Wondering if I've done more harm than good

[mellen]

Coraline will grow on whatever it can get a "grip" on. Some black ABS type plastics are made super slick and inert to saltwater reactivity and so mfrs use it on power heads and stuff to make it easier to scrape off, if you don't want it - but the coraline always seems to get a foothold, anyway, like a weed cracking a new sidewalk (tenacious, beautiful stuff!). Not sure what the orange stuff is, but why not coraline or some other calcerous algae? These algae can be different colors even within species, seem to color up from pulling in trace elements as a pigment source directly, or the color can be from a chemical/metabolic reaction to that element. Other colors are structural, though mostly in protein based tissue (animal), where chromatophore structures scatter light in different wavelengths/colors. Was the tufa recently collected from the ocean, or mined on land from a fossil source? They mine it like that in the Pac Isles just like Florida quarries mine fossil reef rock/limestone.

From the pic of the pump, I'm wondering, is that rust in the Phillips slots on the screw heads, too? What with time and money factors, maybe just pull it and dab silicone on the screw heads after scrubbing with a plastic brush and a little ammonia.

I like the pvc elbow. If you still get scum, try heating & flattening the outlet and raising it to surface or just under; wider stronger turbulence flow area that way. Keep in mind that things like cooking fumes, smoking, pet dander, plain ol' dust and other household contaminants can float over onto the open top sump; a window screen frame cover with black carbonized fibre air filter pads attached (like for central air conditioner vents) installed around to enclose sump area, cut to fit around pipes and stuff, will prevent excess surface junk from building up. Makes things look neater under the display tank, and the fuge light won't bug you so much, if you're running it opposite of the tank. The better protein skimmer you're getting (or the mod to improve the Sea Clone) will help dramatically to prevent oily surface film from foods and proteinaceous waste build-up a great deal, too.

By the way, Jupiter Girl, if you end up in Tampa, are you gonna turn coat and become a Bucs fan? If you do that, I'm a gonna splash ya with my big ol' scary Phin flukes! But wait a minute; you like cats, right? So are you already a Jag Hag?

[Evasla]

Nah...I'm not really sure which one I would pick...probably the Bucs though considering how I'll be right there. I do like the Jaguars though. Anyways, yes that is rust inside AND outside of the philips screw, have it on 3 of the 4 screws right now. Dabbing it with silicone sounds like a great plan, should keep it under control until I can do something more with it.

With what you said, I'm thinking maybe the algae is just reacting some way to the Tufa rock, since the rock itself had a lot of orange in it to begin with. It just looked weird considering how bright it was.

I'll be buying doors for the cabinet that I have the refugium in. When I bought the shelf, it came with the option of having doors or not, so now I can just go out and purchase them seperately. It'll end up looking like an armoire with a fish tank on top of it. Should be pretty nice looking.

Thanks for the help though, appreciate it

~Evasla

[mellen]

That's cool about the door option - better than the redneck rigged looking nobudget plan I yanked outta nowhere (hey, I do live in an old neighborhood called Cabbagetown; guess the urban funky hill billy mentality is finally corrupting me! ).

Alright then Jagger Girl, better turn Bucaneer quick 'fore I soak that cat fur, tee hee! Wanna know something funny as all? I actually knew that brat, whatzizname, who starred in "Flipper" - we had the same swimming instructor! He got real ticked off that I could do a dolphin kick better'n him!

[Elghinn]

All right,

Just made the embarrasing revelation to Mellen, this is Evasla. I changed my screename because I guess the name "Evasla", not to mention the way I was typing, made people think I was a girl. Not to mention the fact that I didn't catch all the "Hey girl!" references from before. Anyways, this is my new screename, my wife now holds the screename Evasla. So yes, I'm a guy. Kind of embarrassing and awkward, eh? And in response to your post, Mellen....that's crazy. I knew the original Tarzan...he still lives in Florida (near West Palm Beach actually) and has a ton of cats (i.e. lions and tigers and panthers, oh my! ).

[mellen]

ROFLMAO!!! Man, you took long enough! Yo, der_wille_, Evasla was in drag the whole time!

Anyway, Elghinn, let me be the first one to Welcome You to Reef Central!!

By the way, makes no diff - we love ya anyway.....

[Elghinn]

Thanks, talk about some hesitation on my part...I was half expecting people to just ignore me. Anyways, thanks for the welcome. Hehe

(Just picturing me getting dressed up in dresses whenever I post just so I could play the part )

[mellen]

It's o.k., darlin', it was SOOOO brave of you to "come out" in public like this. Just goes to show what a real man you are, and we're ALL so proud of you for it, son! Does this mean we get grandkids after all....? ;D

[Elghinn]

lol Not sure about that hehe. We're not in any hurry at the moment. Anyways, my pets are my kids at the moment, so once I get bored with them, perhaps I'll take that next step. Should take me a few years/decades to get this whole fish thing figured out, so we'll see lol

[melev]

Elghinn,


To Reef Central

Regarding the rusting screws, you can buy a small package of Stainless Steel screws at Home Depot for less than $1 that will allow you to replace all 4. Just take one of the old screws with you to make sure you get the matching kind.

