victoly

This is just a simple price comparison for 100 gallon tank http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/geo-calcium-reactor-418.html - $299.99 for the reactor http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reactors/milwaukee-ma957-co2-regulator.html $94.99 for the regulator http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reactors/co2-tank-5-lbs.html $79.99 for the tank http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=milwaukee+ph+controller&hl=en&rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS379US379&prmd=imvns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&ion=1&biw=1680&bih=963&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=9249091789668889912&sa=X&ei=PdU_UNbbE-ec2QXEgoHADg&ved=0CFcQxBUwAA#scoring=tp pH controller $95.38 Consumables Cost (annual) http://www.marinedepot.com/CaribSea_A.R.M._Aragonite_Reactor_Media_Calcium_Reactor_Media-CaribSea-CS0525-FICRCM-vi.html $22.99 * 2 uses/yr = 45.98 CO2 - $30 Total for CO2 = $646.33 for the first year of operation. This cost does not include incidentals like tubing/plumbing for setup OR shipping/taxes for goods. Total cost would probably be somewhere around $700.

this is what i was going to suggest. Setting up a float valve on the waste outlet could potentially have some undesirable effects...

I've been meaning to get a nice sampling on the club perspective of automated dosing setups versus calcium reactors. My personal feeling (and this is bias because i don't currently have either installed, although I have done CO2 in the past for planted tanks), is that dosing premixed solutions is the safer (and therefore best management practice) for getting necessary elements to our SPS. I would love to be convinced otherwise, because I think CO2 reactors are so much cooler than boring old dosing pumps. Go! Picture unrelated.

Yeah, i was thinking that to myself. They should have called it "All about corals" because the fish selection was meh, but the coral selection was outstanding. I pondered picking up some stuff, but his prices were fairly high (for good reason), and didn't want to risk a 3 hour trip back from the SE side of town to austin.

Beautiful piece. I've got a sarcophyton just like the one on the far side. It's one of my favorites.

My car has been broken into 3 times in Austin so... Let's keep this to the topic of a neat fish store I went to in Houston ... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=all+about+fish+houston&fb=1&gl=us&hq=all+about+fish&hnear=0x8640b8b4488d8501:0xca0d02def365053b,Houston,+TX&cid=0,0,11086687363665535060&ei=6fI-UNrcHciWyAGb9oHIBQ&ved=0CKkBEPwSMAA

I finished up my field work in houston today and decided to drop by a nearby LFS on the recommendation of a friend (Ben Johnson of Captive Aquatic Ecosystems http://www.caecosystems.com/). I was very impressed. They are a saltwater/reef ONLY store (wow!) and have 3 very large frag tanks packed with great looking livestock. I didn't get to speak with the owner, but it looked like they were doing quite a bit of growing on the premises, as evidenced by encrusting SPS on frag racks that had grown onto the rack itself. I just wanted to let folks know that if they're on the south side of Houston, that they should definitely drop by to see a top notch establishment.

can you post a picture of the current setup?

Yeah, i think it's a flow problem. We'll see though. Etannert was the first to respond, so it's hers at this point.

Looking to give someone else a shot at a bubble coral that has not been thriving in my tank. It has slowly receded over time and I'm ready to pass it on to see if someone else can get it to perk up. I'd prefer to send it to an experienced reefer with a well established tank.

In terms of growth rates, xenia and anthelia are on par. However, on my "nuisance rock" that is isolated from my major rockwork, it seems that anthelia grows at a faster rate than GSP.

Not even a little bit . The downside of tank bred clowns I suppose. One day I'll cave and get an anemone for them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like the way this is headed. 3 kessils is crazy ! How do you feel about the color/coverage ? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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We're going in circles here. Time to let others chime in. I'm done with the subject. Good luck with whatever method you chose Kim!

