Blog Comments

Thanks all for the answers and recs... we'll get to work on this directly. Is the devil's hand leather a good thing? One more question please... do copper banded butterflys eat the majano anemones also or just the aiptaisa? (Josh just bought a small butterfly)

I second the Devil's Hand thought. Thanks for the boiling water idea too. I noticed a little string poking up randomly in my tank... little yellow thing. I remember researching it and determining to just yank it out anyways, but when I went to yank it out I noticed a little tiny majanos right there behind it. I was going to borrow a buddy of mine's zapper. :-) I admit to want to try that thing out, but it's likely more important to just get it out asap rather than see the zapper! (I'm still planning on using that thing on my green hairy mushrooms pretty soon though!)

The first is a leather, but I have a feeling it is a Devil's Hand rather than a Toadstool based on the shape at the moment.

The second ones are definitely Anemonia majanos and are pest anemones. You want them gone. I've used boiling water to remove them, filling a syringe, running over to the tank and injecting a few, then getting more water and repeat. If the come loose in the process, even better. Pluck, catch or siphon them out. A helper would be ideal but it can be done as a solo act.

That is a toadstool leather. The three other smaller items are majano anemone. I would highly recommend a bit of kalkwasser paste shoved in their mouths to kill them off before they start to spread.

The coral looks like a toadstool, the other three items, im not sure on.

Personally, I'd skip the O2 test. Add Ca, Mag, Alk at the least.

+1 on Marc's article and test kit mfg recommendations.

Have you read Marc's post on the front page? I'd suggest that as a good start. You really don't have to feed your leather. The light will take care of that.

Thanks all... really appreciate the insights!

Thanks a lot guys... now I have a good experience based plan from which to work this out!

Take a flash light and look at the water in the return zone. If it is bubble free, the problem is at the pump or thereafter. If you see microbubbles in the return zone, then you need to stop them before they can enter.

Thanks for getting back to me. I had the luxury of owning a copy of the student edition of SolidWorks 3D design software when I built the stand for my tank. I use it for everything I plan to build. I wish I had waited to build the stand though, it's not quite level on the top so I'll have to use foam underneath or something. Anyway, your $60 estimate encourages me and makes me want to go ahead and build the canopy. Thanks!

I haven't had a glass cover on a tank in 13 of my 14 years in the hobby. They do trap heat, and limit oxygen exchange. Some light fixtures have a splash guard, protecting the bulbs. My Lumenbrights have glass shields, and they are way up high.

Of course, if you have jumping fish, you better have some type of cover to limit any losses. Just watch your tank temperature closely, especially as we approach summer.

I keep covers for only one reason: to splash proof my lights. Don't have MH so I keep my lights low. If a fish were to splash on my heated bulbs, the temp diff could brake/shatter the bulb glass.

I found thur the years that the constant cleaning of the glass covers out way any benefit, just my opinion. I have always used a canopy with a fan exhaust and a intake filter on opposite side to keep humidy form being a issue. Im not a fan of the open tank though because leaves to much of a unknown for contaminates to enter the tank like dust bringing in phosphates or in my case kids putting cookies and stuff in the tank.

They will definitely help with evaporation but it really depends on what kind of lighting you are running. If say you are running LED's then i wouldn't worry about the increased heat but if (like me for now) you are running intense halides, then you may end up having a heat issue. You may run into heat problems with T5's but that really depends on your setup.

Tom

Jim, well here's what i would do. Just as a process of elimination. While there are microbubbles visible in the tank, turn off the skimmer for a couple hours and then see what happens to them. If they go away, fire the skimmer back up and see if they come back. i've also found that with some skimmers (mainly found this with vertex IN series skimmers) if there is a clog in the air intake the skimmer will not pull much air but will force allot of bubbles out the water return from the skimmer body. If you're able to rule out that its the skimmer then I would see if you could borrow a return pump (doesn't have to be the exact right size, just something that you will able to hook up for a couple hours) Then swap out return pumps and see if there is a change because honestly out of all the times i've messed with tanks with this problem its always been one of those two.

Tom

Pepper'scove:
I'm sorry but I dont have a cut list or drawings. I stick built this little project by simply constructing the frame portion to precisely match the outside dimensions of the tank. I believe the length was 48 5/16". I think the shopping list was something like: 3 - 1X4X8' #3pine, 4 - 1X4X8' #2 pine, and 3 - 1X6X8' #2 pine boards, 1/2 sheet 1/8" hardboard (I might use luan plywood next time), carpenters yellow glue, 2 - PL400 exterior construction adhesive, and a 4' piano hinge. I think I only had about $60 in the whole works.
Hope this helps...
Jim

Thanks for the Welcome!
Wiorkaholic: The skimmer (an octopus) doesnt seem to be putting out much in the way of bubbles. Your comment about the pump is interesting... it is an inexpensive one and perhaps that is the culprit. The bubbles are very tiny and present in the display most if not all of the time.
DJ: Honestly, split the return water because I didnt know any better. Just starting out and read / watched some of the designs we could find on the internet. I thought I had learned that the fuge itself should have some agitation from the return to keep the macro algae happy... but I really cant recall for sure. The return section is always under water... well most of the time anyway if my son remembers to add the top off... but were right in the middle of making an auto top off setup that should cure that... if he remembers to fill the source once a week!!! I will look for those other problems you describe and....
Thanks very much to both of you for the input!
Jim

are the micro bubbles in the fuge? kind of curious why you split the return water, running it all into the skimmer section would have given you to traps before the pump chamber, usually you only split it like that if the fuge and skimmer are at opposite ends of the sump with the pump section in the center. Is the pump externally or in sump? If the intake of the pump is to small or to restricted and creates a negative pressure before the intake it can create microbubbles without drawing any air. If you are not seeing them in the fug and pump section this is where i would start looking. Also make sure none of the line loc fitting are above the water line in the tank as they could allow a ventura affect as the water passes thur them

The micro bubbles could be from a few different things. I see in your sump design that you dont have a bubble trap on the first series of panels, turning that into a bubble trap could help. If your source is the skimmer. Another source could even be the return pump itself, I've had return pumps break just a little bit on the volute and when the water level gets low enough they will suck a small amount of air from the surface which caused micro bubbles. Are the bubbles you're getting sporadic or are they constant? Do you get allot of them or just enough to notice?

Welcome!

Tom