|
|
|
 Husbandry & Maintenance:(cont.) |
| By
the way, as I'm writing this, there
is a debate raging over whether water changes
are
good for us at all. One side says they are a
way of continually increasing the amount of
heavy
metals in our tanks, which may be a factor in
what's being called 'Old Tank Syndrome'.
Not sure of the other side's position
other than, "We disagree!" of
course, but in spite of personally owning
an old tank, I'm
gonna stick with the water changes for now.
I also used to be
a bit of a water testing
fanatic but now that things seem to have
stabilized, I've cut way back. I change
my
halide bulbs every 6-8 months and change
my actinics once a year.
We use a set of Magnavore X's in conjunction
with a Kent Pro Scraper (24") to clean the
acrylic. They do an adequate enough job but even
with the tank'sbare bottom, we're
constantly fighting scratches and hazing, especially
along the bottom. Very frustrating; particularly
when trying to get a good photo. |
|
And
finally, I'd like to elaborate briefly
on my absolute LEAST favorite part of
this system and its maintenance: The Micron Socks. Because of the sheer
volume of water being moved through them, they must be changed every
two days or they become so clogged, the excess water literally 'backs
out' of them as foam. This, in turn, exacerbates an already near
chronic micro-bubble problem in the tank.
Needless to say,
my next big project will be the reconfiguring
of the sump. With all the intakes, outgoes,
pumps, socks, and water volume whipping through
this thing, it's a wonder I'm
not fighting bubbles the size of beach balls.
Obviously, I can't go with a 'closed
loop' at this stage of the game but
I'm determined to 'fix' this
problem. If you have any thoughts, plans,
or blueprints etc., please let me know. |
|
|
|
|
|
