Oh please help

troublemkr

troublemkr

New Member
Okay, I got a 44 gal corner tank about 2 weeks ago. And after the research Ive done, yes i know....after buying it all......I am starting to wonder if i messed up. I have the crushed coral in my tank to line the bottom, some stupid stupid decorations my girlfriend put in, and 2 damsels that are doing very well.
Basically here is my first serious question...... Can i go ahead and put some live rock in there? Would this be awfully bad? I know damsels are very hardy and tough, and I really want that LR in there...so is it possible?
Next: I have one of the filters that do all 3 filtrations, and is included with a protien skimmer. So when i pull the nozzle out a little bit and all the bubbles start going....what then? Its a "silent filter" but when I pull out the nozzle a little bit to get the bubbles, it just continues to make noise. Is this normal? Is it to far out, not far enough out....what should I be looking for cause I cant find anything to help me on this and the directions sucked.
And will this also get out that filmy type substance thats on the top of the water. If i put some food in there or anything for that matter, it just spreads apart and all.....what the heck am i doing? HAHAHAHA.. Please help a newbie!!!?!?!??!
Jonathan
 
T

tizzo

Guest
First of all, it sounds like your protien skimmer is a Skilter model. (OK, not first, but bear with me...) If so, or if it is like it, then yes they are noisy with the air line open... But unfortunately, it has to be open. Not wide open, but pretty close. Second, although it will provide the other 2 types of filtration, it is not nearly enough.
Manual-because the intake is to close to the surface AND the GPH is not enough.
Biological-because you will have to change out your filter replacements and that little black holder is no where near enough surface area for nitrifying bacteria.
C) (LOL) Change out your CC to LS before it's to late. If you don't do it now, You WILL want to in the future. But by then you will prolly have established fish and LR so it would be more of an inconvience to wait.
And last- the LR you want to add. Are you going to order it from an on-line vendor, or get it from the LFS? Either way, now would be the best time to add it, but I ask because if you get it from an on-line supplier then it HAS TO (re)cure, and if you put it in your display tank then it would be best to get it now, before you have any (more) livestock in there. (LFS LR may need to be cured also, but usually it already is and there isn't much in the way of die-off on the way home.)
Did I miss anything?? HTH
 
troublemkr

troublemkr

New Member
Okay thanks very much!! That was a GREAT HELP! But it brought up more questions.
You are right, it is a skilter. And now that i know it will be noisy hahah i wont freak out. Um....the intake is about 8 inches or so down into the water.....and its a 300gph skilter. And i have a 44 gal tank....still not good? HAHA this is frustrating.....
Okay....since I have CC in and im hearing that LS is better, how would I go about taking out the CC. Would I have to empty out the whole tank? Cause I will tell you what, that CC sure does throw up a lot of dust and what not. It really is kind of a pain. So would I have to empty it all out? or what?
Also, I keep hearing people say about "vaccuming" (sorry bout the spelling). They vac. out the dirt and stuff (such as in curing LR)....whats the deal with that?
And as far as the LR goes....im not sure where im gonna get it. I have thought about online and from a store. The one store where I live is 8 bucks and lb....but there is a LARGE lfs in birmingham I have yet to check out. Only reason I used the other place is cause their prices on everything were the cheapest around. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE HELP!!!!
 
troublemkr

troublemkr

New Member
Okay thanks very much!! That was a GREAT HELP! But it brought up more questions.
You are right, it is a skilter. And now that i know it will be noisy hahah i wont freak out. Um....the intake is about 8 inches or so down into the water.....and its a 300gph skilter. And i have a 44 gal tank....still not good? HAHA this is frustrating.....
Okay....since I have CC in and im hearing that LS is better, how would I go about taking out the CC. Would I have to empty out the whole tank? Cause I will tell you what, that CC sure does throw up a lot of dust and what not. It really is kind of a pain. So would I have to empty it all out? or what?
Also, I keep hearing people say about "vaccuming" (sorry bout the spelling). They vac. out the dirt and stuff (such as in curing LR)....whats the deal with that?
And as far as the LR goes....im not sure where im gonna get it. I have thought about online and from a store. The one store where I live is 8 bucks and lb....but there is a LARGE lfs in birmingham I have yet to check out. Only reason I used the other place is cause their prices on everything were the cheapest around. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE HELP!!!!
 
T

tizzo

Guest
Where to begin...
I use to have a skilter, and it worked pretty good for me (Most people hate them). So as far as a protien skimmer, it may or may not be OK. And results will vary with the air to water ratio. I had to constantly adjust my valve, so that I got enough air but the maximum flow of water also. Long story short, I ended up replacing it cause I thought it quit working, but my airline was all full of salt creep. As far as any other filtration, IMO that thing could put out 10,000 GPH, and I don't think it would be enough. The collection floss is not enough for mechanical, or bio.
What was next...
Changing CC to LS. Buy a clean dustpan and scoop it. There will be a dust storm because the tiny particles have not yet accumulated the Nitrifying bacteria to weigh them down... But no worries, it's NOTHIN' compared to the dust storm you'll get with sand. But it will settle in time, and you won't regret it!!
Vacuuming is how you clean your CC. You have to syphon it, because it's a nitrate trap!! LS on the other hand needs no vacuuming. Just the occasional turkey baster squirt and a good clean up crew.
Personally, I would highly recomend this sight for live rock.
(LOL, I say personally like you know me and I am a rock solid reference.:hilarious )
But anyway, I got mine here and I am very pleased with it. I think it's around $4 a pound and free shipping!! You just hafta cure it...no matter what the description says.
Tizzal, right??:sleepy:
 
T

tizzo

Guest
Yeah, well at least you have the brains to ask. All this stuff I'm tellin' you I learned trial and error. I read a lot of books, but I still did a LOT of stuff wrong, cause I didn't know about this sight.
Syphon, how do I explain this one...
I can't show you a pic because I lent it to my bro. But one is made by a company called Python. You should do a search. I would not recomend that brand to you, because it involves tap water and you definately want to stay away from tap water. You prolly used it to fill your tank, but that's totally ok, so don't panic. But in the future you want R/O. Explain more on that later.
I'll try to describe the syphon hose first...
Mine is a clear flexible tube 'bout 4 feet long and 1/2 inch inner diameter.
Connected to one end is a hard plastic clear tube 'bout 6 inches long and 2 inches inner diameter (roughly)
Once you start a syphon, you stick the hard end in the CC, the vacuum is strong enough to pull up whatever is light, like fish poop etc, but not so strong that it will pull up your CC. And you poke it accross the entire substrate and remove all the unwanteds.
Will continue tomorrow...bed time now.
:sleepy: :sleepy: :sleepy:
 
T

tizzo

Guest
Oh yeah, if I ever get a ticket in Alabama, I'm callin' you!!! LOL
 
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