TonyInVa
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Posts posted by TonyInVa
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My opinion is it looks to bare and symetrical. But you alreadt mentioned that. But as you mentioned, as things start to grow and fill out it will not look bare.
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Great idea. How much flow is recommended through the overflow for a 110?
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Any oppinions?
(This is what I was replying to in my brain fart post)
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Any opinions?
Oh man! I must have had a major brain fart. This was supposed to be a reply to another post. I was wandering why when I kept hitting add reply It said my reply was less than two characters. So I added what was I assume was the title and it accepted it. I would like to say maybe there was some technical problem with this website. But the brain fart is the more likely possibility.
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Any opinions?
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I will be drilling my new 110. I assume 700 gph is not enough for a 110. So should I go with 1500 gph. Is there better overflows then Glass Holes?
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Great job!
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OK, here is my best guess.
Adding carbon cleared water up a little so light could penetrate more easily. Since they were new lights, they penetrated even better. You added a carbon source and fueled bacteria growth, the diatoms started to feed off both the nutrients and the added light and "bloomed". They will go away when you take away the food source (you already noticed it by shutting down the lights).
Again, it is just a "best guess" based off the little bit I know about your system. But, it should be noted that adding UV will make your water even clearer and the light will penetrate even more, so you may still have a little way to go with your battle. Or you could choose not to fight it, let it eat and then naturally go away on its own.
I will continue to do water changes. Scrub off grey matter. Whcih is growing much slower each day. And see what happens.
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Looking pretty good. So, back up a little though. Did you change spectrum on the bulbs when you changed them? How old were your previous bulbs before they were replaced? Are you using a filter sock on the drain when you scrub? Do you use carbon? I know, I ask a lot of questions, it's ok, you can say it.... :p
Yes I did change spectrum. I was using 3 actinic and 3 10000k. Switched to 2 460nm and 1 420nm and 3 10000k. Bulbs were 6 months old. Just started using carbon when I started using Phoshphate reactor. I dont use a filter sock, but do use a sponge prefilter only when I scrub. I dont feel that you ask aot. I feel that you are trying to help me and need the propper information to do so. So ask away.
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A bit of an update. I did lights out for three days.(12-20 thru 12-23) Brown stuff is no longer visisble. Grey stuff still there but not as bad. I have been using a soft tooth brush, brushing over the gret stuff to remove, every couple of days. Here is how things look now.
Pictures taken today
Prior to lights out
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Nice video. Especially for those who have not seen it.
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This topic is debated endlessly. Head over to www.advancedaquarist.com and search for the articles they did on measuring skimmer performance - that is the only article I've found that has tried to quantify the difference between various skimmers. Definitely talk to Dan about the GSA skimmers. He usually imitates a deltec or similar design, improving on it slightly.
I looked for that article but could not find it.
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After researching it seems that the Bubble King and Deltecs are getting good reviews. But it seems that so are the Bubble Magus and any other skimmer over $200. With threads talking about running a 120 gallon tank without one I really wonder. Are they really worth it? Other sites they say the Bubble King is. But how do we know? Can anyone offer any insite?
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Merry Christmas! Did anyone get any aquarium related gifts?
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Just wanted to pass on my latest experience with John at BRK. I ordered a tank from BRK. Because I work retail and would only have one day off between December 18 - January 4 I was gonna have trouble picking it up. The day I did have off was Monday December 21. If you know BRK bussiness hours you know they are closed Monday and Tuesday. John was nice enough to meet me at the shop on Monday so I could pick the tank up. Great service. Thanks again John.
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Can you post a tank pic?
How old is your ro membrane? What brand?
Same with di resin?
It may be the vinegar kick started a little nutrient bloom that had built up overtime in your SSB or may be po4 or silica. Since you are feeding so lightly and your bulbs are new (did you change spectrum at all?) the only food source that could be fueling this would seem to be water or a buildup of organics that are slowly starting to leach from the substrate and getting consumed faster than your test kits can measure them.
I will post pics. I cuurently only know how to post a link to photobucket. Someone posted on a thread I posted links on how to get the picture directly on the thread. Can someone inform me on how to do this?
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Are you adding kalk to your topoff water as well as the vinegar? At 2 tablespoons/gallon that will boost your ph and blow off excess co2 rather quickly, will precipitate some phosphates as well. Doesn't sound like no3 is the problem. po4 might be but I wouldn't trust your test kit on that one, I think if it was a big problem you would be seeing more advanced algae growth with some of the greens popping up. Silica could still be the issue, make sure your rodi filters are fresh. Make sure your magnesium level is sufficient as well since if you dose kalk the silica will bind to magnesium and precipitate as well. A couple days with the lights off is a good way to know down a chunk of it too. I'm not a big fan of adding a carbon source if it is not needed. Popping colors and fast growth can be achieved by simpler and more well understood and controlled methods. Can you post a picture of your tank?
Tes I am adding kalk to my topp off
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Nice pictures.
