lanman

From a link someone just posted: (http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/library.html) "(Q) I purchased a Green serpent starfish a couple of months ago. It seems to be healthy because, it is usually searching the aquarium for food. One of my friends warned me that these starfish are very good predators so they will eat my small fish and shrimp. Should I get rid of this starfish or is there anything I can do? It hasn 't eaten any tankmates yet, but I don't want that to happen. I really enjoy watching it and I get a lot of comments about how cool he looks from people that see my tank. (A) First, I must say that sometimes there is no hard and fast rule; you just have to go with your intuition and experience. I believe that a captive animal's behavior is greatly influenced by the environment and conditions in which it is maintained. Having said all that, my answer depends greatly on how frequently you feed this starfish. If the animal is not target fed at least a couple times a week, then its tankmates are at a greater risk. Sometimes people purchase these starfish with the idea that they are strictly scavengers and will get enough to eat from the leftovers in the tank. Personally, I do not blame the starfish if it starts eating its tankmates; I blame you for not feeding it enough! Like I said before, there can be exceptions to most anything, but I think this starfish is better behaved when it is not starving to death. I know that a lot of people claim to have lost fish to the Green serpent starfish, and in some cases I am sure that it is true. However, usually the starfish is only doing the job you purchased him for, being a scavenger. They simply find dead or dying animals and do what they are supposed to do, and sometimes this leads to them being blamed for the demise of tankmates. I have a Green serpent starfish in my reef tank that is about 17 inches from tip to tip. I have kept it for about four years now with small fish and shrimp without any problems. I trust mine; but then again I make sure it is well fed! " bob

Distilled is probably purer. By a little. Don't forget to put salt in it - you're not topping off from evaporation. bob

It killed my aiptasia, it appears. No sign of it for three days. Unfortunately, the zoanthids nearby have stayed closed up for three days, as well. Will they eventually open?? bob

Hmmm... talk about hitchiker's - I have a Koi in my pond that must have hitchiked in on a plant. I only bought three $2.49 goldfish. But now that I have a Koi - maybe I should protect my pond. It's in a tight corner with a fence on two sides, and a gazebo on another side - but I've heard those blue herons will do just about anything for a pond full of fish. bob

How long do they need to cure? bob

More to hang out with now! They have hired two new ladies. The one I dealt with today was very nice and attentive. bob

I got some today at MS... let me see if I can find a price. Yeah - 20 of the flat, smooth on one side, about 2.5" disks - $6.99. bob

Thanks! I loved cowries when I was diving in the Philippines (1969, 1980). I've seen Pacific deer cowries, but never Atlantic. bob

Mine is almost identical to yours, but IN the sump. You said it is a 'separate' tank from your sump? I assume then, that you have a separate 'overflow' or pump to your sump. You can run into logistical problems with that - so design carefully; if the return pump quits working, but the overflow (or pump) keeps pumping.... you have much water on floor. i.e. - if the main pump in the sump keeps pumping water to the tank, there will be water available to overflow into the refugium (until the sump gets too low). And if the refugium return pump isn't working.... wetness. You would probably be better off running your overflow from the main tank through the refugium and then to the sump. If you can. That means the refugium would have to be lower than the overflow, and higher than the sump. That's why I ended up putting my refugium in my sump. bob

Okay, Jason - I've been wanting a small cowrie, and all I've found for sale is tiger cowries (big ones). What kind is it, and where did you get it?? bob

Hoping you got the sand from the top 1" of his sand bed. Stuff below that can contain all kinds of junk you don't want - but eventually it will settle down and start doing its job. With that good cured live rock, you'll be ready for anything in no time. Just let it cook a bit more, get your proper lights, etc... If you have a skimmer, you should be able to get nitrates down to zero pretty easily - but 5 or 10 isn't going to kill anything listed as 'easy'. Sounds like you are well on your way. bob

That isn't good enough. I knew it was there somewhere, and drove past 4 times before I spotted it. It's the 2nd door left from the bowling alley. bob

I'm a member of the Melissa fan club, too! When I first started, she was very helpful and sweet. I got my first tank there despite the prices ($100 more than internet), because I knew I could go back and ask all my dumb questions. ?bioballs? ?foam filter? ?RODI? Of course - then I found WAMAS and have been inflicting you guys with my dumb questions ever since! bob

