Brian

Would have to agree with getting a good cleanup crew. That way when he does get busy again the tank won't go too bad. A strong clean up crew can make a worlds of difference.

Very cool video. Can't wait to see the RBTA's and hopefully I can sneak a peek at where you place them to heal. I saw some other videos on split BTA"s but this was probably the most clear to see and understand.

no where the expert or novice but I can't see why they can't stay on the plugs. The only concern would be that since they will be top heavy once they grow that you will want a better way to support them.

Got home and the BTA was fully extended and looking happy. I guess the other day it had just gotten too much food. OH well live and learn. Brian

Right now the rock is on the sand be in a 90 tall. Currently running is the 4 56watt PC and the 2 400 watt MH. Not sure if it should be higher but it seemed happy when I first put it in. THe arms were fully extended for the past 5 days and was eating fine. At first I thought it had finally moved but it was still there just pulled in. I'll check it today when I get home. It might have been that I fed it too much or was just unhappy about something. I'll update when I get home tonight and have another look at it.

How do you know if a BTA is happy? I just recently got one and it was doing fine up until last night. For some reason it looked like the tentacles were smaller and shorter. I directly fed it yesterday night and it took the food but never really extended as far as it has been the past couple of days. Does a BTA draw back in on itself when it is eating? Does a BTA have a certain behaviour before it splits? This BTA is pretty big with a very nice almost neon green coloring so was just wondering if this is to be expected before it splits? Right now the BTA has been getting some pellets and Mysis shrimp every other day and seems happy. It does sit in a rock surrounded by anthelina (sp?). Could the other coral on the rock block too much of the light to keep the BTA pulled in? If so I have no problems getting rid of the SPS if it will make the BTA happy. Thanks, Brian

My skimmer is doing fine except for one thing the air hose. The little hose that I guess provides air for the skimmer to help produce bubbles doesn't work properly. If I leave the hose unplugged the skimmer creates too many bubble and the collection cup just fills with bubbles. There is a stopper on the end but after awhile the end plugs up and the skimmer stops producing bubbles and skimmate. I tried adjusting where the collection cup sits but that doesn't help and there is no where else to adjust. I'll try and post pictures when I can but was looking for suggestions to do in the meantime. When the bubbles are under control it's pulling a pretty green sludge but when the bubbles get out of hand I'm not getting much of anything. Thanks, Brian

Do you happen to carry DT Phytoplankton(sp?)? If not how much of a bother would it be to get some in> Thanks

Went there this past weekend and had a good/bad experience. The staff looked busy doing upgrades and setup the new tanks to pay anyone any attention. So after walking around for 20mins with my daughter saying she wanted to buy everything in the salt water area I had to find someone to help out. I got what I needed and headed to the front counter. Not sure what his name was but the item I had was labeled as $16 on the tank. For some reason no one at the counter knew what the price was so the guy at the counter only charged me $8 for a $16 item. OH well. I like it and the store does show some progress I just think they need to do their upgrading before or after store hours. That way they can concentrate on the people in the store and not upgrading the store.

I have a fan in my canopy but I have no idea how to hook it up to a power source. It looks like it was a computer fan so unless I have to hook it up to a computer power supply I have no idea how to get power to it. I really want to get the fan work before I start using the Halides on my tank. Thanks, Brian

I would think you would one one fan on the sides to pull in cooler air and a fan on the top to pull the hot air out. Just put the fans on opposite sides.

Yeah I have a 90. So at the least I'm looking at Nemo, Dori, The star fish, the yellow one (god I can't remember). Doubt I can get he puffer fish. Not sure what the purple fish was. Was the shrimp a fire shrimp? Thanks, Brian

OK so like most parents that have a salt water tank I have been tasked with getting the whole cast of finding nemo. So I know no matter what I have to get the nemo fish what what about the rest of the cast? Anyone know the capatability of them? I don't plan on buying the whole cast right away but I wanted to know if it is possible. Opinions? thanks, Brian

I must be the lucky one. I went there when my tank had finished cycling and was told: "i'm supposed to sell you $150 in supplies, but I'm not going to do that." After I picked up my jaw from the floor I was able to get out of there with only spending less than $20. Although I have been back every weekend since like a crack addict spending no less than $20.

Right now I have my lights on for about 10 hours with the antics on an hours before and after the main lights go off. I did get some RO water from BRK this weekend and will be using that from now on to top off the tank. I do have a RO/DI filter but have yet to hook it up and start making my own water. So it looks like the brown algae or Diatoms is just part of the "process". Thanks for the information.

Ok so I'm pretty much at the end of adding my snails and such. So what is the next step? I have noticed that now that I have my lights on for an extended period I have developed brown algae on the tank and sand. What to do? I do have some pumps coming in to increase the flow around the tank but wondering what is the best option. I talked to Johnny at the BRK and he said I low on phosphates and kalk or calc wasn't sure. Wasn't Johnny's fault I just didn't have time for along conversations and what my options would be with an 18month old in the store. So what does everyone do to battle the brown algae? I do see the snails and emerald crabs eating it so not sure the algae is a bad thing. I do not have an auto top off system yet so can I just dose kalk/calc and what is the best way to do it? Also I know I will have to get a pair of clown fish for my daughter so what is the best way to acclimate the fish to my tank? I'm used to fresh water but I don't think the whole let the bag bob in the tank for a while does the trick. My sump is too small to put fish into and I would be worried they would get sucked up by my return pump. So how does everyone else do it? Thanks I'm sure there will be more questions to come

I ahve always heard that you want to keep them in an acrylic tank. That is you keep them in an AGA that they could possibly break the tank. Is that true or only when they get huge? Very cool looking but not sure if I'm willing to risk a flooded basement.

When I looked at the site it doesn't show the XL version unless the series 300 is the XL. I would think that if a skimmer was to go into the refugium that is would come before the main part where the water flows into the refugium. Since that way more of the pods and good stuff go back into the tank and not get sucked up by the skimmer. Now I maybe wrong but I would think that the XL version has to have another compartment to it but that version is not shown in any of the pictures I think.

Yeah I think I'm going to go with trying to find some live sand and maybe a piece or 2 of live rock. Plus I don't plan on adding any fish for awhile. Thanks

Ok so I finnally got my tank up and running. By that I mean I got water, rock and sand in the tank. What is the best way to seed the tank? Should I get some "live" sand from someone? Should I get some "live" rock from someone? I have heard putting in a dead shrimp from the supermarket helps. So which is the best way to start up a tank? A little background. The tank was setup before but everything was taken out and has set dry for a couple of weeks. The sand has been washed. There have not been any tests done to check the levels since the water was pretty cloudy after adding the sand. Thanks

Depending on when you need I should be able to pick it up. Not sure where Bemmer lives but I don't think she far from where I work or live. I'll also be in the Columbia MD area on the 18th, so if you need it I can meet you somewhere around there then. Just let me know. Brian

The stand looks awesome!!! So when are you taking orders? I'm in bad need of a hood to go with the 125g tank I bought a long time ago. Can't wait to see how everything turns out.

Just goes to show what a person can do with the correct motivation. It also shows that there is no wrong or right way to do something in your tank. As long and the water and filtration is correct it seems you can do most anything. After reading the article it shows that there was alot of thinking going into this and was planned well to handle that kind of bio load.

BRK just had a group but on the IO salt not too long ago. Not sure if they still had any left over from the group buy but you can check with them. Also I bet if you get enough people to say they want more salt I doubt they would be against doing it again. Last time I think the count was 40 boxes? On plus BRK is probably less than 15 mins from you.

Yeah friends are the cheapest and safest way to go sometimes.