Highland Reefer

I tested the nitrate level using your method this AM and the result was about 30. It has been riding at that level now for about a week. This reading makes more sense to me given the time period of the change in nitrates. I am not sure if this level is dangerous to my corals? It is a lot better than what I thought it was. The ammonia still tests at 0. I plan on removing about 1/3 of the crushed coral tonight when I get time as previously suggested (Not all at once).

What would be the advantages/disadvantages of either a 2" or 4" bed and what would be the best sand to use.

I can siphon out the crushed coral easy enough, but adding sand may be messy. Is there any easy way of adding sand to my tank? What type of Sand? How deep? Do I add the macos to my tank directly?

The crushed coral and 100 lbs of live rock are all from the original system which over heated and killed my fish and corals. I then cleaned all the dead out and let it cycle for about 1 year.

I have no media in my system anywhere at this time. Excuse my ignorance, but what would be considered a complete cycle to begin water changes and what are the macros you are refering to. I have been testing my water daily. I find it hard to believe that my nitrate levels jumped that high over a couple of days. I think I am inclined to believe that AP test kit may be giving me a faulty reading as was refered to in one of the earlier posts.

I found a product called: Hagen's Cycle Biological Aquarium Supplement at the link below - http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-Cycle-Biologic...t/dp/B0002563FO I asume this is what your were refering to. From what I gather, you are not recommending any large water change as it will not do much good? Just add the Cycle and play a waiting game. Cut back on feeding. I am using the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit and it is eronic, the Fish Store I went to have it checked to make sure, was also using the AP test kit. The color variations are very difficult to read. I will take your advice Y get the Salfert Kit. I could be, my results are not that high also? I have been reading about the refugiums with microalgae, but have not added one yet. I do not have a sand bed in my tank, I am using crushed coral. The refugium sounds like a good idea. I have been trying to figure out how to add it to my system. I have my tank on the main level and have dropped all the other stuff into a 20 gallon tank in the basement. I would like to put the refugium in the basement at a higher level than my sump.

I just started skimming wet last night when I added a catch bottle setup to my AquaC EV-180 Protein Skimmer. I have not been rinsing the myasis. I will start doing it now and cut back to one cube a day. I ran out of the reef mix cubes and am now using cyclopseze. I noticed that it does not take much of this to feed with this.

I am feeding two cubes of myasis shrimp every day and one cube of the reef mix every other day. Both are the frozen cubes.

I forgot to add that I am using Ro water. I tested my ro water & my salt mix water and they have a 0 reading for nitrates. The algae boom is already starting on my glass. I just cleaned it yesterday. I will take your advise and start a 50% water change today and follow up until it is back to normal. Many thanks, Brian.

I started up my 110 gallon reef about 1 1/2 months ago after I had a crash about 1 yr ago. After my tank crashed about a year ago, I cleaned everything out and just let the rock cure naturally for about a year. Thats when I started everthing back up. Everything was going well until I added some fish. The nitrate level is at about 80 now. I have made three 20% water changes over the last week and it still remains high. The ammonia, KH, PH, calcium, phosphate & temp. levels are fine. I also increased my protein skimmer to a more aggressive setting and added a catch bottle. I was thinking about adding some nitrate asorbing materials and decided to go to the local fish store. I took a sample with me to make sure my test kits were working ok. The store tested the water and confirmed my results. Only the nitrate was high. He recommended a 50% water change and stated that what was going on in my tank was the new tank syndrome and was following the normal course until the bacteria built back up in my 100 lbs of rock in my tank. He said that the nitrate asorbing materials would not help much. I have about 6 small fish, 8 coral, about 80 assorted snails, a starfish, one large worm and several feather worms in my tank now. I am afraid that if I do a 50% water change, that it will have negative results on everthing in my tank. Any advise would be appreciated.

I think your right. Once I had the genus to look for, I was able to do more searches. The one that I could find the closest match to was: Orange Marble Starfish - Fromia monilis. It seems to fit the description: it feeds on alage, which it did clean completely off one of my rocks (bubble agae left over). It has been moving all around my mushroom coral and hasn't touched them. I assume that I can add clams if it continues to behave itself.

When I recently bought this red starfish, they told me it was reef safe. Can anyone tell me which starfish this is and if it is reef safe. Also I want to add clams to my setup down the road? Any info, is much appreciated.

The primary point one can derive from this article is that the coral reefs conditions are declining. There are many possibilities for the declining conditions including: 1) Increasing temperatures Man made or not. 2) Increased acidity of the water. 3) Increased disease 4) Increased pollution of the waters 5) Increased harvesting of the inhabitants. 6) The list goes on & on. These factors are occurring now. The Earth has constantly changed in the past. New species evolve where others loose out. Life on earth will continue to survive one way or the other for a long time to come. I am sure that man has had some impact on the reefs do to improper harvesting which is occurring now. One can certainly derive from these facts that additional research is needed on the earth

I just joined myself. I grew up in Rockville and Live now in Highland, MD near Ashton. Welcome.

James, I've been checking out the refractometers today and the one you listed looks good and sturdy. I noticed some of the others had a knob for calibrating. I was wondering if the knob was worth the difference in the long haul. Any input is welcomed.

The Milwalkee SMS122 sounds like a good idea for the ph. The in-line unit sounds good for the reverse osmosis. FYI, I just recieved an email back from Hanna, the manufacturer of the multi-test units and they said that those units are not appropriate for my use. I was thinking about getting a refractometer to test the salinity. Any imput on this.

I am looking to purchase a multi purpose meter for my setup & have been researching the Hanna Instrument models 98129 & 98130. I'm not sure which one would work for testing my reef aquarium & Osmosis water. Any help or remarks would be welcomed. The cost is about $140.00 total. Hanna Instruments Combo pH/EC/TDS/Temp tester Specifications: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Choose your Combo according to the proper EC / TDS ranges for your application:

Some nice photos.

I added a shut-off vale to my setup so I could control the flow in the tank, then I added a return with a shut-off back to my sump right after the pump to relieve the pressure. Works Great. It's nice having the extra pump capacity for future add-ons. Plus I think the bigger pumps hold up better.