alan mcilvried

I just set my system up. Using a "sump pit" from Home Depot. about 20" diameter and 24 " tall (rough) Look in the sump pump section. They are MUCH MUCH more rigid than trash cans and only $22.00 Al

I want to upgrade my skimmer, but my homemade stand only has 24" clear height. Hindsight's 20/20, but that's what I have. Take away 1/2" for the the thickness of the bottom of my sump and I'm at 23.5" - jammed tight. I think I have to eliminate everything that's over 22". 75 gallon tank, 20 gallon sump. (Although I could change the sump.) Fish only, and will probably stay that way, but not certain. I've been fighting ich, and fish-only makes it easy to catch fish and rearrange the tank. This experience makes me really think hard about adding corals (But that's another story) 1) I'm looking at the Aqua C EV 120 or 180 because they're only 20" high. Euroreef RS80 and Octopus NW150 both list at 22", (Although I've seen both also shown with a height of 23.5") At 22" is that enought to get at them to clean them? I think from what I've read that these should all be adequate for my tank. 2) Has anyone ever cut down the collection cup and the riser tube on a skimmer? Would lopping an inch off be detrimental to the performance generally? 3) I've read about hanging a HOB Aqua-C Remora skimmer on a sump. That would work in my case, but I'm concerned this might not be enough skimming for a fully stocked 75 some day. Thoughts? Thanks Al

OK. Got one coming from Foster and Smith. Will let you know how it turns out.

Since the discussion of refractometers has come up, and I'm running a QT tank on low salinity./.... Anyone have good/bac experience with the import refractometers on ebay? Is there a "recommended" brand you guys like that's not $100? Using a float hydrometer for the time being, but I understand the discussion about low accuracy. Al

Sorry, been busy for a bit. Ammonia between 0.25 to 0.5ppm tonight and Ph 8.2 Was doing water changes 1 gallon per day (10 gallon QT) Did a 3 gallon change day before yesterday because ammonia was starting to creep. Ammonia was 0 for the first few days when I transferred them. I took the water out of my main tank which is very stable. I've stopped using copper.

I'll add an airstone - that's an easy shot at it. My main tank hangs at about 80- 81 most of the time but has a lot more water movement.

I started copper to try and curb the ich quickly. I'm lowering the salinity during water changes. Have dropped from 1.023 to 1.019 in 4 days. Should I stop the copper?

I've two remaining fish in quarantine. Hennioccus died from ich. Doing 1 gallon water change every other day and treating with cupramine and testing for copper level per instructions. Trying to clean uneaten food up off the bottom of the tank daily. Per a mix of recommendations I'm raising tank temp to 82-84 and am slowly dropping s.g. - eventually targeting 1.010. Currently 81 degrees and 1.019. Water quality look ok, but not crystal clear. Only running a filter pad in the HOB. No carbon. Convict Blenny (Engineer Goby) and Coral Beauty are swimming around ok, but have stopped eating after the first day. Don't think it's related to copper, temp or salinity because I only just started that process after giving the fish a day to acclimate. Today I tried adding a little crushed garlic to the HOB filter box about an hour before feeding, hoping it might stimulate their appetites. Gave them brine shrimp - which they normally go nuts for - but no interest. Any other ideas. Hate to have them starve, and I can't put them back in the main tank until QT is over. Have tried brine, mysis, algea flakes and sinking pellets. I've read of folks putting in a cracked mussel. (fresh water mussel from the seafood counter?) Thanks Al

Thanks for the link to the ich article. I'm still not sure that is what is going on with my fish. The symptoms keep coming and going. I've never had ich before, so I don't know what I'm looking for other than pic's on-line. Looks like it, but it goes away and then comes back. Looks like if I try to drop the salinity on my entire system - my crabs and shrimp are toast. Has that been you experience? Hate to kill them, but not sure what else to do. I can't put them in the quarantine tank if they could possibly transport ich into that. Al

QT tank is set up with a damsel in it. I made an acrylic partition, so other than catching the little buggers, I can drop them in the QT any time.

