Blog Comments

Tanks looks great ! Don't forget to steal one of those new LED fixtures from Ecotech Marine, at MACNA this weekend !

what happened to your fancy acrylic tray for cleaning your skimmer? (did it get turned into a frag tank?)

also, what pendants do you run? arnt they the Mini's or mini wides?
thanks!

Have you seen a lot of growth using the Evolution LED fixture?

weird with the worm. never seen that before!

Exactly, it's about the PAR. I'm doing a presentation about PAR at MACNA, and using the data compiled from the 280g as well as the 400g's lighting.

Thanks for all the answers, the 10k and 20k combo sounds very cool, and thats smart to run the 20k bulb as a 400w to get relatively equal PAR. Excellent detailed answers are truly your thing, thank you!

Henry, I checked one site and the price was comparable to Vertex pellets. Just under $70 for a one-liter bag.

Jonathan, I don't know the answer to that. Maybe non-beneficial is outcompeted.

I don't have a ratio'd measurement of HCL to water. Once I have the water in the vessel I'll be using, whether that is a trashcan, a barrel, a tub or a bucket, I add acid to it along with a powerhead to mix it up. For a 33g trashcan, I've used 1 to 2 gallons of acid (but didn't mix it with a pump) trying to clean off the Durso Standpipes years ago. While the standpipes and aiptasia didn't die to my amazement, I discovered that all the acid was in the base of the barrel and all the locline pieces were cracked from the HCL. So that is why I mix it up. With a 5g bucket of water, I'd use two or three cups of HCL.

1) The penductors were from a friend, so I don't know the brand. They are 3/4", and also come in 1" some places.

2) I'm using XM MH mogul bulbs. 250w 10,000K - 400w 20,000K - 250w 10,000K. I've run this combination of wattages & Kelvin ratings for the past 7 years and love the look.

3) Usually one to two hours is more than enough to get everything clean. I wouldn't do it less than an hour, unless you wanted to do a cursory scrub to knock off the upper layer and then resume so it can soak the stuff beneath. If something isn't clean yet, I'll toss it back into the solution for another 30-45 minutes. I want it completely clean if I'm going to go to the trouble of doing this. Why clean it halfway?

Marc,

what is a good ratio for muriatic to water in a smaller quantity than 15g. Are you aiming for a certain acidity? Also I'm sure that it's somewhere in one of your detailed articles, but I'm not sure which so I'll just ask...

1. What brand penductors do you use?
2. What brand/kelvin/wattage bulbs do you use, I can tell they're different.
3. How long do you leave your equipment/run your skimmer in the acid bath? I've heard it can melt impellers if left too long?

how do they now the pellets encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria, rather than non-beneficial?

Marc, do they cost about the same as Vertex?

I have alot of 100 micron socks to clean at my store. I use a pressure sprayer then soak them in tap water with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of peroxide depending on how dirty it is. I let them soak over night, then I spray them off again and hang them to dry.

I have used bleach for many years to clean about everything involved with fish keeping , I do however let mine soak overnight then its almost just a rince job with the hose and let dry another day ,, and they look like brand new,, I learned from having a polluted well and the state telling me to pour bleach into the water to cure it what bleach can do and also from having a swimming pool using clorine to shock it they are close to the same ,, and after washing in bleach rinsing good letting dry all traces are gone in 24 hours,, and also living on a septic I cant just use it in the washing mach or pour it down the drain either since it kills ALL BACTERIA ,,,and would ruin the good stuff in my septic ,,

Good idea, using Hydrogen peroxide.

Once it is algae free, it is rinsed down thoroughly with water from the garden hose. I rinse everything prior to installing it anew.

Marc, what is your protocol after the acid bath. Do you just rinse it or do you do something else before setting it back up?

I found a thread elsewhere once that talked about what happens when you clean your socks with bleach. Under a microscope he found that the algae and detritus was still embedded in the sock, but just "bleached", so it appeared white and clean. Be stated that soaking them in a hydrogen peroxide solution then analyzing under the scope showed much less detritus and algae then with bleach. Then a quich hot water bath in the washer, no soap!! I do this procedure, then follow up with a Prime soak to ensure any chlorine in our muni water is nullified. Works well, and I have found a few tablespoons of HP in a gallon of RO washes a sock very well, when allowed to soak for an hour or so.

when i ran them... i would wash them in the washing machine with just bleach, and then just turn the washing machine back on and run a 2nd wash with just water. (just to be safe) never had any chlorine smell after. then i would hang them to dry in the garage.

+1 to the washing machine with bleach

I hated cleaning socks too, so I switched to a floss "shelf". It allowed for more time between swaps, enabled me toeasily pull out brittle stars, mysis, etc., and of course, no socks to clean!