Another question....

[Lonewolfblue]

I remember a while back ago someone was telling me about doing SW, and I can't quite remember what they were talking about. But they said that it's something you don't want to die in the tank, as it poisons the tank and all the coral if it does die. Anyone know of what things will poison the tank if it dies? Is it anenomies? Or any particular corals? I just can't remember what he was talking about, told me if I decided to get them that I need to make sure it doesn't die or I'll have severe problems.

 

[yetee]

He could have been talking about anemones but sea cucumbers can also be toxic if stressed or they die. Im sure there are many more that can do this same thing.

 

[roka64]

I agree, nems, cowfish, some slugs, octopi, squid, there are plenty of them, cukes too I think.

 

[pat8you]

cucumbers and slugs are notorious for it. They arn't the brightest creatures in the sea and they have a real bad habit of crawling over a power head, getting sucked in, shredded and then the toxins in their body nuke the tank. Would just avoid them all together.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Cool, thanks for the help. I do believe it was anemonies he was talking about. And good to know about the rest as well. Last night I was able to get rid of my tiger barbs, had a guy come pick them up for his new 90G. I had about 15-20 large ones, had them over 5 years. Now once I move my fire eel to my 75G, I can then empty the 55G out and start cleaning everything, and get new media for my XP3. Don't really want to use the same, gunky media in a new SW tank. So I'll clean out the filter well and insert all new media. It may be a few weeks before I even start it, so it gives me plenty of time to get everything ready to go. Can't wait, it's always fun doing something new, lol. And so many questions, lol.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

One more question, about lighting, is there any real benefits to the high-k bulbs, like the 18000k-20000k bulbs? Or are they just more hype and the 6000k-12000k are just fine, as well as actinics?

 

[pat8you]

The higher kelvin bulbs will help to bring out the color in your coral and fish. Especially the colors on the cool end of the spectrum. Some believe that is even promotes good color but i'm not sure i would support that.

In my opinion they give a nice tint of blue to the tank. Not all that noticeable until you put it next to some of the lower K bulbs and then i think it looks much better.

The low K bulbs are particularly good at plant growth which is good in freshwater but just translates to more algae in SW. They are not recommended.

Many people will use a fairly white bulb as their main source (10-15000 K) and then supplement with actinic bulbs to get that bit of blue and bring out the colors.

 

[melosu58]

I dont pay any attention to the K ratings. I just use super actincs and 50/50.