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Bump. No takers?

Hello everyone. It's nice to see WAMAS doing so well after this many years. Hosting MACNA for the second time is a great honor. I'm cleaning out my garage and it's time to finally get rid of the last reef component I have laying around. Free to a good home - dual, 400W MH setup. PFO ballast, dual 96 watt PC actinic lamps; DIY everything else. I fired everything up this morning and except for one of the fans it all works, but there is no warranty so caveat emptor. Please shoot me an email cyberreefguru at gmail dot com; PM will work but no guarantees you'll be first in line. I posted some pictures I took shortly after I took it off the tank. It looks the same with the exception of 10+ years of dust and debris. http://www.cyberrailguru.com/pix/index.php?/category/35 If there are no takers, it will go on the street later this week. -Tom

Anyone heard of the AquaDom? Seems like WAMAS needs a trip to Berlin... http://fogonazos.blogspot.com/2007/01/aqua...ylindrical.html

You should not *need* to add any supplements to new mixed salt water (except maybe for calcium for salts like IO). Also, regardless of the pH of RO water, it holds little to no buffering capacity, so a smallest amount of baking soda will cause a large change in pH. Please remember, baking soda causes a short term drop in pH, and a long term gain. Tweaking followed by immediate testing will yield erroneous results. Finally, if you want to tweak the chemistry of your water, use a balanced additive such as B-Ionic or Kalkwasser. That will ensure your calcium and alkalinity will remain balanced. Avoid the use of pure buffers (e.g. Baking Soda) or calcium supplements unless you know what you're doing and can manage the side effects (no implication that you don't know what you're doing, just trying to give advice) -Tom

I have a full hood with 2 400 watt MH and dual 96 watt PCs for sale if you're interested. Probably overkill for a 55, but you could switch out the ballast for a 250 and upgrade tanks later. You will want to do that anyway - it's part of life as a reefer. -Tom

Cleaner shrimp have a relatively short life span (compared to corals and fish). However, they do hide when molting. All things accounted, I'd say the CBS had a nice lunch (or dinner). -Tom

For cooling purposes, fans are far more efficient at pushing air than pulling it. As such, you should have both fans (if you really need two) push air into the hood and vent out through an appropriate opening. 0.02. -Tom

Be advised that the shrimp will not limit themselves to aiptasia. Any cnidarian is subject to harvest once the aiptasia are no longer a viable food source. Other information: http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/msubpesta.../aiptasia_p.htm -Tom

What salt are you using? High levels of Mg can contribute to false high dKH readings. Thus, more water changes might contribute to the problem rather than resolving it. Oh, if it's not broken, don't fix it. What makes you think 15dKH is bad? I personally would strive for 4meq/L, but if it's working for you, why "fix" it? -Tom

I hate to disagree with Grav, but I don't see it as cut and dry. In theory they add biodiversity by providing a refuge for otherwise high value targets (e.g., things that will get eaten quickly). However, my fuge doesn't seem to have much growing in it that isn't in the main tank somewhere. Perhaps there are more copepods, isopods, etc. because of the fuge, but my testing hasn't bore that out. I've done it both ways and have found little clear benefit to having one. My current system has a fuge and I disconnected it for 6 months to see what would happen. My tank looked no different, better or worse, with or without the fuge. If the fuge is on a reverse schedule for lighting, it will help buffer the pH if you have a lot of plant material. However, if your alkalinity is good and you're dosing kalkwasser, the argument is somewhat less compelling. The best reason for one, IMHO, is added volume and a place to put things when you need to. It's great to "banish" unknown crabs to the fuge and see what they do in there. Safer than letting them run amock in your display tank and trying to find them after your corals start to disappear. Factoring in the added plumbing and extra stuff, I'm not sure the benfits out weigh the complexity. It's your call. 0.02. -Tom

I don't think your picture is GSP. There has been some reclassification going on in that area, so I don't know what the current scientific name is. Sugar is probably right with the pachyclavularia or briareum. Might be Erythropodium as well. I had some in my tank for a while and it took over. Seemed to like high levels of iodine. Since it reproduced sexually a number of times, Eric Borneman is now the proud owner of it. As for the "frog spawn", both hammer corals and frag spawn are Euphyllia of some type. Looks like you have E. divsa or some hybrid between E. Divsa and E. ancora. -Tom

As noted above, it sounds like Cynobacteria to me. Please provide some additional information: 1) What kind of lamps do you have (e.g., FL, MH, VHO, PC)? 2) How old are your lamps? 3) How often do you feed? 4) What do you feed? 5) Do you use supplements? If so, what, how much, how often? 6) What brand of salt are you using? 7) Where do you get your water (e.g., RO, tap, TWP, etc.) Answering these questions will help us help you. Also, give this a read: http://www.cyberreefguru.com/general/cyno.html -Tom

Is anyone else concerned about the "anemone" that is growing from the LR? Sounds like it might be aiptasia? -Tom

