New Year... New Questions!

[Iconz]

Alright guys! I'm VERY close to getting my 20gal wet. The stand has taken ALOT longer than I wanted, but its looking really good. I've just got a few finishing touch questions...

- Sand... Should I just go with silica sand from HD or lowes and seed it with live sand from another reefer? Or, would buying a reefing, calcium-based sand pay off for me?

- Rock... I've got a chance to buy some LR that is covered in Aiptasia at $3 / pound. Or, I could buy some other LR for 5-6 per pound. Is it worth 60-80 bucks to get LR that is aiptasia-free? Also, how many pounds do you all think I'll need?

- ATO - should the ATO resivoir be a sealed container? Also, I don't plan on doing a gravity-fed ATO, so which pump would be good to use?

- Skimmer - Has anyone had any experience running a Coralife Super Skimmer - 65gal externally? If so, how'd you set it up? HOTB? or plumbed?

[jojo22]

First I would get the live rock with no aptasia. Second The sand from HD is fine the silica will just cause a diatom bloom untill it is gone (should be by the end of your cycle or shortly after). Third I wouldn't worry about a sealed container, you want a way for air to get in as the watter is taken out to avoid a vacume effect I would just ust a small pwoerhead connected to the float switch in whatever manner is suggested by the switch manufacturer. and on the skimmer I am sorry but I can not help you there!

[graphixx]

JD, you could get the rock with the aptaisia and start killing it off while the tank cycles. I think that would be plenty of time. but if you can afford good LR then that would be less hassle.
also I would not worry about sealed container for ATO.
and the skimmer, I use a coralife skimmer and I personally think it works great. it needs adjusted a little more frequent than others but it sure pulls out some gunk.
NOW GET THAT DAMM TANK WET!!!!

[greg97527]

I did'nt realize that the aptaisia rock was 3 bucks a pound, that's steep considering LR around here is 3-6 anyway but if thats how you can save you can cycle with it like graphics said or even use a kalk paste and kill it off etc.
I actually use a super skimmer 65 on my tank and it is a great skimmer.

[Iconz]

Alright. Back from lunch...

K, for the 2 gregs, are your skimmers setup in-sump or being used externally? If externally, are they plumbed, or hotb?

Also, the LR situation. Has anyone ever bough LR off of ebay from a LR distributor? I've found some Walt Smith Fiji for 2.19 / lb before shipping, and right at $3.00 / lb after shipping. I've found it HERE (http://cgi.ebay.com/FIJI-LIVE-ROCK-WALT-SMITH-CURED-LOW-SHIPPING_W0QQitemZ150074541878QQihZ005QQcategoryZ1 17437QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem). What do you all think? The seller has gotten RAVE reviews on the rock and delivery time. So, I think it may be legit.

[greg97527]

ive used the skimmer all the ways listed but its in sump now.

[Iconz]

k, so, how would I plumb it to pull water from the tank, and then return it?

[greg97527]

is it in sump or HOB?

[Iconz]

it will be hob since i don't have a sump. I'd REALLY like to be able to put it in my stand and just plumb it in line, but I doubt that will be possible eh?

[greg97527]

you could plum it in but you will most likely need a bigger skimmer pump because it will be sitting lower and you will have another couple feet of pvc or tubing running to the tank which will cut down your gph.

[Sweetpea]

Just my 2 bits:

I have used the bagged live sand for all 3 tanks I have set up (10, 20 & 90) and have seen great results. Yes it's more expensive, but I can't argue with the apparent success I've had. Was the success a result of the sand? I don't know, but when you find something that works, there's no sense in messing with it. ;)

LR with or w/o aptasia? Depends how heavily infested... if it's not too bad and you don't mind zapping them, save yourself the money. If it's really bad, don't bother, as the stuff can make a comeback and make you wish you'd spent the money for appie-free rock!

I really don't know about the 65 Super Skimmer (or about how it functions as a HOB). I have only had my 125 in-sump running for 3 weeks, but from what I've seen, I would certainly recommend it. Relatively inexpensive and extremely functional... can't beat that combination!

