Marine Depot Forums / General Forums / Beginner's Discussion

Blooming green algae

tang — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:18:53 GMT

Hi,

my question is a simple one. What causes green algae to bloom? I have a 55 gallon tank. I am keeping my nitrates, phosphate level low. I have some (5) turbo snails (need to get more) a good size yellow tang SPS corals.

One more question, this one is probably stupid. Is there a way to tell how old bulbs are? I got mine second handed, and don't have a clue. I replaced one side with a phoenix 150 watt HQI last february. The other one looks good yet. Thanks everyone for your help again. I am finally sending a picture of my tank also,before algae problem

Sump design

ncarnell — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:31:33 GMT

This is my very first post so I hope I get things right, if not well oop's.

I have a Petco special 72Gallon all glass aquarium that definetly didn't setup right originally, so to start heading in a positive direction I want to add a overflow and a sump to it. The overflow I'm going to make a Acrylic hand on since the tanks not drilled and it's not to bad working with the material. The sump I'm a bit back and forth on so I've been researching the web for different designs etc... to maximize the potenial along with adding a refugium if possible. I stumbled across a design call Marc's super sump (google Marc's supersump and it pop's up on top). I'm thinking about copying it except for pump location (internal versus external). But I'm not sure so I thought I would see if anyone had an opion.

I don't have the time to post the picture right now but for a description it is a three partioned sump, input on the left hand side with a protein skimmer => baffles => return area (middle section and continues to the end of the sump under the refugium) => elevated refugium held off the bottom of the sump apr. 5 inchs (at least that's the way it looks).

I don't know the benifit of elevating the refugium off the bottom of the sump and why the retun is in the middle of the sump versus drawing the water out under the refugium on the end.

If anyone can follow my great descritpion or has some designs of sumps they favor (complex or simple - I think I'm handy building things) please post and let me know.

Thanks in Advance.

Beginner corals

KPclown — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:49:56 GMT

My pico has been up and running strong for about three weeks now. I figure if my water tests continue to show good results and are stable for the next few weeks I can start getting into some corals. The two that really caught my eye were the Blue Mushroom and the Orange Ricordea Yuma, I am going to get three polyps of each. They are both suggested to be fed once a week with "marine snow". What is the best possible food I can purchase for them? What is the prefered methed of handling them and acclimating them to my aquarium? What is the best procedure for feeding, I assume a turkey baster of some sort? Thanks againg Keith

reef lighting

180rftank — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:22:22 GMT

Here's my first question...I've had a reef tank for the last 15+years. I just set up a new 180 reef tank after moving last year. I now need to replace the 3 250w double ended halyde's and was curious about the success of different par ratings on the bulbs. For the last year, I have been running Ushio 14k. They tend to be a bit blue for my taste. Is there any happy medium out there. Any help would be appreciated. FYI, I do not run any actinic bulbs, just halyde's. Kind of costly to replace these bulbs each year, and it is a bummer to get a bulb, install it, and not like the color, and not have the same coral growth.

Thanks a lot!

14 day old 55g saltwater tank

Chronicj7 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:03:12 GMT

Just wanted to share my specs as well as water parameters. I am new to the saltwater hobby and have no problem with constructive criticism so please share your knowledge! Ok, to start it off;

55 gallon tank
20 gallon sump
50 lb's fiji live rock
60 lbs aragonite live sand
1 Hydor Koralia 3
1 Hydor Koralia 1
HOB Red Sea Protein skimmer
3 blue damsels
1 three stripe damsel

I have filled the tank with distilled water and I'm using 'SeaChem Stability'

Following readings were:

SG - 1.022
pH - 7.9
Nitrates - 10
Calcium - 300
Alkalinity - 3.5
Nitrites - 1.0+
Ammonia - .4

As I am to understand, my Nitrites are still a little high but the tank is still establishing so I'm hoping they will drop. I did a 25% water change on Saturday 10/24/09.

