lots of questions

[WestTxReefer]

ok sooooo here goes....


recently i set up the 75g rr, got milky water, did multiple water changes, got that cleared up. To those of you who read my last thread, it ended up being the substrate i was using. Its all clear and pretty now. I work out of the country, and am currently in Argentina, for the next month or so. This will give the tank some time to cycle, as i have put in about 100lbs of live rock, and 35lbs of live sand from the display tank at my LFS, then another 50lbs of the aragonite **** that turned my water milky.
ok so here are my questions.


i want to put an eel and only an eel in there for my fish. No other fish will be in there, unless this turns out to be a bad idea for what else i plan on putting in there. I am thinking of getting a yellow head moray eel, i saw one at the LFS in Lubbock and fell in love with it, those things look cool as hell!! What type of water conditions do i need, feeding cycles, etc etc.... i wont be home for another few weeks, and im probably not going to put him or anything else in there for a couple more months after, so the tank will be fully cycled. But i would like to know ahead of time what i might be getting myself into. Also, how friendly are these guys with coral?????


Calcium reactors, ok what are these, do i need one, i know nothing about them at all. I tried the search function, but it is disabled at the moment, so please forgive my not knowing.

dosing?? ive tried to read up on this, but once again the search is broken and google brings up some dumb stuff when i look there..

i want to run a variety of soft corals ( colts, leather, mushrooms, etc..) i have the lighting needs taken care of, so not to worry there. But this also falls back to my question about dosing and calcium reactors and whatnot.


Good skimmer..... this home made thing that came with the tank is, well not performing worth a #$%^ lol. What if i buy a skimmer that is too big? is that possible? can you "over-skim" an aquarium?? Any suggestions here would be great. oh id like to stay under the 300ish price range here as well, if that can be helped, if not oh well lol.

I'm sure ill think of some more questions as they pop into my head.

oh ill post pics as soon as i get back to the states of what i have so far, i know its just a 75g, but i know how all you readers are picture addicts as well lol ( so am i by the way)

Thanks in advance,

WTR

[Lightsluvr]

While the search function is down, you can go out on google or similar search engine and type in reef central, followed by your topic. It will direct you to RC articles/threads on the requested subject(s).

LL

[WestTxReefer]

lol not exactly the answe i was looking for, but thanks.:rollface:

[Sisterlimonpot]

Unless you are planning to have SPS coral or tons of LPS in your tank a calcium reactor or 2 part dosing of alk and calc isn't necessary as long as you conduct normal water changes with quality salt mix. And you can't over skim. Many skim "wet" which is what I'm assuming you meant by overskim. As far as a skimmer, you have to have a skimmer that produces nice bubbling froth and it should be consistent.

[WestTxReefer]

thanks Sister, any suggestions on what type, like manufaturer or name brand, that i might look into. I see a lot ont he net, and at my LFS but i want a good quality skimmer, and it and the live rock and sand will be my only filter devices.

[IAIN -Y-]

A calcium reactor is a device used to create a balance of alkalinity in the system. An acidic solution is produced by injecting carbon dioxide into a chamber with salt water and calcium rich media. The carbon dioxide lowers the pH, dissolving the calcium media, and producing a solution high in carboxylic acid. The effluent is then returned to the reef aquarium where the calcium is consumed by organisms, primarily corals when building skeletons. A calcium reactor is one of the most efficient methods of supplying calcium to a reef aquarium.

[WestTxReefer]

hey thanks for the info, so later on when i decide to move up to more hard to care for corals, i will probably need a reactor?

[snorvich]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15367998#post15367998 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WestTxReefer
hey thanks for the info, so later on when i decide to move up to more hard to care for corals, i will probably need a reactor?

Well "need" is a hard thing to say since dosing 3 part is always an alternative. However, for me, with larger tanks, it is easier to use a calcium reactor than to replenish dosing materials. Again, if it were me, I would focus on getting the best protein skimmer I could afford since long term that will be essential for success. Yours does not seem to be overly functional. Almost all skimmers are adjustable, that is they can be set to wet skim (remove virtually all gunk) or dry skim which results in really icky smelling stuff. The equipment forum has lots of discussion on that subject (protein skimmers).

Also, if you do want to search ReefCentral, useing google: "search term", site:reefcentral.com works terrific

[WestTxReefer]

hey thanks for all the advice, ive been looking on here at some of the skimmers in the for sale section, that will definitely be my first thing to get when i get home..



on the eel subject, noone hasa even touched base on it, anyone have any advice? ive never taken care of one before

[FavaBean]

no advice here on a eel.... maybe you could use some mojo powers on your tank haha.... and with that job you know money aint a object....lol.... do you have any pics?

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15371334#post15371334 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WestTxReefer
hey thanks for all the advice, ive been looking on here at some of the skimmers in the for sale section, that will definitely be my first thing to get when i get home..



on the eel subject, noone hasa even touched base on it, anyone have any advice? ive never taken care of one before

look into the MSX line of protein skimmers---they are fantastic

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1614133

[Kakabub]

From what I've read, the yellowhead moray is pretty reef safe but not fish safe. You might have trouble with a cuc as it is known to eat most inverts also.

[chops29]

For the money I like my Octopus DNW-200. Alot, reefers in my area use them with great success. The 2009 models have some nice design improvements but the old ones are just as good IMO.
As far as the Eel goes a buddy of mine had one in his tank and it didn't bother the other fish provided they were bigger then it's mouth and they got big mouths to body ratio. But, like stated above CuC was impossible to keep.

[WestTxReefer]

ok thanks for the help guys, i might not end up going with the eel after all, as i will need a clean up crew, im sure.

Capn. thanks for the help with the skimmer, i will check into these and probably mail order one so it is there and waiting for me when i get home.

Thanks again guys.

[WestTxReefer]

ok soooo heres what ive decided to narrow my skimmer search down to, and these are in no particular order as far as likes or dislikes.

http://www.aquacave.com/reef-octopus-nwb-150-br-needle-wheel-protein-br-skimmer-749.html


or maybe this???
http://www.aquacave.com/reef-octopus-dnwb-110-br-recirculating-protein-br-skimmer-983.html

or this one?
http://www.marinesolutionsinc.com/catalog/Protein-Skimmers-MSX-Skimmers/c22_48/p131/MSX160/product_info.html


or maybe this one
http://www.aquacave.com/precision-marine-red-line-br-100-protein-skimmer--2299.html


any reccomendations? am i looking in the wrong place?? or maybe at the wrong product line?