Terminology

kjr928

kjr928

Go fish yourself.
Nov 4, 2005
902
2
18
Garden City, NY
www.trollerkate.com | www.milesquaredesign.com
Real Name
Kate
Ok, so I've been trying to do a little research on starting a marine or reef tank on the internet. The problem I've been encountering is that I haven't been able to find TRUE beginner information - everything that I find has terminology that I don't understand, and when I try to look up that terminology, the definitions have more terminology - even for the real basics. It's an endless cycle.

So, if someone out there can explain to me in plain english what a protein skimmer is for and how it works and why we need it, and the same for a refugium, I would be forever grateful!

Also, if anyone out there has a link to a "beginner's" site for dummies like me, I'd love to have it!

Thanks you guys!
 
Protein skimmer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_skimmer

Refugium: (not quite as good of a description, so I'll add some myself)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugium
A refugium is commonly used to grow macro algae (cheatomorpha -- aka spaghetti or brillo pad algae; or a type of caulurapa -- blade, feather, razor, grape, among others), in which the macro algae is used to take up nutrients from the water. Macro algae can out compete undesireable forms of algae for nutrients, which helps to reduce the amount of undesirable algae in the main display tank.
 
ill try a little. if you have any other questions, jsut let me know:
-protein skimmer: in my opinion, this is a very very important piece of equiptment where, most of the time, you get what you pay for. what it basicly does is creates tons of tiny bubbles (micro bubbles) that attract dissolved organics (fish poop) from your water before they can rot and decary (becoming unwanted nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, or even amonia). i wont get into the chemistry of how it does it if you are just looking for a simple explanation though. but that is pretty much what it does. it removes fish poop and waste to keep your water clean adnd healthy
-refugium: these have a few purposes. It can be a holding area for unwanted pests such as aggressive fish or inverts before you give them away or sell them, or even if the pest would still serve a purpose, such as a deadly gorillia crab, it keeps him away form your other fish where he could eat them. but he will still eat any waste (detritus) that enters. it is also a place to grow and cultivate different types of tiny crustaceans (usualy called 'pods') or worms (such as bristle, peanut, or spagetti worms). These are all beneficial, but are often eaten by the fish, shrimp, crabs, etc that are usualy found in a saltwater aquarium. it is also a place to grow macro algae (such as cheato). Macro algae is a very fast growing type of algae, as you probably know, plants and algaes need phosphates and nitrates to grow. so having macro algae growing in your tank helps to remove these unwated pollutants. as the population density of the macro algae increases, you can cut it and throw it, as well as all the nutrients it absorbed, out, or, some species of fish such as tangs like to eat many types. It also is just another place to put live rock, live sand, and have more water volume, diluting the pollutants you have in your tank, and providing the surface area needed to have the bacteria to break it down into harmless gases.
please let me know if anything doesnt make sence :dance2:
 
Hello there...right then...Skimmer...

A protein skimmer is a device that remove crap and gunk from the water by skimming the surface..Effectivly, what you are doing is removing the protein and waste by-products ( inc wee and poo ) out of the water. This is acheived by injecting air into the water inside the skimmer. The protein and by-product then gets attracted to the air bubbles and sticks to their surface..more bubbles, more surface area to attract the protien molecules. When you inject clean air into water, it creates friction, friction causes the crap and gunk from the water to be attracted to the bubble..This is then deposited into a collection cup usually on top of the skimmer and the water gets returned back to the tank....We need some way to remove these by-products from the water column and this is either acheived by water changes, regular or by incorporating a skimmer...Yes, a tank can be run without a skimmer, but a higher maintenance regime needs to be used...

A sump is simply a container, whether it be a rubbermaid container, glass or acrylic box/tank..It basically serves a few purposes.

1) To give us extra water volume for the system. By having a greater water volume, it aids in the stability of the main display tank. I suppose you could say that with a larger water volume, the margin for error is slightly decreased as you have more time to notice if something is wrong. In a small tank, without a sump, and something goes wrong, you will tend to notice it very quickly, sometimes too quickly before any remedial action can be done..

