daugherty
part time reefer
- Location
- Billings, MT USA
your tank is looking great. keep up the good work.
what next?
- Thread starter MamaJones
- Start date
d.french
Reef enthusiast
- Location
- Granite city, IL.
looks like some good aquascaping.
MamaJones
proud reefer!
- Location
- St. Louis, MO USA
thanks dudes! i actually need to re-update...but my brother's havin a baby 2 day...and i'm off to meet my niece!
Piggy
Reef enthusiast
- Location
- Elkridge, MD
Congrats!
MamaJones
proud reefer!
- Location
- St. Louis, MO USA
Thanks! I got a beauty of a little new niece...her name is Audrey, after Miss Hepburn...she looks just like my little brother.
SO, back to the fish tank talk...
we got a sand sifting star and some snails today. I've been needing something to sift that DSB so hopefully this will help. At the request of a LFS...Joe is going to run our cansiter filter with UV sterilizer along with our sump....I think this is not a great idea even though it will help with water quality...
when we actually get the chance to turn the sump into the refugium won't the pods and junk that run through there be killed?
I swear...he says the tank is mine and then goes making decisions without any knowledge about what he is doing!!!!!!!! I'm going crazy!
SO, back to the fish tank talk...
we got a sand sifting star and some snails today. I've been needing something to sift that DSB so hopefully this will help. At the request of a LFS...Joe is going to run our cansiter filter with UV sterilizer along with our sump....I think this is not a great idea even though it will help with water quality...
when we actually get the chance to turn the sump into the refugium won't the pods and junk that run through there be killed?
I swear...he says the tank is mine and then goes making decisions without any knowledge about what he is doing!!!!!!!! I'm going crazy!
Bifferwine
I am a girl
- Location
- Lynnwood, WA and missing Tucson, AZ
Yeah, not only will the UV sterilizer kill any pods, but it will also kill phyto and zooplankton (which is what corals eat). Most people believe that the cons of using UV outweigh the benefits.
MamaJones
proud reefer!
- Location
- St. Louis, MO USA
:frustrat::frustrat::frustrat::frustrat::frustrat:
:frustrat::frustrat::frustrat::frustrat::frustrat:ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!! Of course!
...taking it off will not only be hard, but open up a new can of worms! And leaving it on is not good...where's the "rock & a hard place" icon?
:frustrat::frustrat::frustrat::frustrat::frustrat:ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!! Of course!
...taking it off will not only be hard, but open up a new can of worms! And leaving it on is not good...where's the "rock & a hard place" icon?
Bifferwine
I am a girl
- Location
- Lynnwood, WA and missing Tucson, AZ
Can you turn it off? So that you don't have to remove it from the system, but just are not using it? Or unplug it?
reeffreak
Reef pro
- Location
- Clarksville,Tn
Looking good Mama!
I wouldn't bother with a UV either unless you have expensive,sickly fish.I don't think a sand sifting star was a good choice either,you don't want anything to disturb a DSB.
I wouldn't bother with a UV either unless you have expensive,sickly fish.I don't think a sand sifting star was a good choice either,you don't want anything to disturb a DSB.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
- Location
- Lynnwood, WA and missing Tucson, AZ
That, and sand sifting stars often starve to death in young tanks and small tanks. They eat the animals that live in your sand, and young tanks just aren't populated with enough critters to keep them alive.
Some people on here have successfully kept sand sifting stars in new tanks, but that's like a 1 in 100 chance.
Because they eat the good critters that live in the sand, they can be considered just as destructive to the sandbed as they can be considered helpful for cleaning up detritus. Since they are eating the other animals that eat detritus anyways.
Some people on here have successfully kept sand sifting stars in new tanks, but that's like a 1 in 100 chance.
Because they eat the good critters that live in the sand, they can be considered just as destructive to the sandbed as they can be considered helpful for cleaning up detritus. Since they are eating the other animals that eat detritus anyways.
dustin_P74
Reef enthusiast
- Location
- Marietta, GA USA
i think you can get away with a UV sterilizer and keep your pods and phyto if you put the UV on the line before it dumps in the sump, there is info about how to get away with it somewhere in my build thread towards the end
Bifferwine
I am a girl
- Location
- Lynnwood, WA and missing Tucson, AZ
You're right, that'd save most of the pods' lives, but not phyto, since phyto is present in the water column throughout the tank.
