Aaron

Maybe you could use a pump that doesn't need to be primed? I don't know, maybe that doesn't work/make sense for your situation, but on mine I use a Mag 5, and I have two 40 gallon Rubbermaid containers - one for waste water, and one with a submersible pump and heater for new saltwater. I use the Mag 5 to pump out what I need to into the waste container, then I reverse the process and put the pump in the new saltwater and pump it in (the fill line is marked on my sump with a sharpie so I know when to stop. I have no problems pumping "up". Doing it this way has been awesome for me since I used to make saltwater and do the whole process using individual 5 gallon containers, what a pain in the butt. Now I make about 35 gallons of RODI at a time, and refill two 5 gallon topoff containers, and then mix the remaining 25 gallons of saltwater. I keep a pump and heater in the saltwater, cover the container, that way I always have enough water on hand regardless of the situation. Has made my weekend maintenance much, much less time consuming.

Thanks guys - it is an odd shaped tank, 40 gallons (37 based on my calculations from the dimensions), but it's 36Lx12Tx18D. I kind of like it because the extra space front to back allowed me to set up the rock and things in such a way that it gives the perception of depth. Glad to hear you guys thought it looked clean, I was kind of kicking myself because I didn't clean it before I took pictures - actually I haven't cleaned it since last weekend.

Finally able to sit back and enjoy things a little without fiddling with test kits, parameters, and equipment. Still a bit of a newb, but making progress!

Thanks Chad - I think that's some of the best advice I've gotten with regard to feeding, and here's why. I have this pseudo-scientific theory that part of the problem with my system is a self-inflicted imbalance. What I mean is that there's always a "knee-jerk" reaction when some kind of algae or cyano appears. It looks unsightly, has the potential to take things over, and therefore must be eliminated - i.e., more ferric oxide, more carbon, bigger skimmer, larger water changes. There's a part of me that's beginning to recognize these things as a very unatural approach, not that there's anything natural about a box full of water in my livingroom with corals in it, and I also realize they are all tools when properly applied. That being said, maybe it isn't always appropriate to apply them. By aggresively chemically removing phosphate, what happens long-term? In my mind it's fair to say that other simple organisms that aren't phosphate limited take over. What happens with bacterial populations? I am actually wondering what the outcome would be running my system with JUST: a properly functioning skimmer, adequate lighting, and 10-15% bi-weekly water changes along with regular feeding of the right foods. I assume that many of the "undesirable" lifeforms would ultimately come and go, outcompeted by desirable ones. Maybe I have things all wrong, and this vision of a reefkeeping "nirvana" is completely unrealistic, but there are a million different products out there, thousands and thousands of dollars to spend. ....leading the hobbiest down the path to an extremely complex and expensive system that will ultimately face most of the same problems and challenges that my little odd dimension 40 gallon will have. Who knows....no matter how much I learn, I may never have the real answers.

Thanks guys, I think you just confirmed my suspicions last night. I have decided that I'm trying to maintain far too sterile an environment. I started thinking about it and really almost feeling guilty because I know at some point these critters must get hungry. That and I think I can attribute some of the problems I've had to inadequate feeding. Well, time to go home for the day and start polluting the tank

What are peoples thoughts on feeding a reef tank? How much and with what? I have aggressively run carbon and GFO, along with my oversized skimmer pretty much since day one. Tests for nitrate and phosphate have always come back as undetectable, but since there is some algae in the tank, I assume there are nutrients but they're just being taken up by the algae immediately. The reason I am asking is because some of my softies and LPS are not nearly as full looking as they used to be, and a couple of my sps have lost their color. They aren't brown, they grow fast, and they have full polyp extension, they just don't have any color at all (mostly the purple ones seem to do this on me the most). Yellow, red, and green are not a problem to keep, and even blue is becoming easier (especially on new growth). All things considered, I am wondering if I might be stripping too much out of the water and the sps are not getting the nutrients they need (though I understand they are mostly light dependent). I don't think lighting is the issue since most of my sps are toward the top of a 12" deep tank with 6x39w T5 on them (ATI bulbs), that is unless they are getting TOO much light. Anyone have any insight? I know coloration is a complicated subject, but I sure would like to be able to keep purples purple, and white can't be healthy.

