[kgh9555]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my freinds at Reef Builders.

My son was given a Chocolate Chip Star fish. We finally got our 150g tank ready and place a few fish in it. 1 firefish, 1 damsels and one sweetlip lip. I plan on placing some clams in the tank along with a few coral. I have been told that the CCP starfish eat corals, clams and invert's. Is this true? IS there any star fish I can place in the tank?

Question 2. Should I have charcoal in my sump? I have heard mixed opinions about this. I have been told by a lot of people that it is not necessary. I have about 150 lbs of live rock in the tank and have been told that is the best thing I can have. I was also told with that amount of rock, my water changes can be reduced to about 5% once a month maybe longer.

I look forward to hearing your repsonses.

Again, have a great holiday.

Ken

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Carbon filtration is often frowned on because they can leach phosphates into the water.However you can test carbon for phosphates by putting the carbon in a bowl of tank water and use a regular phosphete test kit.I routinly do this and have found kent marine has never tested positive.Carbon filtration will take the yellow out of tank water and remove the smell as well.One of the things that will make whatever lighting system you have more effective is good clear water.
Also if you want to get to the place where you rarely do water changes you are going to need about 75 more pounds of live rock and maybe a sump with a fuge,along with a very efficient skimmer.

[plecosword]

IMO you dont need anything other than your skimmer and powerheads.
Maybe a better investment would be a refugium?
And i have heard of the ccp starfish comiting crimes like that. lol They are NOT reef compatible! Any other starfish will be ok. like the sand sifting star or the nice looking blue star that is difficult to keep.
Starfish: Saltwater Sea Stars, Brittle Starfish and Red Sea Star
http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/produ...p?cid=85&did=2

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Mario,the scietificly established anount of live rock needed for an efficient biological filter is 1.5 pounds to the gallon.There are some of us that think 2 pounds is more correct.So it would stand to reason that 1 pound per gallon,while not dangerous or harmful,it is not enough to reach the minimal water change point.And yes a good skimmer and fuges are good things there are many stable tanks around without fuges,and even a few without skimmers.To me there are reef tanks and reef systems.What Ken has is a reef tank and what Ken wants is a reef system that is as close as can be to a self sustaining system that only needs water changes to supply trace elements(and there is another way to do that).We must always be aware as we answer these questions that the person asking the question is in no way the only one reading the reply.There are literally hundreds of noob's that read these threads every day and that entering confusing or incorrect information could at best cause some problems for the reader,at worst it could cause a tank to colapse.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Let me clarify some of the statements made above.
Lets look at a good reef SYSTEM in its basic and intended form.The reef filtration system should be viewed as a triangle.On one point of the triangle we have live rock,and at another we have live sand.these two together form the biological filtration system of a reef tank(system).These two points eliminate the need for bio wheels,bio balls or that shredded stuff.It contains bacteria that actualy eats amonia(very harmful to fish and corals) and nitrites(less harmful than amonia but still harmful)and turns them into nitrates(only harmful at high concentrations.
The third point triangle is a protien skimmer(or caniter filters which are far less efficient than skimmers).This is the mechanical part of the filtration of a reef system.Since amonia,nitrites and nitrates are protiens they can be chemicaly bound to oxygen and removed in a bubble column.Together these three points remove almost all of the three elements being discussed.
Notice I said almost?In conditons of high bio loads(this would include all critters that poop in the tank(fish,shrimp,snails and yes coral and anemones)the natural biological system can be stressed.
So we need to go one step further to help out our reef SYSTEM.We need to add a refugium.The algea contained in these refugiums eat amonia,nitrites nitrates and the dreaded phosphates.A refugium will also help balance your day and night ph levels if you employee opposing light cycles(the fuge should be off when the main tank is lit and on when the main tank is not lit).Also fuges help us maintain larger water volumes and thereby maintain a higher level of tank stability.Sorry if I made our nice little triangle a square lol.
IMO(I believe this term is most often used to mean,this is what I think but havnt done any research to back up my statement)here is a list of what it takes to make a reef system.1.5+ pounds of live rock to the gallon.2. 4+ inch's of live sand.3. A clean well adjusted protien skimmer that exceeeds the tank water content by at least 30% and 50% might be better.4. A refugium that is at least 1/3 of the total tank volume in size 1/2 or larger would be better.
This would be my definition of a reef SYSTEM as opposed to a reef tank.
Comments please?

[plecosword]

Sorry, by other filters i was referring to power filters and canisters. I was not trying to post false info. I will make it more clear next time what i meant

[Waterlogged]

Originally Posted by NATIVEVAMAN

Carbon filtration is often frowned on because they can leach phosphates into the water.However you can test carbon for phosphates by putting the carbon in a bowl of tank water and use a regular phosphete test kit.I routinly do this and have found kent marine has never tested positive.Carbon filtration will take the yellow out of tank water and remove the smell as well.One of the things that will make whatever lighting system you have more effective is good clear water.
Also if you want to get to the place where you rarely do water changes you are going to need about 75 more pounds of live rock and maybe a sump with a fuge,along with a very efficient skimmer.

Just curious if you have ever tested Marineland Black Diamond.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

No I havnt Mark but its easy to do.Just put a tablespoon in a cup of tank water and stir it up.Stir it once or twice over about a 30 minute period and then do whatever phosphatre test you have on it.Regardless of who makes it I test it every time.I would recomend you do the same.

[Waterlogged]

Originally Posted by plecosword

IMO you dont need anything other than your skimmer and powerheads.
Maybe a better investment would be a refugium?
And i have heard of the ccp starfish comiting crimes like that. lol They are NOT reef compatible! Any other starfish will be ok. like the sand sifting star or the nice looking blue star that is difficult to keep.
Starfish: Saltwater Sea Stars, Brittle Starfish and Red Sea Star
http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/produ...p?cid=85&did=2

Thanks Nativevaman

Why is plecosword recommending a sand sifting star for a 30 gallon tank when they eat all the beneficial stuff in sand?

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Sorry Mark I have no answer for that.But you are correct.They are not good for dsb's.

[plecosword]

Sory you guys, I still have a lot to learn I guess. and i rember that he said he had 150g. TThe starfish i listed don't cause as much damage do they? In a tank that big.