steveweast

There's really nothing new with cold tanks.....I REALLY need to go diving though. I have found that many of the colonizing anemones are VERY sensitive to nitrate. Since these cold water systems act more like a fish only system (high bioload with heavy feedings), nitates tend to build over time. The Puget Sound rock is too dense for denitrification. I noticed ill effects when NO3 gets above 15ppm. I'm now using a sulfer denitrator to keep the tanks' NO3 at near zero.....it was the only way. Oh...this guy is kind of new....I got him a few months ago....

There are still quite a few rics in there....but... worm #2 a few months back really reduced their population. It was their overnight disappearance that clued me into their being a second worm....albeit smaller (only 5 feet long)..... on the prowl again. There really aren't any nice rics on the market these days like there used to be to replace their population.....oh well.

Thanks....I"ve been playing around with the aquascaping recently to open up more swimming room. Here's two more pics...

Well, I'm done carving pumpkins.....and the tank was looking OK today (even without all the lights on yet)...so....a new pic.

While It's obvious that the hobby does "take" more than it gives.....I'd say that the private sector hobbiest is what's driving coral husbandry. The coral displays in public facilities are pathetic compared to the private sector. From what I've gathered in my speaking to a few public facilities that have coral propagation displays, it's the advances in the private sector....and its disemination on the web....that is providing needed husbandry info (and parsite info) to the public facilities. One day....when mass re-population of wild reefs is funded, the contributions from the hobbiest will be there too. I also wish that the hobby trade's impact could be more detailed in comparision to storms, farming, anchors, curio trade, etc. Our hobby does have an impact....but how much compared to other destructive pressures ? Here's a question......As global warming (whether natural or man accellerated) continues....and as ocean water temps rise.......does that not mean that parts of the ocean that were once too cold to support stony reefs are now new real estate ? Maybe one day....instead of going to Hawaii, we will all just go to Astoria.

It's the alk that was causing the problems in that thread. In a Zeovit system, it's very important to run an alk at 6 dkh.....so in reality, they were running too low at around 4 dkh even though their kits were reading 6 dkh. The high borate won't affect the health of the animals (that we know)....it will just give you a false reading on SOME alk test kits......past that, I've heard nothing but good things about the salt....you just need to be aware of a possible wrong result depending on which alk test kit that you are using.

There is a way to determine the value (discussed in the link below)....but, the best way is to use a test kit that the borate content doesn't interfere with the test results....Seachem makes one. All salts have borate in their mix....but, seachem uses alot to have a high pH.....and that large amount skews the dkh reading on some kits including Sailferts. You'll get a reading of 10dkh....but, reality is it is really 8 dkh. Here's a link where this concept is discussed with a Seachem rep....start around page 5. http://www.zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6849

That's the whole point that I'm trying to put forward....you can design away problems and nuissances. Of course you have to live within your means and situation....and if that means a smaller tank or a non-built in situation...then so be it. Built-in wall reefs are becoming more popular every day.....but, with them, seems to come a conventional mentality. Folks are treating their built-in setups like regular, small cabinet based setups on steroids.....and that's where they run into problems (especially with access). Any problem can be designed away with enough thought. If the picture framed look was NOT as important....then that would open up more access options. But, in my case, it was the # 1 design feature....it was picture frame or no tank. Thanks Neil for posting those pics. The reason that I included them on my site was to show that I could easily touch the dead middle of the tank without tools. You'd be surprised how many folks doubt that I can reach every inch of a 6ft X 8ft X 30" tank without tools......of course, when they see it in person, it all becomes clear. My solution to the access problem was to create a catwalk around the entire perimeter where I could stand next to the tank and walk around it. Imagine how much better your access would be if your tank were on the floor with no cabinetry or lights to fight.....it all comes down to planning. If I didn't have the room for 8ft of depth, I would have made it 6ft...or 4 ft....or whatever it took to acheive acceptable access.

Let's see....my tank is 6ft X 8ft and 30" high.....and I can reach every inch of the tank by hand (no tools required). It all comes down to planning and having sufficient access around the rear of the tank in your fish room. Jay....although I'm not a fan of the mirror (distracts from the tank), I like the clean picture frame look alot. It would be ashame to loose that look. I hope you can solve your access issues from the rear.

I have two sizes of floating view boxes.....one is very large (about 18" X 20") and was built to nearly fill the open space not covered by the center or edge bracing. I use this one for photography. The small ones are made from scrap acrylic (any thickness will do) and are about 8" square with 2" sides glued to them.....thus forming a box that floats. I use these for daily coral fixing or maintenance.

