A bunch of questions!!

[a2hotz]

I have many questions but I feel that none of them are worthy of their own thread so Im going to bunch them all together...
1.) I dont understand whether or not to stir the sand... If I dont I get a gas build up or If I do it releases nitrates or something?
2.) Is there any way to control vermetid snail populations? There are hundreds in my tank!
3.) Is spring water as bad as tap water? How much difference is there between RO and spring water? what does DI stand for?
4.) Do bio-wheels actually work? I was a marineland enthusiast and now I after hearing so many bad things about them I dont know any more... Whats the final verdict?
5.) Anybody ever done a refugium, frag tank combo?
6.) Ive had my tank up and running for 3 months now and I havent seen 1 stinking pod. I even tried waiting to night time and looking around with a red light... Am I doing something wrong or Is there somethign Im supposed to be doing that Im not?
7.) My tomato clown has a big black sting mark down one of his side. Will it ever go away?
Thanks!

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by A2hotz
I have many questions but I feel that none of them are worthy of their own thread so Im going to bunch them all together...
1.) I dont understand whether or not to stir the sand... If I dont I get a gas build up or If I do it releases nitrates or something?
2.) Is there any way to control vermetid snail populations? There are hundreds in my tank!
3.) Is spring water as bad as tap water? How much difference is there between RO and spring water? what does DI stand for?
4.) Do bio-wheels actually work? I was a marineland enthusiast and now I after hearing so many bad things about them I dont know any more... Whats the final verdict?
5.) Anybody ever done a refugium, frag tank combo?
6.) Ive had my tank up and running for 3 months now and I havent seen 1 stinking pod. I even tried waiting to night time and looking around with a red light... Am I doing something wrong or Is there somethign Im supposed to be doing that Im not?
7.) My tomato clown has a big black sting mark down one of his side. Will it ever go away?
Thanks!
1- dont stir the sand
2-not that i know of they will slowly go away
3- di is deionized water , ro is much better then tap , spring water depends on where its coming from some spring water can kill u if u drink it
4- biowheels do work , by biulding bacteria on the wheels the bactaria feeds when in the water but i would never use one in salt water
5- have a fug but not a combo
6- pods will come in time
7 - it should

 

[a2hotz]

Originally Posted by reefreak29

3- di is deionized water , ro is much better then tap , spring water depends on where its coming from some spring water can kill u if u drink it
4- biowheels do work , by biulding bacteria on the wheels the bactaria feeds when in the water but i would never use one in salt water
KILL YOU?! I have spring water from the grocery store... safe to put in the tank or is it full of phosphates and pollutants?
Never use a wheel in saltwater...? why? Ive been running my emporer 280 with the biowheel since Ive had this tank setup and on my saltwater tank before that! should I hurry up and take it off?
thanks for the info too!

 

[frankthetank]

I use bio wheels on my tank... and I have used them on past tanks. they work great and in my opinion beat the hell out of all that sump stuff! You can use a marineland filter for some carbon filtration and bio wheel and then use a maxi jet for some added water flow along with the marineland filter and a protein skimmer and it's much simpler.
I have done it this way on a 55 for 3 years and never had a problem.
I knew a lfs that had a 75 with two emperors and a protein skimmer and it ran for 7 years until I moved away with no problems.
I'm sure if you were way way into it some of these other set ups would be good and probably overall better. But for something simple and easy to work with the bio wheel filters work great!

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by A2hotz
KILL YOU?! I have spring water from the grocery store... safe to put in the tank or is it full of phosphates and pollutants?
Never use a wheel in saltwater...? why? Ive been running my emporer 280 with the biowheel since Ive had this tank setup and on my saltwater tank before that! should I hurry up and take it off?
thanks for the info too!
im sorry i thought u were talking about natural springs
biowheel bacteria can faal off into your tank and give u nitrate spikes but thats just my opinion

 

[a2hotz]

Originally Posted by reefreak29
im sorry i thought u were talking about natural springs
haha, I thought so.
So is it good in my tank or not?
I had my mom go to the grocery store and fill up my containers w/ RO but she was being lazy and bought a bunch of jugs or spring water... can I use em?

 

[madman33]

sorry check your other post...posted there

 

[garnet13aj]

Why not stir? I have cc and I've been told to vaccum it and people get sand sifting creatures for their tanks that "stir" it for them so why is it bad to stir it oneself? Just curious...

