Brian Ward

Most corals are at least somewhat toxic so don't let that deter you. Zoas have a palyotoxin that is particularly dangerous and can actually be deadly. Don't let that deter you though, it's tough to actually injest/absorb enough of it to hurt you. Gloves are definitely a good idea for cleaning, water changes, anything that doesn't require sensitive touch. Placing/moving corals, trimming, etc. is usually difficult with gloves since it's difficult to feel what you're doing. It keeps soaps, lotions, etc out of the water. Many things we have on our skin contain phosphates and are horrible for the aquarium - algae thrives on phosphates so you definitely don't want any of that in there. I've never really used gloves in the past, but I'm going to need to start during cleaning of my small tank since the clown has decided he doesn't like it when I'm in there and has taken to biting me. He's still small so he can't quite do anything but run into my hand - but I was starting to feel a little bit of a pinch last night. Oh, and if you want some xenia or more kenya tree (capnella sp.) LMK. I have plenty - in fact I threw out a small colony of Xenia last night. ~Brian

You generally want the temperature to be the same all the time - no swings. A 2 deg swing from day to night won't hurt anything though. What kind of lighting are you running? If you have MH, hang on to the chiller - heat from T5 or PC lights can generally be controlled with fans. Set your heater to at least 78. On my small tank, I have trouble maintaining 78 during the day and especially in the summer so I have mine set to 80. 78 is considered the ideal temperature, but stability is much more important - so 82 is OK if you can maintain 82 24/7/365 (all the time). For the algae - algae thrives on excess nutrients and undesirable wavelengths of light - 10 gal water change every week (20% change per week) wouldn't be too much and is probably desirable until you get the algae under control. Your light bulbs need to be changed every 6-12 mos. The spectrum the bulbs produce will degrade over time, promoting algae growth. Next thing to check is how long your lights are on every day - 8 hrs is usually enough. I have my lights set to come on at 3pm and go off around 11pm. I'm not home during the day, so I'd rather have the fish awake when I'm there to watch them. The space they're in tends to stay dark so it's not a problem. Make sure you aren't getting too much stray light into the tank - sunlight coming in through windows can help produce algae. Check your calcium and alkalinity levels - raising these to the high end of healthy has been known to help combat algae. Only other thing to do is to scrape the algae off the rocks (toothbrush works great) and remove it by hand - this is very tedious but necessary. Keep up on the water changes and manually removing as much of the algae as you can. Eventually you will win.

He's going to be in Alexandria - BRK is nowhere near there (about a 40 min drive). I lived in Arlington and now live in DC - Wally's is OK but very overpriced - fish tend to be $5-$20 more than I see at Scales or BRK. Dry goods are also overpriced. Tanks are the only exception, they tend to be reasonable. I go there in emergencies when trekking to Scales isn't an option. Unfortunately on the VA side, the only stores really worth going to are BRK (not open on Tuesdays), Fins & Feathers, and Marine Scene is also supposed to be good. None of those are anywhere near Alexandria. Send Dan (Dandy7200) a PM and see if you can stop by - he'll have the coolest toys in Alexandria to look at

euro reef mods a lot of their pumps from stock - the difference probably depends on what they modded

I would probably phase out the MH on the existing tank and watch how the corals respond - that will give you an idea of which ones will need to be high, which ones low. Start with the T5s over the tub 6-8 in, move up or down as necessary. You want to avoid the shock of suddenly dropping the MH.

I've been running my BC29 without a skimmer - you can get by without it. Algae is a constant struggle in such a small tank since the chemical levels tend to have bigger swings by percentage. I used a Sapphire Aquatics built for the BC29 for a little while and didn't like it. There are several nanoskimmers on the market, you'll just have to look for one that will fit. Take a look around http://www.nano-reef.com there is lots of good nano info on there. Also http://www.nanotuners.com is a good resource. I'm looking at trying out the Deltec MCE300 http://www.deltecusa.us/proteinskimmers/mce300.php but I'm not sure I can justify the price.

