Oh.my..god...Broken RO/DI tube

[CEverii]

Ok so here i'm ready to get my FOWLR tank up and going. Was about to make my water with the RO/DI system i just bought off ebay. Got it in, unpacked it, tried to get that canister open that i put that blue membrane thing in and what happens??? One of the skinny tubes SNAPS OFF !!!!! I tried email the guy last thursday and so far nothing. He has a website its like purewater(something).com but when I try to go to it its down. Can I just use some of my aquariums safe silicone sealant (spelling?) on it and just seal it back?

 

[CEverii]

It's a pretty clean break. Could i just lather it up with that sealent and be good to go?

*Edit* Off the topc at hand but i didn't want to make another thead so ill ask here.


I'm going to get my rock from macrorocks.com. I'm very confused what his rocks do (The Key Largo Smart Start rocks).Are they Live Rock or base Rock? Do I just throw them into my tank, throw some shrimp in there and watch it cycle? Or do i need to seed those rock from a LR? If i do need to seed those rocks, what exactly is seeing a abse rock anyway?

 

[eatsomepopcorn]

I would suggest you try to find the part on-line and get it fixed the right way. Until then, do what you did before you had this.

 

[CaptainAhab]

MarcoRock is base rock. The "SmartStart" rocks are just pre-cured to remove most, if not all, of the organic matter and then allowed to dry again. They still recommend not adding a large amount to an established tank without soaking first to ensure no ammonia spike.

On the other topic, take a look at HomeDepot and Lowes. They typically carry the tubing and fitting as well. In the plumbing supply aisle

 

[CEverii]

If i threw say 20lb's of LR in with say 70lbs of Macro Rock, how long would it take for my macro rock to become LR?

 

[CaptainAhab]

Depends on your bioload. Remember live rock just means it has an active bacteria colony on it. The bacteria colony will only ever be as big as the life it needs to support. If you put LR in a tank with no ammonia source (ammonia, decaying matter, fish waste) it will become 'baserock'...

Don't get caught up in the name. If you use bioballs you could call then base-bioballs when you open the package and once you start using them and get a bacteria colony on them you could call the live-bioballs.. or anything else for that matter.. filter material, ceramic discs, etc

 

[CEverii]

Well I'd be using the shrimp trick to start my cycle. Does that make a difference?

 

[mfdrookie516]

it doesnt matter how you cycle the tank, there will only be as much bacteria as you have food (ammonia) for. As you increase your bioload, say from 2 fish to 4 fish, theoretically, your bacterial colony should double. Make sense? You can build a bacterial colony that is 100 times bigger than you need, and if you only stock one fish, that bacteria will start to die except the small amount that the fish waste is feeding

 

[CaptainAhab]

Yea, the larger the ammonia source/concentration the more bacteria. But keep in mind that it will all die back to your bioload,

I wonder if you might be less talking about making it 'live' as getting the perty coloration perhaps?

 

[CEverii]

Both i suppose. I was really jsut curious as to how long or if it was possible to do the 20lbs of LR and say 60lb's of macrorock and keep fish alive. taking it slow of course, but maybe after a month or so of cycling/adding the CUC maybe be ready for a fish or two

 

[CaptainAhab]

yes it is.. as long as the live rock is cured... which means you'd be buying it locally and getting it in the asap.. not having it shipped