Micro reef Aquarium question(s)

[Ragman Jones]

1) EDIT: Nevermind The 1st question. It had some stains on it and while cleaning it, the crack expanded down the middle =(

Cant use it now... But I still have some 10 gallons, so the other questions are good to go.

2) Would Cement Be a viable choice over Epoxy, as a covering for the foam AND to hold the base/live rock in place? Epoxy here is almost $30 for a 14oz tube :eek:

3) Whats with the plants in the fuge I've seen in other pictures?

4) Im not a fan of using white colored substrate for anything; Be it rocks, sand, or paper.

Could I use Filter sand instead?
Filter sand is coarse, silica-free sand used in pool filters.

EDITED for More questions

I'll add more as they pop up. lol

[seapug]

2. I'm not sure what kind of epoxy comes in a tube, but you can buy the 2 part "sticks" at most hardware stores for a few dollars. You can use cement, but it is very caustic and needs to be cured out in saltwater for a couple weeks before putting it in your display tank.

3. The "plants" you see in peoples' refugiums are macroalgae. Chaetomorpha is a very popular type but others can be used.

4. I'm not familiar with filter sand, but if it's a natural product and doesn't contain an chemical additives or coatings it might be okay. There are other types of aquarium sands that aren't white. Most are off white or pinkish, and you can even find black sand.

[Ragman Jones]

What about Mortar (aka Tile Adhesive) instead of Epoxy or cement?
Or
Could I just use foam (great stuff) silicone to hold everything in, covering exposed/unnatural areas with crushed coral?

What does the Macroalgae do? Does it act as a Biological filter of sorts?

Huh. All the pet/fish/Aquatic stores around here have crushed coral or Live sand (both are whitish in color).

EDIT:

Just looked at this:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=169625-14221-1-04-2005&lpage=none
Would it be safe to use?

[Ragman Jones]

Also, I have Aquarium Salt that I use with my freshwater fish. Is that the same stuff to use when "making" saltwater?

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14490349#post14490349 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ragman Jones
Also, I have Aquarium Salt that I use with my freshwater fish. Is that the same stuff to use when "making" saltwater?

no --the brand name salt mixes are constructed to imitate real salt water when mixed.

Not all salt mixes are the same either --depending on your needs later on you might want a different salt mix

here is a comparison of what is in some of the common brand names.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1287118

[Ragman Jones]

Ah. On the pacgage for this salt it says "For fresh and saltwater Fish" So it made me wonder..

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14489543#post14489543 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ragman Jones
What about Mortar (aka Tile Adhesive) instead of Epoxy or cement?
Or
Could I just use foam (great stuff) silicone to hold everything in, covering exposed/unnatural areas with crushed coral?

What does the Macroalgae do? Does it act as a Biological filter of sorts?

Huh. All the pet/fish/Aquatic stores around here have crushed coral or Live sand (both are whitish in color).

EDIT:

Just looked at this:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=169625-14221-1-04-2005&lpage=none
Would it be safe to use?
^^
Anyone know about these?

[KarlBob]

Aquarium Salt is not the same as artificial sea salt. It won't support marine fish and corals. Several companies make artificial sea salts, and your local fish store (LFS) may sell pre-mixed saltwater.

Speaking of making saltwater, you probably won't be able to use tap water. Most tap water contains too many nutrients and dissolved minerals to make good saltwater. In many cases, it may be toxic to marine fish and invertebrates. The most common type of water used to make saltwater is Reverse Osmosis/DeIonized (RO/DI) water. There are a few "magic" spots where the tap water is safe to use, but until you know you live in one of those places, I woudn't try it.

The Lowes coral sand sounds like a product that some people use in reef tanks, but I haven't used it, so I can't be sure. According to most people on ReefCentral, the best substrate for reef tanks is aragonite sand. Some tanks have crushed coral, but it's generally considered inferior to aragonite.

