Great tips guys. One tip I like is to try and minimize the amount of flow going through the sump. The faster the water is travelling through your sump because of a large return pump the less time your equipment has to clean the water. Also with things like my skimmer, Phosban reactors, ozone reactors, fluvals, etc. try to push the water from the return or middle chamber in your sump and return it to the overflow chamber. This way you're able to recirculate the water and your polishing already polished water even moreso.

Here's a tip I've just figured out today:

you're supposed to keep your hands out of the tank if you have a skimmer, but there's some cases where you can't help it.

you can get arm length gloves, or I found just now, that you can rinse your arms real well with real hot water before putting them in the tank. It takes most of the oils off your skin, so it doesn't drive the skimmer crazy.

edit:
oh! and don't epoxy a coral that you're planning to grow big on a tiny rock. I still don't know what I'm going to do about this one toadstool glued on the rock tighter than a... um... never mind lol.

in order to reduce stress on new arrivals in the tank and to keep the others busy from attacking it, tape a mirror on the side of the tank, the fish will attack the mirror thinking it is one of their own and leave the new arrival alone. works well with really aggressive tank mates and after a few days when you remove the mirror the fish dont even really clue in on the new arrival because now their 'mortal enemies' have vanished.

good one
 

thats actually sounds like it would work very well. good idea

Go
 

If you know you want to catch a fish ahead of time begin placing the food in a net at feeding time. I flush my frozen mysis in a small net and out of laziness began just putting the net in the tank (bent the handle so it hangs on the centre brace) Now my fish JUMP into the net each day


and always, always, always invest the $17.99 installing a G.F.C.I. One of my clients just dropped a light in the tank while she was moving some corals :redface: and she's glad I did.
________
Honda SH125

draggin up an old one, but a good one. anyone with new tricks or tips (or old tips or tricks)?

here's one for ya that i learned from Jack who alot of you also know that works at one the the lfs (credit where credit is due). so we got to talking about salt and one thing led to another, i mentioned that i was getting huge amounts of gunk in the bottom of my mixing bucket. not necessarily precip. but just plain ol dirty salt mix. so he mentions that he uses a quick-filter on the powerhead for his mixing bucket as he's experienced the same thing. it's funny cause alot of us use RO/DI but then we just add a bunch of "dirt" right back into our water before we put it back in our tanks as "clean/fresh" water.

so i thought this was a great idea and gave it a shot, result was...the most crystal clear cleanest water i've ever seen. not a mote of dirt on the bottom of the bucket and i'm ecstatic!! give it a try!

Not sure if this qualifies. I always used windex to clean my glass, and I was always paranoid that some of it would somehow spray up and into the tank. I've begun to use those windex wipes and my level of paranoia has decreased significantly :)

alk test kit check
 

Posted this on another thread, thought it should be here as well:
If you need to check the reliability of your alk test kit, here is a good check:
1.1350 grams of baking soda in 1 gallon of distilled water=10dkh

Cheers,
Phil

any hints on how to measure 1.1350grams? :wink:

That's darned close to a quarter of a teaspoon.

A little trick I have been using as of late due to the fact I have been doing large water changes every day. I have 5 gal buckets that I heat water and add salt to with a small heater and power head. As of late I have had to do more than 5g changes and it is a pain to setup another heater and power head. So I have been adding 3 or four times the required amount of salt and heat to 90 degrees and found once mixed for 24 hrs I can dilute in a separate bucket and it mixes up in a minute.
Kevin

here's a bit of a warning regarding auto-top off systems. i've been running my FW top off water into a reservoir but checking my TDS from the RO/DI unit itself getting a TDS of 0...perfect right?

well, i just checked the water in the reservoir and to my surprise it was 35ppm and that's the water that feeds into my tank!! i guess it just slowly built up in there. so, a quick drain and refill every now and again "cleans" up that problem easily enough. hope this helps someone else.

ps. don't forget to flush upir membrane every week or so.

good one!! my reservoir gets a funky smell every once in awhile which is a good reminder to clean it out or at least let it dry out overnight. Never checked the TDS though, I think I'll try that :biggrin:

I use a 55 gal tank for my reservoir. My TDS never goes up, but I do get a slime build up over time. I wipe down the tank every 1-2 weeks after my waterchange. I was looking for UV lights to run at night over the tank to help sterilize it. I don't know if you can get UV fluorescent bulbs that will fit into a regular aquarium canopy?

i believe the TDS was merely an accumulation built up over the course of a year, that's all. i never thought to check there since the TDS outta the line was 0 ppm.

You should not run your RO unit on a float valve to top up a resevoir. I mean dont have the ro unit on all the time. Ro units are not meant to be run for short periods oftime, on off on off, ie. topping up resevoir . Best to let your resevoir to run down , set a reminder and then fill it right up every 3-4days. That way your Ro unit will run for a longer period of time. Much better for producing better water. Just my 2 cents!!

hey christy this a post marc started a gazillion years ago. some of these ideas could go to your new forum, which i think rocks by the way

Good call Colin!!