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RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

SantaMonica — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:14:05 GMT

Whoops, looks like Carl posted as I was writing. WOW!

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

SantaMonica — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:16:13 GMT

Well before Carl get those cool pics of his new scrubber posted, I thought I'd reply to some points that hoosierpat wrote on RC; I can't post on RC, so hopefully it's ok to reply to them here (Pat reads MD too). If it's not ok to reply here, let me know and I'll delete this post.

Pat means well and is trying to help, but this is a good example of the classic misunderstanding of the term "nutrients", and who/what uses or consumes them. I too had a hard time differentiating the different nutrients, but when I was skimming it did not matter that much. Now, with a scrubber, it matters greatly (especially for beginners trying to understand how scrubbing is different from skimming). So my reply here is not so much for Pat, but for others reading this. Here goes:

"Nutrients", as the word is used by most people here, include both Organics and Inorganics. In our case here, we are talking about Organic Nitrate (NO3) and Organic Phosphate (PO4), as well as Inorganic Nitrate (NO3) and Inorganic Phosphate (PO4). These four things could and are all considered "nutrients", since we all have things in our tanks which consume them. But the things which consume the Organics are not the same things which consume the Inorganics.

Very simply (for the purposes of understanding skimming/scrubbing), Organic Nitrate and Organic Phosphate have another name: Food. Any food you feed your tank, flakes, krill, pellets, silversides, they all contain Organic Nitrate and Organic Phosphate. The waste from your fish and corals also has another name: Food. And it too contains Organic Nitrate and Organic Phosphate. Much of this waste is eaten by your clean up crew; the waste from them has another name: Food. This continues until the remaining food particles are eaten by bacteria. However the waste from bacteria is not Organic; instead it's Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate. Why is this important?

Fish eat Organics.
Corals eat Organics.
Clean up crews eat Organics.
Skimmers remove Organics.
Scrubbers do not remove Organics.

Algae eat Inorganics.
Scrubbers remove Inorganics.

Bacteria eat both Organics and Inorganics

The difference is the organic part, which determines who/what eats it. Pat writes:

My thought is that all of those filter feeders thrive in a tank with excessive nutrients.

Here we are talking about Organics. More organics means more food for filter feeders.

That is the cause for the cyano as well

The cause for cyano is Inorganics, which skimmers do not remove.

I think that you will find that without aggressive nutrient export, you are going to have trouble with some of the more delicate SPS and LPS corals that you are hoping to keep in this tank.

But the "nutrients" you'd be exporting by skimming are Organics, i.e., food. You are leaving Inorganics in the water, which Carl is measuring with the testing.

I think that the algae problems that you are having now are a direct result of not exporting enough nutrients.

Correct, but the nutrients that are not being exported are Inorganics, because skimmers don't export Inorganics.

I would tend to think that if it had been properly adjusted to skim well, was bigger, or was otherwise skimming very well, you would not have the algae problem anymore.

And therein is the catch-22 with skimmers: If you skim hard enough to remove all Organics before they turn into Inorganics, you remove all the food.

When you have organisms in the system that use the nutrients for growth, ie feed on the dissolved organic matter, they are not taking the excess nutrients out of the system.

Here is the time to be picky on which nutrients we are talking about. What Pat says here is that bacteria are eating the Organics. And what he means to also say is that the bacteria "stay" in the water since there is no skimmer to take them out. This is true. However, you don't WANT to remove the bacteria, because they are the beginning of the food chain, which continues on to copepods, amphipods, corals, etc. This is the very reason that natural coral reefs have tons of foods, and our skimmed tanks have very little. Skimming not only removes the bacteria which is food for copepods, etc, it also skims the copepods themselves.

The excess nutrients are completely removed from the system when they are pushed into the collection cup.

I'll try to say this nicely . This statement is unfortunately completely wrong, and is a result of our usage of the term "nutrients". The nutrients which are removed by the skimmer are the Organics, i.e. the foods. However the Inorganics are left completely untouched in the water. And it is algae that feeds on these Inorganics.

The downside of the natural approach, the DSBs, turf scrubbers, aiptasia scrubbers, clam troughs, cryptic zones, refugiums, etc., is that they never remove any nutrients from the overall equation unless they also have a protein skimmer

I think we know what Pat means here; he's assuming that you don't harvest, in order to make a comparison to skimmers. But that would be like saying you never empty your collection cup. But of course you harvest; and with scrubbers in particular, one of the operational rules is that you clean the screen at least once a week.

