Timfish

FYI CaribSea's AragaMight in the same product as Purple-Up just in a dry form. AragaMight is what I use on my tanks.

+1, I would reiterate being patient. I've seen green hair algae and other nuisance algae problems clear up on their own without any intervention outside of manual removal during water changes and I've seen tanks all screwed up because too many things were done to fast. Neilson and Fossa i Vol 1 of "The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium" have some good pictures and charts of a big reef system going through it's algae cycles and it looks horrible at first. Definitely keep an eye on your pH, Alk and calcium.

What are the questions you have about one? Here's an elliptical I built in 2004 but it was taken out by the owners in 2009 so they could sell the Condo. Biggest issue was accessability to clean it.

Yes you can but I think there will be more of a guess factor in getting corals that will thrive under just actinics. A lot of corals utilize the red part of the spectrum and may not thrive long term under just blue. This doesn't mean you can't have reds. Corals that are flourescing red will be red under just blue light. Corals that are reflecting red will loose a lot of their color under blue light. This article http://www.advanceda...08/3/aafeature1 is about color and corals and while the first half may not be relevant to your question there are pictures of 11 corals grown under 20,000K MH, 10,000K MH and T5 and the ones that grew best under 20,000K or the ones that did well under all three would be possibilities.

Looking closer at the City of Austin water report ( http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/water/whatsinthewater.htm ) and looking up "Saltwater" on Wikipedia a several contaminants listed are found in saltwater naturally. It may be stuff we don't want to consume but corals are exposed to it all the time. The simple solution for copper and lead is to run your tap a short period before using it. The report left out phosphate and iron which is what I would think people would find issue with. Since iron is so important for chlorophill it doesn't bother me especially after seeing how much is in the mud products for refugiums. Like I said in an earlier post in this thread phosphate levels are much better now than they used to be. To give an idea of how much phosphate is added in tap water and in food I did a small experiment. I took two 1 gal containers and filled each one with 1 gal tap water. In one container I put .5 g pellet food (about 1/8 teaspoon) in the 2nd container I put .5 g frozen krill (slightly less than 2 individual krill) I let both containers set for about 20 hrs. The results were: Tap Water .08 P / .25 PO4 mg/l Pellets .75 mg/l PO4 (.25 from tap, .5 from pellets) Krill 1 mg/l PO4 (.25 from tap, .75 from krill) My Elos test kit only went to .48 PO4 so I used Mercks to test the higher levels in the pellet and krill samples. An interesting follow up to this would be to determine the total amount of phosphate added to a tank during a water change and the total amount of phosphate added for the time period between water changes. As I see it many of the contaminants in tap are things that are bad or distasteful to us not necessarily corals and clearly reef systems can be maintained for years with tap water with little remediation. (and thanks Bay [ Doma ] for almost getting my thread locked )

Well, I actually like having ONE in a tank. They're big (even the small ones) and CLUTZY and people like watching them. From what I've seen they're also decent algae eaters, the claws are used like scrappers. The problem like Mel said is they knock stuff around even rocks several times their size and climb all over corals with complete disregard to what you think. They're also really hardy and will take prolonged baths in strait tap water (forgot one once for over 8 hours and boy was he hacked off ) if you want to make sure you're not introducing something like hydroids into your tank.

Yup, I've used it right away, let it sit without and with aeration and not notice any difference but I prefer to aerate it.

Bear in mind there have been many, many doctorial thesis on lighting so we are not even buffing the surface here. There's really is no such thing as "optimal" lighting. Some corals are highly adaptable others are not. If you are happy with the coral and lighting combination in your 120 by all means duplicate it in your 55. If you are wanting something different ask around and do some research to match your corals and light to each other. Dana Riddle and Joshi Sanjey have numerous articles on Advanced Aquarist looking at different aspects of lighting on reef aquariums. Looking at some of the LED fixtures while they are still expensive the payoff is around the 5, 6, 7 year mark so if they do last as long as they are being advertised you're easily looking at less than half the cost of T5's of MH over the life of the fixtures.

