Blog Comments

Thanks guys, I started this morning and changed out about 1/8 of my substrate. It looks like a sandstorm, but my inhabitants seem okay. Im not worried about the algae bloom, because frankly, my substrate was causing too much algae as it was, which prompted my wanting to change to Argonite.

make sure you use a raw (grey) shrimp. The orange ones are cooked and will not rot as well. I would slowly take the CC out, daily, but over a period of a month....till you almost have a bare bottom. Then add the new stuff all at once. You can start the cycling right now, and your bacterial filter will further establish in the new substrate after it goes in.

you could remove what you can with a small cup and vac out the remaining with a like a 3/4 plastic tubing or smaller depending on the grain size. If you have LR in the tank i think washing argonite and putting it back thur a tube would be ok not sure the size of your tank but if you worried about cycling you could do it in sections over time maybe separate the areas with a piece of acrylic . Im no expert on this but my first tank i had cc in it and it just turned to a septic tank so i can feel your pain. Thinking about it as i write small areas would probably be best so you dont stir up nutrients for a algae bloom. Good luck

And remember that it can be an advantage of having multiple outlets as the can each be ran with a separate timer to help simulate dawn and dusk

Awesome Caviar! Be sure and light adapt your corals so you don't shock them. Start with only half the lights one for about 4 hours a day and increase it by 2 hours each day to 10 or 12 hours. Then do the same with the other half.

And most of us have a couple power bars to feed all the equipment in our tank.

I picked it up from Aquatraders.com, heard good things about them from RC so I thought I would give it a shot. Its an Odyssea T5 HO. Here's a link to it. http://www.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-4...le-p/52303.htm
This model doesnt come with a timer, but my friend from my LFS gave me one so no sweat.

That'll do the trick. Where did you find one at that price?!

Just basic t8s. But I just ordered a T5 HO quad lamped hood with timer and LED moonlights and reflectors. Couldn't pass it up for 70 bucks and free shipping. Post pics when it ships and give some more details when I can post from my computer. Im on a mobile right now.

What do you have now? If you have a pair of 55W Power Compacts (PC) that should be fine. PC are 2 thin tubes connected that plug in at one end only. I used them for years on a 20 gal with good results.

I was kind of worried about that. I need to get some T5 HO's. Right now I've got the corals as close to my lighting as possible. Ill buy some new lighting this week thanks guys for the help!

First, you should run no lights at night, and both during the day. Second, What type and wattage are your bulbs? T5 high output? Power compacts? Normal output T8's? If alll you've got is a pair of normal output bulbs then you don't have near enough light for corals. for a 30 gal tank you're going to need at least 100 Watts of fluorescent light.

Currently, I run one 10k bulb during the day, and at night run one 420 actinic bulb. I have a 30 gal tank with mostly fish and rock. Only two soft corals, one small frag on zoas and the other looks like xenia although I'm not positive. Hope that helps. I might buy a dual hood tomorrow depending on what you guys suggest. Remember, care for the animals is what's most important. The LFS can SMD as far as profits.

What do you have for lighting now? Are you running just one bulb? If so what wattage or what size tank?

Hey CavIar, check Out melevsreef.com Somewhere on the site Marc talks about lighting and times they should be on. He also has the times that the lights would be on and at what intervals.

actinics are not moonlights. run those during the day with your 10k bulbs

Caviar, Great!@ Am Happy to hear it!!! Some rough waters lately, but things seem to be looking up for you. I finally got my water in my Qtank balanced at 1.0255, after a lot of small additions of salt which took a day and a half. I ordered my rock for my DT and it hopefully will arrive next wednesday, so, I can start the build on the rock next week.
Cheers,
Aaron

Yeah it can change fast. I'm glad everything turned out good. You have to put up a pic of the new Zoas. ;-)

Thank you Hat
I found Cpt Nemo's ex boyfriend a good home, and also walked away with a frag of Zoanthids, so I'm somewhat happy with the situation.
Also, when I turned my actinic lighting on, I noticed my clown did some house shopping. He's now going back and forth between playing in my BTA, and my LTA. Man, it's crazy how quickly things change in a tank.

Aaron, correct. LTA= Long Tentacled Anemone.
and Heathd, they are Black Edged True Percs. Nutty as bats, man.
I managed to trade one of my clowns for a small frag of beautifully colored Zoanthids.
Which means I made my first official jump into reefing.
I found a new LFS, with significantly better stock, and better pricing. Three steps forward!

Caviar, am new to hobby, is LTA - Long Tentacle Anemone???