*"*lgreen's Nano Pictures*"*

[lgreen]

i actually put that calurpa rock in my tank, so i could test how well it helps with nitrates, if it works good, i may add a hob refugium

 

i would also like to admit that i will have a remora skimmer next week.

 

still i think it is doing pretty good for having none of that stuff.

[holyherbiness]

I'm all for the natural method, as I am for the high tech method. Major successes in both. Again, nice pictures lgreen

[lgreen]

i agree. i just think that if people are too reliant on there equiptment, they wont know what to do if it fails.

 

people need to know why they are buying a refugium, and buy it because they need it, not just because they read that everyone is using one.

 

nitrates are a little high, but i have never had problems due to high nitrates.

 

nitrites are 0ppm

 

ammonia is 0 ppm

 

ph is 8.2-8.3

 

i dose seachem reef plus, reef calcium, reef strontium, reef iodide, and reef pure hufa vitamin once a week.

 

sand bed is caribsea special grade sand and about 2 inches deep.

 

i also use hbh balance blocks as a trace element additive, and buffer for calcium and ph.

 

i do water changes every 3 weeks, but did one after the first week to help with stress of cycling. and did one about a week ago.

 

since nitrates are high, i am considering adding a hob refugium, to see what happens, but in my experience, high nitrates has never caused any problems for me really.

 

clean up crew consists of 10 hermit crabs (zebra, redleg) and 8 astrea snails, 4 ceriths, and 1 margerita.

 

with rio ph and filter, flow is around 350 gph, and with remora, it will be more around like 500gph total.

 

i also use tap water, with no problems ever, and have a diy top off.

 

i use salifert test kits.

[corriewf]

Just watch out cause it can take over the tank.Also it can go sexual.ewww

[lgreen]

maybe i will go pick up a aqua clear 300 hob, and try the fuge out. i would like to see how they work. i will never do a sump though

[holyherbiness]

Question:

When you first got your special grade sand (i'm guessing ARAG ALIVE), did you test the water soon after putting in the sand?

I'm asking because for some reason, a little minicycle started in my tank after i added the sand (NH3:.2ppm, NO2: .25 ppm, and NO3 is 5 ppm)

 

if that sand isn't arag alive or any other bacterial-alive sand, please disregard this message.

[holyherbiness]

Those hob fuges are becoming a huge fad around these forums.

[lgreen]

yah, if it start to act weird, i will just feed it to the tangs in the 125g.

[lgreen]

holyherbiness, yah it was only live, because it was in my old tank, and i kept it alive to use in the new tank.

 

i have never used agra alive, although i hear it is good.

 

the agra alive despite its claims is not fully cured and will infact cause mini cycles if added to an existing tank. i think it is intended more to use when first setting up a tank.

[holyherbiness]

Yeah I just set up my tank, and I found myself shocked to see a cycle.

[lgreen]

corriewf, so how are the nitrates in your tank, what are you doing to control them? I am assuming you must have a fuge? anything else?

 

thanks

[holyherbiness]

Can't you just control nitrates wih water changes?

[lgreen]

probably. but i only like to do them like every 2-3 weeks so that i dont disrupt the tank to much.

 

it seems like if i just leave stuff alone, everything works better.

 

so i try not to mess with the water too much.

 

i use to do water changes like mad, but it just didn't make that much of a difference.

[lgreen]

if this calupra helps at all, then i will probably do a fuge.

[lgreen]

i also used to do ro/di water from walmart, but i dont think they ever changed the filter, and i never saw any difference. in fact corals closed up, and when i went back to tap water, everthing thrived again. (this was on my old tank)

 

weird. opposite of what you think would happen.

[corriewf]

Originally posted by lgreen

corriewf, so how are the nitrates in your tank, what are you doing to control them?  I am assuming you must have a fuge?  anything else?

 

thanks

 

Well, my nitrates stay below 5.For the most part they are unreadable.I keep my calcium above 420 and alk above 12.I do not have a sump nor a fuge.I do run a protein skimmer.I do water changes once a week of one gallon.I do not add any trace elements as those are provided in my water changes and i dont add anything to my tank that I dont test for.I had an algae problem but am done with it.I run phosguard at all times.Now I am tired and going to bed before I fall asleep on my keyboard.

[holyherbiness]

Yes, it's been a long night

[nalbar]

lgreen has a point about noobs being scared off because some of the advice that floats around this site. a new person could get the idea that they HAVE to do things in a certain way to be successful. but success comes in many different forms.

 

my pet peeves are the constant insistance from some that HIGH light is necesary for a 'reef' tank. or that you HAVE to dose. or that HIGH calcium is a MUST to maintain corals, or HIGH calcium is necesary to grow coraline. or very HIGH flow is needed for corals. absolutely NONE of the above is true. so if lgreen wants to make a point (a rather strident point) about how a tank can be maintained i am all for it.

