Luis Mercado

High tech, low tech, no tech, how do we get to a nice tank?...

July 19, 1998 on #reefs

Greetings everybody and thankyou for coming.

My name is Luis Mercado and I maintain the PlanetReef web site. I have

also written for the NETPETS web site and was recently published in FAMA(April,1998).

I have been a hobbyist since the age of fourteen when I first set up my

first marine fish only aquarium. It was a twenty gallon tank equipped with undergravel

filters and power outside box filters.

Over the years technology seems to change every few months with new

equipment, new opinions and new methods constantly appearing on the hobby front. Most of

the methods presented are really new ways of applying the same old principles

Recently there has been a trend of simplifying and streamlining our

systems to avoid having excess equipment but still providing the same high water quality.

In the early 80's, the trend was to use large amounts of technological solutions

Such as trickle filters, ozone, UV lights, Redox potential control

equipment, and numerous bells and whistles to make our tanks more natural looking. Now the

idea is to achieve high water quality using only live rock, live sand, less water changes

and no protein skimmers.

My thinking has changed numerous times over the years also on how best

to achieve a good looking and healthy reef tank. My belief used to be in line with

whatever was the current theory.

Over time I have come to realize that once you remove anything from its

natural environment and confine it essentially to a box, then it ceases to act in a

natural manner no matter what we may want to believe.

Water in the ocean does not behave the same way in our aquariums. So I

believe that we must use whatever method is necessary to correct any problems we may

encounter with water quality.

I too like the idea of not using too much excess equipment on reef tanks

but some pieces of equipment are not only desirable but also necessary. A protein skimmer

for instance is in my opinion a must have on any system, be it berlin, jaubert or other.

A protein skimmer performs many valuable functions. It provides

oxygenation which I think it is hard to have too much of in our very loaded tanks. It also

provides an export mechanism for phosphate

Which is quite efficient and continuos unlike the use of resins which

although they work have to be replaced continuously and expensively

A protein skimmer also provides a way of removing toxic substances out

of the water column before they are decomposed by bacteria and eventually add to the

pollution level in the tank. Less waste in our water means a better looking and

functioning tank.

It does not really matter what type of protein skimmer you choose for

your tank. It can be venturi, air operated or downdraft, it does not matter.

As long as the skimmer can process your aquarium water volume at least

1-2 times per hour efficiently then the actual method of air injection is irrelevant. I

have a downdraft skimmer on my system now which is bigger than is necessary but I get good

results with it.

Many authors disagree as to how much skimming is actually needed but

there are no real guidelines available, only opinions.

Water motion in our tanks is also critical. While we can never hope to

duplicate the natural water movement environment, we can come close

Water motion is important for corals to rid themselves of waste and

detritus that can build up within their polyps and prevent them from opening up properly

to collect sunlight.

There are a few ways to provide adequate water motion in our aquaria.

The most common is the use of powerheads. We can also use external pumps situated below

the aquarium to return water from the sump as well as provide water motion.

We can also use various devices such as wave interval timers for

poweheads or even surge bucket devices. One such device is made by Lumar Tech, Inc. of NY.

They make a device that uses a toilet flush valve to create surges and waves in the tank

without the use of siphons. I have seen and tested one and they can create good water

motion.

The use of powerheads can sometimes be a problem in small tanks as they

take up internal space in the tank. A solution is to use external pumps with piping to

move the water around.

On small tanks this may be overkill. I prefer to use external pumps on

my systems as I have had powerheads die on me at the worst times.

They can also be a danger to fish and other moving animals such as

anemones. If we put some sort of prefilter attachment on them to prevent this from

happening, then we must remember to clean the prefilters lest they become detritus traps

and bring down the water quality.

In my system I have one Mak 4 pump which returns water from each end of

the tank at the top corners and also supplies a spray bar situated behind the rockwork.

This provides not only ample surface agitation but also provides water

movement behind the rock to prevent deadspots.

For every solution there are tradeoffs and advantages we must decide if

we want to deal with before we implement any approach in our tanks.

The use of live sand whether with a plenum or not has become pretty

popular lately with many authors touting systems that rely solely on the biological

interaction between the sand and the water

I wrote an article on the use of plenums which was published in the

April 98 issue of FAMA. However the article was two years old at the time of printing and

does not reflect my current ideas on reefkeeping.

However the article was two years old at the time of printing and does

not reflect my current ideas on reefkeeping. While plenum systems do work well, I do not

believe that the system will run indefinitely without the use of at least a few

technological aids. Most notably the use of an efficient protein skimmer in use

continuously is my best recommendation for keeping these systems running well.

Lee Ching Eng in the early 60's did not use protein skimming in the same

manner as we have come to know it but he did use it. He utilized airstones in his tanks

which made a protein scum accumulate at the surface of the water and on the tank walls

which was later removed by hand. This was really manual protein skimming!

In many of the articles in the hobby, much is made about the ability of

the live sand and plenum to provide all the needed benefits of denitrification as well as

provide calcium and other needed elements. While the plenum does provide a natural way of

providing these substances, it cannot, in my opinion, maintain the levels by itself in a

heavily loaded tank of SPS corals

The demand for these elements is much higher in these systems and a

boost to the system is usually needed. However, the addition of calcium additives to

systems with live sand substrates can result in the binding up of the substrate and thus a

lowering of the efficiency of this system of filtration.

I like to provide calcium to my tank with the use of kalkwasser. The

benefits of high PH, phosphate removal, as well as increased coraline algae growth (with

the use of strontium), are all pluses to the system.

