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Originally posted by CrystalAZ
(we had our first flood last week - awwww!)
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Now you can add running a wet/dry vacuum to your interests line.
By the way--saw the pics of your set-up and it is looking great Crystal.
A couple of points were made about the last post I made in this thread. One was, "what about KW to adjust pH?" A good question since I didn't indicate you should use it to raise the pH of a new tank. There is a reason behind it.
For those of you new to reefing KW , aka Kalkwasser or just Kalk, is nothing more than a saturated solution of lime, calcium hydroxide. It is made by simply adding a couple of tablespoonful of something like pickling lime to about 5 gallons of water and stirring it up. It then is allowed to settle and the supernatant is used to top off your tank to replace water last to evaporation. It raises alkalinity, pH and calcium levels in one swell swoop.
The thing about a new tank is there is little or no calcium demand and that will hold true until you add corals that utilize calcium. In most cases the calcium supplied by your salt mix and that added during water changes should suffice. If you test for calcium, and it is low, then you might consider KW to raise it along with pH. There are so many posts on RC regarding how to make and dose KW I won't get into that in this post but I did omit mentioning it as a pH-alkalinity supplement.
Point two was about actually adding the cured LR into your tank. Another good question. When you add LR there is always the problem of what to put it on. Method one is to place it directly on the bottom glass and then add the sand. Some wise person pointed out that you are paying $$$ for that LR so burying it under 4" or more of sand is kind of a waste. Method two is to place it on top of the sand. I've done this and it works pretty good but over time the rock does tend to settle into the sand, especially if you have fish that like to dig.
Recently Amanda from Michigan asked:
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Originally posted by AEALOVESHERGIRLS
I have heard you guys mention base rock, what is it?
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Base rock is dead rock.
That is rock with nothing growing on it. You put baserock as the bottom layer in your tank and place the LR on top of it. You can use cheap aragonite or any rock you find pleasing. It is best to use dense rock such as slate opposed to shale as the latter tends to have more soluble compounds in the rock. Igneous (granite, basalt) rock is probably better than metamorphic (slate) or sedimentary (shale). On the other hand, I've never really heard of any problems with the choice of base rock so it may make no difference.
Another option is to cut plastic dowel or PVC pipe to a length that is just shy of the surface of the sand and place your LR on it. Avoid having it it too high above the sand as your fish may dig burrows under the rock and go into seclusion.
Landscaping is also done with base rock or shelf rock. Many people like to make shelves for latter critter placement. A small shelf can be anchored using gel type super glue. You clean an area from the two rocks you wish to join and glue them together. For larger shelves you may need more support. You can use a masonry bit to drill holes and then use superglue to anchor plastic dowel material in the two rocks thereby joining them. For a really big shelf you can use plastic bookshelf brackets. Again, drill holes in the rock and, using plastic wall anchors and nylon screws, join the shelf to the rock. Don't worry, in a few weeks the plastic will cover with coralline algae and blend in.
One thing to be cautious of--Don't get two carried away attaching rocks together. It is kind of sad to find you have a 100 lb rock sculpture that you can't lift out of your tank.
Also be sure to support glued together pieces from the bottom when lifting them from the tank. A 10 lb hunk of rock falling against the glass is not recommended.
Don't have time today put I'll get to algae next time.