Another method to keep your refugium surface agitated that requires absolutely no additional power is to have the outlet even with the surface. As the water drains from your display into that section, air vents out above the water level and water pours across the surface keeping it clean and agitated. This image should show you what I mean:

EDIT: I just noticed that in this shot, the elbow is submerged for some reason. It should be half submerged and half above water. Sorry for any confusion the image might present.

[Mr_Quality]

Originally posted by Evasla
Ok, this may be a silly question, but I think it merits me asking...

Are the screws on my submersible pump (Mag 7) supposed to be rusting? Because mine are, and I don't think that's a good thing for my water quality. Any thoughts?

~Evasla

I sometimes put a dab of aquarium silicone on each screw. It protects the screws from the salt water and comes right off when you need to open the pump.

[Elghinn]

Thanks for the tips. Will go get those new screws from Home Depot asap and also dab some aquarium silicone on them just to make sure. Now I have a new problem. Looks like one of the Chromis has three white spots on his Caudal Fin, they're pretty small, but they weren't there yesterday. Wondering if this may be Cryptocaryon irritans (aka saltwater ich) or Oodinium ocellatum (aka Coral fish disease). The descriptions I have read of 'saltwater ich' are:

Source is The Complete Encyclopedia of the Saltwater Aquarium by Nick Dakin
White spots 2mm (0.08 in) in diameter appear on body and fins. Fish scratch against rocks. Breathing may become rapid if gills are effected.

Now, the fish is not breathing hard...and doesn't appear to be scratching on rocks. Nor are the white spots on his tail that large. I would say the spots are half of 1 mm in diameter. For this disease, do the spots start out small and grow larger, or when they first appear are they always that large or larger?

And for 'coral fish disease':

Source is The Complete Encyclopedia of the Saltwater Aquarium by Nick Dakin
Tiny, dustlike white spots on body and fins. Fish scratch against rocks. Gills may be inflamed. Rapid gill movements, breathing affected.

Again, fish isn't scratching itself, nor does it seem to be breathing fast or hard. Somewhat hard to tell with the Chromis because they're a little spastic so they're normal breathing might be considered fast breathing for other fish. Any thoughts?

Now, reading from this site, I'm getting some additional information:

Originally posted by Shawn Prescott
Behaviour.
Gasping for air, with very rapid respiration, most typically on the floor of the Aquarium, but sometimes at the surface, are nearly always observed. In the early stages of an infection, "flashing" or rubbing & scratching are often indications as the fish tries without success to rub off the irritating organism. If the Hobbyist can pick up this "flashing" action at an early enough stage there is a chance he/she can prevent mortality

Now my Chromis spend a lot of time around the lower corners of the tank where there is high-flow, so I'm starting to wonder if they really have something, considering this is also listed as one of the symptoms. Going to be watching them closely throughout the night now that I know some of the symptoms and see if I can spot anything.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Originally posted by mellen
ROFLMAO!!! Man, you took long enough! Yo, der_wille_, Evasla was in drag the whole time!

You mean you didn't know that from the beginning? :P

PS - I like how you bothered to include the second _ even though you cut off the rest.

Evas. . . er, I mean Elghinn, in your pic of the airlift tube, it looks like the bottom of the tube is buried in substrate. If so, it'll create much more water movement (as opposed to just a bunch of air bubbles) if you raise it up a bit. The idea is to have the air pushing water up through the tube and shooting it out of the elbow at the top - the surface agitation created by the bubbles when they break is just a bonus.

If you've got the bottom in the substrate in order to anchor it, you could always just drill some big holes near the bottom to let water in. If you raise the elbow so the top of it is near or slightly above the water surface (as someone else mentioned) it'll still move water - and break up the surface even better - without quite so much splashing.

People use these sorts of airlift tubes for water movement in fry raising tanks, IMHO it's a great way to create movement in any environment where you don't want to harm tiny inhabitants (pods, in this case) with a pump impeller.

[melev]

Another option would be to put a Tee at the bottom with a little more tubing. It would make the airlift tube taller, but allow him/her to bury the tube in the substrate and still have a hole above sand (the opening from the Tee) to allow water to enter easily.

