Starboard Reef is up and running

[Aquaticman74]

Marc, your tank is full... Mine has lots of room!

[melev]

I knock down all my twigs for some larger colonies any day.

[Aquaticman74]

Plus I don't think he would want them going into that beautiful Starfire tank with all that yucky sand.

[Weatherman]

Originally posted by Aquaticman74
Seriously though, back to your anemone plans. Don't they like to plant their foot in sand?

Not all. The bubble-tip anemones, like the ones in the picture, like to bury themselves in rock crevices. I'm sure there are others that like rocks, as well.

[Bomber]

Sand would kill them.

(I'm running out of here right now)

[Bomber]

Originally posted by Weatherman
Not all. The bubble-tip anemones, like the ones in the picture, like to bury themselves in rock crevices. I'm sure there are others that like rocks, as well.

I don't understand that. We keep Caribbean carpets all the time in BB systems. I would think they would be just like the Pacific carpets that are supposed to have to have sand.

[Weatherman]

Originally posted by Bomber
I don't understand that. We keep Caribbean carpets all the time in BB systems. I would think they would be just like the Pacific carpets that are supposed to have to have sand.

This is the reference I've been using to determine what kind of Pacific anemones to keep in my bare-bottom tank. Whether it's 100% accurate, I don't know.

http://www.carlosreef.com/AnemoneFAQ.pdf

My decision to go with bubble-tips (Entacmaea quadricolor) was mainly because they were rock dwellers. That is something I know for sure. Bubble-tips don't care about sand; they like rocks.

Maybe the confusion was from when I said "Not all", I meant "not all genera".

[joefish]

Originally posted by Bomber
I'm just tired of baby sitting corals. I need something new.

Yea , once you know how to grow them , then they get boring .


This , is my route too .

[NoSchwag]

Originally posted by joefish

Yea , once you know how to grow them , then they get boring .

I wish I had this problem.

I got my skimmer skimming wet, now all i need is to learn how to keep the snail poop off my rocks, then I think things will start to look up..

[Bomber]

Originally posted by joefish


Yea , once you know how to grow them , then they get boring .


This , is my route too .

and it gets boooooorrrrrrriiiiinnnnnnggggg

Even though I have a lot of fish already, there's some I obviously can't keep and some that I have right now that I shouldn't.

I know the corals are going, I know I'm adding a few anemones and different inverts. We'll see. If the tank looks strange to me after this, I can always add corals back to it.

[kimoyo]

Hey Bomber,

I'm going on week 2 of cooking my rocks. To avoid issues in the future after this process is over, I would like to add as little phosphate as I can to the system. So I have a few questions for you if you would.

Earlier this month you made these two posts in another thread.

Originally posted by Bomber
Pseudomonas are very good at converting ammonium to nitrite and do it fast. You'll have nitrite until bacteria get established and start migrating nutrients (N and P) into the rock to perform denitrification.
Right now you want them to migrate nutrients - out - of the rock. That's why you try to keep the water column a lot cleaner that what's in the rock. They will try and reach a equilibrium with that.

Originally posted by Bomber
Add the clean up crew before you turn on the lights. Make sure you have enough algae eaters. Bacteria should have moved the nutrients to the surface of the rocks about the time you see detritus slowing down.
When you light them, you establish different bacterial layers and someof the nutrients are actually moved back into the rocks. Before that can happen, you will get a layer of algae on the surface of the rocks.
Have the algae eaters ready for that. Let them harvest that layer of algae and you export their waste.

1) When denitrification occurs, what happens to the P. I was under the impression that once the bacteria has the P it holds onto it until it dies or replicates.

2) If you cook your rocks, should you still expect to see this layer of algae when the lights come on?

3) Can you talk a little about the new bacterial layers that form and push the other bacteria (nitrosomonas and nitrobacter) deeper in the rock?

4) Assuming that the majority of P we put in our tanks is by feeding. What do you feed your fish and how (washing, etc.)?

[kimoyo]

Bump for Bomber.

[melev]

Paul, you might have to bump this a few times. He just turned another year older, and it takes time for the alcohol to wear off.

