Beretta
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Anyone have any idea what the green thing in the bottom of the picture is? I'll try to get a better picture next time.
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That's what is so weird. Everything is doing well. The light is about 9 inches off the top of the water (mainly because it's a lot of wattage and I wanted to get more light into the corners). Heat isn't an issue, as I've got a chiller running, and an ato. The rocks look like they might be getting some kind of coraline, but it's very dark, almost grey color with a tinge of purple. I also dosed some b-ionic the other day, and now coraline is showing up in small places on the powerheads. Seems I might be finally on the right path.
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Not yet.
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I ran the magnesium test today, and it tested out at 1170. A little low, but that shouldn't be limiting that much.
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Mg was the only test I didn't run, and I have the test kit, but it's at home right now. I'll run it on Monday and find out what the results are.
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My 29g sps tank has been up and running for about two months now, and I don't have any coraline growth at all in my tank. Everything in the tank looks good, and all parameters check out normal (pH around 8, kh=8, Ca=400). Lighting is a 250W mh pendant in the 14000K spectrum. Do some tanks just not grow coraline? I ask because my 10g nano I had setup grew coraline like crazy. I'm wondering if I'm getting too much light into the tank.
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I've got my tank up and running, and now it's time to start stocking it. I am wanting to purchase sps frags. I'm looking for plates, digis, acros, etc. I don't want anything real big, and would prefer frags 1-2" in size. I will pick up in the Austin area.
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Typically, when you cook live rock, you do it in a covered tub with no light, no skimmer. Just a powerhead and a heater if you need one. The principle behind it is that the bacteria consume all the dieing and decaying matter, including phosphates. With numerous water changes, the goal is to eliminate all the critters and phosphates within the rocks. The short answer as to how long it takes is that it's done when the water tests for 0 phosphates. It can take a couple of weeks, maybe two months, depending on how often you change the water and how dirty the rock is.
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I'll take one of the birdnest colonies.
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I'll second the using glass. Once you decide on the tank, just get some glass cut and silicone it in. I built a sump/refugium for my tank for about $40, including the 20L aquarium. It's not difficult.
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If you find a UV sterilizer that gets rid of phosphates, the world will be a path to your door, and you'll be an overnight millionaire. Sadly, a UV sterilizer only affects living organisms, and phosphate isn't a living organism. In theory, it would make the matter worse, because you would be killing bacterium that could ingest phosphates.
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Binswangers will do it, though you'll have to bring the tank to them. I think they charge about $20 per hole.
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Staining isn't that hard to do, especially on a stand and canopy that doesn't have a lot of intricate detail to it. Basically, you want to sand the stand and canopy, starting with about a medium grit, and finish with a fine grit (220 or so). Put on a coat or two of stain, depending on how dark you want it, with a light sanding in between. Put on a couple coats of brush-on polyurethane with a light sanding in between, and you're done. Materials shouldn't run over about $30.
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Good deal on that tub. Are you going to run a refugium in there as well or separately?
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I'm a definite maybe for tomorrow. Hopefully, I can make it.
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Fortunately, our a/c stays on all the time, since there are a ton of computers in our building. However, I plan to run the lights for a very short period on the weekend should something happen to the a/c.
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One trick I've seen is to take a small sour cream container, and poke a bunch of small holes in it. Fill it with some small live rock pieces, and cover it with that wedding veil stuff you can get at any fabric store. Secure the wedding veil with a rubber band. After the mushrooms have attached to the rock, Attach the rock to your aquascape.
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I already have an auto top-off, and I'm planning on doing a lot of sps. I've looked on reef central and other sites, and the 29g tanks that have heavy sps loads all use 250w lights.
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I saw this light on Marine Depot, and I think it might be good for my proposed 29G sps tank. The tank is at Binswanger's right now being drilled, so it's time to get serious about lighting. I had looked at the Current SunPod, but I looked at the ceiling in my office, and it looks like I'll be able to hang a pendant between the rails for the acoustic tile. Would this be a good light? It seems I should be able to hang it slightly higher above the tank, thus minimizing heat, and increasing the spread of the light to the edges of the tank. Thoughts please.
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My guess is it would be quite expensive on a small scale, in getting the purity you need in smaller quantities. Granted, you could probably physically put together the mix, but it would likely be way more expensive than anything you could find in the stores
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I think that's the whole point. There really isn't one that is head and shoulders above the rest. That's one of the things they didn't do is draw a conclusion, they just said, "here's the data, so pick a salt that best suits your needs." I'm sure there are those that will draw their own conclusions and swear up and down that x salt is the best based on the data presented.
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That's how I read it. Some are higher in calcium, so if you have lots of lps and/or sps, that mix is probably best for you. I switched from Instant Ocean to Red Sea, and now I have really high magnesium levels, average calcium, and low alkalinity. Dosing B-Ionic everyday gets the magnesium too high, so now I'm just dosing straight calcium and alkalinity. I dose B-Ionic 2-3 times a week to keep the mag. from getting too low.
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The biggest problem is a 29g is 30" long, and I haven't been able to find anyone that offers high quality replacement bulbs for a 30" fixture. If someone knows of some, please tell me. Also, is the 4-bulb nova extreme fixture enough light to grow sps? Seems a little on the low light side, but I don't know that much about T5. I will be running a 20g sump with this fixture, and my office stays fairly cool. Looks like I'll have to go with the mh fixture, put a fan on it, and pray. If anyone else has a good suggestion, please let me know.
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Based on my limited research, finding high quality replacement bulbs that will fit a 30" fixture are going to be a pain.