succesful bb tanks

adtravels · 08/02/2006, 06:05 AM

My new 55 is bb I have aroud 44 time the volume in flow (seios and oceanrunner).
I have and intank fuge with algae and 150watts mh and 150wats pc
I only want softies fish and inverts in the system its been going for 3 months and nitrates are at 3 ppm I have just got some xenia to hopefully soak them up.

I have a skimmer and siphon the bottom once a week I have zoos 4 fish shrimp snails and an organ pipe.

does any one have succesful bb that they are happy with and have kept nitrate low for a long period of time?

R33f3r · 08/02/2006, 06:39 AM

There is No evidence that xenia will "soak up" trates or p04. A good skimmer with wet skimming and regular water changes will make your bb tank proud.

I converted to bb a year ago, and never had any nitrate problems and I have a mixed reef but mainly exotic lps and anemones. The key is water changes and skimming wet. Xenia doesn't like low nutrient water and will grow poorly FME.

Electrobes · 08/02/2006, 07:22 AM

R33f3r is on the ball with that answer. You have the key ingredients for a BB (A lot of flow, a skimmer (though I don't know which type you have).

I don't know of many BBers that are softies.. so IMO you don't need a UV sterilizer, but I do suggest sticking with the water changes and possibly running some carbon to help in periods of both toxin battles and molting affairs.

I would like to know more about your fuge. From what I gathered most BBer's don't usually go with a refugium. I find that many are under the impression they are used strictly as filters, when they really are what people learned in the beginning... a place for living things that couldn't survive in the display (i.e copepods, etc).

There are tons of people who have been VERY successful with BB, I have never tried it (SSBer here), but trolling through these threads you'll find many tanks with all sorts of different methods, set-ups, etc... and most have a great looking reef at the right perameters.

adtravels · 08/02/2006, 07:49 AM

Unfortunatly I have a prism but know how to tweak it (many hours spent) to skim wet or dry they are ok as long as you can handle daily adjustment.
I have always skimmed wet but have found that i need to add more two part if skimming is wet (just personal observation). Plus dont want to over skim (yes there is such a thing).

i dont use a prefilter as I want to keep all the particulate matter before it becomes unuseful to corals/filterfeeders.
My lr has a multitude of tubeworms etc. as The fish I have are not predators of the above.

The fuge is a modified guppy breeder with an airstone to create flow it is about 2 gallon in capacity the algae inside is c.rasemosa and it gets harvested on a weekly basis and grows rapidly.

Thanks for the input I guess I just carry on as is and see what the results are.

twon8 · 08/02/2006, 08:01 AM

I disagree, I think xenia is a great nutrient export. I have been running a 180 bb since last nov. all the contents got moved from a 120, and i feed around five times a day. i hadn't changed water in two months, and i recently checked my nitrates and phosphates and they were both undetectable, using the merck test for phosphate and salifert for nitrates. There are several type of xenia, so maybe that explains it. but as i said i feed a lot, so maybe im not nutrient poor, just very high tank metabolism.

Electrobes · 08/02/2006, 08:09 AM

I am curious adtravels... why do you think over-skimming is possible? I like to hear opinions about this topic for some reason

twon8 · 08/02/2006, 08:27 AM

perhaps when you skim more the corals grow faster with the cleaner water, thus requiring more two part.

Electrobes · 08/02/2006, 08:33 AM

I thought that but he hadded over-skimming after mentioning having to add two-part when he skims in general...

PatrickJ · 08/02/2006, 09:07 AM

BB that has nitrates? Hmm....

Through away that prism skimmer and get an aqua-c.

Andrew · 08/02/2006, 09:50 AM

I just restarted my 75 and it's BB and so far I have a Tunze 6060 and a RP pushing 500 gph and I plan on adding two of the 6025 nanostreams when they come out. Thats over 1200gph more. I'm also creating a custom skimmer to handle the bio-load and the fact that my tank is BB. Hopefully with a BB tank, I won't have the water problems like before.

twon8 · 08/02/2006, 11:47 AM

imo you will need more flow, I really like the controllable streams, and since you are looking at the 6025 i assume you will be getting a controller?

adtravels · 08/02/2006, 11:57 AM

Just an observation, just spent two weeks in malaysia "muck" diving on mabul in the nutrient rich waters there, run off, muddy bottoms, poor vis most amazing biodiversty I have ever seen diving anywhere in the world (and sorry but I have dived alot of places). Our organisms are mostly from the indo-pacific region. The reason there is so much biodiversity there is due to the nutrient rich water either from upwellings or land or both.
Thats why I thnk you can overskim, just look at the folks who are surprized when the add a couple more fishes and there corals colour up (and thats the proper spelling of colour by the way).

Andrew · 08/02/2006, 11:58 AM

The 6025 arent contollable. This will be more than enough flow. What I have now is fine but I have two dead spots in the back two corners.

King-Kong · 08/02/2006, 12:07 PM

Rotting food in the water column, and proper nutrition for your corals arent the same thing.

