Reefgurl

I have heard some buzz floating around about the Red Sea Purple Tang being put or is going to be protected so, in otherwords, whatever is currently in the markets in the United States currently is all the fish that will be present for years to come. I was wondering if anyone had heard anything concerning this???

Meh, Aptasia X solves all aptasia issues that may occur in my tank.

My husband and I are both divers he has completed his advanced certification and I willl have mine done by the end of this month. Getting certified is pretty much a must if for no other reason the making a person more aware of the ocean and the world around them. It also can make a person more knowledgeable in water surface vs. bottom issues as well along with the living organisms that exist in the world of diving. Let me give you a quick example: Can you name the most deadliest snail which exists in the ocean today that is also lethal to divers? If you said the cone snail you would be correct. http://www.theconesnail.com/< link Diving like anything else has it's hazrads but to be honest stepping out of bed every day can to. I acually have an interesting comment on my fins that my instructor found quite interesting...... "I'm lost" ... just some diving sense of humor there. The program we went with was PADI. Hope this helps

What are you using to buffer your system with for calcium and trace minerals...? If you aren't using a buffer system let me recommend: B-Ionic If your phosphate are tracing high you could add a phosphate reduce from marineland which can be run in a sock for a period of time you could either run the sponge or the power-phos. Chaetomorpha is a great way to steal protiens and or nitrates from the water... I read that you are doing this already.

Depending on the reef that was dove at the depth in some cases exceeded 40ft but did not exceed 100 ft. My husband who made this post also dove on a shipwreck dive which at the time I was not able to do..... There are a lot more awsome pics we just wanted to share a few neat ones.

Thanks..! http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p303/hnkatie/?action=view&current=tankupdate018.mp4 kupdate054.jpg[/img]http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p303/hnkatie/tankupdate007.jpg Also a homemade acrylic sump.... we got tired of the glass sump...

Mine is still mowing down one of my tanks I figure it would take around 3-4 weeks before it mows my issue in my one tank. It's kinda small if you can wait that long you are welcome to borrow mine

We use chaetomorha in all our tanks, however; in the reef tank we also rotate with a filter media but mostly we run a carbon filter and every so often when we do rotate we run a Deep Blue nitrate filter but the reef tank is to the point now we mostly just run the carbon only. We also run a NAC 7 skimmer system on the reef tank our other tank has a Bac Pak and our last tank runs a canister system.

The easiest ways I have found to control an algae blow up are: Chaetomorpha- steal the nitrates that feed the algae or protiens. Vodka dosing- extremely dangerous I would only recommend an experienced reef master or hobbiest with a lot of experience do this. Better skimmer or more rock- either solution will help to better control blow ups. You will never completely get rid of algae as it is apart of the nitrogen cycle. In other words you get a blow up and then over time it goes away. However; with a more established tank you are less likely to see the large blow ups. Best recommendation- Buy the Chaeto and steal the nitrates and protiens. Natural solutions are the best with this solution if you have a sump you can add the chaeto there along with a light that has a clamp and attach it to the sump as the algae ie: Chaeto does need light. Hope this helps...

[ My skills are more urber and I have the jedi kung fu post ability.. grasshopper

The assumption appears to be because a reading occurs at 398 TDS it must be "BAD" water. The fact is there are suspended particles including but not limited to calcium, clorines and some added metals. I think personally before I make the assumption that if the water was to measure at 398 TDS it must be bad I would first like to know what exaclty is in it. Instead of just assuming. I am currently in college and am taking a science class and the largest area of influence is applying the scientific method to a problem. So, I have decided to take this assumption and turn it into a testable hypothesis. In otherwords, if a 398 TDS reading were to occur what particles are present and furthermore what would be defined as bad or poor particles? Also, I am taking a test buddy with me who would then also be able to verify my result or disprove them. What this does is either further the point that the equipment I use is first off reading correctly and secondly that my results can be dulpicated. I thought this would be a great test hypothesis for school! I thought it might be prudent to add a link for the EPA and water quality standards it was interesting for me to discover a standard for arsenic values in water or the cyanide value >.< Thanks guys <3 http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/currentregulations.cfm List of particles and acceptance standards: http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm#List List of secondary contaiminent acceptance levels: Table I. Secondary Maximum Contaminant Levels Contaminant Secondary MCL Noticeable Effects above the Secondary MCL Aluminum 0.05 to 0.2 mg/L* colored water Chloride 250 mg/L salty taste Color 15 color units visible tint Copper 1.0 mg/L metallic taste; blue-green staining Corrosivity Non-corrosive metallic taste; corroded pipes/ fixtures staining Fluoride 2.0 mg/L tooth discoloration Foaming agents 0.5 mg/L frothy, cloudy; bitter taste; odor Iron 0.3 mg/L rusty color; sediment; metallic taste; reddish or orange staining Manganese 0.05 mg/L black to brown color; black staining; bitter metallic taste Odor 3 TON (threshold odor number) "rotten-egg", musty or chemical smell pH 6.5 - 8.5 low pH: bitter metallic taste; corrosion high pH: slippery feel; soda taste; deposits Silver 0.1 mg/L skin discoloration; graying of the white part of the eye Sulfate 250 mg/L salty taste Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) 500 mg/L hardness; deposits; colored water; staining; salty taste Zinc 5 mg/L metallic taste * mg/L is milligrams of substance per liter of water Retrival link: http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/secondarystandards.cfm I felt all warm and fuzzy after looking over the last link.

While I agree this is high, "average municipality TDS is about 300 in the US" what the TDS actually are is going to be far more important. average ocean water has 25000 TDS so TDS by itself is a poor indicator of the true water quality. I would point out that Corals do grow in the ocean not just our tanks and with the exception of chlorine, chloramine etc the average municiple water supply is likely better quality water than most of the reefs in the world due to industrial waste, run off etc... their close proximity to land pretty well assures this. And yet amazing little critters grow and thrive in these reefs. TDS can be good or bad, how so? if the TDS is higher in calcium well fine your going to put calcium in your water anyways, same with salt. Bad would be heavy metals etc... The true test? take a sample to your water dept most will test it for free or a very nominal fee. There are likely a few people in indmas that go back far enough that RO/DI water really wasn't an option. treated tap water was pretty much what was available and yet we had corals growing in our tanks. so in all honesty RO/DI water is likely not as needed as a lot of people think. Again do some reading and most reefs have water quality that won't pass standards of your local drinking water supplier.