Newbie Corner Feedback Thread

[Paul B]

Where is Waterkeeper?
No it will not eliminate all algae, not even close. All the food you put into the tank stays there and becomes plant food. Food contains nitrogen and sometimes phosphates. The animals themselves add ammonia and CO2. These things equal algae. But if you are using tap water this just adds to the nitrates and phosphates already there and it is cumulative. My tap water here in NY has a nitrate reading of 10. If I continousely add this, it will just keep rising. At least RO water eliminates these pollutants.
I got my bare bones RO/DI on line. I just connected it to a 5 gallon bucket and built a float switch that turns off the electric valve that feeds it. All RO units work basically the same so it doesen't really matter which one you get, the important thing is the membrane that is in it. Some of them only reduce the pollutants 90% or so which may let through enough chemicals to harm your corals which happened to me twice. You also need to decide how much water you need to make daily. Some of them only make 5 gallons which may be fine while others can make as much as you want. My unit makes 15 gallons a day but my tank only uses one gallon a day. I like the 15 gallon size it just takes me a couple of days to make enough for a water change.
I am charging Waterkeeper per word. This is his job.

[steaminmikado]

so when you go to top off... you just turn the unit on? or do you have to wait for it to function? my g/f wants me to get a bow face tank here in the next month or 2 when we put hard wood floors in. before i go to that step i want to get everything aquarium wise straightened up. going from 55 to 75... when i go to transfer my water over into the big tank... will the tank cycle when i add sooo much "fresh" water and that one time? or do you have any suggestions. ...... btw, i see the ro units with a tank... what is the tank for?

[steaminmikado]

btw my nitrate's here in birmingham are 0 out of the faucet

[steaminmikado]

what if i boil water, let it cool to room temp then poor into my top off?

[Magic Hook]

Waterkeeper, Thanks for getting us on the right track. Our new BioCube has been up three weeks now. After putting in cured LR from the other tank on top of the live sand, then removing the bioballs, the nitrates are about 5 already with one 20% water change so far. To say we are thrilled would be a under statment. Our larger tank is going to take more but its getting better as well after removing half of the bioballs. We are waiting for another additional 70 pounds of LR to cure, then we will get rid to the other half of them. We are also turing our sump into a fuge when we do that.

Here is our question. The LFS sweard by Red Mangrove shoots and Caulerpa, Halimeda algae, and Shaving Brush plants for the fuge. Any opnions would again be greatly appreciated. We are having trouble finding the Cheato.

[Paul B]

Waterkeeper did you break her other ankle?
The tank with the RO units is to store the water. When they make water it only drips the purified water. The tank stores it until it is needed. I have that tank above the height of my tank in another room so the water flows from the tank to the tank through a float valve. It is all automatic but you don't have to do that.
Boiling the water will only make the nitrates in it hot. It will do nothing else except maybe adding metal from the pot.
It is great that the tap water in your town is zero, are the phosphates zero? How about radon, lead, zinc, or insecticides?
It may be zero today but change tomorrow. As I said, tap water may be fine in some places.
OK I am retired now. Waterkeeper should wake up soon.

[WaterKeeper]

Why Paul? You're doing a great job.

Actually as Marc wrote the ariticle for this month he should be minding the store.

[Paul B]

Well it's about time, and who's Marc and where has he been?
I have been telling people to use nothing but undergravel filters fed by bioballs with a substrait of asphalt.

[WaterKeeper]

I thought you'd opp for colored marbles for substrate but I guess that doesn't work well with a UGF.

Marc Levenson, Melev. Da Sump Guy.

[reeftex]

I hate to ask these questions because, gasp, they are redundant. I appreciate everyone's patience.

1. I am moving to Austin Texas and want to set up a reef tank. I would love to find a local mentor who might be able to set me on the right path. Could anyone recommend vendors and reef clubs in Texas?

2. Should I begin with a smaller, nano cube around 30 gallons, to practice? Or...

3. Should I start with a bigger tank?

My ideal tank would be around 200 gallons with a large refugium.

I like the idea of curing my own live rock and taking great care in aquascaping. At this point, too, I am nuts about soft and LPS corals. But I am not concerned about keeping anything too difficult. I just want a healthy and long-lived tank.

Reeftex.

PS. All I have been doing is reading for 2 years and own all the recommended books. But still, I am scared to start.

[reeftex]

I understand when the same questions are asked over an over.....

Perhaps this one is easier.

Is it better to start with a smaller tank and gain experience or try, with care, to start with a large one. I like the look of 100 plus gallons, but a smaller nano tank, the "all in one" models, appeal to my inexperience.

Thanks you in advance for any help. I do read the forums here but sometimes they are difficult to navigate.