Yep, exactly what I was saying If you start beaming light all over the place with flashes or strobes you will run into a whole host of new problems - light refracting off the glass or acrylic, shadows, washed out colors, the list goes on. If you open up the lense, you will end up with one spot in the photo that is perfectly focused, blur behind it, and blur in front of it. If you slow down the shutter, well, better hope that nothing moves, and no fish swim accross the tank. Also, the photo above was taken using the canned 10k white balance setting on my D90 vs. taking the time to actually set a true custom white balance. I am enjoying the conversation as well. I am certainly not above learning something new from someone elses experiences with a camera!!

The funny thing is, there is absolutely no processing on the image whatsoever. No color enhancement I never shoot raw anymore, it's too much of a pain processing images all the time, and JPG files are very limiting in terms of what you can do post processing wise without making radical changes in the photo. Personally, I don't think taking tank shots at low ISO with a wide open lense is the way to go about it, but again, that's just my opinion. I'm sure that you are able to get some awesome photos using the technique you're most comfortable with as well. As far as the monitor calibration, that's kind of a can of worms. Calibrated to what? :-)

I take a lot of photos, not a pro by any means mind you, but I'm not bad. It is definitely true that the higher quality DSLR cameras will shoot very, very effectively at high ISO with very little noise. I actually prefer to shoot that way rather than slowing down the shutter, or running a "fast" lense wide open. Running a lense wide open gives you absolutely no depth of field. Sure, you introduce a ton of light very quickly, but that's about it. That may be fine for some macro photography where you don't care about anything else in the frame (because there isn't anything else in the field of vision, which was the original topic), but for reef photography in general it definitely isn't _my_ preferred method (that doesn't necessarily make me right, and I am the first to admit it). My camera will shoot very well all the way to ISO 3200, and 6400 is definitely usable (though noise does become apparent at 6400). I can do this anywhere between f/10-16 with a custom white balance setting, and run the shutter fast with no problem whatsoever. In fairness I think it's really just two different strategies, both of which can be effective depending on the situation. However, I think a lot of people buy really expensive fast glass because "expensive is better" or because they've been reading about that uber f/1.4 lense that will give the ultimate low-light capability, not realizing that at f/1.4, f/1.8, or heck pretty much until you hit f/5.6 (there is some wiggle room there) the point of focus is so small. Here's an example - shot with Nikkor 50mm AF-D, ISO 3200, f/16, 1/125. Not the greatest photo in the world, but it is usable. Keep in mind this photo has been resized to 25% of its original resolution so that I could upload it.

