Jenny

Our pacific coast chiller was on the blitz this summer. I called every fridge repair shop in the area to see if they could recharge it or work on it. None of them would. That doesn't help you but at least you won't waste days trying to call around. Good luck!

Happy Birthday!

Dandy do you really? I wonder if HeartGuard would work... hbh. Quarantine for minimum of 6 weeks. Longer if they show any signs of illness. Dell2go. For dips you mix new water. Check pH, temp, salinity(if you are doing freshwater obviously 0.000). Then add the medication following the dosing instructions on the bottle. Then just put the fish in and set a timer. For Fish: dewormers: praziquantel, fenbendazole (panacur), piperazine (in that order of preference) give orally external parasites: Formalin, copper - cupramine, methylene blue (good to use with freshwater dips). 30-60 minute dip antibiotics: Nitrofurans, kanamycn, minocycline (maracyn-2), neomycin 60 minute dip if they are not eating otherwise give orally We also do 30 minute freshwater dips for clams and zoas. HTH Jenny

Those do look like the same pictures as from the fish highway. Still cool. I think its really interesting that they connect such small tanks. If the syphon is lost where is all the water going?

Hyposalinity. You set up your quarantine tank with normal salinity. 1.025. Add your new fish. Slowly over 2-3 weeks lower the salinity to 1.009. Leave it there for a week. Then slowly over 3 weeks bring it back up to 1.025. This will kill marine ick. It is a lot more reliable and effective than fresh water dips. It kinda sucks b/c you want to see your new friend in your display. But its worth the wait to know your fish isn't carrying something. We also dip our corals with lugol's and inspect everything going in for possible hitchhikers and/or damage. HTH

Happy Birthday!

Nice! Thanks for sharing!

Happy Birthday!

Exotic Aquatics! Absolutely! Its a must go store. Its worth the drive any traffic whatever its the best store hands down. They have tons upon tons of livestock salt and fresh. And the people who work there are really great. I have to take out money from the ATM then leave the rest of my money, credit cards at home because they have so much great stuff. Its a little pricier than online but worth every penny. We use plastic zip ties and magnets for our heaters.

Hi! Welcome to WAMAS. Sorry its so late I haven't been to any of the MD stores except Scales but you can check out Aquarium One, Roozens, and Congressional Aquariums. Here is the link to all the local stores link Like some people have mentioned we are having a meeting at the National Aquarium on the 20th. Should be a good time and then you'll get to meet a bunch of people you end up talking to online.

Welcome! Yeah bring the kids. Maybe they'll meet some new friends too.

I do not have any of the equipment you need. But good luck!

Hopefully not the deadliest, the second to most deadliest maybe lol. But definately post a pic. Did you do any kind of freshwater or preventative dip before you put them in the tank?

We are from Denver too. At least they get a white christmas. I wish I were there.

Welcome and thanks for sharing. We are having a meeting next month. You should come! Its fun!

Anthony, The AquaPods, BioCubes, etc. are designed to run without a skimmer. I have seen mods where the back area is turned into a skimmer/fuge area though. I think the website is nanoreef.com? You may not need to do any mods though depending on what you want to keep. If I remember right this will be your first tank? So you'll probably want to start out with softies, zoas or shrooms or something. With all tanks there is debate about whether a skimmer is even necessary. IMO if you run carbon in a softie tank that size you won't need a skimmer if you keep your fish bioload low. You can probably just buy one of those cubes stock and use their filtration setup. When you get into more advanced corals/fish thats when you will want to start modifying. My opinion, for what its worth. Since you want a smaller tank. Get the biocube w/ the metal halide; buy a good RO/DI filter: 5 stages or more, 75 GPH (any higher and it is no longer a RO but a microfilter); enough sand for a 5-6 inch sand bed; live rock; salifert test kits for ammonia, nitrates, phosphates, and pH. I recommend buying Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner, Marine Fishes by Scott Michael, and Marine Invertebrates by Ron Shimek. Then read read read for the 6 weeks its cycling so you know which animals you want to keep. HTH. I know it is nerve racking trying to wade through all the contradicting advice. But some things you just have to experience. Go slow. Research everything before you buy it. That way you'll learn what you need to learn without killing everything in your possession. Sometimes things die but we try to keep it at a minimum ya know? J

The lights with the biocube are not sufficient for clams. Clams need high wattage lighting, 250W or above, in the 10000-14000K range. Please do not try to keep clams without. As far as the tank goes... get the size you like better. IMO they will be about the same difficulty as far as keeping them stable. So the question is what do you want to keep? IMO/E it is best to plan out a detailed stocking list beforehand. That way you stay on track and are less likely to get fish that will outgrow or consume your fish or corals and corals that will kill each other. Just so you know Oceanic has a 29gallon cube that you can get an optional 70W MH. That could be an option for you as well. Still no clams though. HTH

Are you guys here? Did you and all your stuff make it safe and sound?

We could be your backup in case Rascal can't go one night or whatever. Work in Ballston. Live in Alexandria.

Anthony, Though many of us do have freshwater tanks most people here are saltwater. Maybe check out http://www.pvas.com/ They could probably help you better than we could with your freshwater ventures.

WELCOME Are you up in MD? Like Dhoch said he is having a tank tour Sunday and I'm sure other MDers would be happy to have you come over. Sometimes its easier to decide what you'd like to keep if you see it in people's tanks. We are in Alexandria and you are more than welcome to come over and see our setup.