treesprite

it's to supplement the water if the water needs it. You can supplement the water without a reactor, but I think its a matter of keeping from having fluctuations in params, whereas measuring out a teaspoon or drops of something causes too much of a sudden fluctuation for delicate creatures.

All I have for fish in my 45 is 2 clowns and a jade damsel. The female clown which is 5 to 6", and the damsel which is about 2", are both extremely aggressive and many fatalities were at the hand of that clown. This damsel is ther only other fish not killed by that clown 3x its size - I believe the clown decided that this damsel is too much of a match to risk chasing or fighting.

Actually I read around a lot about it - a little bit before this happened hence I was able to consider it when discovering a problem, then a whole lot more after discovering the problem. Supposedly caulerpa is fine if kept trimmed back. I need to find some "pretty" macros that don't need a guardian.

I'm thinking the other end... keeping it cool enough.

according to my son, walmart brand purified water tastes like regular tap water - I don't know what difference it makes as far as fish go. The Safeway if you fill yourself but use their jugs, is 64 or 69 cents. Jason, I'm assuming the water sits for a while before you use it.

There are no corals in the tank right now. It's a 45g with 2 clowns, a damsel, a brittle star, snails, and crabs. The stuff had to deal with 3 big lighting changes in less than 2 weeks. First it went from the lighting of its source to my lighting, which at the time was T-12/T-8. Right after I got the macros, I replaced the T-12/T-8 bulbs I had because the others were a bit over a year old, then Tuesday of this week I changed the lighting to T-5s (a Nova Extreme fixture), which is a huge increase in watts and intensity. I'm doing 12h/12h. The only reason the stuff is in the tank is that the opportunity to obtain marcros happened before I could finish my fuge project, and then the project got delayed due to an injury.

Doesn't always work out that way.

came home and the water was an absolute mess, and the caulerpa has white area and the fuzzy things. I dont know what else would put all that stuff in the water. This morning there were little green specks on things.

LOL

I can't afford the unit right now, so I can't accept your offer, but thanks

i put this stuff in the tank last week - today I came home and... what a mess I can't do a water change yet due to my injury - is it going to be ok waiting 5 or 6 days?

i also have been trying not to overfeed them anymore, but i dont know... is the big clown just greedy or actually hungry?

don't the Britta-type filters do the same thing as that water filter? I have been buying water. Usually I can purified water at Safeway for 34 cents a gallon if I use my own refill containers, so a weekly water change of ten percent is a couple of dollars, but it's a real pain hauling jugs of water a few at a time through an apt complex and up the stairs. The purification includes RO and UV but I don't know about the DI, I'll have to look to see if it says that on the description on the machines. I've never thought to test tap water for copper. Has anyone else in the Gaithersburg area tested it for it?

you're posts are fine.... that's why we are here, to get, share, give info, feedback, suggestions, etc This is an incredibly expensive hobby - I'm glad your parents are helping you out with being able to do it.

I dont know if it was here or somewhere else... someone had posted about getting really ill from having inhaled the steam

That's exactly my problem. The tank size has something to do with it, because the food being small particles spread out makes it appear that there isn't enough food there, and the fish have to dart all over the place so some of it goes to the bottom without being eaten.

So I'm not the only one getting conflicting readings.

I believe on this Nova Exteme, one fan sucks in on one end, and the other fan blows out on the other end

What is the benefit to having part of the return water not having gone through the fuge area?

there was a bit on the news the other day about some woman who was not allowed to bring her baby's milk bottle on the plane; the woman was mad and dumped out the liquid on the floor

you posted that while i was editing my post before it

im waiting for someone to say salifert is ok - people keep complaining about it I was thinking about using that raffle 25$ gift certificate for test kits from DF&S, which are saliferts The nitrate one is the one I'm having trouble with - I have some other one or 2 kits from AP but dont have difficulty with those. I'm having a nitrate issue which I can't keep a track of if I don't have a reliable test kit (overfeeding and had 3 inches of crushed coral which I believe was holding nitrate - I do water changes and there are only 3 fish in the tank, so that's all I know of to which I can attribute the problem; the crushed coral has been removed and I will put sand in its place, and I'm trying to resist the urge to add extra food for the piggy female clown who chomps down whole still-frozen cubes in one big mouth full)

im doing skimmer>fuge>return

has anyone else used the Aquarium Pharmacueticals tests? I had to get a new nitrate kti and this thing is impossible to read. It says to hold the test tube in front of the white side of the color scale card, but doesn't say how close and the color changes with the distance. I sent an email to the company a few days ago and they have not responded.

I just this evening picked up my Nova Extreme fixture and finished putting it over the tank about half an hour ago. My understanding is that high intensity corals can be kept with that lighjting, but I guess too it depends on how deep the water is. Nova Extreme comes with bulbs in it. It also already has fans in it. Note that there are 4 plugs for it, so you need a lot of outlets - I will now have to run a cord around the room becuase I'm already taking up a whole 6-plug surge protector.