Yeah, I still got it.

[Anonymous]

Nice Tank. Where are the muffins?

How many trips to Lowe's did that rig require? LOL. Gotta love the DIY PVC pipe art. Done a few 4'ers myself. Love the smell of pvc solvent in the morning. :-D

BMP

None. We have a huge inventory of PVC in our on site fabrication plant.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah, no live rock either.

a la the top side "can you grow coral..." thread!

Yep, did I ever mention that the answer is "yes"?

ACtually, the answer can be no. Since you are asking "can you grow coral without live rock" there are many people who cannot.

Bada-bing.

 

[Anonymous]

Har har har. :lol:

If I said night you'd say day

 

[Anonymous]

You say yes, I say no
You say stop and I say go, go, go
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello

I say high, you say low
You say why, and I say I don't know
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello

Why, why, why, why, why, why
Do you say good bye
Goodbye, bye, bye, bye, bye

Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye I say hello
Hello

Hela, heba helloa
Hela, heba helloa


<Beatles>

Day after day alone on the hill,
The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still,
But nobody wants to know him,
They can see that he’s just a fool,
And he never gives an answer,
But the fool on the hill........

:-D

BMP

 

[ChrisRD]

So Galleon, what are you planning to do for Ca and Alk dosing? Cool setup BTW...

 

[Anonymous]

Another thing that PVC will leach into water is petroleum hydrocarbons. I have seen numerous examples of EPH hits when cross-contaminated by water run through PVC. (in the 10-100 ppb range) EPH (extractable petroleum hydrocarbons) is a long chain hydrocarbon range test, commonly used for diesel, waste oil and the like. My lab guy hasn't been able to track it down any more specificly than that. I would assume that this is skimmed immediately though, even though its not super-volatile.

 

[Anonymous]

So Galleon, what are you planning to do for Ca and Alk dosing? Cool setup BTW...

Calcium chloride and sodium carbonate dissolved in RO topoff water.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you have a design posted for that skimmer Galleon? And what pump is driving it?

 

[Anonymous]

Ack, read and re-read your original post. Just got the pump thing and traced out the PVC. NM on the pump question. Sorry

Still, I wouldn't mind seeing a scribble diagram of that skimmer in case I am missing something from the picture that you posted.

 

[wade1]

FYI...

The plasticizers in PVC (and almost all plastics, as well as many cosmetics, etc) are mainly reproductive toxicants. ie- they interfere with cell growth, differentiation of (male) gonocytes, and production of cholesterol and steroids.... who knows what effect that really has on corals? But not to worry, IO is full of it! (processeing and leachate from buckets)

Its damn near impossible to remove all trace contaminants... pesticides, pah, pcb, etc etc etc... they are all there (and in all of us).

 

[Anonymous]

FYI...

The plasticizers in PVC (and almost all plastics, as well as many cosmetics, etc) are mainly reproductive toxicants. ie- they interfere with cell growth, differentiation of (male) gonocytes, and production of cholesterol and steroids.... who knows what effect that really has on corals? But not to worry, IO is full of it! (processeing and leachate from buckets)

Its damn near impossible to remove all trace contaminants... pesticides, pah, pcb, etc etc etc... they are all there (and in all of us).

Yep. I think it's already been mentioned on the boards that artificial seawater is loaded with it.

 

[Anonymous]

Its damn near impossible to remove all trace contaminants... pesticides, pah, pcb, etc etc etc... they are all there (and in all of us).

(((shudder )))

 

[wade1]

(((shudder )))

What? Its the ingenuity of man that lets us live longer, better, and more medically challenging lives!

Just don't drink the water or eat the food and you'll be mostly ok, sorta.

 

[Anonymous]

(((shudder )))

What? Its the ingenuity of man that lets us live longer, better, and more medically challenging lives!

Just don't drink the water or eat the food and you'll be mostly ok, sorta.

These babies have a half life similar to uranium

 

[ChrisRD]

So Galleon, what are you planning to do for Ca and Alk dosing? Cool setup BTW...

Calcium chloride and sodium carbonate dissolved in RO topoff water.

