Do crystal clear plastic powerheads exist?

I, as so many others, am constantly thinking on ease and easthetics. Hence, I've wondered on a couple of things:

1) Are there any blowers, powerheads or what ever they are called, that are made of crystal clear plastic so as to be less noticeable? If anyone knows of any, where can I find them? Who makes them?

2) Are there digital testers? I just found on eBay some PH digital testers for only twety some dollars. Not bad. Are there any digital testers for the rest of the things, like Alkalinity, Amonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, etc. etc. etc? Where, if so, can I find them? Links anyone?

 

1. I have not seen or heard of any. Usually they are black and so is your background and are covered somewhat by live rock and eventually make get coraline algae or you can grow corals on them so it's not that bad.

2. Yes but tend to be more expensive, try marinedepot.com

 

Who said my tank's background would be black? And, wouldn't allowing algae to grow on equipment make it work harder than it needs to? Shouldn't that be brushed off during periodic cleanings?

 

try this..... they seem to only be ph monitors....but you may get lucky....

 

Thanks LexiMommy. So far I've found PH and Nitrate. The nitrate will have to wait though, its $300. Still, ease is better lol. At least that's two down. Like a zillion to go haha

 

how much does stuff run at the stores around you?

 

Other than Wal-mart I have one one LFS. If you want to gamble, there's lotsa slots! But, not even the city library keeps stuff on aquariums. I think I found like six books altogether and most were freshwater.

 

Here are some Marine Depot that's all I've had time to look for so far.

Not saying your background will be black, though usually in marine it's best because it brings out the colors in your fish and corals better. I originally put on blue in my tank and switched to black because it looked much better. If you don't have one no big deal, though the can't really be clear since they have parts inside of them so I believe the answer is no. You can buy magnetic one's in which the motor hangs on the outside of the tank and holds the impeller in the tank with a magnet reducing the amount of powerhead in the tank and heat put off by the motor.

Coraline algae is a redish pinkish algae that most aquarist like since it's fairly attractive looking. I have it growing on mine now. Some aquarist try to get it but can't since it thrives in some tanks and others not, though usually if your keeping your calcium and alkalinity levels in check you should get some, just depends where you want it. There's articles whether it benefits your tank too, some people think this type of algae helps your tnak and other's think it doesn't affect your tank one way or another, I honestly don't know yet. I'l see if I can get a picture of some later.

Hope this helps some

 

That helps plenty. Which actually brings me to another though I've had. I do like the purple, but, its what everyone has. I am not a fan of what MOST have. I read that caribean rock, though not as porous as fiji, is more colorfull since it creates a variety of colors. At the same time, I was thinking of the branch looking one, since, I've seen very few tanks with them. If I made the major make up of live rock, that would make more crevices as well. That's a good thing right?

And yes, that did help.

 

Well the more porous a rock is the more better filtration. If you wanted all none porous you could always make a sump and put a bunch in there. Or you can make rock more porous by drilling holes in it. There's no problem getting fijI as opposed to caribean. You could mix some branch too and caribean if you want. You will want more base rock on the bototm to stack the rest on, you wouldn't want to put branch down there. Most tanks are made up of mostly live rock and yes crevices are good. Though ultimately, most like to cover most of their rock with corals. I have various types of live rock in my tank, and I personally think it's nice to have that, some variety and you can get different stuff on the live rock. When buying your live rock just leave some room if your going to buy corals for more live rock. corals tend to come on a chunk of live rock. I have yet to see a reef tank that looks like another.

 

If I remember correctly, 1.25 lbs of rock per gallon of water is recommended, right? Unfortuately, if I get what I want, with the cost of live rock, I'll be spending over a thousand dollars worth on it... EEEK!

 

around there, depends on the rock too and how dense it is. You can buy cheapter rock for the base or make your own out of cement to save on money. You can also buy in bulk to save money. You doing this for a 150 gallon tank?

 

If the bid goes too high I won't be able to get the 150G. Maybe I'll save up money to get the 180G I saw at my local LFS.

 

well don't forget all the equipment that is involved.

 

I wasn't forgeting. Just selectively blinding myself to the rest for the time being lol. No, jk. I figure I will need to buy twice as much equipment than if I only got a 55G tank. I'm not sure on having just one canister filter. I read about this one that is big enough and comes with empty basket so you can pick and choose what to put in there. (I don't know if they ALL are that way), I liked the idea and thought of having at least two so I could add all the types of media I decide would be most important. Also as for the skimmer. There are different types, so I found out. Since I haven't found more info on them and no one has replied to my thread on it, I figure I'll get at least two of the different types I consider best suited for my needs. Of course I'll start out everything with just the basic needs (one of each) but, I figure in upgrading to multiples in future. So long as its better for my fishies and so long as I don't harm them in doing this.

