LanglandJoshua

Agreed, the reason I don't run my skimmer is that I have so much rock. The goal was to not need to empty it every day.

I have kept the skimmer off for a while now. I got tired of cleaning it. But I'm probably going to turn it back on and add a 5 gal bucket for additional storage.

I am planing on getting a reactor anyways. So maybe a carbon reactor would be best. But I will wait for tests from marine scene. They have more tests than I do. Hanna checkers can test for magnesium right? I've already got alk and calcium. Are there any others you guys would suggest?

I'm hooping the probe is not calibrated right...it's in some vinegar and reading 5.56ph. It does not later that the vinegar is old, right?

Alk 149ppm, calcium in a few minutes. Edit: calcium 439ppm Ph probe is reading 7.64

I have an alk and calcium hanna checker. There will be more in the future, but they are expensive...

I hope it is wrong, but one of my oldest healthiest montiporas is starting to show some dieoff. This could just be because it is growing enough to shadow some of itself. Maybe the death from that is stresing the rest...or its chem issues. I'm off on thursday, so that is when I will have to get over to the marine scene.

I've added nothing in past week. I plan on taking a water sample to the marine scene, resetting for PH and magnesium. Unless someone wants to come on over!

I've been having some PH issues and its getting very high. Up to 8.88, I am thinking two reactors may be my best bet. What do you guys think? My PH can hit 8.8+ during the day, and I saw 7.7 one night. I've been keeping track of this with my reefkeeper elite. Would kalk and alk be appropriate? Or is there something else you guys would suggest. I will test calcium and alkalinity tomorrow. I will also do a 10% water change to help. In the past I've tested PH at 8.3, but that was usually mid day. The reefkeeper has let me keep an eye on it throughout the day. These swings are getting worse. Any advice on this can help! (Jim I promise, I'll check magnesium! I'm thinking of getting a hanna checker.)

Just saw this one, yes but this build will be fast. When warmer weather hits, I will build the stand. We agreed on the piping, just need measurements. I have all the gear I need in case I have to drain the tank earlier. One 96 gal trash can for my rock. One 75 gal tank for livestock. If our becomes a long term issue I will put a HOB overflow on my 75 and trash can down to my sump. Electrical tape only works light leaks like this one. Any worse and I will block the hole off with epoxy temporarily over the output, shut some valves, and it will be fine. But I will not do a rushed tank again if I can help it. Bad things happen here when you rush.

Yes, but then I got permission from the land lord to hang an aluminum frame from the ceiling rafters. There will be two frames. One will hold lights and fans. The other will hold a thick sound resistant/flame resistant curtain. It will also block light for when were watching movies or just don't want the bright light from my tank. My father works nights, so the TV's always on. We would like our 24 hour lives to not effect the tank. So believe me, that covered!

I found a small leak in some piping under the tank. This piping is getting to be about 2-3 years old(from previous owner). There are multiple places that seem to have salt creep, and at least two dripping. Some electrical tape has stoped most of the drip for now. I made another topic to get advice and decide what I would do. Now I plan to empty the tank, dry it out, and REBUILD! The pictures bellow show what I have now, and the space I have to use. Its going to feel like restarting all over again! But this time I will use: manifolds, gate valves, ball valves, and couplers. This will free up space for reactors, and other gear as well! So things will be fresh, clean, new, and ORGINIZED! The system was set up in a bit of a hurry, and has never looked pretty. Its time to fix that! This will be an adventure! Any suggestions, advice, or help would be extremely appreciated! Here is the corner, this photo is old. I plan to rebuild similar to this. Except there will be more space on the left between the wall and the tank for my reeflo dart 3600gph pump that is running the CL system. A manifold will run the lower backside of the tank for reactors. Two other manifolds will run along the back for the overflow and input for the CL. That will be powered by my mag 18 pump. My corners dimensions are 5'x5'5". All wires will be in wraps, maybe even glow in the dark! Now for the piping that leaked, the electrical tape is black and you can easily see where it started leaking. Here is a view of the tank before I set it up. Some piping views, some of these pics can be seen on my origional posts. But to make it easier I will post them here.

No, but trust me theres MANY more of them. So breaking apart is not a worry lol!