If you arent feeding enough and you're skimming too hard, you will starve your corals, hence the light-colored issues many BBers experience (I am one of them).

Only after understanding this did I begin to feed more, but also skim more, trying to better match the two so that I could feed my corals food and also get the uneaten food out before it turned into harmful components.

twon8 · 08/02/2006, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by King-Kong
Rotting food in the water column, and proper nutrition for your corals arent the same thing.

If arent feeding enough and you're skimming too hard, you will starve your corals, hence the light-colored issues many BBers experience (I am one of them).

Only after understanding this did I begin to feed more, but also skim more, trying to better match two two so that I could feed my corals food and also get the uneaten food out before it turned into harmful components.

i agree completely.

gman0526 · 08/02/2006, 01:03 PM

As long as we keep assuming that the dynamics in coral reefs are the same as in our tanks we'll keep making the same mistakes over and over. I agree with Kong, finding that balance between importing and exporting nutrients is the key.

FWIW this is clockwrk's 90 softies and LPS tank

adtravels · 08/02/2006, 01:11 PM

A really great looking tank just what I was looking for,
all comments really welcome I will try to be a better reefer.
Can i see your tanks (the ones who seem to have relly cracked it (kong, twat8)

gman0526 · 08/02/2006, 01:25 PM

Here's mine

King-Kong · 08/02/2006, 01:36 PM

Really cracked it? no way!!! I'm just scratching! I still have a lot to learn, and it's really only been within the past few months that things have "come together" for me in my head; my hardware, corals, and tank are slow to follow

None the less, here is an older higher resolution shot, coupled with a newer low resolution shot:

adtravels · 08/02/2006, 01:38 PM

good gman0526 and not just the standr=ard aquascape fish, a little more original lovely tuskfish

adtravels · 08/02/2006, 01:41 PM

and yours kong an ape after my own heart

08/02/2006, 06:05 AM	#1
adtravels you cant buy blue fingers Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,542	succesful bb tanks My new 55 is bb I have aroud 44 time the volume in flow (seios and oceanrunner). I have and intank fuge with algae and 150watts mh and 150wats pc I only want softies fish and inverts in the system its been going for 3 months and nitrates are at 3 ppm I have just got some xenia to hopefully soak them up. I have a skimmer and siphon the bottom once a week I have zoos 4 fish shrimp snails and an organ pipe. does any one have succesful bb that they are happy with and have kept nitrate low for a long period of time?

08/02/2006, 06:39 AM	#2
R33f3r Anemones Anonymous Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: 29.763N:95.363W Posts: 3,114	There is No evidence that xenia will "soak up" trates or p04. A good skimmer with wet skimming and regular water changes will make your bb tank proud. I converted to bb a year ago, and never had any nitrate problems and I have a mixed reef but mainly exotic lps and anemones. The key is water changes and skimming wet. Xenia doesn't like low nutrient water and will grow poorly FME. __________________ Member of the starboard cult.

08/02/2006, 07:22 AM	#3
Electrobes Montipora type guy Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Fort Myers, FL Posts: 2,945	R33f3r is on the ball with that answer. You have the key ingredients for a BB (A lot of flow, a skimmer (though I don't know which type you have). I don't know of many BBers that are softies.. so IMO you don't need a UV sterilizer, but I do suggest sticking with the water changes and possibly running some carbon to help in periods of both toxin battles and molting affairs. I would like to know more about your fuge. From what I gathered most BBer's don't usually go with a refugium. I find that many are under the impression they are used strictly as filters, when they really are what people learned in the beginning... a place for living things that couldn't survive in the display (i.e copepods, etc). There are tons of people who have been VERY successful with BB, I have never tried it (SSBer here), but trolling through these threads you'll find many tanks with all sorts of different methods, set-ups, etc... and most have a great looking reef at the right perameters. __________________ Christian Current Tank Info: 100G Half Cylinder

08/02/2006, 08:01 AM	#5
twon8 Formally registered membe Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: slightly sw of richmond, va Posts: 5,920	I disagree, I think xenia is a great nutrient export. I have been running a 180 bb since last nov. all the contents got moved from a 120, and i feed around five times a day. i hadn't changed water in two months, and i recently checked my nitrates and phosphates and they were both undetectable, using the merck test for phosphate and salifert for nitrates. There are several type of xenia, so maybe that explains it. but as i said i feed a lot, so maybe im not nutrient poor, just very high tank metabolism. __________________ Anthony Richmond Reef Club "and as things fell apart, nobody paid much attention." Not building a wall but making a brick Current Tank Info: 300g DD display, 60g frag tank

08/02/2006, 08:09 AM	#6
Electrobes Montipora type guy Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Fort Myers, FL Posts: 2,945	I am curious adtravels... why do you think over-skimming is possible? I like to hear opinions about this topic for some reason __________________ Christian Current Tank Info: 100G Half Cylinder

08/02/2006, 07:49 AM	#4
adtravels you cant buy blue fingers Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,542	Unfortunatly I have a prism but know how to tweak it (many hours spent) to skim wet or dry they are ok as long as you can handle daily adjustment. I have always skimmed wet but have found that i need to add more two part if skimming is wet (just personal observation). Plus dont want to over skim (yes there is such a thing). i dont use a prefilter as I want to keep all the particulate matter before it becomes unuseful to corals/filterfeeders. My lr has a multitude of tubeworms etc. as The fish I have are not predators of the above. The fuge is a modified guppy breeder with an airstone to create flow it is about 2 gallon in capacity the algae inside is c.rasemosa and it gets harvested on a weekly basis and grows rapidly. Thanks for the input I guess I just carry on as is and see what the results are.

