BeltwayBandit

Mine did that at first. Now it only hides in the rock at night when it sleeps.

I do 5-6 gallon changes. I premix the water a day or two in advance. I currently use a Mag-7 to mix, yeah I know its overkill but I have an extra one laying around since I redid my plumbing. The good thing is if you run it for a day it warms the water and you don't need a heater. Then I tote the new water out to my aquarium. I turn off the return pump and unplug my auto top off. I then drain 5-6 gallons from the main display. Once I am done with that I turn the return pump back on and add the new water into the sump. That way the new water gets mixed in with the old prior to being introduced into the main tank. I figure it takes about 15 minutes to complete the process. BB

True, but if I act in reliance upon your information to my detriment, I can still sue you!!! J/K (sorry just got finished with my Torts exam..) PS thanks for the info.

I am doing a major rework of the plumbing in my tank. As a result I am switching my sump return and my closed loop return plumbing. In the process I will be adding a SCWD to my closed loop. I have to cut out a section of PVC piping and put in the hose barbs. What is the minimum time that I need to let the PVC cement cure before I can place this system back in use? While it is curing I will lose my closed loop circulation, and I want to minimize this time. Thanks. BB

I in fact do have a digital SLR camera. They aren't that much more expensive than a really good regular digital camera, and you have a lot more flexibility with the SLR. I think I will try to make this over christmas so I don't have to shell out $300-800 bucks on a macro lens.

Guess no one is interested in DIY photography.

I'll trade you a mated pair of oscelaris for those two.

I ran 20K XM 250 Watt MH over my 120 for almost a year and a half. It worked fine. I just wanted the flexibility that you mentioned so I added 2x 110 watt VHO actinics and dropped my bulbs down to 10K. Either way works, it really is a matter of personal preference.

I believe your "brown star polyps" are an encrusting gorgonian that is rather prevalent in the club. I have some that I picked up at a meeting and it looks very similar to yours. BB BTW nice tanks!

I haven't tried this, but it looks interesting. http://www.photocritic.org/macro.html

Darn you. Always adding new toys to tempt me out to the boondocks.. I bet you had them on Friday when I was out there... didn't you!

Whatever they are they look great! Nice fish.

I know this guy who runs an operation out of this warehouse in Burke. He can get whatever caliber you need... Or did you mean water heaters.. I don't know they are actualy pretty cheap at pestmart. What size and how many do you need? I'll pick up a couple to donate to ya when you come get that 25 off my back porch.

I just got my 400A ammeter. If you really want to know how much your system is drawing and what it is costing you I can let you borrow it. (Once I build the test rig for it.)

Its not the greatest picture, but here is a full tank shot. My 120

I would definately vote for the 120. Great tank. Also remember wider is better. As a general rule I like aspect ratios of around 2:1 Length to width (up to about 2' width.)

Its kinda like Brylcreem: A little dab'll do ya! I put about a teaspoon and a half in with my water change and was able to bump my alk by a little over 1 dkh and my ph from 7.9 to 8.2. I didn't realize how well that stuff worked. I did not intend for it to move that much. According to the article that Eric posted I thought I would get about a .5 dkh boost and about a .1 increase in my pH. Hopefully I didn't shock everything with that little spike. PS if anyone needs some washing soda...

Neat trick. I will have to remember that one.

I use 1.5" pipe on my returns without a problem. The only problem I had was that I had to put some elbows in. My original design was straight piped and that made an impressive waterfall. I would suggest, if you can taking the cap off of the top of the Durso and let it run. Yes it will be noisy, but that way you can see if it will work properly w/max air flow. (Basically a capacity test to make sure you aren't overdriving it with your return pump. If that is successful make a small hole and put the cap back on. Keep enlarging the hole until your flow settles out. It is a bit hit or miss and can be a pain. I have found the plug and play types are generally people who aren't pushing a ton of flow through the Durso. It is when you get up to the higher flow rates that the airflow becomes an issue.

I got some arm and hammer, at safeway. FYI shoppers doesn't carry it. I have enough to last me at least a decade I think. (They only had the big box). Wow, Eric you are batting 1.000. I do use IO and it does run low on alk out of the box. When I mixed up a new batch I only got a reading of about 8 dkh. I have some water that I have mixed already. I am going to change 6 gallons and add some washing soda in with the change. We'll see what that does. Thanks for the help. BB

That makes sense. My Ca got boosted because when I had an algae outbreak I dosed calcium, because my calcium was low. But I didn't boost the alk. It seems that all my efforts resulted in a massive overabundance of calcium in the tank. When I first started putting the B-Ionic part 1 in, I would actually precipitate calcium out of solution. That has fortunately stopped. I think I will try the washing soda solution. I have also been doing frequent water changes. In the past week I have changed over 20 gallons in a 130-150 gallon system. Any ideas where I can get washing soda? I have been reading that article. Unfortunately, I am scenario 4. I was hoping that I could get it all in balance with a few tweaks. That has not proven to be the case.

Ok.. Here is my problem. I hooked up a Kalk reactor and have been topping of with it for about a month and a half. My Ca level is between 450 and 500. My PH is a bit low at 7.9 and my alk is currently at 5.5 DKh. I have been boosting the alk with part 1 of B-Ionic and with baking soda. I got it up to 7 but it keeps falling. I thought that once I boosted the Alk the Kalk reactor would keep it up but that isn't happening. It has been about 3 weeks since I charged the kalk reactor, but I still have powder at the bottom and the entire column turns milky white when agitated. Any thoughts on why I can't keep the Alk up without boosting it? BB

I second Doug's praise. Well done Jean-Marie! I was unable to attend, but will be making a donation to KKI in honorarium to the cause. Thank you for your hard work and devotion to a most worthy cause. BB

It is the top hole that you would need to enlarge. And yes that is the SCWD. You could plumb one end of it into your regular return and you would have to build a second return that hangs over the back out of PVC. It is very easy and I have built several of them. Just make sure you put a siphon break in it. Basically a small hole drilled just below the normal waterline in the tank. It will allow air to enter the pipe when the pump shuts down and prevents you from siphoning the main tank onto your floor. Trust me, it is not fun trying to clean up 30 gallons that decided to back siphon out when my siphon break clogged.

I would say leave it on. It will help the sandstorm settle down. That is my opinion, I have seen others who say leave it on. I don't know that it makes a huge difference. BB