Pictures of my new 90 gallon overflow setup!

[mogurnda]

I use Salifert for almost everything these days (Ca, NO3, PO4, Mg, alkalinity). I only test NH3 and NO2 when a tank is cycling, and have been happy with cheap brands. Easy to read and reliable. I use a meter for pH. I liked Seachem's Ca test, the shirt from red to blue was very sharp, but the dry reagent tends to solidify. I also have seachem's NH3 kit, which is a pain but useful if you want to know free vs total ammonia.

As far as temperature, I aim for between 80 and 83 degrees in summer, 76-79 in winter. You certainly don't need to lower your temperature any more, and some "experts" would say you should raise it.

Regarding the snails, I would be shocked if the turbos were eating coralline. The only animals I have seen that can do that are urchins.

 

[senos]

Ya you are right. They aren't eating the coralline. They are actually eating the softer stuff. My mistake.

Glad to hear that my temperature is not a problem. From some of the books I am reading, the authors make a huge deal about keeping the temperature accurately at 75 or 76. Personally I think this is too cold. I would think 77 to 79 would be optimal for any type of tank - reef/fish. Do temperature variations matter much? During the day my tank hits 79, and at night it dips to 76. The fish can handle this right?

Thanks for the info!

 

[Mooch28]

Ya you are right. They aren't eating the coralline. They are actually eating the softer stuff. My mistake.

Glad to hear that my temperature is not a problem. From some of the books I am reading, the authors make a huge deal about keeping the temperature accurately at 75 or 76. Personally I think this is too cold. I would think 77 to 79 would be optimal for any type of tank - reef/fish. Do temperature variations matter much? During the day my tank hits 79, and at night it dips to 76. The fish can handle this right?

Thanks for the info!

From what ive read, a +/- 3 variation is normal and fine. You gota remember that this fluctuation is over a span of time as well, and not instant, so things should be fine.

Great looking tank by the way. Im also in Brampton, and selling some stuff to start up a 72 gallon reef!!

 

[senos]

So you are in Brampton too? Whereabouts do you do most of your shopping? Don't you think the Big Al's Brampton is the most TERRIBLE place to shop? Its absolutely disgusting and they are so rude to me there. Ive been going to the one on Dundas/Cawthra.

-Dave

 

[Mooch28]

So you are in Brampton too? Whereabouts do you do most of your shopping? Don't you think the Big Al's Brampton is the most TERRIBLE place to shop? Its absolutely disgusting and they are so rude to me there. Ive been going to the one on Dundas/Cawthra.

-Dave

the take very good care of their fish, as i have never had any problems with disease, but their prices like any Big chain store, are out-right insane!!

A few places to check out are.....

www.aquariumdepot.ca (located on steeles and torbram. guys name is dee, and he knows a hell of a lot more then any big als employee. Even makes his own skimmers that compete with $3000 plus skimers on the market. Does cutom installation, like inwall, ir plumbing, etc. Great guy, decent pricing, and tons of coral and fish at his palce to choose from!!)

For rock, corals, and other stuff, you get stuff cheap from people who sell their stuff at....

http://www.aquariumpros.ca/

Another place where people sell cheap.....

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/index.php?

And ofcourse......

www.jlaquatics.com

As for me, i haven't even started my reef tank yet. First im looking to sell my 72 gallon freshwater, heavily planted as a complete unit.

 

[Red10152]

Everything looks great!!!

When you upgrade your light what r u going to put in.

Also where can i get an overflow bow for a reasonable price. Do you think i need one for a 20 long sw?

 

[senos]

I am not sure what corals and inverts I will be putting in there... I actually added another two T12 fluorescent strips. So right now I am running four T12 40 watt bulbs (160 watts total). two daylight 10,000K, two actinic. What do you guys think I can keep in my tank with this amount of lighting? Its about 1.7 watts of light per gallon. I realize hard corals will not thrive, but what about softer stuff?


Mooch28 Thanks for all of those links, I really appreciate it. I got some of my clean-up crew from Aquarium Depot a month ago. They also sell the same RO+DI filter I got from ebay - good price too.

Red10151 - I have an overflow unit I can sell you. It came with my sump filter but dont need it since my tank is overflow. Comes with the box, sponge insert, hard siphon tube, return nozzle, and the 1" flex hose. PM me if interested.

 

[senos]

HELP! What is this stuff??

Okay... I haven't posted in a while because not much has changed since my last update. I have added a few shrimp, snails and crabs, but no fish since the clowns. Lately I have been having a problem with my sand getting really dirty. The inside of the glass gets dirty every day after i clean it, and everything is just really disgusting lately. I have included two pictures. Some people have told me this is RED SLIME, and some have told me its brown algae. The local fish store sold me medication for red slime but I have not yet used it. I would like to get some input on this, do you guys think its red slime? Is this a really bad thing? My water paramaters are decent. PH is 8.2, nitritres and ammonia are zero, i try to keep nitrates under 20 (still haven't built a refugium), and everything else is within proper range. HELP!

 

[mogurnda]

I vote cyano/red slime. Usually a sign of circulation being too low and/or nutrients (esp PO4) being too high. A few thiings to think about:
-Adding more circulation and making sure the skimmer is running well are good first steps.
-Making sure your Ca and alkalinity are at good levels will help coralline algae to compete with the slime.
-Because you don't have macroalgae for nutrient export, phosphate may be piling up.
It's probably worth testing, and possibly even using a phosphate remover like rowaphos or phosban.

It may also take a little patience, because these things often work themselves out.

I don't like throwing antibiotics like red slime remover into my tanks, but some people swear by the product.

 

[lbear]

Its about 1.7 watts of light per gallon. I realize hard corals will not thrive, but what about softer stuff?

The watt/gal doesn't seem to be a good measure. There are so many types of bulbs. It depends on the intensity of light penetration to the tank. I am a newbie so I won't comment on this. I'd like to know the answer too.