Anyways, hope that cleared it up. Eric might be able to help also, and in particular his RK article on bacteria is the best starting place for understanding what eats what:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/eb/index.php
.
.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:07:08 GMT

still have a little fine tuning to do to the water flow but here it is completed.

it is an algae turf scrubber. the idea is that algae will export PO4 and nitrates. the middle is filled with Chaetomorpha.

there is a lone pipe fish living in the rock work in the tank.

here is a bit of the algae that i will try to cultivate. it is growing out of the water in the outside tank in the splash zone.

here it is in action-

PO4 tested at 0.21ppm and Nitrates 5ppm

the calcium reactor is online now. dKH was 10 yesterday and Calcium was 450

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:14:31 GMT

BEWARE THE ZOANTHIDS!!!

i just wanted to say- i can't taste anything tonight. i moved some rocks from one tank to the new system today. some of them had Palythoa or Zoanthids on them. i didn't want them in the new tank so i jackhammered them off and put them in the sun to dry.

i didn't wear gloves but wish i had. i try not to touch them directly but do.

then i touch my mouth inadvertently. now all i have is a metallic taste in the mouth. and i know from previous experience that the skin on my fingers where i touched them will peel off in a couple of days.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

melev — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:07:06 GMT

Algae Turf Scrubber

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

775coral — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:54:59 GMT

Pardon, what does “ATS” stand for?

It looks like something for air driven water flow?

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

charlesr1958 — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:03:26 GMT

Thanks, I'll have to take ya up on that some day... But from the looks of it, you should be able to charge admission fees to see your system.

I think we are about 12 hours apart, give or take an hour depending on daylight savings time of which we here do not follow as there is no need, yet another benefit of being near the equator...

With a nearby typhoon rolling past, looks like I am out of the water for the next few days. Thankfully its far enough away as to be of no real concern yet the winds are just high enough to make shore diving not so attractive. I'll have to pull a rock out of my refugium and see what I can find for study today..lol. Am changing its (the refuge) rocks out this next week anyway as I like to do that at least once every six months or so just to bring in more diversity as well as giving me a possible chance to see things I haven't yet seen. (critters).

Chuck

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:55:01 GMT

you got it, ATS. it won't be finished until next week and i will post some more pix.

good job Chuck, btw, what is the time difference between us?

you win a free all expense paid night or more at casa Reefski's. does not include airfare.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

charlesr1958 — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:40:05 GMT

By the way, I forgot to mention a Thank you for posting the live rock photos. I love seeing good live rock that was able to survive the vigors of shipment and the usual abuse it recieves from shops. Lots of interesting sponges on yours.

I still don't have a clue as to what that "crib" is. My first thought is it having something to do with creating water flow or maybe a very large ATS?

Chuck

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:11:48 GMT

my assistant John in the picture is from Tennessee, but that's not it. it is aquarium related.

it isn't done yet.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

charlesr1958 — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:58:21 GMT

A Redneck baby crib?

Chuck

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:14:55 GMT

the wife says i have to get moving on breaking down the other tanks, even with the solar panels the electric bill is killing us. too many pumps. i will be turning off a pump to the pond. hopefully i can save a couple of kW per hour soon.

still working on the garage setup. more pix soon.

Can anyone guess what this is? it is not quite done yet.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:31:39 GMT

i'm glad to hear of your progress and that you got your skylight.

the heaters are not on at all yet. no fans or anything. the temps are more stable since i connected the sumps. the temps have actually dropped a couple of degrees and there is less variation. 81-83 variation over the day.

once i have some lights in the garage on a RDP the temps may go up a bit or maybe not. maybe the temp will be more stable yet with the lights on only at night in the garage.

i can't wait to hear about it from my neighbors.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

775coral — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:22:29 GMT

“Pascal, nice to hear from you. how is your system coming along? did you get the skylight ordered?”

---------------------------------

The skylight -Yes, thank-you and it arrived 2 weeks early (9/18). Also I received a nice discount, thanks to you. Clear, single glazing is what the manufacture recommended.

