subsea

To follow up on my use of tap water, I have my own water well with no types of chemicals added. The water coming out of the ground from the Trinity Aquifier is already loaded with chemicals, calcium, magnisium and sulfate. The outside plants love it as is. My kitchen faucet and icemaker have an RO unit for me to drink. My washing machine cloths stink sulphur if I didn't use scented products added to wash and dry the cloths. With respect to my reef tanks, I always add nitrate and phosphate in the form of heavy feeding. No matter if there is no nitrate and phosphate in the make-up water, it will get into your reef tank. Thus we have a heavy emphases on nutriant removal. Most reefers on this site use protein skimming as the main method of nutriant control and then follow up with phosphate removing resin and carbon use. Power to you all. I choose not to use protein skimmers for nutriant removal but instead rely on nutriant cycling. One mans poison is another mans food. It happens in our sand bed bacteria. It also happens with the minute critters which live in the sand beds. In addittion to these nutriant cycling, the biomass of coral as it grows is another example. I especially like the use of decotive and ediable seaweed to remove nutriants. To quote Martin Moe about reefkeeping, "This is not rocket science, it is more complicated". I agree with Bill. Simplistic opinions and absolute answers are not helpful in this hobby. Patrick

Josh, I can prove you wrong. I have had more than 1000 gallons in different systems at one time. I can assure you I did not use RO water even to top off. Do I recommend it for the beginner? No. Patrick

Jake, Nice pictures. Why should I buy an expensive set-up when ARC has several good commercial photographers? Good luck on the transmission and engine block repair. Regards, Patrick

Jake, Thank you for the PC work. I went from the printer not working to wireless networking. If you can train a dinasour like me I'd say that you know your stuff. Patrtick

During this time of the year, the divers go on vacation or just chill out. When it starts warming up during April, you will see much more in stock. With respect to the macros, the portions are very generous. I felt cheated from Reef Cleaners. Patrick

Hey Hydro, bring the Caulerpa. If no one wants it, I"ll eat it. Cajuns eat anything. I once was asked what about the pods. More protein was my answer. Patrick

Laura, I am not interested in selling retail or thru the club. The Dragon's Tongue was a gift. If she will part with it, cmaning has bunches of Dragon's Tongue. With respect to the Caulerpa, Hydro already said that he throws it away as a nutriant export technique and will give it away. http://www.live-plants.com/ Gulf Coast Eco-System actually supplies macro to Reef Cleaners. I think you will find their selection of macro first rate. Service and shipping are excellant. Unfortunately, at this time, due to a controller fault I have very limited seaweed (aka macro-algae). I just ddi upgrade my outside tanks (three seperate systems with a total of 300 gallons) and now have a heat pump to auto control temperature in winter and summer. In the summer time my main temperature controller is evaporative cooling. Each pound of water that evaporates transfers 1000 BTU's of cooling to the water. So much for Thermodynamics. It is the Aggie engineer in me. Patrick

You are right about it being fluffy in the refugium It is one of the Caulerpa which I got from Gulf Coast Eco=System. Some Caulerpa's grow faster than others, as well as some favor brighter lights. In all the cases, that I have experienced, the Tangs love every Caulerpa I have given them. With respect to dissolving, I believe that is the dreaded asexual reproduction. I have experienced no real problem when this happens, maybe because I have a large system. I thought that the 24 hour lights on prevented this. My dissolving only happened after I diluted my system down to almost freash water. Patrick

Laura, My garden is low due to an upset with a level controller. I can give you some starts, if you have a refugium to growe it in. Patrick

Yes, both my rabbit fish and all the tangs love the Caulerpa. I really like the look of the Feather Caulerpa and wish they wouldn't eat it so fast. This is a classical example of nutriant export. Corals and fish will not grow without food being put in the tank. I really like the fact that the Caulerpa is a self regulating nutriant recycling mechanism. Without nutriants in the water, the Caulerpa stops growing. When you nutriants are in the water it grows extremely fast. I have tasted it raw and I like it out straight out of the tank. Patrick

