John Simon
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Posts posted by John Simon
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I forgot to transfer my bookmarks when I reformatted my computer, so I'm having to look for it again... I'll keep looking, but so far the best price I'm seeing is $77 plus shipping here: Sodasorb HP,5 Gal. Pail, 37#,Indicating,4/8,CO2
No problem, even with shipping this pail of Sodasorb HP only $100 ($2.71 per pound) which is still 20 bucks cheaper then I paid.
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Thanks, sure enough when I got up this morning the media had turned violet and the pH had dropped. Looks like I only get ~1 week out of a load of media. Earlier NonSequitur had mentioned finding 5 gallon pails of soda lime for $50+shipping. NonSequitur could you provide details on where that was from?
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I have some amazing pieces of rock that are almost completely purple with coralline. I'd hate to lose that algae.
Individual treatment of each rock would be the only option then. Though changing the lighting and/or water chemistry by moving the rock from a lit tank to a tub will likely bleach the coralline. Coralline is very sensitive to lighting, pH, calcium and alkalinity changes.
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The rock is not in a display tank. It's in a Rubbermaid tub.
Can anyone recommend different items to dose (or overdose) into the tub that will kill the Aiptasia, but allow the coralline algae to survive? Adding livestock (e.g., peppermint shrimp) is not an option as there is no filtering device on the tub.
1) Joe's Juice?
2) Kalk water?
3) Lemon juice?
4) Vinegar?
Anything that changes the pH up or down enough to kill the aiptasia is going to kill the coralline. You best bet if you are worried about the coralline would be to take each piece out and apply Joe's Juice (or similar compound) to each aiptasia individually. The caveat to that would be you can only get the aiptasia you can see there will likely be others that you won't see that would survive. What exactly are you trying to do and why are you so worried about the coralline as it will grown back quickly under good tank conditions.
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Anyone have photos of what the spent media looks like? Wondering how dark a purple it is supposed to turn. Mine is still running strong after a week.
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Looks like they will endure a very wide temp range:
This site says 68-86F but mentions they will tolerate a wider range:
This study took them up to high 90's, which caused bleaching:
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Maybe but you would probably need temps in the low 40-50's for an extended period of time which would likely kill anything else you had.
Your best bet is a multi-pronged approach of peppermint shrimp (or a aiptasia eating nudi but they are very sensitve to water conditions), lowering nutrient levels and manual killing with either one of the commercial products or a home grown aiptasia killer.
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This fellow does not skim. I think it speaks for itself. Personally, I run a skimmer because I'm a newb, but I would like to get to the point where I don't have to skim.
Right but if you read his site he is using macro algae and coral growth as his main forms of nutrient export/sequestration in addition to a 25% water change every 2 months.
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The short answer is no you do not need a protien skimmer. However you need some other form of nutrient export from the tank whether that be a large water changes, algae turf scrubber, refugium with macro, soft coral that is grown and harvested etc etc. The reason most people use a protein skimmer is it is one the easiest and quickest forms of nutrient export (well large water changes are probably the quickest).
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A week after ordering the 10 buckets of salt showed up at my door. Foster and Smith rock!
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Has anyone seen any difference in any of the pods you use? In other words, does anyone have any opinion on DTs versus Inland Marine vs Tigger Pods, etc.? Are does it appear that they all are basically the same? What I would be interested in is being able to order a very large bulk quanity without the jars. I'm sure the jars and packaging make up a lot of the $20 those normally run.
RC has or does carry the Reef Pods (i.e. reefcleaners.org). They don't seem that freat a deal to me, as they say they only contain 300+, but I'm open if someone has other opinions.
Stephen
I haven't used DT's or Trigger Pods but if they are live salt water copepods I can't see why they would be any better then one another. 300 is probably enough to start with you don't need millions just enough to get a population started so they breed in your live rock. Course if you have something in your tank that eats them already (like a Mandirin) you might want to look at a in tank refugium as a safe breeding area.
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So you are seeding your sand beds with bristle worms, among other things?
Stephen
Yes, I seed with bristle worms, spaghetti worms, copepods, amphipods and mysis from Indo Pacific and Inland Aquatics. I also have found it helpful to get a handful of sand from friend's tanks and LFS when possible to get a broad spectrum of micro fauna.
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this is a great topic! question, does the population in the main tank become a problem for filtration or pumps etc? I dont want to clog stuff up. I'll be setting up a 10 gallon in a couple of weeks that I'll be getting from RCA and I would like to seed the pods in that one before we add fish, but I dont want to plug anything up.
I have been seeding all my tanks this way for years and have never had a clogging issue. I usually introduce the cultures once the live rock is in and let them breed in the tank for a couple months during cycling before I introduce something that will eat them. Both my current tanks have viable continually breeding populations of copepods, amphipods and mysis.