Sorry, I can't tell if it's a sponge or a hydroid. Sponge is harmless but if it's a hydroid it would most likely win any territorial dispute with a coral.

Yeah, Dapettiit has a good story 'though you may not want to try it after listening to him. You can also talk to Prof at Epic Reef. If you want to try it yourself and you don't want to drain the tank you can get the wet/dry sand paper used for autobody repair in grits from 400 to 3500 then switch to lapping paper in grits to at least 9000. You'll want to use as many grades as possible (at least 10) and plan on getting an elbow or shoulder joint replacement afterwards .

This system has been getting twice monthly 20 gal water changes for over 3 years. It also usually has 15-20 gal evaporation every two weeks when the tank is topped off before doing the water change. Since it's a Lee Chin Eng system (Sprung & Delbeck discuss this methodology in all three volumes of "The Reef Aquarium") there's no filtration but it has a 40 watt UV supplied by a Aquaclear 70. Besides the air bubbles additional circulation is provided by two Hydor Korralia 2 and a 2nd Aquaclear 70. Monthly I spend 10 -15 minutes pulling Xenia. When I first started using RO 14 years ago I noticed an improvement in about 2/3rds of my tanks over a 4 - 8 month period. That this tank has done so well with very little maintenance (and about $300 in corals) has made me think about the differences between then and now. Two things that come to mind is one: Phosphates, I can remember testing Round Rock tap at several ppm, my tap (Austin) just now tested at 80 parts per Billion so this has been a big improvement. Second: Fourteen years ago the selection of cultured polyps and corals was pretty limited and virtually all the animals available in the LFS were wild collected so there was a much larger percentage of dieoff in the animals added to aquariums which I feel is a serious cause of problems in a reef tank (heat I'd say is the main one I run into). Having been able to monitor multiple systems for as long as 15 years which are not having animals added for long periods I know from experience the death of just one animal can have (not always) a noticeble effect on the algae, which may take several months to work through, without any noticeble change in tests. When this happens repeatedly without giving the ecosystem time to recover you get a cascading and culminative effect that can be very difficult to remediate. As long as pH, Alk and calcium are stable and there are no deaths I have no problem adding animals but time needs to be given between additions to make sure the new additions are doing OK. For the record, three years is not long enough to determine if tap water is better or worse than RO or RO/DI. After 10 years I might have a more diffinitive opinion. I can only say I can setup a pretty tank and grow corals with all three sources.

Nice!

Yes, thank you for the link Wildman. I haven't checked everything listed but a cursory look lists stuff I would think of as beneficial for corals zooanthellae. The above discussion about fecal matter is a prime example (and I will definitely be using wipes from now on! Thanks PBNJ!). While the report makes me glad I drink RO I'm sure water from any aquarium would test much higher for fecal matter. Besides grabing fecal matter from the water corals also pull ammonia and nitrates from the water to feed their zooanthellae. The TOC, Total Organic Carbon, is another important element in reef ecosystems.

For starters here's what Sprung and Delbeck have to say in their discussion of Berlin Systems Vol , Ch 5 of The Reef Aquarium ". . . one can build a healthy reef tank in one day using well-seeded live rock . . . " (They use the terms "seeded", "cycled" and "cured" interchangably, see their discussion in Vol 3.) I for one can attest to it's effectiveness. For over 10 years I've been using cured liverock, live sand and 10 - 20% water from an established tank to start new systems and not seen any ammonia cycle. I want to emphasize to be safe I expect an ammonia cycle and test for it but since I started doing this I haven't seen it happen and can be adding fish and corals within just a few days. I will use cultured liverock interchangably with wild collected and haven't seen a difference except live usually looks better with more nooks and crannies and cultured I've seen doesn't need curing. To cure liverock I put it in a spare tank or barrel with water from an established tank (new wouldn't bother me though) and a small powerhead for water movement for three or four weeks. I also keep scrubbing to a minimum, just what's obviously dead. Regarding potential pests from my experience few survive shipping (I've found this curious as I'll open a box to find dead brittle/serpent stars,snails and shrimps/crabs but small coral colonies survive on the rock). Fewer still hide all the way through the curing process and make it to a display tank. In over 15 years I've only had to pull two mantis shrimp out of tanks I've worked on. One did require tearing down a 500 gal. but the other was surprisingly easy as it's hiding hole was known and the rock was easily removed and salt dumped in the hole. (It was exciting trying to catch it as it scooted around on the floor .) I think Nelson and Fossa do a good job discussing the potential pests in Vol 1 of their book "The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium". One thing they point out is a species that causes problems in one tank doesn't necessarily cause problems in another. I've seen some discussion regarding the ethics of using live rock and don't see a problem with it. For one it's a renewable resource and can take only a few years to form and is part of the natural processes on a reef. The second, and this is specifically referred to by Sprung & Delbeck and by Alf Neslon in "Reef Secrets", live rock brings in a great deal more income to these island nations than using it as building material and road base, giving them a significant economic incentive to preserve their reefs.

