Djplus1

It's an Eshopps 75 sump and the return is a Mag Drive 5. Is that not enough for a drilled 72g? I bought this as a package at my LFS.

Thanks, I have a Global Foods that has nori, but I've never looked at a label before. So is the nori labeled as "unseasoned" or "raw", what if it's "roasted"?

Honestly, he has really crawled on the sand, glass and rock to remove all traces of hair algae. As far as general sand cleaning/eating, I'm not really sure if that's what they do.

Define seasoned? I assume that if its cayenne flavored that is a no go. I saw in Costco they have these huge boxes that were roasted with soybean oil and salt, and maybe one other thing, but nothing seemed terrible? Are these usable, or do I need to find something that has no additives whatsoever?

I had a pretty bad hair algae outbreak in my 14g biocube, so I got a sea hare. Let's just say that overnight, it completely destroyed the algae (some was over 6" long!). I have a 72 gallon bowfront that I could move him over to to clean off the back glass and the LR that hasn't been cleaned by the turbos, narsissus' or hermits. What can I do with him then? Will switching him back and forth between tanks allow enough time for food for him to grow? I mean that 14g was completely overrun and it's almost spotless! Can I feed him nori sheets? Will the kind from the grocery store work ok? Any other foods? Being that I paid almost $20 for him two days ago, I would rather not give him away, but I also don't want him to die off. I will be switching him over to the 72g tonight, so I need to make a call on this by the end of the week or he'll starve to death. Or am I being paranoid, and will he be content eating waste off the sand and LR for the next few months?

I just started with a 14g Coralife Biocube, that I'm technically using for a quarantine. I recently modded the lid for extra fans for cooling. Upon set up, I immediately chucked the bio balls, threw in a few small pieces of live rock in chamber 2 and left the plastic thingy on top, put a mag drive 1.9 to replace the stock pump and so far have left the stock filter pad in the first chamber. I also have about 10-15 lbs of LR in the display and a recently removed Koralia Nano, because of heat issues. 1. So, how does a media basket work exactly? Is it always the same setup? Or are there preferred ways? 2. Should I just throw out the filter pad too? If so, what should I put in that area? Anything? I want to make this tank as low maintenance as possible as I have a 72 gallon bowfront to concentrate on primarily.

I'm getting ready to test my fan getup tonight. If it works I'll put it on the forum for sure, but I was able to fit 2 fans on the feeding door. The reason I went there was because I didn't want to chop up the hood too much, in case I effed up too badly. Looks nice, now to see if it actually pulls heat away.

Thanks for the answers everyone. It did eventually level out to read the same in each location. I assume that since I added the new salt water to the tank it just took awhile to leave the sump completely, thus giving me a higher reading.

Instructions say to use RO/DI water and use adjustment screw to null. Honestly, it hasn't changed since I first set it up, but better safe than sorry I guess.

Oh also, what about the display vs sump measurement? Is there a preferred way?

Funny you ask. I had to double up salt on the last 5 gallons to read about 60 to raise my salt level as it was pretty low, as it was at about 30. I just have a couple of hermits and a couple snails in and was trying to add a few more today, so wanted to make sure salt was up. The refractometer is calibrated between each use, BTW.

I was wondering if there was any difference in where you took salt measurements from. For instance, I just did a water change in my 72g bowfront. I added freshly mixed saltwater to the sump. After around 20 minutes, I took a measurement with my refractometer in the sump which got a reading of 36 ish and then I decided to take a measurement from the display (around an inch from the top of the tank) and that reading was 31ish. Which number is more accurate? Neither... perhaps if it takes a while to mix together completely? Which location should I be taking my measurement from?

I have heard that the DC "National" Aquarium is garbage. Baltimore is very nice though.

They are the standard CFL's with the LED bars. They do feel hella hot though. So you would recommend both blowing in then, vs exhausting the heat?

I did remove the Koralia yesterday and the temp did go down a little. It read 82.7 this morning which is a teeny bit better. I think I'm off to the computer store to buy two small fans to install in the feeding door. Anyone know if I should have them both blowing in, out or alternate? Does salt water evaporate eat up small fans? If so, does it really do much good to have both blowing in?

I assume you mean plastic window screening correct? Would that possibly melt from the heat of the lights if its sitting right below? It seems like a good idea, as long as it doesn't burn up or melt into the tank.

I would like to leave the door open, but the tank is in my 3 year olds room. Unless I want GI Joe's and night lights thrown in, I'm pretty sure I'll need to keep it shut for the majority of the day. Are you aware of certain pumps running cooler than others specifically? Or is it just a function of higher powered pumps running hotter? I do have a small mag 1.9 that might possibly fit, but I think that it would be a bit more GPH than stock. It just amazes me, that this thing could cost more to cool if I need to buy a chiller, than the actual tank itself did.

So you really think that that tiny Koralia will increase temps that high? If that's the case, can I legitimately run this tank without any additional powerheads? It's not like the Koralia puts up that much flow to begin with I guess. What do you mean by flow restrictor nozzles? I have the stock pump in the 3rd chamber with a piece of vinyl hose running to a "nozzle" I guess which spreads the flow to the tank. It's wider than the hose though, so I would think that this would not restrict any flow.

I will have to check on the stock pump. I just picked up a Mag 1.9 as a salt mixer that may work in it's place if it fits. Do you know how difficult it is to find a pump that will fit in the 14g Biocube? Is there a list of them on this forum somewhere that will work without chopping this thing up? I just got back from Ocean City yesterday and had the flap open since Saturday morning and set the light timer to only come on for about 4 hours a day and the tank still read 83.9

Well, I guess the fan option is the way to go for now. Thanks for all of your help.

Would biting the bullet and going with an LED conversion kit help at all? Stevesleds seems to have a Coralife Biocube compatible unit. Would I still get the same light spectrum, while losing the heat? Or do LED units run hot as well?

Thanks for the tip. I think I need to do some measuring first before I start Mad Maxing out this tank.

There are two stock fans in the unit already, but I think they only really work to keep the heat out of the splash guard and do not actually pull heat from the water's surface. How would I go about adding a fan with the canopy in place? Unfortanately, with a 3 year old in the room, I can't just open the top and blow a fan accross it.

According to the website: Fluorescent Lamps Included: 10,000K and Actinic It also (had) led's, but there is some defect and I am getting a new canopy in the mail soon. The fans in the canopy only work while the lights are on also.

Pretty cool actually. The thermostat is downstairs, but I set it to 72. It might be a a few degrees warmer upstairs, but I doubt it's anywhere near 80.