i MANUFACTURER OF INSTANT OCEANe -

Reverse Cartson Surze

This a d e describes the construction of a '¥pus and release" styto surge device that Is, to my best knowtectee, unique In that ft involves no movf parts beyond thou rqu~red to provtoe tow pcÑlur air.

Dr. Bruce Carbon Introduced the concept of a simple, reliable su device in the iriy I WS. and d a d b e d r n an inlcle In the Summer, 1996 Seascope. ThJs system uses a water pum to flll a container mounted higher than an tauarturn. An internal piping arrangement automatically starts a station when the container Is almost full. The container drains rapidly Into the

uariun-i, creating a stro current surge. Thtesysum,knownasaCarbon~.t Device (a), Is well known, vary iable, and easy to make and balance,

The Reverse Carison Surge Device Insptwt by dw reliability, d lack of moving pans of Dr.

s device. It ww In a *# by displacing

contafaw by air. d release of the air,

s u p in an aquarium. of sue of Is accomptbhç

useoftimingorteve)wring

S3 combined wtth an e l e d d y ed butterfly valve. The circuit and

valveare expensiveand prone to have especially fn %tier-

the72OpIlononk witha2000 abandoned (he CSD. I feaslUHtyofapush-and-release~devfce 41 Gary Dudley at the tenth annual Marine Aquarium Conference of North America, d ~ l t a ~ a t ~ ~ d l 9 9 &

Our flrsc unit was an femrud box, open on the bottom, Intothebackcomer ofthe Thetrianfubrboxwas36"onthetworight *side* and 36" deep d m a b o u t

teà - :: Volume 17 Winter 2000w

You know the damseMsh (family P-). These feisty* generally smaH, shallow waiter marine flsh are universal used for starting saltwater aquariums. AM, more dun 325 described species. you can Imaginethattherelsmoretoddscroupthan

totorance for ammonia. This ankle Introduces three spades from an almost mknwn and unpronounceable genus. Ambfyftyphniodoit ,, , , I - ,

are disease resistant and accept all types of food eagerty.

collection fectoes. Unlike many other damsel species, they are u . . O l y t o i n t ~ ~ r r ~ t l y t h ~ i o about 4 inches). --- DumÇJfif

kw+d damsel is found mKLh- in Sea. the eastern Indian Ocean, and throughoutMicronesia,kisfoundalong vertical reef wafc among c o d and gorronians, and feeds almost exclusively on zooplanloon.

Continued on boge 4 ?(2000 Aquarium Systems.. Inc., Mentor, OH - Printed In USA

100 gallons. A "U" shaped Air Vent Construct AV bulk into the box had one armofthe L q insidediebox,mchingto within thru inches of the The other arm, outside the box. &-h tank water level. Our or@d calculations indicated that an AVC made from one inch diameter PVC ptoe would be sufficient to run the system. We also thouzhc-" pressure outside the box wou balance the pressure inside the box, making the choice o t c m s w a h mterlal -We

22 ic because It is cheap and easy to and we could see what was

happening through die walk and cop of the uRfL

outtheo booomofthe box. and inr in tha A V ~ " is pushed, again

air. through the cube and out the top. L m air reaches die bottom of the U, some wilt continue up the oiher arm of the U. This escaping air will displace some waur, reducing the weight of the column of water In theouBldearmofdie U and also reducing the back pressure thte column exerts on the air in the box. Once die pressure is reduced more air will escape, redud due pressuremoreand causing more&escape,etc.~hiscreates the cascade that eventually drives all the waur outoftheAVC.Oncethatoccurs,dieInside of the air̂ fllted box Is fully exposed to atmospheric pressure on the water, and th box vents all the air, resulting In tank warn surfing into the box. This i n c d SUI floodt die box and the AVC and x e c, -. stares again.

Our theory made sense, but It didn't He work that way. Our biggest error w Xnkiqe that the pressure inside the box

would much the pressure outside it. Although this is true at the surface of the water,waterpressurebvariableon thebox waits depending on the depth, resulting in a pressure imbalance on the walls of the box. Our wototyoe unft ex~loded several times.

box top Became¥cn4tcisdea sides warp wed-hh at each cych In many cases the box was destroyed after oneortwo* Wehuiftthe next 3 ofepoxycoated3/4Inchplywoodwhh

reinforced seams. That unit did not S3£ (he AMmrihthe AVC, amount I of surge was

wCwworked In

dbappoind WeupgradedtolSinck2 l ~ h à § ZmdTindia. dl it0 predud ibsaimn tmprowemenm In v m dm%*

dte discharge. l'Hs watermoveswithalotof kinetic anew. We constructed a box to capture and the vented air/water mkvtrtlht'aKSdrat!~nwaterback Into the tank. This box Is dm of (he main box. and tc back comer of the aquarium.

