Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Skimmers won't do it.
The jury is still out on refugiums but if if it contains live rock in it, I would argue it functions as a denitrator to some degree.

A denitrator needs no light, very low oxygen and extremely slow water flow.
You can have it contain rocks or it can contain any type of media that has nooks and crannies for the bacteria to form. It is a different type of bacteria than what thrives in your typical tank filters.
Not too many companies make them.
I experimented with the one pictured below in black, on the left side of the photo.
After a year of it functioning, the nitrate levels were quite low in this system, which is not typical in a fish only tank that needs water changes to lower the nitrates manually.
About a year after doing this installation and a couple of others, I got out of the business due to having to travel so much for my primary job and frankly I have not stayed up with the technology but I can tell you this one worked well.
I also built my own one time using large PVC with end caps. I filled it with media, ceramic type cylinders, and ran water through it slowly. I worked well until it ended up getting clogged.
What I do for mine is I have many bags of media, stuffed tight, sitting in my wet dry, right below the bio balls. Since the media is packed so tight, water flow is quite slow through it. Since it is in a dark enclosure (furniture), seems to help me quite a bit but then again, I have not tested my nitrates in 5 yrs.:r:r:r

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...100_0032_2.jpg[/quote]

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Deep in the live rock and the live sand probably does the job in my tank, based on your information. I stopped measuring when I stopped getting readings.:) I still check calcium levels, though less often, to make sure my calcium reactor is dialed in.
I have a downdraft skimmer about twice the size of the one in your picture. I wish I could hide it somewhere.
It's far to clean under that tank in your picture. I have dust, salt creep, tools, fish bags...

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

In bold.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I think I've decided to go with no refractometer.
I'm worried it'll talk me into doing really dumb ****. :)

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

You know what I use?
A cup.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Have to run so don't want to leave anyone scratching their heads.

I use a cup and a 5 gallon bucket of water.
A heaping cup, two times, with 5 gallons of water = 1.019 salinity.
Want less salinity? Do two level cups and you get 1.016-1.017.
Want more, like 1.023? Easy. Just do an extra half to 3/4's cup.
Very scientific.:r:r:r

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I do the same thing when I mix my water, but I have a dip tester thingie.
I try to keep it in between the lines. :D
I've always tried to keep it in the middle of the lines, but I'm going to start keeping it on the upper end from now on.
It's been a little high for a long time and a little low for a long time and I've never noticed any difference in anything at all.
If a little more salt will help the corals, I'm sure it won't hurt anything else, so I'll give it a shot. I'll probably have to add a cup of salt.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Scott, as an after thought to this conversation, I agree with Carlos on recommending the good Doctors. I do not keep an aquarium at this point in time but I have relied on the Doctors to keep my cats healthy going back as far as when I was breeding Himalayans and also showing them. I still rely on these folks for products for my strictly house cats. The products are as they state and you can actually get a real person on the phone if you have questions. The final straw is that shipping is reasonable and quick. This post might be off topic and in that case, I am sorry but these are my 2 cents on suppliers to the home pet keeper.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I agree about the Doctors, I use them all the time.
The picture of the refractometer on their website is a lesser quality model than most any of the ones I saw on ebay (aside from the cheapest junk).
The refractometer I linked to was the nicest one I could find online anywhere, quality-wise.
I decided to do without and keep doing what I've been doing for lots of years. Kinda talked myself out of creating problems where there weren't any. :)

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I just got back from the LFS withe some critters. A couple of peppermint shrimp, a cleaner shrimp and a dozen snails (so the hermit crabs will have something to play with). I traded in a clump of Xenia, a candy coral frag, three green hairy mushrooms and a leather coral. Snails never seem to last more than a year, but a long as it was part of a trade I'll try again.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I use to have a Harlequin Tusk that was cool to watch with snails.
He would flip them over and nail them with those tusks.
I wish I could say they lasted a day.:r

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Great fun to have a "violent" tank. You could have your mantis shrimp fight with lobsters and see which one the trigger got first, etc. :D

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I want an Aussie tusk. Correct me if im wrong but arent tusks semi reef safe only because thye will eat inverts not so much coral. I sure do want one.

Would it be a problem with any of my stock?

Maroon Clown
Kole Tang
Flame angel
Zebra Moray
Clown Goby

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Not at all a problem.
They are quite safe for reefs as long as you don't have crabs/snails. Man do they love that stuff.
They have a tendency to go blind with time. I saw that in at least 10 in various tanks. However, the ones in reefs faired much, much better and remained more vibrant in color.
It is well worth the money to find a New Caledonian one. Much deeper color than the Aussies. Their teeth are also a deep bluish color. Really, really cool looking with more of a maroon color rather than the more common orange like.
Had one for about 5 yrs. before he went blind. Hand fed him for about another year and then ended up losing him. Miss that fish. Loved the way he would run from my big angels and at a certain point, he would do a sudden stop, turn around and open his mouth huge wide to scare the crap out of them with his teeth. Very docile overall although I would occasionally find one of his teeth embedded in one of my angels. They deserved it.:r Would fall off them. He would grow another. They would do it all over again.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Thats what I thought. The Aussies are ~$200 I ant imagine what a Caledonia would cost. Im a collage student lol. Ill probally settle for the more common one anyways. But that will be a while since Ive already added too many fish this month. Gottle let everything stabilize then WC then Ill think about one of those guys and that would be My final addition. Much prettier than a Hippo Tang :-)