[Elghinn]

Ok, went ahead and did as der_wille suggested and extended the tube to where the elbow is half in the water and half sticking out of the surface on top. Drilled three holes towards the bottom of the tubing and placed the air tube into one of them. The air tube actually goes up the pipe a little so that water can come into the bottom of the pipe and the air comes out of the tube above the other holes...works much better now. Thanks for the suggestion.

Also went to home depot and switched out all the screws on the Mag 7...shouldn't have any problems now (:crosses fingers

Talked with my LFS today about doing a straight trade on my Coral Banded Shrimp for a Peppermint Shrimp...they said they would do it, and I've heard the Peppermints are better as part of a cleanup crew. Not only that, but the CBS is being a bully. Think I should do it, or should I stick with the CBS?

Also, check this out. This is somewhat off the subject, but here is a link to this neat little speaker gadgit. It's like a suction cup that you place on any glossy/smooth surface, and when plugged into your MP3 player, it turns that entire glossy surface into a speaker. Now, this opens the door to the inevitable thought as everyone turns a looks at their fishtank...it's been done:



My only thoughts are....those poor fish!

[mellen]

My thoughts are...plug that into the mic input and you've got a way to see if any of your critters make noise; most aquatic animals can and do! USN sub detector mics placed in the Atlantic in WWII caused some early alarms, but then they realized they were hearing the squeaks, grunts and growls of large schools of fish like tuna, et al. I would imagine Damsels sound like mini pitbulls !

By the way, how's that Chromis doing? Have you read about fresh water dips to shock off parasites? They're risky if done too late into the infestation when the fish is weakening, but a few minutes in low saline or fresh water, look at the fish with a bright light, and you may see little whitish squirmies falling off where the white dots are on his caudal fin. If you try this, use a clear container obviously, but see if you can back it with something dark to aid in seeing the tiny things. Return the fish to saltwater the second it starts to look "shocky"; after the initial panic stage from being caught, it'll quiet down a little, but if it leans to one side, then it's been in dip too long...under five minutes is usually enough. I do this, then dose with medicine in a quarantine tank for a few days to two weeks depending on how bad the infestation or infection is and what type.

CB's do have a reputation for being predatory, too, especially with other crustaceans, namely other shrimp species and if you have two male CBs. Peppermint, Camel or Scarlet Lady are a lot nicer.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Originally posted by mellen
but then they realized they were hearing the squeaks, grunts and growls of large schools of fish like tuna, et al.

And now it gives us something to pattern our active sonar after. Isn't nature ironic?

Personally, I'd trade a CBS for a pep in a heartbeat. CBS seem to be pretty aggressive overall.

[Elghinn]

Well....last night my computer decided it was going to pass away. It turned off (on its own) for the last time last night at approximately 6:11 pm. No biggie, using the wife's computer until I depart.

Night before last and last night I got some new additions for the tank. Don't know if it was the smart thing to do...BUT I think the tank can handle it and I don't forsee any problems. And the whole thing with me thinking my fish had coral fish disease or saltwater ich...nope, chromis just had some sand on his caudal fin from where he was hiding in the rocks. Watched him that night and noticed he would pick up and lose spots as he would go in and out of the rocks. So, case solved.

Tuesday I was at the LFS and was just there to browse (I swear ) and came upon a little Green Clown Goby about 3/4" to 1" long. Picked him up for $12 and brought him home and he's doing very well so far. Wednesday, I Removed the Coral Banded Shrimp from the tank and traded him in for credit towards a Six Line Wrasse, which (after the CBS) got him for $7. Went to another LFS and picked up a Peppermint Shrimp $7, and a nice piece of LR with a healthy colony of Green Star Polyps for $20. So far they're all doing well, and I don't forsee any problems. The Clown Goby and the Peppermint Shrimp won't be putting any extra bio-load on the system (not much anyway), just because the Goby is so small at the moment, and the peppermint is taking the place of the CBS. The Six Line Wrasse of course will, but I think the tank might be ready for a little more. All my base rock that I have in the tank are covered in healthy looking patches of Algae, with signs of Coralline spreading to them. The sand beds along the glass are all showing green and red algae, and there are TONS of pods in the tank, refugium, and sand beds. All my other polyps are doing well and are spreading (except for the Yellow Polyp, will take some time before it buds I think).

Also got word that Marine Depot should be shipping out my lights today. I'm somewhat disappointed in them because when I ordered the lights, I had the expectation that I would receive the lights 3-5 days after ordering (with the appropriate shipping or course). Little did I know that once I order, Marine Depot sends an order of their own to the manufacturer of the light to have one made....they don't keep them in stock . So word from them was they were going to pick it up from the manufacturer and ship it today, and I wanted 2nd day air...which may turn into 3-4 for Alaskan Residents . All good things to those who wait, eh?

Anyways, that's the update.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Quite the update, sounds like there's plenty going on with your tank!

