Recent content by dnjan

What are your preferred critters for eating hair algae? Thanks, Don

I didn't realize that skimming could appreciably remove ammonia. I thought skimming primarily removed polar organics.

I am not familiar with the mechanism by which a skimmer removes nitrates. Please elaborate.

Or you could just be having CO2 from the air dissolving in the water, which will increase conductivity and show up as an increase with a TDS probe.

Exactly! In an extreme case (zero flow because the power is out), the sump had better be able to handle all the water in the display tank that is above the overflow.

Since seawater refractometers are normally calibrated to sodium chloride solutions (not actual seawater), how large is the error? I remember stumbling across an article on that topic years ago, but don't remember where.

the salinity or the specific gravity? Within a reasonable distance from 60F (typical calibration temperature for many hydrometers), the correction is .001 per 10 degrees F. So if your water is 80F, add .002 to the hydrometer SG reading. So for the precision needed for aquariums, a hydrometer...

Actually, it is hard to beat the accuracy of a quality hydrometer unless you are spending around 10 times the hydrometer cost on a refractometer. However, cheap hydrometers are a total waste.

Only until you break it ...

It is very possible that the pump noise is being amplified by the "hollowness" of the stand. One check would be to see if putting a large piece of soft foam (temporarily) in the cabinet makes it quieter.

Luckily, my driveway runs uphill as it goes away from the house. I bought a drinkingwater-safe hose and cut off the metal fittings. I can then siphon the water (saltwater, when I make a Seattle Aquarium run) from the 60gallon tank in the back of the SUV that is partway up the driveway, through...

Thanks for the clarification. I hadn't thought of the exhaust-fan related issues. My house is old and air-leaky enough for that to not be a concern. You haven't taken over the garage completely (yet), I assume, if you are allowing your wife to keep her car in there. Sounds to me like you...

Sorry if it seemed like a troll. Not meant that way at all. Having just installed a CO detector in our house (and not thinking it was much of a problem but doing it because it is now required), I was curious about the situation for which you would think it necessary to protect your tanks from...

OK. If you consider it that much of a risk, why would you put the $100 limit on the CO detector? I just wouldn't think the failure rate of furnaces or water heaters in terms of CO emissions would be that much of a concern. Earthquake, yes. Prolonged power outage, also yes. And depending on...

Is there that much of a possibility of a cracked heat exchanger overwhelming your garage with CO? If you are really worried, can't you tap into the audible alarm circuit of the CO detector?