Which angel is more hardy -? An Emperor or a Queen-?

R

rcreations

Guest
I don't recommend having a deep sand bed in your DT, especially with agressive fish. For a DSB to be sucessfull it must not be disturbed and with agressive fish, like triggers, they like to dig in the sand and move it around. For a FOWLR, DSB should be kept in the sump/refugium.
 
hefner413

hefner413

Active Member
Good point --. For sure, a DSB is only good if it's not disturbed. Gotta keep the deep sand where it's at.
 
G

gtdarock

Guest
Thanks Hef, for the very detailed info. Well,I'll leave the DT sandbed as is. But it took my about three hours, but I was able to move the skimmer from the middle of my sump to about 7 ft away from the tank. It was the only spot open, I then had to do over the plumbing, but managed to put the output of the skimmer, to the first chamber, where the pump is. So its polishing the water nice, by double skimming. I got that for Camp ! I also increased the sump sandbed to 4 in, and mixed up my 32 gal of water last night. I am hoping for the best. I also checked for copper, and the result was 0. So what should I do next guys-? I'm thinking,saving up for a RO.
 
hefner413

hefner413

Active Member
regarding what you should do next, just make sure there aren't any other extra waste sources, and then sit back and wait... water changes, etc will help, but really you just gotta wait for the bacteria to grow.
ro/di would be a great idea. They aren't too terribly expensive, especially if you get them online. I got mine along with enought replacement filters to last the rest of my life on the online bidding site. Water top-offs can get much easier with one. I plumbed mine into my water line in the basement and bought a ton of the tubing (only 7c/ft at hardware store) and ran it directly into my 2 tanks. You can look into an auto-topoff too, but I haven't done that yet.
 
R

rcreations

Guest
It'll take a while for the DSB to become effective. Just have petience and don't disturb it. You might want to put some hermit crabs in there so they can clean up any waste that gets trapped on the sand.
RO/DI is a must in my opinion. No reason not to have one.
Do you have a good CUC in your DT?
 
G

gtdarock

Guest
Hey Hef ! I am looking around for a RO. Any suggestions -? Where did you buy yours -? Maybe you can PM me it-? I'll make a water change tonight. How often should I clean the pre-filter.
Hey, RCreations, I wouldn't mind getting some hermit crabs for the sump, but wouldn't they get stuck in the first chamber, or third. I see a lot of people put a sponge between the gaps in the sump. Also, I might sound like a newbie, but what does
"CUC" mean. -?
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Search for thefilterguys My personal choice for water units. Great to actually talk to knowledgable people about your needs, etc. So helpful, my Mom was able to get me some replacement filters as a present.
The thing about sand beds, if you want to avoid the 'death zone.' There's not real point to a 3"-4" sand bed. It doesn't have the anerobic properties of a 5"+ bed and isn't friendly like a shallow bed, yet it can still build up gas pockets that are deadly to your fish if distrubed.
CUC = Clean Up Crew. I'd recommend some nassurius snails, a conch, and some large turbos for an aggressive fish setup.
 
R

rcreations

Guest
That's the danger with a DSB. It builds up the gas packets and if disturbed, that gas comes up and it can be bad. Which is why I recommend having a DSB in the sump and not the main tank. In the sump you can control it better and make sure it is left alone. Just buy critters that don't dig into the sand and you'll be fine.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Buckeye is great too, usually the first person to response to ro/di questions over on --. Haven't had any personal experience though. With an affordable ro/di, just avoid a unit with a horizontal di cartridge, they are completely useless, you need a vertical one.
 
prime311

prime311

Active Member
You can make a remote deep sand bed with a 5 gallon bucket. Just put a bulkead about 6" from the top and drain your overflow into the bucket. Then have a second bulkhead in it near the top that drains into your sump. Fill it up with about a foot of sand. Then if you think somethings wrong with the sand bed you just replace the whole bucket.
 
hefner413

hefner413

Active Member
Originally Posted by prime311
http:///forum/post/2653881
You can make a remote deep sand bed with a 5 gallon bucket. Just put a bulkead about 6" from the top and drain your overflow into the bucket. Then have a second bulkhead in it near the top that drains into your sump. Fill it up with about a foot of sand. Then if you think somethings wrong with the sand bed you just replace the whole bucket.
That's a sweet idea. I might do that myself!
 
