DIY Cryptic Tube Fuge - Video Podcast Episode 88

[PastorKDS]

I'd wonder if the test kit was still trusted.

Do the tests even go that high? I thought 160 was top threshold.

160 is the max, but when it gets there before you even wait the five iminutes and the solution turns red as you drop the drops in - you got troubles.

I have wondered about the test kit, I should get new chemicals, but then again, it has dropped

Wasn't during a cycle or anything - established for 18 month's no major problems with it except keeping hard corals.

[Astrivian]

Wow that is a serious nitrate reduction. Like i said: wider and longer is better

[JustDavidP]

I have wondered about the test kit, I should get new chemicals, but then again, it has dropped

I've been burned, time and time again, with old kits, or reagents. I've recently thrown away unopened kits just because they are out of date. I'm sure you are doing better, if your readings dropped. I'd still get a new kit if you get a chance.

except keeping hard corals.

Laughing with you... not at you.. but I'LL BET!! Even if not 160, it seems as if the Nitrates were high.

Dave

[ITeach2Wheels]

Wow! I panicked and did water changes when the test showed 20. I do love the fuge, the tests have showed 0 for the last week or so. I started with dead rock and one small piece of LR for seed. I open the top and peek inside every couple of weeks to look in on what's growing inside. So far, it's just various slimes, but I'm holding out for something more substantial.

Reef keeping is SO cool!!

[JustDavidP]

Keep your fingers crossed for sponges. They are the worlds best filters

D

[PastorKDS]

As of 3/23, my Nitrate's are now down to 20ppm

Attached is a picture of a change I made to avoid salt spray from the original setup. Adding this meant placing a 2x6 block of wood under the pipe to gain the height I needed. The overflow hole came in very handy when the drain line clogged with algae.

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...B/100_1134.jpg

[Privitor]

i dont know what is is but every video i watch has lagged sound and cutes the end off so i never get to see the point of the podcast

[Rob]

is that the integrated video in the first post?
have you tried downloading the video file? i would recommend doing that...
use the download link in the first post...

[ITeach2Wheels]

WOOO HOOO!!! I've got SPONGES!! Just checked the pipe this morning, first there has been a slime happily growing and getting thicker for a month or so. Now I see small white sponges....I think. They look like small cotton balls with a spiky thing at the tip. I assume this is the mouth. Any way, I haven't tested in a week or so, so I will give results tonight after I get time to test.

My nitrates have been holding at 5 or less, so maybe they will hit 0 today!!

[JustDavidP]

Yes.. we sometimes (lazily) refer to them as pineapple sponges. They are Scypha sponges. A very neat little filtering critter.

Dave

[JustDavidP]

Scypha: A genus of marine sponges of the class Calcispongiae (calcareous sponges), characterized by a fingerlike body shape known as the syconoid type of structure. In the syconoid sponges, each “finger,” known as a radial canal, is perforated by many tiny pores through which water passes into the central cavity. The water exits through an oscule, or larger opening, at the tip. Scypha species may grow to about 2 or 3 cm (about 1 inch) in length.

[ITeach2Wheels]

That's COOL!! Exactly what they are, I actually have some in the BC8 that are getting close to a 3/8" long. The sponges in the pipe are much smaller, only an 1/8" or so., but there are a lot of them

[ITeach2Wheels]

I did my water tests today. It's been 10 days, since my last full test and water change. EVERYTHING was 0!! Even nitrates, which have always bounced between 5 and 20, depending on water changes. I changed it today just for grins, and because it's been over a week.