Sonny's Rimless Shallow Reef.
- Thread starter JohnL
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newsalt
Active member
I contacted Brightwell about this and here is the response I received:
"Good morning,
Thank you for contacting us. The directions have not been changed; temporarily halting protein skimming just prior to addition of MicroBacter7 to the system and then allowing at least 1 hour for the microbes to disperse throughout the system prior to resuming protein skimming will unquestionably enable the microbes to function more effectively than failing to follow this procedure. The only impact that temporarily halting skimming will have on pH is in the temporary decrease in de-gassing and slight accumulation of weak acids that will occur; this may allow carbonic acid and other weak acids to accumulate and decrease alkalinity slightly, however a properly-buffered system should have no significant change in pH.
I hope that this information has been helpful; please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any additional questions or comments. Thanks again for your interest in Brightwell Aquatics; I sincerely appreciate it. Have a pleasant day.
Kindest regards,
Chris Brightwell"
SunnyX
New member
Hello
I would go with the MP40W. This will put out more flow and will come in handy if you decide to upgrade tanks again in the future.
I have a Phoenix 14K running on a 30gl rimless and it really could use some "pop". Go with two Ati Blue+ bulbs for a bluer look, or use an Ati Aquablue Special and Blue+ bulb.
The MSX160 looks like a fine skimmer. Just be sure to seed your new system with MB7 and move as much water as possible from the old system over.
SunnyX
New member
Yeah, I read that too. That's why I was recommending leaving the skimmer on. I have been leaving mine on and the MB7 still works fine. I may turn it off for one hour if only to see if it does in fact make a difference.
Personally, I would recommend that everyone leave their skimmer on at least until they have an established bacterial population. In initial dosing some systems may react strongly to MB7 and suck out most of the available oxygen.
I dont know guys, i am sticking with sunny's advice on keeping skimmer on. The dip in PH shown in the graph is obvious. Also, with the daily addition on bacteria, even if the skimmer DOES remove some, we should be ok. If in doubt why not just up your dose by a drop or two to compensate?
kfick
New member
If you do turn your skimmer off, it makes much less of an impact if you only do so when the lights are on. The huge dip in the graph I posted was with the lights off. I turn my skimmer off for about an hour when I feed and dose aminos in the evneing. You can see it in the graph right when the pH is on its way up, but before the 2 part dosing kicks in (the bumps in the graph).
I think Sunny is right about the intial dosing. I'd be scared to turn off my skimmer if I was dosing capfulls of MB7!
I think Sunny is right about the intial dosing. I'd be scared to turn off my skimmer if I was dosing capfulls of MB7!
mcrist
Premium Member
When I initially started dosing MB7 I was turning off my skimmer as suggested from Brightwell but then I noticed Sonny’s recommendation about leaving it on so I tried his method. I did not notice any difference with either method but leaving the skimmer on was a lot easier so I stuck with that method.
tas5tas
New member
Exactly how I dose everything as well......turn off the return pump and skimmer and drip directly in front of my Vortechs. Before I had my Vortechs I dripped in front of my Koralias. I leave the return pump and skimmer off for 30 minutes before resuming operation.
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naz42
Active member
QUOTE -I have a Phoenix 14K running on a 30gl rimless and it really could use some "pop". Go with two Ati Blue+ bulbs for a bluer look, or use an Ati Aquablue Special and Blue+ bulb. -
Do these bulbs have any benefit to the corals or do they just give your tank a blue look? Right now i am running radiums with 2 T5 actinics.
Do these bulbs have any benefit to the corals or do they just give your tank a blue look? Right now i am running radiums with 2 T5 actinics.
SunnyX
New member
The bulbs put out a good amount of PAR and will widen the spectrum of light so it will most certainly aid the corals in coloration and growth.
If I were running MH's I would use Blue+'s instead of actinic. The Blue+'s look better to me and blow away actinics when it comes to output. plus, the actinic T5's I have seen are slightly purple while the Blue+ is a brilliant blue.
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