Recent content by rabagley

You don't mention the top piece of acrylic. That sixth panel to complete the box, with holes cut out for access to the interior, will make all the difference in the world to the strength of the completed box. My own estimate is a 200-300% improvement in the corner seam strength when adding a...

If you violated a term of your rental agreement to have the aquarium (needed prior approval, only under 20 gallons, etc.), you can safely assume your money is gone. If not, take him to small claims court. Send him a written request for the deposit with delivery notification. Give him 30 days...

No, I used "sand filter" to refer to a "Calcium Reactor". I am looking for a better term when talking about a kalk reactor and a "Calcium Reactor" in the same context (since they're both Calcium reactors). perhaps I ought to say "Aragonite/CO2 reactor" instead... Kalk and Aragonite/CO2...

That sounds great, though you want to be careful about the location of the effluent outputs with relation to each other: close but not too close. Actually, having the kalk and sand reactor outputs in the same area works out rather nicely since the sand reactor effluent contains excess CO2...

A few observations: Diatoms are not bad for aquariums. The dissolution rates of silica sand in seawater are so low as to be undetectable by the Hatch kit (< 0.05ppm) Levels of silica sufficient to cause a diatom bloom are almost always from unfiltered tap water. The problem with that tank isn't...

Here's an strange sounding tip for reducing the time you spend cleaning algae from the glass: dose sodium silicate to promote a controlled population of diatoms. Diatoms! I know... bear with me :) Most aquarist's introduction to diatoms is as an unsightly reddish-brown coating of their sand...

Without meaning to advocate a RIO pump (I've had my own meltdown experience :( )... You won't get "more flow" until you get to a Mag 7 and the kind of flow you get from the centrifugal pump is much harsher on your inhabitants. These are high volume low pressure pumps (lesser Tunze Streams)...

When designing a refugium into a sump, you should generally try to put the area where the filters are located before the refugium compartment for exactly the reasons you mention. If you can't put the skimmer "before" the refugium area with your current design, the skimmer is still likely to...

You have a case of marine velvet, aka Amyloodinium ocellatum. Here is a page that discusses the disease as well as prevention and treatment options (basically: separate the fish and the inverts, treat the fish with copper, leave the tank fallow for 4-6 weeks). Garlic, as recommended in the...

I don't understand the first part of your post... The way an overflow is always supposed to work is that the return pump is pushing less water than the drain (in your case overflow) can handle. Why would you "cut back" the flow from the overflow? You should never restrict the overflow because...

When you added the live rock, your tank started to cycle again. Cycling is the process of restoring equilibrium between the producers and consumers of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and nitrogen gas. Any time you radically change the tank (like quintupling the amount of live rock in the tank), the...

I would only get a saltwater tank for someone who had a passion for aquarium keeping. One of the best ways to get someone started may be to give them a good book or books on aquaria (The Conscientious Aquarist is a great first book) along with a homemade "gift certificate" of assistance putting...

There are lots of categories of "wave makers". One of the more common DIY versions is the dump bucket or "surge device". Do a search for "diy surge device" "Carlson surge device", "flapper surge device" and "Borneman surge device" to see bunches of threads where various designs are discussed...

Despite your personal observation that epoxy "sticks to everything", epoxy adhesion to nonporous surfaces (including glass and acrylic) is at least a full order of magnitude less than silicone and is completely inadequate for aquarium construction. To verify this, glob some of your favorite 2...

Based on your remarks, I'd guess you've dealt with (or only heard of experiences with) some incompetent and/or fraudulent acrylic tank makers. If you could give their names and specifics of what you know, we'd all be better off. While the details of a badly build glass tank would be somewhat...