Ask Nano Questions and Find Information (Nano Expert Albert Thiel)

[alberthiel]

Not a problem Albert, it's great to have you back and answering our questions but even greater to know you are doing well and getting better.

Welcome back.

Thank you kindly ,,, I am still not getting any notifications when messages get posted to threads I am subscribed to even though it says that I am subscribed to them and that I should get instant emails but nothing is coming in and has not been for quite some time now ...

I sent David a PM and maybe he can fix it for me ...

I will try to look through all the messages that I missed and attempt to respond ... I can only do a few today as I have an eye doctor appointment and also one at a Pet Store where I am giving a talk to the staff in how to maintain difficult corals ...so I will try to get caught up by say Monday or Tuesday.

As you know I am on many forums and get hundreds of messages and notifications from those every day ... and I have to deal with those as well of course.

But thanks for the welcome and all is OK .... .just getting a little older every day

Alberr

 

[427HISS]

With tanks under, lets say,... ...30 gallons, does a $130 (+) skimmer worth the expense, if we do water changes weekly with a moderate fish load ?

For my Oceanic 29g BioCube I'm looking at the "AquaMaxx HOB-1 Hang-On-Back Protein Skimmer" for $220, "Euro-Reef Nano" for $230.

With the AquaMaxx, you don't need to worry about the skimmer water depth, as the intake goes down several inch's into the display tank. Others need a ATO, which is not a bad thing.

I'm surprised the Tunze that's made for the BioCube has so many bad reviews !

Big fan of Tunze products, at least in past years.

 

[alberthiel]

With tanks under, lets say,... ...30 gallons, does a $130 (+) skimmer worth the expense, if we do water changes weekly with a moderate fish load ?

For my Oceanic 29g BioCube I'm looking at the "AquaMaxx HOB-1 Hang-On-Back Protein Skimmer" for $220, "Euro-Reef Nano" for $230.

With the AquaMaxx, you don't need to worry about the skimmer water depth, as the intake goes down several inch's into the display tank. Others need a ATO, which is not a bad thing.

I'm surprised the Tunze that's made for the BioCube has so many bad reviews !

Big fan of Tunze products, at least in past years.

Yes I would definitely recommend that you use one on any tank 20 G or larger .. I know it is an expense but it is a good investment. If the tank is smaller than 20 gallons then just relying on Water changes would IME be fine.

And yes it is odd that the Tunze does receive so many negative reviews ... I have used Tunze products for as long as i can remember .. maybe 25 years or more.

And I agree also on the fact that the water intake should go fairly deep in the tank.

The ATO is optional but it greatly helps in keeping parameters more stable but remember that on the reef pH and salinity vary and so normal variations in your tank should not be harmful

Albert

 

[427HISS]

I and along with friends of mine, Scott Michael and Scott Larson, had the pleasure of speaking with you and Julian (when he had hair, lol) were in Omaha way back in the 90's.
Your books are my Bible's !

I like you, don't know what has happened with the Tunze products, they just haven't kept up with technology. I still like them, even the great ATO's.

Thank you for your advise, so I'll get one of the two skimmers I listed. This tank,.... is for my wife, so I want to keep her happy !

Kevin

 

[alberthiel]

I and along with friends of mine, Scott Michael and Scott Larson, had the pleasure of speaking with you and Julian (when he had hair, lol) were in Omaha way back in the 90's.
Your books are my Bible's !

I like you, don't know what has happened with the Tunze products, they just haven't kept up with technology. I still like them, even the great ATO's.

Thank you for your advise, so I'll get one of the two skimmers I listed. This tank,.... is for my wife, so I want to keep her happy !

Kevin

Thank you for the kind words ...and nice to know we met ... long time ago ... and yes Julian had hair then, and so did I

Thanks for liking my book ... Printed copies of the latest one are running really low so it has been selling far bette than I thought it would due to the fact that people seem to buy less and less books nowadays.

Of course there is an e-Version as well.

And as to Tunze.. I still like their products but as you say the quality or efficiency seems to have gone down compared to all those years ago ... Remember those Turbelle pumps and the skimmers that could go with them ?

And as you say if the tank is for your wife ... then only the best is good enough !!!

Albert

 

[427HISS]

"Turbelle pumps and the skimmers"

Yes, and now they qualify as antiques. lol ....
I still think the old skimmers are as good as a lot of new ones.

 

[alberthiel]

"Turbelle pumps and the skimmers"

Yes, and now they qualify as antiques. lol ....
I still think the old skimmers are as good as a lot of new ones.

Yes they do but last I saw they were still selling spare parts for them !! now that is service and support !

And the various models they made got better and better till the US competition took over and people started buying different types of skimmers

But so it goes I guess ...

I am about to sign off for the evening as I started very early this morning and still have my radio show to do tonight at 8 pm ... (t is listed on my FB page https://www.facebook.com/ajthiel1 )

It gets recorded so one can listen to it anytime one wants to ...

Albert

 

[jimmie86]

i know its a little small for this thread but i have a 2.5 gallon tank with a 10 watt 50/50 pc light. what would be a better light to put on it, this one works fine just dont get very good color from it.

