Is anyone going to BHF this Sunday?

t :laughing

They HELP to get of phosphate (sp)?

the thing is with saltwater. WATER is the KEY...
in order to have a VERY nice tank with proper growth of correct algae (not green as you would think) green is bad even it starts the BAD cycle of algae choking corralling based calcium.

heres the best way to do this (although it is expensive) but intern its less maintenance with salt water (IF that can be even said):laughing

You need to start with PURE water (reversed osmosis water...and or ionized or a combo filter that does both) I got 1 KENT MARINE
ITS AROUND 470 FOR THE KIT.:rolleyes it does PERFECT laboratory water. Then from there you mix in a good quality base saltwater mix. high in calcuim. from there you got the perfect start.
NOW water does evaporate there for you need to replenish that water (WITH FRESH WATER...not fresh salt water) the salt doesn't go away, only the water. In this time of water evaporation...your salinity goes up (saltwater content) that's why you have to monitor this. and add fresh water.

THE BEST way to do this is by fresh r.o. deoinized water with a mixture of calcium addititve. usually in powder form. make the mixture let it settle for a day, and skim the clean water that's on top and don't let the chalky pasty water inter the sump (water filtration system) this makes up that water, and also helps stabilize the calcium balance. (1 of the MOST inportant bases in saltwater) once you get the calcium levels around 400 you will start to get purple, pink, and Florissant green algae coating on the tank. it looks beautiful then when you start having clams and shell fish...this has to be keep at levels correct, then it comes into all the other stuff, nutrient additives, iron, calcium, etc, etc, etc,

Also too when you get this type of tank...monitoring it, becomes a bitch with water test pills and shit, I went to the electric monitors.

Also too ozone generators are WONDER for keeping the water free and clean of diseases and keep the water clean as ice. You REALLY need an ORC monitor for that to base correct levels.

BUT ALSO the BEST thing other then starting with good water and good replacement evaporated water with calcium base mixture is A GOOD PROTEIN SKIMMER that is religiously cleaned. It will take out so much organic waste and cut down on bio load that your fish will kiss you for keeping them alive and less stressed.

also too...i think all my fish stuff Os for sale again...the wife has lost her emotional attachment to them since its been a while. so if ya wanna buy anything let me know or ask for some advise anytime

Ken:

Put the Starbucks down and step away from the keyboard. Wow! You really are bored.

Interesting, I've never bothered with prefiltering new water. I just treat it, salt it and I've been good to go. I don't think I'm going to drop $450 on a reverse osmosis system until someone decides to act stressed out or die. Shit, I only paid $550 for the full set up and the fish.

Right now, I am not planning on doing a reef tank (I have a couple of reef incompatable fish and would want a larger tank) and the Algae isn't out of control. This one is a tall 125 sitting in my office. I'm just working on keeping it in check as much as possible. I do check the water often and the quality is very good. You are right about the pill testers. They are a pain.

I've got all the filters including a good protein skimmer. The only thing missing is a UV Sterilizer. I'll probably go with one at some point as I'm not doing reef and don't care if I kill off some protozoa.

If you want to talk about parting some stuff out let me know. I may be interested in the water testers or UV Sterilizer. I'm not ready for a 2nd set up at this time. When I do it, I'll probably go off the deep end and put a monster in the house.

Anyway, it's time to do my Friday tank cleaning and as an added bonus it's week 3 on the water. Lots to do before I go home.

See ya,

Bruce