I can't wait 'til you get this tank wet! You are going to be a great reefer, Justin! :-D

[Iconz]

Thanks for all of the feed back. Its great (as usual)! I've got a very big update coming up on my "blog" thread within the next few days. Stay tuned! And thanks again!

[hummer]

LR with or w/o aptasia? Depends how heavily infested... if it's not too bad and you don't mind zapping them, save yourself the money. If it's really bad, don't bother, as the stuff can make a comeback and make you wish you'd spent the money for appie-free rock!



icons you may know what sweetpea is talking about but i dont can you fill me in or may sweetpea can if see reads this thanks just trying too learn :)

[Iconz]

Sure bud, no prob. Basically aiptasia is a type of anemone, a BAD one that is very hard to kill in an existing tank... nearly impossible. It often has the ability to shrink back down into the rock its attached to and you really can't get to it to kill it. So, when you're buying LR, if you can avoid getting some wihtout aiptasia just to save yourself some (or alot of) headache in the long run.

Here's some pics on Melve's (http://www.melevesreef.com) site of some Aiptasia: http://www.melevsreef.com/id/anem.html
Its the one to the left of the Rose Buble Tip Anemone. Just click on it to get a larger pic.

[Iconz]

I've been mowing over an idea in my head that I think would work well, and I wanted to run it by you all before I tried it....

I've been thinking of a way to hide some of the ugly stuff in my tank (heater and float switches). And I've thought about taking a piece of pvc pipe and cutting it in half, drilling a bunch of little holes in them, then placing the 2 halves in the back corners of the tank and siliconing (sp?) them in place. This way, i could put the heater in one corner, and the float switches in the other corner. This would serve 2 purposes. The first would be cosmetic, the second would be to help keep critters of getting too close to either piece of equipment. The pvc would run all the way from the bottom to the top of the tank btw, and would be painted black.

[dakar]

For the float switch that would likely work well with periodic maintenance to ensure nothing is accumliating in the PVC from the low flow.... for the heater, it might work prvided you have sufficient enough flow through the PVC tube, if not the implications of a large heater in a small amount of water are obvious, perhaps cutting the PVC in half lengthwise and mount it to the heater with suction cups as 1/2" or more stand-offs to disguise the front view of it would be just as aesthetic but more functional. Just thinking out loud here.

[Iconz]

hmm, not a bad idea on the heater, but do they not get too hot for the suction cups?

I'm also assuming that one can't lay a heater horozontally behind the LR either, eh?

[hummer]

thanks icons

[dakar]

hmm, not a bad idea on the heater, but do they not get too hot for the suction cups?

If you stuck the sucktion cups to the heater they would... I meant the opposite, use the suction cups on the PVC side and the clamp portion on the heater as originall designed.



I'm also assuming that one can't lay a heater horozontally behind the LR either, eh?

Why not? So long as the heater is fully submersable (if not then toss it and get a good one) just keep good flow through the area around the heater to disperse the heat and you should be good to go. How big of a heater are you using and are you using only one?

[Iconz]

Yeah, i'm only using one. I've got two, however, but i bought the 2nd one for QT.

They're both 100w, I believe, I know they're rated for 20 gal.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o101/iconz_reef/Nano%20Project/nano17.jpg

[Iconz]

argh!!! I'm really hatin the fact that my plans don't include a sump right about now! heh.

[Iconz]

Any ideas on how I could add a sump to the plan? A hotb overflow, maybe?

[Sweetpea]

I had been toying with the idea of adding a sump to my 20g, but I'm just not ready for all the planning. (At least not yet ;) )

I have the heater horizontally behind the LR in there, and all you see is the black cord coming out. Okay, so it's not perfect looking, but it beats seeing the whole darn thing in the corner. :)

[Iconz]

I've decided to go with a sump. I've already ordered an overflow, and have a cart of pumps and some other stuff waiting on pet solutions. I just need to decide on what size pump to use for the return. I'm thinking now, a quiet one 1200.

[Iconz]

I simply was just gonna have too much junk hanging down into the display... Skimmer pump, 2 powerheads, heater, float switchs, hotb fuge filter. It was gonna be ugly, as well as extra strain on the back of the tank from everything hanging off of it.