Maroun 150g Build Thread
- Thread starter maroun.c
- Start date
maroun.c
New member
I took the dursos out and tried to blow in them with the cap slightly tightened and after that with the cap near to fully closed and there was no difference so basically I believe I'm getting more air than needed. So I put some teflon on the threads blocking only parts of the cut slits and when I put them back I felt the control was much better. Tightening the caps a bit more leads to water level dropping a bit and vice versa. So Maybe I will experiment with new caps with smaller holes and Teflon before going to the airline thing. on my tubes there is not much tubing lower than the elbow like in Chrismuns picture on page 3, so I added some tubing to extend that part a bit this way if the water level drops a bit it will not start to suck air.
I had to close the watervalves around 25 percent and that led to a very small amount of airbubbles with the drains which gives no sound and I believe will not cause any salt spray. water level is constantly around the mid of the elbow and I can bring it lower or higher. In contrary to what I expected closing the air intake leads to less airbubbles in the drain and brings water level in the overflow lower. I can push it very low but then I get watersplashing sound. What I will try today is to put newer caps with smaller holes and also rise the Dursos a bit more so I can have water at the lower level of the elbow without much distance to minimize the noise. Any input or pics of your water level around the dursos, and if it's OK or not to close the watervalves of the drain pipes a bit would be a great help.
I had to close the watervalves around 25 percent and that led to a very small amount of airbubbles with the drains which gives no sound and I believe will not cause any salt spray. water level is constantly around the mid of the elbow and I can bring it lower or higher. In contrary to what I expected closing the air intake leads to less airbubbles in the drain and brings water level in the overflow lower. I can push it very low but then I get watersplashing sound. What I will try today is to put newer caps with smaller holes and also rise the Dursos a bit more so I can have water at the lower level of the elbow without much distance to minimize the noise. Any input or pics of your water level around the dursos, and if it's OK or not to close the watervalves of the drain pipes a bit would be a great help.
melev
Well-known member
Keep in mind that new plumbing takes up to 14 days to slime over and run quietly.
The small holes in the Durso standpipes will create a suction, which is how the water exits more quickly. Closing the holes entirely, it sucks out all the water via siphon, makes a bunch of noise and the water levle then rises before it sucks down more water. Larger holes will stop the suction.
A larger return pump will not fix this. A smaller one would, but really just let the plumbing settle in for the duration. Large diameter Durso Standpipes would be better. If the drain is 1", the Durso should be 1.25" or even 1.5" wide.
The height of the water in the tank is dictated by the height of the baffle, plus .5" (1 cm). Water won't flow over the baffle in a paper-thin layer. Rather, it is a thicker flow as you've seen. I doubt breaking out teeth will make this change.
The small holes in the Durso standpipes will create a suction, which is how the water exits more quickly. Closing the holes entirely, it sucks out all the water via siphon, makes a bunch of noise and the water levle then rises before it sucks down more water. Larger holes will stop the suction.
A larger return pump will not fix this. A smaller one would, but really just let the plumbing settle in for the duration. Large diameter Durso Standpipes would be better. If the drain is 1", the Durso should be 1.25" or even 1.5" wide.
The height of the water in the tank is dictated by the height of the baffle, plus .5" (1 cm). Water won't flow over the baffle in a paper-thin layer. Rather, it is a thicker flow as you've seen. I doubt breaking out teeth will make this change.
maroun.c
New member
Thanks for your reply Melev,
I thought sliming occurs after 1-2 days so I guess I'll go back to the initial setup of the air control and wait for few days. as I was only struggling with airbubles and had constant water level and no noise.
Exactly whats happening
Will try the 1.5 inch durso and see if it makes any difference.
Do you think this is a safe water level to have or will this lead to fish easily jumping or being sucked in the overflow? Do you thing I should add a screen over the teeth or maybe in between the teeth and that nearby brace? or should I jsut try to see if it ends up sucking fish or not?
Last question can you please explain if I should aim to have the watervalves on the drains completely open or not and at what level on the Durso should the water be? I prefer to have them completely open so that if one gets clogged the other would have the chance of keeping up.
Thanks for any info.
I thought sliming occurs after 1-2 days so I guess I'll go back to the initial setup of the air control and wait for few days. as I was only struggling with airbubles and had constant water level and no noise.
Exactly whats happening
Will try the 1.5 inch durso and see if it makes any difference.