Additionally kalkwasser is pretty inexpensive to buy although its use

requires some care on the part of the hobbyist. I also like the use of calcium reactors

but they are a bit expensive to initially purchase.

They can also be tricky to setup and adjust at first. They do however

make keeping alkalinity and calcium levels at their correct levels very easy. They do not

however provide the direct benefits of high PH and phosphate removal.

Systems using algae in different forms have also become popular with

many aquarists. A new system which was developed recently called the ECOSYSTEM uses algae

of the type known as caleurpa to filter the tank.

The algae is illuminated twenty four hours per day in an attempt to keep

the algae from lowering the Ph of the water at night when

I have seen many pictures and read many articles run on such systems and

agree that they look impressive but I have not seen any long-term data as of yet

. Hopefully this will change. I am in the process of establishing a

system along these lines to see for myself what benefits it can provide us.

I have and still prefer too run my display systems with the use of

several pieces of equipment. A large protein skimmer, continuos use of carbon in a reactor

approach, high water movement and good lighting.

Ozone and UV are reserved for use in emergency although I do not object

to its constant use if the aquarists can deal with the slight smell of ozone in the room

or the monitoring of the efficiency of the UV light and the need for replacing it.

I have recently switched over from metal halide to using all fluorescent

lighting over my tank. The switch was made because of the electrical consumption and heat

generated by the metal halides not because of any detriment to the corals from metal

halides. The tank now runs cooler and there is more money available for buying more

livestock!

In general, my advice is to use any and all equipment that is necessary

to maintain water quality and that you feel comfortable in maintaining

Equipment that is not serviced can actually be a detriment to your tank.

Not everybody will dedicate enough time to perform alot of maintenance on an aquarium.

Some people enjoy it, others do it like performing a chore. I am a very

lazy hobbyist and sometimes it can create havoc in my tank so I only have enough equipment

on my tank that I know I can handle.

Excess is equipment is wasteful and unnecessary but some level of

technology will eventually be needed for our tanks

I say use any means necessary to maintain your water quality. Remember

our systems are very overcrowded when compare to the ratio of coral to water in the

natural ocean environment.

Therefore we must use more efficient means to keep the quality of the

water up to specs.

High tech, low tech or no tech, all reef systems work.

It is just the degree of dedication it takes to make them work. Thank you for listening

and reading. Please visit my website at http://idt.net/~rose8 or email me at rose8@idt.net

with any questions or suggestions.

Now it is time for the questions........

How does a skimmer remove phosphates?

A skimmer removes phosphates mainly by floatation. It exports it out of

the system in the skimmate. It works better with larger producing skimmers

Do you have any sources where we could get some more information on the

toilet flush valve?

Yes you can call Bill Geist of Lumar Technology at (718)279-0369 and he

can provide them or tell where to get them locally. I also believe you can get them at

your local Home Depot as well.

In small tanks, can weekly water changes substitute effectively for good

protein skimming?

In small tanks you can use water changes indeed but I still believe it

is better to have a protein skimmer installed. The benefits of oxygenation should not be

underestimated.

How do you think adding more airstones to a large CC skimmer effects

performance?

In a C.c skimmer, more air should make for better skimming provided that

you can still get dry foam out of the skimmer top.

If you have a taller and wider neck design you should be able to inject more air for

better output but of coarse the skimmer design might limit this Injecting more air is

better in mos5t cases

Can a skimmer be kept too clean

I do not think so. I think the cleaner you keep the skimmer, the better

the performance. Too much scum buildup on the neck will restrict the bubbles from making

their way up to the top.

How best to clean the skimmer?

The skimmer can be just clean with a paper towel. Nothing special. The

reaction tube can be cleaned every six months to a year depending on how dirty it gets.

Are you keeping any SPS under you FL setup?

Yes I am. The setup is 6 Normal output flourecents. A one to one ratio

of actinic to Philips daylight tubes. No specialty 50/50 bulbs are used.

I have acropora, seriatoporas and hydnophora which are doing well. Nice colors and good

growth.

My main likes are soft corals though and I have some nice leathers, which are growing very

fast.

Could you provide a description of a "no tech" reef tank?

A no tech reef tank would probably be one where there is live sand with

or without a plenum, some powerheads for water movement, and a small protein skimmer

preferably air operated and counter current.

A lighting system of flourescents would do nicely. In place of the protein skimmer you

could use air stones in the corners to provide oxygen and water movement as well

Quality live rock and live sand would make this tank pretty nice and easy to setup.

Does it matter whether your skimmers produces wet or dry foam?

Dry foam is better, in my opinion. Wet foam is not as concentrated but I

have heard from others that they use it to sort of perform continuos water changes on

their system and so prefer to have a small amount of wet foam constantly.

Luis, are any of your FL setups lighting any tanks more than 18"

for these stonies?

The fluorescent setups are on a 24inch tall tank, a 90 gallon aquarium.

the stonies are placed near the top in more turbulent water and are doing nicely.

They are showing very nice colors and although the growth is not as fast as in metal

halide lit setups, the colors make up for it.

Do you know any kind of ballast that works best with German 10k bulb

metal halide?

You might want to give Hamilton technologies a call on that. You might

also try Brian at Reefers, who happens to be a very nice guy and can give you good info as

well as good service.

How many watts per gal do you recommend?

Watts per gallon is not really a good measurement for lighting but it

will give you an idea. I like to have anywhere from 3-5 watts per gallon but I believe

spectrum and coral placement are more important in this area.

Thankyou for having me everybody and Good night.

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Thanks Luis!

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