Pet Forum / Aquaria / Marine Reef / October 2005

A month or 2 ago someone posted a link to a forum where some fanatic reefer
was building this HUGE basement setup. Has this guy completed his tank yet
and can someone be so kind as to repost the link. Many thanks.
--

I am considering getting a standard (4' or 5' long) tank and devoting 1 foot
of it as a sump by creating a dam with a glass sheet I glue into one side.
The idea being the water will overflow off the surface into the sump
section.

For a 90 gallon tank, I am considering the following skimmers: Berlin Turbo
Classic, Turboflotor 1000 multi, Precision Marine Bullet 1 or 2, and the
ETSS Super Reef Devil. Are any of these inherently better in terms of "ease
of use", durability, etc...of is there a better choice ...

... I am still waiting for my RO/DI booster pump to arrive, meanwhile could
I use distillated water instead of RO/DI?

Can I take hermit crabs and snails from my local beach and put them in
my tank?  I live in Monterey CA.  and the water temp here is 45-50
degrees.  My tank is 78 degrees.  Thats about 30 degrees difference.
I'm also trying to figure out on what type of hermit crabs they are?

My tank just about to finish its cycling process.  I'm ready to buy new
fish.  I've been going to different websites and most of them say feed
2-3 times daily or several time a day depending on the fish.  I'm just
thinking of buying an emperor angel or blue/yellow tang.  My question

Does a poly pad/filter take calcium or magnesium (supplements) out o
the water. I think i have high phosphates because i use tap water so
try and put a poly pad/filter in my fluval every now and then to tak
all the bad stuff out but i just wasnt sure if the poly pad will als

I was wondering what people are useing to store thier RO water in?

I'm researching the 6500K 250 W Iwasaki lamp.
I've read that the R version is a little bluer.  Supposedly it
measures in closer to 7200K but after reading some reviews and seeing
a picture of a reef tank lit by one, I'm concerned about it being a

Okay - I'm confused.
I *do* want to use calcium carbonate based sand because -
It will help keep up the calcium & alkalinity & pH & trace elements as the
sand slowly dissolves into the water. AND it won't scratch the glass like

Can anyone recommend a quiet pump?
I've used Little Giant which isn't too bad, and the Quiet One is
better yet, but can anyone recommend a quieter one?  How do the Iwaki
pumps compare?

Can anyone tell me how much noise I should expect from a core and coil
MH ballast?  I was thinking electronic because of increased
efficiencies, lamp life etc... but from what I've read it seems that
there really isn't that much benefit to the electronic ballast.

kim gross Wrote:

Folks:
FWIW, just went through a separation and divorce and left the home w/o the
55g FOWLR DSB (life sucks sometimes-no not about the divorce either).  Got
the tank back after 18 months and it was a major mess: NEVER a water change,

Can anyone tell me where to find or what brand of magnesium test to use
Ive read about people having magnesium test readings but i cant find an
test to test for it.
Thanks