Inside the stand it does - I secured it all the way around. It holds a couple gallons of water with no problem - already tested that. I've got to trim the pan liner around the outside of the tank - that was for general water protection since there's no way I could get under the stand to clean anything up. Sam, LMK when you want to stop by. How's your upgrade coming?

She constantly swims through the rockwork. There are so many open spaces, but she insists on swimming through every hole she can wedge through. One of the funniest was when she laid completely on her side to slip through a small gap between the sandbed and a rock.

Another picture update. I now have a Queen Angel and a Picasso Trigger in the 120 FOWLR. Next additions should be the Achilles and Powder Blue Tangs. The other tank build is moving slowly but I should make some progress the week of Thanksgiving. Queen Angel w/ Flash: Picasso Trigger w/ Flash: Misc others - no flash and a FTS:

The small Honda EU Series generators are excellent. Quiet, very fuel efficient, produce only the amount of electricity required for the load. They are a bit pricey but have come down A LOT. A guy I work with bought one for his boat (36' sailboat) to power all his electronic toys. Said it runs forever on a gallon of gas and is VERY quiet. I lived through Isabelle in Va Beach a few years back - the city was out of power for about a week - and the hum of generators becomes deafening. http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/gensup.asp

Once again. Comparison information chart: http://www.aquariumcontrollers.com/

Here's an article about ORP if you want to find out about it. Most people aren't trying to run ozone right now, but you can use it as an indicator of the overall health of your system. If your ORP gets out of whack, there's probably something else wrong. I have an ORP probe - I find it interesting. ORP is usually between 250 & 300 but it's always something you can add on later. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/...ature/index.php

People are saying "game server" - I think what they mean is a "wireless bridge" IF you have wireless in your house. If you can get a hard connection to the ACIII, that's a whole lot better - but using a wireless bridge is much easier depending on where your tank is. This is what you would want: http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c...d=2791006014B01 Follow the directions for setup, link to your wireless network. It's pretty painless.

I think the 175W might be OK - you'll be bright on top and dim in the bottom. I'd consider going with 4 across the tank instead of 3 - you only really get a 2' spread from each reflector, so 3 would leave you with a lot of dead space. however, if you can mount them high enough to get a better spread - 3 250W would probably work.

Without a saw it's pretty difficult to build a stand. If you can't buy or borrow a circular saw, any chance you can pick up an old-fashioned hand saw to cut boards to length? The other problem you'll run into is that you don't want the fasteners (screws, nails, etc) to hold the weight, you need to design for the wood to hold the weight - this usually means cutting notches in the vertical supports to hold the horizontal supports. Alternative is to use 3/4" plywood as many of the commercial stands do - again, you'll need a saw, and I wouldn't recommend a hand saw for this one. Wish I could be more help but I can't imagine anything that would use only stock lumber.

There's actually quite a few of us! We're thinking of setting up a reef crawl - visit the tanks and have a drink at every house