Do you think this is a safe water level to have or will this lead to fish easily jumping or being sucked in the overflow? Do you thing I should add a screen over the teeth or maybe in between the teeth and that nearby brace? or should I jsut try to see if it ends up sucking fish or not?
Last question can you please explain if I should aim to have the watervalves on the drains completely open or not and at what level on the Durso should the water be? I prefer to have them completely open so that if one gets clogged the other would have the chance of keeping up.
Thanks for any info.
maroun.c
New member
More updates
Siliconed my Frag racks for the frag tank. Didn't want to go get Acrilic sheets and had few galls sheets laying around so I siliconed two racks, will have a higher rack in the back, then a middle lower one then corals can be placed on the sandbed in the front for those with lower light demand.
Still not sure if I will place my 150 W 20k over it or use another 75 W MH that I have. I don't have a marine lamp for the 75 W so I might be using a regular 6500 K lamp and supplementing with Actinics for a bluer look. Do yo uthink it will cause additional alga in the tank and decreased growth? initially this will only be used for softies and maybe some LPS as I don't have and SPS yet.
I know the 150 W is the wat to go as I have a marine 20K lamp for it however it will cause more heat as the frag tank is in the stand below the tank.
Siliconed my Frag racks for the frag tank. Didn't want to go get Acrilic sheets and had few galls sheets laying around so I siliconed two racks, will have a higher rack in the back, then a middle lower one then corals can be placed on the sandbed in the front for those with lower light demand.
Still not sure if I will place my 150 W 20k over it or use another 75 W MH that I have. I don't have a marine lamp for the 75 W so I might be using a regular 6500 K lamp and supplementing with Actinics for a bluer look. Do yo uthink it will cause additional alga in the tank and decreased growth? initially this will only be used for softies and maybe some LPS as I don't have and SPS yet.
I know the 150 W is the wat to go as I have a marine 20K lamp for it however it will cause more heat as the frag tank is in the stand below the tank.
Last edited:
maroun.c
New member
OK Now to finalize Plumbing and water circulation:
After I placed my sand be in the tank I put the two Seios in the top left hitting the water surface to avoid stirring the sandbed. I was amazed with the surface agitation I got, in addition to the return of the flow as water was going from the pumps from upper left hitting the upper right and going down causing a powerful circular motion in the tank. I realize this will decrease when I have the rock structure and the corals in, however I'm considering keeping those pumps in the left upper side of the tank with one of them hitting the surface and the second going straight in the upper third of hte tank or maybe directed on the upper corals if it does not cause more flow than I want.
IMG]http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm185/mcaqua150g/150%20gallon%20tank/DSC_8565.jpg[/IMG]
Assembled a 5 nozzle output (didn't have to do it manifold style as the output from all nozzles was the same) also added one output yesterday as the flow out of them was a bit stronger than I wanted. Thes can be rotated up or down left or right so I can direct them toward specific corals or areas if needed.
these were supposed to be fed by the same pump (OR 3500) feeding my CL, but when I saw the flow I'm getting out of this pump and considered the 20-30% loss because of the SCWD plus additional tubing I decided to to get another pump for the SCWD, one that has a 1/2 inch output this way the loss because of the SCWD is reduced. So I ended geting this pump:
It sits with the OR in the pump partition and I even have space for an additional pump or two in the future.
Basically this pump will feed the 5 outlets return line on the front of hte tank in addition to the SCWD that will go into one 3/4 inch locline on the left upper and two 1/2 inch return from the upper corners of the right side of the tank. this will also lead to variable flow of those 5 outlets as there is a difference in pressure when water is going from the single locline or the two other exits on the end of the tank. if this doesn't happen and I see those outlets taking much more flow and decreasing the effect of the SCWD then I can simply add a watervalve on the tube of the outlets and control how much they get.
I'm planning to T the output of the 3500 and divide it in two lines along the front and back of the tank with 2 1/2 inch outlets on each side and an additional 2x 1/14inch locline on the end of each this way I have additional variable flow which I can easily change after the tank is fully runnning and i can beter assess the needs of different flow in it. all nozzles will be threaded in not glued so I can direct them differently in the future.
Here's the SCWD connections I believe that the restriction from the SCWD will push waterin the elbow to feed my 5 outlet bar if not then a water valve will be added.
This sketch represents the final setup for water flow Please inform me if you find any flows in it this was I can modify it before starting to assemble it.
