Ammonia Test Kit and other ?'s

[divemonster]

Richard at TBS has been helpful with his advice, but his time is limited. He suggested I ask what you board readers advise

A bit of background about this tank: a student of mine donated a 55 gallon tank to my dive shop. It had been used as a fish only saltwater tank and came with the following: 10 gallon sump/refugium, external pump, air pump, protein skimmer, heater, plumping, a corroded light, and some other stuff. The tank is not drilled, it has that hang over the back stuff.

A living reef is my goal for this tank and there are questions. I've done hours of research :spin2: yet I need some advice.

1. Which ammonia test kit do you suggest?

2. Those of you keeping a refugium, how much light do you give it (hours/day and type of light)? I've seen pictures of refugiums on this site and it looks like most hobbyists are using those broad spectrum daylight bulbs you can get at any home improvement store.

Thanks for your help! :fish2:

 

[liverock]

You are in the right place!

You are in the right place!

Teri

Glad you made it here.

You are now in the place to get all the information you need about setting up a reef tank.

I actually own no test kits, as I have such a large system, move so much water, have so much rock, that parameters never change.

I do not have to worry about testing, so here is the place to find out what is good and what is not.

Also ask about feeding, as I do not do much of that either, as the rock and critters come and go so fast. There are many foods to choose from when you are ready. One that I do use for everybody is fresh raw/frozen shrimp. Everything I send in the Packages loves raw shrimp!

Good Luck!
Richard TBS:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

 

[divemonster]

Re: You are in the right place!

Re: You are in the right place!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11603629#post11603629 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by liverock
I actually own no test kits, as I have such a large system, move so much water, have so much rock, that parameters never change.

That makes sense...the oceans/seas are vast so the bigger the setup, the more stable the parameters.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11603629#post11603629 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by liverock

Everything I send in the Packages loves raw shrimp!

That's certainly easy enough. The "New to the Hobby" forum has been an excellent source of information for ALL of my questions including what, when, and how to feed the different critters.

Btw, we have just inherited a 90G drilled SW setup from my father-in-law. He is selling his house, moving into a condo, and doesn't have room for it. I told him to get rid of everything he has in it now because I'll be using TBS to set it up :fish2:

Thanks again for the help!

 

[HowardW]

<<< A living reef is my goal for this tank and there are questions. I've done hours of research yet I need some advice.

1. Which ammonia test kit do you suggest?

2. Those of you keeping a refugium, how much light do you give it (hours/day and type of light)? I've seen pictures of refugiums on this site and it looks like most hobbyists are using those broad spectrum daylight bulbs you can get at any home improvement store. >>>




1) For ammonia I use the Seachem test kit with good results. Seachem also makes a small ammonia alert monitor that attaches to the glass with a suction cup that works well for tank cycling. API and Salifert also make good amm. kits. You should really only need to keep tabs on amm. until the tank cycles and then it should not be an issue unless you have a big dieoff of something in the tank down the road. The parameters you will want to keep up on after the tanks cycles are temp, pH, salinity, alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium. Both Seachem and API make good test kits for all of the above, I use the Seachem kits for pH/alk and the API one for calcium. You should also have a refractometer calibrated with 53.0 mS. solution (not distilled water as the instructions say) for checking salinity.


2) Generally most people will run a 10 -12 hr. photo period for their fuges and some run the lights reverse to the main tank to help stabilize their pH at night if growing caulerpa or chaeto in the fuge. Most any daylight type bulb in the 5000k - 6500k range will work well including those screw in flourescent ones you can get at the home improvement places.

 

[divemonster]

HowardW, Thank you for the helpful info! My list of "need to gets" grows everyday.


Let me ask you one more question: Do you think modern mathematics were discovered or invented?

 

[HowardW]

<<< Let me ask you one more question: Do you think modern mathematics were discovered or invented? >>>


Excellent arguments for both sides, I say discovered.

 

[divemonster]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11613612#post11613612 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HowardW
Excellent arguments for both sides, I say discovered.

Yes, there are excellent arguments for both sides, but invented seems more compelling to me! What is your argument for the discovered side? (provided the mods will allow it if we discuss this here...)

 

[HowardW]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11650177#post11650177 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by divemonster
Yes, there are excellent arguments for both sides, but invented seems more compelling to me! What is your argument for the discovered side? (provided the mods will allow it if we discuss this here...)

Math puts me to sleep, wouldn't you rather discuss something exciting like hair algae or water parameters or gorilla crabs??

 

[divemonster]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11652738#post11652738 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HowardW
Math puts me to sleep, wouldn't you rather discuss something exciting like hair algae or water parameters or gorilla crabs??

OK, that made me laugh out loud for at least a couple of minutes! Math is so simple, unlike trying to wade through the controversy surrounding the lighting of a reef tank.

As for hair algae, saw alot of it in the water when I went diving on the Texas Clipper three weeks ago.

What about this for discussion...there is a 55G tank sitting here in my classroom, empty and dry at the moment. I'd like to get it reef ready but I am concerned about drilling it since there are no tempered glass markings anywhere. Should I ASSUME the bottom piece to be tempered and the rest is not? Or should I attempt a reef tank with the HOB flow box that was donated with the tank?

 

[HowardW]

If the tank has no stickers then I wouldn't assume anything and not risk drilling it. Also, depending on the age of the tank and how long it's been sitting dry, carefully check all the silicone at the seams before use. I know many of the newer Perfecto glass tanks are 100% tempered glass however most of the newer All-Glass brand ones I've seen are tempered on the bottom only. Most all popular brands made in recent years will have at least tempered bottoms from what I've seen.

 

[divemonster]

Funny you should mention checking the silicone seals. I need to drag the tank outside to clean it so I thought I'd carefully fill it with fresh water and let it sit so I can check for leaks. I'll do this on a sunny (preferably warm) day when I can use polarized lenses to see if the glass is tempered.