bigJPDC

Yes, the nitrate API test seems weird, and gets a shade darker if you hold it against the card. I took a sample of fresh sw and used that for reference for zero nitrates. The calcium test sucks IMO, I really can't tell when purple becomes blue, and the target in the manual is purple, meaning I really don't know how much calcium I have in my tank. The alk test seems to be awesome, blue to yellow. Kits that use color chips would seem to be the best, like they make for testing pool water, but I don't know if those exist. jp

I have one of the Hanna instruments pH meter, the red one that goes to .0x, and it's awesome. No more strips or guessing a gradient of red to figure out if I am between 7.6 and 8.4. Some of the best, and least money that I've spent in this hobby. The bad part is that now that I built an ATO and add buffer to my topoff reservior, I am always at 8.3-ish anyways, but it is a great timesaver and piece of mind-er when starting a new tank. HTH jp

I don't know what to think, honestly. It shouldn't be russian roulette everytime you add something from an LFS or another reefer, but I am on some kind of streak now.

Hello - I seem to have some orange\reddish spots spread out over an area of my rock, showed up last weekend, while I was out of town. Can anybody help identify this? thanks! jp

sorry about that - I thought I read a post where you said you had dwarves in a 10 gal. Thanks for the seahorse link. jp

do you have any pics of your 10g horse tank? Since my yashia jumped I only have LR and frags in mine and think that might be fun to try. You have five horses in a 10g? jp

I'm a fan of the store, no matter how many Seans are there, but I had bad luck with the Yashia\Pistol combo I bought. The Shrimp never came out, no matter how hard I tried to feed it, and I found it dead, lasted about two weeks. The yashia was incredible, and made my wife decide she liked the whole fish thing, even doing the daily feedings in the nano where it was. It would stick its head out of a small rock cave it made, and chase down pellets or mysis when dropped in. Sadly, it disappeared and I found it a few days later behind the tank stand. Somehow it had jumped through egg crate and onto the floor to some kind of death. At least I know I don't have mice in the basement I guess. He\she is on the right, in her cave. If you haven't seen them in a few days, and food doesn't lure them out, I would shake up the aquascaping, to make sure it is moving around and OK. I paid $50 for one month's rent on that combo. jp

Has wamas done anemones before? My vote would be for that one (after pictures that have a cat in them).

I don't' know what that is. How about pictures that have some piece of a human in them? Like a fish or shrimp being hand fed? I don't know if anybody's ever put their foot in their tank or not. Or what about non fish pets and the tank?

that only leaves me with one option and it makes perfect sense. You would always want the least amount of hardware in the tank, right? So the screw and nut part is on the outside. thanks again, jp

Well I'll be darned. I hadn't heard of uniseals until now - do they sell them at HD and Lowes? It sure looks like the plastic will be fine without tearing, considering I won't be putting much stress on it. thank you! jp silly question wildman - I know the gasket goes on the inside, but do you have the nut on the inside or outside?

Howdy - building out my saltwater mixing station, and would like to elevate my brute cans that hold RO\DI and mixed sw. I was hoping to be able to put 1/2" bulkheads near the bottom of the brutes, and then just use a ball valve to drain into buckets. Will the Brute cans hold integrity with a bulkhead installed? I am guessing that a hole saw bit will go right through that plastic, but the curved shape makes me nervous. thanks! jp

Limosene window tinting - piece o cake to install.

Nice tank! The room divider leaves you somewhat boned in terms of plumbing though, but if it was me - I'd mock up an acrylic bracket for two SeaSwirls and hang them in the center of the tank, both with eductors of course. Stagger them and also their motion and you wouldn't need powerheads. You could hide the plumbing and power cords in the hood, and several folks out here could help with the bracket fabrication. jp

Uncured rock makes me nervous - I've gotten all of mine from here - http://www.theaquariumonline.com, last time it worked out to $5/lb shipped to NOVA. You can send them email requesting the size of pieces you'd like - they have been great about working with me. HTH, jp

awesome post davelin - thanks! You make me want to try an FOWLR build.

Yes - they are courtship behaviors. Usually I see the male do it. There is a clownfish 101 guide somewhere, try the clownfish forum on RC. Over the weekend mine spawned for the first time ever, which is kinda cool. I swear it's because of my eductor. jp

just poking fun - I tried a ton of things for nitrates in my system and ultimately upping my water changes solved it almost instantly. If anybody can pull off the de-nitrater build, it's Dandy. jp

NICE!! Awesome design - could you lose the coupler in between your 45 and the part with the holes in it? That's what I removed for my variation. That thing is right out of Marvin the Martian. I think there was a post on that RC thread which mentioned that the eductor might not be as efficient on a closed loop. Is latex paint safe? jp

A very complicated set of machinery which performs a 20% water change on your system bi-monthly.

All plastic parts - check out the RC thread for the part numbers - everything is at Lowes in Dulles TC. I paint everything black - like to use Rust Oleum plastic paint, but many also report success with Krylon Fusion.

I'd say so - at least in my case it's blown away any other type of outlet I've seen - and for $5 in parts. jp

ahh - OK doug, I was thinking about checking it with tank water from one of the frag tanks vs. the calibrated refractometers for giggles. No biggie.

I am bringing my Deep6 swingarm for this excercise!

I don't see why not - YB has a nice mat growing on the wall of one of his tanks. I've been thinking about growing some on pvc in the frag tank and swapping out my closed loop outlets. jp