Pooky's 300

[pookstreet]

I'm curious, why do you guys keep your tanks at such a low temp?

I do it for some of my fish, which come from deep water, where temps are usually in the 60's. The usual temp range that most people keep their reefs might be ok but I just didn't want to take the chance and lose these high priced and hard to find fish.

Ditto I got rust on my tools last summer from too much humidity in my garage. Worse in FL than in CA. I have some insulation I am going to put around my sump this year to try and keep in some heat for the winter if it gets a little too cold. I heard the higher heat in the tank will keep the corals metabolic rate better for growth or something like that. That could just be hear say. I haven't had any growth except form a cats paw or something. Last year in the begining I lost some corals to my son and a sump issues when I was a way for a month.. blah blah.blah

Sup Eric. Don't see you around here much anymore. Life must be keeping you busy. Humidity is no where near as bad as where you are but some of my tools in the garage are rusted too. It is true that higher temps will increase metabolic rates in both fish and corals, which may translate into faster growth. However, there are so many other factors that influence growth that focusing on one thing isn't going to work. What did your son do, pee in the tank while you weren't looking? :lmao:

 

[SaraB]

I'm curious, why do you guys keep your tanks at such a low temp?

My favorite response is "because I can" I do it for the fish health as well likd Kenny stated. I've not gone much below that because of the slower coral growth, but I guess it's worth considering since I can save more $ on electricity from not heating so much.

 

[erics3000]

Yeah super busy with work this year a lot of traveling. I got back from about a month trip and I found a few pennies, 3 wrench's, pliers, and a screw driver in my sump. My corals were dieing and my fish ate my clam. I had some good salinty fluctations and a bunch of other stuff. So I just left it in cruise control and skimmed r/c on and off. I hope this year to get things all figured out with equipment and controller. Well See.

Soo many factors..SO true.....I am trying to get a few major parts situated and than maybe try some new corals.

I just have to wait for Monday pics for some more inspiration. ahhhhahahahahah

 

[erics3000]

My tank runs hot in FL. No chiller trying to save elec $$$ to. Fans over the sump do the trick for me. I guess we all have to get what works for us for cost and care.

 

[sltloser]

I can see for the fish becuase of where they come from, but unless you're doing corals from the same depth you're putting a lot of strain on your corals by having that low of a temperature it's hard on them. It stunts growth, and slows all the metabolic functions in the coral. (i hope that didn't come out as being snobby or anything, just worried about the corals)

 

[pookstreet]

Yeah super busy with work this year a lot of traveling. I got back from about a month trip and I found a few pennies, 3 wrench's, pliers, and a screw driver in my sump. My corals were dieing and my fish ate my clam. I had some good salinty fluctations and a bunch of other stuff. So I just left it in cruise control and skimmed r/c on and off. I hope this year to get things all figured out with equipment and controller. Well See.

Soo many factors..SO true.....I am trying to get a few major parts situated and than maybe try some new corals.

I just have to wait for Monday pics for some more inspiration. ahhhhahahahahah

My tank runs hot in FL. No chiller trying to save elec $$$ to. Fans over the sump do the trick for me. I guess we all have to get what works for us for cost and care.

Yikes! Pennies I can see. Tool??? You've got yourself a mischievous little one there :eek2: Hope you can get things turned around soon.

I don't run a chiller on the system either due to logistics. I mostly rely on a few fans blowing across the surface to keep things cool. It helps that my whole system is open with no canopy. Also have a portable AC to keep the garage cooler on those really hot days.

I can see for the fish becuase of where they come from, but unless you're doing corals from the same depth you're putting a lot of strain on your corals by having that low of a temperature it's hard on them. It stunts growth, and slows all the metabolic functions in the coral. (i hope that didn't come out as being snobby or anything, just worried about the corals)

No offense taken at all. I am willing to sacrifice some coral growth for the overall health of the tank. It's true that my corals don't grow nearly as fast as others but they are healthy, the previous killing spree notwithstanding :spin2: I am pretty sure that wasn't due to temp since it started before the system temp was brought down gradually.

