BigWyll

Building up my new system and looking into LED system mainly to reduce electric bill. I was wondering whether these two were worth looking into and what are some of the better premade systems out. I plan to have some SPS but mostly LPS & softies with fish. LED Wholesalers Inc Gro Hydro Any thoughts?

http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w148/wyllyalm/?action=view&current=DSCI0458.mp4

Thanks. I'll pm you my number. Sorry I didn't get the picks but I think I have everything but the return equipment(return pump, return tubing, and connectors) I have 4 bulkheads and 4 tubes that go up from the bulkheads over the overflow walls. (Like the ones found in the reef ready plumbing kit)I do have a pump. But from what I'm seeing I'm going to need more than one. Anyway, pm sent.

Update.... 8 months after the fire I am in my new home. The fire was definately arson. Someone set each mattress in each bedroom, couch in basement, and a pile of laundry on fire. Five separate fires in five separate rooms. The county fire department didn't bother with an investigation due to lack of evidence. So who ever did it, got away. There was no structual damage but everything inside was considered damaged beyond repair. Insurance paid to have house stripped to the frame and rebuilt. After the rebuild it was easy to get someone to take it off my hands. Now the only problem is furnishing the new house. The first thing I bought was a 120rr tank, stand, and sump. Here lies my problem. If anyone in the temple hills, md area wants to help me set up my new tank, I would appreciate the help. It was a lot easier running tubes from my sump to my tank, but this thing has holes in it. I'm not sure I can tackle the plumping without help or really detailed advice. If you have the time or know of a company that does good work, shoot me a pm. My birthday is Jan. 6 and it's my goal to get water in the tank by then. Hoping to have the tank ready by next years frag fest. tank has 2 overflow in the back corners with two holes each. I have some plumbing but I believe I'm missing something.

We have been well taken care of by our insurance company and family members. Thank you for asking. It wasn't tank related. The fire didn't even reach the room the tanks were in but the smoke sure did. Hopefully none of the chemicals the fire dept. may have used reached the tank.

thanks. I'll besure to set the rocks out when we start inventory

Good news is the aiptasia in my sump is gone. Bad news is so is everything else. Weds I had a bad house fire. Pretty much lost everything including my 55 gallon tank. When the fire dept. let me in the water in the tank was pretty hot so I figured all live stock was dead. It's been a week with no power and I'm not sure if the water is cloudy or there is just so much soot on the exterior of the tank that I cannot see inside of it. Do you think anything in the tank is worth trying to salvage for the next tank or would it bee too poluted? (dead rock, sand, pumps, etc.)

I hope not. Then I will have to appologize to my wife. I think she'll enjoy that way too much.

I went out of town on business for a week and had my wife feed the fish in the tank. When I returned she had obviously over fed because 70% of the tank was covered in green hair algae. My test resulted in Nitrate and Nitrite 1 or below. I did a water change and the next few day the 2 emerald crabs and 2 large hermit crabs had eaten alot of the algae. But then either the hair algae turned clear or another form of algae is replacing it. I also noticed some of the is clear algae growing on some parts of the live rock in the sump. I've been scraping this stuff off of the glass and leaving what's left on the rocks be eaten but it doesn't look like they are keeping up. Is this a clear fuzzy form of hair algae or is this dead algae this some type of fungus growing on top? Should I get a tooth brush and get as much off of the rock before the next water change? (This weekend two weeks since last water change of 10g in a 55g set up) Just in case this has some relevance to my current situation. Before I left on business I upgraded my lighting to a 6 bulb T-5 setup. And upon return I also noticed a lot of spider worms that were not there before. Fish and coral do not seem to be affected by the algae bloom.

No books, I've just been reading articles from all over the web. Then ask questions on forums about things I don't understand.

Sorry about the silence. I've been busy. Well of the three I placed in my display tank, only 2 remain. They eat well as far as flakes and frozen brine. But that brings my total of 5 yellowtail damsels that have dissappeared in my tank. I'm hoping I might find 5 skeletons behind my tank that will explain this. Otherwise the hermit crabs are faster than they look or I have another predator in there. My water measurements are all well withing parameters with the exeption of pH at 7.6-7.8 range, alk in the normal to low range. and the temp seems to stick around 80 now that the weather is warm. With that new questions: When do I add buffer or calcium that came with my test kits? (Funny how they give me calcium in a test kit with no test for it) In the instructions is states to add Buffer when the Alk is low. I read somewhere that by adding calcium you increase the pH. Does that mean I should add some when the pH is low? I'm sure I'm suppose to add calcium when it is low, but not sure on whether it is okay to add to raise pH? Or exactly how it affects pH?