 

this hobby is NO where near as complicated as some would like others to believe. it is not 'special' or in any way difficult. just because some want to believe it takes 'talent' does not mean it actually DOES take 'talent'. what this hobby takes is patience and persistence. and a willingness to adapt. you dont need to be a chemist or a mechanical engineer.

 

 

nalbar

[lgreen]

well said nalbar. i think you get exactly what i have said. I also think that all this neat equiptment sometimes gives people the idea that you can throw a tank together in a week. we should be teaching basics before we scream buy this buy that.

 

That is why my very first tank was a flop. everyone said do this do that, and i had so much crap going that everything just got out of control and i didn't even understand the basics of having a tank. they just said, buy this light, this filter, or this addative.

 

now i have so much fish junk laying around my house, i could start a small store.

 

my only point is to make people love their live rock. it should be your best friend along with mr. water change.

 

i have probably made every mistake there is regarding both fish and reef tanks. just want to help people aviod my frustration and wasted money.

[lgreen]

a really awesome story is I know some one that has one of those red sea deco nano's. It only has that stock pc light, and that mini filter. They have about a half inch of cc in it, and a few small pieces of live rock, and about 1/4th of a balance block. They only do water changes on it every 3 weeks, but let me tell you! This tank grows button polyps like no tank i have seen before. It has been set up for about a month and a half now, and the button polyp colony has grown nearly 5 times its original size. the mushrooms are also doing very well. Again the only thing really running this tank is live rock. And it is a freaking awesome tank.

 

also the nitrates are off the scale, yet stuff still grows like crazy, and no algae problem.

 

i should get a pic of it some time, or maybe i should buy it (since it is for sale) and use it as a ppe grow out tank (just kidding i wish i had some).

 

sometimes i wonder if nitrates are a little over rated maybe not, i dont know.

[nalbar]

it is my understanding that nitrates are the least worrisome of the 'terrible trio' (like there is just three!) of ammonia/nitrite/nitrate and in many cases nothing need be done about them.

 

i think many here came up through the ranks of reefing fairly recently, AFTER the 'mechanical' phase of the 80's. the fact is GREAT reefs were kept before then. i remember when the only lighting available was NO flourescents. metal halide lighting was a rumor of something happening far away. and no VHO could be purchased anywhere. and of course PC was unheard of.

 

and there was no such thing at all as a 'clean up crew'. you could only purchase snails through ads in fish magazines. keeping a tank was like keeping an algae time bomb. there just HAD to be some technological answer! at least many thought so.

 

yet the germans were and dutch were keeping FANTASTIC reefs! in america's desperation to create the same thing we adopted all sorts of mechanical devices to make it 'easy'. anything under 50g was considered insane because you could not attach all the devices. all that made any intrance into the hobby a THOUSANDS of dollars (in 80's dollars) investment.

 

what we see in present disscussions is the remnants of the 'devices' disscussion.

 

 

nalbar

[TiGs]

Nice looking nano. And I agree you don't need all the equipment for nano sized tanks to be healthy.

 

I use the natural filtration method, HOB w/floss&carbon, and rely on weekly water changes and dose B-ionic for my sps's and clams. No sump or fudge because I have no room for them. I considered my tanks health successful so far, tank has been setup for over 1.5 yrs.

 

But the new tank i'm setting up will have a skimmer, got room for one now.

[corriewf]

use the natural filtration method, HOB w/floss&carbon, and rely on weekly water changes and dose B-ionic for my sps's and clams. No sump or fudge because I have no room for them. I considered my tanks health successful so far, tank has been setup for over 1.5 yrs.

 

 

 

MMMmmmmm fudge! Now im hungry.

[Xx_de_xX]

Originally posted by nalbar

it is my understanding that nitrates are the least worrisome of the 'terrible trio' (like there is just three!)

 

You're right. When you test high for nitrates, rest assured that your phosphate is going up also.

 

Not to get this thread derailed tho... nice tank!

[nalbar]

Originally posted by Xx_de_xX

You're right.  When you test high for nitrates, rest assured that your phosphate is going up also.

 

 

 

im sorry but this is JUST the sort of comment i am talking about!

 

 

it is not necesarrily true that high nitrates means phosphates are climbing.

 

 

nitrates means the ongoing 'cycle' is working. they can be removed with water changes. and that is certainly a quick and effective way of removing them. but your rock removes them to a certain extent also, just usually not quick enough. this is because the conversion takes place in low oxygen areas. that means low water flow areas.

 

but phosphates are usually added to the tank by the addition of biological items, such as food or dying items releasing their phosphate. that is what causes phosphate to build up. in a totally 'natural' tank (nothing being added), all naturally occurring phosphate would be consumed by algae, which would then be consumed by herbavores, which would then be converted to ammonia (by pooping), then nitrite, then nitrate, then a water change removes that. but nitrate would build, yet phosphate would not build up, it being consumed by the algae.

 

in a balanced system (like my nano) the phosphate, even when added as food, never builds up. but the nitrate does, and needs to be removed.

 

 

while related, they are not CONNECTED.

 

did i miss something?

 

 

nalbar