PROTEIN SKIMMERS

showmenow — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:04:22 GMT

i need to buy a skimmer, i have been looking at a aqua c ev-180? my tank will be FOLR , 135gal.
it needs to be external, there will be a sump. i want to buy the right my first go around.
which one should i buy?

breeding dalmation mollies

bckappes — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:02:04 GMT

hello, i have a 30 gallon freshwater tank. i have one female molly and one male molly. the female molly has become pregnant and i went out and bought a breeding trap tank to put in the aquarium. i let the female molly swim into the breeding trap on her own as to minimize the stress on her. i get her in the tank and come back about a 1/2 hour later and find her laying on her side in the breeding trap. come to my surprise she was dead. what happened or what did i do wrong. a very disappointing day.

Canister type filters

tang — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:03:33 GMT

I have had a 55 gallon saltwater reef/fish tank for about a year and a half. Things are going pretty well. I have heard is always best to use canister type filter system in reef systems, is this true? Lately my bright green algae is out od control, even growing on my mushroom coral, working on that problem. Thanks Guys

Algea stages

akfishgal — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:17:39 GMT

Hello everyone, I am new to the salt water aquarium world, and am loving it so far. I have had my 55 gallon tank for about 5 months now, but started out rather slow. I had 3" live sand and 20 or so lbs of live rock with a few fish for a while and had no major issues. I finally decided to jump in with the big boys and ordered 40 lbs fancy fiji live rock and get a real tank going. I cured my live rock in a large garbage can for just under 4 weeks, had the new heater the new canister filter and the whole nine yards. No huge nitrate or amonia spikes so did the big move and the tank looks great. (will learn how to post photo soon).

All my numbers are great, but I seem to be getting a large brown/gold algea or coloring to all my new live rocks. Did some advance water testing and have high phosperus and high calcium so have ordered a new RO system that should be in next week. The aquarium store suggested that I use purple up daily to get some good Coralline going, so I have been faithful on that, but now am wondering if this is good or not.

My real question is there a stage or a set of stages that algea goes through? I am very careful not to over feed, I empty my skimmer daily and I clean the material or filter to my skimmer daily as well, but it just seems to be awful gunky for my good numbers. I test no less than 3 times a week and am constantly cleaning the glass and trying to keep it neat. I have green algea growing on some rocks, and there is some red areas on the rocks as well, but am worried that I am doing something wrong to get all this brown / gold color.

AKfishgal

JBJ picotope

KPclown — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:31:19 GMT

What would be the ideal livestock setup for this tank . . . http://www.marinedepot.com/aquariums_tanks_jbj_picotope-ap.html?

Relocating Mushrooms

Fishbeers — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:59:37 GMT

Hello,

During my recent move, some of my mushrooms fell off their rocks, and reattached to rocks that aren't as aesthetically pleasing. Is there a way I can get these mushrooms off the rocks they are on, and make them go back to the rock they were on, without harming or killing them?

My best guess would be to chisel the portion of rock they are on, off, and glue it onto another rock.....I was hoping there was an easier way.

Thank you,

Rob

caring for coral

ReefNewbie — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:50:12 GMT

I've been looking at pictures of established reef tanks. I must admit, I've been practically drooling!
With all the diversity of coral and fish, that's exactly what I am looking for down the road. I know it's a slow process, those kind of tanks don't happen overnight.
Here's my question: I have 4 corals so far; a green star polyp coral, a pipe organ coral, zoos and 1 mushroom (the last 2 were frags from the LFS, I don't know exactly what kind).
As adviced from my LFS I am currently adding SeaChems Reef Carbonate, Reef Plus and Reef Complete. Is there anything else I shoud give them or is it enough for now?
Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks

(35 G Tank; 1 Koralia 3 powerhead; hang-over back 3-stage filter; skimmer)

Also, before I forget: I've had my skimmer for 3 weeks now and it is still producing very tiny micro bubbles. They have lessened somewhat but are clearly still visible. Should I worry about it and is there something I can do to eliminate them alltogether?