Do you think I should modify the 3500 outlets to have water go in a single direction leading to some rotation of the water in the tank or just have them face each other to create some turbulence in the tank. Would you direct such powerful return towards corals or just rely on the overall motion it create in the tank and direct it on the glass or differently.
In the end I will have the following for waterflow:
-Ocean Runner 2500:Return from sump 675 GPH I assume 550 after head loss
- Ocean runner 3500:in Pumps partition feeding 4 1/2 outlets and two dual Loclines 950 GPH I assume around 900 after a minimal 25 inch head loss and some tubing
-New Jet 3000: In Pumps Partition feeding 5 outlet return and SCWD to 1 3/4 ' Locline and 2 half inch returns from opposite side of the tank. around 800 GPH I assume 600 after loss from tubing and SCWD
-2 Seio pumps: these I might keep in the tank if I can hide them to make them invisible doing 850 and 685 these will hit water surface or I might orient one on the middle of the tank where corals should require more flow. any advice on positioning is appreciated.
-Couple of pumps in the pump partition connected to spraybars behind the rocks doing around 500 GPH
In total I will have 2550 GPH 17 x tank volume per hour without the Seios or 27 x tank volume if I keep the Seios.
flow through the sump would be 3.5x tank volume which should match my current skimmers performance or leave me room to double that volume when I get my second skimmer.
Any advice if this is overkill for a Softies and LPS and minimal SPS for the mooment? or flow modification? would be appreciated.
After I placed my sand be in the tank I put the two Seios in the top left hitting the water surface to avoid stirring the sandbed. I was amazed with the surface agitation I got, in addition to the return of the flow as water was going from the pumps from upper left hitting the upper right and going down causing a powerful circular motion in the tank. I realize this will decrease when I have the rock structure and the corals in, however I'm considering keeping those pumps in the left upper side of the tank with one of them hitting the surface and the second going straight in the upper third of hte tank or maybe directed on the upper corals if it does not cause more flow than I want.
IMG]http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm185/mcaqua150g/150%20gallon%20tank/DSC_8565.jpg[/IMG]
Assembled a 5 nozzle output (didn't have to do it manifold style as the output from all nozzles was the same) also added one output yesterday as the flow out of them was a bit stronger than I wanted. Thes can be rotated up or down left or right so I can direct them toward specific corals or areas if needed.
these were supposed to be fed by the same pump (OR 3500) feeding my CL, but when I saw the flow I'm getting out of this pump and considered the 20-30% loss because of the SCWD plus additional tubing I decided to to get another pump for the SCWD, one that has a 1/2 inch output this way the loss because of the SCWD is reduced. So I ended geting this pump:
It sits with the OR in the pump partition and I even have space for an additional pump or two in the future.
Basically this pump will feed the 5 outlets return line on the front of hte tank in addition to the SCWD that will go into one 3/4 inch locline on the left upper and two 1/2 inch return from the upper corners of the right side of the tank. this will also lead to variable flow of those 5 outlets as there is a difference in pressure when water is going from the single locline or the two other exits on the end of the tank. if this doesn't happen and I see those outlets taking much more flow and decreasing the effect of the SCWD then I can simply add a watervalve on the tube of the outlets and control how much they get.
I'm planning to T the output of the 3500 and divide it in two lines along the front and back of the tank with 2 1/2 inch outlets on each side and an additional 2x 1/14inch locline on the end of each this way I have additional variable flow which I can easily change after the tank is fully runnning and i can beter assess the needs of different flow in it. all nozzles will be threaded in not glued so I can direct them differently in the future.
Here's the SCWD connections I believe that the restriction from the SCWD will push waterin the elbow to feed my 5 outlet bar if not then a water valve will be added.
This sketch represents the final setup for water flow Please inform me if you find any flows in it this was I can modify it before starting to assemble it.
Do you think I should modify the 3500 outlets to have water go in a single direction leading to some rotation of the water in the tank or just have them face each other to create some turbulence in the tank. Would you direct such powerful return towards corals or just rely on the overall motion it create in the tank and direct it on the glass or differently.
