Recent content by Robf

Rob: I struggled with the same problems, and the solution I found was rather easy, and borders on the advice that many posted here about removing half of your rocks. IMHO, the function of live rocks is VERY overstated, and the problem is definately in your rock. When I had the same problem, I...

I would think those mags were doing the bulk of your tank heating! Unfortunately, I know of no other submersible pump that have the capacity of the mags you own. They're power-hogs, but they work well. Hopefully reducingthe photoperiod will help you. If it makes you feel any better...

Right off the top, the mags could be replaced with quality external pumps such as Sequence... They have big performance with dramatically less electrical draw. Pumps are by far the largest expense when it comes to the power bill. They're running 24x7. Mag 24 = 265w Mag9.5 = 93w Total...

I've purchased frags from Greg Hiller: http://www.angelfire.com/ma3/ghcorals/g ... corals.htm Patrick Monaghan: http://www.spsfrags.com and David Playfair: http://mistressreef.homestead.com/ I am extremely pleased with all three sources. All very talented hobbyists, and very, very good...

I beat dinos, cyano, bryopsis, but red turf beat me. The bryopsis took 2 years to control. This included removing the fish and adding nothing in the way of food to the tank. Aggressive carbon and kalkwasser, and basically water changed via the skimmer. It was a long haul. Red turf finally...

I started culturing phytoplankton 2 months ago, and rotifers 1 month ago. I have a pod invasion on my hands. I've gone from not seeing any pods at all to seeing several everywhere I look [immediately]. I thing it's the phytoplankton. R.

I've had a similar problem in the past... here's some things to look for: 1. My original problem came about when I moved my co2 tank farther away from the reactor... the extra line seemed to be a problem. My needlevalve was trustworthy once again when I moved it back to it's original position...

Mine works great. It's honestly the only trouble-free skimmer I've owned. And unfortunately, I've owned alot of skimmers. It put my Downdraft skimmer to shame. It doesn't flood like my downdraft did either. E.

Don't get me wrong, I love it back home, but there were no jobs in Eastern Canada... and the in-laws are in Ontario ;) Moving beyond Ontario was well above what we could afford. Maybe one day soon. R.

structural steel detailer. It's rediculously boring. Coupled with the worst CAD package known to man, I feel the rage every morning around 9:00. But my wife and I are on temporary work visas... so if I were to quit, we'd be stuffed into a cube van and shipped off to the motherland (Canada) I...

Unreal! I did that pic back in '98 or '99 and attached it to a message to a fellow reefer to help 'visualize' what I was talking about. Someone emailed me and asked a question about it a couple of weeks ago... I had no idea it was on the reefcentral "mods" section... it's an embarrassing...

I've had terrible luck with the Hagen kits. Most notably the calcium kit. I returned the kit twice, and all three hagen Ca kits gave VERY different results. None of them close to my salifert. 2 reported Ca at over 600. Horrible kit. Not a good place to save money, IMHO. R.

I agree that using effluent alk is the best way to set a reactor, but I set mine to 3x the desired tank alk. I also run a slower effluent drip... helps keep my pH above 8. R.

I had a reef devil, and it was the most finicky POS that I've ever owned. I replaced the pump with a MAG 9.5, and it started to skim, but it would go a week witout skimming a drop, and then WHAM, it would flood. I found it better to run it external, 12" above the sump. This way, it drained...

Thanks for clearing that up. Regardless, I've been pleased with the BLVs and the Aqualines... heck, I've been real impressed with everything from Germany that has to do with my reef.