Melosu58
Reef enthusiast
I keep mine on the back glass also. I do it to make the fish swim out front. Mine have been on the back glass for over 11 yrs now. If you dont leave any space in the back then they cant swim back there. JMO
Leaning LR on back glass?
- Thread starter Wes888
- Start date
project5k
Reef enthusiast
yea, there is the swimming issue, but have you ever noticed any detritus buildups?
daugherty
part time reefer
my rock starts in about the middle of my tank and as i stacked i put peices back a little farther for each layer with some that touch the glass to hold them from falling until the top layer is almost all touching the glass.
yote
In Memoriam
It really dont matter if the rock touches the glass or not.What does matter,THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE HAS TO BE STABLE.If its not stable,it has a better chance of falling and busting the tank.
daugherty
part time reefer
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
dcantucson
Reef pro
Wow, talk about beating a subject to death! :lol:
+1 yote
+1 yote
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
Ted
Living one day at a time
The egg crate sounds like a good idea. I saw somewhere they used pvc pipe under the lr to lift it off the bottom. I guess it was to allow water flow under the rock. I was thinking of doing something like that on the nano project. Dont really know if that will work. The other thing I was thinking was gluing it all together. Seems there are endless ideas and questions about this stuff. As long as your stable then you should be fine.
ccCapt
Reef Hacker
I read that article. Unless I missed something, where does it say what I said was wrong?
I know your not into reading these articles, but here ya go.
Chemistry and The Aquarium
Dissolution of CaCO3 in Aquaria
If calcium carbonate is supersaturated in marine aquaria, how can it also dissolve? The answer lies in the fact that while the water column is supersaturated, other parts of the tank may not be. Specifically, the interstitial water of sand and rock if often lower in pH than the water column. For example, if I put a pH probe into my oolitic aragonite sand bed, I get a pH in the 7’s, when the water column itself has pH = 8.4.
The reasons for the pH being lower in the sand are beyond the scope of this article, but it relates to the breakdown of organics (and some nitrogen compounds). Both aerobic and anaerobic oxidation of organics in seawater can lead to the production of acid, especially carbonic acid derived from CO2. This link is to a thread that shows some of the reactions that can (and cannot) produce acid in sand beds.
As the pH is lowered, the equilibrium between carbonate and bicarbonate shifts towards bicarbonate (i.e., shifts to the left in equation 15):
(15) HCO3- ßà H+ + CO3--
If calcium carbonate is supersaturated in marine aquaria, how can it also dissolve? The answer lies in the fact that while the water column is supersaturated, other parts of the tank may not be. Specifically, the interstitial water of sand and rock if often lower in pH than the water column. For example, if I put a pH probe into my oolitic aragonite sand bed, I get a pH in the 7’s, when the water column itself has pH = 8.4.
The reasons for the pH being lower in the sand are beyond the scope of this article, but it relates to the breakdown of organics (and some nitrogen compounds). Both aerobic and anaerobic oxidation of organics in seawater can lead to the production of acid, especially carbonic acid derived from CO2. This link is to a thread that shows some of the reactions that can (and cannot) produce acid in sand beds.
As the pH is lowered, the equilibrium between carbonate and bicarbonate shifts towards bicarbonate (i.e., shifts to the left in equation 15):
(15) HCO3- ßà H+ + CO3--
This shift considerably lowers the carbonate concentration. Using equation 8, one can calculate that the concentration of carbonate drops by about a factor of 3 for a pH drop of 0.5 and by a factor of 10 for a full pH unit drop. Consequently, aragonite first becomes soluble in seawater when the pH drops below about 7.7 (this value might be more like 7.5-7.7 in reef tanks where the alkalinity is often higher than in seawater). That level is attained in some sand beds, and permits the dissolution of some of the sand.
The rate of dissolution is fairly low, however, because the rate of delivery and degradation of organics (or certain nitrogen compounds) deep enough in the sand to permit a pH drop is fairly low. The rate will, however, vary from tank to tank as the different ways of delivering organics to deeper parts of the sand will vary (diffusion; movement by organisms; death of organisms, etc). Note that the need to oxidize the organics in deeper parts of the sand to permit dissolution of the sand has nothing to do with the oxygenation of the sand. It has more to do with the fact that at near surface regions of the sand, the pH will be closer to that of the tank water by acid and base transfer from the water column, and you need to be deep enough to permit a lower pH to become established.
The rate of dissolution is fairly low, however, because the rate of delivery and degradation of organics (or certain nitrogen compounds) deep enough in the sand to permit a pH drop is fairly low. The rate will, however, vary from tank to tank as the different ways of delivering organics to deeper parts of the sand will vary (diffusion; movement by organisms; death of organisms, etc). Note that the need to oxidize the organics in deeper parts of the sand to permit dissolution of the sand has nothing to do with the oxygenation of the sand. It has more to do with the fact that at near surface regions of the sand, the pH will be closer to that of the tank water by acid and base transfer from the water column, and you need to be deep enough to permit a lower pH to become established.
Simple yet accurate statement. :bowdown: What may dissolve deep within a sand bed precipitates back out of solution because of the high concentration of carbonates in a small area. Sort of like a mini snow storm (precipitation event) deep in the sandbed.
lilyicu
FOWLR
I have several pieces of PVC pipe under my rock work. I placed it on the bottom of the tank before I put the sand in. My starfish and snails hang out in them during the day. It also helps with the water flow. I was hoping that they would turn the same color as the rocks, but my turbo snails are too good at their job and the pipes are as white as the day I bought them. :)
Ted
Living one day at a time
Do you have coraline algae? I have this coliseum my wife got me and its getting alot of purple on it. When i set up the tank I bought one premium rock at a lfs. It was from their display tank and was completely purple now everything has purple on it. Dang rock was 50 bucks but it was a big rock unfortunately it had atispia on it also been fight those, kill a few tiny ones each week:grumble:. Any way what i read was pvc will get coraline rather quickly if you have some in your tank to seed it from.
lilyicu
FOWLR
I used live sand from an established tank and have LR and holey rock. Any color of anything that even starts to grow by morning is gone. Those snails keep that PVC pipe VERY clean. I haven't touched the pipe since I placed it in the tank and it is still white. My holey rock has turned grey with purple and green spots, but not the PVC pipe.
Ted
Living one day at a time
hmm my snails and crab eat everything but the coraline. Do you have any idea what you calcium levels are? When I first setup my tank again I used instant ocean (salt i always used in the 90's) I wasnt getting any corlaline growth after I used up my first bag i switched to reef crystals. Now I am having to scrap the purple spots off of the front glass of my tank weekly. and have purple spots every where. I havent tested calcium dont have a test for it yet but will before I get any corals. Anyway will be interesting to see if the pvc I plan on putting in the nano tank will turn purple or not. I wounder if I should rough up the pipe some before i put it in.
lilyicu
FOWLR
I don't test for calcium. I don't keep corals. But I love the purple colors on my LR :)
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
Coralline is starting to cover what part of the PVC that gets light in my tank.