2) A sump gives us an area to create extra mechanical filtration, the "Refugium"... We can do this by having some brocken up chunks of live rock ( live rock rubble ), a deep sand bed and some macro algae. When the eco-system is created in the sump and established, we can then promote the growth of tiny pods called copepods and amphipods. This will in turn become a good food source for the main display tank.

A Refugium can also be a seperate box from the sump, as not all people have the space to fit a sump. In this situation, you can buy a HOB Refugium ( HOB - Hang On the Back ). This works in exactly the same way as a refugium that is part of a sump setup but it has its own plumbing and water is simply circulated from the main tank, into the refugium, and then returned back to the main tank...

I, personally, dont know of any great beginner sites like what you were asking. But, in the newbie section here on AC, there are some great articles made into stickies ( stickies are "Stuck" at the start of the main threads )..

By all means, any questions, just PM me...

I hope this all helps you a little to understand a bit mroe...

Niko
 
fsn77 said:
Protein skimmer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_skimmer

Refugium: (not quite as good of a description, so I'll add some myself)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugium
A refugium is commonly used to grow macro algae (cheatomorpha -- aka spaghetti or brillo pad algae; or a type of caulurapa -- blade, feather, razor, grape, among others), in which the macro algae is used to take up nutrients from the water. Macro algae can out compete undesireable forms of algae for nutrients, which helps to reduce the amount of undesirable algae in the main display tank.
Click to expand...

So a refugium is kind of like a smaller tank attached to your main tank where you purposefully grow algae? Does it help keep the nitrates under control? Is that the purpose? What happens if you don't have a refugium? Do you just grow a lot of algae in the main tank?

I'm going to read about the protein skimmers now.

Thanks for your help!
 
Yes, that is correct. The macro algae in the refugium will out compete algae in the display tank with a view to keep it under control.

I do know people who keep a ball of macro algae in their main display tank as they dont have either a sump or refugium...which is of course another way around it.

Niko
 
Thanks for your replies guys, it's definitely starting to clear things up in my head.

So basically a protein skimmer is a filter for the top of the water, and then you need a regular filter for the rest of the water, right? If you don't have a protein skimmer, what happens? Do you get a film or something on the top? A regular filter isn't sufficient enough.

Here's another dumb question: What is it about live rock? I know that they have little things living on them. Is it bacteria or is it little organisms? Do you use it to help cycle a tank? What's the point?

Oh, I hope this is not too annoying.

Do you guys find overall that marine tanks are really difficult to learn about and care for properly? They are so beautiful but I'm scared of screwing it up. (That's why I need to learn this stuff before I take the plunge).

Thanks again!
 
Without a protein skimmer, yes, you can end up having a slick film build up on the top of the tank..you can sometimes get this if you dont run a skimmer through the cycle process due to the die-off going into the water column..

Systems that dont have a skimmer generally need a higher maintenance routine.

Live rock has both bacteria and organisms living in there. Live rock provides a medium for mechanical filtration in the tank, so there is no need to have an external filter like a trickle or cannister...in my opinion of course....

You do not use it to cycle the tank, you use a form of ammonia like pure ammonia or a dead shrimp or prawn to create the ammonia as it decays...one of the points of live rock i have mentioned above...

It is not annoying at all...We are here to help you in any way we can. There are never any dumb questions...

Marine systems are not difficullt to learn about, they are just more in depth than keeping fresh due to things like monitoring water parameters, mixing salt water, buffering when it goes out of line etc etc....

Dont be scared of making a mistake...Your doing it right, by doing the research first and then when your happy, start on the practical...

Niko
 
Thanks for your help Niko.

I was thinking about eventually getting one of these nano cube tanks, like this one: www.redseamax.com. It's about 34 gallons and supposedly has everything I would need already built in. I also really like they way they look.

Do you guys think a tank like this would be good for a beginner?
Someday I'd like to get a cowfish (those are my favorites). Would this kind of tank be sufficient for a cowfish?
 
that would be an ok tank to start off with its well rounded. just dont get a real Nano Cube they have issues. as for cowfish they have a poor survival rate in tanks and they are also toxic so they can kill off themselves and everything else if they get stressed. they also get very large, about 20+ inches so they require a tank of about 175 minimum.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom