rsarvis

I've definitely heard that ich is usually present in tanks but that healthy fish usually won't succumb to it absent other stress factors; I don't know what the truth is, but that's what I've heard from several knowledgeable people. I've also definitely heard that certain (all?) tangs are especially susceptible to ich, notably hippo tang, powder blues, powder browns. So maybe you just happened to pick the most susceptible species and that explains your luck.

I'm not the best person to answer that, as my pipes don't look that bad yet, so I haven't had to clean them yet, but I've seen long, large, flexible pipe cleaners for pretty big pipes. If you have flexible hosing with hose clamps, it's probably not that hard just to take them off and clean, and probably not that expensive just to replace the pieces as needed; otherwise, with PVC glued together and all, not sure what's best. My pump, though, I cleaned out the foam filter really well and then took off the panel to the impeller and gave it a good cleaning. There was also a little rubber flap that seems to have gotten a little deformed, too, so i straightened that out, though I don't know if that really mattered. Put it all back together, crossed my fingers, and turned it on, and it worked like it used to. Forgot how loud my system is when it's working properly!

This is really impressive. Is this in the guy's house or in a commercial setting? How much will this set-up have cost by the time it's finished? (Sorry, is that an impolite question?)

Just a reminder to folks to periodically check and clean your pumps and pipes. I finally realized my return pump has not been pumping properly, perhaps for as long as a couple months, though it only recently got really bad (enough for me to realize there was a real problem). Now that it's working properly, it's hard to imagine how I could not have realized there was a problem, but it was a slow decline in power so I didn't notice... Maybe that had something to do with why I was having problems with fish dying on me... Anyway, just a public-service announcement...

Sorry, I missed this thread for a while. I've lost 2 of 3. I (well, my gf) bought 3 on the Thurday before the social. They acclimated really well and were eating almost immediately, though a day or two later I noticed one had a small white cloudy patch. That one looked pretty bad by Sunday, the white patch much expanded, and my attempt to move him to a quarantine tank stressed him more than he could handle and he died. The other two were looking good, but the next weekend, before leaving for a day trip, I noticed a second one with the cloudy patch; when I got back, he was just gone. The third one is still doing well (keeping fingers crossed) and is showing no signs of illness. My copperband, though, died last week after (seemingly) doing fine for quite a while; he exhibited what may have been a white cloudy patch as well, but I'm not sure if it was the same. He seemed really healthy, was totally cool with everything in the tank, and got along with the HDs when they were added, then all of a sudden, he died. It's all very frustrating. (Does anyone know what that white cloudy patch is or indicates?) (I speculate the death of the second HD and the copperband might have had to do with my experimenting with use of a phosphate remover or switching two-part brands, which I foolishly did around the same time, but the first guy was before that, i think, so maybe it was stress during acclimation? I thought I was pretty pateient with the acclimation, though I did get started rather late due to working late). I'm just going to keep things as they are for a while and see how all my fish do. I would eventually like to get more HDs. They look so cool in a group (I like my one alone, too, though). So I will await word of more coming in. No more additions for me until then, though (well, except maybe another copperband; he was my favorite).

So sad. Before leaving for the beach Friday night, I noticed there was a little patch of opaqueness on my copperband; he still acted healthy, but I was worried about him. Sure enough, I got back today and he was dead. Not sure why he died. One possibility: I added some phosphate remover in a media bag in the sump; I read that you shouldn't put it in 24/7 immediately 'cause it'll stress the fish, so I put it in a for a couple days then took it out for a couple days then put it back in for a couple days and then on Friday i took it out again when I saw copperband with the opaque patch. Don't know if that had anything to do with his injury or death, but I'll put a moratorium on the phosphate remover. Am I using it wrong? Also, maybe I don't even need it; my phosphate tests are close to 0, but I read that if you have other growth of bad stuff, that's probably why the readings are 0. I have macro algae growth, which I don't mind but I understand that that would take out the phosphate; don't have hair algae, but I do have brown slime, so again I figured maybe phosphate. Do you think I might be wrong about that? Is it some other problem rather than phosphates? If you have certain macro algae growth that you don't mind, do you need to worry about phosphates if the algae is effectively taking it out of the water so that your tests are 0? And how does one combat slime other than fighting nitrates/phosphates? Thanks.

Noooo.... Sorry to hear that, man. What caused the flood?

Great pics! I love the purple gorgonian. Where'd you get it? How do you feed it?

I caught the tail end of the first one but was out of town for the second. They're definitely full of useful info, though sometimes hard to follow for a complete newbie (I hadn't even bought a tank yet when I went, and had just joined the wamas forums the week before, I think.) I could volunteer my place depending on the weekend. I'm in Annandale, between Wally's and SuperPets, so the Marylanders might not like that. My tank has no whiz-bang stuff, as my tank is still pretty new, though, so maybe it's best to have it at someone's place who has a lot of equipment set up to talk about. But I'm still willing to host; it'd be a great opportunity to get recommendations on how to make my tank better!!

How'd you get rid of the slimes? Same strategy? I don't have any hair algae, but I do have the slime.