Algae Problems

ReefNewbie — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:47:51 GMT

Hello,

I am new to this forum (as well as the hobby) so let me give you as much info about my tank as I can think of.

35 Gallon Reef Tank (almost 3 months old); Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0; Nitrates 0; Salinity 1.024, PH 8.4; Temp ~80F.

I currently have 2 clowns, 2 peppermint shrimp, 1 pincushion urchin, several snails and hermits, a watchman goby, a PJ cardinal as well as my first few corals.

I had my first algae problem over a month ago and it went away by itself. I searched several forums and learned that it was normal for a new tank. I was quite happy when the nasty brown algae subsided. Well, now it is back along with some slimy red algae. I have been very careful with my feeding schedule and make sure everything is eaten. I feed once daily. I only use distilled water for water changes, which I perform weekly. I have now reduced my lights to only 6 hours a day to see if that will help.

My light specs are:

96 watt 10,000K and 96 watt True Actinic 03 Blue square pin base compact fluorescent lamps

Two 3/4 watt Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow LED lamps

What else can I do? Can this 'new tank' algae bloom occur more than once for a beginner tank or am I doing something wrong? I've looked into possibly getting chemical algae removers but I fear it will only attack the symptoms and not the actual problem. I've only had my new protein skimmer for about a week and a half now. Maybe I need to be more patient until the skimmer works itself in?

While doing a water change this morning I actually used a toothbrush to get some of the algae off my corals and the rocks followed by syphoning out at least 10% of the tank water. I have one coral (green star polyp) that I thought was dying, only to see that once I removed some of the algae with the toothbrush, it came back and looks much better now. I'm afraid the algae will suffocate my other corals.

Any help/advice is much appreciated! Thanks!

Question about plant fertilizer...

nikonflash — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:31:49 GMT

I have had a few aquariums over the past few years, but just recently got into really learning about aquarium plants and how amazing aqua scaping can be! I have a nine gallon tank biorb tank which is a tall cylinder, and it has the typical basic fresh water plants - amazon sword, etc. I was just wondering what would be the best plant fertilizer or anything to really make my aquarium plants flourish, because two leaves on the amazon sword have turned yellow and I had to cut them. As far as the fish, right now I have 4 neon tetras and a Dwarf Gourami. Any input would be great.

lfs in ct

pixiexkp — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:02:09 GMT

I was wondering if anyone can recommend a good lfs in fairfield/new haven county in CT? I've been looking for a good place around here seeing that Petco doesn't really care what you buy and most of the time they can't answer your questions.

New to the Hobby... Welcome!

Anthony Calfo — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 05:36:04 GMT

Cheers

Please accept this warm welcome to you, my friends, and an invitation to join us in shared admiration of the sea!

We are blessed in the Information Age with access to a tremendous amount of information and on your screen now is a portal to great discovery and wonder.

Here you will find information and advice to help you enjoy your hobby and succeed. But reading and exploring the archives alone is not enough... do not be shy! We have a collection of members, moderators and experts all dedicated and interested in helping you to get the most out of your experience in keeping aquatic organisms.

Ask questions, use the search tool, and collect information from our vast range of experiences and perspectives to help you make an informed decision based on an intelligent consensus.

The environment is friendly and relaxed... do feel at home. Assuming your home is friendly and relaxed We aspire to keep the climate very polite and productive and appreciate your efforts to achieve this goal.

With mutual respect for one another and the charges we take into our care, we will all enjoy great fellowship, education and success in the hobby and in life at large.

Enjoy your stay... and please do tell a friend about us

With kind regards,

Anthony Calfo

new to saltwater

pixiexkp — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:55:48 GMT

I've had freshwater tanks for a few yrs now and want to get into sw. I think that the fish are so much more colorful than the freshwater. I am planning on doing a FOWLR tank. So, I just purchased the 28g Nano-cube quad. It should arrive by tues. I also bought the protein skimmer (do I need it? I've heard mix reviews), 20 lbs of nature's ocean reef sand (do I need more? if so, can I use another brand bought in the store?), master liquid test kit, and hydrometer. After I get the tank, I'm planning on getting about 22 lbs of live rock. I haven't decided on if I am going to buy premixed or mix it myself. I also bought the books the new marine and the conscientious marine aquarist. Am I on the right track?

