I'm new, please help.

:laughing0 i need to start reading your posts more often ;D

 

You are right, I don’t want any dirt J.

About cooking the rock, I have never heard of this before. But if I do this does that mean that the live stock such as fish that I got from him will die?
it depends one how much he has,and the swing of the parameters. but if you cook the rock in sections the live stock shouldn't die, just dont cook rock with corals on it(no light is bad for corals, very lol).
About your rock being porous, how can you tell?
well porous means it has holes in it. so you can see the difference also you can feel the difference, porous rock usually is alot more jagged and sharper even if it doesn't look like it. after half way cooking my rock i would start getting cuts on my hands when i would swish the rock in the buckets every two weeks. i guess, thats a warning also use gloves if your doing alot of rock.
the reason you want rock to be porous is the more surface area something has the more room for bacteria there is(concept of bioballs). but the reason live rock is better then bioballs is becuase
A) it already has bacteria
B)looks better
C) the live rock has holes in it, aerobic bacteria(process nitrites,ammonia) live at the beginning of the opening, then as you get farther in the hole the aerobic bacteria uses all the oxygen, creating a space for anaerobic bacteriawhich remove nitrates, the product of the aerobic bacteria.

 

thank you for explaining that. ;D

Do you guys use gloves or no gloves when handling rock and corals?

 

i don't thats why i get cut all the time
i have to say if i was gonna be handling rock alot i would go ahead use them. for corals i don't but you may need to use them if your allergic to some types. and yes some people are allergic to certain types of corals.

 

Great thread. I skimmed it, so if I missed something in a post I apologize. I have a 90g myself and only have a 20g long sump/fuge. It gives me enough room underneath to put other things. I have my denitrator under there, my skimmer overflow, I am going to create a drip system for Ca and Mg also. You may want to consider what else you will want to put there besides the fuge.

Also, your design for the sump/fuge is right on IMO. You can split off the gravity feed into the sump and run tank water directly to the fuge, controlling it with a ball valve. Fun with PVC.

Peace.......John.

 

;D
Doesn't it hurt under salt?

I didn't know that people are allergic to corals. I guess I have to find out if I'm.

BTW, the reason why I asked about putting your hands in the tank is because someone told me that the oil on my hands will interfere with the skimmer. The skimmer might act funny for couple of days and then return to normal. Is this true, or this procedure has a name?

Thanks John. I wanted to use the 20gal as sump but advised it was too small. That is why I going with 36" long tank.

 

OK, I'm ready to build the sump, but I have one decision to make. Can anyone please help?

I bought the idea to a LFS and told him about the sump design that I wanted to build and show him the image sump #1. And then he said this is how I design my sump and show me his design image sump #2. My question is which sump is better #1 or #2?


Sump #1 is taken from Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums

 

Sump #2

 

it does hurt a little bit.

it will cause your skimmer to drop off for a little while. but a good skimmer should be able to resume skimming in a hour or so.

there are alot of skimmers that are just junk.

 

Which sump should I build, anyone?