lanman

Tank is not drilled - it is a hang-on overflow, with a U-tube. The overflow itself is quiet; it's that drop from the outside box (which has a little foam filter) down to the sump that is so noisy. Fortunately, this tank is in the basement family room, so it's only bothersome if I'm trying to watch a movie. bob

I started the thing up - it's making lots of bubbles. Can't tell that it's doing anything else. Of course - I have no fish in there yet; just a couple of snails and hermits. I will be looking for a better one real soon. Thanks for info! bob

I moved the overflow hose to the far end of the tank from the return pump, and put some live rock in the sump between the two, and only a very few tiny bubbles now! Thanks for the suggestions! bob

We lost the running total again... 24 gallon nano (includes build-in sump) 45-gallon reef (I figure the rock and sand displaces the amount I have in the 10g sump 69 gallons to add to total. bob

Well, I didn't have to open it very far... it's brand new, and only cost me $40. On the other hand, I have now found this from a review of skimmers: " Regardless of how attractive the price is, I don

Cool - so we tied a record in 2006 for the size of the ozone hole set in 2000. I didn't realize it fluctuated that much. Have the restrictions placed on CFC's had a chance to have any effect yet? I don't remember how long it was anticipated to take before reducing CFC emissions would affect the ozone layer. bob

I picked up a 'purchased, but never used' Seaclone 100 protein skimmer yesterday that I purchased through craiglist.org. Of course - after I made the deal, I heard something about Sea-clone not being a high-quality product. I'm using it for a 45-gallon tank. Is it satisfactory? Should I limit the amount of fish in the tank? Are you tired of all my newbie posts yet? bob

What I think I'll do - super-glue the frags to a small piece of rock, then use the 2-part epoxy to bond the small piece of rock to the big pieces of rock in my tank. Haven't had anything go after the epoxy yet. Would be too much trouble to tear down my rock structure and pull out the rock I need and put it in a separate tank for gluing. She really is a friendly shrimp - I put a pinch of bloodworms in my fingers the other day, and she climbed all over me picking out the pieces. bob

I've actually heard that using all sand from an older system isn't best. You stir up all of the 'bad stuff' that is trapped in the sand bed. It said to just use a few cupfuls from an older system to kick-start your own sand. And to get those cupfuls from the upper layers. This was in some instructions for 'moving a tank' that I dug out when I was going to buy someone's complete system. My first set of readings on my new tank were 0 ammonia, 0.02 Nitrites, 10 Nitrates. And I'm amazed how fast the water got crystal clear. Nothing like that 'fresh' live rock with all the dead stuff in it that I put in my 24. It took 8 weeks before I could call it 'clear'. bob

Overflow-sump, bubbles get blown into the tank at the return. I tried moving the overflow outlet as far in the sump from the pump as possible. That seems to have helped some. Will get some rock and put in there tomorrow. NOW the problem is noise... sounds like a toilet flushing all the time. Any way to make that overflow quieter? bob

Next newbie question; looking at putting some decent lights on my new 45-gal tank. It's deep. I'm thinking of a sunpod - with two Halide lights, and a bunch of white and blue led's. Do those blue led's supply the same light as an actinic PC bulb? Any other considerations I should be aware of? thanks, bob

I put the live rock in my new 45-gallon tank the other day. It looks really good; water parameters are all within range; one of the rocks has bunches of little white feather dusters. Not those REAL tiny ones - these are about 1/2" in diameter. Anyhow - all looks good, but I notice I have lots and lots of little bubbles. This is my first overflow/sump system (the 24 aquapod has everything built in). Are the bubbles normal? Good? Bad? If bad - suggestions on how to get rid of them? Thanks, bob

She has managed to get the two claws separated! The left one is clean, and the dab of glue is stuck to the right one. She keeps trying to pick it, eat it, scrape it. It isn't going anywhere. She ate well again tonight before they came apart. so no problem, I think. How long between molts?? bob

And what ever happened to that hole in the ozone layer that was going to irradiate all of us? bob