I've been reading the new marine aquarium and have a few questions. The first question is do ppl really do the overnite test with freshwater and should I do it? Do you run everything in the tank? How hard is it to mix the saltwater or should I just buy the premixed water? Do you just place the rocks on top of each other in a stable pattern or do you have to glue them? I know that I put the rocks in the bare floor and put the sand around the rocks, can I put them in at the same time? Also I read that you should use RO water instead of tap. Where do you buy it? I was in the grocery store today and didn't see any water that said RO on it. Is there anything I can use at home instead of buying water everything I need it or spending money on the RO unit. I read on other forums to use freshwater to tap off the tank, is that just plain water or saltwater?

Sorry that I have a lot of questions but I like to find out what others do.

beginner questions continued. . . lol

KPclown — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:33:40 GMT

In previous posts I have described my project and future hobby. Essentially it will be a JBJ 28g hqi, that will house a Yellow Watchman Goby, Tiger Pistolshrimp, and Two Ocellaris Clowns. I am also debating on adding in a Sixline Wrasse, would that be overcrowding the tank? A friend has one in his tank and it is the most entertaining fish to watch. They also seem to be quite hardy according to him and the research I have done on them. When starting a tank the general procedure is to place the Live rock, add in sand/substrate, then add in water. Are there any additive that are suggested in order to make the water a higher quality, such as vitamins or other such items? I plan to give the tank six to eight weeks to mature, is that enough time for the tank to cycle?

Outdoor tank under covered patio - temp ok ?

newimaging — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:07:07 GMT

I live in CA, Los Angeles, summer temps outside from 40 to 110 degrees. I have a 800 square feet covered patio and would like to do a fishtank, rather then a koi pond. Is this possible outside. Can I do salt water and reefs, or is the temp to hot or variable for any fish but koi to live ?

? about Won brothers heaters.

Drewlonius — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:03:25 GMT

Hello , i have purchased the won brothers 3 prong 350wtt heating element ,it just arrived today, Do i have to purchase the controller also? this heater is new to me. If i do need a controller is there any others to use with this since there is nothing but negative feed about Won controllers. I appreciate the help.

Thank you

Andrew

New to the Salt Water world

soloscott — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:22:44 GMT

Well for the last 15 years i've had numerous freshwater systems. Everything from a 10 gallon, to now what was a 150 gallons. Well I've finally taken the plunge into the salt water world as I just couldn't stand it any more.

So I've done alot of research, and alot of reading online, and alot of asking questions from the local fish shops. However it seems like I get alot of mixed information on tank setups as to whats "the best", whats easiest, and whats recommended.

Basically this is my current setup, and i know it's far from being complete/setup properly.

I have a 150 Gallon tank (glass 48" wide, 24" deep, 32" tall)

Filtration:
2x Penguin Bio-Wheel 350
1x Lifegard Fluidized Bed Filter 300

Lighting:
Standard Florescent Light Hood

Bedding:
approx 120lbs of crush coral for the bottom bedding
2x 15lb live rock

Current water readings:
Salenity: 1.019
No2: 10
No3: 0
Alk: 300
PH: 8.4
Temp: 76

Currently the salt water is about 10 days old. When I went to the fish shop today, the guy told me I could add a few damsels, and a few hermit crabs to test out my water and see how it does, since he said I had really good readings. So currently I have 4 damsels, 4 hermit crabs. So far it's been about 12 hours, and they seem to be really healthy, active, and no visible warnings.