RT.

[WaterKeeper]

Hi Reeftex,

To Reef Central

Sorry I am so slow in answering but asking me questions during the NFL playoffs is like talking to a brick wall.

I'd go with your ideal but there is money involved. A large tank will be far more stable and you, of course, can have a much better selection of livestock in a large tank. However, a 200 gallon will cost $$$ and unless you have the funds it may be a burden on your bankbook. You can start off small with something like seahorses and maybe some mushroom corals. They don't require anything special in lighting and need very low flows; that saves $. You can't have fish in a seahorse tank as the little guys cannot compete with fish. However, they are great beginner fish for the nano tank.

Just remember that they are as dependant on water quality as any other fish. Regular, fairly large (25%) weekly water changes are a must but the small tank makes that easy on the wallet.

[WaterKeeper]

This month's column--Completing the Initial Set-up.

[Magga Pie]

I have a 55 gallon tank. Planning on making it into a fowlr would a sealife system 60 acrylic wetdry be good for it?

[WaterKeeper]

Nope; but you'll need to wait till next month to find out why.

[Paul B]

I'm on pins and needles, how will I ever sleep until then?

[keshmir]

Hi there,

I read your article and found it very helpful. I am currently setting up a new 220gal tank that is a combination of two of my old smaller tanks (110 + 70). I never used canister filter before and my question is in that regards. If I have a wet/dry sump with lots of rocks and sand in the tank, what size canister filter should I get for 220 galon tank.

There are a lot of canister filters out there that they advertise the appropriate tank size. However, it seems to me that those advertisements consider the canister filter as the main filter mechanism. In my case (based on your article) I already have good bio filteration going and just want to add a carbon filter for additional water clarity.

So the question is what size/brand of canister filter do you recommend?

Thanks in advance,
Nasser

[EdBear]

Can someone help me identify this invertebrate? A have a new reef tank and am not sure of the conditions, light, food, depth, etc. of this animal. Thanks, Ed
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...ow_fingers.JPG

[tanyashankles]

Im by no means qualified to give a definite response and the picture quality is low, but it looks like a finger leather or colt coral, my finger leather looks like that, mine is pinkish. Also depending on the strength of your light depends on the location you should have it. Almost all corals like lots of light, I have 2 x 250 watt Metal halide lights, and my leathers are on the bottom of the tank. When I had power compacts at 260 watt, they were happier on the top. But like I said Im only going by the fact that it resembles mine and I was told by someone on here that it was a finger leather. Good luck!

[EdBear]

Tanyashankles, Thanks, Besides the light, what do they eat? I also have a ton of Zoanthids taking over my tank and I think they might be killing my Finger Leathers. Any suggestions? And by the way, I'm new to Reefs and this site. very experienced with Fresh water tanks (plants and fish). Thanks, Ed

[Paul B]

Tanyashankles, You seem very qualified, it looks like a colt coral to me too. It kind of resembles Waterkeeper. They can get by with less light than many corals but of course they still need light. I have kept them for years with no feeding.

[tanyashankles]

I target feed mine, but I dont know if it does anything at all, I target feed them an invertebrate food for corals by coralife, It is a gel stuff for all corals. Just power packed protein, fatty acids, and vitamins, maybe plankton. It dont say what is in it, but it is called invertebrate target food by coralife. Any target food for corals will work, Im not sure if it is absolutely necessary to target feed them but definitely couldnt hurt. Like I said I feed mine just in case...

[EdBear]

Paul B and Tanyashankles thank you so much. I'm thinking colt coral since I do have one that on the bottom of the tank and doing well. I unfortunately have a lot of them 1/3 higher and they don't seem to be doing well (black tips forming) and Zoo's seem to be climbing right on top of them. I've been feeding for soft corals but with a frozen micro sized red dot item (I'm out of town and forgot the name). I'll pick up some of the Invert food powder from Coralife. In the mean time, should I try to remove some of the zoanthid's and move my colt's to a lower position?
Ed

[tanyashankles]

You could remove some zoas if they are taking over, but if they are taking over then that means you have a happy healthy tank, and there is a growth explosion. I wouldnt discard them, thats just me and I am a zoa lover, but you could cut off a chunk of the rock they are on and move them to a different location of the tank, and start a new colony. I just paid alot of money for a zoanthid colony (cherry bombs and orange eyed greens) Well alot of money for my pocketbook that is. But they are beautiful anyway, and consider your options before you 'weed them out' alot of people on here in the trading forum are looking for zoanthids and palythoas to trade for some other corals, or you could frag them out and sell them for a nice profit... Anyway just some suggestions. And thank you to paul B for your kind words...

[NanoCube-boy]

great write up.