lanman

Well... it's been kind of a while - because two weeks ago I added a 30-gallon frag tank to the 45-gallon tank and 20-gallon sump. With all new, fresh water. So I figured that would be a pretty good 'water change'. I am making water right now for a change tomorrow or Sunday - my first 10-gallon change. I had to go out and buy a larger container. It was easier when the system was only 60 gallons. I did a 5-gallon change weekly. Makes me appreciate the 2.5-gallon water changes in my aquapod. bob

What would be the correct pump for a 45-gallon or a 58-gallon tank? I think the 'suggested' SEN 500G might not be enough; I looked at the statistics and it loses capacity really quickly with head increase. bob

There is a Pondmaster MAG-7 pump. 700gph, $74.99 There is a Danner Mag-Drive 7 pump. 700gph, $74.99 The pictures look identical. Same pump?? bob

but don't allow it to get covered with sand... bob

Feeder comets - $0.12 - Petco in Fairfax (Route 29). bob

Several people have live rock for sale in the For Sale forum. Most around $3-$5/pound - depending on the size of the rocks. bob

I guess I'm just lucky - they like me or something. Always helpful and friendly. Of course, I always visit on the way home from work - maybe I LOOK like I have money! I do wear nice golf sweaters. Or maybe they just like having my Rolls-Royce parked out front. Hahahahaha! I have never bought an expensive coral - guess it's just my way. I'd rather take a little frag and grow it into something. Several times I've had them 'add to inventory' so they could sell me a piece that fell off of something. "I want that leather coral." "Oh - that big one right there?" "No - that baby one that fell off the bottom of it!" (that sucker was SO small - after two months, it's about an inch in diameter - a nano-coral for my nano-tank) Nonetheless, I have very good luck shopping there - especially lately with the new employee's; they are more than happy to drop whatever they are doing (putting about 1,000 margarita snails into tanks on Tuesday) and help me. Sorry to hear you didn't have a good experience. And Melissa is a sweetheart, but perhaps a little afraid of the boss. bob

Lack of flow - I think you're right... I hadn't really paid much attention, but I think my pump needs to have the vent holes cleaned. I put my hand in front of the input to the tank, and it isn't what it used to be. So I took a look, and there are a few dead spiders and stuff stuck to the vent holes - probably slowing down the flow. Will pull it tomorrow afternoon and clean it up. Thanks again! bob

Welcome to WAMAS! I just started my tank in December (17th) - but that makes me ahead of you! ((by a little bit)) Don't worry about getting addicted - it's only a small addiction, and relatively harmless! (Says the man who put up his 2nd tank a month after adding his first coral to the 1st tank) LOTS of help available here - I have NO idea how I managed to get a tank started without being a member of WAMAS. bob

Woohoo! Elfing brilliant! Works when it's still running, but you want to reduce the size of the bubble, too! I couldn't QUITE get the bubbles to break up small enough to flow out of the tube - so there is a little bubble in there. But I'm sure it's good for another month! Got my first yummy taste of tankwasser, too. Nothing a swig of Scope and a cup of coffee couldn't take care of. I just KNEW there had to be a better way. Many thanks! bob

Hmm... how do you tell your reefer lady-friend that Scott wants to have her babies... I don't think I want to go there. bob

Maybe the one you called supergirl? bob

I picked up some ROWAphos and a little filter bag to put it in. I figure I can't go much easier than that. I always try to make very gentle changes to the system. The idea of a reactor - and all of that phosphate-removing media floating around seemed kind of like overkill. I hope the system wouldn't be considered polluted. It's only a modest amount of algae; and only on glass, plastic, snail shells, and my yellow gorgonian. Basically, anywhere the hermits can't scrub it off I'll run a full water check tomorrow evening, after it's been in there 24 hours and see what's happening. I can't handle any lower alk - I've been working to slowly get it higher. bob

The 'bubble' of air in my U-tube overflow seems to have gotten larger over time. Perhaps from little bubbles of air in the water?? Do they eventually just get so much air in them that they lose suction? Should I re-set it once in a while to keep that from happening?? Have I just been lucky? bob