I ask because I've thought about doing this on my next SPS tank as opposed to using a Ca reactor again. I was thinking it would help eliminate another source of phosphate (the reactor media).

Is this part of the reason you don't use a Ca reactor? I'm also guessing it's cheaper/simpler for you to just use the CaCl2 and Na2CO3 rather than set-up and maintain a Ca reactor?

BTW, do you find it necessary to adjust Mg or Sr to NSW levels periodically, or do you not bother?

TIA

 

[Anonymous]

Is this part of the reason you don't use a Ca reactor?

Yes.

I'm also guessing it's cheaper/simpler for you to just use the CaCl2 and Na2CO3 rather than set-up and maintain a Ca reactor?

Yep. Also helps me maintain a very high alkalinity. Carbonates are what limit skeletogenesis, not calcium.

BTW, do you find it necessary to adjust Mg or Sr to NSW levels periodically, or do you not bother?

Water changes

 

[Unarce]

That is an awesome set-up. I wish my wife would let me do something like that in the garage :? .

 

[Mihai]

So no softies or LPS in this tank right? Even so, I think that the SPS need more than just basic C,N,P to grow: that's why they got polyps after all; do you know of anybody that did this succesfully long term?

M.

 

[Anonymous]

So no softies or LPS in this tank right?

What do you define as softies or LPS?

There likely will be species of photosynthetic gorgonians in the future, if not in this system, in an identical system. There is a propagule of Diploria labyrinthiformis, which most hobbyists would see and say was an LPS. The mother colony has been grown in a system like this for nearly a decade.

Even so, I think that

Don't take offense, but what aquarists "think" versus what they actually is the worst part of the reef hobby. Most aquarists have been told time and again, by "experts," total BS about what corals need to live and grow.

the SPS need more than just basic C,N,P to grow: that's why they got polyps after all;

That has absolutely nothing at all to do with why they have polyps.

They still use polyps to gather C, N and P, just in different forms. A form we can't provide in aquaria is soft bodied plankton. Fortunately for us, they also eat bacteria. and can take up dissolved nutrients. They are mixotrophic to allow them to gather these elements from whatever is available. In an aquarium run like this, they get it from bacteria, which are incredibly nutritious (pound for pound more nutritious than any plankton could be, and their zoox. They make their own essential amino acids.

do youknow of anybody that did this succesfully long term?

Yes, I have. As have several other people and institutions.

 

[Mihai]

Even so, I think that

Don't take offense, but what aquarists "think" versus what they actually is the worst part of the reef hobby. Most aquarists have been told time and again, by "experts," total BS about what corals need to live and grow.

I take no offense. I am a beginner, so most of what I think about reef tanks is wrong. However, I have a problem with finding good information in this hobby: I considered that a book written by "experts" (say Calfo, Fenner or Sprung) is more reliable than your average beaslebob on whatever internet forum, and tend to go with the books for fundamental knowledge, and with the forums for specific problems/advice/questions, etc...

I am a networking "expert" and in our bussines, whenever we need to find the "truth" we go to the standard. If it's in the standard, then it must be true . I wish there was such a thing for the reef hobby too.

I don't mean to imply that you are wrong - you obviously have much more experience than I do and I cannot make such a statement, I rather have a problem deciding between your oppinion's and Calfo's for example.

If it would be to find a flaw in your logic is the fact that you do not mention any quantities: you say that C and N come from the air and are made available in the form of bacteria to the corals. Perhaps true, but they may be available in sufficient quantities, or, perhaps 1000 less than what they need. That's why I asked you in the first place (page 2 of this thread) if you feed them and in my last post wheather others did it before. The fact that some succeeded suggest that enough nutrient can be transfered via the bacterias though, so... there you have it - no flaw .

Regarding softies and LPS I refer to the fleashy corals that have more than the 2 cell-width bodies and may need more energy (food) to live than your typical SPS...

If even softies can grow without nutrients then clearly the SPS will have enough.

Please keep us posted on how things are going a few months from now - it seems that this is the only way to figure out if the "experts" bull-shitted us .

All the best,
Mihai