AquariaUSA

Ward...man you are a Hazmat guy! Calcium hydroxide is caustic What is wrong with salt, sugar, or powdered sugar? hehe, must have been all those hours looking at reef sites online in the middle of the night! What did you mix it with?

Cyro Tech Pages They also have a "sheet distributor locator" on the site. Have fun! Watch the fingers, use glasses or eye gear ild

Most has already been covered but here is a list QT 3-6 weeks (screen for disease, and enhance diet/immuno complex). Not many do this, but if you do I seriously doubt you will have mortality issues experienced without QTing. Drip acclimate species to desired tank. Lights off or feed if large community to alleviate immediate stress on new addition. Watch for signs of stress (mainly inability to eat without feeling threatened by other species in tank) for first 2-3 days. Cleaner Shrimp (if applicable to system) will keep "ick" issues to a minimum depending on how often they receive man-made foods. 2 per couple tangs usually works, unless the dominant tang keeps others from using the cleaning stations. UV sterilizer if you continually have "ick" outbreaks. Won't take the cysts/trophonts off the fish, but will irradiate what is in the water column if it passes through the uv. Hyposalinity (but be wary of wild colony sps, delicate seastars, inverts in molting phase, etc.) Slowly drop salinity over course of two days. All at once can tick off certain coral species. Ex. 180 gallon tank running at 1.025. Exchange 12 gallons of tank water with 12 gallons of fw topoff (elevate pH). Salinity should be around 1.022~1.023. A few hours later you can drop another 12 gallons. Wait at least 12-24 hours before going any further. 1.019-1.020 for a period of 3-5 days should help eliminate free-swimming "ick" looking for a host. If you go any further you can risk coral species or inverts. Ruby Reef, or Kents RxP can also help to slow the bloom phase of "ick". Use sparingly with wild colony SPS dominated tanks (preferably not at all if you have a sizeable investment). Elevating the temp to about 82-84 degrees will speed up the life cycle (repro) phase of most parasites, but can put stress on the tank inhabitants as well. Watch closely if using elevated temps. Pull the fish and re-quarantine for another 3-6 weeks. Strengthen the diet as much as possible with products like Selcon, Garlic supplements, B12 (capsule/liquid form), and Beta Glucan. Supplementing natural foods (those found in the natural environment if possible) can also help greatly. Goodluck, keep us posted Avoid copper, usually does more harm than good, even in a separate med tank. There are more milder meds on the market that work just as well, if not better than copper on parasitic outbreaks.

Hang in there Eddi! Everyone has problems once in a while We all just hope they don't hit all at once! Keep on doing what you can, things will work out. *We do not use float valves on anything if we can help it. They all have problems sooner or later no matter if they are the cheap flapper type, spring loaded, or electronic. Tank design and disaster preparation can't cover everything ild

If you do not prefer to do it on your own, feel free to contact us. We can do just about anything inhouse, or send it to one of three cabinet makers we use. Let us know what size cabinet (tank brand, etc.) and canopy you require, types of woods, etc. Thanks, Rich watson@aquariausa.com

Nice banana! But I would rather be here ild

Get yourself a wooden dowel to stir the substrate occasionally. With the amount of detritus and cyanin buildup on the substrate I would regularly siphon it out to keep it under control. Sand sifting critters are nice in a larger system, but in small tanks they can starve. I did see a goby, and it should do some of the work. Keep nutrient input down, RO/DI is a very, very good investment. Also be sure to test your Calcium (Ca++) and Alkalinity (KH) regularly. Salifert kits work very well in this regard. Keeping levels around 400-450PPM Ca++ and 10-12 dKH Alkalinity help systems to avoid massive outbreaks of slime algaes/cyanos.

If you get a book, offer it to the store employee too! Welcome to WAMAS!!! Please keep posting if you have any questions The club is a great asset to new hobbyists, and they will help you save money!

Did you try vinegar on the calcium buildup on the pump? You could also try a product made by Jungle called "limeoff". Most of the time either of the two will work. Could also try GooGone. Just be sure to throughly rinse with FW and SW several times afterward.

