lanman

I am currently in the process of doing just that for the AEFW. I have a 50-gallon stock tank set up as a separate system just for isolation of the acro's while they are being treated. Unfortunately, I am almost out of space in that tank; going to have to figure out how to move things around a bit - OR just dip everything in both stock tanks, and combine them into one system as originally planned. Not to worry - by the time I'm done, all of my acro's from the DT, and all of my frags (200+) will have been dipped, inspected re-dipped. bob

My very first tank inhabitants were a pistol shrimp and Yashia goby. I am concerned about killing the pistol shrimp if I put Interceptor in the tank. So... I'll have to figure something out. bob

This is the unit I got... http://www.adorama.com/CNMSHD.html Comes with software that makes it really easy to take single pictures, a 'stream' of pictures, or a video. Microscope is easily portable within reach of the USB cable, and has a little stand. Takes a few tries to figure out how to get it to work at higher resolutions (150x) - but basically pretty easy to use. The LED illumination is powered from the USB port - no batteries. I hook it up to my laptop, and I can go most anywhere. I would have gotten the $79 one - with 400x - but it doesn't seem to come with a stand. The stand is very convenient. bob

Started a new thread with pictures of the redbugs... Obviously it's not a coral spawn. bob

I have been removing acropora from my 240G and dipping them for AEFW. I am maybe 3/4 done - running out of space, plus I wanted to save some AEFW for both my research project, and someone else's. I inspect each acro carefully under a magnifying glass. Last evening, I moved another 'chunk' of my blue-tipped staghorn from the 240G to the 'isolation' tank, including a very good inspection. I saw nothing. Tonight - the same coral has redbugs - lots of them: Redbug Larva almost ready to hatch: Freshly 'hatched' worm - just crawled out of the cradle: Running Redbugs video! (Maybe - might take me a few tries to make this work; never did a video before.) And - just how small are these things??? Regular straight pin... bob

I keep learning something new every day. How come nobody mentioned redbugs were almost microscopic?? And I've been looking at those same pieces of coral (including under a magnifying glass) as I take them out of the tank - most recently last night. None of those things were on it - and today there are thousands (but just on a couple of corals that I can see). When I first looked tonight, none of them were moving. NOW - lots of them are moving. Do they really appear that quickly? Photos/movies to come shortly. bob

Same or similar yellow spots on the blue-tip staghorn... Leishman's table acro is getting dark spots in some of the polyps... I wish most of my acro's weren't OUT of the tank!! Same corals in the other tanks aren't doing it - just the display. bob

Davelin's xmas tree acro (what's left of it) has these little yellow 'dots' waving around on tiny thin stems all over the surface of it. Is it spawning?? bob

Yes... on photobucket - you can copy the bottom link (img....../img) and just paste it right in here. This one looks like the grey/white sponge that can be a little annoying - but doesn't hurt anything: I'm not so sure about this one, though - I haven't seen that sponge grow like mushrooms - fat on the top. Need better pictures! bob

3 minutes? What... you got one of those remote controls for the traffic light in front of Wal-Mart? bob

That link takes me to some apple mobile site that I can't open. bob

Did you add a refugium and/or protein skimmer?? How are the monti caps looking?? They are usually a pretty good indication of high nitrates; they will lose color and polyp extension. How often are you doing water changes? How much?? For reduction of nitrates, or any other impurity in your tank, a 10% water change will reduce it 10% (assuming the replacement saltwater has no nitrates). A 20% water change will reduce it 20%, etc. But two 10% water changes will only reduce it by about 18% (law of diminishing returns). So if you want an instant 50% nitrate reduction, do a 50% water change. Looks like chemi-pure is probably carbon. Other than making your water clearer, so that the lights might be too bright for the corals, I don't think it will 'hurt' anything to change the filter media. Even for your predominantly softies tank, I would try to keep nitrates under 25. Skimming helps keep organic material from ever becoming nitrates - it doesn't reduce nitrates directly. A good, growing refugium will do wonders for reduction of organics/nitrates. bob

Eh... he's really just getting started. I think he had a small local customer population in the other place; he only had about 30 square feet to fill up. Now he is a little better known, and in a much easier to find location - it will probably take him a while to figure out how much he needs to stock, and how much he can charge for things. He had the cheapest price around on Revive last week. He has a few corals that are badly overpriced - and some that seem quite cheap. He has a rock with about a dozen Dendro's on it - he wanted $400. Which seems pretty close to accurate. bob

Someone certainly should - seems like quite a few people purchased them a while back. And the rate those small ones divide - they should have tons. bob

Apparently most of us just don't know bob

Yeah - out of date already, says the man with FOUR frag tanks... bob

Quite some time back, we had a thread on x vs. x - - who wins coral battles. If I remember right, there isn't much that a frogspawn can't kill, if given a chance. I've been using mine to clear up some green mushrooms that are spreading into places I don't want them. My most interesting battle was a chalice (Sanchez, the killer chalice) that sent out a wad of 'spaghetti' to attack the WAR coral (RIP) near it. I had a chalice nip a bit off of a favia just the other night. My favorite favia, of course. Went from 4 polyps to 10 polyps to 8 polyps bob

Found this on U-tube - cute! bob

There is even a video somewhere in the world that I think Chip made - or is of him cutting one or more. That didn't take long to find... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOXZEWIAYEY another... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oc5UVoiprc&NR=1 But I suggest a scalpel instead of a razor blade... bob

20K Radiums??? Looks nice - one of those calm and peaceful tanks. bob

Sometimes a nice long bath in Revive helps, too. Judging from my latest attempt - looks like I saved 2 out of three pieces of an acro. STN is nefarious - This small colony of a very nice coral started to STN from one branch. I cut off the branch, and a bit of the tissue surrounding it. Day later, it was spreading again - cut the coral in half - almost an inch from the dead tissue. Next day - it was spreading again. Fragged off all the remaining branches, soaked them in Revive for 15 minutes, and it looks like two of the three pieces will survive, even though one branch only has 1/2" of living coral left. NO obvious reason for it to start dying back. With RTN, you just have to be lucky - catch it when it first starts, and realize it's RTN, and cut off a frag from WAY on the other side of the coral. I had a 6" in diameter monti cap RTN to 0" in diameter in under 24 hours. I had a 10" colony of blue-tip staghorn RTN down to a couple of frags in 48 hours. And I caught that one early! bob

I have the same type of fixture on a 33-gallon long tank. 4 36" bulbs on the stands you can buy with the TEK fixtures, which puts it about 6" above the water (adjustable). If I remember correctly, I have one true actinic, one actinic+, one Aquablue+, and one 'Midday'. This is my best tank for growth and color. Shame it's so small, and has GSP trying to take it over, etc. This system is also the one that has zero nitrates, for reasons unknown to mankind. I added a 40-gallon tank to the system, and increased the sump/refugium from 20 gallons to 30 gallons several months ago. Then I had measurable nitrates. Measured last night, and it's back down to zero - and that's with a sensitive test kit. That is with a little HOB skimmer that doesn't seem to work most of the time. Conclusion: Laura - it's magic! It's like the blue xenia that will only grow in one tank out of 5... and in there, it's trying to take over the world. bob

+2 I KNOW high nitrates... and all of these symptoms could be caused by high nitrates. HIGH meaning well over 20ppm. Everything in my tank seems to do just fine at 20ppm except birdsnest type corals. bob

I tried to get a couple of others in my general area interested in a 'tank tour' about a year ago (like the one we did in leesburg/ashburn a couple years ago), but didn't have much luck. Might have to try again. bob

Trying to imagine the look on your face when that thing blew.. bob