She eats! Still a pig... She pulls the food in with all of her other legs. She gets around fine - but she might end up in the mental ward - it's driving her nuts trying to get those claws apart. Thanks for suggestions! bob

Feeding time soon. It's her two main grasping claws. And the left one, at least, is still working (i.e. - the two halves of the claw aren't stuck together). If she can't eat - I'll try surgery. If I can get her in a net, I think I can snip between the two claws, at least. Acetone might be a bad idea... bob

#1 So I had a little frag that I wanted to glue onto my rock. So I pulled it out, put some super-glue on it, reached way back in the corner, and pressed it down. #2 So the day before yesterday, I got a Fire Shrimp at a small LFS. She said it was from someone's tank that was moving out of town, and had to unload his tank. She went NUTS when I started feeding mysis shrimp to my damsel. Came flying out, grabbed all the shrimp she could. Same again last night. 1+2 = What the LFS owner couldn't tell me is that the previous owner obviously fed his Fire Shrimp by hand. Donna (as I named the Fire Shrimp) saw my hand in the tank, and came over, crawling ALL over my hand, looking for food. Little pinch here, little pinch there - kind of ticklish. Just cute - until Donna got down to my frag, and grabbed a handful of superglue. Poor little Donna is now running all over the tank, trying to get her claws apart... one very unhappy fire shrimp. Does anyone have any suggestions?? bob

I now have 41 pounds of live rock in my new 45-gallon aquarium. The rock has either been in another aquarium, or in the holding tanks at the LFS for several months. It should be somewhat educated by now, shouldn't it? I will take some baseline measurements tomorrow. I have 70 pounds of sand, 20 of which are the 'Arag-alive' type stuff. Assuming my numbers are all low for several days in a row - can I assume my tank has a clue how to handle the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate cycle? The first time I did this - I had very FRESH live rock (I wanted a particular rock in my 24 that I knew would be gone if I waited). Ammonia went WAY up as things died off. It was 7 weeks before all of the numbers were near where they should be. So, having seen the whole cycle unfold before my eyes - I was confident that I had 'trained' my rocks to handle whatever I threw at them. Can I just assume with this 'experienced' live rock, that if the numbers are good - I can put a few mushrooms in there without killing them instantly? A few fish? Or should I wait 4-5 weeks just to be sure? Thanks, bob

I hope you're overcomplicating things All I did was wait for my numbers to go down, then put in anything that I found rated 'easy' or 'beginner'. Waited a few more weeks, and started putting in anything I wanted, except 'difficult'. No problems so far! bob

Someone posted a link to someone selling ro/di filters for $169 that looked real nice. Now I can't find it. Any hints? bob

As you predicted - after a few days, they are opening again. Not quite all the way - but definitely open. Thanks, bob

Clip the red wire! Clip the red wire! bob

No- I have 20 pounds of substrate in my 24 gallon tank. And it makes for about 2". bob

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I have some old socks that might work; I'll give it a try. Patience is not one of my strong points, but I'll find some. With that 70 pounds of sand, my sand bed is about 4" deep - seems like a LOT of sand - is it satisfactory? bob

My first tank - a 24-gallon 'nano' - I used the arag-alive 'wet' crushed rock for the bottom. No problem. I got a used 45 last weekend, sanded, stained, varnished the base, scrubbed the tank out, set it up, filled it with water and added salt. Last night I added the sandbed. Well, the guy at the LFS suggested I use 20 pounds of the wet stuff, and 50 pounds of the dry stuff. I looked at the dry crushed stuff, and it said all over the front how wonderful it is. No instructions for use anywhere. So I poured it in.... Seemed a little cloudier and dirtier than I expected, so I looked again - no instructions, but the LAST line of praises for the product said: Minimal rinsing required... Okay - so how about no rinsing? Now the 'dust' has almost settled this morning, but I'm sure that's exactly what it's done - settled. (there's even a fine layer of it in the sump). And I am reasonably certain if I start playing in my new ocean, I will stir it back up again. I see a couple of options. 1) ignore the problem and hope it goes away. 2) stir it up real good, drain all of the water out, and call it a saltwater rinse. Suggestions??? bob