I'm looking for the next few things to buy, money isn't really that much of an issue as far as tank necessities/pumps/filtration devices. I know I have to get a protein skimmer for my tank, so I'm looking for a well recommended model if any of you pro's have any suggestions. And whatever else you guys make think will be very beneficial to my new tank. So any feedback/suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you guys/gals in advance for taking your time to read my post, and reply back with any information. If there is anything that I need to provide that will help you with your advice to me, please feel free to ask, and I'll reply ASAP. Thanks again!

Sincerely,
Scott

New and utterly confused

PlatypusKing — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:27:22 GMT

Hi!

The name is Matt, I am currently living in Okinawa and, am relatively new to this hobby. I figured since I am living on a tropical island what better place to start a marine aquarium? I have an eighty gallon aquarium (My understanding is larger marine aquariums are easier to maintain) with live sand and live rock, but no fish as of yet since I am still letting my water cycle for another week or so. (It has been about 2 weeks since I added sand and rock). I am also setting my sump up today as well. I have a nice three stage canister filter right now, but I am going to need a little more filtering power seeming as how I am using actual seawater as opposed to making my own. Yes, I know that actual sea water has a lot more bacteria and polutants than the filtered water I could use, but I do not seem to be having any problems as of yet. My question is; are UV sterilizers really worth the money or are they more of a luxery item, and can I use a DI/RO filter on a marine system? It just seems like the DI/RO system would pull all of the salt out of the water. Sorry if these questions are a bit innane, but I am totally lost when it comes to water filtration, and all this crazy aquatic lingo is a bit confusing until you get used to it. On an off note, the LFS is no help because none of the employees speak english...arg...

new 180G saphire -overflow holes location question

biggerpapa — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:54:54 GMT

Hello,
I have a new custom 180G glass-saphire tank. It is a half way between a cube and a show tank. I realized that center of the 2 1/2" overflow holes are 4" down from the top of the tank. This means that the bottom of the overflow hole is 5 1/4" from top, and I will lose approximately 40G of potential space between bottom of overflow hole and top of tank.
I would like my water line to be near top of tank if possible.
Question: How can I do this? Do I need to plug the holes (with pipe) and make an internal overflow with holes drill halfway down? Any ideas?
Thanks, MIke
Riverside,CA

Aptasia

EddieJr — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:06:59 GMT

Is there a DIY to kill the Aptasis

Wrasse tank??

facinfears217 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:52:18 GMT

Does anybody have or do a Wrasse tank,

i would like to do a tank with these fish in it. i love them i had the lunar wrasse in my 30gallon moved and didnt get to keep him very long!

but i love these fish and would like to make a wrasse tank. with a couple of other guys.

2-percula Clowns
1-Yellow Watchman Goby

will these all co exist i researched most of them and they seem to be peacefull.all wrasse
-Lubbock
-Carpenters Flash
-Whip Fin Fairy
-Yellow fin fairy
-Longfin
-Yellow Flanked

tried to keep reef safe wrasses.
thanks any info would be appreciated. thanks

NEW tank ?!!!

facinfears217 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:50:21 GMT

Looking at getting a new saltwater tank,

ive had a 10g and 29g salt tank in the past looking to get back into it. i now the 10g was really tough to keep paramenters up but i managed okay.

Im looking to get bigger,

Ive got it down to two tanks.

1st: 100gallon tank

2nd: 180gallon tank

which should i go with and why?

they say the bigger the easier it will hold reef . plan on having sump and refugium

thanks. any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Skimmer for 45 gal. saltwater tank

jklingbail — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:18:31 GMT

Hello-

I started a 45 gal. saltwater tank 4 months ago and was advised at the time that my Fluval 304 filter (from a previous freshwater tank) would be sufficient to filter the new salt tank. With frequent water changes, Nitrates continue in the 40-80 range. Other test results are fine. After discussion with another local retailer (knowledgable, I think) , I'm advised that I need a skimmer to better control nitrates. He also advised to remove matrix material from the Fluval and replace with charcoal/carbon. I want to get this right. Please offer suggestions for a good, long lasting, quiet skimmer as well as any other comments. Thanks in advance.

