beaslbob,
No offence there but you're talking complete twaddle. As for your signature,,,, if you can run a 55g 'mixed' reef for 6 years with tap water, no additives or water changes then I'll eat my underpants,, hell,, I'll eat yours too.
You should be asking for advice here mate,, not giving it.
No offence there but you're talking complete twaddle. As for your signature,,,, if you can run a 55g 'mixed' reef for 6 years with tap water, no additives or water changes then I'll eat my underpants,, hell,, I'll eat yours too.
You should be asking for advice here mate,, not giving it.
Guy's, I think Bob means well but his advice it a bit off the wall. Why he does that he does is his own business, its when he hangs out in the newbie forum and gives advice to newbies that gets everybody in trouble.
I think a picture of your 55 would clear things up Bob, what do you think?
I think a picture of your 55 would clear things up Bob, what do you think?
Well, if we can put up our ideas here and get them sorted out, chances are other people are thinking the same thing, but not posting.
That's what this place is all about, isn't it?
My understanding with mangroves is that they are rather low on the nutrient-uptake scale.
Mitch
That's what this place is all about, isn't it?
My understanding with mangroves is that they are rather low on the nutrient-uptake scale.
Mitch
I'm talking about the calcium thing,,and the silly statement in the signature,,,, I have no experience with mangroves.
Sorry,, Bob? Is it? No need for PM's,,,this is a place for debate,, sometimes it's lively,, but it's mostly civil.
I'm telling you straight, you can not run a healthy reef tank for years without additives or water changes.
Maybe detailed tank specs and some photos might help us poor gormless idiots understand how you're performing this miracle.
Sorry,, Bob? Is it? No need for PM's,,,this is a place for debate,, sometimes it's lively,, but it's mostly civil.
I'm telling you straight, you can not run a healthy reef tank for years without additives or water changes.
Maybe detailed tank specs and some photos might help us poor gormless idiots understand how you're performing this miracle.
By my calculation you need to spend at least $4,577.69 to correct this problem. First, your lights are all wrong, buy new ones. Second you need more flow! Purchase at least 8 more powerheads. Third, all new LR. Make sure you double the amount. You will also need a refugium with lights and 4 powerheads. Finally, get a gun.
Juck":o6pggml3 said:
Ok just didn't want Rob to feel left out
If you check my signature only one year so far with reef. The six years was a fo tank. So I have to wait another year to say years on reef.
No miracle involved. Just use the same water that flows to the ocean and provides the ocean with the trace elements. Feed the fish with food that contains the trace elements in the ocean. And filter the water with the same plant life that filters that ocean.
Guess I do have to post the speces in that forum. Basically a 55g with 2" silica play sand and about 1/2" crushed coral. Bunch of land type lava base rocks. DIY external sump/refug from a 15g plastic storage container with a 6"x"6"x10" acrylic filter box with a center partition. The filter box has the overflow water flowing through crushed oyster shells with red landscape lava rocks at the entry and exit to hold the shells in place. It is powered by a mag5 with a return head of about 4'. Display has a 2'x4' eggcrate 3" in front of the back glass. Rocks and display area are in front of the egg crate. Lights are two 4' utility fixtures overdriving 4 3300 lumen 4100k tubes 2x. Two more utility fixtures are 6" behind the back glass point forward to light up the in tank refugium area. Those lights are 4100k 3300 lumen tubes and are not overdriven. the external refug is lit with an 18 watt spot (90w eq incand.) Chaeto (~2'x2'x3") is in the in tank refug as well as grape caulpera and some caulpera profilera. The external refug has a basket ball size of chaeto. I have exported about 15 one gallon bags of the chaeto over the last two months. I have a yellow tang for ~18 mounts, open brain for a bout a year, button polyps for about a year, anemone for 8 months, two percs for 8 months, watchman gobie for 8 months, royal gramma for about 6 months, In the last couple of months i have added a wrasse, cardnal, zoos, spc's, corraling algae clusters. All of which seem to be doing well. The tank has only seen tap water, untreated and straight from the tap. Oh yea I do have 6 turbos for about 2 years, and a dozen hermits. The turbos have tripled in size. Other live stock I kept for at least 4 months and returned to the lfs include a coral beauty, green brittle starfish, a green bahama starfish, and about 1/2 dozen various mollies i used for cycling.
Maintnence is feeding the fish and corals, every two days replacing about a gallon of evaporation. Again using untreated straight from the cold tap water. Once a week rinsing the crushed oyster shell filter media. And cleaning a very light algae for the glass 2-3 times per week. Parameters-- ammonia nitrIte, nitrate 0.0. calcium 400 (last test was 435 or so), alk 2.5 meg/l kh daytime just before lights out ph 8.4.
I am building a surge filter so I can disconnect the external filter box.
Rob:
I struggled with the same problems, and the solution I found was rather easy, and borders on the advice that many posted here about removing half of your rocks.
IMHO, the function of live rocks is VERY overstated, and the problem is definately in your rock. When I had the same problem, I removed half of my rock, made the tank BB (which you already did), and cycled the other rock for months. I liked the way my system was working after this (and my corals were growing large) so I didn't even put the 'cycled' half back in.
