The Puffer Forum

SammyDee wrote:You should consider getting a new hydrometer or refractometer. And maybe one of the suction cup in tank/in sump hydrometer as a back up to make sure your SG readings are right. My hydrometer is a pain but with two it helps. I keep one in the sump so I can always see the SG.

Hydrometers are trash, get a refractometer and calibrate it with marine solution. You will be amazed how off most hydrometers are.

Oh I totally agree refractometers are a tad more $$ thou..either way its good to have a backup for situations like so.....

I got my refractometer for just over $30. I believe hydrometers are $10 of $15 so just replacing would make the cost of a refractometer.

My hydrometer is brand new[got it today] since I broke my last one a few days ago[I setup my 10gal "blindly"]. It's good enough, I think.

BUT...I'm going to get the refractometer before I get the corals though. It's a wise investment when I have enough money for it...

SammyDee: I can't do a skimmer in the 10. It's too small of a tank and the smaller skimmers wouldn't do much to anything. I can handle the cloudniess cuz I thought reefs were always semi cloudy anyways...

I'm kinda hoping to get all the tanks [55, new 40brdr, 29, & 10] new aquaclear filters and when I do; this one will have an AC70. In addition to a koralia nano I will add hopefully soon.

Hey...since my parents didn't buy me the 72; I'll load them so deep into debt with the reef; it's crazy. [J/K]

kENNY wrote:I can handle the cloudniess cuz I thought reefs were always semi cloudy anyways...

Not mine... Always crystal clear.

Yeah; I know that now...but I'm still not worried as long as the cloudiness doesn't cause any problems. My point is; as long as it's not fatal; I can live with it.

After I cleaned it today [just cleaned the sand bed with a net since there was macro algae remnants; no WC's] I got a new pic that shows the prettiness of the tank:


I'm waiting for the tank to finish any minicycles and w/e before I add any new creatures/LR with corals being highest on the list to avoid ATM.

Oh; sorry about the firefish not being in the pic; he darted off into the rock...lol

So the only filter you have is that small on? what do you have inside it?

You need a power head in there, the HOB isn going to be enough. The water looks really yellow, try running some carbon

Mek0ng wrote:You need a power head in there, the HOB isn going to be enough. The water looks really yellow, try running some carbon

Might be his lighting?

Mek0ng: Yeah i know...I'm gonna be getting a koralia nano soon... Also as I said I'm replacing this HOB with an AC70 so there should be tons of flow when I'm done adding equipment.

The water isn't yellow[though it was cloudy from stirring up the sand bed[where are the nassarius snails on that?]]...it's just the effect of the flash my my camera. It's from 2003; so it's not that great...My 2007 camera, of course, died earlier this year. My lights are 2x 15w 6500k's [roughly 3WPG; not through out the tank like a T5HO would be...] and I'm replacing them with 2x 20w 50/50's [4WPG] BTW. I might even just replace the entire light & get a glass lid too...

sounds good, but just FYI, watts per gallon could not be more meaningless in terms of photosynthetic life. Wattage is electrical consumption.

Example, you could have 4x110watt VHO over a tank, and the photosynthetically available radiation, would be drastically less than that of 4x65watt T5. Watts does not equal PAR.

Long story short, 2x20watt 50/50 PCs should fine to at least get you started, I would stick to leathers, discosoma mushrooms (not rics or rhoadictus), and kenyan/colt trees. Larger palythora and brown zoas should be find, but not enough for the brightly colored ones.

+1

Also consider the depth of the tank , which in this case does not apply, but usually the light source distance to the substrate plays a big role.

You will need glass cover to protect your light lens. Its cheaper then replacing the light lens. I highly recommend it plus it keeps jumpers in the tank....In a reef you MUST have pristine water conditions and a skimmer helps tons....I might consider a better light thou for better corals in the future. I had a hairy mushroom about 3" big under a regular light then I added a T5VHO and the thing split and is twice as big and alot greener as oppose to the other light it was brown looking. Alot of my coral has doubled in size since my investment is good lights. In a year ill be fragging stuff like crazy...

SammyDee wrote:You will need glass cover to protect your light lens.

Nope, the only lights that NEED shielding is HQI metal halides. Any cover is going to block a good amount of light. The catch is what to do to keep fish from jumping out, there are many options from a DIY canopy to using eggcrate.