macreefster
New member
thanks again sonny. good luck with your vortech. eco-tech does have great customer service, i just wish i didnt have to use it so often.
Sonny's Rimless Shallow Reef.
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macreefster
New member
good idea..... i bought the gen1's and IMO they should have never made it to the market. the gen2's are much better but still have some issues. not sure what changes the gen3's will entail, but i am sure they will be much better yet. i love the pumps, just wish ecotech would have done a better job of product testing before selling their products. once they get it right, there won't be a product on the market to touch them though.
SunnyX
New member
Yeah, I love my Vortech even though it has this issue. It hard to explain the flow. It literally moves the entire body of water in my tank. I have a nice LOBO directly under the Vortech and it loves the undertow. It has never opened so large. Today, it looks shrunken up a bit.
Oh well, I should have the new one in by Wednesday.
Oh well, I should have the new one in by Wednesday.
reefsahoy
I can see thru you!
sunny, what do you do to keep the sand clean and how often do you do it? btw i personally like the rock work of your tank more so than iwan (no disrespect to him cause that's like saying i like a mercedes vs a lexusor vice versa) and think once your corals mature you'll have an awesome tank.
thanks
thanks
SunnyX
New member
Thanks.
While my rock work is low profile I do believe it will look great in a year or so once the corals have grown out and hid the rock work. Too many people worry about how the rocks looks, when it doesn't matter because they will eventually be covered by corals.
As for the sand i really don't do much to it. Every couple months I may stir it up a bit but nothing more. Since beginning the dosing of vodka and bacteria I have stopped vacuuming the sand bed. Stiring up the sand bed is a better option for me because the bacteria that is kicked up feeds my corals and is eventually picked up by my skimmer.
I am thinking of adding some new sand as mine is staring to be covered by Coraline algae.
Mike de Leon
New member
Hey Sunny, I will be dosing Vodka soon. Anything I should watch out for??
thx
thx
boodlefish
Premium Member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14591151#post14591151 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SunnyX
Thanks!
Concerning the Aquascience 22k I am really liking it. It looks exactly like the Blue+ except it gives off a nice actinic "pop" to my corals. The Blue+ is cheaper and almost the same bulb so i would go with that.
5 Ati Blue+'s and 3 ATi Aquablue Specials would look great in the fixture.
Something like this:
FRONT
Ati Aquablue Special
Ati Blue+
Ati Blue+
Ati Aquablue Special
Ati Blue+
Ati Blue+
Ati Aquablue Special
Ati Blue+
is this going to be too much light? with 3 whites? i was warned about the awesome power of t5's and do not want to bleach my corals. i actually lost quite a few corals a while back when i initially stepped up from "pc" to "mh" the light was to close to the water (my fault) but i have been much more successful since and do not want to repeat my mistake. what do you think? how long should they be on? how far off the water?
sorry for the bombardment of questions, i am getting close to transferring tanks and am getting nervous.
skyrne_isk
Member
Sonny, have followed along for quite while and my question is about vodka and red cyano in your tank.
It seems your point of attack is to add bacteria to out compete the cyano for the carbon being added, is this right? I am trying to get input from someone who has been down this road.....after dosing 6 months or so I am picking up fluffy red cyano on rocks and sand especially in the areas of my tank that don't get as much flow.
Is this the pattern you have seen? It's driving me nuts. The only thing keeping me from tearing things apart is that everything else is fanatastic.
It seems your point of attack is to add bacteria to out compete the cyano for the carbon being added, is this right? I am trying to get input from someone who has been down this road.....after dosing 6 months or so I am picking up fluffy red cyano on rocks and sand especially in the areas of my tank that don't get as much flow.
Is this the pattern you have seen? It's driving me nuts. The only thing keeping me from tearing things apart is that everything else is fanatastic.
SunnyX
New member
Just be careful not to overdose. If you notice any red or brown slime forming then stop dosing vodka for a week. During that week only dose a bacteria source. This way, you will repopulate the tank with good bacteria.
Sometimes bad bacteria such as red slime can use vodka as a carbon source so supplementing your aquarium with good bacteria is very important IMO.
SunnyX
New member
Trust me, that combo is going to look great.
Im not sure how your lighting switches will be setup but I would not have the entire fixture on for more then 5-6 hours. Maybe run 2-3 Blue+ for 10-12hrs and so on. I would keep the fixture 3-4" off of the surface of the tank.
Saying all that, I would start with the fixture raised if possible and slowly lowering it down over a week. If that is not possible I would start with a shortened photo period and work your way up, about a 1/2 hour every two days.
SHOmuchFUN
New member
What exactly did you order?
Booster and Digest?
SunnyX
New member
You are correct. I add the good bacteria to out compete and the bad, although sometimes the bad does take over. I recently had some brown slime flair up, probably due to an AA overdose, and have cut back for a week on vodka dosing. While I am not adding vodka for a week, I have increased my bacteria dosing to combat the brown slime. After two days of doing so the brown slime has pretty much receded.
In your case, I would cut back on vodka for a week and dose good bacteria to out compete the bad. You could also add some red slime remover for a quick fix, but this may brown out a few corals.
With vodka dosing you really have to watch out for slime, be it red or brown. As soon as you spot it cut back on vodka and increase bacteria dosage.
This has worked for me in the past and is the best method I have found. Although, I know a few reefers with excellent reef systems dosing vodka that must use red slime remover every 3-4 months in order to keep the slime at bay.
If you want to get rid of the slime within hours then Red slime remover will do the trick. Just be warned that some corals may brown out for a couple weeks. Also, you will have to turn your skimmer off, and take out all carbon/chemical filtration for about 24hrs.
Do a 10-20% water change afterward and you will be good to go.
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