Marc Levenson wrote in message ...
Greg Hewitt-Long wrote:

The tank is 100 gallon
I have an AMirtacle SR-300B wet/dry using a Rio 3100 (900 gal/hr)
return - the drop is 3 feet
Yes, we have an air stone - the wife wanted some movement - and it
does look "nicer" - if it's mesing with the chemistry, it can be gone
immediately.

The micro bubbles created by an airstone can pose a problem for fish, as these will collect
in their gills and suffocate them. I've read this numerous times, so I personally don't
have airbubbles in my tank intentionally.

I hear what you're saying - but do you scuba dive? I've got about 6
months underwater time - reef margins are full of bubbles. I was very
careful to make sure that we used large bubbles, not micro bubbles.
While I appreciate that this MAY have an impact on some fish, I'm not
100% sure that it can kill.... the reef margins up to say 4 ft of
water often contain bubble that I've seen wild fish play with.


There is no protein skimmer - as yet, but it is on my birthday list
(on Friday).

What kind do you want to get?

I was looking at the quad models from amiracle - the theory seems
sound, make the watter flow 4 times the distance to increase the time
that the bubble are in contact with the water... if you have a better
model, I'm all ears. I want to buy one skimmer, not one a month until
I get it "right".


The tank has two 4 ft lighting tubes - 1 is a regular tube, the other
is a 50/50 tube - I have them on a timer for 9.5 hours a day.

Low lighting is fine for fish only. Later on, you'll need more intense light if you hope to
add invertibrates and corals.

The next agenda involves hermits as cleanup - these little fellows
don't require heavy duty lightning, right?


Current Test Results:

Temp: 75 degrees

Too cold. You want your tank to be between 78 and 82F.

I cranked up the temp - about 1 degree every couple of hours - I'm not
sure if that wasn't a little too fast, but I see the shaving brush
algaes on my LR have grown about 1/8 inch in the day - the new growth
is a much lighter green color.


Btw, you didn't mention how you acclimated your new fish, which also could have contributed
to some of those deaths.


This is my biggest fear - the LFS said to put them right in - the more
I look around, that's NEVER the advice I see. While I see
contradictory advice on almost everything, the aclimation almost
always involved a staged water exchange.... this is COMPLETELY the
reverse of the LFS advice - which may not be too bad as long as our
water was up to temp.

The yellow gobie has become "active" - he's still a hider, but last
night he was out of his favorite coral head, and all over the tank -
he even sat basking in the return inflow - almost pushing him off the
coral head. He's grown orange/pink cheeks - and I think he looks
about as healthy as I've ever seen him.


pH: 7.8

Too low. Unless you took that early in the morning before the lights came on? 8.0 to 8.3
is the goal. "Proper pH" will boost your water up to the right level. Or using baking soda
(mixed in a cup of water, poured in slowly).


It was taken before the lights were on - I've checked it again in the
afternoon, and the lights had been on for 2 hours - this time it was
8.0. I had no idea that the lights could affect the pH like this.
Would someone who paid attention in chemistry care to explain...
tia...



Alkaninity: in the normal zone (that's my only choices apart from low/high on this red sea
test kit)

I really hate that kit. Imagine your gas guage in your car: Great - Good - Thirsty.

heh.. that's how my thunderbird tank works... almost! Stays above the
full for about 100 miles, then plummets to about 1/3 over the next 50
miles, then take another 200 miles to use the last "third" of the
guage! and "Yes!" - it's annoying as hell!


Ammonia (NH3/NH4): 0 ppm
Nitrite (NO2): 0.05 ppm
Nitrate (NO3): 0 ppm
Salinity is 1.025

Salinity is close enough. Try to keep it at that point.

The top-offs are using fresh water - and I've been using tap water -
the LFS has told me that the local "tap" water isn't a problem for
sal****er here... which I'm tending to believe, as the could have sold
me an RO system for several hundred - they didn't though. Most of my
advice has been coming from the staff, not owners - they tend to be a
little more "helpful" - they are saying what NOT to buy more than what
to buy - which makes me feel a lot happier than dealing with either of
the owners, who simply gush "how beautiful" or "pretty" a particular
fish, or even piece of LR would look in the tank).

You can use fresh tap water, but you must condition it first to remove chlorine and
chloramines. Your LFS staff will surely know what "Prime" is, and you need one capful to 5
gals of water. Mix that up for a few minutes, and you can pour that in. Btw, a good RO/DI
unit is only $149..... I sell 'em!

I'm seeing that these are around $100-$120 on ebay for a 5 or 6 stage
RO/DI unit - which I'm definitely considering... however, on of my
work colleagues keeps freshwater, and he suggested walmart has RO
water for about $0.33 a gallon - which would work for top-ups - now
water changes are going to be different ball game... while I'm on the
subject - the LFS is recommending 20% change about once every two
months - I've seen people say 10% every week (which would dictate an
RO/DI setup of my own) - given that your reefs appear to look rather
good - what say you?


The tank had been "cycling" for 7 weeks with mollies and about 15 lbs
of live rock, plus the dead coral heads and pukka shell substrate
(about 20lbs for a light bottom covering) - I've recently added about
10 more lbs of LR as 5, 4 and 1 lb (the LFS had all it's LR in curing
for weeks - they had a large bad batch which meant I couldn't buy any
for a long time - the plan was to add more each week).

I only have 1 suspect piece of LR - it was added while still smelling
a little sulphurous - I'm not in the habit of pulling them out too if
they are ok though.

Every rock should smell clean and fresh. If it reeks at all, don't put it in your tank. I
did the same method, adding a little bit at a time, but I always picked the rock by shape,
appearance, and smell. I never had a prolonged cycle.


I realised that after purchasing the rock - it was such an attractive
piece - but since almost everything died on it , I'd have been better
off waiting and buying it cured. I won't make that mistake again
until I get my own curing tank, bucket, spare skimmer, heater setup.


Did you 'seed' you sand bed with live sand? Live Sand (LS) as in a cup or two from an
existing sand bed in the LFS's refugium or display tank? That is the best way to get some
good microfauna into your tank. When you get a cup, don't sprinkle it everywhere. Just
pour it gently and slowly in one spot, making a small mound. The kritters will spread out
naturally. Since you have a 100g, you'd want 2 or 3 cups worth, to make a few mounds.

No - I never seeded it - the LFS told me it wasn't necessary.... again
- starting to suspect the LFS advice....



The tank has a fairly large amount of brown algae that bloomed and
covered virtually all of the dead coral heads (stag horns, elk horns
and a few smaller pieces of tighter knit coral heads).

This is normal. It is a diatom bloom.


Would you scrape/scrub it off?

I've recently seen the addition of green algae to the tank heater and
back wall although it's not much.

This is normal as well.



Good.

The two original piece of LR are covered in brown algae - the pencil
brush algaes are growing - 5 more are sprouting from the rock.

This appears to be growing - the tank just kills most of my fish
though...

I think raising your temperature to 78F and discussing how you acclimate might solve the
problem.

My "new" acclimation process will be much more gradual - the temp has
been raised to about 78-80 - this appears to have made my existing
livestock a lot happier... which makes me happier.

I'm going to hold off putting in anything new until next week - with
the birthday on Friday, I've got everyone clubbing together to get me
bits and pieces, plus a cleanup crew - I've selected exact items and
circulated the list - but no-one is supposed to have anything for me
until Tuesday next week (I'm leaving town for the weekend, so I don't
want to introduce anything before I leave).

thanks for the advice!

Greg



Marc