Blog Comments

Thanks for the info Fred! I will check that out.

The bulbs at the hardware stores usually don't meet the kelvin requirements of our fish tanks.

I do have a question about the bulbs on E-bay and if anybody had bought them used them and how they are?

Here is a link of some I found today I'm a little skeptical

http://cgi.ebay.com/250W-250-watt-14...item5191f2f1f2

Hey Melev, does birdsnest like high or low waterflow?

Thanks Melev, I thought sobut wasn't positive. Do they like high or low waterflow and should I mount them high? Thanks, HAT

Thanks for the reply Yiyi67, I'm visually impaired. But at Lowes in the lighting depatment the running MH light (one of them) was very bright and had a blue to it. Looked good, let me know what ya find out this week end.

Thanks, HAT

They are definitely in the Acropora species, but other than that, it is way too soon to tell. The bottom one may lean toward blue in coloration.

I have not ever found T5 bulbs at either Lowes or Home Depot, I don't know whether they are used in many other applications besides aquaria. As far as MH bulbs you would have to look at the wattage and the color spectrum of the bulbs available. The common wattages used for reef tanks would be 150, 175, 250, or 400. Spectrum is rated in Kelvin (K) which for lack of a better description measures the amount of blue the light gives off. Normal reef tank bulbs would range from 10,000K to 20,000K. I would imagine that the bulbs available at the hardware stores are probably too low of Kelvin, like around 5000K as a guess. If it's in this range it would be very yellow and not look very good over a tank IMO. Next time I'm there (I'm sure this weekend ) I will check it out becuase now I'm curious!

Hey thanks ottoruss for ya reply, at least now I can look for the coraline to happen. I do add "purple up" which has everythig for coraline to grow. It also helps hard coral growth I believe.

i get the exact same algae when adding dry rock. snails in your tank will gravitate towards these rocks because it's the stuff they like to eat i'm guessing. it will soon be replaced by purple or maroon coraline algae.

Hey thanks y'all! I will try all of those remedies. I aso read the link on that new 2 part putty. Seems to be cool because the stuff I use gets all on ya fingers.

I have another question about algae. I have bright green thin only algae growing on my "dry rock" only. I had the brown algae growing on it for a few weeks which I know is normal. Question is: is this normal? Any suggestions?

Personally I would remove them from the frag plug if possible. I use a Gel super glue for 98% of my frag mounting. Becarefull with the 2 part epoxy, those tend to generate heat when mixed and if applied directly to teh coral can burn the coral. Here is a new product on the market that I got to see. It is a different type of 2 part that doesn't leave a residue on your hand, hardens quickly, and generate no heat.
http://reefbuilders.com/2010/04/07/p...as-reef-epoxy/

1) Just cut the bottom with a pair of stony-coral/wire cutters.
2) I use 2-part putty to stick frag plug to my live rock.
3) I would mount it on a frag plug so you can move it later on. If your sure of the frag placement, then go ahead and mount it on your live rock.

I would just remove the coral off of the plug, and use super glue gel to mount it to a rock. A Razor blade works well to cut under the coral and I try to get a little chunk of the plug as I scrape under the coral so I have something to apply the Super glue to. I have tried the 2 part putty as well, and I just don't like it for mounting, but love it for aquascaping. I see the putty used more on SPS corals than any of the other type of coral.

Ok, thanks Melev! I went to Melevs Reef to check the times you used because I've seen it on the site a few times, but of course since I really needed the info I could not find it, lol. I will reset them today.

I mounted all my electrical this weekend but I still need to get some tiestraps to clean it up. I will post picks when I finish.

Your lighting schedule is a tad longer than I would suggest. If I recall, you are running PCs, right? I'd suggest 11 hours with actinics, and 10 hours with whites. Just a little less than what you've programmed at the moment.

I haven't hadd anything to clean yet ...heh. Darn... Maybe I need to get it not working again; I just gave myself more work. ;-p

I thought so but was not sure. I read it like "break in period that is hilarious not such think" now it's really funny

Hey, yeah it is a seaclone 100. I have been trying to adjust this skimmer for a few weeks now and wasn't getting any foam in the cup. And now, I made again another adjustment this morning and I'm happy to report I have almost a 1/4" of "ewww" In the cup with lots of bubbles, sigh of relief. Thanks for everyones interest for helping me with this matter!

What do y'all think about my light timing?

I'm saying it will break in, new and after a deep cleaning. upster stated 'it will probably take a week to break' and I didn't want Hat to panic. hehe

We need pictures, but if I remember correctly this is a Seaclone skimmer.

Marc are you saying that skimmer don't have a break in period?? In the traditional sence of the word I would say no but a brand new out of the box skimmer needs a couple of days to build a "slime coat" on the acrylic and maybe even after one of those acid bathes that clean the heckout of a skimmer... LOL anyway


I would still like to see what other adjustments are on the skimmer before making any further statements or sticking my foot any further into my mouth.