DSB v. Anaerobic Filter

[Chrisrush]

Howdy,
A friend of mine dosen't have a sand bed but he built a Anaerobic filter by wrapping 75ft of airline tubing around a peice of PVC then duct tapping it up. Would this have the same effects as a DSB?

Chris

[Impaler]

In theory..................yes. The problem is restricting the flow to a bare minimum, to let the . A steady near-stream of drips, as I've read. I believe it would be more trouble than it is really worth.

Try this, hopefully it'll work.
2Findexdondenitrator.htmDenitrator (http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aloha.net%2F%7Ehqf%2Findexdondenitrator.htm)

Dan

[Chrisrush]

Could you send the link again? My friend had it setup that it was a pretty slow drip, just a few drops per minute.

Chris

[Impaler]

Yeah, sure. It worked on mine, but here goes.

Denitrator (http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aloha.net%2F%7Ehqf%2Findexdondenitrator.htm)

Hope it works! I'm no programmer, so no guarantees!
Dan

[Chrisrush]

Thanks, the link worked. That is the basic plan that my friend used. Where in Houston are you located?

Chris

[Impaler]

Heights area, 610@I45 on the North side.

Dan

[Chrisrush]

Cool, what kinda of set up do you have?

Chris

[Impaler]

Well, the 20 sprung a leak Sunday night, Luckily the sump was what buffered the water level in the tank. I had to scramble together a brand new 40 to put everything in. I built a light hood, with 4 75watt LOA's and a 2x30watt NO with actinic and a 50/50. I had the new rocks in a trash can Sunday night(tried fishing, no luck, and noticed all the really cool rocks laying around the dike). I figured I'd put the new rock in Monday, but had to totally rebuild.

It's a 40, Empty eheim with carbon, Hagen PH for extra flow, 40 punds rock, 5 inch aragonite/Crushed coral bed, Neon Pseudo, Lawmower Blenny, and now a Devil's Hands softie coral.

Dan

[Chrisrush]

Did you have any trouble (besides the leak), with running a smaller reef tank. I've heard it's harder to keep a smaller tank (ie under 40 gallons) than a larger, more stable tank.

Chris

[Impaler]

I originally bought 20 pounds of uncured rock from the Fish Ranch when I set up the 20. Of course, I didn't know what I do now. I only had a 2 inch bed of crushed coral, and nitrates skyrocketed. Hair algea flowed really well in the current! I eventually put in a 15 gallon sump with 30# oolitic aragonite, did 1 more water change to knock the Nitrates down some, and took the media out of the Eheim, and viola! No more Nitrates! It can be done on a little sysem, but it takes the education you get from all the kind folks here that will save yer arse. I did it wrong the first time. Well, at least not totally right! I learned here how to get natural, relying on outside factors only to move the water and hold it all in one place.

Dan

[Chrisrush]

What kind of lighting do you have in your tank? MH, VHO, PC? How many watts?

[Impaler]

I did the el cheepo thing with 4xLOA 75watt. Plus a 36" 2x30watt NO fixture. The LOA's are 6500K PC's from Home Depot for 13 bucks a crack, and the 36" fixture ran me 18 bucks. The single most expensive thing was the pair of 3 foot bulbs, at $40 for both. I put it all in a DIY canopy from a $15 4'x4' sheet of 3/8 plywood. The whole thing costed $140, and puts 360 watts on the water. I'm running an actinic and a 50/50 on the 36" fixture. I couldn't ask for better!

Dan

[Chrisrush]

Do you have the plans/pic of the DIY canopy. Did you build anything else on your tank?

[Impaler]

I need to go and get a fresh roll of film. I waant to get a set of pics to post, since I'm really happy with how the tank looks.

I built a stand several years ago out of tube steel for building fishing rods, and never had the room for it. I pulled it out of the shed because it was perfect to put the tank on. Nice and open underneath.

The canopy was literally thrown together. I just put it together in my head, cut the plywood up, and zipped it up with screws. I'd like to build a new one on a table saw instead of wiht the skil saw. The edges weren't completely straight. For an hour's work though, it looks decent. I need to rewire the 36" tubes on a switch, so I don't turn it all on at once. Ah, well, all in time.

Dan

[Chrisrush]

Do you know how to wire all the different lights in? What are ballasts. I know they are what turn on the lights. How easy was it to set up the lights on the canopy?

Chris

[Impaler]

The ballast is essentially just a transformer to boost the voltages up in order to run across the gasses in the bulb. I have a basic understanding of electricity and wiring. Took a crash course wiring the house up with an electrician buddy, and worked with a maintenance man at a machine shop for a while replacing flor. ballasts and troubleshooting 440v electic motors. I just gutted the home depot lights for the goodies and wired them in. I could go into detail explaining, but that would take days typing! I'll get some pics hopefully later today.

Dan

[Chrisrush]

Dan,
Could you explain to me the difference between a HQI, Iwasaki, and a HDI bulbs. Also, what is so special about a ICECAP 660 ballast?

Chris

[Impaler]

I don't really know anything about MH at all. The only thing I know about the Icecap 660 is that it's electronic and really super efficient. Sorry............maybe someone else on the board can explain better.

Dan