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I am wondering most of the refuges i have been looking at do not have sand, i thought i added more filtration to the refuge? I plan to add live rock to mine i just am in a money crunch right now. Also what type of light is needed for the refuge?
 
I agree with sid and also it depends how long and how many fish you have like others mentioned.

for a list a reef safe inverts you should try garf.org and http://www.chucksaddiction.com/
different people have differing opinions about crabs and shrimp... in general most of the shrimp and a number of crabs are reef safe in general, but they are opportunistic like someone said, so if it gets hungry enough or just "feels like it" they'll eat your snails. And sometimes peppermint shrimp eat zoa. I have not more Aiptasia and my 3 polyp RPE vanished... some starfish like the chocolate chip starfish isn't reef safe...
Stephen
 
Deep Sand bed and lots of Macro in the fuge, skimmer in the sump. That's it. No bioballs!!! That'll just add to your nitrate issue. Live rock can be used, but I would just stick with live sand and macro!! The more water volume, the more sand and the more macro in the fuge, the better!! Trimming the macro back every couple of weeks will "export" the nitrates.
 
I am happy to announce that my nitrates are down to 20!!!! and my kh is up to 240! I am holding off until tomorrow night before feeding again and i will just feed a little not much.

I don't quite understand how to trim back the chaeto? Should i just tear some off and how much?

Also most of my redslime is gone the snails are demolishing it!!


I will up load a pic but i am wondering about this, i have a piece of rock that has green furry stuff growing on it looks like does anyone know what that could be?
 
Better to cut with scissors, make a cleaner cut. Tearing can damage the chaeto and lead to nitrate release in the tank...I think.

Nitrates down to 20 is much better, great job!! Keep working on it. You want it undetectable!!

Kh, 240 is pretty unfamiliar for kH. Usually it's measured in dKH or mq/l. kH between 7-10 would be good and a mq/l of around 3. Is 240 in ppm possibly?
 
jgraeff said:
I am happy to announce that my nitrates are down to 20!!!! and my kh is up to 240! I am holding off until tomorrow night before feeding again and i will just feed a little not much.

I don't quite understand how to trim back the chaeto? Should i just tear some off and how much?

Also most of my redslime is gone the snails are demolishing it!!


I will up load a pic but i am wondering about this, i have a piece of rock that has green furry stuff growing on it looks like does anyone know what that could be?
Click to expand...


Green Furry algae... hair algae..and not surprised with the nitrates around and phosphates.

next water change save the water..pull that rock out and get a nylon brush...scrub it off...and then put it back in the tank.

Also... the snails must be eating Diatoms..and it wasnt red slime...

Red slime aka Cyano (remember this) nothing eats it that I know of. So the fact that those snails are going to town on it...the only thing that looks like red slime in early stages (chucks addictions pics confirm it) is Diatoms.

They look so close in the beginning. Diatoms can be starved by a 24 hour lights out and water change with phosphate removing , and cleaner crew ontop of it.
 
And as a second opinion on refugium substrate, I prefer rock and rubble over sand but this is just a personal preference and not a specific requirement.
 
Ok thanks for the help i will pull it out and scrub it. I guess it was diatom algae because the snails are really going at it. I have had the light on it but i will leave it off until they snails finish it off. I will add more mangroves to my refuge and next time i do the waterchange i will remove sand and add it to my display tank.

I added copepods for my mandarin goby and he looks good, however the guy told me they are reproducing copepods and i would need to put another one in in about 5-6 months. I am worried that he will catch up to them and maybe starve, how do i know if there are enough in the tank for him to eat and if not how can i tell if he is not eating? And yes the kh of 240 was in ppm.

I got a couple more questions for you guys

skimmer: I have a proclear skimmer have any of you tried or have them or head a review on them? It seems to do a good job but i have a hard time tuning it in to the water level with the air adjustment valve. Is the build up of the proteins on the skimmer good for skimming or should i clean it every time i do a water change?

Purple up: Does it work or is it a waste of money and will it cause any problems?

Mysis shrimp: Will the mandarin eat them, i think he is but im not positive.
 
Last edited:
Purple up does work, but can also cause problems with accumulated metals over time. Keeping Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium at balanced levels will work just as well, without the problems!!

I have a ProClear Aquatics skimmer and hated it. I had the same trouble with that little air adjustment valve. I also didn't have the correct pump with it though. I tried several different pumps, including a pin-wheel pump. Couldn't ever get it working very well.

It made all the difference in the world, with my tank, when I upgraded to a better skimmer.
 
I think i am going to return it i mean for the money it costs it sure doesn't deliver. What are really good skimmers for sumps that are small but do just as good of a job?
 
I just order more chaeto, ulva, and more red mangroves for my sump as well as some other snails that eat detritus as well as all kinds of algae and i hope that will take care of my nitrate issues as long as i keep up on the water changes.
 
What type of snails do you have in your tank? We have a ton of different snails hubby is the snail guy lol but we have some Nassarius Snails and we really like them and they are excellent for keeping sandbed clean. They are also pretty interesting to watch when you feed the tank. They bury themselves in the sand and the second food hits the tank it's like the night of the living dead they all come to the surface of the sand.
 
As far as the mandarin goes, they generally will not pluck the mysis out of the water column, but if you can turn off your pumps when you feed, and try to see that some lands ont he ground infront of him, then he will probably pick at it. I try to blast some mysis in my mandarins cave every time I feed the tank.

Here is a link over at Melev's about how he got his mandarin to feed. Its basically the same principle. You put the food in an area where it wont get blown away, and the mandarin can eat in peace: http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html
 
I have mainly mexican and zebra turbo snails and some nassarius to i think but not positive. I will look for Mark and talk to him about a skimmer. And i will try turning off the powerheads and filter and maybe put it on a feeding stick and see if he will got for it.
 
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