I have two green clown gobies, they're pretty cool little fish. Mine don't seem to eat much (they'll dart out at feeding time once or twice to grab something) but they've grown like crazy - still pretty tiny, but they've probably doubled in size in the last three months.

[Elghinn]

Hey everyone,

On the 15th of this month, I ordered a ReefSun Pendant from Marinedepot.com. They just told me today they would be unable to get the part from Hamilton for the fixture I've ordered and that it will take an additional 1-2 weeks to get here. Normally I wouldn't mind, but I am leaving the country week after next for 4 months and really wanted to get the lights here and set up before I left. They recommended the ReefStar2 from Hamilton

REEFSTAR 2 LOW PROFILE REFLECTOR ONLY - MOGUL BASE VERSION
The low profile ReefStar, the original low profile HQI pendant is now available for use with mogul based metal halides. The mogul based ReefStar 2 reflector is light weight, corrosion resistant and low profile (3.5" high) and is designed to suspend above the tank for maximum illumination. This unit comes complete with hammertone reflector for maximum light intensity, mogul based socket, 20 ft cord with quick disconnect plug (14 ft with electronic ballast), UV absorbing tempered glass lens and hanging wires. Metal halide lighting is excellent for reef tanks and is the best choice in lighting for tanks with hard corals, clams, acropora and anemones. You can eliminate the need for supplimental actinic lighting by selecting a high Kelvin metal halide lamp (14K or 20K) or choose the 10K for an ice white tank appearance and maximum ripple effect. You can complete your set if you wish by choosing lamp style and ballast from below. L16.5" x W10.25" x H3.5"
Reg. Retail Price: $119.95
Sale Price: $99.95

I was thinking about getting it so I called Marine Depot to see what we could do. After talking with the salesman, I decided to go with a PFO light instead.

PFO Lighting HQI Mini Metal Halide Pendant
PFO HQI Mini Pendant Complete System - includes bulb, remote ballast and pendant. Fully wired. When only the best will do. This is true European technology. Double ended bulbs have been considered the best of the best for many years.

Anodized aluminum housing, UV shielded glass, Parabolic Reflector. Mount either into existing canopy or pendent mount from two eye hooks. Dimensions: 12" x 7.5" x 4.5"

NOTE: Double ended bulbs should always be used with the UV shield (supplied). Your corals can suffer from excess UV radiation otherwise. The bulb should be handled carefully as well since it has no outer glass casing. Using soft gloves is a good idea to keep finger prints off bulb. This is during installation and replacement. The average life of a double ended bulb is 12-18 months.

Here is the link to the page. The one I am getting is the PFO 250W HQI Mini Pendant Complete System* - includes 250W 14000K double-ended Hamilton bulb and PFO 250W HQI ballast with quick disconnect.

Read in the lighting section that everyone really likes their 14k Hamilton lights, so I went with that route...was wanting the "bluer" looking color anyhow. No additional cost to me as the price on this was slightly less than the other fixture ($3.00 difference actually). And they have this in stock, so I will receive it next week guaranteed. Any thoughts?

[mellen]

Good save! And you got dress reg. gloves anyway already... A much better situation than your wife having to mess with hanging the other one on her own.

[Elghinn]

Indeed! Also ordered some Blue LEDs from a company listed on this thread. Going to do a moonlight rig on the tank and refugium as well. I think it should help things out. Can't beat the price

[Elghinn]

Hey all,

Decided to move this thread over to another one who's title still applies since I no longer feel like I'm doing more harm than good. Some good professional looking pictures of my tank now. Here is the link to the thread. Hope to see some of your posts there!

[Elghinn]

Ok, going back to an old subject here....

Are we absolutely SURE that I do not need any type of mechanical filtration on my system? The Macro-Algae along with the Rocks in the Bubble Tower should act as a mechanical filter, yes? Or do I still need something (i.e. carbon filter, etc) to coincide with those in order to maintain good water quality? Just wondering because it looks like I'm starting to get some blooming of brown diatom growth. Not sure if this is just the same thing I was experiencing when I first posted on this thread (browning of the sand) since the refugium is "breaking in" so to speak, or something else completely. Mechanical filtration doesn't just remove the harmful chemicals in the water, it'll cut down on my calcium, iodine, etc levels as well, correct? I'm all for not having my filter running in the system, especially since I really don't have anywhere for it other than the front of the refugium, but I'm just wanting to make extra sure that after four months without a filter I'm not going to come home to a cesspool of junk.

[melev]

You don't need any mechanical filtration. Your LR, Skimmer, refugium and sandbed will do the job, provided your tank keeper doesn't overfed incessantly.

[Elghinn]

Good deal, thanks for the info, Melev.