I'm not saying you cant use T5, or that they wont work. Only that I have had better results with other lighting. I'm glad it helped. As for lives, many of us have smart phones. So we can update/post/reply on the fly! It is very useful in double checking stuff at LFS too! night

Wow...sorry to hear that heppened Yaitz! Unfortunately any "nuke" I've heard of was never truely selective on WHAT it killed! As for the T5 lighting, I dont feel it penetrates the water anywhere near how MH do. I had T5 on a 18" 75 gallon tank way back when....I didnt have much rock and could not get the anemone any closer than within 10" of the surface. It slowly died. Yet later on when I could get a anemone pair closer to the top, they thrived. These same anemones have been with me through from my 75 and now in my 160. One has even allowed me to split it several times and still looks evry bit as amazing as the other. But in the 75 I had the light siting on the tank, about 4-5' up. The anemone was in the TOP 5". So its hard for me to say without knowing exactly what you have in there. The point I was making before with the 250W VS 175W is that both are very powerful. Much more so than my 4 bulb T5HO, yet there is a 5-6" depth difference between where my anemone's preffer to stay. Ive seen great looking tanks with T5 epleeds old 75 is a great example. But Ive never had luck with them. This may have been my choice in fixtures. Which is why anything I do now is modular. The freedom to try new things, and find what I like is far more valuable than saving $50 on that miracle fixture of your dreams. In the end I still suggest MH, the success I have had is every bit worth the investment. Which is why now I just cant wait until I'm ready for LED's. Though more over, the LED's need to be ready for our reefs! I think that day is here, they will become more affordable and effecient. At this point power is not a worry. Its just so freaking expensive, but do the math and they are cheaper in the long run...odd! As far as suggested specs: I can only tell you that mine preffer: variable indirect flow, high light, stable chemical levels, and a place to get shade. Suggested Placement: I preffer to get them to put their foot into a crevasse of a rock. Then place that rock under the edge of another. So that when they retract they are in shade. But can extend for better light. Not only does this look impressive and show off their real size, but it mimics their natural behavior to hide their foot way down in a rock pile and poke the tentacles and oral disk out into the light. This way THEY control the light they get. Imagine you couldnt tell someone when you were hungry, and they knew to survive you only had to eat every other day. That would not make you happy would it? Or if they put you outside for too long with no shade...I preffer to let mine chose. Though two of them just stay out all day. But they are under an old 175W. So it could just be low light and they may need to. My anemones HAVE survived some nasty chemical swings. But understand that they will not survive that long term. It is only through carefuly bringing everything back to acceptable levels quickly enough to limit the damage done. But also not so fast you shock them. EX. Salinity, I didnt check it for a while and it droped to 1.011ppm. I raised it about 1ppm an hour or less. This took a day or two. My suggestion is to just add a LITTLE salt to your ATO. By little I mean .5ppm in the ATO or less. Its a fine line we walk sometimes. If you made the ATO water too "salty" you could go way above 1.025ppm very fast. For the most part when they are placed properly its just like that nice hammer or torch coral. Except it does not BURN YOU! Though I've handled some too long(splitting without gloves) and felt a bit odd in my hands. They do sting, it attacks nerves instead of direct damage to flesh. So that the prey(fish, shrimp, plankton) cant get away, and is easily pulled into the anemones mouth. Yes, they can eat fish and shrimp. Though personally I've only lost one fish to an anemone. But that was a sickly mandarin goby I rescued from a Petco store that had no idea how to care for it. The poor thing just floated down and a pump blew it into the anemone...it jumped and swam away. Only to be found dead the next morning... I hope this info helps! Its great your asking questions and trying this out at 15! If we dont do the research first, then were assuming. Which never ends well...Dont stop asking questions. Even if it sounds silly, it could save your tank. As a Home Depot employee told me the other day when he tried to help me with some PVC questions,"Why dont you just put them into a bowl and _ it?". After I showed him a picture of my "bowl"...he told me, "OK, your way past a fish bowl! ". My tank has a WAYS to go before its anywhere near many of the other members here. But I wouldnt be this far if I hadnt first asked an Oceanography teacher if I could feed the fish, before I could even take the class. *Edit* I agree Coral Hind, the "bubble" effect is probably a defense mechanism. Switching from long swaying tentacles for catching prey, to bubbles that cover more of the body. This way there is much less of a chance for a predator to harm the anemone without first being stung. Especially since the "Bubble" reaction also seems to be followed up by retracting backwards. Potentially into a hole or cave where they ONLY way in would be through the tentacles. There are not many things that are done in a reef or in the wild that arent absolutely necessary...though some animals do make me wonder...those crazy humans...

