Trinituner Reefers, Saltwater Aquarium Fish Keepers

[hong kong phooey]

nice setup guys wish i had the time to do one

[greenlime100]

I not too worried with it blocking my overflow as to be hopping around possibly landing on another coral, or too close another coral... ill talk to raj tomorrow and see what price they go for.

[HondaB20B]

he has a nice on in the 2nd tub on the left when walking in. its on the far right hand side near the overflow. Its a long tentacle

[greenlime100]

he has a nice on in the 2nd tub on the left when walking in. its on the far right hand side near the overflow. Its a long tentacle

nice... ill check it out

[HondaB20B]

i dont have a cover or any other units for filtration etc. Looking to start so need advise what to do to put this unit together. What is the best filter, skimmer etc for this application?
Also whats the best fish live rock etc. Basically I looking for the variety of colour in the tank

Jerry84, i really dont know your budget so me giving you an exact costing and/or brand will not work out. You have to do some research first and decide what you want. There are allot of good brands that will do the job. Going cheap brand going to get you more stressed out.
Well you have the tank which is the main thing, then you need these other items.
But first question is HAVE YOU EVER KEPT FRESHWATER FISH BEFORE !!! (For a sustantial amount of time.
If your answer is NO, Then keeping saltwater fish is not for you. If you understand, you must have the general idea about keeping fish.
If your answer is yes, THEN YOU CAN CONTINUE.........
*Lights - LED's, HO-T5's or Metal halides. - Prices vary $3000-15000
*You can either use a sump with overflow box rated for your size tank, 2 good hang-on filters or a canister filter. - prices vary
* Protein skimmer $900-4000
* Powerheads $300-4500
* Return pump $$800-2500
* Chiller (all depends on what you want to grow and/or where your tank is. $7000-8500
* Sand $500-600
* Salt $100-150/ 50 gal bag
* Water - either you buying water or buying a RODI unit $2000-3000
* Live rock - 100-150lbs @ $20 per lb.

Everything is based on your budget and your prefference of brand & quality.
Your likeness of fish might not be mine, also not all fish are compatible with other fish inverts and/or corals (meaning not reef safe). Also you tank will not be able to keep fish that grows big.
What kind of fish are you interested in and do you want corals

[pugboy]

anybody here build a plywood tank yet ?
they seem to be the way to go lately for DIY

[3pO]

3p0, what lights keeping the corals alive

About 4 days now they without light but from tomorrow they should be bk in my main tank , I use ecotech radion

[HondaB20B]

3p0, what lights keeping the corals alive

About 4 days now they without light but from tomorrow they should be bk in my main tank , I use ecotech radion

OK, by the way................. you had me flipping my head one way and turning my laptop over to view dem pics.........lol
Good ting i didnt drink before i look at them

[rmtuner]

anybody here ever buy from http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/ ?

[Reefplanet]

rock nems easy or hard???

[Reefplanet]

Honda i really need that water u still busy?

[HondaB20B]

rock nems easy or hard???

Nah they real easy. I have a few of them nearly a year now. The only thing i dont like is they bulldoze my damn corals thats on my sandbed whenever they decide to move. The ones i have real big so they really move sand. I didnt want them in my rocks cause of all the corals

[greenlime100]

Got the reactor and rowaphos today.....hooking up this in the morning. Time to get rid of this algae

[Reefplanet]

i guess when i get my nitrates down i might buy 1 to try it out

[HondaB20B]

Got the reactor and rowaphos today.....hooking up this in the morning. Time to get rid of this algae

missed you again, i was by him around lunchtime. Went to get the 5gal containers of b-ionic.

[greenlime100]

i guess when i get my nitrates down i might buy 1 to try it out

From the reviews this sounding like a MUST lol... Ill post an progress pic up after a week, might take a few week to get completely rid of all my algae. will also get an algae blenny and about 3 more snails to help maintain the tank. After that... ill decide on something to work on my nitrates (even though I dont have a nitrate problem).

Since my main goal is to automate the tank as much as possible for a period of 10 to 14 days at max, Ive been reading that some key things will be to have something removing phosphates, removing nitrates, adding Alk/CA.

Also just a tip for anyone that finds they have particles suspended all over the tank...makes the water look dusty.. I placed a filter sock over my overflow pipe...cleared it up nicely. And this was a cheap one really intended for freshwater HOB filters. Ordered 200 micron socks from amazon

[HondaB20B]

this is what i use when i stir up my sand bed............ works real good

http://www.amazon.com/WILSON-Performanc ... lson+socks

[greenlime100]

Got the reactor and rowaphos today.....hooking up this in the morning. Time to get rid of this algae

missed you again, i was by him around lunchtime. Went to get the 5gal containers of b-ionic.

weii lol I was there about 2:30

[HondaB20B]

ok, nah i went before that

[3pO]

this is how my new tank come out , everything just looking so plain ,

[HondaB20B]

^^^^give it time, it will pick up. They say a SW tank takes about 1yr to fully break in and settle down. Some corals take days or even weeks to settle down and adjust to the new water conditions and/or lighting.

[greenlime100]

set up the reactor... media tumbling nicely
HOPE this clear up the algae. getting a HOB filter next week for my chemipure...will run 2 bags in it, good things to come lol

[HondaB20B]

you get the Alk to stabilise now?

[HondaB20B]

i guess when i get my nitrates down i might buy 1 to try it out

Google is you friend




Dosing Vodka to reduce NO3 and PO4 in Saltwater Aquarium
Submitted by AquariumsLife.com on February 19, 2010 – 7:00 amOne Comment

vodka dosingI won’t go deep into the scientific area of this. I’ll leave this to others who are more comfortable with this topic. To make a long story short, the goal of dosing Vodka is to provide an organic carbon source to grow bacteria in order to consume phosphates and nitrates. Bacteria are then exported via the protein skimmer and so are the nutrient that it consumed. The idea here is to reduce Nitrate and Phosphate to create a better environment for the fish and invertebrates and reduce the chances of an algae outbreak.