 

[427HISS]

Yes they do but last I saw they were still selling spare parts for them !! now that is service and support !

And the various models they made got better and better till the US competition took over and people started buying different types of skimmers

But so it goes I guess ...

I am about to sign off for the evening as I started very early this morning and still have my radio show to do tonight at 8 pm ... (t is listed on my FB page https://www.facebook.com/ajthiel1 )

It gets recorded so one can listen to it anytime one wants to ...

Albert

I'll look forward to it !

Now,....get ready for bed, ya old man ! (at 51 yrs old, bedtime's around 9:00) lol

 

[Sun1914]

Out of the blue, my Engineer Goby has broken out in these white spots, ich it seems.
I have no QT set up, what would you recommend in order to treat him and the rest of the fish in the DT since I'm sure they have it as well, though the Engineer is the only one with spots as of now.

Here's a pic of hes face.

 

[alberthiel]

I have a 12g nanocube which I have taken the original filter out completely, installed a marineland c-160 canister, and a Seaclone 100 protein skimmer to. I am currently waiting for the replacement hood, ballast combo to be delivered (Thursday) to upgrade lighting to the DX version. Tank has cycled for a few months with about 15 lbs live rock, and 2-3 inches of live sand. Yesterday, I took a 5lb piece of rock out and added about 10.5 lbs of rock and added 15 red tip hermits and a cleaner shrimp, of which I believe has spiked another cycle . Watching parameters closely, everything seems great with the exception of the ammonia and nitrite spiking this morning from ammonia being at 0.25 to now being at 0.5 and nitrite from 0.0 to 5.0 my nitrates have fluctuated however from 80 down to 5 which altogether seems crazy to me. I have done 3 waterchanges this week, all varying between 10-30% I'm hoping the spike is just due to 're-aquascaping the tank and the additional bioload added yesterday, but just wanting to make sure this is a normal rise/fall pattern in a nano

Since this was posted a while ago and since I was not getting notifications ... how is the tank doing now ... as some time has gone by and that spike should be over by now ..

 

[alberthiel]

Nit

i know its a little small for this thread but i have a 2.5 gallon tank with a 10 watt 50/50 pc light. what would be a better light to put on it, this one works fine just dont get very good color from it.

Not sure why you could replace it with as it is a matter of space besides the inserts for the bulb ... what kind of bulb is in there now ? meaning how does it plug in to the fitting that holds it ? Is it screw in or pins ? Give me a little more info and I will see whether there is anything around that you could use

 

[alberthiel]

I'll look forward to it !

Now,....get ready for bed, ya old man ! (at 51 yrs old, bedtime's around 9:00) lol

Ye I do the same ... go to bed early and rise early

 

[alberthiel]

Out of the blue, my Engineer Goby has broken out in these white spots, ich it seems.
I have no QT set up, what would you recommend in order to treat him and the rest of the fish in the DT since I'm sure they have it as well, though the Engineer is the only one with spots as of now.

Here's a pic of hes face.

The spots I see are huge .... are they really or am I not seeing this correctly ..

And on treating ... all fish would need to be treated outside of the DT if it is Ick .. and the DT needs to be left fallow for 60+ days ... but let me know whether the spots are really as large as I see them in that picture as that does not look like ick if they are that large ...

 

[alberthiel]

What type of light would u suggest for a rimless 10 gallon? Thanks

Sorry but I only just saw this as I have not been receiving notifications for quite some time ..

Did you find a light ?

 

[Sun1914]

Not sure if they''re big or just some many but than again, they aren't small....a friend has a hospital tank set up. My plan is to remove all the fish and leave inverts and coral in the tank for whatever period of time is recommended.
Is 60 days about right?

 

[alberthiel]

Not sure if they''re big or just some many but than again, they aren't small....a friend has a hospital tank set up. My plan is to remove all the fish and leave inverts and coral in the tank for whatever period of time is recommended.
Is 60 days about right?

Yes that would be about right ... 60 to 70 days of leaving the main tank fallow should be just fine

And on those spots if you can get a real close up of them that would be nice ... I would like to see what it really is ..

 

[jimmie86]

its a screw in pc and its in a fixture form walmart. fixture works fine, the light spreads good just dont get good color so was looking to get something else but not sure what would work.

 

[alberthiel]

its a screw in pc and its in a fixture form walmart. fixture works fine, the light spreads good just dont get good color so was looking to get something else but not sure what would work.

I would think that their are higher wattage bulbs similar to the one you have but my concern is that the way the fixture is built it cannot deal with the higher heat emitted by a stronger bulb and could cause damage and at worst a fire. I would check with Walmart to find out what the max wattage is that you can use in that fixture and if you can user more than you can probably find a bulb at a company like Progressive Lighting which have stores in many areas I believe.

First though determine wether it is safe to increase the wattage and related heat output though.

 

[alberthiel]

I still have a few of the printed version of the Nano-Reef Aquariums book left ... not many though ...

You can order by clicking on the image in my signature