timrandlerv10
10/31/2006, 11:10 PM
Ok, I have been completely convinced I need to do water changes on a schedule.
Sooo...here I am, ready to change water. I have 5 gallons of RO/DI water, right temp, right salinity, and then I realize...I JUST USED MY BUCKET.
easy lesson there. have two buckets.
Now, I wonder, what is that white stuff [I have these white bugs on my tank at night...help...(j/k :) ] floating in the top of the bucket? It must not be bad, because that whole bag of salt must have had it. There are undissolved white solids that are in suspension at first, and then float to the surface. It will not dissolve, so it isnt salt, or, I imagine, trace minerals.
I plan to skim it off and use the water, but out of curiosity, what is it?
I am using Instant Ocean salt.
seriously, have more than one bucket...even if one is smaller, it is much better to have at least two...
As far as top off goes, I am only losing about .5 G a week from my 44G corner tank, thanks to the near perfect seal the hood has on the tank, with only very small margins for the heater and HOT Emperor 260 filter. The 18" 7 year old flourescent light is cool to the touch, so no extra heat there.
(seriously, this is my set up!)
This weekend/next week we plan to get a 250w 20K MH pendant, and just remove the hood altogether. I'm making an egg crate top--we don't have jumpers, but my office manager (who is also my wife, so I dont want to get her mad!) said I needed to do something.
We will put a 20G fuge in the beneath the tank in the stand, but I havent figured out what to use to pump the water up...its needs to get pushed up about four feet, and it needs to be quiet. Suggestions please!
I will be building the fuge to fit out of 1/4" acrylic, so if you want to suggest something be custom done to it, now is the time! The water will come from a weir at the top, so there will also have to be some type of powerhead with venturi or something to suck air if we lose siphon. I dont have a powerhead in the tank now--just the cascade from the HOT filter (yeah, I know, make that suggestion too).
Current creatures are four blue green chromis, a scarlett crab, an emeral crab, a sally lightfoot, a snail, and two STUNNING aiptasia (what luck...) and some chaeto.
I would like to get 2 maroon clowns, 2 mandarins for sale locally that eat prepared food (that is NOT an urban myth! they exist!), zoos, a purple gorgonian, 2 skunk/cleaner shrimp, a blood shrimp, and a replacement host--right now the clowns are hosting in a clam.
current metrics: 1.022, 8.3, NH2 0, NH3 between 0 and 5...nice test kit...KH 6 drops, which suprised me, so I need to work on that. 3" dsb, 12#'s LR, 25#'s base rock which is picking up color and 'things.'
Fire away on lighting, filtering, bioload, biodiversity, parameters.
thanks and best of luck to everyone!
Tim
Sooo...here I am, ready to change water. I have 5 gallons of RO/DI water, right temp, right salinity, and then I realize...I JUST USED MY BUCKET.
easy lesson there. have two buckets.
Now, I wonder, what is that white stuff [I have these white bugs on my tank at night...help...(j/k :) ] floating in the top of the bucket? It must not be bad, because that whole bag of salt must have had it. There are undissolved white solids that are in suspension at first, and then float to the surface. It will not dissolve, so it isnt salt, or, I imagine, trace minerals.
I plan to skim it off and use the water, but out of curiosity, what is it?
I am using Instant Ocean salt.
seriously, have more than one bucket...even if one is smaller, it is much better to have at least two...
As far as top off goes, I am only losing about .5 G a week from my 44G corner tank, thanks to the near perfect seal the hood has on the tank, with only very small margins for the heater and HOT Emperor 260 filter. The 18" 7 year old flourescent light is cool to the touch, so no extra heat there.
(seriously, this is my set up!)
This weekend/next week we plan to get a 250w 20K MH pendant, and just remove the hood altogether. I'm making an egg crate top--we don't have jumpers, but my office manager (who is also my wife, so I dont want to get her mad!) said I needed to do something.
We will put a 20G fuge in the beneath the tank in the stand, but I havent figured out what to use to pump the water up...its needs to get pushed up about four feet, and it needs to be quiet. Suggestions please!
I will be building the fuge to fit out of 1/4" acrylic, so if you want to suggest something be custom done to it, now is the time! The water will come from a weir at the top, so there will also have to be some type of powerhead with venturi or something to suck air if we lose siphon. I dont have a powerhead in the tank now--just the cascade from the HOT filter (yeah, I know, make that suggestion too).
Current creatures are four blue green chromis, a scarlett crab, an emeral crab, a sally lightfoot, a snail, and two STUNNING aiptasia (what luck...) and some chaeto.
I would like to get 2 maroon clowns, 2 mandarins for sale locally that eat prepared food (that is NOT an urban myth! they exist!), zoos, a purple gorgonian, 2 skunk/cleaner shrimp, a blood shrimp, and a replacement host--right now the clowns are hosting in a clam.
current metrics: 1.022, 8.3, NH2 0, NH3 between 0 and 5...nice test kit...KH 6 drops, which suprised me, so I need to work on that. 3" dsb, 12#'s LR, 25#'s base rock which is picking up color and 'things.'
Fire away on lighting, filtering, bioload, biodiversity, parameters.
thanks and best of luck to everyone!
Tim