Blog Comments

Correct, that's the easiest solution as an add-on. I saw one reactor made by Reef Dynamic that uses John Guest fittings and RO tubing to point that flow exactly where you want, but until skimmers come with a JG fitting on the intake, you still have to secure it somehow.

I have a picture of that Tee fitting in the NextReef XLT NP Reactor article.

I has a tee that is big enough to fit over the intake of the pump. Then I have the Hose coming from the BP reactor going into the tee so that the pump is pulling fresh and BP water at the same time.

It's not hard plumbed into the fitting just directly I front on the fitting?

Marc and I both have a TEE fitting in front of skimmer intake so all the effluent from the bio-pellet reactor must go through the skimmer.

Sand is sand. It is made of aragonite or silica, and can be completely washed clean of everything until all you have is sand once more. I have over 400lbs sitting here that I have to wash out for the 400g, and the weather just got cold. UGH! I should have gotten that ready months ago. 8 year old sand bed - you definitely want to wash it all out like that article indicates. Or buy new if you don't want to deal with it.

You can add bacteria to your tank, or a bag of Live Sand from your fish store.

Thank you for the Info. The sand is about 7-8 years old. Is it worth saving or just adding new sand? I will do as Marc suggest and safe a couple cups to add to the 60 gallon. From what I have read is that sand loses some of the good bacteria over time and new sand should be added every now and then to replenish some of the bacteria.

I've done a number of transfers like this, and the biggest issue is live rock being exposed to air for too long, especially if the rock has white sponges on/in it. The sponge dies, and ammonia rises quickly, which will affect the water quality. When moving livestock like this, I recommend keeping the rock submerged as much as possible. Put a large trashcan in front of the tank, drain some saltwater into the trashcan and put the rock in there. Then before you move it to the other aquarium, shake the rock hard in the barrel of saltwater to release some of the trapped particulates within, to reduce how much detritus is moved over to the new system.

For the sand, it depends on how long is has been used. I've rinsed out sand plenty of times, and we have an article here on RA how to do so specifically. Save a few cups of live sand, and rinse out the rest completely, then put that in the aquarium. Once everything is done and the tank is filled with water, then add the live sand back to the tank's substrate. http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...an-Old-Sandbed

The MP40 can be dialed way down, and will be fine.

Transfer the most of the water, and rock right into the new tank. I would buy new sand, easier than stirring up all that nastiness.

I'm about to set one up in the next couple of months. I'll have to see what I like best.

The new site goes up by MACNA. If you want to sneak a peek, send me a PM.

I'm not seeing products except for rodi filter

Marc, when I visit you site and click on Reef Shop I am not seeing those products

You are going to want to buy some stuff to resolve the Po4 and Cyano issues. And you can buy those from Melev's Reef! RedCyano Rx and Phosphate Rx both work great, I've used them both and that is why I sell them now.

You can bring PO4 down to 0 in a matter of days, and Cyano can be killed in 72 hours.

If you can get a light that is 5100K like the flood lights I've recommended for years, you'll be good to go for those plants.

Check out this blog entry:

http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php...hate-look-like

Thanks midnight and denonow. I am gonna go to lfs and see if they have that spectrum and see about picking up a new test kit for po4.
i have tried my redsea kit with no chemical reaction, use my Hanna meter and got a 1.0 on po4. I will retest tonight. Any recommendations on a chemical method? My live rock is reaching 9 years on. Old tank syndrome could that have any affect on po4? I will repost new test results later tonight.

I reread your post and realized that you are saying your P04 is at 1.0! Yikes that is way too high. that is certainly not help the issue. Reefers should be striving to keep this number below .02, check your numbers. If your phosphate is that high you prolly gonna have to use a chemical method to tie it up and bring that number down.

The reverse lighting is for the benefit of reducing PH swing and will not have much affect on macro algae growth.

Articfox- Im kind of going through the same thing. Im using a 6500k daylight bulb from Home Depot. I just recently moved it closer to the water to see if it has any positive affects on chaeto growth. I also read up online that reverse cycles are best for refugium lighting. When your tank lights are on, your refug. light is off and vise versa. Im gonna try this approach and see if it cuts down on nutrients (phosphates and nitrates) which ultimately should illiminate algae growth in my disply tank.

If that is 18000 K lighting than it is the wrong spectrum for plants. Normal daylight is best for algae, try to stay with 6500-8000k for growing macro algae.

Yep Micheal, appears the Advanced Aquarist article I linked above would back up you and Paul about rinsing foods. Another "wive's tale" type piece of information that I picked up early on in the hobby from one of the many forums on the net that I've now had to reconsider.

As to enemas, I don't know where they "fit in", don't remember ever having one... doesn't sound like a practice in which I'd like to participate. Yuck or ouch, which ever is more appropriate.

Ahh, so I am way behind in this discussion but want to throw a new wrench in a few things. First off I would never rinse my frozen foods. I don't rinse them for a reason, I want all that nutrition to be in the water column for all the different types of feeders that inhabit our tanks. Filter feeders feed off of very small morsels and the oily substances in the water column, this is why a tank that is too clean is not good for corals and especially anemones. Most people have healthy anemones with out ever feeding them solid foods. This is also why new tanks take time to have healthy looking sessile inhabitants. Now please don't mistake this for saying yes to overfeeding, that is definitely a no no.

I also have about 6 different foods that I rotate through. Some are geared more for meat eaters, some are for herbivores, and some are for filter feeders. I have always heard that variety is the spice of life.

On to humor. Blakew, where do enemas fit in? Are they like super skimming?