They are sponges of a sort. Steve Tyree has done some writing about them if you're interested (google cryptic sponge). They shouldn't kill anything. I suspect something else is a foot with respect to your clavuria. After the plankton in your tank has subsided, they will stop growing or reach a steady state. -Tom

Reef tanks are not unstable without filters, skimmers, etc. The killer is lack of oxygen due to a lack of circulation. The same can be said about real reefs - fortunately, a power outtage doesn't affec them . LR and LS go anoxic very quickly without circulation. That, in turn, can start releasing noxious gases, which kills fish and corals. Once something dies, it's a downhill spiral that is very difficult to recover from. Assuming the temperature doesn't drop dramatically, your tank should be able to withstand a couple of hours with little or no circulation. More than that, and you're facing a serious problem. You can run any pump from a UPS *if* the UPS outputs a true sine wave verses a chopped sine wave. Some pumps will not work without a true sine wave (e.g., most powerheads), but some pumps will. Unless you buy a UPS specifically designed to output a true sine wave, you're not going to get one. A number of years ago a company was selling UPSs designed for reef tanks. I don't know if their still in business. Their prices were a bit higher than APC and the like, but they could run just about anything your tank has to offer. Any time the power goes out, I connect 1 close-loop pump to the UPS on my computer. It lasts for about 30 minutes, which is better than nothing. (gen-x pumps run from "normal" computer UPSs) Oh, one last thing, during a power outtage, disable your CO2 system if you have one. You don't need to drive the pH down any more than it will already be once the power comes back on. -Tom

Let me clarify, by small, I mean 55-75 gallons or so. The step to 180 is a huge capital investment. Everyone makes mistakes or thinks of things they want to do differently for their (inevitable) next tank. Starting with a smaller "starter" tank to get your feet wet (so to speak) is a great way to make the inevitable mistakes without costing too much money. Once you get a handle on reefkeeping, jump up to the 180 and do it "right". As for the actinics, we will have to agree to disagree. After nearly 10 years of reefkeeping, I've learned my lessons the hard way. Cost isn't the only factor in making decisions.

This may be a little late, but you might want to consider the DE MH lamps. I hear there are 400 watt versions now. If you go MH, you don't need the PC at all. I learned that the hard way. Personally, if I had a 180, I'd do 4 250 DE MH pendants - 2 10KK and 2 20KK. If you're new to the hobby, I'd start with a smaller tank to learn the ropes and save $$ during the learning process. -Tom

First off, there is no right set up. You need to do what is good for your situation. You didn't post what kind of corals you want to keep or if you are keeping corals at all for that matter. However, the normal rule-of-thumb is 4 watt/gallon. However, not all watts are created equal. 400 watts of VHO is not as intense as 400 watts of MH. Why? You can get 400 watts from 1 MH lamp, verses 4 4-foot long lamps. So you have what amounts to a point source of high intensity energy verses 4 very long, very broad (relatively) lamps. This, the MH lamp more closely matches the sun than any FL lamp. For a 55 gallon tank, depending on the inhabitants, I would think 4 VHOs, 4 PCs, or 2 MH of moderate size (e.g., DE 150, Mogal 175/250) would be find. I prefer the MH lamps over FL for many reasons. -Tom

PC will last longer than VHO, as they are designed to output more light for the surface area of the lamp. However, generally speaking, the PC lamps used in the industry are speciality lamps and are more expensive. Furthermore, you will want to replace them well before their rated life span. Anything more than 6-12 months and you're asking for trouble. You can use normal 40 watt T-12 lamps on a VHO ballast and replace the lamps every 3 months for the cost of a single PC (not sure I would recommend this to a novice though). Give some thought to where you might be in 1 or 2 years. If you want to keep an anemone, SPS corals, or some clams, you should go straight to MH. Having had nearly every type of lighting available, I'm partial to the doubled ended MH lamps. Now that there's more than 2 type available and you have some choice in color temperature, it's even a better choice IMHO. -Tom

That's the point of having the CLUB buy one that members can use occasionally as necessary.

Yes, wait until the ammonia is completely zero. However, if you are not curing your rock under light, you shouldn't need a clean up crew until light is applied. Even then, I think LR looks better with stuff on it. The blue legs tend to pick LR clean. Snails do a better job of keeping aglae down without making the rock look like a purple concrete block :D -T

Has there ever been any thought of the club purchasing a device like this for general use? That is, club members could borrow the device to see how accurate their test kits are. Sounds like a program like this might be pretty popular for certain items and for people who don't have the $$ to purchase one straight up. I'm thinking: Temperature Monitor Calcium Monitor Refractometer pH meter Anything else?

I just have to jump in. Roozen's is far from the best, but I don't want to start this debate again. Mike's advice is best of all. Your first line of defense is education. Participating here is a very good start. -Tom

Acme also sells scraps by the pound. It's usually less expensive than buying a full sheet. However, you can't guarantee you will find the color/size/thickness you want. -T

I was going to recommend wire cutters as well. You can also use a circular saw or a reciporating saw as well. A hack saw works, but only for very short distances. -Tom