The refill of the AVC cycle was unrchble dependant on the depth of the main box below die tank surface. We

aTtotheAVCjustbelowthe water """£ This resulted in a lot of water on the telling. To this T we added a 90 decree elbow directed into the aquarium, and this reduced the uan* of w i n g 3ie pipe ~.nK'Sbok, which created an open arm, resolved the problem entirely. Escapi air will follow a path of lean mimmdThis lift becomes the path of least resistance when the open arm into the tank it tonger than the distance from the T to however high the water muse be lifted. Once the ressure In the box Is equalized at the end o f a cycle, the open arm is a conduit

for w&k refill the AVC This is required to prevent air from from the main banuiddrboxIs5T2Ã Issomenoise during the transition from venting to Wuw. Smaller pipe would reduce the noise, but also would reduce the Intensity of die surge.

createdbythisdevfceknot

surge also tests for only a couple of second*. Movement duri the surge at the far end of the (ankisonlyabout t w o ~ n c h e s . ~ hi themiddleddtetankareflattenedbriefly and then sway untB the next s u r ~

In my 20(1 @on tank a the air w p l y p m l ~ s c i n e d o f s h iw k a~usudsothata l~~cof31n^ 1 diameter, -40 inch till lift tubes nans working; about 10 seconds before the surge device ,L cycles, once SO seconds. If the Kfe cubes are shuofft the device cycles -& seconds. ----

TGimwqedmicew*&< December 1998toFebruary,1999,whenk , shook apart the reef structure In the

provides a bubble-free surge in an aquarium dueshould enhance the healthofsu ikpeMfait qanlsms. ~ u d i a device ̂ uld beadaptablema m C Y d e =

of sizes, air supplies,

Reverse Carlson Surge Device

IT

- 3 k e d I n a 2 t 0 3 f t n i wdaydunte of foods 1s suggested. MixrJdoialdiseiso areseldom seen in this genus.

Infecdoul and Parasitic I Dunseffish are P- by several

sped* of w-m , roundworms, flukes,

e d - S m h disease are c o m p b but damsels ^S?St most part disease resistant when

maintained hi a healthy environment. Freshwater dips and low-salinity treatments

FmrMr. Robin. IWS. T>w contritnuout mirin* tquwte. Mkrocoim.Shrtuiw.VT.

I A New Star In tife Universe..$ -

.a '

MANUFACTURER OF INSTANT OCEAN* 's'i ; yAh

Ltve sand beds have become a popular way 6simultaneouslyprovide9blolo^calfilterDa m y to remove and utflfze ftxnss food, a food s&forsuspensionfee4nearriniah,andnew h a w for reef aquaria. These sand beds ham developedfrom thethinsandbymfoundln dm"Berliner"typeofaquarium,IXKtheyhave dw&r thçorçd basis in marine soft SSdtnwt ecology. They are an attempt to set up a "die - of life" that functions as a normal sand ecosystem. In our aquaria, the sand bed organism community is probably the '-ç""-

match to any natural reef assemblagt Fortunately, the construction and r n m W_ of such a bed Is easy and -

Most reaf acxorisis maketheirsaidbeds'~

&r sand, are generally avoided asw: toincreas*diatomgrowth.Other* a s ~ a c k ~ w i ~ ~ w w k ~ s ~ , a r i  ¤

~ = - W w t @ ~ w 2; substrate. Arqeonfte sand beds may be a potential source d calcium and buffer for theb ~ h t i f ~ b d d ~ l m l a n l s * occurring, the system's water chemistry is badly askew and this dissolution won't hdp much. hi general, aquarium organisms don't careaboutthecornpositionofthesandbed, they just need a specific particle size.