The more circulation around the rock, the higher internal circulation to the bacteria. Within limits that would mean more de-nitrification. Tanks get set in their ways with certain species becoming dominate. Similiar to a "Climax Forrest". Erick Boreman and others describe the process as "old tank sydrome". For this reason many hobbiest replace live rock every few years. Restacking rock, changing circulation patterens also changes the dynamics of "old tank syndrome". While from your post, your tank is new, not following the herd is a good thing. It is your world. Patrick

Daniel, I like your quote. I always say "follow the money" if you want to know what is going on and why. There are many inexpensive sources of carbon. Feeding the fish and corals does the same thing. It is all about balance and dynamic equilibrium. Instead of protein skimming I use seaweed and janitars. I seem to be stuck on "A Question of Balance" by the Moody Blues. However, anyone in this hobby is a long way from balanced. I think passonate might be more accurate. Have you'll a bodacious day. Patrick

With the exception of Red Ogo/Tang Heaven Red/Gracilarip Porvispora, my tangs do not eat the red seaweed. Neither do they eat the Chaeto. However, they readily eat three types of Caulerpa. The Caulerpa is one of the few macros that can out compete the Chaeto.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=176 If you want a lot of input/opinions on macro, check the above link out. I have been doing decrotive and ediable seaweed for years. At one point, I grew it in a 30' by 50' greenhouse. At that time, I had contracted to sell it to a high end Japenese restaurant in Houston. While I still grow it for my own consumption on a limited basis, I have decided that retail sale sucks. I take commercial everytime. Patrick

Vodka dosing works. I use black molassas or raw brown sugar every now and then. In all cases, the concept is to increase the bacteria. As I said in previous post, pick a method and stick to it. I like Jaubert plenumn's. Since you don't like the substrate in your display, what ever you do needs to be in a remote tank/sump/redfugium. Patrick

Liz, It sounds like you have turned the cornor and are headed in the right direction. Only bad things happen fast. The turf algae scrubber is a good thing and has been around for a long time. It is well suited for large intensive aquaculture facilities. Keep on harvesting your chaeto and leave the turf/algae scrubber along. Patrick

Liz, Nutriant export is the ticket. Chemical resins singularly target the phosphate culprit. Protein skimmers remove phosphate and many other things which I think are beneficial. Macro-algae removes nitrate, phosphate, iron and any heavy metals in the water column. When you prune and remove the seaweed it is nutriant export. If the fish and pods eat it then it is nutriant cycling. I am big on nutriant cycling. When plants and micro-inverts absorb nutriants and in turn are eaten by critters higher on the food chain we have the circle of life in our eco-systems. The coral in our tanks will not grow without being feed. That is why I do not push lights, I push food to make coral grow. However, without stability and balance in a tank, there is chaos: slime algae. Sorry that I preached to you earlier. I get that way sometime. Patrick

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3975+4121&pcatid=4121 Red Sea's product "Red Slime Remover works. Follow the directions meticulously. I would let the phosphate removing resin do its job. However, I have used it with no ill effects and marvelous results. Happy sliming, Patrick

Substrate and lighting are the two most disagreed on topics in reefkeeping. Many different techniques work with each requiring certain aquarium practices for success. With that said, WWM is all wet. I have read in depth about sediment. Bod Goemns who lead the charge with natural nitrate reduction using the Jaubert Plenumn modled by Jaubert PhD at the Monacca Aquarium. The driving principal was to use a substrate with 1-5 mm grain size to spread out the oxygen gradiant to increase the faculative zone where the de-nitrification bacteria work. There are many scientific papers to validate these results. Without getting into the complex chemistry of DSB which use a finer substrate with a 6" minimum, I will only say that they work due to the biodiversity of the sand bed critters. The Jaubert plenum relies on bacteria which are more reliable in my opinion as well as several PhD's, Opinions are like a**holes, everybody has one. I really don't know or care who WWM is. I do know who Julian Sprung is. I consider "The Reef Aquarium" series of books written by Delbeek and Sprung to be the bible of reepkeeping. In the third book "Science Art and Technology several hundred pages are dedicated to sediment beds in reef tanks. As I said before, all systems can be made to work. In Julians opinion, the Jaubert Plenumn provides superior chemical and biological filtration over the long haul. My advice to you is not to change substrate in your display tank. Set up a remote DSB, or remote mud refugium or remote Jaubert Plenumn refugium. The rule of guess was that anything hekps but that 40% was required. Remember about them opinions and generaizations. I have all three types of refugiums. They all work. Continue with your phosphate resin use and relax. If you have to have an immaculate tank, may I offer that you get a virtual reef using a plasma screen TV. Patrick