My project seams to making progress – the re-enforcing walls & floors are almost complete and the Aquarium manufacture says they are on schedule! – I will believe that when I see it! s/b early Oct. The Stand builder is waffle-ing on the completion date & that may be a big problem. I plan to hire piano movers to unload the aquarium from the truck and place it on the stand. This weekend we should complete the new floor in the room behind/under the aquarium… but not really enough physical things to take interesting pictures of, yet.

Next will to mark the ceiling for the location of the skylight. This has proven to be more challenging than I realized – but I like those challenges. If I only had a south facing view…

Can you tell how often your heater is on? I was wondering if all that water movement causes more temperature losses than gains?

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:25:54 GMT

Nice! I like the skimmer for the skimmer idea - floating weirs – crafty idea(s)

Is the system in the garage up and flowing through the display aquarium?

If so - for how long?

What changes have you observed?

What were the before and after nutrient tests like and how are they developing?

From the last picture I guess you have your new skimmer working – do you like it?

Also in the last picture it looks like insulation board on top - Do you need to heat you system? How have you temperatures been trending?

How did you set up you sand depths and partial sizes in the sump/refugiums? And what is the flow rate through the sump/refugium system? Plumbing looks like each conatiner has the same flow rate - is that right?

Seeing what develops in one area vs the next (& why) is one ofthe most fun parts!

That garage looks like the toy room of toy rooms!!

Well I know where I would be found - all the time (if…)
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the display is connected to the sumps now, as of last friday. after some turbidity from all the new sand the it has settled down and the water is the display is clearer than ever. before i had the skimmer on the edge of the display tank and so the tank was full of microbubbles and so now is much clearer. there is still some sand coming from the sumps so i have to blow it off the corals it settles on a couple of times a day. that should end soon i hope.

two Reeflo hamerheads feed the tank with one of them split between the sumps and display, it was blowing to much sand in the tank around. so maybe 8,000 gallons an hour from them into the tank. and 2,000 more in the closed loop to the sump plus the 5000 gph from the skimmer from the last sump before the display which feeds back to the first sump.

nutrients- hasn't really been long enough to see any changes.

i am still dialing the skimmer in. so far it is not producing much and maybe that is just because of all the biological filtration.

i still plan on turning off the skimmer once the other export mechanisms mature more. i will just keep it for backup and to run maybe a day a week.

nitrtates are about 6ppm and PO4 is more of a problem even with GFO. it tested at 0.41 yesterday before i changed the GFO.

Pascal, nice to hear from you. how is your system coming along? did you get the skylight ordered?

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

775coral — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:06:13 GMT

Nice! I like the skimmer for the skimmer idea - floating weirs – crafty idea(s)

I am full of questions:

Is the system in the garage up and flowing through the display aquarium?

If so - for how long?

What changes have you observed?

What were the before and after nutrient tests like and how are they developing?

From the last picture I guess you have your new skimmer working – do you like it?

Also in the last picture it looks like insulation board on top - Do you need to heat you system? How have you temperatures been trending?

How did you set up you sand depths and partial sizes in the sump/refugiums? And what is the flow rate through the sump/refugium system? Plumbing looks like each conatiner has the same flow rate - is that right?

Seeing what develops in one area vs the next (& why) is one ofthe most fun parts!

That garage looks like the toy room of toy rooms!!

Well I know where I would be found - all the time (if…)

Cheers!

Pascal

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 05:32:25 GMT

the skimmer for the skimmer.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:28:08 GMT

is this one of the rock boring types?

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:24:13 GMT

so this week the garage work continues. taking rock from one of the other tanks for the garage sumps.

this rock is really live rock. lock at some of the things on it. i have some that is not like this too but look at the diversity of sponges, tunicates, foraminifera, worms, and even a small urchin i didn't know was there, et al.

these are for you Charles-

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:14:02 GMT

i went to MACNAXX last weekend. a fun educational weekend.

and we got to see the georgia aquarium. worth the trip just for that.

the whale sharks are amazing, and the Beluga whales.

the reef has a ways to go to grow in but was impressive none the less, and when it is mature look out. 164,000 gallons, 2,000 fish.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

melev — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:48:19 GMT

Did you attend MACNA? I never saw you, Carl.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

ABlundell — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:08:28 GMT

I don't think the tank will have any functionality problems.

I think the major challenges will be aesthetic: colors, algae, aquascaping.

I've seen it, and it is a dang cool set up!

