Big Country

I just got a lamp like this from home depot, is a Ecosmart 15/65 compact fluorescent daylight R30 flood, according to the packaging it's 5000K was $10.97 Just looked and found this one for $7.97 http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100663844/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 same as the one that I bought except the one I bought says it's dimmable, wish I had seen this one, oh well maybe next time

Stovenut told me through PM that he got the pellets at Southern States up here, I'm going to check the Anne Arundel co-op over by House of Tropicals which is a southern states, if they don't have it I'll have to go to Ellicott City where stovenut bought his. Of course with this snow they may be sold out

I just got power back about an hour ago, was off for 10 hrs. No generator, tank 71.5 degrees, house 59 degrees. I wrapped the frag tank in blankets to keep it a little warmer last night, now I just keep my fingers crossed

I've been looking for Mag Flake, looking for the Dead Sea works brand that Randy Holmes Farley recommends, around the Catonsville Area in Maryland and haven't been able to find any. I know I can go to Harvey's salt company to buy a 50# bag but that's a trip since I don't usually go north of Baltimore much and I don't really need 50# since it's only 5 cups or something like that per gallon of solution. Anybody know where some might be bought closer to me or have some you're willing to sell?

Is this what you are looking for http://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Aqua-Lifter-Pump-Holder/dp/B003JCZQIM

Aqualifters sound like a good solution for you, both Calcium and Alkalinity solutions are very clear and stay in solution well so I don't see why you couldn't use a pair of aqualifters to dose the solutions just have the pumps higher than the sump. Just test often and adjust your dosage as needed to keep your levels fairly constant.

I use a deltec kalk reactor, if I had it to do over again I wouldn't have put out the cash although I love the unit and it works well. I know one person that uses the Two Little Fishies KW Reactor 300 and said it works well, I'm just not a fan on relying on top off water running through the reactor to mix the kalk. Look at the Avast Marine website and their reactor is $189 and is comparable to the deltec I'm using. As for kalkwasser I've used ESV kalk and Kent kalk but I really like the Bulk Reef Supply kalk which is alot cheaper $11.99 for 4.5 pounds http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/calcium-alkalinity-magnesium/kalkwasser-calcium-hydroxide/1-gallon-bulk-kalkwasser-calcium-hydroxide-for-aquariums.html . You can either go the kalk route which I did until my demand got too high and I currently dose 2 part on top of the kalk. You can always start dosing 2 part and save up for a kalk reactor to automate things.

I finally took a picture of my NAGA frag tank 36"x18"x8"

I just set up my NAGA frag tank, it's 36"x18"x8" to fit a spot I had on top of my sump stand, he did great work on it.

I used to use the ESV kalk but have been using the BRS kalk for awhile now, I really like it, doesn't gunk up as bad in the reactor as the ESV did

I've always used at least 3 to 5 watts per gallon as a rule of thumb to get the proper size for heaters. That 100w heater is having to work way too hard trying to keep 80 gallons of water warm.

Somebody PM'd me his screenname and phone number. I was looking to pick up a 5 gal bucket of carbon, which they usually don't carry at the LFS but they were on his website. I just didn't want to pay for shipping that.

Does anyone know if filter fine aquatics is still in business? I had sent a email to them awhile back about getting some carbon, never got a reply back. Just tried to go on their website and now it's not found

I just put new kalk in the reactor a week ago, in fact the first time I filled it up it started this and I thought I'd put too much powder in so I dumped it after a day and put less powder in, so it's been restarted twice in the last week. I've never seen it do this before.

I just hope it's not one of those cases of it always runs better right before it breaks. Those motors are expensive about $100 and I drove to Richmond, VA to get it replaced last time.

The kalk stirrer only stirs at one constant speed 24/7. I've never seen it have he kalk that cloudy before. It seems to be settling down some now that it's been running for a couple of days and has had a decent amount of fresh water pumped through it. The kalk still looks a little fluffy in the bottom of the reactor but the solution above the kalk powder is clear now, I think that the vinegar residue in the stirrer probably just thinned out the kalk and put it into solution more than normal, so all is well.

Started having a issue with my kalk stirrer last weekend. I was doing my monthly cleaning of the stirrer, a Deltec KM500, and decided to give it a water/vinegar bath to help loosen the crusties. Ever since then the kalk will not settle down in the bottom of the stirrer like it usually does, it want's to fluff up in the bottom of the stirrer looking like a fog bank. When the ATO kicks on it kicks up the fog and makes the whole stirrer cloudy. I'm assuming that the vinegar is causing this since I'm using the same kalk powder I usually use. Any idea what I need to do to deactivate whatever kind of reaction the vinegar is having with my kalk powder? or do I just need to dump it out, rinse the stirrer well with just water or something else and refill?

I'm using a panworld 50 px-x for the return on my 180, it's a nice pump and quiet.

Order placed, Thanks Justin

Aquarium One is in Rockville, Mr Coral and Rick's in Frederick, House of Tropicals in Glen Burnie and Exotic Aquatics in Parkville are the ones that I go to

How about on a MR-16 reactor? I'm looking for one and Dan told me by email you won't have them back in production for a few weeks.

I use SeaChem Reef Builder or Soda Ash to raise the ALK.

First time I used mine I ran out of time and the unit shut off also, I used 2 vials to do the test again, guess they should have set that time a little longer when the instructions say to shake for 2 minutes and the unit shuts off after 2 minutes. I just got my unit from online for $53 shipped with 50 reagents.

Lumen Max Elites or Lumenbrights are the way to go. They are the best on the market right now.

Get the shells out of there also. I kept my freshwater tanks about 76-78 degrees