 

[mpoletti]

Hey Kenny, Did you ever hook up your Geo kalk reactor? If so, why? and what have you noticed?

I have that equipment bug again :hammer:

 

[pookstreet]

Mark, that was one piece of equipment that I managed to set up fairly quick after I got it. I was using it to balance out the pH on the system and I kinda also liked my alk on the high side. It's a great piece of equipment but didn't really noticed anything different since I've always ran a kalk reactor. Had an MRC before that. The Geo is much easier to use. It's been off line for the last few months since the Ca/alk uptake has been down as the corals are still growing back. The Ca reactor alone is enough at this point.

 

[SaraB]

Mark, that was one piece of equipment that I managed to set up fairly quick after I got it.

LOL, same here I thought it was made well, but I didn't like the fact that the pumps corrode up with the kalk slurry.

I personally prefer the Deltec Stirrers and you should be able to find a nice used one for a better price.

 

[pookstreet]

I am not familiar with the Deltec but the MRC had a magnetic stirrer bar and talk about a major pain in the patootie. I can deal with changing out the impellar or pump every couple of years. But I ain't gonna shut the unit down so I can fish for the magnetic bar every other week.

 

[pookstreet]

POTW............

 

[mpoletti]

POTW............

very nice Kenny. That looks very similar to the ATL simplex.

 

[pookstreet]

Indeed it is. Or should we call it the ATL Granny Smith :lol:

 

[SaraB]

I am not familiar with the Deltec but the MRC had a magnetic stirrer bar and talk about a major pain in the patootie. I can deal with changing out the impellar or pump every couple of years. But I ain't gonna shut the unit down so I can fish for the magnetic bar every other week.

I too had a used MRC first and it died, so I then moved on to the GEO and got sick of the pump thing then to the Deltec's. I've had a used Deltec first and then upgraded to a new larger Deltec and I never had any issues ... knock on wood now that I said that

Also, I was changing pumps more like every 6 months so I said enough of that for the GEO.

 

[pookstreet]

Wow, every 6 months? I am still on my first. I have the pump on a timer to turn on something like 4 times a day and only for 1 or 2 mins each time. I wonder if that makes any difference.

 

[SaraB]

Wow, every 6 months? I am still on my first. I have the pump on a timer to turn on something like 4 times a day and only for 1 or 2 mins each time. I wonder if that makes any difference.

I was doing 4 times a day for 20 minutes each time.

 

[DanW]

Hum, I've been changing pumps on the GEO pretty often too. The fins on the impeller get brittle and break off. I thought that maybe I had been putting too much kalk into the reactor so I've reduced the amount to see if it makes any difference. I gotta test the effluent to see if it is saturated. Do you guys remember off hand what the alk (I think it was alk) parameters are supposed to be? I'm lazy and don't feel like searching for it, yeah I know it's not hard but when I have experts like you guys at my finger tips...

Nice photo to start off the week Kenny. My ATL PS is a little brown nub

 

[Dejavu]

POTW............

Looken good Kenny :thumbsup:

 

[pookstreet]

I was doing 4 times a day for 20 minutes each time.

I wonder if running the pumps less is helping.

Hum, I've been changing pumps on the GEO pretty often too. The fins on the impeller get brittle and break off. I thought that maybe I had been putting too much kalk into the reactor so I've reduced the amount to see if it makes any difference. I gotta test the effluent to see if it is saturated. Do you guys remember off hand what the alk (I think it was alk) parameters are supposed to be? I'm lazy and don't feel like searching for it, yeah I know it's not hard but when I have experts like you guys at my finger tips...

Nice photo to start off the week Kenny. My ATL PS is a little brown nub

Dude, I have no idea what dKH saturated kalk effluent is at, but I would imagine that it doesn't take that long for the pump to mix things up. This piece is a somewhat slow grower. I've also tried to kill it several times so it's nowhere near the size it should be. It's putting on some decent growth right now so we'll see where it goes from here.

Looken good Kenny :thumbsup:

Thanks Brian

 

[pookstreet]

Mystery Wednesday :lol: