DCDeacon

Is it purple or dark red? It sounds to me like cynobacteria, which is actually a bacteria and not algae. I had a horrible bout of it in my 40, wrecked it all to heck. Caused by high levels of nitrates and/or phosphates. I found a very helpful thread about it on Nano reefs a while back. See if it helps you: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=59205

That's an awful lot of fish for a 10 gal tank. How are you keeping that much livestock in that small tank?

Good for you. So far I've had to resort to Joe's Juice. Hope they continue their good work.

I need more than a little bit of LR rubble for several (3) different refugiums I'm setting up. Does anyone know where I might look locally to get a fair amount of it? Any LFS that might have it? I really didn't want to have to order through the mail and pay shipping. I figure I ought to be able to snag some sand from one of the several tanks being broken down/sold lately. Thanks for any suggestions (and sorry for the thread hijack!).

How did you attch the piece of plastic over the intake with water still in it? Drain it down and attach, or...?

Ok, so after having setup my system I'm realizing it would have been good to have done one or two things FIRST to eliminate the problem of having junk on the surface that I can't get off. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do at this point to eleviate the problem? Any mods/retrofits/changes I can make to the exisiting setup to get this scum off of my surface easily?

Howard, I've got my acryllic with me here at work, as I picked it up at Piedmont on the way in today. I'd be happy to drop it off and have you do it "freehand" if you're willing to do so, and I'll swing by after you're done and pick it up. That'll give me time to get the rest of the sump done. Lemme know what time you'll be home and I'll drop it off.

Mostly because I've heard it's beneficial in keeping critters in the refugium and out of the pump area, not to mention keeping algae from washing over to the pump area. I'm really doing it for function, not for looks.

Ruh Roh, you going to be around tonight that I could come by and cut teeth in my acryllic? I have a piece that is 11 1/2 inches wide and I just want to cut some teeth along the top at regular intervals. I figure they'll be about 1/4 inch wide or so, spaced out with a 1/2 inch in between them. About 1 inch deep. Is that something you can do?

Chip, have you ever cut acryllic with it? Howard and I both need to cut some teeth in a piece of acryllic for use in a sump.

Basically you need a router and a template. You can see what I'm looking to do here: http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/teeth.html

I'm making a sump/fuge out of a 30 gallon tank. I can get the square pieces for the baffles, but I want one piece to have teeth on the top of it to use in separating the fuge from the return area, to keep any algae or critters from getting out into the pump area. I wondered if anyone had a router or some other tool and could do this for me. I can always get a piece like this from glasscages.com, but before going through the trouble of ordering, etc., I thought I'd check locally to see if someone could help me out. Anyone?

Eddi, any chance you could get a list from him and post it here so that lots of us aren't calling him and asking him the same questions over and over?

Apparently the new 24 is basically a larger version of the last generation of JBJ Cubes. I'm going to stick with the 12 gal DX version. Aquariareview, do you know of anyone who's used the filter area of their JBJ as a refugium?

The Reef Tank had Joe's Juice in stock last time I was there.

So is the 24 the same as the new 12 gallon DX, or...? I don't see info on it on the JBJ web site. I'm definitely getting a Nano for my office for Xmas. I still might go with the 12 for space purposes, but that 24 is nice.

Anyone have any experience with their six-line (or other wrasse) messing with their shrimp? I'm talking about peppermint, cleaner, etc., not the mantis or pistol variety.

The six line wrasse is supposed to be a help with bristleworms. You can do a Google search and find a number of sites that indicate this is a good choice, such as: http://www.emarinefish.com/reefsafewrasse.asp

Using an RO/DI setup. Have tested and verified that RO/DI water is nitrate free. I am using a Brute trashcan that is labelled as food safe, has all the right symbols, etc (according to all the threads I can find on this topic by searching). So I don't believe there's a leaching issue, but I could be wrong. Everything I've read says I'm using the right trash can. My concern is that my nitrates are a bit high in my tank and I'm trying to do regular water changes to bring them down, but I've noticed that my pre-mix water is registering as having some (10-15 ppm) nitrates. Ammonia and Nitrites don't register, just nitrates. Using Instant Ocean mix (just read the salt mix thread and might just switch to Oceanic). I had been using an airstone as well as a maxi-jet 1200 for circulation and a heater. I do have a lid on, although it is not airtight. Do I need to remove the airstone as that is just introducing pollutants from outside the tank? Does having the lid on tight matter that much? I've noticed that I do have some build up on the sides of the can where the water is, almost as if I've got some bacteria growing in there. I've drained it out completely and I'm going to wash out thoroughly and dry before mixing up more. Any suggestions or advice on steps or precautions to take (ie, do I need to use bleach in cleaning out the container before refilling...using proper dechlorination afterwards, obviously)? Just wondering if any else has had problems with Nitrates showing up in their water and, if so, what they've done about it.

Usually, if it's hairy or has four legs behind its claws, it's a "bad" crab. If it has three legs behind its claws, it's a "good" crab. I have seen reports of gorilla crabs (hairy, four legs) messing with SPS corals before.

Would love to get one of the green star polyps. I'll PM you my email address.

On the Reef Central forums I've noticed a number of folks that convert tanks to a simple sump/refugium, and have done it for other folks for a fee. I haven't seen any from the DC area and wondered if there was any one in WAMAS that did that sort of thing or would be interested? I have a 20 gal tank I want to use to create a sump/refugium for my 70 gallon reef tank. Any takers, or know if anyone that does this sort of thing? I know I should try to do it myself and have looked into doing so, but I spend enough time taking care of tanks as it is and wouldn't mind spending a few bucks for someone to do it for me, and do it right (unlike what I'd inevitably end up doing).

traveller, what size tank do you have your T5's on and how many are you using? I have a 75 I'm setting up and I'm trying to decide which way to go for lighting for a softie/bta tank.

Just joined today, but will also be unable to attend due to a trip. Can't wait until the next meeting to see what folks bring.

Not to hijack Joe's thread, but I'm setting up a 40 breeder that will have a WD/sump underneath with a skimmer. I don't plan to use the bio-balls but I do plan to keep the filter material and simply change it out on a regular basis (although, I'm finding more folks who have experienced similar results using a WD to what's reported in the Sea Scope study about WD filters and nitrates, but I digress...). Would I be better off using carbon in there instead of filter floss, or would it be ok to use carbon and the filter floss, or is that overkill?