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Sand in! Water in! Whoo...

http://inlinethumb50.webshots.com/20...425x425Q85.jpg

Cycling the sand

Cure tank:

Ammonia 0.25
Nitrites 2
Nitrates 5
PH 8.4
Salinity 1.023

Thats it for now. Oh and walking out of meijers with 30 gallons of water gets you massive funny looks.

Brad

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Looks Awesome! Congrats on the setup! Let me know if you would liek to upgrade the lighting.

Im looking to sell my 20" sunpod will accommodate up to a 24" tank. 150watt 14k Halide. New bulb. Asking $200. Used less than 6 months.

Reason for selling: Upgraded from the 24 gallon tank to a 90 gallon tank. Tearing down the 24 gallon.

PM if interested.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

waters clear! :D Got a bunch of bubbles on the side, but the flow with out my Powerhead in there is a bit lack luster with the stock pump. rated for 250GPH but i doubt its pushing 100GPH. but I have a Koralia 1 so that issue will be fixed! :D


on another note, does anyone have a powerhead they want to get rid of? I need one more for my cure/quarentine/hospital tanks, doesnt need to be fancy or pretty looking but just need one, if you have one PM me!

Thanks

:D

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Use to have a bunch of them.
You are about 9 months or so too late as I cleaned out and threw out.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

PMed

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I'm impressed with myself.
This whole thread has only cost me a mere $20 so far. :r

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I just looked over and my buddies are hungry. They're all up at the top of the tank looking over the chair so they can see me.
That's their "feed me alarm". They're a trip. :)

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

That is what they do 24/7, eat.
I don't think they know what it is like to be full.
If there is food, they will eat.
Signs of healthy fish.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I've been picking anemones out of my tank at about 50 to 100 per day since that last picture and it's starting to make a difference. I take out a rock or coral, hold it it a bucket of water and go at it with a plastic picking tool I made. The problem is that there are over 1000 in there and they divide rapidly. If I don't pick for a month they repopulate. There are some I will never get.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Remember me complaining about that Lunare Wrasse throwing water out of the tank? I fixed that and didn't have to flush him down the toilet.
Instead of throwing the food on top of the water, I pinch it between my fingers and soak it, then let it go below the water level so it sinks.
End of problem. :tu
I'm glad cause Kerri didn't want me to get rid of that fish.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I have just a few tiny brown anemones on my live rock. They must not be the same kind because they don't spread.
What does spread at an alarming rate are the little with tubeworm fans. I have literally thousands of them in my tank and everything is covered with the little curlique calcium larvae thingies.
They're cool, so I'm okay with it, but they'd easily qualify as a scourge. :D

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

My anemones started out as a couple of innocent little things. At first I thought they were cool, as they were not aiptasia. Aiptasia are slender funnel shaped and semi transparent with delicate tentacles. Majano are button shaped with more stubby bi-colored tentacles. Aiptasia will spread quickly from small pieces if you disturb them but die easily from injection. Majano divide readily but do not spread from pieces, They are resilient against injection. If you think you have majano I would get rid of them asap.
The little tubeworms stay in dark placed in my tank, like in the plumbing.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Mine are tiny and they've stayed tiny. I just went and looked and couldn't even find one, but I remember them being the same as the Majano's you described.
A bonus is that I found a coral that I thought was lost. It's a blue one, one that Steve (Fissure) sent me. I was really bummed about it cause I thought it was dead.
I'm going to the store right now to buy super glue gel.
I had been using the two-part epoxy and although I got some of the corals to stay put, it really sucks for the most part.
I have two corals that need stuck good and tight, and then this whole recent coral gathering adventure will be all done.

Hey, what are the little string fingers called that come out of my live rock everywhere?
They're real long, thin and spooky. They stick way out, feel around, and then disappear back into the hole in the live rock.
There are so many things on my rock that I could go on an expedition for a year and never identify them all. Just noticed a whole colony of tiny red centered fans, too.
I'm almost scared to let the corals grow for fear they'll cover up all the cool stuff. :)
Oh, I found another big orange sponge and a new yellow sponge that'd starting, too. :)

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

If they are more wormlike they are probable just borrowing worms that live in the rock and unroll like socks to eat detritus when it's quiet.

