Recent content by theatrus

WPG is a horrible rule. I could put a 5W light over a 1 gallon tank and keep absolutely nothing photosynthetic. Its all about actual light saturation and specific light intensities in the tank. T5s, WITH individual reflectors, are much more efficient than CFs. Good T5 readymade fixtures are SLS...

Salinity: low side, I'd recommend running at 1.026 for most tanks. Change this slowly if you decide to. pH: Good Ammonia: Unless the tank is cycling there should be no detectable ammonia Nitrate: Through the roof :) Would be "ok" for fish only tanks, but not much else. Methods for nitrate...

I run an autotopoff, probably the best thing I did (especially since it now runs through my kalk reactor). Having that water container of 30some gallons of RO water ready to go in emergencies is also great. But yes, you need to topoff water lost in your tank with freshwater. If its straight...

Pythons will work. What exactly are you siphoning?

T5s are better especially if you're using them for actinic/blue. Most blue/actinic PCs I've had have been pretty poor and have very poor lifetimes (only 5-6 months, vs 12-16 for T5)

T5 refers to the bulb diameter (5/8th of an inch). T8 is normal household bulbs, etc. T5s are very efficient in their ability to radiate light and not lose it inside the bulb, as well as very efficient use of per-bulb reflectors. If you're interested in T5, I'd recommend looking at the IceCap...

VHO is still the best pure actinic bulb (from UVL - they say so themselves :)). T-5HO is the way to go for all other fluorescents.

My pick would be T5 fluorescents. They drive more light per watt to the tank due to their individual reflectors (if the light fixture has a single common reflector its not worth getting), and have a large variety of bulbs to choose from, AND the bulbs maintain their color and light much longer...

Thats not going to kick up much heat at all. Unless your inside house temperatures start exceeding the mid 80s, no chiller needed. If the water gets too toasty, get a fan and blow it over the water. Evaporation will go up, but temperature down.

In all honesty, my AquaC Urchin has alway been quiet compared to my new Octopus NW

Only real difference is the moon light. So either way. What were you thinking of keeping under the light? "Decent corals" can be anything :) I'd get the legs for the light and not run the glass top either. Yes, you want some powerheads. I'd add 2 MaxiJet 600 or 900s to the tank.

The Coralife SS is not a bad skimmer. Other options would be an AquaC Remora Pro for HOB useage.

And make that RO+DI water :)

You may have a recirculating skimmer (maybe?). These type have a much smaller feed pump to supply them with water (enters 2/3rd the way up, exits on very bottom, and the bigger air injector pump which recirculates the water in the skimmer and produces the bubbles/foam.

Every time I think of "sand" I think of the sugar fine stuff I use in my reef. Which would simply fly out of the tank if I attempted to vacuum it. Coarser sand is ok :)