JimK

algae bloom

wcboyd — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:13:07 GMT

Hello All,

Last time I had an algae bloom I did not have any live plants in the tank so I wrapped it in newspaper to block out the light for a week and that worked well. But now I have an algae bloom, but I have live plants in the tank. Will they be OK for a week w/o light or do I need to move them out and then wrap the tank?

Starting a Biological Filter

River Fish Keeper — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:43:50 GMT

I need to start up my biological filtration in my tank, and I don't have any donor media to get bacteria from. What is the easiest way to start up in that situation, I am more than happy to purchase products if some are available, but I wanted a little insight first. This is a freshwater tank.

Thanks in Advance,

River Fish Keeper

first salt mix

pootsnicker — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:11:04 GMT

Hello all I have just made my first batch of salt water. I am using H2Ocean salt, RODI water 0 ppm.
I mixed about 30 gall In a brute can with a power head and heater temp is 80. I let it mix for 24 hr and started testing, salinity is 1.025, PH was 8.6, alk was 1.7-2.8, ammonia 0.25, Nitrite 0, and nitrate 0. My question is if this is new water why would I have 0.25 ammonia, and how do I get the ph to 8.2?

Help with snail selection

venn — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:26:58 GMT

Can someone help me with snail selection. I need to choose a clean up crew. I would like some snails to work on green hair algae, red "cotton candy" algae and the sand surface(?diatoms). My tank is a 20 gallon with live rock and 3 inches of sand. It has been running for 2 months. I have lots of small brittle stars, one red legged hermit and one big(unidentified snail). Would like to add something a little bigger next month(clownfish and/or cleaner shrimp) so I want make sure my cleaner crew is in place. Any help would be much appreciated.

From Well water to Salt water. . .

KPclown — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:51:16 GMT

Well after doing alot of research and googling I have found alot of information on reef keeping. When searching for how to create good saltwater not a whole lot comes up. My question is how do you get good water? I live in a pretty rural area and there is no city water, we use wells. When we bought the house the water was tested to see if it was safe, and it passed. Unfortunatly I do not know what is actually in my water There could be alot of metals for all I know, or sulfur? Alot of additives claim to remove metals, I dont see how this can work. What is the easiest way to get 30 gallons of good water to start mixing salt into?

Just bought a 20 Gallon Tank - FreshWater Setup

shock976 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:28:27 GMT

Hello Everyone,

I would like to thank you in advance for your support and provided information.

I am new to the hobby and am looking forward to building a breathtaking freshwater aquarium, I purchased gravel with earth tones, lava rock for rock fixtures, and live hardy plants to get started. My aquarium came with your basic fluorescent light 15 watt, and I understand that I will eventually need better lighting and am looking into upgrading to a canopy and purchasing better lighting, or simply just adding 2-3 more florescent lights to my existing hood.

I am not sure what species of fish I want to purchase, as I am not sure what fish mix well and is it better to do a community tank or a more specialized tank - I do know that I would like fish and invertabrates with vibrant colors. Moreover what type of habitat to mimic. Any information on these issues would be appreciated... Furthermore, I know that certain fish like more lighting than others, so with that said, how do I determine type of lighting for fish, especially when I have live plants and want to have more live plants which I want to flourish. (do I just have the best lighting and then input floating plants to dillute the light affecting fish?)

Also, I was reading that LED lighting was beneficial for night use to give the fish a feeling of moonlight, is this totally true?

Again, thank you and I look towrad your responses!

adding snails

EddieJr — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:10:03 GMT

would it be fine to add a snail or two to tank the tank is not broken in yet .