Try using the magic word.

doughnuts

[kimoyo]

Marc - LOL

[Bomber]

LOL either that or brownies, Dairy Queen, you know all the catch words.

1) More or less. For the most part they still need it no matter where they are, it's just in all different forms.
I think you're thinking of the aerobic (with O2 or air) part. That's the mobilization part where they incorporate P, mobilize it, take it where they need it.
Do this, think of the aerobic as not leaking.
Think of the anaerobic, anoxic interface, as a liquid soup that leaks.

2) Yep. You're going from pushing out, so you could have algae fertilizer sitting on the surface of the rocks - to pulling back in. Until they stop shedding, reverse the process, and start denitrification/nitrification - in between you can get algae.

3) Yep, if I understood what you're asking.
Here's where I think it's throwing you. Rocks and sediment try to maintain a sort of equilibrium with the water interface. There are no new layers formed, you're just asking them to process instead of shed.

4) Most people would be amazed how much P is in the plumbing, any thing plastic, etc. How much is in sand, etc.

We use the same old formula for blender mush that we've been using for over 50 years. Whatever seafood is cheap and fresh.

Then rely on export, not import.

[tankslave]

Anyone know what happened between gregt and Dave Botwin? I was just curious. I figured one of you Florida guys might know and might pm me the story...

[Bomber]

Dunno, I did a quick look and found this. If it's breaking the rules, then it's not up to just one person to enforce them.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...92#post6153792

[imsqueak]

Hey bomber, and all,

You may remember that I bug you every few months about my floating white stuff that I cant get rid of (1.5yrs BB now). I have a theory since adding more flow to no avail. So now I have lots of stuff suspended but it isn't getting down to the sump. My tank is 300g (8x2x30"). My overflows are in corner and about 5-6" squared. I've mod' my overflows to include over half dozen more holes/ea that go 2" below the "teeth". You are going to ask what size bh, they are just 1"/ea. Why? who knows, old tank... They keep up with Iwaki MD70rlt though.

So about a year to figure out flow isn't the problem. Filtration, or lack of ability to get water to it, is. What are my options? I hate the thought of a canister filter but that's all I can come up with. Any other suggestions?

[melev]

Any idea what the white stuff is, first of all?

[imsqueak]

I call it "stuff" for easy spelling. It's dirtrius (sp). Rocks quit spitting sand 6 mos ago or more.

BTW, 6-8 small fish is all I have; 1x 3" y.tang, 1x 3" black velvet damsel, 2x 2" royal gramas, 2x clowns, 1 grn cromis. Feed 2x weekly.

STILL got a problem...

Oh yea, and run 5 micron bags on overflows 3-5 outa 7 days. Weekly water changes (35g) and I blow the rocks w/ powerhead taped on pvc stick and run 1.5" pool vac hose into it's own micron bag for 1 hr every wk before I actually siphon and change the water. SERIOUSLY, I do all this and still have so much floating crud that people think its micro-bubbles until they stand next to the tank and see that it's floating white stuff.

Argh, thousands of dollars on my tank and "sheet" is still killing my sps.

[melev]

I'm out. The only solution I can think of is a canister filter to suck up the floating particles, since it won't go down to the sump for some reason. Maybe your returns are pointing in the wrong direction and blowing it away from the area you need it to get to.

[joefish]

Happy thanksgiving all !

It seems like the perfect day for ?


You guessed it


My favorite.

[Bomber]

The Chocolate Banana Milk Shake! LOL

Joe, you're going to love this. It's supposed to finally be flat tomorrow, and not again probably for weeks. I'm going out and haul as much water as I can.
Then I'm stripping this baby down. Adding a little more rock for looks. And a lot more fish.

[joefish]

Originally posted by Bomber


Joe, you're going to love this. It's supposed to finally be flat tomorrow, and not again probably for weeks. I'm going out and haul as much water as I can.
Then I'm stripping this baby down. Adding a little more rock for looks. And a lot more fish.

What no sand ? Fish need sand don't they ?


I need to throw up a few updated shots , But I like having fish and anemonies .

Are you going to change your lighting ?

[gregt]

This thread was automatically split due to performance issues. You can find the rest of the thread here: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=715742