icecool2

I try and run my tank as low maintenance as possible. I have nothing against running skimmers, GFO, carbon, calcium reactors, etc. I think they all have their place. For me, I would rather have the tank balanced naturally since it is more self-sustaining and doesn't require as much input on my end. I'm trying to stick to how Julian Sprung runs his tanks. No skimmer, etc. Just natural filtration and he has amazing results.

I don't run carbon.

10 months? Yikes. Your tank isn't ready for the bioload you put in it and then you removed half of the biofiltration from the tank. If you are running carbon GFO you are already dosing carbon. I don't mean to be a wrasse here, but you need to cut back the number of fish you have and get your tank in order. Carbon and GFO are great when used properly, but you need to practice proper husbandry first. Anything you do at this point is just going to be a bandaid until you get your bioload to the proper level. Carbon dosing only supports the bacteria in your system. 100lbs of LR with 25 fish is unsustainable without extreme intervention on your part. Nutrient import needs to match nutrient export or you will be constantly fighting this problem.

I think you are highly overstocked (I tend to be conservative, so others may disagree). How long has your tank been up for? 100 pounds of rock and a minimal sandbed are not going to cut it for a bioload that big. Are you running the GFO reactor?

My suggestion, no don't setup the 5g bucket. You have a nutrient export problem which is why you are reading high levels of nutrients (nitrates in your case). You have a few options for eliminating them (in order of preference and my no means exhaustive): 1. Biofiltration 2. Mechanical/chemical filtration (carbon, GFO, etc) 3. Strictly water change You really want your tank to be in a natural balance. Hence my original question.... How much LR is in the tank, how much do you feed, how heavily stocked is your tank? Typical reasons this happens is a young tank is overstocked or the tank is overfed.

Sounds like a sensible idea, but it is actually illegal to own.

Sounds good to me. Still working out the lease details, but we should be there by the 15th.

For a tank that large, you really will get almost no benefit from a 5g bucket. If you had a 30g and used a 5g bucket, maybe. Let's try and find the root of your nutrient problem. How much LR is in your system? How much and how often do you feed? What livestock do you have?

How big is the DT you want this sandbed for? Are you thinking of using sand or miracle mud?

I think you've eliminated water parameters as the culprit if they extend fully in the sump. That to me says it is either lighting or something in the DT that's bothering them.

If you didn't know they had ich until you saw visible signs you really should QT all of your fish. That means the parasite went through a full lifecycle. Best bet is to get all the fish out and run fallow.

Petco $1/gal sale. You could get a 55gal cheap.

Coupler, reducer same thing. That's going to be your best option and the smallest number of parts. Unless you find flex pvc or something that 1.5" OD with 1".

I don't know about threaded, I think the threads on the bulkheads are a weird pitch, but slip fit should be easy to find. If it is a 1.5" BH then just get a 1.5" to 1" coupler. Maybe I'm missing something? <1.5" BH slip fit (female)> <(male) piece of 1.5" PVC (male)> <(female) 1.5" to 1" coupler (female)> <(male) 1" PVC (male)>

+1. What everyone else said. You can cut down on evap with a cover if your tank is open.

Thanks everyone! Having stores within an hour's drive is well better than what I've got now. The closest store is crappy the only decent store is an hour away. Gaithersburg, I can hit several. Total win in my eyes

We finally figured out where the heck we're going to live. We'll be in the Kentlands in Gaithersburg starting mid-July. Can't wait to finally be close to fellow reefers again! Not to mention how many LFS's there are nearby!

To the same end as Rosco's mentioned... I have a pretty detailed tutorial on my website that takes you through how to program the RA. It is actually one of the links that they send you to from the ReefAngel website.

I personally love it. Now there are a few caveats to that... I write all my own code from scratch. I don't use their builder tools because I want things very customized. For me it works perfectly well and it very stable.

ReefAngel

The first picture isn't of a coral, but the vermetid snails are fine to keep if you want them. They are the purplish tubes. The hydroids are invasive, I'd get rid of them.

That's good to know but I share treesprite's concerns.

It could be a stomatopod, but my guess would be a spearer type based on te fish that are missing. They make burrows though, so have you seen any corals frags or rock rubble get moved to a specific spot? Also, what are your actual parameters and how are you testing?

Maybe it is because I'm on my phone... In the first pic all I see is a snail shell and two vermetid snails. The second pic looks like brown star polyps. Really hard to tell from the picture.

They just announced the first of the speakers... Julian Sprung!! How cool is that? He's going to Skype in and they'll have a cam so he can see the audience.