DSB on my 55 gal FOWLR has been up and running for about 6-7 months now (after converting from CC). DSB is 4-5 inches deep and was built using Pure Carribean Aragonite (about 120 lbs) and 30 lbs of LS from the LFS. Shortly after establishing the DSB, some "interesting" colors showed up against the glass that I figured were algae that would die off as the DSB got up and running. After waiting for several months, no die off and still remained colorful. Didn't see any pods or worm tracks, so I re-seeded the sand with some additional LS - saw a number of worms that crawled off to somewhere, never to be see again. That was about 4 months ago and still no change in the lovely rainbox of colors.
Water chemistry is good (although NO3 is relative high):
NH3 = 0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 10
SG = 1.026
PH = 8.2
Bio load is:
Auriga Butterfly
2 false percula
2 yellow-tail blue damsels
2 firefish gobies
2 emerald crabs (recently lost a third)
2 stars (bristel & sea serpent)
bunches of hermits
bunches of snail (turbo, nassarius, cerith)
Filtering/water movement:
Aqua-C Remora w/maxi 1200 & surface skimmer
Emperor 400 used w/GAC filters only (no bio-wheel)
(used for water polishing - runs a few hours each night)
2 maxi 600 & 1 maxi 900 for flow
I would prefer to see the colors in the fish and coraline growth. Any thoughts about getting back to a pristine white (or at least a pristine off-white)?
Here are a few pics for reference...
http://66.1.231.123/Family/tank2.jpg
http://66.1.231.123/family/tank3.jpg
http://66.1.231.123/family/tank4.jpg
Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions.
Tim
Water chemistry is good (although NO3 is relative high):
NH3 = 0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 10
SG = 1.026
PH = 8.2
Bio load is:
Auriga Butterfly
2 false percula
2 yellow-tail blue damsels
2 firefish gobies
2 emerald crabs (recently lost a third)
2 stars (bristel & sea serpent)
bunches of hermits
bunches of snail (turbo, nassarius, cerith)
Filtering/water movement:
Aqua-C Remora w/maxi 1200 & surface skimmer
Emperor 400 used w/GAC filters only (no bio-wheel)
(used for water polishing - runs a few hours each night)
2 maxi 600 & 1 maxi 900 for flow
I would prefer to see the colors in the fish and coraline growth. Any thoughts about getting back to a pristine white (or at least a pristine off-white)?
Here are a few pics for reference...
http://66.1.231.123/Family/tank2.jpg
http://66.1.231.123/family/tank3.jpg
http://66.1.231.123/family/tank4.jpg
Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions.
Tim