Rock came ...

[voodude]

Hey Miggo ... I agree with all the folks .. had some weird stuff also .. I used AWT a couple of weeks ago, like HowardW suggests. Most of my tests were close to what they came back with (which is why I used them ... I'm not "color-perfect" !!:lol: ) their NO4 came back less than I was showing (good thing) but they also do tests that we do not usually do and the results they presented made sense ... have been working toward their suggestions and my water is better .. their main thrust is water changes and IF all else fails ... chems .. Not cheap ($99 for 4 tests at your discression) but I believe well worth it. PH they do not do as indicators go bad in transit, so to speak. If you choose to use them (or any other service) test your water and use a sample from the same time. Good Luck. (have you ever tested your RO/DI (not just TDS? who knows). I did about 15/20% weekly and it helped .. with a 180, you'd go nutz with dailies!! Keep us posted pls ... I for one, am interested to add to my memory banks!:hmm3:

 

[voodude]

I meant NO3 in my last !! .. another test they do is copper ... obviously they say RO/DI for water(which I do) as this comes from copper pipes (but I have all plastic!!) so it must be from outside the house .. levels above .05 can be toxic to almost anything. Again, as Howard said, they reccomend using activated carbon to reduce my levels.

 

[Miggo]

I currently don't use activated carbon. I also don't know a good method for doing so. I've been reading what I could find about it. I ran across a comment about how one of the things it does is remove compounds that cause a yellowish tint to the water. When I did a water change, I noticed a yellowish tint to the water in the white bucket.

Now I'd like to pester you guys for a good way to do this. I see things about running in between water changes, or for a few hours, or all the time, etc. What would you guys suggest for a filter type or way to do this.

I think we're going to have to put a sign or something near our tank that states something like ... "This tank is brought to you by (insert all your names here) . Thanks again for all your help.

 

[HowardW]

You can easily run carbon in an inexpensive hang on power filter or a good canister filter with a top/bottom inlet and output. Some also use a reactor and run a GFO media along with carbon. Make sure to use a top quality carbon like Seachem Matrix or if you want the best there is use Rox 0.8 from Two Part solution. If you are having phosphate/algae issues you can also mix in some GFO media, the best one is Warner Marine Phosar HC but it must be used sparingly to start and must be used carefully if you are also growing macroalgae in a fuge. Another option to carbon is using Seachem Purigen which is also excellent at removing color and organics and is a bit less aggressive then carbon.

 

[wintercool97]

Miggo what did you bait your glass with for that stone crab? I have one under a rock and tried some squid but no luck. Thanks

Winter

 

[Miggo]

I have to give my wife credit for baiting it and catching him. She wrapped up some mysis shrimp in a cut up nylon stocking and weighted it down by tying some glass beads to it with some thread. If you have fish, they'll be in there, you might get some other things crawling in and out of there. The crab came out and hung around the edge of the glass but didn't crawl in it until later when the lights were off.

We set up a 10 gallon tank and put him in there along with a mantis shrimp she caught in there too. I wish I wouldn't have though, because the next morning we woke up and saw that the stone crab cut the mantis in half and was dining on his pieces. If we catch another mantis, we're either gonna put a divider in there, or get rid of the stone crab. He's kind of fun to watch though, pushing the couple little rocks around we have in there.

Good luck getting him.

 

[wintercool97]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10825800#post10825800 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Miggo
I have to give my wife credit for baiting it and catching him. She wrapped up some mysis shrimp in a cut up nylon stocking and weighted it down by tying some glass beads to it with some thread. If you have fish, they'll be in there, you might get some other things crawling in and out of there. The crab came out and hung around the edge of the glass but didn't crawl in it until later when the lights were off.
.

Ahhh genius, I will try this tonight.

I didn't know stone crabs where so ruthless! I just put a pretty big gorilla crab in with my big mantis I caught and wow that mantis is so fast and strong, downed that crab in a second. I didn't think anything would get the better of them!

Thanks for the help
Winter