You express concern as to removing the rock because of the bio-capacity of the remaining rock. If would appear the the problem lies in the rock right now. Removing if would be certainly beneficial, JMO.
Think of it this way: You would simply have a nano system in a larger tank. You would have a 20 gallon system worth of corals and fish in a 58 gallon system. Re-examine your livestock. Grow large corals, not maintain piles and piles of detritus-filled rock.
As for filteration, I started running my euroreef VERY wet, and blasted the remaining rocks with a powerhead daily to get the detritus in suspension. Only then could it be removed with the skimmer. Once you get used to it, you can move all the crap to one corner of your tank and siphon it out easily. After a short while, they will no longer create a mess.
The point: We don't want to keep poop as a pet. That's why you went bare-bottom. The hard part is done. Remove some rock, and get blasting with a powerhead until you clean the rocks that you have left.
And for god's sake, no more snails! They leave little piles of crap all over the place, which compounds the problem dramatically. A pile of herbivores is only going to make it worse. Snails as best used once you get the source of the problem fixed.
Good luck.
-Ewan
I struggled with the same problems, and the solution I found was rather easy, and borders on the advice that many posted here about removing half of your rocks.
IMHO, the function of live rocks is VERY overstated, and the problem is definately in your rock. When I had the same problem, I removed half of my rock, made the tank BB (which you already did), and cycled the other rock for months. I liked the way my system was working after this (and my corals were growing large) so I didn't even put the 'cycled' half back in.
You express concern as to removing the rock because of the bio-capacity of the remaining rock. If would appear the the problem lies in the rock right now. Removing if would be certainly beneficial, JMO.
Think of it this way: You would simply have a nano system in a larger tank. You would have a 20 gallon system worth of corals and fish in a 58 gallon system. Re-examine your livestock. Grow large corals, not maintain piles and piles of detritus-filled rock.
As for filteration, I started running my euroreef VERY wet, and blasted the remaining rocks with a powerhead daily to get the detritus in suspension. Only then could it be removed with the skimmer. Once you get used to it, you can move all the crap to one corner of your tank and siphon it out easily. After a short while, they will no longer create a mess.
The point: We don't want to keep poop as a pet. That's why you went bare-bottom. The hard part is done. Remove some rock, and get blasting with a powerhead until you clean the rocks that you have left.
And for god's sake, no more snails! They leave little piles of crap all over the place, which compounds the problem dramatically. A pile of herbivores is only going to make it worse. Snails as best used once you get the source of the problem fixed.
Good luck.
-Ewan
Rob,
I was in your position once. Sick of algae, and sick of trying to destroy it, and not getting anywhere.
The solution is simple, but hard to do. Leave it alone. I left my 120 alone for 2 months or so, let the hair algae grow and grow, and then I took it all out in one fell swoop, and never had the problem again. I bought a Magnum HOT canister with a vaccuum attachment so when I removed the algae, I could suck it up into the filter without having to worry about taking out too much water with a normal siphon into bucket. THe filter has posed many uses for me since then as well.
Alternatively, you could just buy a bit of a species of macro algae, and put it in the main tank while you wait, and then just ditch the macro, or figure out a way to set up a refugium with it once you have solved the problem.
You need nutrient export, not wallet export If money is an issue, just leave it alone, and then scrub it off outside the tank with a toothbrush or something in a bucket. THe stuff is like facial hair. THe more you shave, the faster it will grow
I was in your position once. Sick of algae, and sick of trying to destroy it, and not getting anywhere.
The solution is simple, but hard to do. Leave it alone. I left my 120 alone for 2 months or so, let the hair algae grow and grow, and then I took it all out in one fell swoop, and never had the problem again. I bought a Magnum HOT canister with a vaccuum attachment so when I removed the algae, I could suck it up into the filter without having to worry about taking out too much water with a normal siphon into bucket. THe filter has posed many uses for me since then as well.
Alternatively, you could just buy a bit of a species of macro algae, and put it in the main tank while you wait, and then just ditch the macro, or figure out a way to set up a refugium with it once you have solved the problem.
You need nutrient export, not wallet export
If money is an issue, just leave it alone, and then scrub it off outside the tank with a toothbrush or something in a bucket. THe stuff is like facial hair. THe more you shave, the faster it will grow I consider BOMPH's advice to be excellent. Even though ugly, the algae we all try to fight and control does help maintain the system.
Additionally many many years ago allowing the algae to grow was the standard advice and considered necessary. what happened in my simple 10g 30 years ago was the uglies just built up to a level and just stayed at that level. So I basically had a thin green mat over the tank. And the tank just took card of iteself. It was also a UGF with dolomite substrait.
Additionally many many years ago allowing the algae to grow was the standard advice and considered necessary. what happened in my simple 10g 30 years ago was the uglies just built up to a level and just stayed at that level. So I basically had a thin green mat over the tank. And the tank just took card of iteself. It was also a UGF with dolomite substrait.
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