 

Cannister filters seem to create a lot of nitrates in a saltwater tank except when carred for extensively. I would look into creating a sump and/or refugium. Maybe read through and anything else you can find.

on the skimmer I'm not real sure since my tank does not require a skimmer. I know the brand Aqua C is the one I've read the most positive feedback about so I would go with that brand. I know Mike has expierence with skimmers but he's a bit busy right now and agansoo does somewhat too, not sure where he is. I would go with a Aqua C though.

 

Thanks for that link. Now I learned a new term, oolitic sand! I'm so licking what I'm reading so far. I'll have to read more on it though.

 

I'll have to give you some links to some good books if I can find them. I think there are some on this site too, just have to find them.......

 

Books on oolitic sand?

 

Um probably aren't any books specifically on that since it's probably to small of a subject, but here's some books Mike has on the site. https://www.fishlore.com/Books.htm

 

Oh, yes. I have already begun searching for deals on them. My library has a VERY limited section on pets. Most of the books are not on fish. Of the few half dozen or so that are, only one or two had sections on salt water fish. I went to my local big chain book store and, well, they had even less, BUT, they did have one book dealing ONLY on saltwater aquariums by John Tullock. (Read my other post "4 Different Cycles" on Miscellaneous Saltwater Topics). So I will have to buy them all little by little. I'm currently building a watch list on eBay for them.

 

wouldnt less dense rock be better (considering that it may have more holes and such....?)

 

My library has only a couple decent books on saltwater, I have to start saving up for some of my own books, they are expensive, some well over 30$.

wouldnt less dense rock be better (considering that it may have more holes and such....?)

Yes, porous rock is best for better water flow and thus better natural filtration, though it is ok to have some denser rock.

 

wouldnt less dense rock be better (considering that it may have more holes and such....?)

Yes, the more porous the live rock the better. However, I'm not planning on substittuting the live rock with live sand, instead, I wish to incorporate a DSB along with live rock.

ATM- yeah, those books are very expensive. Look on eBay. Even with S&H its still cheaper.

 

Have you read agansoo's article about substrate in the equipment section I think it is. he did a good job summing the different forms up. There are questions on how long dsb's actually last and if they are worth it, might want to read up on it. I would personally go with a barebottom tank.

 

Yeah, I read it. I can't, however, go with barebottom since some of the fish I am interested in need a DSB. Besides, I want a working ecosystem as close as I can get it to the real thing. Obviously it won't be anywhere close to same, but, DSB is part of it.

 

hmm ok, thinking of getting a jawfish?

 

I was first wanting Horsies and Lionfish. This was, of course, pre-Fishlore. Now I know. SOooo, I've looked up all compatible tank mates with Horsies. Not many. I learned about gobies. Then I've gone on from there. I'm thinking horsies in a separate time later in the future. First I want a minI reef. The whole ecosystem in your hands is so appealing to me. Not that I'd make it work. It does that on its own. Its that I'd be helping one to exist.

Dragonets are deffinitely on my list. Jawfish and gobies too. Still, I can only keep three diff species, so I have to be careful. I'll decide later, once I've learned as much as I can before buying anything. But, dragonets I think are keepers.

 

dragonets usually need large tanks to support a pod population since most feed on pods. Lionfish aren't that hard to care for, horsies are more sensitive.

 

I haven't begun readin indepth material about any fish yet. Its intresting about these pods you mentioned. Where did you get that information? So far, what I have read said that dragonets should normally be kept separate as males do not tolerate other males and some not even other females. However, it did say that a male with a harem of about two or three females, depending on the type of dragonet, is tolerable. So i'm interested on reading about these pods and especially about how these affect their feeding patterns.

 

from what I've read dragonets, tend to feed only on copods, small live organsims that live in your live rock. Usually it is recommended a 125gallon tank to support a large pod colony to support your dragonet or a large refugium under the tank where the pods can reproduce and move into the large tank. It's a bit confusing at first, I'll see if I can find some info for you online.

 

Thank you both for the info. When you said pods, I was thinking you meant they preffered to eat in groups. Now I know you meant copepods. lol silly me!