The mixture of particle sizes Is Important as It facilitates animal Optimal perf- seems to bed composed of parade sizes wfth a ratio 5:43. The first group b very flne panicles between 0.063 and 0.1 25 mttmoMrs (nun). ' Thtt tflcondepoup te bttweien0.125and0.25' ' mm,and thethird0.25 u p r o 2 m m . ~ e s T

than 2 mm shodd be avoided except at ̂ iddflsurface layer, no more than 6 mrn thic\e-; inarea*ofhid)current.

Thecorrectmixtureofpal-tidesizes '" "

ifthatwaterpcrcolanithrough6i^,t but not too quickly. This results In layers of '

(ttferwitdissolvedox/genconcentrationsIn -=, (he bed. The uppermost layer, two to three centimeters(cm)thick,hasa~levelof t 4

dissolved oxygen, and contains much d (he '

beefs animal life. The nwt hyw byer a d a ' loweroxygenconcentrationandbwhere - " I

mudiofthebacurtaludhthofnitrogen ' compoundsoccurs.Thalowesttoyer,seldom' - foundinbedslessthan 15ondfo,bdcs

- 2c<HPf(!l^^,~p<lp4 b $ M .* ^,I . 8 , ,.

- d & t ="-sa-- thew=** lyduringhmating Thesmallerspeciesaredw&ttoead fish and crustaceans, possibly swarmbie sped like mydd shrimp. Their relatively large jaws would enabfethemtocoroumesomefareer preyItems21weN.

Forthemostpan,thereefbassleemate outstanding aquarium - They are espedaXy well-suited to the mhi-retf system wheretheyswmto'"aporedau"the rwnerous came and crerice*.

reeftanktheyhkjbefedtwoorthreerime* aweeklnatankwithoutliverocktheyshould be fed dally.

WhenIntroduced imoanaquarium,a basslot may hi& for several days, w à long as twoweks, beforecoodngouttotapeathe surroundings-Ahhouriitheymay- becomeas bokfasa butterfly ordownfish they win gradually become a more conspicuous panofthçflshconwuntty.Onethbtgthatw preventacdmmlonisaggressivemkmaros.tf these basdm are kept with agerewtve fch, the basshtswfl often hideand cease to feed.

m : -mpage3 - ,-a

In the past ten year) reef aquariums have:, ' become very popular with marine aquarists. When people seined keeping corals they hmednuety began lookfng for brightly colored fishthatwouldnotharmthesesessile invertebrates.. One group that gained popularity a* a result of the reof tank craze was the genus iMfuvpwrw, which are cwnoronly known as reef basslec. These exquisite fish wre found to becolorful,diseaseresistant,and they do notbotherthemoredesirableinvertebrates, with the possible exception of ornamental crustaceans. White these fish were often considereddifficulttokeepin fkbaly systems, they thrive in -J& the rd aquariumprobabtvbecausethaneb aburxfanceofewesandcrevicexwherethey w hhte and usualy also a bck of larger, 4, -- 'f

A! thes* basslec are secretive and are

found In caves and

spawning periods when they apparently pair off axdusk.ThereIsnoknownsexualdbnorphism inanyoftheUotropoowspçcies,afthoughyo

Aquarium Systems. Inc. Mentor. OH - Primed in U.SA

succçssandsubsequentSeaScopearticle In 1997 and 1998 Inspired me to take a second lookattheBcoS/sum,ihtetimeusingthe recommended mud substrate In the filter sump.

Thitantdereportscrna15month comparisondasmallEcoSystemaquariumand aBerUnstylereef.Inordertomakeany IudgiMntf about the relative merits of a methcxiforkeecingreeftanks,acontrolor ~ k m e d d l ~ m ~ ~ m identical rW aquarium* and equip one wtth an EcoSyscem filter. The other aquarium was set upasaBerlinftyt6reçftankwithaprotei skimmer and dq KaXcwasser for &oration replacement. TMs represents the bask

scientificperspectivesmddkatesofeach method would be necessary to elevate this comparisontotheleveldaignificant evaluation, but my simple comparison to the most direct evaluation of these two nwhwfs that 1 have seen to date.