I just saw this thread, and have not read it all. Please forgive me if this has already been said. I have anemones that I put into a crevasse, or cup shaped choral skeleton. They don't move, if placed properly in a tank they can grow happily for a very long time. I have one that has not moved for the past 8-9 months. The other 2-3 months, or in other words...since I put them there. Also if size is a concern. I know that myself, and any other person who splits them is wiling to trade a small one for a larger one. This way you have the ability to enjoy your anemone, with no worry of size. Just be sure to give us one or two weeks to split and heal a new "nem. If your interested in one, just let me know through pm. I would be glad to split one for you. I send photo updates, and share the entire process. If your interested. *Edit* I double checked your signature, I have no experience with fluorescent lights. My suggestion would be to try out MH, I would prefer 150W-250W. Mine are under one 175W high, and one 250W mid tank. Depending on your lighting/flow you will need to vary the depth of water between the anemone and the light. I also recommend variable flow. They seem to color up and grow better. In stead of just flattening and getting washed out.

I have to admit I feel bad for flushing bristle worms...though they were all living things g there is a point where you need "population control". Taking the conversation a step further, no I would not flush a person!

As for curing, is been a long time since I've done PVC work. So I wasn't sure, which is why I took a worst case plan. I have a couple unions on this that I think I can salvage. I hope to get several unions just for convenience and safety. But since I will be combining several pipe systems into just a couple manifolds. I am forced to check into ways to control flow pressures, like a gate valve. I will look into prices for gate valves VS ball valves. But I want to have greater control over which outputs have more flow. Or to even just counter the uneven pressure and get somewhat equal flow. I am leaning towards gate valves for now. Unfortunately, yeah I will have to move the livestock into my old 75 gal tank, and rock into a new 96 gal trash can. There will be a heater in each and a couple hydor pumps in the trash can. My MP40ES will be in the 75. With maybe another pump. My sump will have a heater as well. But gets enough flow from a mag5 feeding a refugium. Since this is only a couple days, at best. I plan to be able to sustain things longer like this if I have to. But still be able to take it down easily. With all that said, there is no way that I want to keep the stand I have. It just could not be put together square...did all could in rebuilding it. But I also have some issues with how a peice is not solidly attached. It just lets the stand bow down. Then that force pin it. Yet I can still move it with my hand. So that will be rebuilt. This means tons of prep work before I pull anything out. We want to hold off until it warms up a bit outside. But will get everything I need for emergency life support. Just in case. THE SILVER LINING! There will be one blue velvet damsel up for sale! As well as FAR MORE SPACE FOR REACTORS! Oh and it will finally look organized! Yay!!!!! Thanks again for the advice! I can always use more! Please forgive the typos, my phone has it's own ideas of what I want to say...

I can have pics tomorrow.

I just went to double check the valve... I bought this tank used and it had some sealant around some odd places in the plumbing. It seems I found the TWO leaks. As they started dripping. I have stoped them for now with electrical tape. But there is no telling how long that will hold. I think my two options are going to be either completely empty my tank, and redo this plumbing. Or try to seal a barrier in place so that I can keep most of the water in the tank. I am leaning towards just emptying it out into some 55 gallon drums/ trash cans and my old 75. This way I can just redo ALL the plumbing. I should be able to do the plumbing in one day, with 1-2 days time to dry the PVC cement. I've dealt with PVC in the past, so I know that this work should only take about four hours of assembly time. With good prep work. As always, any suggestions would be appreciated.

There is a output pipe from the pump at the bottom of the tank. The air bubbles go into the tank when it's got water moving. But when it's off, I see no leak?

I have a 160 gal 1/2" acrylic tank. With multiple holes drilled. But one side is blowing bubbles. This to me says air must be leaking in. If it can leak in then water can leak out. I've shut off the valve to the in put for the tank. But need ideas for repair. Any thoughts would be nice.

Zygote theta be COLD!

I understand, especially from your point of view. It's harsh. As a dev just getting to be heard, and maybe making some money must be a pain. If I still had my itouch I would check it out, but unfortunately I don't. I went droid because of the hardware on the Charge. Which matches the iphone 4S. But came out months before. A well as the speed of the connection. So unfortunately I knew the app market would be a bit smaller.

Its been snowing here in Vienna for hours. I've got an inch and a half. Mostly freezing rain now. *EDIT* Will there be anyone at Kilmer to give a heads up to anyone who missed this memo?