This is a tag on to my post earlier this morning on Ich. Before I go crazy with treatments, any chance anyone lives near Damascus that could swing by and give a second opinion? I can tend to be paranoid sometimes. I live about 2 miles south of Damascus just off Woodfield Road - Rt. 124 I've got cold beer in the garage. Thanks Al

I think I may have Ich in my main tank. Noticed it yesterday on a fairly recent Hennioccus. He's been in the tank for about 5 days. He came from a LFS that treats with copper and he had been there for well over a week. Should have quarantined him anyway, but my mean damsel was in the quarantine tank and my daughter has grown attached to it. That's obvioulsy a different discussion at this point. Lesson #5 - don't keep permanent fish in the quarantine tank. What I'm seeing is appearing as sparse white spots on his tail and one or two on his fins. I only have 3 fish in the tank right now and no coral. I can get rid of the damsel and move them back to the quarantine tank - they may be cramped, but they'll have to get over it. That will leave my main tank empty except for cleanup crew (crabs, snails, shrimp), two mushrooms and the live rock. I've tried to do my homework here, but I would appreciate any firsthand experience with any of the following: I can treat the quarantine tank with either hyposalinity or copper. If I go hyposalinity, I am assuming I need to introduce the fish at 1.023 first (my main tank salinity) and then gradually reduce to 1.009-1.010 through water changes. How quickly should I drop it and then how how quickly should I raise it? (hours - days?) I think I understand it should stay low for about 14 days. More importantly, I'm wondering what to do with my main tank. Hyposalinity treatment appears to be ok with the fish, but I don't think I understand whether is will harm the live rock or my other critters. Has anyone tried this? Finally, I read some information about Malachite Green which indicated it is safe with invertibrates. Could I use that in the main tank? Has anyone tried this? Anything else? I've read varying opinion about garlic, but the relsults appear to be largely anecdotal, so I don't think I'll try that as my first line of defense. Thanks Al

Rockville isn't really near centerville, but try REED PLASTICS.

I've searched several forums trying to find out the purpose of the pressure storage tank in an RODI system, and it seems that they are intended to provide a readily available volume of water for drinking (so that when you want a pitcher of water, there is enought available to fill it.) I've also read it helps with "back pressure", but that seems to be anecdotal, as none of the mfr. literature I've seen mentions that aspect. I'm going to purchase a RODI system, and if I collect the water in a large tub, and I'm not intending to drink it, it would seem the pressure tank would not be necessary. I'm curious as to who on this forum uses (or doesn't use) a pressure tank and why. Thanks Al

You're probably in the thick of it right now. Good Luck! Al

I have been trying to get rid of the buggers for awhile. I'm at 5 days without a sighting so I think I finally got them. I thought they were gone once before and then I found 3 babies in one day. I've been using Joe's Juice and it kills them instantly. It's a white milky liquid available for sure at Rick's in Frederick and Blue Ribbon Koi in Manassas. Probably other places also. You can buy it on line - look up Joe's Juice on google. It comes with a pointed syringe for directing the stuff directly into the center of the Majano. You need to squirt before you touch them because sometimes they close up. Small bottle is $7 or $8 and is good for many applications. Be sure to use only as much as you need as it tends to clump up as the bottle empties. Sometimes clogs in the tip. If that happens, dont force it in the tank or you'll end up with a huge cloud of the stuff. Turn off your pumps when you use it and use a turkey baster or wave your fingers over the spot after you squirt it. Only takes a LITTLE bit to kill them. It kind of coagulates in the water so you need to dust it off your rock. It did kill a little brittle star that got too close, so don't squirt it direction on anything else. No other adverse effects in my tank though. The Majanos move around and occasionally I've seen them crawling up the glass, so you need to kill all the ones you see as soon as you see them. Then wait a day or two and look for new ones. I'm convinced they multiply by spreading spores or something like that. I would NOT try scraping them. You might make it worse because I've read they can regenerate from pieces drifting around the tank. After you've killed all the ones you see for a day or two, turn your rock and set it in a different orientation for a day and you'll be surprised at how many you see that were hiding. Lastly, another member told me he was killing them by dipping his rock in hot water and also by taking the rock out of water and squirting viniger on them and then rinsing right away. He said the hot water dip probably kills the "live" in Live Rock, but he said it works if you don't mind regenerating the rock Hope this helps Al