This tank is in Allendale Heights so it's Austin Utilities H2O. It's been running long enough without problems I'm thinking of trying out another tank.

I was wondering who else uses tap water for their reef tanks? Here's a link to 240 gal that's been getting 20 gal bimonthly water changes for over three years.

+ 3 on the Ehiem. I've used the Current brand also and while I like the programing options on both for some reason the Current design seems to be much quicker to fail when you drip saltwater on it from a wet hand.

I'm using calcium reactors on a couple of tanks. The regulators can be twicthy when I first hook up a full CO2 bottle but usually work fine with just weekly checks. Most of my tanks just get Araga-Might added to the R.O. water for water changes.

It doesn't matter what you use you'll get stuff growing on it. As far as sticking stuff together the underwater epoxys work but it will be expensive and there's always the risk of it breaking. DO NOT use tie wraps or zip ties, at best they only have a 2 or 3 year life expectancy. Check out other threads here and in the DIY forum for different ways to do your rock work. There have been some pretty cool aquascapes done with spray foam. I use a cheap hammer drill and a 5/8" or 3/4" masonry bit to drill holes and pin the rock together with 1/2" CPVC pipe. I also occasionally use white portland cement but it needs to be cured first and I'm usually not patient enough to use it.

What they said, Basket Star. That is so cool! The problem is feeding them, is this in your seahorse tank? It's conjecture but you may have a combination of animals in your tank that it's food source isn't being consumed by something else. How long has it been since you added any live rock to your tank, I'm wondering how it got there and how long it might have been there?

So I am buying a 115 Gallon tank on Friday. This is going to be my first SW Tank. I need to know how to get started. 1.How much sand will I need (LBS). Does it have to be alive or will bagged sand work? I swear by live sand, been using it for years and wouldn't start a tank without it. I generally start with 1lb sand to 10 gal water and add more for aesthetics as needed. 2. Where do I get 115 Gallons of water to mix with the salt? Will tapwater work to get started and then us the deionized on all future water changes? I have a huge experience base with RO and would advise you use it but here's a link to a tank I've been maintaining with tap water for over 3 years. You can also check out DoMAs 300 gal tank in the photo section that's being maintained with tapwater. The main problem I see with tap water is it helps add phosphates to the tank. Years ago when I started tap water might have phosphates that was measurable in the PPM, now it's a lot lower. Whichever you use food is probably going to be the main source of phosphates so you will want to monitor it. (and you might be lucky enough that your tank is "balanced" well enough that it's all used up). What salt is best? I'd say it probably doesn't matter too much but I've been using Instant Ocean for years 3. LIverock. Whats the difference from liverock and dead live rock? Can I use the dead as a base and then stack liverock on top? Will dead rock become liverock once cycled with live rock? I actually use a lot of local limestone then put liverock on top. It would be unusual for me to use more than 1/2 lb per gal. liverock. Prof has some good base rock. 4. Can I put the sand in the tank add water and then add liverock as I get it. Or should I have the liverock before I mix the water? It doesn't matter a whole lot. If you're going to do it piecemeal you probably are better off using a suplemental bacteria culture but even that's not needed. Once you get the salt and water mixed up and in the tank bacteria will start colonizing the tank. Everything we add to the tank just helps get it going faster. The sequence I use is to add the water (with about 10% from an established tank) sand and most of the rock in one day. Test the 2nd day for ammonia, pH and Alk. and if they're OK start adding fish, Inverts and corals. I've been starting tanks this way for many years and while I plan for an ammonia cycle to occur I haven't seen one since I started using the combination of live sand and live rock with some seed water from another tank. There is still going to be the typical algae cycles that take 3 or 4 months to go through but I've not had problems adding corals during this time. Here's a link to a tank I set up last June, damsels weere added day two along with some mushrooms, frogspawn thefollowing week, tank was pretty well stocked by September (not that we haven't stopped adding animals but we're were pulling overgrowth out by December): Im lost please advise. Also anyone know where I can get some cheap liverock? Thanks in advance to any help. Probably the best book I've come across for explaining what's going on is Sprung and Delbecks "The Reef Aquarium, Science, Art, and Technology" Vol 3 chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. What I've touched on with just a few sentences they've devoted whole chapters too. Welcome to the hobby! I've been keeping saltwater for 24 years now and I am still fascinated and surprised by what happens in my tanks. Travis