In the end I will have the following for waterflow:
-Ocean Runner 2500:Return from sump 675 GPH I assume 550 after head loss
- Ocean runner 3500:in Pumps partition feeding 4 1/2 outlets and two dual Loclines 950 GPH I assume around 900 after a minimal 25 inch head loss and some tubing
-New Jet 3000: In Pumps Partition feeding 5 outlet return and SCWD to 1 3/4 ' Locline and 2 half inch returns from opposite side of the tank. around 800 GPH I assume 600 after loss from tubing and SCWD
-2 Seio pumps: these I might keep in the tank if I can hide them to make them invisible doing 850 and 685 these will hit water surface or I might orient one on the middle of the tank where corals should require more flow. any advice on positioning is appreciated.
-Couple of pumps in the pump partition connected to spraybars behind the rocks doing around 500 GPH
In total I will have 2550 GPH 17 x tank volume per hour without the Seios or 27 x tank volume if I keep the Seios.
flow through the sump would be 3.5x tank volume which should match my current skimmers performance or leave me room to double that volume when I get my second skimmer.
Any advice if this is overkill for a Softies and LPS and minimal SPS for the mooment? or flow modification? would be appreciated.
Last edited:
maroun.c
New member
Installed my 2 150 W MH in the canopy, will shift on of them to the RT corner when my 250 MH is here. I also have 3 large fans in the top and 2 smaller ones in the back. still not decided on a schedule for them mybe i'll run the big ones with the halides and the smaller ones all day long with the actinics.
Got the rocks out of the frag tank to the tank to start aquascaping and found 5 of these on the sand, they rarely move and stay on the sand top are these Bristleworms? They look too big to be good? Do you think I should put them in the sand bed of the tank or keep them where they are. I'm also wondering if I should put some food in the tank for the worms and critters in it although I don't have any fish or corals in there yet.
Got the rocks out of the frag tank to the tank to start aquascaping and found 5 of these on the sand, they rarely move and stay on the sand top are these Bristleworms? They look too big to be good? Do you think I should put them in the sand bed of the tank or keep them where they are. I'm also wondering if I should put some food in the tank for the worms and critters in it although I don't have any fish or corals in there yet.
melev
Well-known member
The worm isn't big enough to be concerned. Once they are 6 to 10" long, then you have a beast on your hands.
You don't need to feed the critters, they will find the food on the LR and later in the substrate.
The lighting looks really nice now that it is installed.
A new 1" model of the SCWD is now available, which would provide better flow if you decide to stick with that method.
You don't need to feed the critters, they will find the food on the LR and later in the substrate.
The lighting looks really nice now that it is installed.
A new 1" model of the SCWD is now available, which would provide better flow if you decide to stick with that method.
maroun.c
New member
10" you say
Well if the wife sees one of those it'll be the end of the tank.
Thanks, I'm still waiting for the 3 rd MH to arrive this one will be a 250 instead of a 3rd 150 and will go in the middle.
Yesterday I wired the 1st MH 14k and was amazed how bright it looked compared to my 150 20K that I had on the 80 g not sure if the difference is due to the 14 - 20 K difference or if this Italian reflector is really better than the old chinese reflector I had.
I'm also hoping to get my T5s in 1-2 weeks from now, that should finsih the lighting issues.
It was really hard to find the older model here so I'm sure hte 1 inch is still not available. Will try to look for it when on any business trip to the US. I guess I will stick to this method for the near future as for a tank with mostly softies and LPS I don't think it's really necessary to invest in a much more expensive wavemaker...
Do you have any input on my return as per the sketch I posted? should I just plumb it the way I dew it or target the outlets differently?
Thx
chrismunn
New member
since the scwd slightly restricts flow, at least half, if not a majority of the flow coming from the 820gph pump will end up going through the alternate route away from the scwd. i cant say that for sure, but if it were true we could say that 420gph would be going away from the scwd, and the other 400gph would go through the scwd. if 400gph was going through the scwd, it would cut flow down to 360gph....
when i first though about this it seemed like there might be a problem with weak flow, but now that i see the numbers i guess its not an issue?
i just spent all that though for no reason
when i first though about this it seemed like there might be a problem with weak flow, but now that i see the numbers i guess its not an issue?
i just spent all that though for no reason
chrismunn
New member
the flow coming from the OR 970 broken into 8 outlets puts each outlet at 121gph. that to me seems like it might be nothing more than a strong trickle incomparison to the tank size, especially when its simply dumping out of the end of a pipe fitting. i feel like thats simply relocating a small amount of water rather than moving a large body of water.
the 5- 1/4" nozzles on the 300gph pump will probably give a good spray from each nozzle.