AFTER donning eyewear and gloves, I slice carefully between polyps with a scalpel, and then 'chisel' the rock apart where I cut - or use wire snips or reef cutting pliers. I frequently use a magnifying glass when performing surgery on the polyps. Most live rock is quite porous, and easy to break. I try to keep at least 3 polyps together when I frag them. Super-glue the new frag to a piece of rock, or a frag plug. If they are growing on a 'shell' - better hope it's thin, or get a diamond saw. Some of those shells are HARD to break. Take this advice with a grain of salt - I am quite new at this, but enjoy fragging stuff - and it seems to work fine so far! bob

I usually ask Sugar Magnolia bob

I'd say the evidence is no longer 'anecdotal', if Steve can get it written up with doctor's notes. bob

RO/DI water - new filter - Dainichi pellets? Frozen mysis shrimp? Thanks for the info; I think I might have a pump that size sitting here. I'll check on phosban and reactor tomorrow - algae gone by the weekend! bob

I once squirted model airplane fuel into my eye... but I was fine in a couple of weeks! YOU WIN!! bob

How does one go about using Phosban? I'm looking on the internet, and it appears I need a 'reactor' of some sort?? Guess I'll stop by MS tomorrow and see what they have for me. But over the long term, I guess I need to figure out where the excess phosphates are coming from. Thanks, bob

Nemo bites??? bob

I can't even tell you how cool I think that is. I thought it was great when my comet goldfish had babies in my pond! But growing your own Nemo's!! Awesome! Where do you get the phytoplankton, rotifers and baby brine shrimp? Do you hatch the shrimp yourself? Are they in a separate tank - or your refugium? Congratulations!! bob

Okay - back to the 'new to hobby' forum. Back to basics - what am I missing? (this is long - but everyone always wants to know everything in order to make a good guess) I have a 24-gallon aquapod that is perfect. The water is crystal clear, all of the readings are center-range (zero for ammonia and nitrites) - nitrates stays VERY steady at 5 ppm - no skimmer, alk perfect, pH perfect, 380 CA, etc... etc... I use B-Ionic - 6ml of each every night. Tank put together in December - long cycle for fresh live rock. Everything does well in there; My favorite monty cap has grown 1/2" in all directions since late January when I figured I could finally put some stuff in there. It gets a tiny bit of powdery algae on the sides of the tank, which I brush off easily with the scraper every few days. The good tank. I have a 45-gallon tank that is a couple of months newer - but I used well-cured live rock; so it's functional age is not much less than the 24-gallon. It has a 4" sand bed and 50-60 pounds of live rock. It has a 20-gallon sump with refugium, lots of chaeto and grape caulerpa, 3" sandbed, a couple pieces of live rock (maybe 10 pounds), some snails, one mangrove that is growing nicely, etc. I added a 30-gallon frag tank to the system a few weeks ago. It has another 20 pounds of live rock in it, a fairly shallow (1") sand bed, and a bunch of frags and small corals. It has a skimmer designed for about 60-gallons, but I only have three small fish in the system. Everything seems to be growing well in this system, too. One aggressively encrusting monti digi has spread out a TON, fast-growing zoa's have grown fast, etc. Ammonia 0-0.25, Nitrites 0.05, Nitrates ZERO (just measured everything to be sure)... But - Alkalinity is always low (1.7-2.0 meq/l (5.6dKH). pH is always a bit high (8.4). Calcium is good; 380-400. I have the main lights on for 9 hours and the actinic/actinic+ on for 11 hours. I use 20 ml of B-Ionic each evening. Lately I have increased the ALK part to about 25 ml, in hopes of raising ALK - it might be working, because it's up to 2.0 from 1.7. I use RO/DI water for top-offs and changes. I take my measurements in the evening when lights have been on for about 6-8 hours. **I have a moderate amount of brownish-green, slimy, filamentous algae growing on anything plastic, on my gorgonian, and now I see it on the shells of most of my snails. The sides and back of the tank get it in quiet areas - the snails usually end up knocking it down. I never see it on the tank bottom (substrate), or on the rocks or other corals. The water is clear - but not as 'crystal' as the 24-gallon tank. A. What might I do to get rid of the brown algae. B. What might I do to increase my ALK and slightly lower my pH?? Thanks! bob

What is a P FF ?? Oh.. never mind - I just saw Howard's post. And if your wife asks, I'll just tell her I don't understand why you keep getting such cheap fish - do they die a lot in your tank? Then I'll proceed to tell her there are some really nice angelfish for only $2000 down at BRK - if she's trying to think of a good present for you for your birthday. bob