AlexKilpatrick

I've been dosing the alk part of two-part (from BRS as well) at night only. I do it for 15 minutes every other hour (via a dosing pump). It keeps my Ph pretty steady throughout the night.

This happened in California: http://reefbuilders.com/2010/01/18/man-steals-1k-worth-corals/

I remember one time about 5 years ago someone stole a $400 clam from Aquatek. They had one of those huge-mega big gulp cups, and when the clerks weren't looking, they just reached in and grabbed it, put it in the cup and walked away.

I don't think this happens very often. Most thieves are looking for things they can fence quickly, and corals are probably one of the worst possible things to fence. I assume coral thieves are just looking for something for their own tank.

My philosophy is that you don't need to have more flow through your sump that your skimmer outputs. For example, let's say you skimmer outputs 100 Gal/hour. That means it can only take in 100 gal/hour. If you have more flow than that through your sump, you have more flow than you need.

You can use something like a vortech in the tank to handle all the flow needed in the tank without having to have a huge pump shooting water through your sump at 1200 Gal/hour.

My order was cancelled (most of the stuff I wanted was not in stock). So don't worry if you don't see it.

I agree this is not a hobby for people who are trying to save money. But why spend $80 on a dosing pump for top-off when a $25 osmolator pump (or similar) works just fine. Yes, it adds water a little faster than a dosing pump, but it is such a tiny percentage of the overall tank volume that there is no way it will make a difference. If you are worried about back-siphon you can just add a $2 check valve. (aqualifters won't back-siphon, by the way) Not to slight dosing pumps in any way -- I use them for two part because I want really precise control. But personally I can't see any use for them as top-off pumps.

Sometimes in the hobby it seems we have a perception that the more expensive equipment is better, and if you want the best for your reef you should not be cheap. Sometimes the more expensive equipment is better, but not always. Is the $2300 bubble king really better than a $230 skimmer? There are lots of examples where things just seem to be more expensive for the sake of perceived quality.

I did a couple of months ago and then had to retreat a second time. They seem gone now, though.

The only think I have noticed is GSP being retracted. Everything else seems ok. I have read that skimmer production is usually low for a while after treatment, but I didn't see much difference. In fact, my skimmer production has been UP for several weeks after treatment. I don't know if that is related or not.

Circulation - Always On

Return Off - 15 minutes

Skimmer Off - 1 hour

Question for those fish feeders that turn of the circulation pumps. Why? Don't the fish like the movement?

This is anecdotal, but to me the fish are more aggressive about pursuing the food when it is moving around a lot. I guess it is an instinct thing.

I'm looking for anyone who is taking care of an Alzheimer's patient (or similar disorder with dementia). I would like to do a short interview -- about 15 minutes or so. I'm not selling anything.

Please let me know if you know anyone.

Thanks

Alex

Just placed my order. About $57.

<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">1 Reef Pods

2Pencil Urchin*

20Nassarius Vibex

2Hawk Wing Conch*

11 Penny Macro Algae

He is probably attached, or he would be bouncing around the tank. If you have any current at all, it will push an anemone around unless it is attached.

I'm curious. What kinds of things do these services provide?

They are weird creatures. My RBTA will shrink up to the size of a quarter at night sometimes (much to the chagrin of the clowns) but then be the size of my outstretched hand during the day.

The main problem signs you want to look for are:

1) Mouth "gaping" open

2) Not attaching to anything

Generally, when I have seen those signs, it is all over.

I use a aqualifter and a JBJ ATO and they work well together. The nice thing with the aqualifter is you just plug it into the ATO. The Tunze pump is nice, but you have to go find a DC power supply for it, and wire that up. Also, as I recall they use 3/8" tubing.

When my aqualifter kicks on, it only adds a few ounces of water at a time. The float switch is pretty sensitive. I can't imagine this would make a difference in anything by an nano tank.

I think if i used a peristaltic switch, it would have to run pretty much all day to keep up.

Just be glad you aren't on vacation.

Can you just run an extension cord to a different plug? That would allow you to keep running. You would just need to be careful when you are working with the tank because you won't have the GFC protection. That will give you time until you can investigate further.

You can also get a GFCI extension cord as a different test.

In my experience, GFCI's pop immediately, or not at all. Is a heater kicking on?

I am not meaning to tease you. I have certainly been guilty of spending money on things that many would consider less than prudent. For Christmas I got a big green egg (grill) that was $1400. That's crazy.

It is just interesting how much variability there is in prices for everything, really. It is a free market, which is great. The bubble king skimmer is absolutely worth $2300 because people are willing to pay that much for it. That's the only real way to know how much something is worth.

And, if I had to pick the one component in my tank that was the most critical, and theoretically deserving of a lot of money, it would be the skimmer.

I have heard of people paying $600+ for a coral. Now THAT's crazy. At least a bubble king skimmer won't melt in your tank for some mysterious reason.

$.06!? Holy smokes! I'm like $.14 (so, for your calculation $.56/day, $17/mo, $205/yr).

OK. I am not sure what my actual bill is. Now I am going to have to go check. But $17 / month is not a huge amount, especially in this hobby. The rest of your equipment is in the noise.

And the original question was about the delta between 324 and 400, which is almost nothing.

Think about it. A $2300 skimmer is about 10X a pedestrian $230 skimmer. That's a factor of 10X.

My car is about $30K. Having the bubble king skimmer is like having a $300K car.

I could have the Ferrari of skimmers!

Of course, at that price I better not have any hair algae.

When you do a search on RC for the best skimmer on the market you'll hear only one name. "Bubble King" You can also look in their sponser section to see more info and pics of the skimmer.

They have exceptional craftsmanship and are highly efficient skimmers. Their pumps have little to no heat transfer and consume very little energy (45w~55w). Replacement of a Red Dragon pump runs $400-$600 dollars.

I'll take your word for it that the skimmer is better than every other skimmer.

However, the energy issue is really silly at this level. Let's say my "inefficient" skimmer pump takes a ridiculously high 200 watts. An extra 150 watts cost about $6 per month. That makes the ROI on this efficient pump very long.

The calculation is pretty easy:

1) Take the number of watts you have: 400

2) Multiply times the number of hours per day you run your lights: 10

3) That gives you the number of watts-hours per day: 4,000

4) Divide by 1,000 to get kilowatt-hours per day: 4

5) 1 kilowatt hour is around .06 (I think, check your bill)

6) Therefore you lights cost 4 *.06 = .24 per day to run

Adjust as needed. You can also get devices like the kill-a-watt that will measure it directly. This is a little bit of an approximation because there is some loss in the ballast, but you get the idea.

You should really try Salifert flatworm exit. I treated with this when i could see hundreds of flatworms. About 5 minutes after putting it in the tank, I saw thousands of dying ones. They came out from everywhere. I siphoned them all up and had no worries after that. No impact at all on the rest of the tank.

Mark (or anyone) how do you soak mysis in garlic? Do you defrost the mysis first and then drip in the garlic? With or without extra water?

I am just nor sure how much garlic the actual mysis will soak up. It seems like I am just making a solution of garlic-water that they are floating in.

I tried to rock solution and it seems to work. They aren't going crazy about it, but they are picking at it now.

I was using some garlic extract stuff to put on the nori. I didn't realize how strong it was. I spilled a couple of drops and now my fish room smells like a italian restaurant.

What lens were you using?