Comparing JBJ nanotanks

KPclown — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:55:06 GMT

After reading about both the HQI and the Quadpower series I still am unable to decide which tank would better suit my needs. I'll start off by describing my ideal tank and ask for opinions and any possible tips anyone would be able to give. I am trying to recreate as close as possible an Indo-Pacific saltwater habitat. My livestock choices are going to be a Yellow Watchman Goby, Pistol Shrimp, False Percula Clownfish, 4-5 assorted snails consisting of Nassarius, Turbo/Astrea, and Cerith species. In the future, after a year or so I would like to introduce a Bubbletip Anemone to the tank. As far as corals are concerned I am not really sure on what would fit my needs, Mushroom corals seem to be the best fit as it seems they are the easiest to care for. From what I have read a chiller is required to maintain consistent temperatures in the HQI tanks. Not only is the HQI tank 200+ dollars but with the Chiller it would jump the cost up even more. I hate to be cheap about my project and regret making these decisions later. Any insight or advice would be much appreciated, thanks for the tips.

Aquarium Cycling

sack1971 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:50:14 GMT

There is a aquarium cycling product in a pouch. One for marine and another for fresh water aquariums. It is kept cold. Shake it and pour contents into aquarium. It came out a few years ago. Do you know the name of this product?

Skimmer for 29gal

burnsachris — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:36:14 GMT

I had a 37gal for over a year with 40lb LR, 3" LS, AquaC skimmer, 2 hydor koralia 1, 2 PC 65w dual daylight and dual blue, RBTA, cinna clown, coral beauty, polyps, mushrooms, xenia, hammer corals, shrimp, snails and crabs. I also have a 29gal with 2" crushed coral and I need a cheap skimmer that works does anyone have good advice? My aqua c works great but I want to stay under $80. Im getting 2 koralia 2 and going to put the 1's into the 29 tank that wont be to much flow for my 37gal tank will it?

Mississippi River Aquarium, a model of the real thing!

River Fish Keeper — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:04:32 GMT

"Small" has never been used to describe my hobbies.

I am in the process of building a large aquarium in my home, one to eventually house a number of my local river fish. This project is in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and I will be doing independent research to determine the maximum growth potential of some of the local species.

This tank is somewhat singular in it's design, it is being constructed, not necessarily for a visually stunning appearance, but for functionality. I am literally trying to reconstruct a small portion of the Mississippi River, but this will not be a dedicated condition. I am designing this aquarium to be able so simulate whatever freshwater conditions that the fish that are contained inside are familiar with. From slow moving, warm backwaters, to fast moving, cooler channel situations, this tank will be equiped to change as required.

The dimensions internally of this tank are as follows: 48" wide x 96" long x 40" high, the water will be 36" deep. Sides and back of the tank will be constructed out of standard 8"x8"x16" waterproofed cinderblock, the front consisting of 40" x 96" of 3/4" thick glass supported on all 4 sides by 1" anchored angle iron with girder supports on the top center of the glass connecting to the back of the tank.

As far as circulation is concerned, I purchased a Dolphin ES 3500 Amp Master flowing 5000 GPH max (about 4800 in my application). This will flow through a 2" plumbing system, split to 3 separate 2" pipes that enter the tank vertically and emit a hoizontal water column from each through 1/2" slots cut out of the linear sections of pipe. Return water will be collected in an identical setup at the other end of the tank but with 3/4" slots and a coarse filter covering the inlet pipes individually.

Filtration is somewhat of a concern for me, I have an Eheim Professional 3 2080 canister that will add an additional 450 GPH as well as the aeration for the tank by cascading the filtered water into the pressure side of the tank. I fear that this will not be even remotely adequate as it is only designed for up to a 300 gallon tank. This tank will not be supporting a bunch of fish, only a few at a time, and they will be closely monitored for research purposes. The suction side of the filtration loop consists of 2 individual 1" lines, and these will be placed between the 3 2" suction pipes for the main pump. The filter suction will be directly off the bottom, in the middle of the current in this tank. The suction from the main pump will be no closer than 6" from the bottom of the tank, this is to allow any detrius and sediment to reside on the bottom and not be recirculated by the high volume pump. Any help in determining what I should look for would be appreciated.