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by A2hotz
haha, I thought so.
So is it good in my tank or not?
I had my mom go to the grocery store and fill up my containers w/ RO but she was being lazy and bought a bunch of jugs or spring water... can I use em?
i wouldnt unless i knew what the tds was

 

[a2hotz]

my thoughts exactly!

 

[a2hotz]

Did someone have a post and then it disappeared? does that make me look crazy?
the disappearing post something like... "dont stir the sand!? why not? well then why do people buy fish and inverts just to sift the sand?"

 

[a2hotz]

bump...
so why get sand sifting critters if you arent supposed to get the sand stirred up...
what happens when the sand is stirred up?

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by A2hotz
bump...
so why get sand sifting critters if you arent supposed to get the sand stirred up...
what happens when the sand is stirred up?
sand sifting critters stir the sand very gingerly, i just wouldnt recommend u doing it

 

[frankthetank]

Originally Posted by A2hotz
bump...
so why get sand sifting critters if you arent supposed to get the sand stirred up...
what happens when the sand is stirred up?
Listen, not to discount some people's theories or ideas because there are many people who know more than I do about saltwater aquariums. But you can stir the sand up a little and be fine.
I just added 10 pounds of live sand to my tank to make the bed a little deeper and a little more wavy. My LFS is a very reputable store in the area and one particular worker that I trust dearly told me adding sand was fine. She also said to mix the sand up a little with the sand already in the tank. That way you're not just piling fresh sand ontop of sand that has been sitting there and building up algae and waste.
I know for a fact it's good to stir your sand up a little here and there to get some of the waste broken up. You won't cause problems.

 

[1journeyman]

You don't stir a Deep Sand Bed for fear of killing your anearobic bacteria (oxygenless bacteria) deep in the sand. Sand shifting (not sifting... sifting creatures are bad for a sand bed's health) creatures stir the top of the sand but leave the deeper part alone. That's what you want. In a shallow sand bed stir away...
You might do a search on this forum for the snail question.
RO/DI is Reverse osmosis Dionized water. The DI filter catches that small percent the RO misses. My water coming out of my RO/DI tests 0.0 TDS. (Tap water going into machine tests 575-600). Spring water can contain minerals... mineral build up in a tank=bad.
Bio wheels can work... there are many ways to do a salt water tank. The simplest is strong protein skimming, brisk water flow, lot's of live rock, and light bio load. Filters are not neccessary. See Fenner's "A Conscientious Marine Aquarist" for more details on different filtration methods.
Sumps and refugiums, imho, are invaluabler. For one thing a sump can house a serious skimmer. Refugiums make great nitrate removers if you grow macro algaes in it. A refugium/frag combo could work if you placed a divider to keep the macro algae off the frags.
Pods are tasty. What do you have in your tank eating them?

 

[1knight164]

Had all the same questions you had. Did a search for each topic and got GREAT advice from past threads.
Also, great advice once again, 1journeyman. I've been vacuuming my sand WAAYYYY to deep. Habit from my freshwater days. Maybe that's why I can't get my 'trates down below 10. Killing all my anaerobic worker bees.

But do I stop vacuuming all-together?

 

[frankthetank]

Originally Posted by 1knight164
Had all the same questions you had. Did a search for each topic and got GREAT advice from past threads.
Also, great advice once again, 1journeyman. I've been vacuuming my sand WAAYYYY to deep. Habit from my freshwater days. Maybe that's why I can't get my 'trates down below 10. Killing all my anaerobic worker bees.

But do I stop vacuuming all-together?
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.

 

[a2hotz]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Pods are tasty. What do you have in your tank eating them?
As far as I know, not too much
Scopas Tang
2 Tomato Clowns
3 yellowtail damsels
lawnmower blenny
4 blue leg hermit crabs
2 turbo snails
5 astrea snails
2 coralbanded shrimp (female is jam packed with eggs!)
sallylight foot crab... only had for 2 weeks now but I havent seen him in a week.

12" long tentacle anenome
300+ brown zoos
100+ teal mushrooms
2 inch galaxea frag
blue xenia frag
3 ricordea
3" toadstool

 

[a2hotz]

Originally Posted by A2hotz
2 coralbanded shrimp (female is jam packed with eggs!)
can CB shrimp be successfully raise in a tank?
...if in a tank of its own with filters that dont suck up eggs...

 

[frankthetank]

Originally Posted by A2hotz
can CB shrimp be successfully raise in a tank?
...if in a tank of its own with filters that dont suck up eggs...
CB shrimp are great for a tank. But you cannot put other shrimps in with them usually.