The RO unit should be pretty straightforward. Not sure exactly what setup you are working with, but usually there is a saddle valve for the feed, and a waste line that ties into PVC drain pipe wherever you install it. There are a lot of different scenarios and ways that it _could_ be installed to suit your situation, but you can't really do it "wrong" unless you were to tie into a hot water line which would destroy the membrane, or make the mistake of installing the saddle valve in a location where there is no means to shut off the water supply to it (without shutting off the water to the house, which can be a PITA, and sometimes the valves don't hold - even bigger problem ). I don't mean to scare you. It's really no more difficult than plumbing in an icemaker with vinyl tubing or a dishwasher with copper tubing and compression fittings. In my case, I installed it under the kitchen sink, tied into the waste line and cold water supply after the valve. This worked for me because the kitchen sink is no more than 15 feet from my system, but your situation may vary. One of the key things is having adequate water pressure, otherwise there's a lot of waste water and it takes forever. This is related to the flow restrictor and the pressure required for the membrane to operate at maximum efficiency. Sometimes a booster pump is required. Some of the units also come with an adapter that will allow you to connect the unit directly to a faucet or spigot. If that is your preference, and you don't have the parts, they are easily obtained from just about anywhere. Basic rule of thumb to save yourself from having to fix a bunch of little leaks is to use either teflon tape or pipe dope (usually applied in gas pipe applications) on all of your threaded connections. I prefer the tape, and it really is the right match for a project like this. For the skimmer, I am not familiar with the particular model that you have, but these are my suggestions... If it is an in sump model, the things I would be most concerned with are: Water depth - every in-sump skimmer I have ever used has an optimum operating depth. If you don't get this right, you will constantly be complaining about inadequate skimmate production or the skimmer overflowing all the time. Ability to control the flow is also important, many people fine tune this with gate valve mods, upgrading/changing pumps, etc. Pretty much your preference here. For instance, I run a Euro-Reef RS-100. I found the KSP-3500 to be a bit underpowered, so I upgraded it to a KSP-5000. This required me to do some plumbing since there is a significant difference in the size of the pumps, but it wasn't difficult. PVC and tubing are easy to work with. Best thing to do is set it up per the manufacturer's specifications and usually tune it in so the water level is at the base of the collection cup. Leave it that way for several days and let it settle in. Don't be surprised if you don't get much of anything but bubbles for a few days, sometimes they take time to break in. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. IMO, Tom is dead on (as usual) with his comments about making sure what you purchase is going to do the job you need it to do. In my experience in this hobby (nowhere near as long as many of the other members - 4 years), if you try to save money, you will end up having to buy another one _soon_, and it will end up costing you more than it would have if you just made the investment up front. By no means am I trying to imply that you need to buy every new high-end gadget that appears on the market, that will quickly turn this hobby into a rich man's game, and it may ruin the experience for you. I would offer to come out and help you with the plumbing and setup (as would several other members I suspect), but you will be SO much better off by going through all the steps and storing the knowledge. AND, if you get stuck, I'm sure many of us would be more than willing to help (myself included).

We are in agreement there Tom has steered me in the right direction many times over the last couple years. I seem to have gotten things fully dialed in. Parameters are stable exactly where I was hoping to land, at least for the last 24 hours. I will continue to test for a couple more days, just to make sure nothing weird happens. Alk ~10 dkh Cal ~430 Mag ~1350 pH 7.9-8.1 (I can live with the 7.9 at "night") Should make for awesome growth, especially since things won't be bouncing up and down anymore AS LONG AS I LEAVE IT THE HECK ALONE (sometimes I am bad about tinkering, looking for just a little more "perfection", which almost always ends up with me kicking myself)

This might actually be a possibility then. The four animals that have shown the most significant growth have been the orange monti, green slimer, red planet, and long tentacle anemone. I know the anemone probably doesn't go into the equation at all here, but the thing is becoming a limiting factor in the tank due to its growth . That being said it is one of my most favorite additions - thank goodness I went with a DSB when I set up the tank. It has parked itself, and not moved since about 24 hours after I brought it home, and I have kept it (believe very happy) for about six months now. Plus when I got it I was completely inexperienced, and didn't realize it was totally bleached and on the verge of death. When it first started turning brown, I thought something was wrong with it... The orange monti has probably grown an inch in diameter over the last three weeks, the red planet has encrusted over the base where I adhered it about 1/2" over the same period, and the green slimer is growing at a phenomenal rate, though not in the pattern I expected. Rather than growing _up_, it is growing horizontally and down, specifically into the most intensely lit area in the tank. I'm actually sitting here admiring things tonight because I have come such a long, long way from the 8 gallon biocube that I started with (in this house) two years ago. I have not setup the 90 because we are planning to buy a house this summer, and I want to build something into a wall with a proper "fish room" behind it. Thanks again for sharing your wisdom Tom.

Wow Yeah, I wish I was seeing that kind of growth, but I'm definitely not. So, it sounds like some of your other theories may be at work here. I'll need to do the testing you mentioned to confirm. You are always a wealth of information, and have helped me out many times in the past. I'm still fairly new to the hobby (at least in a serious capacity), and I definitely want to provide the best possible environment for the animals. Thanks for being such a great resource to the group!