If you don't like the off-white look of most aragonite sand, you can either look for other colors or run a bare-bottom tank. Cleaning debris is very easy when there's no sand for it to hide in, but aragonite sand does provide some benefits. Among other things, it has a buffering effect that helps to maintain the correct pH and alkalinity/hardness in the tank.

I don't know anything about the components of tile adhesive, but I suggest more research before you try it. Once you put some things in a tank, it's very difficult to completely remove them. As an example, copper treatments for ich tend to leave residual copper in aquarium sealant, which can kill marine invertebrates years later.

I'm not sure what the foam is for. Most saltwater tanks use live rock for aquascaping. The term "live rock" refers to chunks of coral skeleton that have been colonized by all kinds of bacteria, worms, etc. 1-1.5 lb of live rock per gallon of tank volume is pretty typical. The bacteria in live rock take the place of the biological filters used in freshwater tanks. Some people blend artificial live rock from cement, crushed coral and aragonite, but I don't think that silicon foam is a common aquascaping tool for salt tanks.

The macroalgae serves a couple of different purposes. The primary purpose is to consume nutrients that would otherwise fuel the growth of hair/slime/nuisance algae. Periodically, some of the macroalgae is removed from the tank, exporting the absorbed nutrients from the system.

Often, macroalgae is grown in a refugium, a protected area that serves as a refuge for tiny invertebrates like amphipods and copepods (often referred to as pods). Many fish eat pods, and they play a role in the nutrient cycles in the aquarium. When the tank has a refugium, the macroalgae serves as a breeding ground for pods.

[seapug]

I don't know about the tile grout product, but you can use Great Stuff foam. It's actually mentioned by name in the Aquascaping section of the Reef Aquarium Vol. 3 Book.

The macroalgae in a refugium removes phosphate and nitrate from the water (like fertilizer) and also creates a breeding zone for microfauna.

As far as the sand goes, you'll want to go with a finer grain product than the large (1/4"+) crushed coral. The maximum size you should use looks similar to the grain size of kosher salt. The stuff you posted is probably fine to use but you'll want to rinse it before putting it in the tank. It can cause a dust storm that can persist for weeks.

[Ragman Jones]

@Karlbob
I got the Foam Idea after reading this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1375191&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

He used Great Stuff foam to hold the rocks in place on the back wall + seal gaps and then covered it with Reef Epoxy (the exposed foam).

I was just wondering If I could substitute silicone or mortar for the Epoxy, And cover it with crushed coral or sand (while its still wet) to make a more realistic look.

I'll also look into the mortar/cement deal to see what it would take for it to work.

I'll probably end up using Epoxy in the long run, though.

Could I mix the Coral sand (or what ever sand I end up using) with the Aragonite sand, say half and half?

And a question the just popped into my head:

If a chunk of Live rock were too big, could you break it to smaller pieces with a hammer? or would it do damage or kill the organisms living there?

[KarlBob]

I'll have to check out the Great Stuff thread. Sounds like a neat project.

The Lowes coral sand might be aragonite, but I don't know one way or the other. If it is, you may not need to blend it at all.

Breaking live rock can be a contentious issue. Some people break large chunks into pieces of whatever size they need. Others advise against breaking live rock.

When you break the rock, you might damage some organisms, but most should be fine. The potential problem comes because you are opening up spaces inside the rock that were probably anaerobic (conained very little oxygen) until you cracked the rock.

It makes a difference whether you will use the recently-broken rock in a brand new tank, or add it to an established tank. In a brand new aquarium, the entire tank is going to spend days or weeks establishing a nitrogen cycle anyway, so the exposure of some long-sealed organic matter won't change things very much.

In an established tank, you may risk temporary changes to the nitrogen cycle. Decayed matter from the broken rock may produce a temporary spike in the amount of ammonia in the water. The excess ammonia might reach levels that are stressful or harmful to sensitive fish and other animals before it's converted to nitrate, nitrite, and finally nitrogen gas.