Pet Forum / Aquaria / Marine Reef / March 2008

I have a 65 high reef tank, 36" long. I am currently using metal
halide on it, however it is costing me approx $65.00 a month just to
run the lights, The pumps are extra of course. I have a nice mix of
hard and soft coral. The question is what can I replace the metal

I have numerous sponges starting to grow in the 45. The 30 already has a
bunch. Some survived when we bought the lr.
The change since i removed the bio matter (fun to say), from the 45 gallon,
is noteworthy.

no bio cube
5 gal water chg 30 gal. nitrates close to 20ppm
45 around 5ppm

thanks jon
http://www.safaricabs.com/bc.jpg
all glass went ahead and sent me a new cube.
problems since i purchased the biocube last year:

30 ~ 15ppm
45 ~ 10ppm

no biocube and no ballast
been feeding the night creatures with phytoplankton. pushing the limit with
the nitrates. need some more branch lr for biocube.
worms and fleas and whatever is going on in that primordial soup seem to

did w/c on 30 yesterday measured nitrates at 10ppm this morn
45 no change. 5ppm nitrates :-)))))). skipped a feeding last night.

raining,
the nitrates were 20ppm on both tanks so i'm doing another change today. i
didn't forget about the spike. sure enough i got one.
the canister filter developed a leak that i think i fixed.  Must be due to

45 gal tank read 5ppm
30 tank close to 20 ppm

See my blog for additional information.
http://scottsalberg.blogspot.com/

Any good recommendations for Detritus build-up?  I inherited a 100
gallon tank with a DSB, but I've been battling high nutrient loads since
I got it.  I suspect that the DSB is loaded with detritus.
--Kurt

Checked the 45 and the nitrates are 10 ppm this morning. We'll see if it
holds
No bio cube yet

If you have been reading some of these posts you know I have 2 marine reef
aquariums. One 30 and one 45 gal.
The 30 is very simple. Filled w/LR - PS - fiber filter. And that's all. It
can go months w/o a water change and I feed the fish 2 times a day.