LR only filtration

[charlesr1958]

Originally Posted by toniell

Thats pretty impresive You say you use tuperware for overflows could you PM me and explain that a little further I tried to PM you but could not.

I don't know about being impressive, but when one is on a tropical island with no equipment avaialbe, one has to get creative. As such, for both my overflows, I just rigged up two tupperware containers as shown, which have been running as is for a few years now.



Chuck

[reefermike1]

wow, ive never seen blue pvc pipe before

[yuyiboy]

I will try to do more of that geoff, That is one thing that I know about, when it comes to fish keeping "what detritus is" LOL I have learn that much at least. LOL

Thanks

[Geoff]

G~

[yuyiboy]

Geoff, You told me I should syphon out more detreous when I do water changes, and I do need to do more of that. However, How do I syphon out more without taking out half the sand??
I put a small layer of crushed coral on top of my live sand and that helps a little, but I need to get more of the junk out. What syphon is out there that will get the crud and not the sand ?? Please let me know. or any of you guys out there

Thanks

[DarthOcellaris]

Very nice Chuck!

yuyiboy, welcome aboard! The people here won't steer you wrong!!

[yuyiboy]

[Harry_Y]

Here is how I understand it:

Get the absolute best (most efficient) skimmer you can get (don’t skimp here).

Run at least 1 lb per gal of live rock (try to get the lighter more porous rock).

Note: Light rock is better than a very solid very dense rock since it has more surface area.

The skimmer will be your front line. It will pull out the waste in the water
first so there will be less waste that the Live rock needs to deal with.

So another way of looking at it is:

Better skimmer = Less LR needed to perform the same task

Or

Better skimmer = More critters you can put in the tank.

[Geoff]

there is not a siphon you can use that will not pull out some sand when doing water changes. the sand is jus to fine. this is one of the big reasons why i run a BB system. besides the fact that sand is a ticking phosphate time bomb.

before i went BB i had good luck with a 1/2" vinyl hose that i had a clamp on to control the flow through the siphon. this kept the sand suck to minimum, while still being able to get the detritus lumps.

G~

[yuyiboy]

Hello guys;
Can someone tell me what levels to measure to assure good coraline growth?? could you use the actual names of what to measure, I find the short terms confusing as I'm STILL learning.
I only measure the ammonia wich has been zero always nitrates the nitrites have all been gone after cycling of course and the ph.

I would appreciate any help.
Thanks

[yuyiboy]

Hello once again guys

I have been trying to get an answer to what levels to measure to ensure coraline algae growth (wich I still don't have much of after a long time)
and the only info I have gotten is that I need to measure; (Calcium, Carbonate Hardness, Phosphate, and nitrates) I already do the nitrates and a Couple of others that aparently r not that important.

Do you guys agree with these tests?? Please let me know as I'm very comfuse about all these test and their abbrebiations.!!

I'm sorry if this has been discussed before in the forum (newbie).

Appreciate any help

yuyiboy

[Geoff]

time is the only cure for a lack of coralline growth. the more stable your water is the better it will grow. changes in lighting and flow can cause a major die-off of coralline. it is not unusual for newly started tanks to take a year or more before significant coralline growth. this will have nothing to do with your levels, it just takes that long for the aquarist to learn how to run the tank consistently.

coralline can grow anywhere i have it growing in my sump/skimmer where it does not get light except for a couple of minutes a day when i turn on the overhead light to look inside and make sure everything is ok.

you will eventually hate coralline. right now it is the only reason why i have to scrape my glass. all i can say is that i am glad i have a glass tank. i would hate to battle coralline on an acrylic tank.

relax do not worry about coralline. when you settle on a routine for the tank the coralline will start growing like gangbusters. until then, whenever you try and change your parameters to something that you think will help it better, you end up hurting it more. consistency is what it needs.

G~

[yuyiboy]

Thanks Geoff;

The tank has been up for about six months, and the coraline that I DO have has not died. So I will just relax a little and enjoy it
After all, that is why I got it in the first place. It's not about work on it all the time.

Thanks. I forget about that sometimes, Thanks for the reminder.

[DrFish33]

the best thing anyone can do is listen to geoff or wiskey

[nobody]

I have never tried it before but as of right now I am running the set up you are talking about. I have a 12g with 20lbs of LS and 15lbs of LR. As of right now I have a powerhead for water movement but I will be getting a Aqua C Remora then. My test all come out great for a tank set up for only 3 weeks. Ammonia 0...........Nitrite 0........Nitrate 20...........and PH 8.2