Search results

I would say that the two fish might live together ok, but that your tank is far too small to do this. Your trigger is going to grow, and it will easily out grow the existing tank.

Yes, it sounds like a good idea. However, if you think about it, you end up almost right back where you started, because each one of those add ons on a controller means yet another wire or two that you need to deal with. Most reef people end up with a whole kluge of wires and cables running...

I would agree with you about trying to process all or most of the water through the skimmer as it flows through the filtration system. However, I would disagree with you on an under 1x turnover. I believe it's far better to use a 5x to 10x turnover along with a skimmer that can also process...

Before investing in an automated control system, consider what your plans are for it. In other words, what do you want or need to control. This applies to any of the control systems out there. If all you need to control are your lights going on and off, it's much less expensive and better done...

I'm not sure if Carlo actually means "way less than 10X" or the statement is correct as is "way less than 1x". I would agree that you don't need a 10x flow through your filtration system, especially if you use good skimming and other circulation methods. I don't think I'd want to go below a 4x...

I have a slightly larger ETSS sump and skimmer on my system. I like them quite a lot. Here is what I would do. Your skimmer's return is plumbed incorrectly for an external skimmer. Note the large amount of bubbles in the sump's first chamber. This is because the skimmer isn't as effective as...

You have an excellent lighting system right now. Why mess with it? Unless you can come up with some very specific reason for switching to T5's, I'd leave everything alone. I know everyone wants to upgrade to the latest and greatest, but I would seriously question how much better T5's would be...

I don't see why not. Electronic ballasts can usually light almost any bulb. The price is sure right. I did notice that the max tamp for the ballast is something like 158 degrees, so you may want to mount them rather far away from the bulbs. If you are in doubt, order one, install it and test...

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of a lot of your corals. Yes, I believe you are correct about the sandbed. It should have been replaced. It obviously released a lot of bad stuff into the system. Since it's your first major loss in 10 years, you are not doing too bad. About all you can do is...

I don't think the lighting would all of a sudden cause a problem with your clams, and I'd look for another possible problem. I usually change my MHs about every 12 - 18 months. I don't have any clams though. Usually when I feel "rich", since those bulbs are not cheep, and I've got 6 on various...

I'd like to hear about experience with these sulfur denitrators myself. Years ago I did use other types of denitrators, and they did work, but were a pain to feed, and to regulate. I can see that the Korallin product has resolved the feeding problem. I'm not quite so sure about the regulation...

This is an excellent point. The problem still must be found and corrected. I've usually had problems with powerheads and heaters, so I'd check them out first.

To me, it looks like you are doing most things right. I think the lighting is a bit on the low side, but ok, unless you want SPS corals or clams. I'd say the skimmer is a little small, but not enough to do anything about it. You do have a problem with your nitrates, and possibly with...

The problems that occurred in the "olden days" were getting the ozone to an effective dose, and not killing everything. This was in the days before controllers were generally available. With a controller you still need to make sure you are getting an effective dose. ORP probes, especially the...

This can be deceptive. It all depends on what you are use to. The only way I know you can tell for sure is to use a light meter to measure the light.

This is always a pain, but how old were the bulbs anyway? Some manufacturers will give you a replacement bulb if it fails in the first year. I prefer to change my MHs after about 18 months, and I keep the old bulbs for spares, just in case.

As you can see there are people that use ozone and are quite happy with it. For myself, after having tried ozone sever times, for extended periods, over more years than I care to count, I feel that it's more problems and trouble than it's worth. As Carlo pointed out, ozone should be used...

This is a tough call, because even tanks very low in nitrates and phosphates can have problems with live rock with algae growing on some places of it. For some reason the algae almost seem to have their own built in nitrate / phosphate factory at the point where it grows on the LR. The question...

My preference would be to go with the 14K bulb, mostly because it's less investment and less bulbs to replace. A double strip of T5 will obviously give you more total light, at additional cost. Some people also feel the blue from actinic fluorescent bulbs gives bettor coloration to SPS corals...

It is quite an interesting project, and it does show what you can do with some of the electronics in products today. I don't recommend doing something like this unless you have the necessary background in computers and electronics. For myself, I do computer stuff for a living. While I like...