More ?s

[nensley]

Hi! Everything is going good for now with my tank (knock on wood). I am up to 29 lbs of live rock! My 2 clowns and my cardinal are doing well. Here are my latest stats:

Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: 0
ph: 8.2
Nitrates: 20

Temp runs about 79. My Prizm skimmer is pulling plenty if yucky dark brown gunk. I seem to be losing a lot of water to evaporation each week. About a gallon every 3 days. Is that normal?

Also, I think I am gonna yank that whisper filter off. I have been running it empty for 3 weeks just for water circulation, but I have 2 power heads and a skimmer so I think it is unnecessary and just junking up my tank. What do you guys think of that?

I wonder if you guys have any secrets for reducing salt creep. It is a pain in the butt. Any tips?

This may seem silly, but how do you guys clean the intake pipes (I am not sure of the technical term) of your power heads and skimmer? Mine seem to collect a lot of detritus.

Also (last one) how often do you all take your skimmer and power heads off and totally clean them out?

Thanks for the tips!

 

[yote]

Thats about normal for evaporation.I'm losing close to a gallon a day.

Getting rid of that whisper filter go a long way in helpping with salt creep.So you pretty much kill 2 birds with one rock.

And for cleaning power heads and pumps.Just take them out and pop the intake housing off.Then you can rinse them out under running water and scrub the gunk off with a brush.Dont forget to brush off the inpeller while you got a part.I clean mine when ever I start to notice build up on the screens.

 

[Bifferwine]

I lose at least a gallon a day too. I would take off the whisper filter. Not much you can do about salt creep, although they do sell a spray at PetSmart (not sure where else it can be found) that is supposed to prevent salt creep and is reef safe. I bought it a long time ago but never actually tried it out. Maybe you can try it out and let us know??? ;) I clean off all my intakes once a week. I take the whole powerhead out of the tank and clean the whole thing in the sink with a bottlebrush.

 

[reeffreak]

I also lose a gallon a day in my 75g.I think it would be better to replace evaporation everyday instead of waiting 3 days.Go ahead of remove the whisper if it isn't doing much for you.I'm pretty lazy,rarely do I ever clean a powerhead.I fill the sink with tapwater and let it run for a few minutes.It seems to clean it pretty good.Dr.fostersmith.com sell a spray that reduces creep.I think is like a silicone spray.I might have to try some myself.

 

[yote]

I got nearly a full bottle of that stuff.
I found it works great for cleaning eye glasses,but aint worth 15 cents for keeping salt creep down.

 

[fishbait]

about a gallon a day here too. i clean my powerheads once every two weeks when i do a water change. usually with a old toothbrush and used saltwater that i just took out of the tank. (i like to keep from killing as little bacteria as possible) i found that when i started doing that it seemed like algae and gunk didn't build up on them as fast.
as far as the salt creep goes, ya'll may call me crazy, (which i may be) but it seems like i had a lot more salt creep when i was useing instant ocean. now that i'm using different brands, it don't have anywhere near as much.

 

[Piggy]

I use the salt creep on my QT tank. You have to be sure to spray the stuff good in order for it to work. As for my main tank I really don't get a lot of salt buid up since I pulled out the air stones. I lose a half a gallon of water a day on my 55, it all open on top.

 

[Bifferwine]

Uhhh off topic, Piggy, but what exactly does it mean that you are a pig collector???

 

[Piggy]

I just love pigs. I have all kinds of pig stuff. You name it I probably have it. lol When I retire I'm moving to the country so I can have some real ones.

 

[Gio94sr20]

I thought it was just me with that much evaporation of the water I loose about a gallon a day also, I have a fan running across the top of the water surface to keep temps down.

 

[Bifferwine]

I like pigs too! But not to eat. I have a lot of glass pigs. And I used to have a lot of guinea pigs. A guy that works at my LFS has ten pot bellied pigs and he lets them sleep in the bed with him. He always has tubs and tubs of berries at the LFS that he brings home for his pigs (and lets me snack off of if I'm hungry).

 

[Alexander]

pork is the best food ever. so versitile!

I lose a little less than that maybe a gallon every 3 days (at best) still fast though.

I only have to clean out my aquaclear 50 often because it seems to suck stuff in unlike the prefilters that i have on the rest of my p heads. i clean it with a brush in the sink I think i am getting rid of it though since it almost took my flame angels life yesterday :mad!!: :nono: