steelerfan's 30 Gallon Breeder Journal/Build

Benson said:
Following this Steeler... I keep my water in a brute as well. Haven't check it for phosphates. Maybe I should do that. I did start using a 20 gallon tank for my ATO., but I fill that with water from the brute. I don't have an algae out break yet... maybe my tank is till too young yet???
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you notice any rubbery smell coming from your brute benson?

i keep mine in the garage and the water is without movement.

garage gets hot here but not crazy hot as i would say max is in the 80's.

never noticed the smell in the winter so i had wondered about the heat in the garage and leaching from the brute.

i was told from a board member on another site who works in a plastics business that leaching would not occur unless it was over 150 degrees but i still find it odd that i didn't have that smell in winter but have it now.

thinking od just putting a real polyfilter pad in there just to see if it changes color meaning it would be getting rid of something.
 
saw something cool the other day and wanted to see if anyone else has seen it.

i have, and i am probably going to spell this wrong, stomapod snails, the ones with like only a sliver of a shell on the top.

was watching the tank and i saw a puff of looked like detritus or almost like if you would step on 1 of those mushrooms in your back yard and get that brownish poof from it.

anyway i watch it for a minute or so and after that i see another 1 from another rock and then a 3rd from another rock.

i get real close to tank and watch and sure enough there are these 3 snails all at different ends of the tank blowing these puffs up, almost like they trying to locate each other.

thought it was cool.

anyone know what they were blowing out of their mouths?
 
Stomatella :)

Sure they weren't spawining?

I am with you on the brute. Having some sandbed issues and am starting to point to my mixing container. Considering just getting a 10 to 20 gallon tank to mix water in and be done with it. Lots of people use brutes though and swear by them. I saw the thread on the other site and there were 2 guys on there that were plastic molders and were adamant that they will not leach.
 
yeah, that's what i said graham, stomatella :)

indeed they may have been spawning, but i don't know how that process works, but looking at tank right now and a see a handfull of something the size of maybe a speck of coraline growth on the glass and they have 2 small anteni and crawling about, so maybe that is what happened.

on the brute, i find it hard to believe that it can smell so rubbery and not be leaching anything when it was fine before, and like i said the lfs tested phosphates on my tank water and topoff from brute and that test showed water from brute was at .50 for phosphates which was way higher than my tank.

i would like to get 20 gallon tank but since i keep in garage am afraid it could get broken, but i really am losing trust in the brute and not sure what else i could try...

greech said:
Stomatella :)

Sure they weren't spawining?

I am with you on the brute. Having some sandbed issues and am starting to point to my mixing container. Considering just getting a 10 to 20 gallon tank to mix water in and be done with it. Lots of people use brutes though and swear by them. I saw the thread on the other site and there were 2 guys on there that were plastic molders and were adamant that they will not leach.
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greech said:
I am with you on the brute. Having some sandbed issues and am starting to point to my mixing container. Considering just getting a 10 to 20 gallon tank to mix water in and be done with it. Lots of people use brutes though and swear by them. I saw the thread on the other site and there were 2 guys on there that were plastic molders and were adamant that they will not leach.
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I agree with that, Brute trashcans do not leech chemicals into the water, what they do is feed bacteria in the water. Ask those 2 guys about the plastic in the brute being a food source for bacteria. If they say it can't happen, point them to the AA article that shows that is exactly what happens. ;) Also, another tip for 1 part salts, put in water, mix with salt, and as the last step, heat to proper temps, check salinity one last time, and use immediately as soon as the temp it correct. I have seen a lot of posts abour RC/residue problems and they all have one common denominator, they all keep the heater in the water for extended periods of time (days/weeks some times) and those who do not pre-heat do not have the residue/precipitate problem in the trashcans.
 
Ace25 said:
I agree with that, Brute trashcans do not leech chemicals into the water, what they do is feed bacteria in the water. Ask those 2 guys about the plastic in the brute being a food source for bacteria. If they say it can't happen, point them to the AA article that shows that is exactly what happens. ;) Also, another tip for 1 part salts, put in water, mix with salt, and as the last step, heat to proper temps, check salinity one last time, and use immediately as soon as the temp it correct. I have seen a lot of posts abour RC/residue problems and they all have one common denominator, they all keep the heater in the water for extended periods of time (days/weeks some times) and those who do not pre-heat do not have the residue/precipitate problem in the trashcans.
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hi ace,

what do you think could be causing my phosphates to test higher coming straight out of the brute container then?

i only keep fresh ro/di water in the brute and mix my saltwater in a 5 gallon bucket for 6-8 hours b4 water change and that water always looks/smells fine and salt dissolves well.

would bacteria if that was the case in the brute and stagnant water cause a phosphate issue?
 
That is exactly how I mix my salt now since a while back I cooked an entire batch of new mix water because my heater eventually stuck. I rarely have reside in my container now but didn't make that correlation so thanks for the tip!

What do you store/mix your water in Ace?
 
Yep, I do have the smell... I was keeping in the garage and here in AZ that can be over 120 in the garage. Moved the brute inside. When I do drain my brute there is a slime on the bottom. Not a lot... just a bit. I don't like that either...
steelerfan67 said:
you notice any rubbery smell coming from your brute benson?

i keep mine in the garage and the water is without movement.

garage gets hot here but not crazy hot as i would say max is in the 80's.

never noticed the smell in the winter so i had wondered about the heat in the garage and leaching from the brute.

i was told from a board member on another site who works in a plastics business that leaching would not occur unless it was over 150 degrees but i still find it odd that i didn't have that smell in winter but have it now.

thinking od just putting a real polyfilter pad in there just to see if it changes color meaning it would be getting rid of something.
Click to expand...
 
There are some variables to consider. One theory that comes to mind in regards to high phosphates is the water (fresh) is growing some bacteria but it dies off fairly quickly which leads to higher phosphates. I am not saying with any certainty that is the case but if I were to guess that would be my first guess as to why.

Since that AA article about plastic containers I have switched to mixing water in my old (well, 3 months old) 29G aquarium I picked up at the $1 gallon sale and tore down when I upgraded to the 55G. I still keep my RO/DI water in a brute though and I know I need to change that next but my other 29G I have is being used to cook rock right now.

I have been using Reef Crystals the last 400G of water I have made (2 months worth). Before that I was using B-Ionic. I love that stuff but it is really hard to justify the cost when I can get a 200G box of RC delivered to my door for $50 from Dr Fosters.
 
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