. .. 44 gallon pent on lonfu set up side by side 0~ -A EnSprem ç m kft (rlg+tJ

tanks to fadlitate detritus removal. One rank was equipped with a small hang-on EcoSyswm fitter. The filter was positioned slightly above the onk so water would (tow back into ttw tank by gravity, and the filter was powered by& Maxi-Jei? W-600 pump. The 12" by 4" by 6" middle chamber of die filter held 3 p n d s of EcoSystem mud about I" deep. Thw refimum was illuminated by an 1 8 ~ ~ 4 0 0 0 K compact bulb 24 hours a day. The filter was seeded wttft strandsofhkptazi/&andCaukrfxl raxmosa shortly after the rock was added to the aquarium. Mysid shrimp and a m p h i i s were introduced at the same time as the ajga*.

The modified Berh style tank was filtewd by a Mad- protein skimmer, Kalkwaaer made from deionized water and Reef Evoludort>CaldumHydroxidewudrtoped% a t ~ a g d h i s a d m a s & . T w W JatPH*-1200pu~providedwatermovement in both tank&ThtjrwereaimedInopporiiu direction*anddmedu>alternateona20 secondcyde,comrottedbyaNaturalWavem

m w e e k s b o i h l à § J a w à § r e n o c k --supptodb~Troricorium.Tliwp wrà dupKcaus of eleven soft and &ma hard coralspades.PlaceswerephcedIneachtank Enamirrorhmppaturnataboutthçsam nfatnekxatfain!;inngardtowatermovement andMILFlortdipwdnematewerçaddedt each tankno(Mbcontrolate*,hApril1999 fishworeaddedtoeachtank:ayellowian&a

moçiih)y-exdnneeswfth removalfromthebottom.CJdufnand alkaBnfty levçf were maintained by means of Roof EvokJtiori* Cakfum Chloride and Sea&Jfhrà adddon& R e d Bnhidori* Pot- Iodide, Strondum Chloride, and Trace Element suaofainents were added about onu a month.

(Cmvhrio (~.)fpread so much that rhq were¥voncualtyanuisance.TheykMeddrP

Live Sand Beds, Some Whys and Hows Continued from pay I

dissolved oxygen. This is where suMue reduction occurs that resutts In dm production ofhydrogensuMde.Inanormalsandbçd(h amounts of h/drogan suttdà produced are nwute,butevçntheslightestbitbevidentb b ~ ~ * c a m r y t o ~ ~ the presence d hydrogen sulfide pmmu no realdangerInanaquarium.EvenIfdwbçJi Mvorelydfcturbedanddwodorddierafts quite strong, it will be harmless, as the amount necessarytocauserealhamiisfairlyhrac.The osliniptr-bad.NonTHNrittkiwlypm~ up through the bed and is oxkfaed to sutfwe whenitencounters~~mfen.

A maws sand bed about (0 on deep

Bedconstructioniseasyandnqbedone whemarankissetuporafterlthasbeenh operationforawhtfe.Ekccptforhi'MT armoring panicles that are added last. (he particles should Ir mted before beiru added to the aquarium. Don't bother to rhue the mixture because the very fine dt parrid- are good buwriat substrate and wifl soofa out In a day oriwo.Ifdwydon't,afew hoursot mechanical (Biradon will remove them from the water. Abo, don't worry about bed particles f d q the ofran- Sand bed construction mimics a moderate storm in an atolt that would sdr up animals In the same way. Animate horc had to tolerate this condition for miffions of

ymmandhayadap#dmdieprocess.~ods canbepbcrionthesandorparoaHyburiedin it for liability. If sand Is added to an established

beramcwedfirst.

fended. There are many wws to obcah a

starter(dok&mgworms,bugs,brittle stars, and other animals are commercially çnlhbl&HobbyistscmalsotnuJeanhmlfan sand.Itisimportanttorememberthatonce the anrnals are introduced, it will take months for diem to fully populate the sand bed. The tank won't be ready for a MI organism bad for at lça six months.

If bacteria do at the work of chanring nitrocencompoundslrnnitrogeneas,why& we need to worry about the worms and bugs! They are important because die/ keap (he

-v---- a d other acdvttte. The adequate functioning

ofdwbacterialsdependentonthecontinual yowriiofthepopulation.Ifdrpopuhdon ceasescogrowiametabolismofnkrofiwi compoundsdbeseverelycuratedand nutrient levels wM rise. The worms and bw continuafly mat bacteria, thu* owning up habitat spicefarnowtKKMria.Abo,asaresultofthoir movement, water can circulate through the id>bringing(fissolvedfoodtothobacteria.