Zoanthus Zingledingus Eagle-eye Mimicans (Checkerboard variant) to be exact bob

Pretty normal for star polyps. I've found that the hermits and snails only eat the dead parts. And that some star polyps recover from transplantation a lot better and faster than others. They seem to just sit there for a week or so, and then all of a sudden they start spreading like crazy. And you can even get them to grow up the back of the tank, if you like. I had a 3"x3" piece of pink-center star polyp that I glued to a rock; and there's only about 1"x1" left - but now it's finally starting to attach and grow. bob

Meanwhile, the doctor is trying to figure out how to work this into an article for a trade magazine, and a $million grant for studying the effects of palytoxins. Hope you're well soon! bob

Actually - hard to tell it from the picture, but the shelf is sitting directly on the concrete foundation of the house. And all but 2" of the tank fit onto the shelf, so I think it's probably balanced well enough. I reckon an earthquake could slide it off of there, but we don't have a lot of those out here. I'll keep an eye on it, though - and if it moves at all from vibration, I'll shore it up. bob

What did you start with? Fresh live rock that had or had not been cycled at the fish store or in someone's tank? 2 weeks is REAL early if you got live rock that had recently arrived from FIJI or somewhere (voice of experience). If that's what you have - then you have about 3-4 more types of algae to go through before your tank stabilizes. How does it smell? If it smells like the Anacostia waterfront - then you have a lot of cycling to do yet. HOw doe it look? Water clear? How was the rock transported? Even if it was cycled - if it was mailed to you, it probably has to cycle all over again. Continue testing your water. You should see ammonia go up, then eventually start to fall, nitrites go up and start to fall, then nitrates spike - and depending on what's in your sand bed, it might take a while to fall. Depending on what you started with, it might take 6-8 weeks before your tank is ready for some basic corals. Be patient, have fun! bob

I'll be there. Another newbie. bob

If you need custom acrylic work, you can PM him. You can find his username in the 'auction' thread under 'pink chalice' (and lots of other places). He also is a Tunze dealer. And yes, there is a waiting list for Tunze powerheads. bob

I went to get a temporary fixture for my refugium at Home Depot - and when I went to stick a ?T8? daylight bulb in it, I found it was T5. So I ordered a pair of 6500K 13W bulbs from somewhere online, went and got another fixture from Home Depot, and wired them up and attached them to a board. They seem like nice light. How long do you leave your refugium lights on each day? Mine are on 12 hours - can't tell yet if I've become a net importer or exporter of chaeto - only loaded it up under the new lights a couple of days ago. Got a mangrove today If I can't keep up with your growth, I'll try some Scott's turfbuilder! Recommendations for lights for the frag tank? I currently have a 96W white-only PC fixture over it. I do have a white/actinic bulb available. And if it seems there is general agreement that it's not enough light - I'll get another fixture. I had the 96W coralife fixture - it came with the 45-gallon tank. The GSP's that I stuck in there (HAD to get them out of the main tanks, they were trying to climb onto everything around) seem happy with it. I got some arag-alive today. Maybe a few rocks tomorrow (MS) or Thursday (BRK). Something different than the Fiji rock that I've been using; just to be different bob

I got all my water made, and hooked up the frag tank today. And this is what I ended up with (no sand and rocks yet - because BRK was closed today). And this is what the whole system looks like now. 45 + 30 + 20 (call it 15 - the sump isn't full) = 90 gallons. bob

I was given a water-parameters log when I first started that said <20. As time went on, I looked it up on the internet, and from someone who sounded like he knew what he was talking about - he said <.2. But depending on what equipment you have, .2 might not be attainable. My 24-gallon tank has no skimmer; it is VERY steady at 5. I only check it every couple of weeks now, because it has been 5 everytime I've measured it for two months. Everything is happy in that tank - including my fire shrimp. My first montipora capricornis has put on 1/4" in all directions in a month, I have GSP frags overgrowing their little pieces of rock, mushrooms propagating, etc. I am satisfied with my 5 PPM Nitrates. The 45-gallon tank has a skimmer. It has been running ZERO nitrates since a few weeks after I started it. (it has an alkalinity problem, but no problems with nitrates). So I don't think 5 PPM would be that hard a target to aim for. Keep in mind that nitrates are turned into free nitrogen in your sand bed. Protein skimmer cuts down nitrate production at the source. The only other way I know of to lower nitrates is water changes. With low-nitrate water (most likely made from RO/DI filtered water. bob

Should have told me to bring my blood pressure cuff when I came over to get those Eheim Powerballs. By the way - got one running in my frag tank - and it is QUIET! bob

Sign on the door - Closed today due to family emergency, will be open on Thursday. Just hoping to save someone else a trip. bob