Liz, GOOD THINGS HAPPEN SLOW. Chill out a little and give you and hubby a break. A 10 gallon remote DSB would be good for nitrates and if you use small grain size (less than .1 mm). The grain size that you described in your display is 2-5 mm. The sand bed inverts which you discribe are common for that size sand. Gravel or rubble, sand and mud are different grain sizes with different critters living in each. I would leave your main display alone (too much work) and focus on your refugiums. Consider a mud algae refugium or more simple a DSB using oolite sand (smaller than .05mm) of 6" with macro. Also consider dosing with iron to stimulate the macro growth. As seaweed grows it uses nitrate, phosphate and iron equally. Any one of those elements missing will limit the growth of the seaweed. Slow down and smell the roses. Patrick

Liz, Depending on the grain size of the crusehed coral, less than an inch will not give you de-nitrification chemistry. As I said in a previous post, the oxygen content of the sand determines the types of bacteria and the nature of the chemistry ( oxidation or reduction ). Have a bodacious day. Patrick

Hey John, You went thru the cycle the tank comment very fast and them moved on to lighting. IMO for long term success, the bottom of the food chain needs more attention. It is an inexpensive detail with the exception of TIME. We Americans want a quick fix right away. Another just as important detail is the bio-theme of your tank: a pivotal species, a mixed garden. When you know the theme of your tank then the circulation rate, intensity of lighting and necessary filtration gets answered. You got a good answer about supplemental lighting. The sand bed fauna and fauna are critically important for long term success. Allow six months for these populations to stabalize. I saw a two hour presentation by Daniel Knopp on pods and worms. It is quite interesting what lives in the sand beds and refugiums of our systems. Multiple nutriant pathways are the ticket for long term success in this hobby. Patrick

Liz, The name crushed coral can be misleading. In essense the substates available for the reef hobby are calcium corbonate, including crushed up oyster shells. Different calcium carbonates are more soluble depending on the method of formation, arogonite being the most soluble. The crushed coral which Carribsea markets is about as soluble as arrogonite. The most important thing about the substrate in our reef tanks is the grain size, not its composition. Grain size determines what lives in it and the oxygen gradiant. Because I like Jaubert plenumns, I use crushed coral in a grain size between 2-4 mm. Because of the larger grain size, oxygen depletion is stretched out over a larger area. In doing so the "faculative zone" is increased. The bacteria in this zone perform de-nitrification. They reduce the nitrate molecule to free nitrogen gas and oxygen gas. This same chemistry occurs in deep sand beds with its finer grain size but the population of these bacteria are more confined due to the quicker transition of aroebic to anaroebic. Both techniques work, each with its own pro and cons, Aquarium husbandry determines the success of our reef tanks. I think my techniques are easier to maintain. I know that they are cheaper to maintain and to operate. My first marine tank was a Galveston Bay bio-theme. With only $175 a month for income from the GI Bill, cheap was a necessity. In addittion to the crused up oyster shells, I gatherd my water from the jetties and seined up my livestock from the local bays. During my second semester at "The Texas Maritime Academy", I took a course in chemical oceanorgraphy. With my new source of technology, I started playing with the parameters. A little base here, a little buffer there. Before long I was fighting a rollar coastal battle for stability, in the tank and in my mind. As I have now settled down, I allow God in His Creation thru Nature to work His magic: Dynamic Equilibrium. Between carbon dioxide in the air (the most abundant gas) and calcium carbonate (the most abundant substrate) in the sea, "Don't worry, be happy". Remember, nothing good happens fast. Only bad things happen fast. Patrick

When I set up my first marine tank, I used crushed oyster sheels from the chicken feed store on top of an undergravel filter. After about a year I was bragging on how well the fish only tank looked with the beautiful dark purple mat of cynobacteria. Ignorance was bliss in my case. Patrick