One person's "special interest group" is another person's "grass-roots movement" etc. There are a lot of diverse interests in the country, they're going to disagree, sometimes to the point of gridlock; there's nothing wrong with that. Gridlock happens because there isn't sufficient agreement for a government-imposed one-size-fits-all regulation. You should be happy it works that way. Government isn't the only solution; usually it's not the best solution. The "special interests" that are against you on particular issues aren't any worse or corrupt or greedy than the ones you're a part of. The fact that the policies you like don't get enacted doesn't mean other people are bought off, stupid, biased, liars, or puppets. The fact that legislation isn't being passed, or doesn't look like you'd like it to look, doesn't mean the politicians mucked it up or are in someone's pockets. The idea that the legislative process should work "smoothly" but that "politicians" get in the way of "legislators" just doesn't make any sense, unless you think that the world is split into people who are "right" and who all agree (presumably you are among them) and everyone else is just corruptly trying to muck it all up.

What are your other fish? I don't think I can do it, 'cause my two aggressive fish I haven't been able to catch, but I'm curious to know regardless.

Just harvested a bunch of chaeto from my sump, come after 6pm tonight and get it if you need it. (Maybe stay for the board games or other camraderie--I'm having people over for some low-key hanging out.) 4713 Major Ct Alex VA 22312 510-681-4996

When government action is required, because there are negative externalities to people's behavior or because collective action problems make private action insufficient or unlikely, it's inherently political. If you can come up with a workable and effective solution that relies solely on private enterprise, that enough people will go along with, and that doesn't involve any rearrangement of our laws, regulations, rights, duties, etc., you will be a hero to all. Maybe you and I have different definitions of what "politics" means; yours sounds entirely negative, but to me, politics includes the decision-making process on how best to, say, reduce and eventually eliminate the use of lead in gasoline.

Man, that sucks, sorry to hear... Maybe buy bags of ice from the grocery store/7-11/gas station and put them in a plastic bag in the sump?

I have xenia and don't supplement with iodine; it still grows like crazy. But I'd be interested in hearing if others are having a different experience, and if you don't mind my expanding your thread slightly, I'd like to hear more about people's iodine supplementation habits more generally (w.r.t. anemones, corals, etc., etc.).

There is a middle ground, but part of the reason why there *appears* to be none is because many people assume, like you apparently do, that those who don't agree with them are "short-sighted" or "lazy," or in other discussions, stupid, corrupt, owned by the oil companies, etc., etc. So the rhetoric gets dumbed down pretty quickly. People sometimes just disagree about what the problem is, what the best solution is, etc. Saying that they are short-sighted or lazy doesn't help much. And the middle ground is often something to the effect of, I don't know whom to believe, or it's hard to know what to think, so let's not rush into anything (especially not really poorly thought-out international treaties). Some people rationally think some of the solutions can be worse than the cure, or at least create very bad problems of their own. E.g., recycling newspapers (at least back when I was in college) requires the use of highly toxic chemicals that then have to be disposed of. Maybe that is worth it, or maybe that has changed, but it at least shows that there are significant trade-offs that most people don't really state upfront, if at all; fuel efficiency standards lead to lighter cars which might lead to less safe cars (other things being equal). There was an initiative a while back in some community to reduce the use of disposable diapers (which create a substantial amount of garbage), but economists showed the program likely created worse pollution effects from the automobiles driving around to pick up the reuseable diapers for laundering. There are a thousand examples of the unintended consequences of well-meaning economic and environmental planners, in environmental policy and elsewhere. Which isn't to say nothing should be done; obviously the environment is underprotected generally. But the question is how to correct that. Some people just think that people like Al Gore are too precipitous and lacking in circumspection in their calls to action. And then there's the whole set of folks who suggest that everyone who's skeptical of global warming claims are corrupted by oil money. It's kind of pathetic. I really don't have much of an opinion on the whole matter, but I admittedly lean towards skepticism simply because of the hysterics and sanctimony involved in the whole movement. I think you're right that one major aspect is where the pollution occurs (you can place a factory in "underpolluted" areas), but my guess is that you're wrong about this last part. My guess is that a million small car engines are going to be far less efficient than a factory producing an equivalent amount of energy (even with the additional amount needed to correct for the additional inefficiencies you mention). But let's hear from the experts. Well, the part about what to do about global warming (assuming it exists and needs to be dealt with) is very political.

So sorry to hear about your loss. I can commiserate. It's been a rough last week or so. I had a bangaii cardinal disappear, and one out of five longspine cardinals croaked; then this weekend one of my three new heniochus diphreutes faded within three days of bringing it home, and tonight I found that at some point a firefish carpet-surfed (and I can't find one of the other three). I think you should definitely take out the dead stuff. It's sad, and costly, but I've only been at it for about 7 months, and I have quite a bunch of beautiful critters left, so I'm not discouraged too much. But I can understand how a major event like AC failing would devastate things. But I hope you stick with it.

If suction cups are strong enough to hold up a coral as it grows out and impedes more water flow, you could prob make a pretty decent and cheaper equivalent by expoxying or supergluing some rubble (or a disk) onto a suction cup. Maybe I'll try that and see how it goes... dang I should have picked up some free suction cups a few weeks ago when I had the chance...

I'll endorse aquactinics fixtures. I have a Constellation for my 180g. I was going to buy one new when I started out, but jamesbuf happened to be breaking down his 180g and sold me one that was almost new. He'll tell you, too, it's great. I certainly like it a lot.

Oh, perfect, I'll get some Saturday then.

Just got a pH meter, but didn't realize I need calibrating juice. Anybody have some I can use? Directions say I should use something with a pH of 6.86 or something remarkably exact like that. Is it really necessary to be that exact? I'm guessing RODI water isn't good enough?

You tryin to see if she has a boyfriend?

Yea, could be cool. I'll go in for a 3-pack small if you order.

I'm with James on the 24" front-to-back...