The damsels seem to be eating some flake food when they were in the QT. I have not transfered 3 of the 4 over. (One died I'm guess due to a large wound like a cut up the side of it's body.) Anyway once in the DT they began eating the algae on the back glass of the tank. I'm used to fish rising to the top of the tank at feeding time, so it bothers me that the damsels don't seem to recognize feeding time. Of course my false clownfish rise to the top because they are tank raised. Is this what I can expect from the rest of the fish I buy? What are some of the other foods that I should try? I have some marine flake food that came with my Saltwater start up kit, some frozen brine, and another frozen Formula II for herbivores (sp?) That the fish do like if they get to it before the large hermit crabs do.

First, I have 2 false clownfish and a damsel in my display tank. The Damsel is the lone survivor of 5 that I bought at the same time I bought the clown fish. Of the 4 that are gone, two disappeared. I can only speculate that the two large hermit crabs got to them. ONe died after I removed it from the tank because of a growing white spot which eventually covered the bottom half of it's body before it died. And one I found dead stuck to the powerhead. No known cause of death. Now to the questions, i have purchased 4 more damsels that are currently in quarrantine. It seems that only two of the damsels in the QT are eating the marine food I'm providing. The damsel in the display tank has never to my knowledge eaten the marine flake food but I have noticed it eat algae off of the back glass of the tank. None of the fish seem to go after the frozen brine shimp (although my fresh water rainbow fish love it) Are there any tricks of the trade at training fish to eat? Like starve them for two days by only feeding them very little until the appetite picks up? What chemicals do you recommend for dipping corrals to prevent red bugs and flatworms? I purchased 4 fist size peices of live rock to put in the QT and eventually move to sump, but I noticed aptasia on 3 of the pieces. Would you recommend buying pepperment shrimp to eat the aptasia before putting it in the sump or boiling the rocks then placing them in display tank to reculture them before placing them in the sump? I have more purple and pink algae growing on my glass than hair. Am I starving my inverts? I have two larger hermit crabs, 10 tiny hermit crabs, and 10 gold turbo snails?

My tank is progressing nicely. Nitrite levels have dropped below 1. The last reading was .2 or .02. But that was a couple days after the water change. All that is left is to buy or finish building my sump and upgrade my lighting. Aquascaping the liverock is proving to be very difficult in my 55 gallon. I figure if I keep working at it something I built will stablize and not collapse without leaning on the glass. What am I looking for when adjusting the skimmer? The manual describes adjusting for more dry bubbles or more wet bubbles. I currently have it adjusted to where only dry bubbles reach the collection cup. This is mainly due to a flooding incedent involving the dupe tube. But the bubbles periodically do not rise high enough to disperse the dry bubbles in the cup. I've been chalking this up to the water becoming cleaner, but I want check and make sure that I should not be adjusting the skimmer cup to collect at all times. I purchased a AquaC Remora HOB skimmer with a dump tube. Where should I run the dump tube? Currently I have the tube running into a 5g bucket which I empty every week. Is the purpose of the dump tube so that it automatically empties itself? Not much solid waste has been in the collection cup when I check it. So I simply tilt it every day to force the liquid down the tube.

I was just thinking the same thing. I can fit too 10g tanks under the stand. I don't know about placing one above the tank. It would be difficult to find something that can hold the weight. What I was thinking about to prevent drilling. ( I don't think I can drill the glass with out breaking it.) I would place one 10g higher than the other and place a longer overflow box on that one flowing into the 10g refugium with the pump back to the tank. The thought process is making me more willing to pay $300 for the sump/refugium that I saw in the LFS this weekend. Question? When using LR rubble instead of Bioballs, should the LR be submerged in the sump or should it be piled high above the waterline?

I second that. I'm a newbie also. Welcome to WAMAS.