These two sources have excellant detrivore kits. The bacteria and worms are even more important than the pods. As a general rule, six months are longer should be devoted to establishing the bottom of the food chain.
Totally agree, I also regularly reseed the tanks every couple years with fresh populations of detrivores from both sources.
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Yes I seeded my tank with a cultures of copepods, amphipods and mysis shrimp before introducing any animals that might eat them. Not only do they provide food for larger animals but a good population of these small animals will help process uneaten food and other detritus.
Couple good sources are:
and
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Water parameters? Lighting changes? Any information would be great!
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I tried a ~6 years ago but it broke apart when it was curing (I tried to speed along the curing with some dilute vinegar solution so it was my fault).
Do you have any pics of what you created?
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Personally I use a AquaC EV-240 which is spray injection like the RemoraPro. I prefer it since there is no Venturi to get clogged. So the only maintence is to empty and clean the skimmer cup.
Here is a good description of the two and the differences from Suite 101 (which seems to be down so the link is to the Google cache of the site):
Venturi Driven Protein Skimmers
Venturi driven protein skimmers inject small air bubbles into the skimmer chamber through the venture valve. These bubbles create a sort of whirlpool effect in the chamber, which increases contact time. Venturi driven skimmers don't require a separate air pump since the venture valve is responsible for injecting the bubbles. The downside here is that venturi skimmers need high pressure, dedicated pumps (usually powerheads when used in-sump) that can deal with back pressure in order to function well. Some Venturi driven skimmers come with pumps, others don't. Even the ones which are sold with pumps are sometimes paired with pumps that are not powerful enough to make the skimmer run at maximum efficiency—always check with the manufacturer. Also take into account the heat the pump will add to the system. You will need to clean the venturi valve from time to time by reaming it, but other than that, they are pretty maintenance free.
Needle-Wheel Skimmers
Most needle wheel protein skimmers are just venturi skimmers with a so-called "needle wheel" impeller. A venturi valve is still used to inject the air—the difference is that the water is then drawn through the needle wheel impeller, which chops the incoming bubbles into a fine mist. "These needle-wheel impellers can really hack bubbles apart," says Kim, "which is great since small bubbles are ideal for efficient skimming. The better needle-wheel skimmers on the market are notorious for building a dense, milky froth. This makes for efficient skimming in a relatively compact package." The needle wheel skimmer's efficiency is largely responsible for its huge popularity. Given that this pump is really a venturi hybrid, it has the same downsides as those listed above for venture driven skimmers. Kim also cautions against needle wheel skimmers' low rate of air and water flow. "A needle-wheel impeller is designed to chop up air bubbles, and it doesn't do a very good job at moving water flow," Kim says. "Venturi and spray-injection skimmers driven by pumps with normal impellers move a lot more water flow. That offers some advantages, especially on large tanks."
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I know you can install Aquanotes on any computer without a Neptune controller but as far as I can tell you would have to input data manually if the controller wasn't supported. I had even heard the current version of Aquanotes doesn't support Neptune's new Apex controller so I don't think it has support for other controllers.
If you can extract the data from your Profilux in columns you can just graph it with Excel.
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John,
What program are you using to generate the graphs?
Stephen
AquaNotes, I have a Aquacontroller 3 on my reef tank and a Aquacontroller Jr on the seahorse tank.
Neptune Systems - AquaControllers - AquaNotes 3.0 New Features
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Here is a more detailed daily. The first is 12/02/09, cold day with the windows closed no C02 scrubber. The second is 12/04/09 another cold day with the windows closed but with the C02 scruber.
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So far so good with the C02 scrubber. The scrubber was added the afternoon of 12/3. pH is generally higher though it has elimated the nighttime pH swings. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. But everything seems happy so far.
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I was skeptical but it is true.
i ordered 2 buckets of salt and the shipping was only $5.99 total.
Great deal!
Did the same but ordered 10 buckets, still 5.99 for shipping. I have been a Foster and Smith customer for many years now and will keep going back. They have great customer service, good prices and quick shipping. Liveaquaria.com rocks too!
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Before I travel I:
-Feed the tank once or twice more then I normally do
-Clean the skimmer a couple days before
-Do the normal water change I might miss
-Verify all my parameters are in line
-Make sure my topoff reservoir is completely full
Also healthy fish can go a week or two without being fed without issue so don't worry about that. Also a good idea to leave a set of keys with someone who can check on things if you are going to be gone longer then you plan or if something goes wrong. I also usually have a webcam and my rovio (mobile webcam) setup so I can check up on things while I am out.
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I run carbon all the time in a DIY reactor and change it monthly. Been doing it for years and see no issues. (note I also do 10% weekly water changes, use kalkwasser as topoff and have a calcium carbonate reactor). So your mileage may vary.
CO2 scrubber - raise (and maintain) your ph for less than $50
in Reef Keeping
Posted
Are you still running soda lime and/or activated carbon or just a straight connect outside?