It may seem trivial that spacfl for bicurbl growth Is necessary, but, as with dl other ormninns,thepopuiationwincoiKhuoto expand d y as lorif as condition* are good. As available space decreases, the bacurfe quk growing rapidly and begin to se- a hard manrfal around themselves. This maurial act* like a due, cemendng Our bed grains together Into dumps. This occurs rapidly when the bacteria)- ismanddieanimal populationIslow.Ckmpingcueofflargeareas oftheAterbedfromwatercirculation.Tiris I d l b t h e ~ f l b a d o n h t h e ~ a n d t k ~ M ~ m ~ l k ~ d dwomu,bççl,andotheranimabpreven anovr-abundancedbactfiiandkeepsihe -Brine.

Itmayseemodddnt(Ifmwrnentfof such small animate could be sieiiflcant to water circulation, but dm cumulative action is considerable. Each animal causes the disturbance of about 100 eubk mllllmours of filter bed per &y. In a wall popuhfd sand bad the number of animals Is enormous. I ham odcufetftd that there are about 100.000 adnub hthefKeerbedofmy45~hgoonrMf.A population dus (wee will move about 0.01 cubic meter,orZ8gallons,ofStar bad pçr<fay.i mytankthis is~toturnovertheent i re bed every week or so.

Thavrtterdrcubdooresultingfromthis f l k e r k d f l m m m p m d # ~ The breakdown of other nutrients also occurs. tfthereissonrwytotrapdiemnutrients,in ateM,foraxanwfa,anddMiMremovttdiemfrom thçaquarium,the<tesolvednutrientlovdInth -can bemaintainedatavery low Level. The bestpartofthis processis thattheanimals &andwwork.exc*(ortheoccasional removaldahandfulof>lraefromthesump.

There is another benefit to this system. As

(her animals feed and grow dwy reproduce and flood the tank with microscopic eggs, spwin>>andlÈrvÈç.Ihamfoundthatmany formi are continually In the water of aquarium, own though I run a protdn skimmer. ThesebrvMarecorsdfood.blnuurasmall planktonic animate such as thew am rtf mJor sourcednutrient*foramipolypsmycorals, manysoftcorals,andotheranimalsthatfeed on suspended muur. So, wtdi the help of your fnsndl/ wonm and buo, once you feed the fish inyourtankyouatohtlromddm invertebrates, and hi an absolutely natural manner.

It is no co^Kidence that successful maincenanoidmanycorabbwwtththe adventofthe"Beriintr"wtlçmwith rudlnwttary sand bed. The sand bed produces foodforthehvembrauKandactsasa bteloricdMur.haweU<lçvçohdt

dttbtdÑylhkffc St. bMtm.~m=akihok. ~ h e i r s d l ~ r t ~ - b u t t o o . k n a n t ~ w ^ ~ d w

FREE

mm SuHur at the

M u m Spter1-15, lnc., Mentor, OH - P r i d h USA

My Experiences in Reef Keepin 4 - h

My Experiences in Reef Keeping

Dçnteri(katkmBawdonSulfarattt Aquartumof-

-rn@Pt 10,000KteifofwaterwithWvtew/kwthe lankcomain@ the -swtim,andsowa peakd21qg4nitricafarcmcdayandabw nitratelevelafterthroedays.

Thbbud)treatmentcyrbwas+ Ihroeifaws.EÈehOneihftwvn*ankrt^epoa thefirstifayardaloweredlevçlafterthreedan ThethreerepetitionsreÈJtedinadecrease the nitrate concentration dabout lOO q$. Then the tank with the denltrifylw system was connected to the general saltwater drcuhtlon system.

Ataflewrateof200Hunperhour,In tlifrceendaysthanhrateconcentration(fcxÈpa from220IT^to lIOn@andremainedudds level.ThefewrrnwasthenIncreasedtoW0 tken per hour. The nitrate oonoentradon droppedforfifteendaptoaablheat20UK/I Fkialy.th~flowratewasiçac1500Kcerspe hour,mdthenjtncftoonocncr*kci0fiHAyou beunen 4 and IOfngfl, dqmdhgon theamount of food that hid been added.

DurlftfhdenitrifyingproeoutheWvaried pdyanddropped toabout 6 neartheoutput

that the suftr beads abo brolu down, restricdru diewamrflowihnx^)ihç*pbes.TN