08/02/2006, 08:27 AM	#7
twon8 Formally registered membe Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: slightly sw of richmond, va Posts: 5,920	perhaps when you skim more the corals grow faster with the cleaner water, thus requiring more two part. __________________ Anthony Richmond Reef Club "and as things fell apart, nobody paid much attention." Not building a wall but making a brick Current Tank Info: 300g DD display, 60g frag tank

08/02/2006, 08:33 AM	#8
Electrobes Montipora type guy Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Fort Myers, FL Posts: 2,945	I thought that but he hadded over-skimming after mentioning having to add two-part when he skims in general... __________________ Christian Current Tank Info: 100G Half Cylinder

08/02/2006, 09:07 AM	#9
PatrickJ Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Luling, La Posts: 587	BB that has nitrates? Hmm.... Through away that prism skimmer and get an aqua-c. __________________ I skim wet, therefore I am. Current Tank Info: 120 Monster

08/02/2006, 09:50 AM	#10
Andrew Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 13,640	I just restarted my 75 and it's BB and so far I have a Tunze 6060 and a RP pushing 500 gph and I plan on adding two of the 6025 nanostreams when they come out. Thats over 1200gph more. I'm also creating a custom skimmer to handle the bio-load and the fact that my tank is BB. Hopefully with a BB tank, I won't have the water problems like before.

08/02/2006, 11:47 AM	#11
twon8 Formally registered membe Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: slightly sw of richmond, va Posts: 5,920	imo you will need more flow, I really like the controllable streams, and since you are looking at the 6025 i assume you will be getting a controller? __________________ Anthony Richmond Reef Club "and as things fell apart, nobody paid much attention." Not building a wall but making a brick Current Tank Info: 300g DD display, 60g frag tank

08/02/2006, 11:57 AM	#12
adtravels you cant buy blue fingers Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,542	Just an observation, just spent two weeks in malaysia "muck" diving on mabul in the nutrient rich waters there, run off, muddy bottoms, poor vis most amazing biodiversty I have ever seen diving anywhere in the world (and sorry but I have dived alot of places). Our organisms are mostly from the indo-pacific region. The reason there is so much biodiversity there is due to the nutrient rich water either from upwellings or land or both. Thats why I thnk you can overskim, just look at the folks who are surprized when the add a couple more fishes and there corals colour up (and thats the proper spelling of colour by the way).

08/02/2006, 11:58 AM	#13
Andrew Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 13,640	The 6025 arent contollable. This will be more than enough flow. What I have now is fine but I have two dead spots in the back two corners.

08/02/2006, 12:07 PM	#14
King-Kong Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Gainesville, FL Posts: 2,346	Rotting food in the water column, and proper nutrition for your corals arent the same thing. If you arent feeding enough and you're skimming too hard, you will starve your corals, hence the light-colored issues many BBers experience (I am one of them). Only after understanding this did I begin to feed more, but also skim more, trying to better match the two so that I could feed my corals food and also get the uneaten food out before it turned into harmful components.

08/02/2006, 01:03 PM	#16
gman0526 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Puerto Rico Posts: 1,278	As long as we keep assuming that the dynamics in coral reefs are the same as in our tanks we'll keep making the same mistakes over and over. I agree with Kong, finding that balance between importing and exporting nutrients is the key. FWIW this is clockwrk's 90 softies and LPS tank __________________ "If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." A.E. Current Tank Info: 75 G BB tank

08/02/2006, 01:11 PM	#17
adtravels you cant buy blue fingers Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,542	A really great looking tank just what I was looking for, all comments really welcome I will try to be a better reefer. Can i see your tanks (the ones who seem to have relly cracked it (kong, twat8)

08/02/2006, 01:25 PM	#18
gman0526 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Puerto Rico Posts: 1,278	Here's mine __________________ "If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." A.E. Current Tank Info: 75 G BB tank

08/02/2006, 01:36 PM	#19
King-Kong Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Gainesville, FL Posts: 2,346	Really cracked it? no way!!! I'm just scratching! I still have a lot to learn, and it's really only been within the past few months that things have "come together" for me in my head; my hardware, corals, and tank are slow to follow None the less, here is an older higher resolution shot, coupled with a newer low resolution shot:

08/02/2006, 01:38 PM	#20
adtravels you cant buy blue fingers Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,542	good gman0526 and not just the standr=ard aquascape fish, a little more original lovely tuskfish

08/02/2006, 01:41 PM	#21
adtravels you cant buy blue fingers Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,542	and yours kong an ape after my own heart