T5 Lighting May Be For You

Chaeto is awesome, not only reduces phosphates, but reduces nitrates. And it stabilizes the pH, preventing much of the nightly pH drop due to co2 production when photosynthesis stops.
 
I currently have a sump that has tang heaven red from IPSF. I will try adding some cheato and see if that will make a difference since my nitrates and phosphates seem to be 0... I dont want to cut back on the lighting. My corals are doing well. I have 2 frags of monti caps, 1 ora blue tort, 1 ora rose milli, and 1 ora yellow/green acro (although this one is tan colored so may have to change its location). I havent mounted them yet due to the hair algae which sucks...
 
Yep i love cheato! My fuge made a big improvement in the health of my tank. Took care of pest alage for the most part. I still have some little patches but they are almost too small to metion. Not to mention the zooplankton i have crawling everywhere. The fish love to eat pods.
 
just like simon, i have no phosphates or nitrates, but still a hair algae issue.

i run a phosphate remover in my canister filter. and i have a ton of flow in my tank, even more where the HA is...


the skimmer did help a lot, but i really didnt want to cut back on my lighting. i have lps, sps, and softies.


how much does giving plasma pay???
 
Try an Aquafuge(HOB fuge). I run 2 18" models on a 125 and they do good. While the halides were off the tank I had quite a bit of the macro in the fuges die off for lack of light (I use the main lighting and indirect sunlight to grow the macro) and have a small hair algae outbreak. I plan on doing nothing just to see if the macro regrowth will solve the hair algae outbreak.
 
i see that drs foster and smith has the HOB aquafuges on sale now...

the 13.25" one is $69.69
the 19.25" one is 74.99


i think either would work well, but the main reason i want a fuge is so i can put a couple rocks in the fuge, and have more room in my tank.

i couldnt do that with the aquafuge...

i can get the web aquatics overflow for like 30 bux, a rio 2100 for under 30 bux as well, and i have a 10g tank laying around...it would be the same amount or so by the time i add a bit of 3/4 " spa tubing and a valve and other plumbing..

yeah i would need a light too, but a normal socket lamp with a cheapo coil PC bulb, and then i could throw my bakpak in the sump part as well, freeing up even more room. that surface skimmer attachment takes up a lot of room, not to mention the HUGe rock i have in the middle of the tank...
 
horkn,

i have a bak pak 2r as well. not quite happy with it. I bought a used aquac 90 but that thing is loud as heck which is not gonna work for me. Now, I'm checking out the coralife super skimmer 125 and may get it but need money... My bak pak didnt pull out too much. I also moved it to the sump. What to do what to do...
 
horkn said:

yeah i would need a light too, but a normal socket lamp with a cheapo coil PC bulb, and then i could throw my bakpak in the sump part as well, freeing up even more room. that surface skimmer attachment takes up a lot of room, not to mention the HUGe rock i have in the middle of the tank...
Click to expand...

Trying to run a bakpak with the surface skimmer in the sump is a lot more trouble than it is worth. Besides with a sump you eliminate the need for a surface skimmer for the BK if you mount it in there. The water level in the sump will change with evaporation and water changes which will mess with the oporation of the skimmer so if you do decide to move it to the sump I would extend the pipe for the pump so it sits on the bottom. It might be a little more consistant and you don't have to worry about the pump running dry.
 
i am quite happy with my bakpak. it pulls nasty stuff out daily.

when i finally get a fuge set up, i wouldnt run the surface skimmer, becasue like you said, its pointless, and all the suface skim is out of the main tank anyways.

i did a 5 g allon water change tonight, and pulled a mega load of the algae out. i wish i could get more out , but that algae is such a PITA to get off the rocks.

i took a ton of HA off the ledge right above where my emerald crab spends his days. maybe he will get the hint again.

the first few days i had the EC, it grazed the hell out of the HA. then it got lazy...maybe i should buy like 4 more EC's and return them in 2 weeks:lol:
 
Throw some macro in the outlet side of the bak pak and stuff a strawberry crate or something in to keep it below the outlet. It will help a little.
 
sidog1 said:
Grim,
How will the macro help with the bak pak? I might as well run it until something better comes along...
Click to expand...

The macro doesn't help the bak pak, its just a place to grow the macro until you can do the fuge.
 
The Grim Reefer said:
Throw some macro in the outlet side of the bak pak and stuff a strawberry crate or something in to keep it below the outlet. It will help a little.
Click to expand...



i will try that

thanks:)
 
Just keep it pruned. It will at least be a good place for pods to grow and hopefully help with trates a little. I did it on the 55 for a while and the macro grew pretty good. Had to be pulling a little nutrients out.
 
maybe i need a second opinion on my test kit. it says i have no nitrates. i used to have some when the tank was cycling. but not since then...
 
Always good to get a second test from another kit, but if you have live rock and/or dsb and/or macro you may not have measurable nitrates.
 
with the amount of LR in my tank i am pretty positive that it takes care of the nitrate. there was around 50 lbsa t first, but the couple of lbs of lr that some corals came on, and the base rock that was in the tank since day2 has turned to lr in the year its been up. honetly i probably have 75 pounds of LR in the tank. which is why i want to chuck some in the fuge when i get one....
 
Here is the latest picture as of today. The darn Anthelia's are already growing back strong.

20050812aquarium.jpg
 
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