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  1. M

    small cylindrical particles in my tank.

    I am feeding the damsels some formula I pellets. I think maybe it is fish poops. I will do an ammonia test on it, good idea. Maybe I am noticing it cause I got no sand in the tank yet. The cylinders were not hollow in the microscope so I don't think they are worm castings. Fish poop, good...
  2. M

    small cylindrical particles in my tank.

    well I had my rock in a dark trash can with seawater, powerhead and heater for about 5 months, now I am starting my tank again. the rock should be in pretty good shape, nitrate and phosphate are reading zero. i can try to post a picture.
  3. M

    small cylindrical particles in my tank.

    I just started a new reef tank, all I got in the tank is live rock, 2 damsels and a bit of hair algae. I see some detritus on the bottom of the tank (no sand in the tank yet) and there are a bunch of small green cylindrical things about 1 mm in dia. and about 5 mm long with a slight curl to...
  4. M

    what kind of algae to grow in refugium?

    Yeh I saw that thread and thought it was a good idea. I suppose the best plan is to try it along with the macros and see who out competes who and go with the winner or with both if there is a tie.
  5. M

    what kind of algae to grow in refugium?

    Why do people grow chaeto or caluerpa in their refugium? Cause it is easy to harvest and it consumes nutrients to starve out unwanted hair algae. I have seen the alternative of using an algae matt, like a piece of plastic webbing sheet (like 7 mesh) to grow large amounts of hair algae, this is...
  6. M

    cutting glass

    OK mojo I will go to OBD tomorrow again (thurs) to submit my glass specs, I will go with a L shaped based cut a bit oversized and without polished edges since all vert. panes will be put on top of the base and the base edges will be hidden in the rim on the tank stand. for all vert. panes, I...
  7. M

    cutting glass

    thanks mojo. i would build the tank so all vertical panels sit on the bottom panel. how do you guarantee 1/16 seam of silicone between all edges? do you use spacers that are pushed out as silicone goes in? what silicone do you recommend? I have heard 100% silicone rubber without anti-mildew...
  8. M

    cutting glass

    Thanks Mojo, I will try to find a cnc/grind place. One option is I have access to a machine shop and can mill the rims exactly. So for example the bottom piece can be a bit over on length and width so that vertical panels are a tad inside the edge of the bottom, then the key is to get the...
  9. M

    cutting glass

    yeh, I want to build a glass tank that is only 12" high so pressure will be on the low side. I think I will give it a try. I have a 100 gal all acrylic tank, I think it is 3/8 thick pro made tank, some scratches on the inside panels but these are easy to remove with the tank dry, the tank is...
  10. M

    cutting glass

    well there is research and there is experience. I think experience is most important. I have done some reading but who knows if the info is accurate. I am going back and forth between trying to build it and getting it build by a pro. I have a lot of acrylic laying around and I am toying with a...
  11. M

    cutting glass

    L shaped tank. 4 ft by 4 ft, 13 inches tall, 8 inches wide (so a narrow L tank for my office desk). I will checkout OBD. I will also go to Perkins glass in capital hill and see how flat they can grind. I heard you don't want any non flat spots on the edges since there will be more silicone in...
  12. M

    cutting glass

    Yeh I spoke to Rob at Red C and he has a guy that will build tanks but the price is beyond my budget, my tank is only going to be 13 inches tall and so the pressure is minimal so I think I would take a chance and build my own. For large tanks, probably you are playing with fire with the risk of...
  13. M

    cutting glass

    I need advice on where to get glass cut for a tank build. I have heard that scratch cut followed by edge grinding may not give linear enough edges for tank building. Do people get their glass laser cut? Where in the Seattle area? There is a place in Interbay that does water-jet cutting but it...
  14. M

    Calcium and carbonate chemistry, help!

    let's see. vinegar is acetic acid. reaction would be CaCO3 + CH3COOH > Ca2+ + HCO3- + CH3COO- so yes you will dissolve CaCO3 and release Ca2+ and bicarbonate to the tank but you will also be adding acetate (CH3COO-) to your tank. Probably acetate is OK as it is a naturally occuring compound...
  15. M

    Calcium and carbonate chemistry, help!

    OK so I am pretty sure the only reason folks put aragonite in their calcium reactor is because as it dissolves under the action of bubbling in CO2 you liberate calcium but ALSO other elements in the aragonite like magnesium and strontium, etc... Otherwise you could just bubble in CO2 and add...
  16. M

    Calcium and carbonate chemistry, help!

    For Gazbo, yes adding CO2 to the reactor or to any body of water will lower the pH since CO2 reacts with water to form carbonic acid, H2CO3, which dissociates to form H+ and HCO3- and of course pH goes down when the amt of H+ goes up since that is how pH is defined. But what you say is not quite...
  17. M

    Calcium and carbonate chemistry, help!

    OK so I am a chem prof at UW and have a decent background in chemistry. I think I got this calcium, alkalanity figured out but I have one key question. Reef folks out there seem to use a combo of a calcium reactor and something to add kahlwasser (Ca(OH)2) to their tanks. Here is the way I see...
  18. M

    starting a new reef tank, new to the hobby

    Thanks folks. all good suggestions. I am a chem prof at UW in seattle and I like to think about the logic of all of this through chemistry. Here is the deal as far as I understand it. If you want to have livestock in the tank that needs dissolved calcium (Ca2+) in the water to make its...
  19. M

    starting a new reef tank, new to the hobby

    Thanks. Lots of folks are saying no DSB. Here is the thing. I have a ton of live rock since I pulled it out of my 120 gal DT. Now I want to go to a smaller tank cause I have no plumbing in my office and the water changes were killing me. How about this? I put 1/3 of my LR in my DT, 1/3 in my...
  20. M

    starting a new reef tank, new to the hobby

    I would like to setup a ~50 gal reef tank with a few fish and soft corals. I am a newbie. Here is my initial plan based on my reading so far. Please comment on whether it sounds like a good starting point. 1. 10 gal refugium with Chaeto 2. bare bottom in main tank, deep sand bed (4 inches) in...
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