Still More Questions:gha This Time

[Salty Cracker]

That was a great article. Lots of excellent information there. My oldest tank is only a year old (in my care anyways) and this article may help alleviate problems in the future. I didn't know about the pine needles though. And I'd never heard of adding new live rock on occasion to help with micro fauna diversity either. Thanks for posting.

Remember that article is 10 years old. This hobby changes every year.

 

[Kman]

How on earth are you getting away with not skimming? This secret, I must learn!

Oh it is a secret that is for sure. lol

I will be typing up a break down of how I set up and run my systems. Once I have extra time and gather my thoughts on how to group things as it is a long topic.

 

[Kman]

It is a good article for sure. You can get around the old tank syndrome by properly setting up your tank. The rocks need to be set up so you get maximum flow. They should go in first so they can sit on the glass and then you add substrate. Most of which is at the front of the tank and not under the rock work.

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

Remember that article is 10 years old. This hobby changes every year.

Oh ... I didn't even think to look at the date on it. Still some good info in there nonetheless.

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

Oh it is a secret that is for sure. lol

I will be typing up a break down of how I set up and run my systems. Once I have extra time and gather my thoughts on how to group things as it is a long topic.

How about a video tutorial. LOL

It is a good article for sure. You can get around the old tank syndrome by properly setting up your tank. The rocks need to be set up so you get maximum flow. They should go in first so they can sit on the glass and then you add substrate. Most of which is at the front of the tank and not under the rock work.

Yeah ... I learned that AFTER I set my tank up. I really need to remove some of the rock from mine but I'm worried about all the cool things living in it. I guess I'll just have to get ANOTHER tank! I've also read some threads where PVC tubing is glued to the bottom of the rocks and used to raise it just above the sand bed allowing for even better circulation. I may try this on my next setup.

 

[Kman]

To be honest a video would probably be easier and definitely less time. lol

New tank build is the only way to fix to much rock issue. haha

Proper tank setup is a good lesson to learn because it goes a long way to the stability of your reef. If you are interested in the PVC go to the link below and check out Live-Framing. This particular article was in a saltwater magazine years ago. It is a lot of work but you can do some really cool reef structures. In smaller tanks it really uses up the available space quite nicely and helps you maximize your room that you have to work with. I myself was not a fan of putting PVC under the rocks. I cracked a tank bottom that way when I added a lot of rock. It would probably work if your rock structure was at a minimum.

http://www.grsykes.com/pdf/Live-Framing.pdf

 

[new2reefing]

Just my 2 cents but id avoid blue leg. Even with tons of extra shells they took out the odd snail. Had scarlets first but blue got them all. I plan to remove the blue legs before i get more scarlets, some holloween and electric blue hermits.

 

[scottbennett86]

GHA doesn't seem to be coming back as strongly as it was before. Phosphate test isn't here yet though. Delivery estimate was today. Hopefully it will be in Monday. I chose free shipping because it didn't seem an immediate concern when I bought it. Lol guess I was wrong. But I have made good progress it is coming back at about 1/4 the rate it did the first time it appeared. Hopefully my new methods will have a cumulative effect. I am hesitant to add a phosphate removing media again until I can actually track it. (I removed the phosguard)

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[scottbennett86]

Phosphate test came today. There is none in my tank by the colour scale. But that is not a surprise given that I had the phosguard in it. GHA doesn't seam to have grown but it has only been a few days. My macro algae has definitely bounced back and looking healthier. I will continue to monitor and test weekly with water changes. And update then.

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[scottbennett86]

Well. I guess the clean up crew size recommendations that you see online are insane. Just 3 trochus and 3 hermit crabs(my old lady loves them) did this in a week. Wish I had a before shot to show with the thick and fully covered rocks.

That is 3 in 90 gallons. The 1 per gallon or 2 rule must come from people who make 0 effort to reduce nutrients. I understand that as my bioload increases so will the need to "clean" but that number just seems absolutely bonkers. My Refugium looks like it has a lawn growing in it but who really cares I can scrub that off without disturbing the tank.

And would just like to thank everyone who helped me. It is much appreciated.

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[Aquatic Dreams]

Lookin' good man! Frequent water changes and some manual scrubbing always seems to help as well. Another thing that I can't remember if it was mentioned or not in the thread is an algae scrubber. There are many DIY instructions on the net to build one. I've been thinking about it myself actually. I don't have a ton of algae but I like how it gives the algae somewhere to grow that you can easily clean.