Inclinations of a no-filter media system.

[cheeks69]

How is the corraline growing without any calcium/alkalinity/strontium and other elements being replaced ? Are you dripping kalk ?

 

[prow]

good question. nope no kalk. i am guessing down in the rock and sand the aragontie is getting broke down. the rock is probably hallow, at least very porous .

 

[cheeks69]

Well the ph would have to be quite low and from what Boomer mentioned if it does get that low the SB will actually harden/clump.

 

[prow]

yeah thats right. but i dont think the sand is what is getting dissolved. the ph in the tank stays at around 8.0. it does not vary much at all. maybe 0.01-0.02. but zones within the rock i would expect go <7.7( the point where aragonite starts to dissolve.) the sand is still loose no clumps. there is only 1.5-2" of sand, even though the ph may go under 7.7 towards the bottom the sand, the level has remained the same. for as long as the tank has been going with out water changes or supplements the sand should be either solid or dissolved into noting by now. i think deep down within the rock is where most of the dissolving is going on. its they only thing that make any sence to me. there maybe other reasons or mechanisms i am not familiar with. aside from the coralline growing its the stable ph that gets me. 8.0 solid day or night that just amazing.

 

[EagleEyes]

Hey i dont pretend to know anything about chemistry, but there is more than one way to make clacium, whether its calcium bicarbonate, calcium hydroxide, calcium chloride, etc. But if you have diatoms in the tank, which would be wierd, they might hold the key to your undoubtedly odd case. Also, you might have a system with organisms that form a chain, processing the calcium until it can be reused. i.e. Coral eating fish -> diatoms coral/calcareous algae -> coral eating fish. (im sure there would be something in the middle but im not THAT knowledgable, although i have been searching..

 

[EagleEyes]

Oh and also, the algae you have is not the same type that "glues" reefs together. It might be reusing small bits of calcium. So heres a good question:

Does the calcareous algae grow in cycles? or is there some other cycle that might show that there is a buffer period where calcium recycling could take place?

 

[prow]

:smck: i did not even think of that. i think you hit it right on the head. it does not really grow in cycles. it does come and go a little on the glass, not the rock though. to some extent i think your right its self containing. some buffering from the sand and rock keeping things stable. i also have a branching coralline-Haliptilon roseum in there. to be honest i dont really pay much attention to the tank. but i know that branching coralline used to grow pretty fast but sense i let the tank go it stays the same size. i have a few mushrooms and polyps in there too. the mushes grow but only split like once a year maybe. the polyps stay the same too, not spreading over everything. good call...karma too ya......

 

[EagleEyes]

Thanks Prow, like your Reefspace! Im gonna get one myself! Also, i thought of an even simpler and possibly better explaination. What happens when you have an algae that doesn't necessarily NEED calcium to live finds it self in short supply? It lives, but adds calcium little by little. You should be lucky that it doesnt have very many predators in your tank! So the idea is, not recycling but using less because there is less. Plus it would accommodate the hypothesis that the calcium is getting broken down very slowly, probably by water motion, or in areas under the sand where the (isolated) areas have a higher pH or something. Good topic!!

 

[Craig Manoukian]

Very interesting exchange eveyone!

 

[prow]

Very interesting exchange eveyone!

aahhh the things that make you go cnfzd:.......:idea:.......:meeting:.......:read:..............:meeting:..............:smack:..............:hammerhea..............:meeting:....... ..............:idea:.......:idea:.......:winner:.......:zzz:

eagle eyes thanks, like my tank its a work in progress. did you see my discriptions of the fish when you click on the view pic? then click on the pic, the part that shows the map of where they come from. i only have discriptions of the fish have not done the coral yet still havent loaded all of them. just courious on what others think of the discriptions. keep in mind i am discriping that particular fish.

here a link i think. http://www.reefspace.net/photo/photo/listForContributor?sort=highestRated just click the fish pic's.

 

[EagleEyes]

That just took me to MY photo page for some reason and i have nothing on it. lol But i did try to go to your page and look for them but i didnt see it.

 

[BigAl07]

That just took me to MY photo page for some reason and i have nothing on it. lol But i did try to go to your page and look for them but i didnt see it.

I was getting the same thing last night when trying to view someone else's page from a link... it always took me to Mine... then I finally got in and it kept bouncing me back to THIS forum....

Allen

 

[EagleEyes]

Yeah it was really weird.. Anyway i got my page on Reefspace set up and IT LOOKS.... in need of some work. Also i put up a reefsanctuary forum thingy by clicking "add one" on prows page and it looks exactly like prows.. lol im not sure if it shows those forums with new posts or it is those posts that prow is suscribed to.. i am really a noob when it comes to reefspace!!

 

[prow]

hey guys what up, the reefsanctuary thing shows the new current most recent threads not the ones suscribed to and that link took me to my page but thats what i wanted. can one of you post a link to your photo page, i want to see if it takes me there or links me to my page?

i am still figuring this out myself.

i love the reefspace page but you can spend some serious time on it, thats what my girlfriend keeps telling me, anyway.

 

[EagleEyes]

Oh but it is true.. and i have no photos on there yet so i cant do it, could someone else? If it were like a regular myspace page it might be familiar, but im sort of glad its not. More of a challenge and it has a different feeling to it.

 

[EagleEyes]

OH! Got it prow.. royal gramma's from just south of Cuba? i thought they were from some place in indonesia.. thats a cool feature

 

[prow]

yep thats it. i only have that on the fish now but working on the corals. still getting pic of some. and yup, the gramma comes out of the caribbean close to cuba. i am printing up those pic with the discription and mapping on it to make a scrape book. people are always asking was is that were did that come from. when i am done all i need to do is give them the book. always wanted to do that.

 

[EagleEyes]

Seems easier than telling them the story, plus you can get them drinks while they read it!

Hey (everyone) I found a really cool website that promotes aquaculture for the aquarium trade/hobby. They always have stuff in stock and it would help keep people from harvesting wild life. I'm buying Cerith snails from them. They are based in Maryland and have a "state of the art" facility. Check the page out here:

https://www.pacificeastaquaculture.com/Default.aspx

 

[lcstorc]

They are also one of our sponsors. Great company from what I hear. Many people report great experiences buying from them.

 

[EagleEyes]

You know i found it on a thread and i hadn't thought to look to see if they were a sponsor.. Yeah i would support them just because they are an aquaculture company!