lanman

I guess you could say I did my first mushroom frag, then I bought one that was stuck to two different pieces of rock. Both halves of that guy are doing fine, also! Had another one that split himself; both halves are still healing up. I have a ricordia (fiji?) - kind of like a hairy mushroom (3-4"); but fluoresces bright green - he has 3-4 smaller ones hiding in his shadow on the same rock. If you want to take a razor blade to a ricordia - cut him through the mouth? Or next to it? bob

Just checked - pH is ~8.1, alk is ~3.4. (someone must make an easier to read test kit... pH = grey shading to lavender;Alk = pretty carribean blue). Will check the other stuff later. It is later: Ammonia = 0 Nitrite = 0.05 Nitrate = 5 Spec. Gravity a little high (1.026); topped with fresh, now 1.0255. bob

And now you can rent him out to other lobophora sufferers. bob

My green star polyp, one of my favorites, hasn't pushed out his polyps for the last day or two (beyond a few little green tips). Only thing I've noticed different is that there is a hermit crab that seems to want to play king of the hill on the polyp-covered rock. I knock him off - he climbs back up. I put him on the other side of the tank - he comes back. Could that be a cause? Or do star polyps sometimes just 'take a break'?? bob

Marine Scene. They had it for quite a while, but it was 'unimpressive' under lower lighting. Nobody bought it, so they fragged it. THEN put the remainder under good light, and it showed its true beauty. It is growing well - they will probably frag it by the end of the year again. bob

Thanks!!

I'll do that tonight. I have the (smallest I could find) powerhead pointed above them, mostly to break up the flow from the single, non-moving water outlet in the Aquapod, and give them a little extra random water movement. All of the parameters that I measure are very good; 0 ammonia, 0-0.2 Nitrites, 5 Nitrates, 400 Calcium, 8.2 pH, hmmm... don't remember Alk # - but per the chart I have, definitely high within range (very solid blue color on my test). In answer to someone else's question; prior to my purchase it was being kept in a much lower light level location in the store. But since fragging it, they moved the coral to a much brighter location (though not quite as bright as mine) - and it is doing GREAT (grey with purple polyps - looks like amythest crystals on quartz). If worse comes to worst, hopefully I can pick up a new frag in 6-8 months. Tank is only about 10 weeks old, but has been stable for several weeks, and everything else is doing great. And I mean everything (yes, I've gotten carried away - that's why I bought a larger tank this weekend). bob

From what I've read (I'm new at this, but have read hundreds of articles), nitrates are mostly taken care of by anaerobic bacteria in the sand bed; ammonia and nitrites by more aerobic bacteria in the live rock. ( <----live rock doing aerobic exercises) How are the ammonia, nitrite, pH and Alkalinity readings?? How high is HIGH for your nitrates? There's a pretty good article 'pinned' somewhere on this site about basic chemistry, and what NOT to worry so much about. bob

I have three montipora frags in my 24-gallon aquapod. I put them up high for good light, and even added a small powerhead running only while the lights are on to make sure they have sufficient water flow. Two of them are doing fine, it appears. The third, which is right in the center, 4" underwater, and about 8" from the middle of my single HQI Halide light, is growing by fits and starts - with portions of it turning white and dying off. Could too much light be the problem? Naturally I gave this 'prized' location to the frag I like the most, and now I'm not sure it's going to survive. :( bob

Sponge update! Now that I know what I'm looking for - I found I have several yellow sponges, and one PINK one. bob

Those are sponges? I got some corals and the rock they were on from someone in MD. I have the exact same animals you have on one piece of rock with mushrooms on it. I figured they were baby hairy mushrooms; the tank in MD. was inundated with big hairy mushrooms. They seem to be quite happy; I've had the rock in there for a couple of weeks now. bob

Agreed! I'm a newbie - and the very first coral I put in my tank was a little frag of Kenya Tree Coral. I still had some nitrites and nitrates - but I was celebrating getting ammonia to zero. It seemed fine the first day, but then it curled up into a ball for a day or two. Then it stretched itself out, and a month later, it's growing away! bob

Yes! I had the same question a few weeks ago. I loaded up my first saltwater tank (24-gallon aquapod) with 28 pounds of VERY FRESH java live rock. The cycle started - it stunk to high heavens... I had ammonia WAY up there for weeks. It finally went down, nitrites went up, then down, nitrates were up... and same as you - all of the instructions kind of stop at high nitrates. With statements like "nitrates turn into free nitrogen". When? How? Patience, grasshopper - it took 6 weeks, but my nitrates dropped to 5ppm, where it has stayed. Of course, I have a lot of corals, but only one small fish. bob

I purchased a 45-gallon tank and stand. The space underneath is only 10.25" deep. I got an aquarium to use as a sump tank, but it is 10.5" wide. I don't really want to take a router and remove enough material to make it fit - I'm concerned about strength of the stand when I get all that weight on it. Can someone suggest where I can buy a sump? Locally to Northern Virginia, or online. Thanks bob