You know, I do have a stocking plan, so it's funny you should mention that. And interestingly, Convict Blennies aren't on it. I went to the store for Green Chromis and when I got there they didn't have as many as they told me when I had called to check. So I figured as long as I was there I'd get a little something for my time. The Blennies were all swimming around all peaceful and such in the middle of the tank............ and they told me they make nice community fish............. Now i just have to wait for him to die or get tired of digging because I'm never going to catch him. Al

I'm just posting this because maybe someone will look this up in an archive search some day. I bought a Convict Blenny about a week ago. There were 7 or 8 in the tank at Aquarium One and they were pretty cool all swimming around together looking all convict-like. So I says to myself "Hey, I think I'll get me one of them Convict Blenny fish. They look cool!" It's been in my tank for about a week now. I've seen it about 4 times from it's nose to it's ears (assuming they have ears.) I continually imagine how cool looking it is. I have to imagine because all I see is the end result of a continuous digging operation as it undermines every piece of rock in my tank. It must have a whole series of tunnels under my sand bed because it shows up at opposite ends of the tank in about 3-5 second intervals without ever coming above ground. Now, you might ask, how do I know where it is if I don't see it? Well, I know where it is because of the plume of aragonite dust that billows up from the bottom as he spits out a bucket-full of sand from each tunnel entrance to the excavation. My wife and I have now taken to "blenny spotting" duty, trying to catch a glimpse of him. This is a fish that I never see, makes my aquascaping unstable, and I can't show him to any of my friends because he never comes out. He is WAY cool. This is a stupid hobby.

Pretty cool! I was just at Scales at lunchtime today and they have one if someone's interested.

Welcome, I am a new member, too, and all I can say is that this is a really cool group of people and I have nothing but great things to say about WAMAS members. I've got more help from the forum than from most of the books I've read. I live in Damascus and work in Rockville. Welcome to DC. By August you'll be wishing you were back in Florida to cool off. Sorry about the Gator thing, hopefully you'll grow out of that. Al PS Rockville LFS's are Aquarium One and Congressional Aquarium on Rockville Pike (Rt. 355). Both are on the west side of Rt. 355 between Montrose Road and downtown Rockville. They are about a mile or two apart. Tropical Fish World is in Gaithersburg, also on Rt. 355, about 1/2 mile north of Shady Grove Rd. in the Walnut Hill Shopping Center. There are phone numbers on the links here on the website. Scales is also pretty close, over on NH avenue if you go cross county - maybe 25 minutes.

Thanks. You've really done some nice work. I'm very interested in scale model engines and I've seen a lot of work by guys that love what they're doing. You obviously have a gift and a passion. Thanks for sharing all of the pics. You are certainly quite a craftsman. If you start a business, I wish you well. Alan

