hbh

Just wanted to publicly say my thanks to Rick- Wreck- for coming over and putting in a new GFCI outlet! I am very grateful for his help and generuosly giving of his time and skills.

HI! I just thought I'd send you a p.m. to fill up your box... just kidding! But I do have a request...

HI! I realize not all here really like Congressional Aquarium, BUT they did have a mantis shrimp F/S today. It was small, active, not super shy and a bright green. HTH.

BAD!: 1 Theo Hydor 100 w heater lass than a year old- almost caught fire; burned up an outlet. Don't want to think about the what if my husband hadn't seen the "flashing lights" or how he could have been done in when he pulled it out of the wall to get it to stop burning.... Makes you stop and give thanks to God who promises to watch over us!

HI all! Thanks for your kind responses! Yes, a "DH" is Dear Husband! He had been skeptical of my having a SW tank but very supportive nonetheless. We have extinguishers... but in this case my DH just pulled the plug on the 100w theo hydor ( short one) heater that is less than a year old! It wasn't a cheap one either! At this point I have no heater in the tank but the temp stays around 74... I'll replace the heater soon, but for now all 3 fish seem happy in the 10 gallon QT tank. rsaavedra- your welcome too have the heater if you want it... Wreck, I am home as our family homeschools. So any day would be awesome! It was not GFCI but I won't mind it being made that way if possible... I'll p.m. you w/ phone # and we can work this out. Thank you so much for your offering!

Well, Now we had our first close call. My DH came out of the laundry room into the family and saw flashing lights between my QT and the wall. He turned to look and saw FLAMES! He unplugged the now melted heater plug. The outlet it now blackened. I thank God that my DH came and was able to prevent any major fires! Anyone care to help me out in redoing the outlet? I'm terrified of doing anything electrical. I'd be glad to trade for babysitting or professional clowning or a meal to take home! I'd be grateful for the help!

I never knew that fact! That thought gives me the creeps! We buy crickets too but from another place... How could one tell if there were fleas on the crickets?

Marsha, I'd love some! It's spring break and I can come over anytime but Friday. I can take 2 frags if they are available. If not then 1 will do. Thanks!

From first glance I thought this general post was saying that Chip was turning 50 y/o! LOL!! I think the 5K posts wear better on you than turning 50 . Enjoy Chip!

HIs location is Gaithersburg ( I believe). I vote T-5s as they run cool which is great for being around an active family! They give great light at a reasonable cost all around & can grow most corals and lots of algae to vex you.

Mine are very small diamond stud sized. I rarely see them. They are sweet to see though. I suspect that they too get eaten by my fish sometimes. I hope mine do reproduce.

HI! Well, I now think I have 4-5 nicely visible sized ones. So far no known damage and they seem to occasionally like the green algae on the glass. They are really cute and don't damage the rockwork or the soft type corals that I keep. They seem to tolerate a wide range of water conditions too.

That's really sweet! It looks like it's in a feathery bed.

pm sent

Unreal. Dead coral for that kind of $. That's amazing.

Well, In terms of my tank having blue starfish, I've only seen them twice. I don't think i'm infested and really wish they could keep up with the algae in my tank. Anyone want to give me a few more? LOL!

AAAHHHH! LAst night I pulled a really tiny one out and let it dry. SIGH. It was a sweet little one too... Well, At this point the other one/ rest can stay.

Sigh. I like starfish... but i guess this one shouldn't stay. How fast do they spilt/clone themselves? I've never seen 1 in my tank before. Are they hard to get off the rock? Do they eat mushrooms? Arrgh.

Sort of but with 3 "points". They're pretty tiny- about the size of the end of a kids marker cap. Never seen it before and haven't seen it since.... It is distinctly light blue on top rimmed with white on the bottom. Is there an info. reference or color photo to be had of the ones you mentioned? I only have mushrooms and a petite slow growing Kenya. Definately will keep my eyes open though. It appears to eat the green hairy algea that I'm struggling with!

YEAH! Thanks, YBeNormal and Dave! I think we'll try to start on this Saturday...

I think I have a mini blue and white starfish??? The little creature has the shape of a starfish but w/ 3 points/legs and is sky blue on top and white rimmed on the edges. It's about the size of a penny. Is this possible? I tried to get a photo but it's to small for my cell phone camera... Is this a good thing to have? Does anyone who I've gotten/bought corals from have this critter in thier tank?

Check the edges for a mouth. Mine split the night it was bought, and in the a.m. the mouth was on the side and since then somehow it's migrated to the center. Talk about creepy....

"K"itchen wall cabinet. I have a 2-3 from a remodel and 1 that would nicely fit my empty 15 gallon. Anyone else want to chime in?

HI! Julian does add prime to his TAP water which has aa TDS of about 90 and he then adds it Directly to his tank at home. At Two Fishies, he does the RO/DI thing and Prime and salt and other measures. Why? Because it's a business. Why not at home? Because it's his tank that's been around for a long while and in his experience he's had no trouble. And YES! The silence between the shock of his admission and dropping of jaws was "quiet" loud! And to me this was very funny as a 1 year newbie since I was already doing this and found no harmful affects. Depending on where you live, you will decide whether or not you can too- if you want to. He did say he does use Prime and highly recommends it for the reduction of the nitrates and the dechlorination.

I want to use a K wall cabinet for a stand for a 15 QT gallon tank. Has anyone done this? It is a solid oak front cabinet with 2 doors and 3 shelves inside. It would sit on the floor. The backing is a 1 1/2'' thick composite wood with solid sides. I'm thinking of screwing down some supporting plywood for the tank to sit on. It would run HOB filter and T-5s and have about 10 lbs live rock. Any comments, questions, ideas or experience for this idea? TIA!