Weekly Discussion - Against the Grain

[bookfish]

Gee, where to begin. I keep bare bottom reef tanks and keep sps's under pc/no bulbs.
I underskim and overfeed (like a madman!) and do more water changes than are probably necessary. I don't dose and in fact don't use test kits at all. I can't say I recommend this style-too much work- but the corals grow really well.-Jim
ps. Righty, can i check out that acrylic tank this weekend?

 

[Anonymous]

I use tap water, not RO/DI.

I can do this because my source water is pretty clean. In my opinion, unless your tap water has lots of phosphates/metals, tap water puts far less nasties in your tank than feeding does.

I don't think I have an algae problem and my reef is going great! It makes me shake my head to hear the "you must have RO/DI or you'll have huge huge problems" - that is true for lots of tap water, but there is also plenty of locations whose tap water will work just fine.

jayo

 

[LFS42]

Well,
How about:
Not converting to DSB.
and
Keeping the bio-balls in my trickle filter.

 

[investigator1]

I have a 7 gallon nano. I have my skimmer on 24/7. I have never done a water change.

 

[clown1]

how do we manage to keep anything alive??!!

forgive me reefers for i have sinned, i have never done a water change, i used to keep putting in tap water when topping up (i now use ro), i have only once tested the parameters, i keep a hett. magnifica under flouro's and 3 months ago i decided to stop skimming the water.

ALL of the inhabitants of my reef are very happy, i prefer to let them tell me when there's something wrong with my water. i don't think i'm being irresponsible, on the contrary, to take the risk we are by going against the grain, we must first have experience, extensive research and the best interests of the animals in our tank at heart.

 

[wombat1]

Shane, the pics you're looking for are in the link in my signature of my 30 gallon tank. They were 2 gallon trash cans that sat on the back of the tank, and they fit under the canopy. They cost about 25 bucks a piece to build, but only b/c I used threaded PVC with teflon tape. Slip fittings, as you know, are much less expensive. They take about 10 minutes to construct....

Matt_Wandell

 

[wombat1]

Hmmm, the link doesn't work anymore. It was a friend's webpage. I think I may have posted them at some point, I'll try and find the pics.

 

[wombat1]

Here's a link where I give a detailed description, and it includes a link to the site where I got the plans.
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t ... ight=surge

OK, wombat must go back into hibernation now....