Reef nutrition

My water looks like Mountain Dew!!

There is a single tool in the aquarium hobby that will filter those out of your tank in a couple of hours or at worst, overnight. It's called a Vortex diatom filter and I am always surprised that SW hobbyists never caught on to this great piece of equipment. It is a contemporary with Supreme Dynamaster piston pumps so I guess you gotta be an old freshie or at least just old to remember this stuff.
 
True a diatom filter will work :) I wish more would end up using those at shows as well.
 
bookfish said:
There is a single tool in the aquarium hobby that will filter those out of your tank in a couple of hours or at worst, overnight. It's called a Vortex diatom filter and I am always surprised that SW hobbyists never caught on to this great piece of equipment. It is a contemporary with Supreme Dynamaster piston pumps so I guess you gotta be an old freshie or at least just old to remember this stuff.
Click to expand...


But it will suck all of the pods out :D :D

Be sure and clean it out immediately, or else it's the gift that keep on giving.
 
Here are some pics to help. The water i sucked out yesterday was much less exciting than the day before. It looks like phyto is confirmed? I slowed down the flow through the UV filter, and I think that helped too.


With MH's on

IMG00106-20100602-1813.jpg



Just a flashlight, so you can see how much is suspended in the water.

IMG00112-20100602-1814.jpg



Here's a bucket of tank water. It's somewhat Mt.Dew-ish. It was much more neon the day before, but you can still get an idea. Maybe it'll be brighter for ya tomorrow! :)

IMG00113-20100603-0007.jpg



Hope this helps.
tb
 
tuberider said:
bookfish said:
There is a single tool in the aquarium hobby that will filter those out of your tank in a couple of hours or at worst, overnight. It's called a Vortex diatom filter and I am always surprised that SW hobbyists never caught on to this great piece of equipment. It is a contemporary with Supreme Dynamaster piston pumps so I guess you gotta be an old freshie or at least just old to remember this stuff.
Click to expand...


But it will suck all of the pods out :D :D

Be sure and clean it out immediately, or else it's the gift that keep on giving.
Click to expand...
Yeah, needs immediate cleaning after use, and there's a learning curve around priming the filter and flocking the membrane. And it's ugly, and the motor's exposed and it's not that cheap...
Maybe I'm not so surprised after all...
 
That water isn't that bad really. A few days with no light would drop it, but I suggest getting the nutrients under control. With out them the phyto will not take hold.
 
My question about phyto is:
Will very very little nutrient cause to very little phyto and in turn, in any way, cause my sps to starve even though they get light?
I think I'm overdoing on the nutrient export... :(
Can that cause STN?
 
Very few SPS (one or two) can actually eat phyto, so no, doubt that is the cause. What I suggest phyto dosing for is the few corals that do it eat, but mainly for feeding the zooplankton which in return will feed the corals.

Just feed a zooplankton like feed to the corals if you feel you're running ULN :D
 
Which one would you recommend :)
I've been doing some drops of oyster every other day or some days.... when i remember... lol
Would that be considered zoo?
 
newhobby said:
Which one would you recommend :)
I've been doing some drops of oyster every other day or some days.... when i remember... lol
Would that be considered zoo?
Click to expand...

Nope the particulate size is larger and more appropriate for Acroporas, I have no clams and a stable pod population, so I use OF and Rotis myself.
 
tuberider said:
newhobby said:
Which one would you recommend :)
I've been doing some drops of oyster every other day or some days.... when i remember... lol
Would that be considered zoo?
Click to expand...

Nope the particulate size is larger and more appropriate for Acroporas, I have no clams and a stable pod population, so I use OF and Rotis myself.
Click to expand...

While it's not a zooplankton based feed, I'd call it that just to make things simple. OF is great for pretty much any coral you have, big polyp to little polyp. RF is great as well. I like to use a little OF, wait like 5 minutes, then feed RF.
 
I did notice that my pods have disappeared since I started to really attacking nutrient to reduce my hair algae.
My hair algae is gone, but so did my pods... :(
Could that help the case of sps loss?
The reason I say I'm overdoing is because I have a small 29g nano and I got carbon, gfo, chaeto and purigen.... Am I killing everything by overdoing the nutrient export?
I'm going to get rotis then and do both too.... every other day feeding?
 
I do that as well, I have a big cup full of tank water and "chowder", first I prime the tank with the OF since that tends to remain in suspension in the cup, then as I notice a feeding response I mix it up and start in with the larger particles.
 
Nope, I like to watch my critters eat, they get on a schedule, especially this time of year when the sun cooks my tank. The sun starts to go down and the corals tummies start to grumble :D
 
Why is that you always hear people say to feed at night when lights are off for a good 30min at least?
I do notice that all my LPS open up with lights off.
 
Because they haven't taken the time to condition their corals, it takes time.

Also, I don't have any shrimp in my tank, so my corals don't get molested during feeding, shrimp are evil.
 
I recommend this for every reefer:


lg-321033-48819P-fish.jpg


http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3597

A vortex works great, and the above is a great alternative. It's easy to use and move and clean. The pleated cartridge starts to clog immediately and as it does, smaller and smaller particles get caught. It can take the back pressure, so just wait till the flow starts slowing, then swap out the pleated cartridge. Bleach and reuse. You can also use it to actively run carbon when you need to. All for about 50 bucks.
 
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