A word on environment, as being that I grew up on the river, I'm familiar with the ecosystem that the fish in my area are used to. I've looked into bottom structure a lot, and have determined that standard river rock and crushed limestone most adequately fit the structure of these fishes natural habitat. Sand and mud are also common, but for all intents and practicality, mud will not be used, and sand, if used at all, will be sparingly. Has anyone ever experimented with these type of bottom structures? I also plan on using at least one large boulder and a number of natural wood structures to create habitat and "brush pile" settings. There will be places to anchor different structure built in so that the system is essentially a modular enclosure. I intend to use very sparse plantings if any, and they will consist of harvested plantlife from the body of water that the fishes will be harvested from. Also, I will be addressing the chemical makeup of the water body section that any particular specimen will be coming from. I will be attempting to mimic the water composition as well to simulate the actual environment. Again, help and concerns are welcome criticism!

As for lighting, this one is fairly simple yet complex. The river recieves a great variety of light, and from different angles and perspectives and it varies greatly in intensity throughout the course of a day, so this is something that I had to address. I plan on using a 9 circuit lighting system to recreate sunlight passing overhead and nightime ambient light. The lighting system is going to consist of 9 separate timers controlling a small light bank streched throughout the basement. The lights will turn on progressively, passing from one end of the room to the other throughout the day in sync with the natural motion of the sun. The lights themselves will be spiral fluorescent bulbs ranging from 25 watts (night glow) to 100 watt (full summer noon light). I am choosing fluorescent lighting for cost effective, and variable lighting as there are a number of different intensities and "warmths" to choose from.

Maintenance: I don't anticipate a huge amount of work involved in this category, since the conditions these fish see in the wild varies greatly, but I do know that there will still be work involved as any aquarium owner knows. I am also trying to biologically and chemically eliminate water changes. I will be using an auto top-off mechanism to aviod adding water in large quantities. I will be tapping into my filter suction lines with a separate hose leading to a gravel vaccuum tube. This vaccuum will be used to clean any dead spots in the tank while utilizing the filtration feature and as an added bonus, recirculating the water back into the tank to save on water loss. I am aware that this action will potentially create an issue with overworking the filter, but we will have to see, as this seems like a very efficient approach to cleaning the tank.

In all respects, I have yet to find anyone that has tried this type of thing before. I spoke at length with 2 DNR Directors and they were amazed at the direction I was going. They had never been approached nor had ever heard of someone doing this kind of thing, and were very enthusiastic about future results and findings.

If anyone has ever tried this before, please share some insight with me on things to look out for. I have, at this point, started to aquire a knowledge base, cost projections, and started purchasing some of the equipment and supplies necessary. I purchased the filter and main pumps and a conservationally minded individual donated cinderblocks and other miscellaneous building materials to the project. The main part of the build will commence as soon as I can purchase the glass ($663 for the 1 piece - ), which will only be possible when the glass manufacturer makes another run up my way. This is, hopefully, toward the end of the year. In the interim, I will be aquiring the rest of the building materials and start on preliminary contruciton of the base, plumbing, and lighting structures. I cannot start building the actual tank until I have the glass due to the exact fit that I require. All said and done, with water included this thing is going to weigh in at about 10,000 pounds, 5 tons!!!

edited 8/4/09 argi

River Fish Keeper

Substrate

KPclown — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 06:39:56 GMT

I am in the process of setting up a very basic jbj hqi 28 gallon reef tank. The tank will house a False Percula Clown, and a Yellow Watchman Goby. My question is which substrate is the most acceptable for burrowers? I would like to use Caribsea Arag-Alive Indo-Pacific found here, http://www.marinedepot.com/Caribsea_Arag_Alive_Indo_Pacific_Black_Live_Sand_for_Saltwater_Reef_Aquariums-CaribSea-CS1791-FISSLS-vi.html . I am also planning on adding in a Bubble Tip Anemone once I gain the experience to properly care for it. Would this be a good choice in substrate or is there something better that would still look just as nice?

UV Sterilizers

DougJP — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:35:42 GMT

For the Aqua UV Sterilizer, what kind of pump should I use? Its for the 15 watt one. Oh is 15 watts good enough for 55 gallon tank?