the more outputs you have for each pump, the less strong water movement your going to achieve from that pump. when you have a 1000gph pump and break it into 10 outlets, your only going to get 100gph from each outlet. its like having 10 tiny 100gph pumps which, if you combined 10- 100gph pumps together it wont move as much water as a single 1000gph pump pushing through a single outlet. you might have to add more powerfull pumps to your CL systems if you want to be able to keep the entire water column turbulent.
the 5- 1/4" nozzles on the 300gph pump will probably give a good spray from each nozzle.
the more outputs you have for each pump, the less strong water movement your going to achieve from that pump. when you have a 1000gph pump and break it into 10 outlets, your only going to get 100gph from each outlet. its like having 10 tiny 100gph pumps which, if you combined 10- 100gph pumps together it wont move as much water as a single 1000gph pump pushing through a single outlet. you might have to add more powerfull pumps to your CL systems if you want to be able to keep the entire water column turbulent.
maroun.c
New member
Chrismunn,
Wish you posted earlier, had to learn it via redoing my plumbing 3-4 times.
- SCWD with alternate output to multi 1/4 nich outlet did work as expected. Got appropriate flow from the 1/4 inch outlets without any watervalves but the remaining portion going through the SCWD didi not make any difference to the flow on the tank so maybe this would have worked better with a stronger pump?
I decided to disconnect the multiple exits and have the SCWD supply only on 3/4 inch Locline from LT side of the tank and 2 1/2 inch oultlets from the RT and this was much better as the amount of water moved is now creating a difference in the tank as you mentioned.
-took the loclines from the CL with the OR as they were not getting any good waterflow through them and they were under on MH so would have caused some shadows.
- I will connect the mutli 1/4 inch outlet to the Eheim 300 GPH for direct lighter flow to specific areas but that will wait till I have the corals placed in the tank as I'm hoping I can place it from the back and not the front to have better access to the tank. I believe I have good flow in all areas with ability of redirecting the flow from the CLs as the outlets are threaded and can be rotated. I also added a 3rd outlet on teh CL with the OR3500 as flow through the 4 outlets was too strong. Do you think it's wise to put an SCWD on this CL too or just get the maximum flow out of the OR 3500 and rely on the alternating movment from the other CL?
I was worried that the holes in my pumps partition will not allow sufficient water return but i'm able to run 6500 Lph- 1750 Gph with only a 2 inch water drop in that partition so guess that's enough.
- I turned off the Seios onthe upper left of the tank pushing water to the surface and realized taht flow from the 2 CLs does not match the output i get from them in Surface agitation and overall water movement as they rotate the water from LT to RT in upper tank and from RT to LT from the lower parts so I guess I'll keep them if I can hide them somehow within the rockwork, i know their effect will decrease with the aquascaping but I'm happy with the type of water movement they create.
I wired my second 150W HQI double ended 14K MH from Arcadia and now have a much better light fill of the tank except for the RT side. I should be getting my 250 W to go in the middle and move the 150 tot he RT side soon so that's not a problem.
I already moved all my LR from the 80 to the 150 with my BTA that was attached to one big base rock to which it was attached since 8 years so I didn't try to detach it.The Maroon clown also came with it. I also put on big LR that came with a RBTA that I got
in there too. noth anemones are looking great with my older BTA looking like it's colouring back again after the severe bleaching it had. I will move all my fish and coral today, do the aquascaping and place them on the rocks.
On my older tank I ahd bioballs that are still in the filter do yuo think I should transport them to the 150 at least for the initial period to help boost the filtration or do I just rely on the rocks and skimmer from the start?
Do I run carbon and Phosphate remover from now or wait on them a bit ?
Do I move my snails and tiger cowrie now or give the tank a couple of weeks for some algae to grow
Finally do I transfer some caulerpa right now or also wait a bit?
Sorry many qyuestions but this is the most important phase of the build as i don't want to loose stuff now especially with everything making it so far.
Wish you posted earlier, had to learn it via redoing my plumbing 3-4 times.
- SCWD with alternate output to multi 1/4 nich outlet did work as expected. Got appropriate flow from the 1/4 inch outlets without any watervalves but the remaining portion going through the SCWD didi not make any difference to the flow on the tank so maybe this would have worked better with a stronger pump?
I decided to disconnect the multiple exits and have the SCWD supply only on 3/4 inch Locline from LT side of the tank and 2 1/2 inch oultlets from the RT and this was much better as the amount of water moved is now creating a difference in the tank as you mentioned.
