600 Gallons System - i2ik's Journal

[Green Thumb]

Try to give cheato the same if not better growing conditions than the algea in your tank. It is imposible for most people to give better growing conditions to something that is in your sump for the fact that it will cost you alot of money to upgrade your sump lighting and flow to match your tanks.

Thats why I suggested using hang on acrylic basket to put in your cheato temporarily in your tank untill you gain control of caulerpa. (granted that will not be the most handsome thing to see in your tank) Close to your main display lights cheato will thrive and outcompete nuisance algea. At one point while doing this and your cheato is getting big and healthy under your main lights, youll notice the growth of caulerpa slow right down. You will need to do some manual removal and get a few alga eaters as mentioned above but by this point caulerpa will have prey much lost the battle.

Look at Chingchai's setup. He has a perfect example of a killer fuge. He has it covering a large area and under great lighting.

Sorry if I sound like the macroalgea nazi I would just hate to see you have to take out all your rock. This method wil require you to get your hands wet only to remove part of the cheato clump when the baskets get too full...

HTH!

 

[Ginzo]

Hey Richard,

Can you tell me how you clean your sand of any diatoms / problem algae ?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[GSMguy]

where do you think the algae fuel is coming from.

 

[kelvin88]

hmmm

 

[i2ik]

Green Thumb: i could fill up the fuge with cheato and put more light under it hoping it will eliminate the growth of the caulerpa, as you and some other people said, biological control might be the only way.

I have around 80 big nassarius and 3 strawberry conches cleaning my 3/4" sand. They seem to be doing ok

 

[i2ik]

Finishing semester in 3 days, i received my stand for my frag tank. I was looking on getting a QT tank also, but can't find any place to put it behind the tank so i was thinking having a QT/frag tank. The tank's size is 36x18x14 made with acrylic and it would be connected to the system. A valve will be place to seperate the tank from the system when there is need for treatment. There will be an overflow going into the sump attached to an poly filter. Is it a good idea to have an QT/Frag tank this way?

I am looking on getting a small skimmer that i could put in the tank. I was looking at either an Euro reef RS80 (wondering about micro bubbles), Tunze DOC9005 or maybe an hang on skimmer like the Deltec MCE 300. what do you guys think? Tunze seem to have the smallest footprint and no micro bubbles but dunno about its performance... I tend to like the Euro reef performance but afraid of micro bubbles. The Deltec, dunno about it... afraid of it overfloating on the floor....

 

[tonyespinoza]

i tried the MCE600 and found it too loud for my taste. (even though it's considered quiet for a HOB.) i *really* love the current Tunze 9010. it works great, is extremely quiet, and while being over-sized for the frag tank, i think it would still work (you would just skim a little wet -- which is all tunze's do anyway). i've also run the nano skimmer (9002, i think it's called). it's great for a tiny tank (< 20g) but isn't built very well. if you go with the Tunze, get the magnet -- it makes it easier to find the water-level sweet spot.

 

[i2ik]

thanks Tony! I did not know that Tunze changed model, so the current model is better than the previous one? I will get the magnet for sure, i dont like their hanging kit, its not stable. I read that the 9005 is the same thing as the 9010, the 9010 have a bigger collection cup and a bit taller. Is it worth the $ difference?

 

[GSMguy]

i think the MCE 600 is a great skimmer i love mine.

i also have the MCE300 and i had a 9005 for a while the MCE600 is better

 

[i2ik]

I know that Deltec as well known for something and their skimmer are pretty much why but the MCE 600 is not in my price range for a frag/QT tank

You did not like your 9005 GSM?

 

[GSMguy]

no i liked it, i feel like the deltec will skim even when the tank is very clean and the tunze was more of a wet skim only kind of skimmer.

the 9010 comes with in tank kit the 9005 you have to buy the brackets

 

[tonyespinoza]

i think nick is right -- the MCE600 can practically skim dry. the tunze is a wet skimmer. again, i got to compare the 9010 against the deltec side by side and for me, the noise was an issue (not to mention the price).

i've had both the 9005 (500L/hr air, 800L/hr water) and 9010 (650L/hr air, 1,200L/hr water) and was much happier with the 9010 -- IMHO definitely worth the extra $80 or so.

keep in mind none of these skimmers are going to skim like your H&S!

 

[i2ik]

For the price of an MCE600, i could get an Elos NS500 for almost the same price... but i find it quite an investment for such a small frag/QT tank...

What about the Euro reef? I really would like to know if there is some micro bubbles problem with them.

 

[tbone28]

Richard, I ran the RS250 prior to my BK. The drain pipe needs to be angled so that it's not submerged under water. To avoid the microbubbles from the splashing water, I tied a filter sock around the drain. When I left the drain submerged, it was much harder to adjust the static water level inside the skimmer.

 

[tonyespinoza]

hey richard - you could check with Tbone - i *think* he ER's before he went BK.

[EDIT: Tbone was actually responding as i posted this... ;-) ]

 

[i2ik]

Thanks Terry, i might actually go with the ER in the end, I think its a good quality/price for that kind of skimmer. Was there a considerable amount of microbubbles without the sock?

Thanks Tony for pointing Mr. AMG

 

[tbone28]

Richard, I really like ER's. They perform well for the money, and build quality is pretty good, too. I used ER's for 8 years. I like the older ones more than my current one though. The older ones seemed easier to adjust static water level. I don't like the Gen-X pumps that come on the new ER's because they sound like lawnmowers. If noise is a concern, you can upgrade to the Eheim pump, which is what I did. The last time I spoke with Jeff from ER, he said they were working on a new rotor which should quiet down the Gen-X pumps. YOu can ask if they're available yet.

Without the sock, there were microbubbles in my skimmer section, but I have baffles, and the bubbles need to travel about 4 feet before they hit my return pump, so bubbles weren't an issue. The main reason I tied the filter sock was because the splashing water was too loud.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12374897#post12374897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by i2ik
Mr. AMG

LOL, you followed the drama in my thread today! :lmao:

 

[i2ik]

Thanks Terry for the valuable info, i did not know that they changed pumps...

Of cours I followed... great entertainment for someone who is in need of a break after a few hours of studies (somehow, i ended up reading a bit every 30 minutes... haha)

 

[tbone28]

The older ER's used Sedra pumps. I actually liked mine, but it seems nowadays that people aren't too happy with them. I'm actually not sure if the RS80 uses a Sedra or Gen-X. The smaller ER's may still use the Sedra. My old Sedra pump was pretty quiet.

***

 

[cbui2]

omg Terry not again? start with one question then end up to another and another