Althea's 28g Nano

[althea2you]

Originally Posted by certainti420

Ok so I have been reading your thread for few days now (really short attention span... you know read thread, go stare at my tank, play super mario bros. 3 ((I'm old school)) with the bf, read more thread, stare at tank, ect., ect., ect. busy schedule right).

I just want to say BEAUTIFUL TANK!!!

I hope mine gets close to that amazing.

But now that I am caught up with progress I am subscribed and ready to go.

I cant wait to watch this tank continue to grow

hey Jon! thanks for reading! and thank you so much on the compliments on the tank!!!

[tbittner]

Originally Posted by althea2you

i did start feeding the tank some brine shrimp... thats the ONLY difference... i feed it mysis occassionally..once a week if that(and i have always done that) ... i feed pellets (a pinch) every day to the fish at 3pm. and just this week started giving brine shrimp... have done it 2 times...the frozen cube brine shrimp. i put it in my litte glass bowl, add some tank water to thaw it out... then syringe it into the tank....

Phosphates over .3 will completely stop coral growth. They're hard on corals. You numbers aren't that high. I'd stop feeding the brine and get a phosban reactor, with phosban, and run that for a few days. It might only take a day to get rid of them, this stuff is that good. Then you can pull it back out of your tank and just keep an eye on the phosphates.

By thawing the brine in your tank water, it would leech out the phosphates into the water. But unless you can figure out a way to strain the brine out of the water, and discard the thawing water, you're adding the phosphates into the DT anyway. Assuming that they're coming from the brine. I guess you could test the phosphates on your thawing water. Then you'd know for sure.

It could be coming from the pellets too though. What kind are they? Maybe soak some in tank water for an hour or so and then test that water.

[althea2you]

Originally Posted by tbittner

Phosphates over .3 will completely stop coral growth. They're hard on corals. You numbers aren't that high. I'd stop feeding the brine and get a phosban reactor, with phosban, and run that for a few days. It might only take a day to get rid of them, this stuff is that good. Then you can pull it back out of your tank and just keep an eye on the phosphates.

By thawing the brine in your tank water, it would leech out the phosphates into the water. But unless you can figure out a way to strain the brine out of the water, and discard the thawing water, you're adding the phosphates into the DT anyway. Assuming that they're coming from the brine. I guess you could test the phosphates on your thawing water. Then you'd know for sure.

It could be coming from the pellets too though. What kind are they? Maybe soak some in tank water for an hour or so and then test that water.

i would think it was the brine.... over anything... because i have been feeding this pellett food since the day we got fish and have never had a phosphate reading... never detectable... but the brand is Nutrafin MAX marine complete food it says H.A.R.S certified (whatever that means)... and it says "with P.D.P* low ash & phosphorus

oh i see.. H.A.R.S is Hagen Aquatic Research Station.. and the P.D.P is Pre-Digested Plankton...

there it is! LOL... i feed the mysis the same as the brine too, but have never had a phosphate reading... i have the frozen cubes and i thaw it out in tank water... so i thought it would be ok to do so with the brine.

o well

ill look into the phos-reactor thing... thanks Terry!

[althea2you]

now, qith a phosban reactor... is this something that needs to be submerged? cause i dont have room for that in my tank anywhere... and i googled it and it brought up 2 little fishies phosbane reator rated for a tank up to 150 gallons... now would that be too much on a 28 gallon nano?! seems like a major over kill

[KimPossible]

Originally Posted by althea2you

and just this week started giving brine shrimp... have done it 2 times...the frozen cube brine shrimp. i put it in my litte glass bowl, add some tank water to thaw it out... then syringe it into the tank....

Thaw with fresh water and use a net. Rinse, rinse , rinse.

Brine has virtually no nutritional value, consider feeding mysis.
Clowns are omnivores so you could also alternate its diet with Formula 2, which will provide essential algae among many other ingredient including immune boosters. Do a google.

Supplying an adequate level of nutrients for livestock often entails variety.

[tbittner]

Yeah, brine doesn't have much nutritional value but it's like desert for the fish. They love it. I feed it once every other week, just because my fish have been good.

Two Little Fishies Phosban reactor is the one I use, actually I use two of them. The only thing that goes in your tank is a really small pump. Keep in mind that this is a temporary thing and you will only need to run it, literally, for a couple of days. Then you can take it out and store it some where in case you need it again.

I run carbon in one of them too, if my phosphates are zero.

[althea2you]

ok, Thanks Terry! and Kim, i will rinse the mysis, and throw out the brine.. no biggie.. ill lso look into the Formula 2.. thanks guys!

[althea2you]

ok, i am looking at purchasing my Phsban reactor right now... but i need to know what size pump do i need? i see one that is a powerhead/pump... and they have 106gph, 160gph, 230gph and 295gph. which one will i need? for a 28g.... what size should i get?TIA

here is the pump/powerhead...

Aquarium powerhead/water pump: Maxi-Jet Powerhead/Pumps provide vital water movement

[althea2you]

Originally Posted by althea2you

ok, i am looking at purchasing my Phsban reactor right now... but i need to know what size pump do i need? i see one that is a powerhead/pump... and they have 106gph, 160gph, 230gph and 295gph. which one will i need? for a 28g.... what size should i get?TIA

here is the pump/powerhead...

Aquarium powerhead/water pump: Maxi-Jet Powerhead/Pumps provide vital water movement

anyone? should i just go with the 106gph? its the smallest...

[althea2you]

also, what do you all think of this stuff... should i get this?
Aquarium Filter Media & Phosphate remover: Drs. Foster & Smith PhosPure plus Zeolite & Carbon
or just the phosban?
Phosphate Removing Aquarium Filter Media: PhosBan

also... please hepl with the pumps? in the above posts... i would like to get this purchased.. and really dont know what pump to get.. TIA

[tbittner]

Recommended flow rate is 20-30 gph so it takes a really small pump.

This is the pump I use.

I use the phosban. It removed all phosphates from 570g of water in about 5 days.

[althea2you]

Originally Posted by tbittner

Recommended flow rate is 20-30 gph so it takes a really small pump.

This is the pump I use.

I use the phosban. It removed all phosphates from 570g of water in about 5 days.

ok, great! thanks terry... i just put tht pump in my shopping cart! LOL....if i wanted to use carbon in there at another time.. owuld that pump be sufficient?

and Phosban it is.. thanks!!

[althea2you]

alright.. i didnt have my PH reading on there because i do not have a PH test kit! hated the one i had so when i got the AC jr, i tossed it... well not knowing i wasnt going to immediatly hook the devil up!!!1 so now i somewhat hooked up the AC jr to the 90.. and i tested the PH of both tanks... the nano is at 7.90.....hmmm.. should i add some buffer to it? i mean after three straight water changes, you would think that would change the PH... no... so buffer? or no?

[tbittner]

I use that pump when running carbon and it works great.

I'm not sure about the PH.

(sorry for being short, I'm at work and don't get much time to "play" )

[althea2you]

just an update... my toadstool is now standing straight up! LOL..it looked like it was bowing down at the waist, but all its polyps were extended... now it had polyp extention AND its standing up! LOL thank goodness... i was really starting to feel bad that i did that too quickly... i figured every other day in a 5 day span would be ok... o well... hopefully my pink and orange ric start to get better...