-took the loclines from the CL with the OR as they were not getting any good waterflow through them and they were under on MH so would have caused some shadows.
- I will connect the mutli 1/4 inch outlet to the Eheim 300 GPH for direct lighter flow to specific areas but that will wait till I have the corals placed in the tank as I'm hoping I can place it from the back and not the front to have better access to the tank. I believe I have good flow in all areas with ability of redirecting the flow from the CLs as the outlets are threaded and can be rotated. I also added a 3rd outlet on teh CL with the OR3500 as flow through the 4 outlets was too strong. Do you think it's wise to put an SCWD on this CL too or just get the maximum flow out of the OR 3500 and rely on the alternating movment from the other CL?
I was worried that the holes in my pumps partition will not allow sufficient water return but i'm able to run 6500 Lph- 1750 Gph with only a 2 inch water drop in that partition so guess that's enough.
- I turned off the Seios onthe upper left of the tank pushing water to the surface and realized taht flow from the 2 CLs does not match the output i get from them in Surface agitation and overall water movement as they rotate the water from LT to RT in upper tank and from RT to LT from the lower parts so I guess I'll keep them if I can hide them somehow within the rockwork, i know their effect will decrease with the aquascaping but I'm happy with the type of water movement they create.
I wired my second 150W HQI double ended 14K MH from Arcadia and now have a much better light fill of the tank except for the RT side. I should be getting my 250 W to go in the middle and move the 150 tot he RT side soon so that's not a problem.
I already moved all my LR from the 80 to the 150 with my BTA that was attached to one big base rock to which it was attached since 8 years so I didn't try to detach it.The Maroon clown also came with it. I also put on big LR that came with a RBTA that I got
in there too. noth anemones are looking great with my older BTA looking like it's colouring back again after the severe bleaching it had. I will move all my fish and coral today, do the aquascaping and place them on the rocks.
On my older tank I ahd bioballs that are still in the filter do yuo think I should transport them to the 150 at least for the initial period to help boost the filtration or do I just rely on the rocks and skimmer from the start?
Do I run carbon and Phosphate remover from now or wait on them a bit ?
Do I move my snails and tiger cowrie now or give the tank a couple of weeks for some algae to grow
Finally do I transfer some caulerpa right now or also wait a bit?
Sorry many qyuestions but this is the most important phase of the build as i don't want to loose stuff now especially with everything making it so far.
chrismunn
New member
as far as adding the SCWD to the OR, you could try it and see how it works, but if it cuts down on flow too much you might not want to use it. you can create turbulent flow by pointing the effluent of 2 pumps towards each other, but you wont even be able to achieve turbulence if the flow isnt strong enough.
putting the bio-balls will help establish the biological filtration in the 150, but people have problems with them over the long term because they tend to hold detritus within thier nooks and crannys.
it probably wouldnt hurt to add the cheato to the tank to start establishing a pod population, and the worst thing that could happen is that the cheato wont grow due to lack of nutrients in the water column.
adding a cleanup crew depends on how long the tank has been running. if its been running long enough to add your RBTA, then its deffinately ok to add the snails and cowrie.
i just read back and noticed that your going to use caulerpa and not cheato. have you used caulerpa before? people have alot of problems using caULERPA because it goes sexual, releases spores into the water column, turns the water yellow, and spreads everywhere. ive heard that this can be prevented by leaving the lights for the refugium on for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but personally i wouldnt take the risk. not after reading about what happend to quiksilver in his ultimate 29g thread! you might wANT TO consider using cheatomorpha instead of caulerpa to avoid any problems later on down the road?
putting the bio-balls will help establish the biological filtration in the 150, but people have problems with them over the long term because they tend to hold detritus within thier nooks and crannys.
it probably wouldnt hurt to add the cheato to the tank to start establishing a pod population, and the worst thing that could happen is that the cheato wont grow due to lack of nutrients in the water column.
adding a cleanup crew depends on how long the tank has been running. if its been running long enough to add your RBTA, then its deffinately ok to add the snails and cowrie.
i just read back and noticed that your going to use caulerpa and not cheato. have you used caulerpa before? people have alot of problems using caULERPA because it goes sexual, releases spores into the water column, turns the water yellow, and spreads everywhere. ive heard that this can be prevented by leaving the lights for the refugium on for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but personally i wouldnt take the risk. not after reading about what happend to quiksilver in his ultimate 29g thread! you might wANT TO consider using cheatomorpha instead of caulerpa to avoid any problems later on down the road?
maroun.c
New member
thanks for your reply Chrismunn,
I already tried turning the effluents towards each other and flow is so strong that it's creating lots of turbulance and vortices are forming at times don't know if this is good or not?
