Refugiums and Rock Arrangements

[Leslie]

I've been wondering if my system would benefit from a refugium. I have a 29g Eclipse with a Prism skimmer, a 55 watt PC, about 20 lbs. of LR and a 1 1/2 inch sand bed. I have 3 fish: tomato clown, purple firefish and a six-lined wrasse. Corals are: candy, trumpet, daisy, lobophylia, green star polyp, pulsing xenia, "mystery" xenia and blue mushrooms. I have two shrimps - a Scarlet Lady and a Peppermint. Additionally, I have an LTA and a red gorgonian with white polyps. I have no plans to add additional specimens to the tank, as it seems very balanced and stable, and everyone coexists very happily. Water parameters remain consistently good with my only "struggle", if you will, being a low pH that hovers between about 7.7 and 8.0. Calcium levels are stable. I use only R/O water and keep salinity between 1.021 and 1.023. So, here's question #1 re: refugiums.

I'd like to cultivate live foods, especially for the gorgonian, and am not sure what part a refugium would play relating to live foods except that it allows a POD population to regenerate itself. Would my tank benefit from a refugium?

Question #2 re: rock placement. I have arranged the rocks to be more central in the tank, thinking that it would be easier to clean the back glass. Well, it is in that it can be cleaned, but I wouldn't call it easy. I've read opinions that range from "it's perfectly alright to rearrange rocks as often as you'd like", to it's the "kiss of toxic death". I'd like to arrange them so that they are leaning up against the back glass and not worry about cleaning behind them, but can't get information that makes sense to me [if it doesn't make sense to me, then I don't do it as a general convention] about why I should or should not rearrange my rocks. I'm also concerned about blocking the filter and skimmer intakes. This isn't something I'm driven to do to the point that I'd risk the safety of my tank's inhabitants, but I sure would like to be able to stop cleaning the back glass! Your advice will be appreciated!

 

[Leo C 2]

Wow!!!
Thats allot of life for that size tank, if it's stabble better not mess with it or it could all blow up on you, better to get a turbo snail or two and let them take care of that algie for you.
you want to have good water circulation through your live rock witch you wont have by trying to cover up a little algie and you wont be able to vacume behind it ether.
I personly just take care of my viewing glass and let the snails do there thing.
Leo

 

[Randy D.]

Hi Leslie,

Sorry about the previous post, I hit the wrong button. As a far as a refugium is concerned, it certainly wouldn't hurt your system, but it seems a little bit unecessary given the size of the tank and the inhabitants you currently house. The Gorgonian would probably benefit from the increased Pod production, but you need to find a more reliable food source for it. If I am picturing your Gorgonian correctly, it is very similar to the species that is on the cover of this months issue. As you probably know, they are not photosynthetic and have a very spotty record of survival in captivity. I'd take a close look at Rob Toonen's Gorgonian article in this issue for some husbandry clues. You might want to shoot him a post re viable feeding options for this species.

The issue of rock placement is not that complicated. It is fine to rearrange your rock work occasionally if there is a good reason to do so, but it is best to settle on a functional and pleasing setup and leave it alone. The less you disturb things, the more stable the system becomes. However, I don't think you are risking "toxic death" by doing so. What you do need to remember is that you need to be able to access the equipment you place behind the rockwork and try to provide for some water movewment behind the rocks. I'm not sure why you feel compelled to clean the back wall of the tank. Most reefkeepers I know simply let the lovely pink and purple coralline algaes cover the glass and leave it at that.

One more thing, your specific gravity seems a bit low. I'd try slowly raising it to 1.024-5. It may help your pH stabilize too. BTW, how are you supplementing for Calcium/Alkalinity?

Hope this helps,

Randy

 

[Leslie]

Leo C2, do you really think there's too much of a bio-load for the tank? I understood the corals weren't much of a problem (and all of my species are small - many are fragments), and I have only 3 small fish. At any rate, I don't want to add more.

Randy, I sort of like the back of the tank to be black - I think it provides a nice background for the rock, etc. What I've been doing is painstakingly scraping the back glass down about half way and, yes, there's a ton of coralline algae taking over the bottom half. Since I have good flow through the rocks and to the back, I think I'll just leave things as they are. It would be difficult to get to the intakes. It would be an aesthetic choice anyway...

I add calcium on an as-needed basis. It has maintained at a level of "400". I use the Hagen test, and it says to multiply the number of drops it takes to change the color by 20. It almost always takes 20 drops. When I do have to add it, I add the recommended 1 tbs or less, depending on how low it is.

pH is another story. I just can't seem to raise it. A couple of times my dkH has been low, and I've added the recommended amount of Kent Superbuffer dkH. If the dkH is okay, and the pH is low, I add the recommended amount of Kent pH buffer. Nothing seems to work, so I'm obviously not doing it right. It was my understanding that the dkH helped stabilize the pH (?). Regarding salinity. I read in a book by John Tullock that 1.023 was the goal. Perhaps I'm misremembering. It's very possible.I'll have to find the book and look it up again. I do remember my LFS telling me that 1.023 is good. What are the benefits of a higher salinity?

What's your opinion of my bio-load? Too much? Any other opinions out there? I can cut back (although I'd hate to - it's hard enough to refrain from adding more!)

Also, I heard that Turbo snails can knock over rocks in a small system, so I've stayed with Astreas, who do a fair job. But I'm tempted...wouldn't take much encouragement to get me to get one or two.

Thanks for your replies, guys. I appreciate your time and knowledge.

Leslie

 

[Leslie]

Ooops. Forgot. I read the article on gorgonians, and I'm going to get some of the food recommended in the article. Satisfies my gorgonian and saves money!

I also meant to ask: I'm using Spectra Vital by Marc Weiss. It says it does great things, but *what is it*? Will it feed the gorgonian and corals?