Answers to the first set: Q: How much sand? How deep should i have it? Is Aragonite sand what I should be using? Argonite sand is good. A DSB is usually 6+ inches. A true DSB will reduce your nitrates by processing the NO3 back into N2. Less than 6" is not a DSB or sometimes called SSB. Never disturb these sand beds. Snails, shrimp, etc can move them a little but if you ever stir it up you will usually release the toxic chemicals into the water and kill most of your livestock. Stirring the sand bed will release nitrates into the water, but a sandbed is not a source of nitrates. Q: How much food is a good amount? For the tangs, keep nori or other veggie material on a veggie clip in the tank - I would keep that well-stocked to prevent hunger which leads to aggression in the tangs. If you're not feeding the tangs veggie material, their health and color will suffer. When adding pellets, mysis, etc add it slowly and let the fish eat, after about 10 mins scoop out any remaining food - you don't want it to decompose in the tank. Q: Is this a high flow tank? Would making a semi-closed loop (IE PVC down behind the rocks and place outlets and drill holes in it down nearer the sand bed) make a big difference? I would say you do have a high-flow tank. 30x-50x per hour turnover is easily considered high flow. Your powerheads function similar to a closed loop - when you set up the tank, you can either use power heads for additional flow or set up a closed loop - the closed loop is mostly so you don't have to look at power heads. 7x-10x through your sump for filtration is sufficient and you really don't want much more. If you want lots of info on closed loops, go to www.oceansmotions.com and read through the forums. This is the setup I like best: http://www.oceansmotions.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=546 Q: What is a good size for a refugium? Do you need a refugium and reverse photosynthasis type situation? What are the differences between the two realy? A fuge is good for nutrient export. The macro algae will consume phosphates and nitrates in the tank water, keeping the algae in your display under control. The reverse photo period is to keep the pH of the tank even throughout the day - the pH will tend to be higher during the day and lower at night. A reverse photoperiod will allow for photosynthetic processes in the tank during the day, in the fuge at night, maintaining the rate of CO2 consumption. CO2 - released by the fish through respiration, and not consumed by the corals at night, is what contributes to the drop in pH at night. Q: How often should bulbs be replaced? We just had one go out and I was looking to replace it and was given a compact with a 420 nm and a 460 nm (very blue) Should we stick with all 420s? Mix 420/460 combos? I've heard different than Bob - 6 mos on PC, 12 mos on MH. I do my PCs every 6-9 mos. You can mix the blue wavelengths if you want - the blue is almost entirely about how you want the tank to look. Q: Does one measure them from nose to tailtip? Top to bottom? We have two sailfins and list them as being between 16 and 21 inches as adult. Does that mean a 21 inch tall or 21 inch long fish? Fish are always measured in length, not height. I'm not sure if you include the tail in the length - my guess would be the measurement is nose to end of body, not including the tail - since tail shapes and lengths vary greatly between species. I do not think you're overstocked but you definitely need a good skimmer. Euro-Reef, Deltek, Grey Seas Aquatic are all excellent choices. The skimmer will help keep your nitrates in check and contribute to high water quality. For 2nd post: rock quantity looks good - make sure your power heads are forcing flow through the rocks so the water gets exposure to the bacteria colonies. bio balls are nitrate factories, good move taking those out if you have a reef tank. Filter floss (pillow stuffing) is a good choice for mechanical filtration - you might want to consider modifying your sump to accept filter bags. this is a popular option and all of Dan's sumps use filter bags for mechanical filtration Always over-size the skimmer. Look for a recirculating model. If you have a 150 tank, get a skimmer rated for at least 220. Talk to Dan about your sump situation. He is mostly likely able to help somehow. Get an external skimmer so you don't take up sump space with it. Drill the sides of the sump for bulkheads and use a PVC 90 to draw the water from as low in the sump as you can - should help get around the curved walls.

Reef Crystals has the levels of Ca boosted. If you don't have significant Ca use in the tank, I would switch back to IO and continue dosing the 2-part.

I agree.. as long as your water parameters are stable, they're probably just hiding to de-stress and get used to the new environment. I wouldn't worry for a week or so.

Look up skimmer gate valve mod - very common thing people do to reduce micro bubbles coming from a skimmer. Should give you a few ideas. You probably want to add a couple 90s to your skimmer return so you can return above the sump waterline, and through a slightly inclined pipe rather than dropping straight into the sump.

Probably the "best" way to run it is to use a media reactor - very similar to your skimmer or a kalk mixer, and Dan sells media reactors as well. You can also put it in a media bag and drop it in your sump somewhere - this is how most of us start with it. The media bag is passive, the reactor is active so obviously the reactor is better but it's another $100. As far as iodine, there are tests - Salifert makes one - if you're not testing for it, don't dose it. Iodine is extremely toxic and is one of the trace elements included in your salt mix. Regular water changes should be sufficient to keep the levels appropriate - certainly not something you should worry about for a while. ~Brian

the 6025 is probably too much for a 15. look at the smaller koralia pumps. 2 of these would probably be good: http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~Sea...ps~vendor~.html

I know Animal Jungle in Va Beach has a shark tank www.animaljungle.com

Piedmont definitely does - that's how I bought mine. It's just so far ....

have you seen the zero-edge? http://www.zeroedgeaquarium.com/