I'm not planning on keeping the bioballs for too long but i thought i just put a few in to help start biofiltration then take them all out.
Chematomorpha is not available here will try to get some while on some business trip to US or somewhere else but it will not be anytime soon.
I have some feather caulerpa that have been in my tank for 3-4 years without ever going sexual. I agree it's still a risk but guess it's better than nothign for the time being. I try to keep it well lit and spaced and keep it in small amounts (not that it was growing much to start with in my 80) this way even if it goes sexual it will not be that bad.
I already tried turning the effluents towards each other and flow is so strong that it's creating lots of turbulance and vortices are forming at times don't know if this is good or not?
I'm not planning on keeping the bioballs for too long but i thought i just put a few in to help start biofiltration then take them all out.
Chematomorpha is not available here will try to get some while on some business trip to US or somewhere else but it will not be anytime soon.
I have some feather caulerpa that have been in my tank for 3-4 years without ever going sexual. I agree it's still a risk but guess it's better than nothign for the time being. I try to keep it well lit and spaced and keep it in small amounts (not that it was growing much to start with in my 80) this way even if it goes sexual it will not be that bad.
chrismunn
New member
well if the flow is good and strong then you can add the SCWD without losing too much flow strenght. having alternating currents in my opinion is always better than having laminar flow.
caulerpa is fine i guess, just as long as you can keep it tamed
i had caulerpa racemosa in my fuge for about a year and had no problems with it. and its deffinatly better than nothing. just mke sure you dispose of it properly so it doesnt become introuced into your local waters un-intentionally. visit this site www.sccat.net for more information on caulerpa disposal. i dont know if it applies to you in lebanon, but they are apperently having some problems with it in california U.S.
you might be able to ask a fellow reefer here on RC if they can mail you a handfull of cheato. i dont know how customs laws work in regards to shipping live algaes intercontinentally, but it might be worth a try? just make sure if you do ask that its in the appropriate forum.
ide say that you do have the right idea with the bio-balls. you should be able to help introduce the nitrifying bacteria into your 150 with the use of the established colonies on the in-use bio-balls.
caulerpa is fine i guess, just as long as you can keep it tamed
i had caulerpa racemosa in my fuge for about a year and had no problems with it. and its deffinatly better than nothing. just mke sure you dispose of it properly so it doesnt become introuced into your local waters un-intentionally. visit this site www.sccat.net for more information on caulerpa disposal. i dont know if it applies to you in lebanon, but they are apperently having some problems with it in california U.S.you might be able to ask a fellow reefer here on RC if they can mail you a handfull of cheato. i dont know how customs laws work in regards to shipping live algaes intercontinentally, but it might be worth a try? just make sure if you do ask that its in the appropriate forum.
ide say that you do have the right idea with the bio-balls. you should be able to help introduce the nitrifying bacteria into your 150 with the use of the established colonies on the in-use bio-balls.
maroun.c
New member
Thanks for the info and links.
I live by the mediterranean sea and had never heard about these issues. Weirdly Its very hard to get Caulerpa around here and to now that we have Caulerpa infestation nearby makes it very weird.
At least now I know that I had caulerpa Taxifolia.
Will check the custom rules about shiping Macro Alga however I'm sure that shipping price will make it outrageously expensive same as all other Items I wish to get from the states. Guess it'll wait till I go there on a business trip. This is why I love my work so much.
I live by the mediterranean sea and had never heard about these issues. Weirdly Its very hard to get Caulerpa around here and to now that we have Caulerpa infestation nearby makes it very weird.
At least now I know that I had caulerpa Taxifolia.
Will check the custom rules about shiping Macro Alga however I'm sure that shipping price will make it outrageously expensive same as all other Items I wish to get from the states. Guess it'll wait till I go there on a business trip. This is why I love my work so much.
maroun.c
New member
Guess this is a very imprtant page for everyone to read. got it from the link Crismunn provided.
http://www.sccat.net/#aquarists-1e86f1
http://www.sccat.net/#aquarists-1e86f1