Adam

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:07:20 GMT

the water comes into the sump and has to go through concrete blocks to get to the rest of the sumps. it is blocked by a piece of acrylic that should cut down on bubbles. the Matala mat is to grow sponges, etc.

you can see where the water comes out here.

all the rods will get live rock on them.

i probably don't have enough live rock to do them all yet.

i had a concern the the concrete blocks would raise the pH too high but it is maintaining at 8.2 for the past day.

how did you say the calcium reactor goes together?

there is also a few inches of sand in the bins except the last one which for now will only have live rock. the sand should settle out in a day or two.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:50:22 GMT

now i know where she lives. what do do about her?

these were taken after dark. she hides wa back in the rock during the day.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

melev — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:15:02 GMT

A fan blowing up into the shaft would definitely solve a condensation issue. Moving air is good.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:38:03 GMT

Adam thought that condensation in the skylight shaft may be an issue during the winter. i have a humidity meter with dew point and temp that i will have in the shaft soon.

my climate is very different than his though. we rarely get temps in the 30's. i also have skylights in all the showers and other places in the house, eight total.

maybe a fan would make a difference if needed. i have had water in the tank since january first and no condensation issues yet.

as far as the garage goes we used a paint made for humid areas. i am sure there will be a bit of evaporation which will be good for Kalk additions.

see you at the bar.

we live near the beach so many days are overcast like today. our natural humidity is pretty high. the cloud cover did not burn off for more than an hour or two today.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

melev — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:12:46 GMT

Wow! Look at all those sumps. It looks like enough stuff to start up a coral farming business.

Any concerns about humidity affecting your home? I don't believe you've discussed that in your thread yet.

What did Adam think when he visited? See you next week at MACNA!

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:25:56 GMT

i got final sign off on the house and now i can start the next phase. the sumps.

these will all be connected to the display tank. finall i should be able to get more flow into the tank. the return pumps are a Sequence Hammerhead and a Dart.

these are going to hold the live rock in the sumps.

getting the sumps set up.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:23:19 GMT

Mr. Moderator please delete the last two posts that are duplicates.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:21:10 GMT

i can't wait to set up the sump area which will let me increase the flow by a few thousand gallons more and hour.

this is how the one coral looks near to the OM.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:18:15 GMT

i can't wait to set up the sump area which will let me increase the flow by a few thousand gallons more and hour.

this is how the one coral looks near to the OM.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:04:06 GMT

i can't wait to set up the sump area which will let me increase the flow by a few thousand gallons more and hour.

this is how the one coral looks near to the OM.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:54:27 GMT

i got some new toys. made by Marc Levenson, Melev. they are fantastic. i am using one or more every day to take pictures, (still need to improve a lot) and look in the tank from the top without turning off the pumps to position corals, inject Aiptasia with HCl or whatever i need to do.

here are a few tank shots taken yesterday about 2pm on a partly sunny/ hazy type day. Par levels were about 1100-1200 in the brightest spots and a foot away may have only been 4-500 hundred, and in the shadier areas only 100.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

melev — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:48:56 GMT

The skimmer needs to receive the raw water from the display. The first zone that the reef dumps into, that is where your skimmer needs to be. Ideally, that area should be just large enough for the skimmer and the drain lines, nothing more.

All the other equipment needs to be inline in your system where the majority of the flow runs. If you have a surge tank dumping once a day, that is NOT the place to put a the Kalk reactor for the sole reason that it wouldn't hit your system until the surge occurs.

I don't know if you can grow enough phyto for a dump every 24 hours. However, you could grow phyto and pour in a specific amount into the surge tank each day (manually or with a dosing pump). The main phyto culture should be on its own, and you take from that source when it is ready.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:39:40 GMT

ok, maybe this is not the best place to start this discussion and i should just start a new thread. it is about skimmer placement et al.

i have thought about this a lot and just don't know. Help!

sump tanks will have about two times the water volume of the display tank.

i plan to use the tomato bins, (four) and the two 18" deep 250 gallon tanks in the garage as the sump area. you can see them above. so total water in the sump will be up to twice that of the display tank. the 250 gallon tanks will eventually have corals in them and be lit but that is probably a ways off. for now only a dsb in the 250 gallon tanks.

i plan to section them off to create raceways for good water flow.

i also have up to four 75 gallon tanks i can plumb into the system as needed. one could just be for the skimmer. one or two in a closet above the tank to be an above tank refugium.

ok now my questions.