Lighting? Currently I have (2) Aqualife lamp 21" with Coralife 50/50 blub 10,000k & actinic 03 blue 65watt. From what I read you are recommended to have 4 to 8 watts per gallon of water in your tank. I am confused at why the wattage is more important than what ever 10,000k means. I have seen some dual 48" T5 light assemblies that claim to only be 35 watts. If I understand this correctly then these T5's are worse that what I have currently. Is this correct? i have also seen some bulbs with the same wattage but have a rating of 6,500k. I'm trying to figure out if I need to trash what I have and get something bigger and better.

When I say the stand is 48 x 12 I mean in order for a tank to fit underneath it has to be lest than 48" long or 12" wide. The ten gallon I have is only 10" wide So I can fit it inside. ON you link, the largest tank that would fit insode my stand is the 15g high.

Is 10 gallon tank too small to use as a sump for a 55 gallon tank? It is the only size that I can fit inside my stand. The stand is 48" x 12" Could I simplify the process by gluing a 3" deep tupperware dish with mud to the the bottom of my 10g tank. Placing a large piece of LR on one side outside of the dish and the Pump back to the tank on the other? It is my understanding fromo talking to a sales person at a LFS that the baffles are in place to slow the flow of water so that it does not push the mud/algae. I figured a 3" or 4" deep dish in the tank could do the same thing. Possibly building a baffle on the pump side to place a sponge. Forgive me for my ignroance, for I know not what I do.

Finger twitched and double posted.

Droyal - I didn't take it the wrong way. Thanks again for all your help. I did find the answeres I was looking for in your link. Alot of those answers created more questions but there are an abundance of people asking the same things I would. So your link is much appreciated. Well I ordered some "Premium" Live Rock from Liveaquaria.com and some dry rock from bulkreefsupply. Here are pics of my tank and the LR from Liveaquaria. Aquarium Album Okay the rocks were very large compared to what I seen in LFS, but they did look more like what I expected them to as oppose to brown rocks in the water. My new Questions are about aquascaping. Do you recommend cutting the rocks down to a manageable size? My tank is only 48" x 12" so with some of the pieces in an oval shape with 6" or 7" diameter there isn't a lot of room for swimming between the rock and the glass. This is just with the 45lbs of LR. I still have another 45 lbs of dry rock to get in there. Is this why everyone eventually goes bigger? When stacking rocks to you recommend using some sort of adhesive? I've read that come marine life can be pretty strong and topple anything that isn't quake proof. I'm planning on buying a "Cleaner kit" from Liveaquaria. Is it okay to quarrantine all of the inverts in the same tank?

I think Pristine Aquariums is within biking distance to Van Doran Station. One pretty steep hill in between. But, it's definately within 3 miles. They are in the vendors section so you can check the address

Okay... checking over at reefcentral should be my first step. I'll check there before asking questions here.

I have some new questions I wanted to ask before buying live rock. What are the "nuisance hitchhikers" that I should look out for? If you have a link to some visual that would be great. What are the "nuisance algae"? I'm not sure if this applys to algae that grows where you want do not want it or if there are specific types that should be removed ASAP. I keep hearing about them, so I figure I should know what I am looking for. Same goes for the visual link if it is available. I will probably google so I can get a full understanding of them anyway. Looking into buying eco-rock from BulkReef... In aquascaping, will either the Live Rock or eco-rock stand out after cycling? I'm just concerned with how to arrange the two. If you can tell the difference after a few months, then I want to arrange my tank so that it looks nice in preparation of that Are there any do's and don'ts concerning buying and curing live rock? I'm looking forward to starting my cycle. I know not to add anything until the cycle has completed. But if there are any PITA things to look forward to, I would like to find out as much as I can before hand. How do I edit my post? Okay I found the edit button. I assume that I cannot edit the first post of a thread?

Thanks. I have been doing research since October of last year when my wife first bought the tank. I just added water to the tank on the first of March. So, I don't have a problem with being patient. I want to get this right the first time. ReefCentral had something posted in the newbie section that I thought was hilarious and true. Something about when using forums for information a common flaw is a person's pride. So when gathering info on what works and what doesnn't remember everyone has a different way and most of them think that they are right. I will definately look more into the Tang portion of my stock list. I've taken a quick peep of the FS/WTB section since I've become a member. I am a bit causious about buying from there. Not concern with being ripped off but more concerned with buying into something I know nothing about. Once I'm a little more familiar with what to look for and what to avoid, I will surely take advantage of some of the deals there.