phosphate remover results.

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daytonaconnecti said:
i didnt want to cause a problems, i just love know different options, i have jumped into things before, witout askings questions, and i paid the price for it,,,, thanks to all, for the advice, you have been great...iam just a person that thinks their is always another way :) i will take the advice and get this tank back on it feet,,,, i thought i knew alittle about this hobby, but its alot to take in.. iam learning... thanks
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There is no problem what so ever. We are all aware of why you are having problems, no need to place blame. You are now aware of why your tank looks the way it does. Now have fun and go fix it. This is a very slow moving hobby with NO instant gratification. Take your time and enjoy.

Don
 
No prob here...If you want, we can start another poll(LOL) Keep asking and asking...Like I said, it never get's old to me...Good luck!
 
phos remover results

Daytona, please do not think for one minute you were/are causing problems, "you are not" you seemed to be agonizing over what to do. the point I was trying to put across to you was that you received a fairly unanimous feedback to your questions. had they been conflicting in all different directions it would have been easier to understand your indeciveness. I believe we all gave you good moral support, most of us have been there done that so we know of your anguish.there is no such thing as too many questions, or stupid questions, (just stupid answers sometimes) so---hang in there, get it going the way you want it. and enjoy. please keep us up to date on your progress, okay?
 
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well i think i will go with a dsb, after all get right, i think i remember reading somewhere that i should put my rocks in before the sand, goes in, and not on top of the sand. are something like that, any ideas...
 
Not sure if it is the same process as with a ssb, but with a shallow ssb, you aquascape and then add the sand. With a dsb, it may be different because you take care of them differently. SSB's require weekly siphoning and a dsb, I think you leave on it's own...Could be wrong though. I'd as MikeS on the best way to go about setting up the dsb as he is known to be the, "dark lord of the sand"(LOL) Very smart, nice and helpful guy who may have some good tips that will help you out a lot! Good luck on your new approach...I hope you have a lot of success with it.
 
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definitely add rockwork first then sand. This ensures that no creatures will dig under the rock and cause an avalanche. Be sure to either seed the sand bed with some sand from an existing DSB if possible. This will allow you to kick start the population of beneficial critters. Also you might look into some of the old DSB threads outlining the best critters to turn over the sand. Some will do better than others, but what you really need to be aware of are the critters that eat the good critters in the DSB. Make sure you stay clear of these (sand sifting stars are one).

Good luck
 
Hi Daytonaconnecti, welcome to RF...

Before you make the leap into the world of the DSB, I highly reccomend you do as much reseach on them as possible. They are not a magic cure all, yes, they do have advantages, but also have some decided disadvantages as well. You'll find a lot of conflicting information out there on them, they are problably the most hotly debated issue in the hobby currently, but at least you'll be aware of some of the issues you may be facing.

In my honest opinion, I'd do this....remove the CC and go BB for awhile. One, this will give you some time to do some research on DSB's before you jump into one. Two...your CC is probably churning out all kinds of nasties, like phosphates, nitrates, ammonium, ect. Removing it will stop this, and it will allow your LR to begin to shed off and begin to recover and start doing its job properly. I moved my 5+year old reef a few months back...it had a 5 year old DSB in it. I plan on getting a larger tank soon, so I decided to lose the DSB and go BB until I got the new tank. Well, I have to say, my tank and corals haven't looked this good in a long time....and my water quality is nearly perfect. I just might stay with the BB setup, I'm impressed so far...( God I hope Nikki doesn't read this....I'll never hear the end of it:lol: )

Anyway something to think about....going BB for a while definately isn't going to hurt your tank, and it gives you some time to do some real research before jumping into something like a DSB....

MikeS
 
thanks, that sounds good, do i need anything between the rock and the bottom,and do i take out everything to do this, or move things to one side and remove the cc, then do the other?
 
a couple months ago I took down my 1yr old 55 gallon/with ssb transplanted to 100gallon w/30 gal. sump and 30gal. refugium. thought I would try BB for awhile with about 2600gph current. 1300+gph turnover and about 1200gph in powerheads. absolutely no nitrates. corals have never looked better. but yes the dsb/bb debate has been a hot topic... I do have about 1 - 2 lbs of sand for my yellow watchman gobie in the back right corner.
 
daytonaconnecti said:
thanks, that sounds good, do i need anything between the rock and the bottom,and do i take out everything to do this, or move things to one side and remove the cc, then do the other?
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Some people elevate the rock with dowels or eggcrate...this will definately aid flow across the bottom of the tank and reduce "dead spots". In addition, the dowels will stabilize the rock better, it kind of tends to slide around a bit more on the bare glass than when stacked on a substrate. I had to move my tank in a hurry, I didn't have time to dowel it or use eggcrate, but if I stay BB when I move the reef to a larger tank, I'll definately take the time to dowel the rock.

As for the switch...yeah, I'd remove everything from the tank. This will afford you the oppritunity to rinse the rock off well, and scrub problem areas clean. It will also ensure you get all the CC (and the waste in the CC:D ) out of the system. Save some of your exisiting water, but I'd replace at least 2/3 to 3/4 of it with new water....just use the same salt, get it to the same temperature, and you'll be fine with the large water change.

Your tank will be without some of the "bacterial crutch" initally, so good maintenance will be a must...keep an eye on your water quality, do water changes, use carbon, a good skimmer 24/7, ect...Have good, random flow in the tank, and blow the rocks off regularly with a powerhead...

MikeS
 
reedman said:
It's documented now Mike. You'll never hear the end of it. BB all the way!!!
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I know, I know....hopefully she'll miss this one....I already took my beating from mojo on the phone the other day....:lol:

MikeS
 
I know, I know....hopefully she'll miss this one....I already took my beating from mojo on the phone the other day....

MikeS
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LOL Mike...You'd better make good use of that edit tab:lol:
 
datona, take a look at the avatar of mikeS. that is what your tank will look like with a dsb. there will be various color cyno's tween the glass and sand. all in all not a very attractive view. the populating of the dsb by the needed flora/fauna takes a long time, the cycle period is painfully slow. hope you rethink your decision, it is a viable option but it is cumbersome to get up and running. it will be a fair amount of time before you will be able to return your livestock. place your rock on crating do not bury it in the sand, it will create conflicting biotopes. live rock does not operate the same as substrate
 
well after reading, past post on here, until my eyes are bleeding.... i think its bb for me, my finale answer :) ,,, iam using a 800gph pump in a closed loop now. with four points of water flow on both sides of the tank. rembember the tanr is a 48 gal corner tank that has five sides,,any ideas on proper flow plumbing, maybe a drawing to go by....
 
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