Anything happen around the tank, externally? Cleaning company, power outage, painting? Do you have a ground probe in the tank? Anything besides the feather star added within the previous 3 weeks??? I doubt it is the phosphate reading. Reason being we have at least 25+ tanks out there with elevated PO4 and NO3 readings due to excessive feedings by the client (what many would think are deleterious to the aquarium environment). I would check your I2, Sr and Dissolved O2 levels if possible. Do you use ozone? Skimmer go nuts at all? I personally run my own tank without a skimmer, and have done so since the CMAS tank tour back in 2003. Periodically we use carbon and UV sterilization if I make new additions to the system, and then I remove the carbon and UV. No deep sand bed in the main tank, but one that is about 18"x30" in the 125 sump below. No reactor or kalk drip~been using Seachem Reef Advantage Calcium and Reef Builder for more than two years on this system and many others with no problems maintaining levels (actually forget to dose all the time, and CA drops to about 320, KH to 6-8). The use of Seachem products was actually started after running a few test tanks comparing similar CA and KH products, both liquid and powder to find an easier application for our client base that did not use automated systems. Sponges, tunicates, sea squirts, dendros, and a few clams are the only filtration we use. Anemones split monthly, and some not-so-hardy species are thriving. Have not finished reading Tyrees books on systems like this, but sounds like a lot of the same thing we have been doing with the home "hobby" tank. I must admit, waterchanges have been on the back burner for a month but hope to do one this week Sorry to get off subject, but I always jump on it when I see that water quality is suspect. The only time we consider water quality as a cause for problems is if undesirables have taken over a tank (problem algaes, aiptasia, cyanins, disease, etc.) or if a coral or fish has been taken from a "pristine" tank and placed into one that is not so "clean." As a company though, all of our client systems receive weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly water quality maintenance and thorough (not just a few titrations) testing and analysis, and everything goes under a strict QT regimen prior to placement. This has kept mortalities under 5% on a rolling 90 day period, and includes shipments. If we see any bleaching, it is no more than 1 piece at a time (usually due to terpenoid warfare, wandering anemone, or a hungry fish). I dread the day of a tank crash On the mention of a feather star...unfortunately they are regularly imported, although survival rates (more than 6-12 months) are very low. It is very possibly that a pathogen or secondary infection could have been introduced with this critter (the source does not QT, or because it was recently imported). They are also known to hang out amongst sps during the nocturnal hours of the tank to "catch" food, which something could have been transferred to a few, but not all. When the first colony/frag went, did you remove it, or let tissue slough off and find its way to neighbors? Now for the lighting, it is very possible that excessive UV irradiation was the culprit, but I would guess a few things happened to cause the problem. I doubt you would ever see bleaching with 20K bulbs (no matter the brand) unless they were extremely close to the water surface. 10Ks are another story though! We all appreciate the post however, and please keep a detailed record on the events going forward. Would like to see how some species were ignored, or if regrowth occured. It would be something of a benefit to all if we all kept record of bleaching events inside our captive environments (record tank parameters, new additions, odd events, equipment (lighting) upgrades/changes, disease, RTN/RTD, etc. Goodluck and we wish you the best on recovery

I would avoid CSL at all costs. They are no longer in the business. If your plan is to keep clams, anemones, and sps later on, don't skimp on the lighting, for you will more than likely upgrade to halides later on. Do you plan to have an open top or canopy top? If you can save some money by avoiding the purchase of a wet/dry, then using a plain glass tank for a sump will be perfect...as long as you have good quality liverock for your biological filtration. I think if you polled how many people use wet/dry filtration on their reefs, the % would be under 5% IMO. Either way, congrats on getting a bigger tank

Oops! I got an emergency call at 4AM on Tuesday morning, so we were unable to make it out with the captive stock. I called and emailed to see if Wednesday was still a go, and no return call :( How was the event? I am sorry I missed it, but things don't always work out as expected! grrr 48]

Return pump is only 500 gph, and it will run through a SCWD? IME they run best with 900-1200 gph. What size drains does your system have? Also, you mentioned (2) adapters for a 1.5" bulkhead? How do you plan to plumb the return? As for Locline diverter...straight nozzle or flare nozzle? We carry loc line, and I have just about all of the 3/4 fittings. If you are using a SCWD on the return they also sell a loc line attachment diverter $5-8 (similar to Marineland return tubes) for use with flexible hose. If you are plumbing to PVC, then just use a threaded elbow to hook up loc line diverter, etc. If I knew I had time to meet up, I would offer, but my schedule is overloaded until the CRTF meeting. I might have a quick stop in Fairfax this Sunday, but can't guarantee it.