One of the more humbling experiences I've had was trying to keep a species tank with 300 - 400 Neons in a 140 gal system. Reef tanks are a lot easier (diversity, what a cool idea). To reiterate Vwmike and others, QT and dip and get healthy stock form reputable sources and be patient and research your animals and maintain a stable system. I have a lot of fish and inverts that have been maintained for 10+ years and I'm pretty sure I'm seeing fish die of old age.

How comfortable are you making custom fittings? If you used bushings to terminate your return line with a 1" or 1 1/4" cap you could drill and tap holes in the cap at the angles you need to run your loc-line to the holes in your overflow. Lowes carries the taps for 1/8 - 3/4" pipe fittings.

I'd say it depends on your sense of aesthetics as to whether or not it's to much water flow. I don't know of any corals that would do well in the direct output from those pumps but you can have a nice tank with that much flow (24x). From my experience it also doesn't matter how much flow you have you will end up with areas that don't have any flow where detritus will collect. I wouldn't go with really high turnover rates with the expectation it will eliminate all the dead spots in the rockwork.

I wouldn't be inclined to blame the tap water. I've seen this happen in tanks I've moved that religiously used RO and I've been using dechlorinated tap water for biweekly water changes in this tank for for over three years, additionally the original acrylic tank (original owner appears to have gotten an used tank) blew a top seam 3 months ago and when the tank was replaced a 50 gal water change was done and there were no algae cycles I often see in a move or swap out. If this was my tank besides using the chemiclean (once) and increasing the frequency and/or size of the water changes I would also get 2 - 4 urchins. What I would be worried about is seeing a hair algae out break in a few weeks and in my experience urchins are the only animals that will actually scour the rocks. I wouldn't at this point be thinking about more than 20-30% water changes weekly or replacing the rocks. The move has disrupted the previous equilibrium of the tank and I would prefer the system work through the algae cycle than keep disrupting the ecosystem with huge water changes or replacing rocks that have a lot of good bacteria on them. In a 6-8 weeks if there hasn't been any improvement or there is a bad hair algae outbreak I would revisit that reasoning. Regarding the discussion about ammonia if you test a bucket of fresh saltwater made with RO/DI water you'll probably see something like 1 ppm. If you test your aquarium water an hour after doing a water change you should see a proportionate amount of ammonia, 20% water change - .2ppm ammonia. If you keep testing every hour it will gradually drop and have all been consumed in 12-24 hrs. It's important to remember ammonia is a food source for corals and their zooxanthellae algae, I don't know the conversion factors for determining how much ammonia is converted from one gram of food but I wouldn't be surprised if much larger amounts of ammonia was being generated by the fish daily than is added in a typical water change.