recent upgrade

[ESSELO]

i have a couple of questions:
i recently upgraded to a 215 gal w/ metal halides. while i was cycling the tank it was running at 84 degrees. i got a chiller and now it stays at a constant 72 degrees. i know this is the lower part of the range but my question is what is a good temperature for a mixed reef with fish? at this temp the water feels cold.

my filter has four socks. i leave one out for flow and i switch off on the others so that two are dirty and one is clean. i was told to do this so i don't wipe out good bacteria. does this make sense?

i currently have a basketball sized clump of chaeto in the sump/refugium. is this size necessary or can i get away with less. what's a good amount? i also have a bed of mud in there. how many inches should that bed be?

fed ex screwed up my delivery of a purple acropora. i got it a day late, the box was soaked and the bag with the coral in it ruptured. aside from all of this the piece looked good accept for a couple tips look stark white, almost like it was bleached. is this piece a goner or can it make a comeback?

sorry for so many questions but i'm very curious. thanks to anyone who can help.

 

[jrobbins]

Hey man,

Congrats on the upgrade. Not sure how much help i can be, but here goes....

1. the reefs we get our corals from range in temp. some shallows have temps in the low to mid 90's, while deeper water stuff and stuff from other parts of the ocean can be used to considerably colder temps. in my limited experience i never noticed a big difference in growth in corals based on the temp (at least nothing consistant) but as i am sure you know, large fluctuations in temp will kill stuff...

2. yes you probably lose some bacteria in changing the filter socks, but i have a feeling any benefit you get from leaving a dirty sock in tehre might be offset by the decomposition of organics in the dirty sock. fwiw, i just change them and always have. never had an ammonia spike or anything liek that.

3. no such thing as too much chaeto in my book. just trim it when it gets out of control.

4. no idea about the mud. i run about a 4-5 inch oolithic sandbed in my fuge and it is teeming with critters...works for me.

5. might come back. just put it in teh tank and you will see. if there is any part that is obviously necrotic, or you see a lot of tissue recession, try cutting that part off and leaving the rest. ive traded acros wrapped in nothing more than a wet papertowel stuffed in a ziplock.

ok, good luck again on the upgrade, hope i was able to help!

i have a couple of questions:
i recently upgraded to a 215 gal w/ metal halides. while i was cycling the tank it was running at 84 degrees. i got a chiller and now it stays at a constant 72 degrees. i know this is the lower part of the range but my question is what is a good temperature for a mixed reef with fish? at this temp the water feels cold.

my filter has four socks. i leave one out for flow and i switch off on the others so that two are dirty and one is clean. i was told to do this so i don't wipe out good bacteria. does this make sense?

i currently have a basketball sized clump of chaeto in the sump/refugium. is this size necessary or can i get away with less. what's a good amount? i also have a bed of mud in there. how many inches should that bed be?

fed ex screwed up my delivery of a purple acropora. i got it a day late, the box was soaked and the bag with the coral in it ruptured. aside from all of this the piece looked good accept for a couple tips look stark white, almost like it was bleached. is this piece a goner or can it make a comeback?

sorry for so many questions but i'm very curious. thanks to anyone who can help.

 

[ESSELO]

thank you very much, very helpful. a lot of my questions i know the answer, i just want to hear it from someone else. if you had to pick one temperature as the best what would you pick?

 

[jrobbins]

whatever temp my tank would run stably at without a chiller :splitspin

honestly i don't think it matters much one way or the other as long as you keep it stable. I use 78 because that's the year of my birth and my IQ...

 

[Tim]

78 is a good temp to shoot for....

 

[ESSELO]

thanks everyone

 

[isgon26]

Save your self some money on electricity and get a few fans to keep the water cool. I would suggest 80-82 degrees this way youre chiller will come on less often. I have a 6 inch clip on fan that im selling for 10 bucks what I paid for it. I have 2 fans on my 150 and they work well. I have my chiller set to go on at 83 degrees.

 

[NYreefNoob]

mine stays at 77-79 degree's ty to a chiller, a wise investment to me, my place gets hot in the summer even with air conditioners, fans will def help blowing across the top of water or sump

 

[reefman]

any pics of the acro? how long has the tank been established? how r u keep up with alk/ca levels?

 

[rookie07]

Fans will increase water evaporation, as will a higher water temp...thus creating a need for more fresh water top-offs.
My temp range is 78.2-80.2

When a filter sock gets dirty/clogged, change it(2-3 days in my experiance)..dont worry about bacteria(enough will be everywhere else in tank/sump). Use a filter sock on each of the 4 spots(unless this is to much work, you could use none in theory)

Not sure about mud...cheato is fine...only trim if it is overgrown,and some is dying b/c light cant get it(or other reasons that a trim seems appropriate). The more you have, the more it can "filter" the water(it does not really filter water, used for lack of a better term)

White "bleeched" coral is dead...if there is any tissue left on the piece, you can try and save it...see what happens to it, or cut accodingly, as suggested by jrobbins

 

[ESSELO]

i'll post a pic of the acro tonight-it had a delayed and stressful delivery. the tank has been running since early january-i do water changes and test the parameters often. i went super slow starting it up and thank god have not had any major problems.