Fowlr tank help / ideas suggestions please?

[Pufferpunk]

Are you nuts??? Go to http://www.airwaterice.com or http://www.buklreefsupply.com for great deals.

As far as the substrate, do you deliver? No really, with that kind of bioload, I highly recommend sand substrate for your tank.

[DarkStorm]

would more live rock make up for the no sand?.

[Pufferpunk]

Yes (1.5-2lbs/g) but both would be best.

[J-P]

it took a week to fill my tank with my ro unit, anyone ever heard of this product before?
http://cgi.ebay.com/GE-Merlin-RO-Revers ... 1449wt_809

would love to pick it up if it actually does even half that number id be very happy.

Silly question ... why an RO unit? Isn't that supposed to impede the cycling of a tank?

[DarkStorm]

in the end ro water will save me money as it dechlorinates as well as purifies it (much better quality water then i was using before hand.) the brand of salt i pickd up also is for ro. im sure theres other stuff but i bought a years worth of salt already lol.

[Mek0ng]

Silly question ... why an RO unit? Isn't that supposed to impede the cycling of a tank?

Where did you hear that? RO/DI is almost essential for a successful marine tank, having pure water to start with, free of phosphates, silicates, chlorine and so on, will help a good deal in algae control and invertebrate life. It wont do anything to impede the cycle.

[J-P]

Icic ... I thought it also killed bacteria

[Mek0ng]

im getting anxious.,, 3 more weeks and ill try fish if all lvls stay good. we decided on picasso, black & blueline (triggers) harlequin tusk and porc puffer. ive since removed the sand from tank.
the skimmer installed after about a week is only getting half as much foam so im guessing thats good right?.

What skimmer did you go with?

No sand is going to help keep the tank cleaner, especially with large fish, you can have high flow across the bottom, keeping waste suspended so it can make it to the skimmer, rather than settle and rot in the sand. Personally I am not a fan of barebottom reefs, but FOWLR can look great.

Are you going to put any cutting board or something on the bottom? I would worry about rocks just sitting on glass, and if the tank is acrylic, you are really going to want something like cutting board protecting the bottom.

As far as a RO/DI. Yeah it takes for ever to fill a tank with only 75 or 100gpd units, but really, how often do you need to make that much water? Never heard much about that GE system, so I couldnt say, but I would add on a DI filter on the output.

[DarkStorm]

I went with the external 3000 series.
for the live rock I happened across a nice diamond bit./ saw blade so as I cleaned the lr I cut square what I needed drilled hole mated to next piece rinse repeat a few dozen times, created very minimal contact with any point on the base via plugs I figure since I have the big canisters in place already and not big on putting em away ill use em as garbage collectors, there probably the easiest thing to clean Ive come across. + the fact there at base level they suck everything in to them corner to corner/

[Mek0ng]

How do you like the bubble blaster pumps? I am debating about getting a 2000 internal.

I am a little confuesed on the rest, so you cut the bottom off the LR to have it sit flat? Am I reading that right? Sounds kinda cool if thats it! I guess the garbage collectors are the canister filters? If so, yeah if you clean them regularly, (bi weekly) then right on! Most people use filter socks, as they are even easier to remove.

Good luck and I CAN NOT WAIT TO SEE PICS!!!!

[Mek0ng]

Icic ... I thought it also killed bacteria

I wondering if you are thinking that the RO/DI is used physically on the reef tank? If so, its not, its used to filter the water from your tap, for water changes and making saltwater to start.

[J-P]

yes that is what I thought.

When I was searching pumps and filters I saw those and the UV etc ... I thought those were connected to the "out" on your filter to the "in" on the tank.

Thanks for clairifying

[DarkStorm]

been testing the water daily for past weeks and today when i was doing ammonia the sample turned cloudy when i added 2nd set of drops not sure if thats normal as ive never seen it before. salinity staying right at 1.022 nitrite 0 nitrate 1 .0 ph 8.2 temp 81, should i be buying a new test kit for the ammonia? using api test kit for it.

[CarmenH]

Don't sweat it unless it starts going green instead of yellow. the cloudiness is normal
However, these test kits *do* expire so it's a good idea to keep and eye on that...

This is from API via another forum...

>>>>>>>>>>>Each reagent bottle has a Lot # printed
on the bottle. The last four digits are the month and year of
manufacture. Example: Lot # 28A0102. This is a pH reagent manufactured
in January of 2002. Pond Care Wide Range pH, ammonia, High Range pH,
Nitrate, phosphate, Copper, calcium and GH all last for three years.
nitrite and KH will last for four years. Freshwater pH(low range) and
Pond Care Salt Level will last for five years. I would not trust these
kits after they have expired.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

[DarkStorm]

i got my first trigger today. was a little earlier then i had planned but when i seen him i couldnt refuse.
250$ but man i never seen one irl before so $ well spent.
ill post some pics later. its a golden heart trigger a real beauty