Michael, I have used several of the new pumps submersed, but the only one with gusto in my opinion is the 4000 pressure rated. The other ones will give some flow, but nothing like a mag would. If they are in sump, I would not worry, but doubt they run well externally/inline for the plastic housing just seems to me that it could leak (seal or no seal).

Good work Nathan!!!

Welcome Chris!

Hi all! We will be there. Arranged to take a small tank with captive bred/propagated marine livestock in an effort to promote environmentally friendly reef-keeping. Representation by local hobbyists will definitely do a world of good for the hobby and responsible industry partners. We may be looking for donations (mainly because I have stuff all over the place right now) for the event, and due credit (name, bio, and coral history if available) will definitely be given to those that contribute. Glad to see many are planning on attending!!! What was it that GARF says? "Save the reef, grow your own!" hehe

Prices have gone up at the retailers, but should be about $9-11 per 2x4 sheet of 1/2. Almost every hardware store I have been in does have it

Awesome pics!!! It would have taken a lot to get me to come home

I probably do not count, but I am down to just around a 1000 (1052 last check) total. This will more than likely change in the next month though. Displacement not counted, but we definitely are not the 1-2-3lbs. per gallon liverock people Less than 2" substrate in every tank.

Or Marineland's attempt to control the aquarium world

For those that have yet to see them...for some reason Marineland (owner of Aq. Systems) has thought it would be a good idea to change the bucket type, which has made the bucket good for only 160 gallons versus 200. The best retail is generally $32 without a sale coupon, etc.

No problem PS...We do offer a referral/commission credit (livestock, cash, etc.) on closed deals...will keep ya updated! Thanks again, Rich

Sorry for the delay guys, just got back from a pseudo vacation (had to visit a few old clients in Tennessee, and current ones in Charlotte, while celebrating the New Year!). Congrats Tony! Enjoy the trip!!! Andrejka...best thing to do is email me off the boards for I can't always keep up with the boards :( Just a brief intro...we are not one of those companies that provides "one option" but many for clients to choose from due to different ideas on system/exhibit displays, maintenance visits/price structures, etc. We have several clients in that immediate area, so depending on the maintenance schedule/species & equip selection we definitely have a few options for them to consider. If the dentist would like some ideas you can have them contact us directly as needed or you can email. We also offer a small discount to those who are ADA members (my wife is 6 months from taking her DDS boards, so I am partial to the teeth doctors!) and have several as clients now. What better than to look at a captive reef while waiting to have your teeth cleaned, drilled, capped, or removed? hehe Thanks, Rich Watson Director of Sales & New Client Development AquariaUSA watson@aquariausa.com (704) 904-2022 NC/SC (443) 310-7095 MD/DC/VA P.S. As for WAMAS members, we can perform routine service/consulting as a last result, but honestly we would prefer someone close to you (neighbor, club buddy) do the routine check-in due to scheduling constraints when trying to add-on non-scheduled, etc. If I were not in the business I would offer to check in for free, but being in the business I do have to charge or the accountant looks at us funny. In the past we have done work for CMAS/WAMAS members on an as-needed basis, but growth over the past few years has been making it very hard to schedule things in, especially due to the wonderful traffic we all sit in most of the time. I also joined CMAS and WAMAS more on the "hobbyist level" to try and get more enjoyment from the hobbyside, so I try not to peddle our services *This does not include the once in a while coral/equip sales, etc.

Hi Michael, I like the Dolphin pumps, but being as Mags are so easy to find (almost everywhere...especially parts) we usually use them to keep costs inline, and for ease of ordering. I also like the new Rainbow lifeguard pumps (the pressure rated ones), but they are not so easy to find sometimes.