lanman

It's in the middle of my frag tank, under a PC light. For another week. When I aquascape the 58-gallon tank, I will build a 'grotto' for those, and my carnation coral. I do have one spot in the 45 that I could probably fit it for now. Maybe I'll move it to a shady spot. Not like 96 watts of PC is going to hurt it - but maybe it's a little shy. I intend to hit it with DT or pearls, or cyclopeez each evening around 9 or so. Hopefully it will start opening up more fully. bob

Perhaps I would be better off with a Wavyseas or something like that?? If all that shows IN the tank is the outlet tube, that wouldn't be bad. What other brands of 'moving flow' devices are there? Edit: Egads! $250 for Wavyseas - is there a less expensive version of the same thing?? bob

If it's a sponge, it should develop a 'hole' somewhere for water to flow through. I have lots of pink and yellow sponges in my nano. bob

Bleh - it still didn't fully open - just stuck the polyps out far enough to grab some food. 10 minutes later, it was all back in its little holes. Although one polyp is still open - a small one - trying to figure out what to do with a whole mysis shrimp. bob

All of the LFS have heaters. Not the most expensive thing you'll be putting in your tank - but one of the most important. Ask at the store what size you need for 30 gallons. If you want to show it off - go ahead and post a picture. Then another with the rocks in it, etc... bob

How about salinity? Could high salinity cause that problem? I just replaced my cheap salinity measurer with a mass spectrometer. Okay - whatever they call that thing - a refractometer. Calibrated it carefully and it says my water is 1.030. The other thing said it was 1.025. bob

I was assuming these were the eggs: bob

You might have guessed from my interest in this thread, that I would eventually get some sun coral. Did I get a good deal? I picked up a piece with about 20 large polyps and 10 small polyps at an LFS for $15. So - I've waited a week, and the only time it's open is the middle of the night. So tonight - I basted it with cyclopeez early enough that the lights are still on - and it's starting to open up. I'm really eager to see what it looks like! Still in my frag tank under PC lights - but will move it in about a week when I move everything into the 58-gallon tank. Can't believe I have to TRAIN it to open up at feeding time. I just feed pellets earlier in the evening - the DT, pearls, cyclopeez (or whatever) and the shrimp-fest is around 10:00-11:00. bob

Well, it reads about .1 lower than my Red Sea test kit. So I figure they are both probably pretty close. The ALK is the one I am still doubting. And I'm told that is one of the most important measurements. I don't think I can do more flow-through until I move everything into the 58; I have a Mag-Drive 7 for that one. Scheduled for NEXT weekend if I can get all the bits and pieces together. AND I plan to get a much larger skimmer. And thanks for reminding me to go clean the skimmate. And polish the throat of it, per someone else. bob

These eggs? I haven't a clue. bob

*Shudder* ... why did they have to call it a U-tube! Speaking of which - it's time to go knock the bubbles out of mine. Thanks for the link! bob Other suggestions?? I would prefer to use the return through the overflow - but I'm not religious about it. Just that my current tank has so much JUNK hanging on it - I want to make the new one clean looking. (overflow box, HOB skimmer, frag rack, return jet, powerheads.) bob

Okay - I am getting closer to the 'big move' from my 45 to 58-gallon tank. I plan to have 1" overflow into a sump, and use the 3/4" hole in the overflow for return water. I have a bulkhead fitting, and some 3/4" pipe -and I thought I would make a 'T' at the top, and hook two nozzles of some sort up to it. It was suggested to me that I get a SCWD - Squid - Wavemaker instead - and alternate the flow between one side of the tank and the other. http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_wavema...uid.asp?CartId= So two questions. 1) Is a SCWD a good idea? 2) What are the pieces called that you would hook to the outputs of the SCWD? Thanks, bob

My measurements are pretty steady at: Temp 77.9 Salinity 1.025 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0.05 Nitrate 0 pH 8.2 (with pH meter) Alk 2.1 CA = 390 all but CA (Salifert) and pH (electronic meter recently calibrated) taken with a Red Sea test kit. HOWEVER - I just got a different ALK test kit (Marineland - distributed by Aquarium Systems), and it has been reading 3.5 (meq/L) = 9.8 dK/h. Store was out of Salifert kits. bob

I reckon if you squirted enough on one, it might kill a mushroom. But you only need a teensy drop, fired right into the mouth of the anemone. Practice! I didn't, and shot way too much out the first time - which caused some zoa's to be unhappy for a few days. The damage to the other zoa's from the aiptasia is much worse than anything Joe's Juice did. bob

LMAO - Johnnyby IS BRK - he is hosting the social. Quite likely he'll be there. Although if it was me, I'd run for the hills. bob

A little bit in the corners is visible 24 hours later. Within 3 days, the frag rack is slightly coated. After a week, it looks like the picture, then I clean it again. I did notice after cleaning that I had a few bits of hair algae left on some of the frags. So I've been placing my queen conch on each frag, and letting it go to town. Because there isn't really much algae other than on the frag rack and pumps, I find the snails are pretty hungry, and they are happy to clean the frags for me. Unfortunately they have a heck of a time negotiating the rack itself. bob

Well, here I was wiring the light up in parallel in my head - and he presents us with a light and outlet already pre-wired in parallel. Pretty bright! bob

Al - do a 'reply' to a post that has a picture in it to see how you paste in a link (then go 'back'). Once you have your picture on the 'net - like photobucket - you need to find a link that starts http:// . . . and ends with .jpg Then put (left bracket)IMG(right bracket) in front of it - no spaces and (left bracket)/IMG(right bracket) at the end - no spaces. I can't type it in here, or it makes my text disappear. bob

How new is this tank? Does it have any calcium-users in it? Also - the Salifert test kind of works backwards... are you saying you add the entire syringe before it turns blue?? Have you tested your ro/di water for ALK before you put it in the tank? I mean - my ALK tends to be low, and I'm working on it - but at least my CA is only around 390 - so I have some room to work. And those test kits... I just got a new one that's supposed to be more accurate than my old one. We shall see. bob

I figure the refugium is for extracting some organics, and filtering the water. I don't think it ADDS anything to the water that the skimmer will then take out?? My only concern is that the 'bugs' in the fuge that get into the water stream will get chopped up by the skimmer. So perhaps THAT overflow should be near the return pumps. bob

Is photobucket free forever? I'm using imagestation - but they don't give me the image URL easily - I have to click the RSS feed button, then try to figure out which image in there is the one I want. Fortunately, it always puts the newest one at the top (right below the URL for the album). bob

Oooo - you're a pretty smart fella! bob

What is the frag that's orange with green polyps - last coral picture before the Deltec shot?? I've seen it before, and I'd like to get a frag. bob

It's a Koi place - they sell plants, too. You wouldn't be interested. I only go there because I have a little pond. Reason I've been going every Sunday all winter long is to see whether or not they have any Koi in yet, that's all. bob

Well... I intend to have the sump under the tank stand (big stand) with just a 8-10" drop from the bottom of the RR overflow into the sump; and can't think of any way to gravity feed the main tank water to the separate refugium. So I'm planning a second pump to the frag tank (same as it is now), and gravity feed the frag tank into the refugium, then gravity-feed the refugium into the sump. I think it's the best I can do. Right now the refugium is IN the (20-gallon) sump, with both the main (45) tank and the frag tank overflowing into it. But certainly open to suggestions. bob