phytoplankton surge-one 75 gallon i want to drip display tank water into, feed daily with phyto food, bubble air, and have a surge type over flow that would only cycle once a day or so into the tank return. do you think that would work? others have told me it would not grow phyto, contamination, etc. it would be open to the tank for sure but isolated from critters. or maybe brine shrimp hatchery.

should the skimmer be first or last, just before return to the display or somewhere in the middle? i know usually with a small sump you want it first. however i am going to have sand and LR in almost all of these tanks. i also plan to have a turf tank and macroalgae tank. should they be first in the series? then the skimmer then through the rest of the sump?

all the tanks will have a DSB and LR too. the LR will be on a post system to make pillars for the water to flow by.

also where to put the other equipment? Kalk reactor, Calcium Reactor, probes, pH, temp, heater. first or last?

with so much potential nitrification and denitrification areas, and nutrient export areas i am tempted to just run skimmerless but i do have a spiffy new skimmer. a MR-C4848.

i could make an argument for either end of the system for the skimmer or no skimmer at all with the other export mechanisms. am i better served by putting that 300 watts that the skimmer would use into lights over a space for more macroalgae or use both?

what is the skimmer removing that none of the other mechanism isn't? how much life that would feed the tank will be removed?

i want to feed as much refugium life back to the tank as possible while keeping nutrients low, feeding the fish as much as they want including an eventual school of Anthias.

i hope this isn't too redundant. i am confused!!

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

melev — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:25:17 GMT

Those links I gave you now have images again.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:47:18 GMT

water quality update.

i really hope i can get my sump set up soon to start exporting some nutrients with macroalgae and get the new skimmer set up. of course more DSB and LR too.

right now i am adding about 750ml daqily of two part solution to keep the alk and ca stable.

i have a Kalk reactor and Ca reactor for the sumps.

after adding the 7 good sized fish, 6-8", ten days ago and feeding them quite a bit a couple times a day i am getting some cyano on the sandbed.

nitrate went from 0.5ppm to 2.3ppm

PO4 from 0.09 to .34ppm

i guess it is time to change the GFO. i hope to be able to eliminate the use of the GFO eventually when i get better export mechanisms in place and mature.

when the sump is set up i will have more flow from the return pumps directed more down at the sand bed. now all the flow from the CL pumps are anlged 45 degrees towards the top of the tank.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:01:51 GMT

i have to snorkel in the tank to do a water change while sucking crap off the bottom. i hope this chges once i get the sump and return lines going and hopefully keep stuff in suspension long enough to be eaten or removed from the tank.

the bottom of the tank is covered with thousands of small worms in the sand bed. the type that have the mucilaginous tube.

i am also starting to hate acrylic tanks. it already has scratches on the inside and i am afraid to clean much near the sandbed. a glass tank this size was not an option though. i couldn't lie on the top of it to work in the tank. massively heavy to get into place. only once of course.

next time it will be glass though.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

Reefski — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:41:34 GMT

my other Diadema urchin did not appear interested in the spawning.

re: the Acan, i siphoned away as much as i could before trying to save the rest in the aiptasia culture tank. it didn't make it though. i did lose one other Acro colony to it. it had gotten knocked over and was in the rockwork on the sandbed in a low flow area for a day.

i wish i knew what started the brown jelly infection. could it be the big bad crab? there are two other Acan in the tank, one next to the one that died and they are both fine.

the triggers were not in the same tank as the rest of the fish. the tangs were all together in a very very tight 260 packed with rock, etc. the tangs have all been together for several years now and have their status worked out for the most part. occasional flaring of fins but no combat.

lots more swimming room now.

RE: 700 gallon tank build with 4x8 natural light skylight over tank

melev — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:22:21 GMT

Neat pictures.

The Urchin was a male, because I've seen the same type of incident posted on our club's message board. That owner had two urchins, and one released sperm while the other released eggs. I do know the female traveled quickly to be next to the male during this incident. Both of these threads had images that are gone, but I just bumped them up so David can repost them. Here are the links:

http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=26456&highlight=urchin+spawning
http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=31503&highlight=urchin+spawning

On the brown jelly disease - did you siphon out all you could? Don't let it land on other corals or they too will be harmed. Perhaps you could cut the coral on a wet-saw to frag away some healthy polyps.

All those pretty fish in a nice big home. I bet they were surprised to see all that space at last.