold it before using it b/c I wanted to avoid this problem. Thanks for the heads up. Link to comment
Izzue Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Well Whit Dont think their anything that would bust just dont look to good cosmetically. Ive been using NOvus 3m cleaner for the outside and that is what my LFS recommended. Hope the cleaner hasnt caused it Izzue Link to comment
whitmda Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I have some Dr.Foster&Smith acrylic handy wipes. I also have some Coralife acrylic buffer/polisher. I hope those are fine. I have some dirt/residue on the inside of my tank. How do you clean the inside walls of your tank? Link to comment
Izzue Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Whit I wrote an email to Finnex - Ill let ya know what happens. I ve only had the tank set up now for maybe 3 months and I dont particular like the little cracks on something that new!!!! I dont think the tank will fail but it the cracks continue to appear -- the cosmetic appeal will be declining I clean with magnetic (acrylic safe) cleaner bout every 3 days. Just recently had to get a scaper to hit the bottom inch all the way around the bottom of the tank where hair algae had started growing. If your LR is to close to the front or sides its a bugger to get to cause my hand cant get down in like 2 spots. Just be careful of cleaning-- scratchs real easy--if you get a pieace of substrate in magnet--ouchie before you know it-- big scratch--lol Izzue Link to comment
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