Brat
Delta Sigma Theta
- Location
- Mississippi
There seems to be so much debate about UV sterilizers which is why I'm still debating on it. I will buy one, but leave it on 6 hours a day.
dustin_P74
Reef enthusiast
- Location
- Marietta, GA USA
IMO if your only gonna run it for a limited time everyday its not worth the money to buy it
MamaJones
proud reefer!
- Location
- St. Louis, MO USA
Well...I've been gone for most of the weekend so to catch up....
I did unplug the UV canister...Joe still thinks I'm wrong, but he took it out and away anyway. There is no way to put it in between the tank and sump as suggested..well unless I wanted a huge mess and a whole lotta work I don't really know how to do. (As Joe is the techinical one and I vetoed his original idea)
As for the star...I had considered it when they were on sale at bluezoo.com, but then I went and read about them on here and other sites. I then decided against it because of what ya'll have mentioned....and then I went to a LFS and the guy suggested one. I told him I had already considered it and was against it, but he was like "oh that's not true, I have 3 in this tank, blah, blah, blah..." And we got him against my better judgement.
Some people are just out to get your money...grrr! And Joe likes that store...I only like one guy in there that seems to be sincere. I haven't found a LFS that I completely like.
What should I do about the starfish? I don't like your odds Biff...
Do snails count toward bio-load? Where did I hear that?
I did unplug the UV canister...Joe still thinks I'm wrong, but he took it out and away anyway. There is no way to put it in between the tank and sump as suggested..well unless I wanted a huge mess and a whole lotta work I don't really know how to do. (As Joe is the techinical one and I vetoed his original idea)
As for the star...I had considered it when they were on sale at bluezoo.com, but then I went and read about them on here and other sites. I then decided against it because of what ya'll have mentioned....and then I went to a LFS and the guy suggested one. I told him I had already considered it and was against it, but he was like "oh that's not true, I have 3 in this tank, blah, blah, blah..." And we got him against my better judgement.
Some people are just out to get your money...grrr! And Joe likes that store...I only like one guy in there that seems to be sincere. I haven't found a LFS that I completely like.
What should I do about the starfish? I don't like your odds Biff...
Do snails count toward bio-load? Where did I hear that?
Bifferwine
I am a girl
- Location
- Lynnwood, WA and missing Tucson, AZ
Nothing much you can do about the star. Your choices are to keep it and hope he does okay (and he very well might), or return him to the store.
Snails don't count towards the bioload. Really, only fish and anemones do. And anemone only if you are feeding them. Those are the two types of animals that produce the most waste. The amount of waste a snail produces is negligible, especially if you compare it to how much of the other waste they are cleaning up in the tank.
Snails don't count towards the bioload. Really, only fish and anemones do. And anemone only if you are feeding them. Those are the two types of animals that produce the most waste. The amount of waste a snail produces is negligible, especially if you compare it to how much of the other waste they are cleaning up in the tank.
cgoodman381
can i put whtever i want?
- Location
- Cen Cal
tell your husband to do some research if he's not going to listen to the research you do.
lightcs4
Loving to learn
- Location
- Upstate NY
+1 for CGoodman!
MamaJones
proud reefer!
- Location
- St. Louis, MO USA
his intentions are good...He doesn't have the time to do the research like I do.
although listening would be great. But, let's play nice.
Sometimes I see what looks like poo sticking to the underregions of the turbos...That's why I was wondering about their bioload contributions.
I guess I'll take the star back and shove it up the salesman's ** But, I don't know when the next chance I'll even get to go will be as most of this month I'm going to be pretty busy.
although listening would be great. But, let's play nice.
Sometimes I see what looks like poo sticking to the underregions of the turbos...That's why I was wondering about their bioload contributions.
I guess I'll take the star back and shove it up the salesman's ** But, I don't know when the next chance I'll even get to go will be as most of this month I'm going to be pretty busy.
MamaJones
proud reefer!
- Location
- St. Louis, MO USA
Oh, also...
our trumpet leathers have what looks like a film on them...almost like a spiderweb.
any thoughts on that?
I love having a reef tank and I can't wait to get more corals, but it will have to wait a couple of months since I have like no money and not much time to devote to new things.
our trumpet leathers have what looks like a film on them...almost like a spiderweb.
any thoughts on that?
I love having a reef tank and I can't wait to get more corals, but it will have to wait a couple of months since I have like no money and not much time to devote to new things.
