'Ric

I only have one of four bulbs so far. My ballast and endcaps haven't even come in the mail yet. One of my four will be an actinic bulb, so I'll take your advice and look to see if ZooMed has an 18" one. Thanks, 'Ric

I was faced with the same question for my 40g recently. I ordered a McCosker's Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus mccoskeri) which I plan to pickup tomorrow. He is a bit pricy for me, though. I already have a mated pair of Pearly Jawish (a.k.a Yellowheaded Jawfish), whose antics have been very entertaining now that they are less shy. They are very disuptive to the sandbed, though, as they dig it up all over the place. A couple others that I was considering, that you might also be interesteed in are the the Purple Firefish and Coral Beauty Angel OR Flame Angel (you can't have both together.) If the McCosker's Flasher Wrasse is beyond your budget, there are other wrasses that are very colorful, too. They are also jumpers, as are the Jawfish. I defer to the more experienced members to tell if these are good choices in the long run. 'Ric

My tank is vertically oriented with a top 20" wide. I plan to build a four tube T8 fixture that will use 18" tubes. I bought an IceCap 450 ballast, and am now thinking about the requirements for the enclosure. I know some bigger tube lights have fans. How much hotter do they get than regular tubes? ...enough to melt acrylic or scorth wood? 'Ric

...and it will show any dust, too...

Thanks all for the advice! The thing was covered with white polyps yesterday. I, too, had a small piece that was handing on the edge of the base, so I glued to to a rock. No polyps yet on the little frag, but it's not turning black and nothing is eating it. Iniitially it had some hungry looking spectators - like vultures waiting for something to die - but they leave it alone now.

If you are working or passing by Pentagton City on the way home from work you can pick up my battery powered air pump. It's not much, but better than nothing, I suppose. 'Ric A map of where I am is in my member profile hompage link.

I am interested in that, too. What is a de-nitrate bag? Is there a recommendation for a good one? Nitrates still show up in my tank. 'Ric

Delray in Arlington is good, but the price will be for a minimum of 3 square feet if it's anything less than that. However, be aware that smooth black glass will conspicuously show any dist, fingerprints, and waterspots. I would recommend a textured finish. 'Ric

Am I the only one that still uses the 5-in-one test strips??? 'Ric

Good work! Is there a natural predator of these guys you could put in you tank to nic any decendents in the bud?

Is Red Gorgonian one living thing, or a bunch of little ones? I just got a really nice specimen from modelrr's GB (thanks for the GB!) and need to know it it's ok or not as some things didn't survive shipment and the vendor needs to know. A few clusters of the polyps on some branches come out, but there are branches which I have not seen any out yet. Since they are relatively soft, are they all one flesh, or will the branches with no polyp activity die off and take the rest with them?? Also, with the "rubber band" technique work with these types, or will they never attached. I had no luck sticking it to anything with superglue except my fingers. 'Ric

FYI: We have Group Buy going for the place where I got mine. I don't see a mated pair listed, but we could ask if that is what you are interested in. Otherwise, one Pearly Jawfish is only $12.50 there - best price I've seen. http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=12681 Cheers 'Ric

I was able to get a better photo... an thus a new Avatar! 'Ric

They're on the move! They did some more constuction work last night in the back of the tank. They buried a gap between rocks with rubble making a cave. Now both of the Jawfish are sharing the same hole. I set my camera on manual mode and shown a flashlight in their cave and got the picture below. It's not so great, but you can kinda tell there is another jawfish behind the front one. I'll try to get a better pic when the opportunity comes. I squirted some more thawed Mysis in front of the hole and they popped their heads out one by one and gulped them. One of the Jawfish is much more of a bold feeder relative to the other one. I don't know if that has anything to do with their sexes or mating process, etc. (does one provide for the other when they live together at some point in the mating cycle?) I read up on them quite a bit before buying. Tank is covered, with a fold of bubblewrap tucked in the gap between the back of the tank and the hood where the hang-on filter, tubing and such pass through. Cheers, 'Ric

The SealLifeFlorida Group Buy is here: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?s=&a...st&p=105220 'Ric

Can you get a copy of a spectral graph? That should show the color ranges and their relative strength. Usually they are a bit jagged with lots of peaks. The broader the better in my book. Avoid one big spike.

UPDATE: Both are alive afterall! They are starting to realize that I come bearing food and are not as afraid. I blow some thawed Mysis shrimp in front of their holes and they pop out to grab a few bites. On is a lot more brave than the other, and was even fully out with the lights on, hiding behind a statue in the middle of my tank. Last night one of them blew a large crater, about 3"-4" deep in the front corner of the tank. I don't know why. I havn't seen either of them near it. It's right in front, so I would love it if they were to build a home there, but it's just a big crater at the moment, not any kind of burrow from what I can tell. The only other fish in the tank are a mated pair of Blue Neon Cleaner Gobies that came in the same order. They are out in front waiting for food almost 24/7 now. They have figured out there is no reason to hide despite our cat pawing a them. 'Ric

I tried squirting thawed frozen Mysis from a turkey baster in front of their hole - no response. I can't tell if they came out and got any later. 1. http://sealifeflorida.com - I might set up a GB soon. I asked the owner if he would make a "free shipping" deal with us. 2. Is there a place I can get some live food in/near Arlington? 3. I live in a one bedroom condo with no space for a QT.

For my new tank I just got a mated pair of Yellow Headed Jawfish. They have been in hiding ever since I put them in the tank on Wednesday. One of them (or maybe both?) dug out under a live rock in a very difficult place to see. If I shine a flashlight back there, I only see his head for a second before he back down into the hole. I don't know where the other one is unless it's in the same hole. I haven't SEEN them out or eating. Ideas/concerns? 'Ric :(

It looks like I can make it! Should I bring anything? 'Ric

How long has it been running? I was just reading on the AquaC site that they can be fairly loud for the first few weeks things get going smoothly. 'Ric