G

gtdarock

Guest
Hey Aqua,thanks for the info. I checkout the filterguys, but I am totally new to RO. I see they have 75 gph in one,two,three,four and five stage. I don't even know where to start-? Which one to get. I was looking for one for a 175. "CUC", I got it now. I have no clean crew, I had 5 large hermits, but they all died, I guess because of the nitrates. I see my LFS has some kind of clean up guy- a flounder, its like white and flat and blends into the sand.
What is it -? Prime, I'll look into the - Buckeye Field Supply,thanks. Hey R, I'll get some cleanup crew from the site, but I guess I have to wait till the Nitrates are down. I am planning on doing a 32 gal water changes for the rest of the week. Maybe at two day intervals .
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
For an RO/DI unit, the 5 stage is the backbone of the hobby. The first 'stage' (cartridge) is usually a 1 or 5 micron sediment filter, it removes just that, dirt/clay/etc from the water. The next two stages (cartridges) are usually a mix of different carbon filters, activated and/or block. The goal here is to mainly remove chlorine and other chemical before the water gets to RO membrane. Chlorine can quickly ruin an RO membrane.
The actual RO (reverse osmosis) membrane does the brunt of the work. Water coming in to the RO from the pre-filters(first 3 stages) is about 100-300ppm (100 parts per million, or the number of parts of pollutants per million parts of clean water) TDS (total dissolved solids) depending on your local water and brings that down to about 5-35ppm. Think of how it works as a reverse sponge, water goes in, and gets forced through. The DI part (de-ionization) removes anything left that has bonded to the water on the atomic level. This is way it's so important for a vertical unit, so the water doesn't 'channel' or run across the top of the DI resin.
For rate, a 75gph is all you'll need. That's what I have for my 5 tanks. There is actually some controversy that 100gph RO membranes made by DOW Industries is actually a 'nano filter' and is not a standard RO membrane. Almost all of the RO/DI unit makers use DOW filters.
Lesser units make due with fewer pre-filters (sediment and carbon) which can jeopardize the RO membrane, and/or do not have a DI part. You also want to avoid the typical '6-stage' unit, as the 6th Stage is usually another carbon cartridge, which does nothing but actually rise TDS readings. Those are meant for drinking water, as the carbon filters will add 'taste' back into the water,
Any more water filter questions, lemme know
 
prime311

prime311

Active Member
I'm glad you posted that AK, I've been using that 'Taste' cartridge on mine. I was going to test the TDS, but I just recently ordered a meter from BFS so I hadn't yet. Serves me right for being too lazy to change the setup heh, b ut I htought hey it's carbon, more filtration right... Obv not activated carbon then
 
G

gtdarock

Guest
Hey guys ! My computer broke down, so I wasn't able to reply.
Aqua, after the great info about the RO system, I totally understand it now. I am just not sure up to which stage I should get-? And should I definitely go with,filterguys-? So, the latest about my tank is that I did a water change of 32 gallons last night. I checked the display, and I got a reading of 100. So what I did, I checked the water I mixed in the 32 gallon trash can, and I got a reading of 5. So I did the change, check the display and still got a reading of 100. So I guess thats way too little of a change. So, I was thinking, that since I only have the Orbit bat and percula in the tank, would it be ok, to take out about half of my tank water. -? Like a massive water change of like 100 gallons-?
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
You want a 5-stage unit. Though all you really have to do for a 6-stage unit is simply remove the carbon filter. I only mentioned thefilterguys because I've done business with them. I can't say most of the other brands are better/worse, but IMO the best bang for you buck is their Ocean Reef + 1 Five Stage DI. You get the pressure gauge and built in TDS meter. Keep in mind what I said was a general rule, like the 'stages,' if you look at thefilterguys RO/DI systems, on some of their products they says some of them are six stages but that sixth stage is really just an extra DI canister. My definition of a sixth stage is the extra carbon filter you'd find on a lot of the cheaper systems.
For your nitrate problems, you can do a large change, as long as you match the properties, salinity, temp, pH. The latter two being the most important.
 
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gtdarock

Guest
Hey Aqua ! Hope all is well ! I checked out the site for the RO, but I need a little help picking out one, so I sent you a PM.,thanks. Also I needed your opinion on a water change idea.
I was wondering if it will be ok, to take out about half or maybe a little more of my tank water, then adding water right after to the tank, then add salt to the display-? The reason why I'm asking, is because I don't have enough trash cans to mix the water, so I thought it would be better to add salt the display.
What do you think-?
 
G

gtdarock

Guest
Hey Krazy. I have an orbit bat and a percula in my tank right now.
 
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