I'm at 4 weeks - Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates at 0. Down to the strongest Damsel - he killed the other two. I'm waiting 1 more week if I can, and if no Ammonia spike, I'm going to move the damsel to the quarrantine tank and start slowly adding some "nice" fish. I essentially want an active fish tank, but will probably try some easy corals or polyps some time along the way. I'm wondering what is considered a heavy bio-load, and whether I ought to be looking for a more efficient or larger skimmer. I currently have a 75 gallon overflow tank with a CPR CY192 wet/dry filter with combined protein skimmer. I don't get a lot of overflowing bubbles from the skimmer, but it does foam up into the collection cup. Nothing like the pictures I've seen posted here though. The return pump is a Mag 7 and the protein skimmer is running off a little Rio. I have 2 Maxjet 1200 powerheads and about 100# of very alive, live rock, full of critters and coraline algea. Snails, crabs and shrimp are busily cleaning every scrap of green/brown/hair algea. I would like to add fish in order of preference, but not necessarily in order of introduction: 2 small Henniocus (because I understand they like to be in pairs - I'd be happy with one) Royal Gramma 5-8 BlueGreen Chromis Coral Beauty Flame Angel (if it won't fight with the coral beauty - would add them at the same time is necessary) 1 butterfly of some type. 1 or 2 Blenny or goby type fish 1 small wrasse Other fish I'd like to have if it didn't overload the tank: Fox face 3 or 4 bangai cardinals Hawkfish Anthias And of course, the kids want a blue hippo tank - "Dory." 1) Is it safe to assume that is a heavy fish load for a 75g with this live rock? 2) Is my low bubble production possibly a result of low load, or an inefficient skimmer? I definitely am collecting stuff that looks like green tea from the current skimmer. 3) What are the warning signs that my skimmer isn't keeping up at some point? 4) Is it safe to use the manufacturers suggested aquarium size for skimmer capacity. Is there any danger in oversizing a skimmer? 5) I've read a lot of threads about skimmers here on the bulletin, so I don't want to restart the whole "what's the best skimmer discussion", but for this specific application, any short concise suggestions? If I replace the skimmer, I'll need to get a new sump. Max height is 24" - Total MAX, including cup removal clearance. Thanks Alan

My perspective on camera's for kids. Go to www.dpreview.com for all of the comparisons, buying guides, etc. You should find the answer to every question you have there. Ritz camera stores have been very helpful to me also. Ask them when a slow time is and go talk to the most knowledgable person there (ask who that is - you don't want to talk to the HS kids working the counter.) I JUST got Nikon CoolPix 4 megapixel (maybe 5mp?) cameras for my kids (ages 13, 15, 17) for Christmas and they take VERY nice indoor and outdoor pictures. $99.00 at Ritz Camera. (For comparison, I have a Canon A530 which I paid about $300 for and a Sony Cybershot at work - same price range. The Nikon pictures are very good. 5 mega-pixels is more than enough for 8x10 photos. If you know you're going to blow something up bigger, use the "fine" setting on the camera. Image stabilation is important particularly with long focal length lenses. Not really an issue with point and shoot cameras. One feature you will pick up in the more expensive point and shoot cameras is the ability to record SOUND on the video feature. PERSONALLY, I don't think there's any reason to spend any more than $100 on an 11 year old unless you have some specific reason. By the time he/she is 15 the technology will have changed and you'll have a whole new world of choices. All of them will break if you drop them on the sidewalk and they don't work at all if you leave it lying out at a little leage game someone else steals it. Make sure you know what kind of memory chip the camera takes. Some are proprietary. Most important - Make sure you know what kind of batteries the camera takes. If it only takes a special type or it's a camera only rechargable, you're out of luck when it runs low in the middle of the vacation and you forgot the cord. I'd look for one that takes regular AA batteries. You can always get rechargable lithium AA batteries. Alan

Rick's has been my only bad experience with customer service since I've gotten back into this hobby. Very condescending to someone who was just trying to get back into the hobby. I've had people tell me they really like Rick's, but I won't be going back.

I've had very polite and attentive service every time I've gone there, even when I say I'm not buying anything and just looking. Maybe I've been really lucky, but I don't get that impression. Certainly nothing that would keep me from going back, and probably the contrary - I've felt like a valued customer, even when I'm not flashing money. I've not asked any particularly technical questions, so I can't speak to the general knowledgeabilty of the staff, but several people have spent some significant time showing me things. The store is clean and organized and they have a lot of very clean SW tanks. I've not seen any dead fish in there. (I cruise the Rockville shops at lunch time quite a bit.) They run a lot of pretty good price specials. Maybe it's hit or miss, but I don't see the gouging that is being reported here. They have IO salt for $10 for a 50 gallon bag at least since January. As always, make your own decisions, but I think Congressional is at least worth a visit to decide for yourself. Alan