I do not have NPS, nor is my setup geared to NPS. Low nitrate systems are more desirable for systems with SPS. If you lose circulation in ANY tank, you're going to have issues, so I feel like that point is moot. If i tip over my skimmer, I might have a temporary nitrate spike. If i get to messing with my DSB and my stirrers haven't been active or have died off, H2S is gonna get everything in your tank(see the venerable Randy Homes Farly http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-12/rhf/index.php) . The point I'm making is not that one method is 100% better than another. One has more inherent risk than the other. To your point, there are many high-tech reefing methods that are also high-risk (CO2 reactors and whichever flavor of carbon dosing is popular this week, come to mind) which, in my opinion, the risks outweigh the benefit. Perhaps where we should focus our unbounded mental energy is on what exactly Kim plans to keep, which might help focus the conversation. Honestly, I think "arguing" is an important part of my learning more about maintaining reef systems. It is sometimes the best way to get all the options out on the table and looked at. Hopefully I do not come across too negatively or condescending. All of the wet/dry systems I've converted to just basic sumps I did so when it was convienent and saved labor, usually this was during a move and it simplified setting a system back up. This one system I keep original because it is the one I had Yellow Polyps (zooanthiid sp.) release eggs in I reported in my thread http://www.austinree...._ polyp porn As far as being more work after removing any mechanical filtration some are designed to include I have not found them to be more work than tanks with just empty sumps like the sump used on this system http://www.austinree...he +odds! I also do not understand why wet/drys should produce more nitrates than any other system. The end product of the nitrification process is nitrates and as I understand it this bacerial process is the same irregardless of the ecosystem and the amount of nitrate present is a function of the food introduced to the system and how the other organisms ie micro and macro algae, corals (more algae), plants and facultive anaerobes use it. Having healthy coral growth in my experience is what will keep nitrates low at least in part by removing ammonia before bacteria have a chance to feed off it. I also prefer to do small weekly water changes but I have not looked at what would happen long term without water changes. However, as reported by Delbeek and Sprung in thier article in FAMA, December 1990 Dr. Juabert did maintain corals and fish without water changes and demonstrated a gradual drop in nitrates over a four year period from .350 mg/l to .013 mg/l. I'll argue over just about anything, with just about anyone, just for fun . My wife isn't quite as amused... With respect to wet/drys facilitating long term nitrate creep, i think it has to do with two things: 1) Over time, people (Personally, I am perfect and do not fit into this category at all... )get lazy and tend not to break down filters for maintenance. This leads to gunk in the bioballs themselves, which thanks to the immense filtrative success of bioballs, leads to high rates of nitrate production. 2) There is a perception that if you DO take your BB out to clean, that you will "wash off" the bacteria, or somehow break them in such a manner that will be harmful to the tank. This really just reinforces my first point. I personally favor an empty sump, with just a powerful skimmer. Maybe a refugium if you want to mitigate pH swing. I like to let live rock and foam fractionation do the work for me. VIVA LA DIFFERANCE!

Anyone who takes a trip to April's house will be well rewarded with several amazing tanks to look at. Thanks again!

I guess my reply on the "fad" of DSBs is that there is some inherent risk that exists to maintaining a DSB that does not exist with something like a skimmer even though they achieve the same goal. Best management practices evolve over time, and just because something *does* work, does not necessarily imply that it is the best method in terms of cost, risk, maintenance, etc. I have never, ever heard of anyone nuking their tank with a skimmer, but I have have read several accounts of DSBs taking out fish. Although It is almost always because the DSBs were not properly maintained, my thought process is why risk it if another safer method exists? My response to Tim on wetdry filters is similar. If you already have on in place, and are willing to keep up with it (especially if youre doing more of a fish only tank), then they absolutely have a place. But when you start talking reefs, where your goal is to get nitrates very low, then you're kind of going counter current by using a device that is incredibly effective at producing nitrates vis a vis NO2/NH3 reduction. It's not that success cannot be achieved, both you and patrick are testament that the opposite is true. However, is the time spent maintaining, and risk of problem equal to the reduction in cost? I'll let the accountants decide . That's the great thing about this hobby, there are so many ways to succeed, and all of them are fun to argue over.

From what I've read up on ATS, they're kind of a hard sell in terms of total nutrient export in relation to real estate required. You could make a similar argument for refugiums with respect to nutrient export, although they have other benefits (pod breeding/moderating pH swings if you reverse the photoperiod). DSBs seem to have really fallen out of fashion as a result of the relative risk of anoxic meltdown and increased maintenance. You'll also already have LR in the DT, so why more in the sump? Maybe a little more info about the tank would help guide the sump decision. The fuge sounds like the only one that I might be inclined to run out of the 4 that you listed. Well, that and a skimmer

the color temp isn't going to determine "quantity" of light. However, 7k bulbs are going to be very yellow and probably not very pleasing to the eye. If it were me, I'd either do a RapidLED kit or get a standalone pendant (kessil comes to mind) if I were to do my setup all over again.

Full system bids is what the OP requested.

BTW that stand looks amazing. looking forward to pictures of the sandstorm

MP40 in a BC29?! MADNESS. My MP10 can absolutely obliterate everything in my BC29.