Leslie

 

[AF Founder]

Leslie,

You said, "pH is another story. I just can't seem to raise it. A couple of times my dkH has been low, and I've added the recommended amount of Kent Superbuffer dkH. If the dkH is okay, and the pH is low, I add the recommended amount of Kent pH buffer. Nothing seems to work, so I'm obviously not doing it right. It was my understanding that the dkH helped stabilize the pH (?). Regarding salinity. I read in a book by John Tullock that 1.023 was the goal. Perhaps I'm misremembering. It's very possible.I'll have to find the book and look it up again. I do remember my LFS telling me that 1.023 is good. What are the benefits of a higher salinity?"

As an experiment, take out a quart of tank water, measure the pH, then aerate it, and remeasure the pH. If the pH goes up significantly, that will tell you that you may have insufficient gas exchange in your tank.

 

[Randy D.]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Leslie:
<strong>I've been wondering if my system would benefit from a refugium. I have a 29g Eclipse with a Prism skimmer, a 55 watt PC, about 20 lbs. of LR and a 1 1/2 inch sand bed. I have 3 fish: tomato clown, purple firefish and a six-lined wrasse. Corals are: candy, trumpet, daisy, lobophylia, green star polyp, pulsing xenia, "mystery" xenia and blue mushrooms. I have two shrimps - a Scarlet Lady and a Peppermint. Additionally, I have an LTA and a red gorgonian with white polyps. I have no plans to add additional specimens to the tank, as it seems very balanced and stable, and everyone coexists very happily. Water parameters remain consistently good with my only "struggle", if you will, being a low pH that hovers between about 7.7 and 8.0. Calcium levels are stable. I use only R/O water and keep salinity between 1.021 and 1.023. So, here's question #1 re: refugiums.

I'd like to cultivate live foods, especially for the gorgonian, and am not sure what part a refugium would play relating to live foods except that it allows a POD population to regenerate itself. Would my tank benefit from a refugium?

Question #2 re: rock placement. I have arranged the rocks to be more central in the tank, thinking that it would be easier to clean the back glass. Well, it is in that it can be cleaned, but I wouldn't call it easy. I've read opinions that range from "it's perfectly alright to rearrange rocks as often as you'd like", to it's the "kiss of toxic death". I'd like to arrange them so that they are leaning up against the back glass and not worry about cleaning behind them, but can't get information that makes sense to me [if it doesn't make sense to me, then I don't do it as a general convention] about why I should or should not rearrange my rocks. I'm also concerned about blocking the filter and skimmer intakes. This isn't something I'm driven to do to the point that I'd risk the safety of my tank's inhabitants, but I sure would like to be able to stop cleaning the back glass! Your advice will be appreciated!</strong><hr></blockquote>

 

[Leo C 2]

Editor
Thanks for the tipe on areatting the water, how long should this be done before tacking another reeding.
Leslie
You are correct my large turbo snail has knocked over my 6" fire corrale that was in a preaty precarious spote, hasn't done so since I moved it to a more stabble spote in my tank, the smaller snailes are no problem.
How is that proteen scimmer working, I have three fish in my 75 gal hex tank, 1- 5" yellow tang,
1-3"clown and a 3" cardnall with the one corrall and 50# of LR at this time and get abought 1 ounce of proteen a day. Hope you can get that ph under controll I don't no why it needs to be 8.3-8.5 for reef tank's but thats what all the proes tell use so... maybe the editor could explain it in lamans terms for us.
Leo C 2

 

[AF Founder]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Leo C 2:
<strong>Editor
Thanks for the tipe on areatting the water, how long should this be done before tacking another reeding.
Leslie
You are correct my large turbo snail has knocked over my 6" fire corrale that was in a preaty precarious spote, hasn't done so since I moved it to a more stabble spote in my tank, the smaller snailes are no problem.
How is that proteen scimmer working, I have three fish in my 75 gal hex tank, 1- 5" yellow tang,
1-3"clown and a 3" cardnall with the one corrall and 50# of LR at this time and get abought 1 ounce of proteen a day. Hope you can get that ph under controll I don't no why it needs to be 8.3-8.5 for reef tank's but thats what all the proes tell use so... maybe the editor could explain it in lamans terms for us.
Leo C 2</strong><hr></blockquote>
Leo,
The ocean is a huge body of water, and is chemically stable. Reef fish and corals evolved in that stable water. Our tanks are a mere drop of water in comparison. The fish take in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide, if not driven from the tank's water by aeration, will become in seawater carbonic acid, which will drop the pH to a point where sea critters will suffer. Is that any clearer?

 

[AF Founder]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Leo C 2:
<strong>Editor
Thanks for the tipe on areatting the water, how long should this be done before tacking another reeding.
Leslie
You are correct my large turbo snail has knocked over my 6" fire corrale that was in a preaty precarious spote, hasn't done so since I moved it to a more stabble spote in my tank, the smaller snailes are no problem.
How is that proteen scimmer working, I have three fish in my 75 gal hex tank, 1- 5" yellow tang,
1-3"clown and a 3" cardnall with the one corrall and 50# of LR at this time and get abought 1 ounce of proteen a day. Hope you can get that ph under controll I don't no why it needs to be 8.3-8.5 for reef tank's but thats what all the proes tell use so... maybe the editor could explain it in lamans terms for us.
Leo C 2</strong><hr></blockquote>
Leo,
The ocean is a huge body of water, and is chemically stable. Reef fish and corals evolved in that stable water. Our tanks are a mere drop of water in comparison. The fish take in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide, if not driven from the tank's water by aeration, will become in seawater carbonic acid, which will drop the pH to a point where sea critters will suffer. Is that any clearer?

 

[Leslie]

Thanks, Terry. Will do. That should be interesting...