Sometimes it's good to trade some of your live rock in for new pieces just to get some new critters. You just have to be careful not to get any baddies. I have lots of bristle worms so I don't care about them, unless I find one by accident. Never seen a mantis shrimp, yet. I got a drilling snail once. It drilled holes in the shells of other mollusks to eat their insides.
I keep a flashlight and magnifier on the tank for exploring.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I have zillions of bristle worms. They eat all the detritus and keep my tank nice and clean. I have tons of tiny shrimp, too. Don't know what they are.
When the lights go out the tank becomes a whole new world. Crabs and hermits and worms and shrimp are all over the place. It's incredible. Fun to watch, too. :)

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Guys, I have a question on this super glue gel/sticking frags thing.
Can I apply the glue to the frag and then stick it in the water and onto the rock or do I have to take the rock out, dry it a little and apply it?
I was hoping I could do the whole deal underwater, but if not I can remove some water and pull the rock and do it right.
Should I place the rock in a bucket (with the water I've removed from the tank) and let it cure a little bit?
If I do it that way, should I throw the water away that I used to cure the glue?
Never used super glue gel ever, let alone to glue frags.
Thanks!!! :)

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I use epoxy stick. Cut off a piece, squish it a bit, mold like putty, put back in tank. I'm curious about the super glue.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I will make an instructional video and post it on youtube tonight. The easiest way is to take the grad out and put it in a tupperware with enough water to cover it. Then take out the rock you want to glue it onto (dont take out big pieces of LR).

Another way with the superglue GEL (absloutly MUST be the GEL kind) put about the size of a small marble of super glue on the bottom of the frag the quickly place the frag where you want it i your tank. press firmly against the rock and twist back and forth.
Reason for this is when the super glue GEL hits the SW it forms a skin or layer on the top of it and by rotating the frag the skin breaks and lets the glue underneath adhere to the rock.

let me know if this helps. I am big into fragging.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

That helps HUGE. Thank You!!!
I imagined it just like you said, I'm gonna go give it a try.
I got super glue gel. I have tons of super glue but never used the gel. That's why I figured I better ask before I kill all my fish with it. :)

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I've used it. It sucks.
If the rock that the frag is on is not big enough then I can't work the putty up around the edge to hold it.
It doesn't "stick", it just hardens. For little frags it's worthless. For big frags it's worked pretty good. I just had a big frag fall off that's been stuck for a month, so I'm done with epoxy altogether. I'm gonna see how the gel does. :tu

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Not a problem. Glad I could help. :-D

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

It worked great. I stuck the two frags to surfaces that were all uneven and they stuck with no problems at all. If they're still where I put them after the snails come out tonight, I'll be a super glue gel believer. :D

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I've heard of using it on softies like shrooms, which I always put someplace they will just settle.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

lol The super glue gel is the only thing I have ever used. Its a wonderful thing.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Just playing with photoshop and merging pictures together. in this one picture I actually took 4 then spliced them together. What do you think.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...0gallonpan.jpg

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

It looks really good. :tu
You gotta get that purple stuff to grow. :)

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

My tank is growing mostly green coraline. The LR is only ~6 months old itll be a while. :ss

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

What the heck is green coralline? I get a bunch of green algae that grows on the glass and all over stuff that doesn't have any purple coralline, but the purple eventually displaces it.
I used to get a lot of that brown algae, but it was because of my lights. With the new t5's little of the brown stuff grows, usually none at all.
I never heard of green coalline though. I thought it was just algae.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

coraline algae can come in many colors from green to white to purple. the majority of mine if green. Look at the overflow chamber those green circles are actually green coraline that is growing. I wish it was purple! :fl:fl:fl:fl:fl

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I have seen it in various colors while red is prominent, with white being a far second and so on.

Simple rule I always followed. If you can wipe it off or brush it off or if you can get it to partially dissipate in the water via a brush, coraline it is certainly not. If it doesn't even budge, coraline it is.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Just remembered one of my posts on here regarding the B-11's.
Power just went out not too long ago for about 3 minutes or so.
Nothing to fear.
The second it went out, my B-11's kicked on.
When it was restored, they went off.
I never even budged.
That is the bet $10 x's 2 that I have ever put in that tank.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Carlos, I got my B-11 today. I need to get a hunk of tubing because they only sent about a foot. I'm pleased with the quality, I'm going to be glad I got it, I'm sure. :tu
Thanks for letting us know about them!!! :)

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

Yeah, forgot to mention that "tubing" thing.
I have no clue who they made that for as it is so short indeed.
I bought my own tubing and cut it to the length I needed for my tank.
Also, forgot to mention.
Pick up some spare air stones.
Get the package that brings a half dozen or so as cheaper that way.
You will need them as in time, they clog due to algae build up and need replacement.
Best thing you ever bought for your tank.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

I was picking anemones this morning and this worm volunteered to cycle out of the tank:
http://130.94.224.229/share/ouch.jpg
It was scrunched up to about two inches in the photo. It could stretch out to about six inches.

Re: The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread
 

That's just a baby:D Wait till you find one the size of your pinkie finger, and scrunched up it is 8 inches long. Threw that one in my sump downstairs.