Even though there is scientific literature to back up the idea, this dosing method was achieved trough experimentation and observation. Many fellow aquarist shared their results and observation on forums to finally come up with recommended dosing rates (see: ReefCentral.com, Nano-Reef.com). In general, users note a dramatic decrease in nitrate and phosphate molecules, while others note increased coral coloration and clearer water.

Note: This method should do well for systems that do not effectively remove NO3 and PO4. Systems with very low levels of NO3 and PO4 may not benefit to any great extent by dosing carbon.
Why Vodka?

Phosphate and nitrate are the two main nutrient reduced when adding organic carbon. Basically, dosing and other kinds of any organic carbon would give you the same results.
People have also experimented this with vinegar, sugar, etc (all of which are organic). The reason we use vodka in comparison to other spirits is that vodka is more pure in composition. Vodka is mostly water ethanol: no additives, no flavor added, etc.
How does it reduce NO3 and PO4?

By adding organic carbon, we increase bacterial growth and reproduction. The reason why we do this is because bacteria use nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate to build new cells which result in rapid NO2 and PO4 reduction. Like us, they need their carbs. Bacteria are then exported via the protein skimmer and so are the nutrient that it consumed. Most vodka users note a notable increase in skimmate production, removing more waste than without vodka addition.
The Skimmer

A good skimmer is a key requirement for this method. Cultivating bacteria to lower NO3 and PO4 is one thing but you also need to remove those bacteria from your system. If you keep the bacteria in your system, they will eventually set those nutrients free when they die. You can’t rely on water changes for that so make sure you have a good skimmer! The other reason for using a skimmer is gas exchange. The increased bacterial biomass will decrease your dissolved O2 levels which can cause stress (or death) to the reef inhabitant.
Dosing Instructions

1. Your first step is to test your system’s NO3 and PO4 levels. Do not try this method if you don’t know this!!!!!

2. Estimate the net water volume of your system. The water volume is the sum of the aquarium volume, the sump and refuge minus live rock displacement. It is ok to underestimate the net water volume but it is risky to overestimate it.

3. Start with 0.1 ml of vodka per 25 gallons (100 L) daily for the first three days.

4. Then, double the daily dosage to 0.2 ml per 25 gallons (100 L) for days 4 to 7.

5. On week two, add an additional 0.5ml to the daily dosage, regardless of the aquarium volume. Always test your system’s NO3 and PO4 levels. If your NO3 and PO4 levels start to drop during that 2nd week, maintain the current daily dose. If your NO3 and PO4 do not drop, add an additional 0.5 ml of vodka to the daily dosage on week three. Add 0.5 ml to the daily dosage every week until your NO3 and PO4 start to drop.

6. When your NO3 and PO4 levels drop near undetectable levels, cut your current dose in half. This will be your daily dose.

7. Keep dosing vodka every day (the dose on point 6) and keep monitoring your NO3 and PO4. If levels become detectable again, increase your daily dose by 0.1ml per week until the levels start to decrease again. Your NO3 and PO4 levels will eventually drop back to undetectable. This will become your new daily dose.

NB: Those instructions are for 80 proof vodka only (40% ethanol by volume).


Right now i'm doing daily dosing of 15mls cause i scraped my two little fishies reactor with the small pellets to go a bigger and more reliable reactor along with the new pellets that more than double its size. It takes about 2-3wks for the bacteria to colonize on the pellets so i'm just dosing vodka for the time it takes to start working. My nitrates are still undetectable. I'm testing with 2 different types ok kits just to make sure.

[3pO]

honda you think the bio actif salt might work just like if you was dosing vodka ,

[greenlime100]

you get the Alk to stabilise now?

more or less Ill say so, for the past week ive been dosing 10ml every 2 days. so far keeping it at 9.6 lowest i caught it dropping to is 8.6 I believe

[HondaB20B]

you get the Alk to stabilise now?

more or less Ill say so, for the past week ive been dosing 10ml every 2 days. so far keeping it at 9.6 lowest i caught it dropping to is 8.6 I believe

If 10ml maintaining your tank at 9.6dKH every 2 days, and it went down to 8.6 +/-, then that means your Alk drop is .5dKH per day. So which means to not have that big fluctuation in your ALK, dose 5ml per day. But pretty soon with the amount of coraline you will be getting, you will have to up the dosage. I dose 120ml daily now to maintain my ALK in the 9's. I get a 2.0-2.5 drop daily. My zoas and coraline sucking up that thing.
Imagine raj dosing between 540-600mls daily

[greenlime100]

ill try that from next week when my next dosage due.

Yea raj was saying its about 5gal a month

[HondaB20B]

honda you think the bio actif salt might work just like if you was dosing vodka ,

I realy cant say about that salt............... never used it.
but if it already has vodka and vit-c, depending on the amout of corals, it will be depleted very quickly. Bio-pellets used in a reactor is working 24/7 whereby daily dosing of vodka its always replenished.
You may have to check with the experts............. Not only that, how much that realy going to cost to bring down.

I've been using reef crystals for the last 18mths in my reef and i like it. A box costs me $600 (4 - 50gal bags or 200gal), Raj also brings in some other salts by the bucket for $900 (same 200gal).
For me, I dont see spending $300 more. Maybee when i win the lotto

[HondaB20B]

ill try that from next week when my next dosage due.

Yea raj was saying its about 5gal a month

And thats just in the big aquarium alone. He disconected the calcium reactor. and thats not in the big system