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Vinegar is a carbon source (acetic acid) and will fuel bacteria as you correctly read. I'm guessing this is helping your diatoms along. My guess is they got the upper hand somehow, and are outcompeting the "good" (i.e., invisible) bacteria that you want. You could stop vinegar and see if that helps. Also, if you are feeling up for a bit of an experiment, try adding one of the packaged off-the-shelf bacteria booster products while continuing to dose the vinegar. That might help boost the numbers of good bacteria and help drive off the diatoms. I would do this in combination with turning your lights off for 3-4 days to help starve out the (photosynthetic) diatoms. I would be interested to see if Prodibio's bacteria product works in this case. It shouldn't cost too much since you're only treating 50-60 gal total water volume. Others may have alternative bacteria suggestions; I know a few here use Neozeo brand products which I believe produce a bacteria boster. I do not use any of them myself so I can't say for sure which would be best. I would definitely like to hear your results if you go this route though. Good luck!
With this being said, would it be a good idea to turn off the UV sterilizer. Since it is killing good and bad bacteria.
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How long has the tank been set up?
What foods do you feed?
What kind of substrate do you have? How much of it?
Have added anything new to your tank lately?
Is the stock list and tank size accurate in your sig?
Do you have a po4 test kit? Which one? What were the results?
What test kit are you using to determine 0 no3 in your sig?
How much flow do you have? I see the pumps listed in your sig but does it cause the water surface to ripple quite a bit? Diatoms feed off co2 so good surface movement and gas exchange is crucial.
What is tank ph? How do you test it?
Do you have a UV unit? JK
Tank has been set up for just over five years.
I use Formula 2 fish food. For the last two months only once a week.
My substrate is a fine sand about 2 inches in the display tand and about 6 inches in the sump/fuge.
Have not added anything to tank in about 6 months
My po4 test kit is API. I don't remember the results, they were low. I will retest today.
My test kit for no3 is API as well.
I have now am using 3 tunze 6025 and 1 maxijet 1200. There is quit abit of ripple, but only on Tunze up top shooting across the surface.
Ph is 8.2. Use API test kit.
All bulbs were replaced on October 27 2009. Except fuge bulb about a year old.
When I read your mention about c02, I remembered that I started adding vinegar to my top off water. I started this about 2 months ago. And did it for about 2 weeks. I was adding 15ml per gallon of top off. I read that this will increase c02 allowing the system to contain a greater amount of alkalinity and calcium. I am looking at the article now that caused me to do this. And it states that this would create a better food source for bacteria.
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I'm just taking a shot based on your join date and a quick look at other topics you have posted but....This is new tank syndrome. The "source" is actually a "sign" that your tank is maturing and that the nitrogen cycle is working correctly and that it can sustain algal growth. Time is the solution not UV and not po4 media. The other possibility would be silica or tank neglect over a long period of time, I don't know if you use a rodi filter or not but lacking one would cause silica issues. Stirring up a neglected tank would cause that diatom bloom as well. Good news is once the food runs out the diatoms will go away. I am not sure that running uv is going to have any effect on the diatoms. UV cannot kill any of the diatoms food source and the diatoms themselves are not free floating by nature unless at a plague like saturation. In short, there are lots of ways to take care of a diatom bloom, even in a mature tank, I however would never even think of UV as being one of the possible solutions to the problem. You are right about the UV helping in the future. There are a ton of benefits to using UV, many topics and discussions here and elsewhere about that for sure, just be sure to do some research on flow rates so you can get the most out of your unit.
I am not sure what my problem is. I don't feel it is due to neglect. I tend to my tank daily. I do water changes regularly. I feel I have tried everything and can't figure out what is going on. Over feeding is not the issue. I have what I feel is alot of flow. I only have four fish. My join date is coincidental. I was looking to upgrade to a larger tank, because things had been going well for quit some time. Another site member suggested WAMAS to help find a used tank. This site has been more that just that. Shortly after joining my problems started. I am using an RO/DI unit. Which I am not sure if it could be some of my problems.
With all that being said, I appreciate any feed back I can get. And am willing to try almost anything.
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I agree with 30k killing algae, the problem is though that 95% of the people who buy these things are buying them in the hopes of controlling parasites. It's like Clorox putting mixing instructions of 3 drops/gallon on the side of the bottle. Sure it makes lake water safe to drink but, is that what the avg person is buying it for?
I am having a diatom issue. I know that I need to get to the source of the problem. But am hoping the UV sterilizer will help in the future.
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I would buy a variety of shapes so you have options when you do your scaping.
Also try to get the largest pieces that feel the lightest, you want pourous pieces with a lot of nooks and cranies.
Roozens got a load of about 40 boxes on really nice stuff from fili in last week 5.99 / lb. More than i would normally spend on LR but this stuff is really nice do I got a few pieces.
Marine Scene does keep some under lights.
I need MH lighting info.
in General Discussion
I know nothing about MH lighting. I started reseraching, and now am confused. There are Mogul base, double ended and single ended. Not sure what the differences are. Could someone give me the some info on MH lighting.