A bunch of questions!!

[1knight164]

Originally Posted by FranktheTank
I think the rule is you can vacuum the top of the sand and rinse the sand off with the same water you do your water changes with. Then you can put the sand back in your tank. If you have a good clean up crew though, your sand won't get too dirty. I just got a twin spotted goby to help stir the sand some.
Makes sense. Probably not much anaerobic stuff living near the surface. Thanks.

 

[1knight164]

I have one CB. If I wanted wanted a mate for it, did I screw up and NOT by a mated pair? Or can I buy a mate for the one I have? That leads to the inevitable stupid question from a beginner, how do I tell what the --- is of the one I have? Doesn't look as simple as checking between the legs.

Too many legs.

 

[frankthetank]

Originally Posted by 1knight164
I have one CB. If I wanted wanted a mate for it, did I screw up and NOT by a mated pair? Or can I buy a mate for the one I have? That leads to the inevitable stupid question from a beginner, how do I tell what the --- is of the one I have? Doesn't look as simple as checking between the legs.

Too many legs.
I don't know about this one. I know you can buy mated pairs, but I don't know about buying a mate for one already in your aquarium. I've always heard to only have one and no other shrimp with it.
But obviously they have to reproduce. Maybe someone with more knowledge can take you from here.

 

[1journeyman]

Couple of more things have come up:
First, I don't see anything that would be eating your pods... how are you looking for them?
Second, I don't vacuum my sand at all. I've got a lot of Nass. snails that burrow and keep it turned over. That, along with brisk water flow across the sand keeps it clean.
Third, CB shrimp are known trouble makers as they get bigger. They can/will eat fish they catch.

 

[reefkprz]

1) Stirring the sand in small amounts can be benificial, when I do water changes I turn about 1/16 of my sand to help feed my gorgonian and stir up sediment that may have settled. It does release some gasses but over all the effect is benifical in the set up I have this mey not be true for all set ups like a plenum or DSB, I have sloped bottom ranging from one inch to 9 inches I do not stir the deep end, and there are critters that will do the sand shifting for you such as nassarius snails and sand shifting crabs.
2)I dont know
3)IMO tap water is better because its at least dead from the clorine. But RO/DI water is among the best.
4) Bio whells do work, just like bioballs, but in my opinion there are better alternatives for filtration. One benefit is the high air to water contact can let high ammounts of ammonia off-gas as ammonia is very volatile in liquid form, leaving less ammonia to be broken down to nitrite then nitrate. ity also increases oxegenation of the water. I'm currently researching the myths and facts of bio-balls and wheels in marine aquaria for an article I am working on.
5) Not me.
6)I reccomend buying LR and toting it home in a bucket of water or swapping some pieces with a friend, you may just have a very low population, be aware that once introduced they will go through a population explosion stage due to the availability/abundance of things they need in the aquarium, then the population will decrease dramaticly then eventually stabilize at the sustainable level for your set up.
7) IMO clowns grow slow, it all depends on how bad the sting is just like us a small cut leaves almost no scar, and big cuts leave big scars, most of which tend to fade over time, some dissapear completly while some just get less noticeable without seeing the damage no one can truly say fo rsure but chances are it will get less noticable over time if not dissapear completly though this may take a while.
I hope any info here helps in some way, and please remember all statements above are just my opinions and expiriences, and are not intended to contradict anyone.

 

[a2hotz]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Couple of more things have come up:
First, I don't see anything that would be eating your pods... how are you looking for them?
Second, I don't vacuum my sand at all. I've got a lot of Nass. snails that burrow and keep it turned over. That, along with brisk water flow across the sand keeps it clean.
Third, CB shrimp are known trouble makers as they get bigger. They can/will eat fish they catch.

1.) Ive been searching for pods by looking in my tank for hours and also waiting till the lights are off for a few hours and looking around with a red light... I havent seen anything which bothers me. I plan on taking down my frag tank and and using it as a refugium/frag tank. (which is why I asked the question)
2.) I dont vaccuum my sand either. Ive been mostly asking this question because my current sand needs replaced desperatly because it is more like dust that flies all over my tank than sand. Ive been trying to decide if I should just take out the old sand sand before putting new sand in.
I did scoop out a about a third of it last nite and then did a 30% water change. I also added an extra powerhead to a low flow spot.
3.) As for the CB shrimp, I bought them as a pair in september. The are doing well. I can tell which one is the female because you can see inside her body and some of her oragans are bright blue and also she was JAM PACKED with eggs. I could see right through her and see the eggs and I could even see the baby shrimps' eyes. She dumped the eggs sometime yesterday. Im sure the were eaten...

I was just wondering if theres a way to raise eggs

 

[1journeyman]

Hmm... well sounds like you are looking the right way for them. Once you set up your refuge try again in it.

 

[a2hotz]

ok couple more questions...
Ive adding kalkwasser to my top off water. Am I adding it correctly? I add about a gallon a day. Is that too much kalkwasser to add at once?
What is the purpose of water changes? Is it removing bad water from the tank or replenishing nutrients from the salt? If it is my bad water theory, does a high evaporation rate and being constantly topped off make the water less needing of water changes?

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by A2hotz
ok couple more questions...
Ive adding kalkwasser to my top off water. Am I adding it correctly? I add about a gallon a day. Is that too much kalkwasser to add at once?
What is the purpose of water changes? Is it removing bad water from the tank or replenishing nutrients from the salt? If it is my bad water theory, does a high evaporation rate and being constantly topped off make the water less needing of water changes?
The best way to add limewater (kalkwasser) is to slowly drip it in overnight or all the time.
Adding a gallon all at once could be a problem but it depends on the saturation level of the limewater and the CO2 level in your tank. The only way to know for sure is to test PH before you add it and about 30 minutes after you add it. If PH climbs more than 0.2 after you add limewater then you're adding it too fast. If PH gets above 8.5 for any reason then you're adding the limewater too fast.
For the second question. Water changes dilute pollution and replenish trace elements that are used up. Evaporation concentrates pollution and topoff doesn't add back minor trace elements. So you should do water changes regularly no matter how often you have to topoff.

 

[a2hotz]

thats what I figured. thanks!

 

[a2hotz]

Has anyone ever used *****'s premade saltwater? I can get it for next to nothing and it would make me more likely to do more water changes but I dont want to put it in my tank if its crap.

 

[a2hotz]

bump

 

[1journeyman]

Sorry, never used it.
I tend to be suspicious of water unless I really trust the LFS.