You'll only need frontal access if you did a poor job of planning in the first place. To me, there is nothing worse than frontal access. Frontal access: 1) completely ruins the picture on a wall look.....assumimg that's what you're trying to acheive 2) it usually allows light bleed into the viewing room. 3) it allows more tank noise to enter the viewing room 4) most large, high end wall tanks are accompanied by nice highly finished viewing rooms that will now be subject to water drips. There is no way that I would risk damaging my imported wool carpet or teak hardwoods to accidental saltwater messes or additional humidity. As for the usual complaints....it just means that not enough planning went into the project. The most common ones are: 1) I can't see into the tank without turning everything off..... I use an acrylic viewing plate that floats on the surface... this allows for perfect viewing....even photography....even on the choppiest of surfaces. The panels are just little 8 inch square boxes. 2) I can't clean the colored rear panel...... I have a clear rear panel that has a thin colored panel that presses up against it. This allows me to just slide out the colored panel for easy cleaning or viewing from the rear....and, I can change the background color if I ever choose to. 3) the lights are in the way...... The lights must be designed to easily be removed from the tank top. Lights are the number one item that can limit access if not properly thought through. 4) I can't see how I'm placing corals....... This is a somewhat legitimate complaint; but, with the acrylic viewing boxes, you'll get used to it and I find it to really to be no problem. 5) I can't clean the front panel..... I use a magnet for everyday cleaning. I also can clean any coralline from the rear by using my little viewing boxes again. From the rear... looking into the tank, the front panel will be like a mirror and very easy to see what I'm cleaning. I also use a nylon scrapper that my tank manufacture gave me. It is slightly softer than the acrylic....so it can't scratch the acrylic. The key, though, is don't let corraline build up in the first place. It's easier to run the magnets once everyday as you pass by than scrape for hours because you let the coralline build up. If properly designed, the rear access only aquarium will have better and more efficient access than the frontal access. If you design a "frontal access" tank for a "rear access" tank....you're just asking for disappointment. Big tanks are not merely bigger small tanks.....the design should be completely different. It seems that lately there have been several big tanks that were designed like a small tank on steroids. I spent alot of time thinking about maintenance and access before I set up my big tank. I tried to think of all the nuisance problems that I had with smaller tanks and how to solve those problems. Everything was designed around easy access and easy maintenance.......without it.....big tanks become a big pain.

I doubt your problems are AEFW (acro eating flatworms). AEFW are VERY hard to detect since they they replicate their acro host's color exactly.....and are essentially invisible even with a magnifying glass. The only way to detect their presence is to turkey baste the coral and see if anything blows off. AEFWs stay only on the acros.....but will lay eggs on nearby rocks....they will not be on the glass. AEFW will not touch a monti....but there is a monti eating flatworm that only eats montis....but again....they won't be on the glass. Flatworm exit WILL NOT affect these types of flatworms...lemisole will work....but is best used as a dip and has not been effective in a whole tank treatment. If you have flatworms on the glass....then they are probably the harmless greenish/red type that are easily eliminated with flatworm exit. I have had the AEFW.....I was loosing a large stag for an unknown reason.....after blasting the branches with water, I notice several come off sending my wrasses into a feeding frenzy. I removed the colony....it's the only real control. Even under a magnifying glass....I couldn't see the flatworms....then I broke off a branch and placed it in fresh water....then dozens fell off. Because of their camoflage, their is no effective natural predator. Because of your wide range of species affected, I'd look elsewhere for a cause....perhaps water quality or a temp spike....of the coral loss......unless you find the flatworms on the corals.....but, that would mean that you have several species of flatworms at once.

Light is irrelevant to cold water critters (except kelp and the green tidal anemones)....put any light amount and choose any color that you want......they don't care, they are all non-photosynthetic. Ryan and I have been down around 115 feet in the Sound....an even on a bright sunny day....down there....it's like midnight.

These corals require zero light...as is the case with 99% of cold water critters. I run a 1/2hp for my current cold system that in total is about 150gal. My current dual 2hp chillers for my main tank could easily allow temps to keep penguins.

They are indeed strawberries.... my latest addition from Neah bay....corynactis.....aka strawberry anemones. Hey Randy.....why can't a cold reef compete ? are you saying that a cold reef is unfair competition for a warm reef ? If so,I might have to agree with you....I'm starting to give serious consideration to converting my 850gal warm reef to cold....it would be so much less cost and work.I had a diver buddy of mine pick these strawberries up for me last weekend......very nice of him. Supposedly, there are fields of them in Neah bay, along with soft corals and gorgonians from 70 -100 ft. He also said vis was 70ft there last weekend. Ryan and I are figuring when we can go diving there ourselves.....I need more of these guys.

Actually you do....you mix the water sample with a reagent....then place the test tube into the colorimeter.....which gives you a digital read out. The only difference between the Hanna colorimeter and the Merck test kit is that the colormeter gives you a digital read out of the PO4 level....and with the Merck test kit, you have to compare the result with a chart. I think that you get more tests with the Merck test kit....but, I'm not sure....I'll have to ask Travis how many tests are possible with the given amount of reagent. My Merck test kit came with five bottles of reagent....I haven't even used the first one up yet....and I've had it for at least 18 months. Both the colorimeter and the Merck test kit have the same low value sensitivity...about .01.

This is the same PO4 kit that I've been using for a few years now. The Merck kit is the most sensitive around...it's highest reading is equivelent to Sailfert's lowest reading. It has a sensativily down to .01. If you really want to test things for PO4 (tank, foods, salts, carbon, etc) for trace amounts of PO4....then you need a Merck test kit or the Hanna colorimeters.