[Reefing Madness]

Yea, yoiu can use Mangroves in the tank. You just have to clena the leaves off every once in awhile because thats where it gets rid of the salt from the water. They are actually great for cleaning the water column.

 

[ReefTrooper]

Thanks again reefing Another question. Probably frequently asked but i cant find the answer anywhere... Can i dry seawater to make my own salt? Is sea salt ok to use in the aquarium? Its not the normal table salt im talking about .

 

[Reefing Madness]

Now that one I don't know about. Never had that question posed before.

 

[wake49]

Thanks again reefing Another question. Probably frequently asked but i cant find the answer anywhere... Can i dry seawater to make my own salt? Is sea salt ok to use in the aquarium? Its not the normal table salt im talking about .

You can dry seawater to make your own salt. You will be also taking all the fine particulates and other things that reside in your local seawater. I think it would be a process that wouldn't provide a good yield for the work involved. Why evaporate a 5 gallon container of salt to have enough salt to make 5 gallons of seawater?

As far as the "Sea Salt" that you buy in your grocery store for cooking. I do not think that it is a problem, but it usually is a lot more coarse than the salt you buy at your LFS and could be harder to dissolve. Plus you would have to be absolutely sure that there is no metal content (like from the process of turning it from seawater to salt).

Any reason you don't want to just use the "Instant Ocean" or "Brightwell Aquatics" ready-use salt?

 

[ReefTrooper]

KK thanks for clearing those for me I asked partly because i was curious and partly because i live in India and so there is no reef salt available i guess there is but i can find anywhere to buy it from.. My LFS sells it at a ridiculous price, 200 dollars for 4 kg!!!!!!! so i import it all the way from Germany.

 

[ReefTrooper]

Sorry for all the delay in my posting here again :-( i meant to earlier but have been very busy with the new tank... I also started a log for maintenance of the tank. Would really like to know what you think :-D
But let the pictures speak for me......... as pictures tell a thousand words and i dont have the patience or time to write a 1000 words

I cant seem to see the pics i dont know why they are not appearing Ill try again....

 

[ReefTrooper]

Got the pics at last!! Here they are........ and remember i really want feedback!! sorry about the quality.

 

[ItsKourtneyYoC8]

ha-ha thanks reefing Uhh kk never mind i,m too impatient here are some more pics of my diving... Enjoy!! And let them inspire you and your reef tanks :-D I was certainly inspired :lol: View attachment 65153

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Is that a mimic octopus 4th pic from the last??


I loooooove the lionfish pictures! <3

 

[ItsKourtneyYoC8]

Got the pics at last!! Here they are........ and remember i really want feedback!! sorry about the quality.
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That looks awesome!
What size is that? It doesn't look that big!

 

[DragonFyre14]

I could have so much fun with a tank that size.... so jealous.

 

[ReefTrooper]

Thanks guys I´m happy you all like it sorry about the lighting i´m getting my real light in the 2nd of November....... 120 watts of led 25:30 ratio of blue to white respectively. I cant wait A question... will this light be OK for corals? the tank is not deep just about 18 inches and the LED fixture has a bout 5500 lumen so can i keep corals? thanks again. And i´m glad you like the pics.

 

[beaslbob]

Thanks again reefing Another question. Probably frequently asked but i cant find the answer anywhere... Can i dry seawater to make my own salt? Is sea salt ok to use in the aquarium? Its not the normal table salt im talking about .

short answer----no.

Yes you can make sodium chloride by dehydrating seawater. But that is not the only thing in our salt mixes.

Various things like calcium carbonate will precipitate out when the concentration reaches a certain point. As many have found out overdosing this things. The problem is calcium carbonate precipitates out because it is not dissolvable in water. So when mixing up the resulting salt those things to no redissolve.

Which is why we have to use kalk (calcium hydorxide), calcium chloride, baking soda (sodium carbonate), epson saltes (magnesium sulfate). In that way we can add the calcium and magnesium from sime chemicals and the carbonate for the baking soda.

my .02

 

[Reefing Madness]

When shopping for LED's you want to get at least a unit that says the LED's are 3w each. The 1w and .5w LED's are worth a darn to us.

 

[ReefTrooper]

Yes i payed attention to that reefing and i got a fixture with 55 3 watt LED is this OK? an thanks for the info about drying seawater to make my own salt mix beaslbob also do any of you guys have an ATS running? an advice on this topic would be great

 

[Reefing Madness]

That light should do ya fine.
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...ping.com/saltwater-aquariums/mega-powerful-nitrate-phosphate-remover-diy-18000/

 

[ReefTrooper]

WOW i read every word of that thread and saw every picture .....AMAZINGG!:shock2: that an awesome thread thanks so much for that reefing. After i had read the first page i got to work on my DIY scrubber and now all that is left is plumbing it to the tank i highly recommend everyone to read that thread and then i more highly reccomend to make a DIY scrubber for your tank.... You´ll thank yourself for it and so will your corals and fish!!

 

[Reefing Madness]

You can preach it Tim, but every system is different. You should run some kind of sump in order to have a ATS. And then the size of the system and water parameters is going to dictate just how big that ATS is going to be. Don't get me wrong here, those things are great, but, its just like have a sump, its gotta be the right sized one versus your DT water volume, or it will only help, not completely scrub the water.

 

[ReefTrooper]

Yes i completely agree with you except for the point about the sump... you don't need one ...here have a look at this diagram

and according to me its a lot easier than a sump too.....
some examples of DIY scrubbers ....

Please do have a look at that thread if you haven't already... im not trying to prove you wrong or anything, after all you've been in the SW hobby far longer than me
You can even build a scrubber in your tank underwater!! Or just in a bucket...the material used for the screen can be virtually anything and there are many benefits of having a scrubber.... I myself feel this is a perfect solution to many of the problems reefers are facing and the working of these has been proved 1000´s of times. again i am not speaking against you or anyone else. All im saying is that these are what i think is the perfect solution to many problems facing reefers today.... benefits of an ATS include

o Allows you to feed very high amounts without causing nuisance algae growth in the tank.

o Can replace waterchanges, IF THE PURPOSE of the waterchange is to reduce nitrate or
phosphate or algae growth. Otherwise, it does not replace the water change.

o Grows swarms of copepods.

o Increases pH.

o Increases oxygen.

o Will NOT spread algae into the tank. It removes algae FROM the tank.

o There is no odor from the algae (only a slight ocean smell when cleaning it).

o Is very quiet when flowing, similar to a tabletop decorative waterfall.

o Introduces no microbubbles when adjusted.

o Removes ammonia too.

o You can even make a portable bucket! Just unplug the lights, lift up the pump
out of the tank water, and go put it in your next tank (or your friend's tank).
Don't let the screen dry out though.

o Works in saltwater or freshwater.
* this is all from santa monicas thread

 

[beaslbob]

Yes i completely agree with you except for the point about the sump... you don't need one

Just to get really really nerdy and technical a sump by definition is the lowest container in the system. With a refugium, or in this case, an ATS ( and every other container) above the display the display itself by definition becomes the sump.

And just like any other system one adjustment is to insure that should the drain becomes blocked, that container does not flood. So some use an additional emergency overflow/drain to prevent that from happening.


That said the ats/refugium still has many many benifits to the system.

my .02

 

[Reefing Madness]

Tim, without a sump you can't make your ATS big enough to be completely useful. It would look totally gaudy hanging from the top of the tank like your thinking about. The ATS would sit in its own sump, thats how big i am talking about.