treesprite

Would you buy a phone just for a better phone camera if your phone is what you use to take tank pics? I have to buy a new phone, and my service provider has two models with 48 mp cameras, and an additional macro feature. I thought nowadays phone cameras only went up to 16 mp, which is what I have. The 16 mp camera is okay for most tank pics that aren't close up, but too close means blurry.

Thanks, Alan. I have the hole, but left off the tubing. I have always thought the tubing was just to prevent noise. If my water level is so high that I get that much water in the second drain, I want some way of being alerted right away - the noise is my alert.

Great job!

Thank you for the help! I just now switched the caps on the pipes. I didn't realize I had used a cap with a hole on the second siphon but not the main one, but now I remember messing with that when I originally set up. So when the water was just going down the second, it was very noisy. When I took the pipes in the box apart (and cut them down slightly), I put them back in switched because I ended up cutting too much off from the scond (which of course can't be lower than the first). I wasn't thinking about the caps. As soon as I switched the caps, instant dead silence. Thank goodness.

There was work in the building that required a turning off of electricity momentarily several times in about an hour. Now my plumbing in my external overflow is noisy as heck. I messed around with the valves, took apart the pipes inside the box and made various adjustments trying to solve the problem. Just can't get it quiet again. It makes no sense. This is a BA in an external box, fed from the internal overflow. If anyone has any ideas about why a power outage would lead to this sudden change, please do tell.

I've done it at various times in the distant past, had no problems. Most fittings have a sort of ring around the inside where the end of the inserted pipe is ideally supposed to rest - leave at least a half an inch on the outer side of that to glue the pipe, and don't skimp on the glue at all since there's only going to be a narrow area to secure the pieces together.

There are people who use natural sunlight for their tanks, some with automatic shades on timers. In a tank that has great nutrient control and temperature control, I think it's great. We have a member who has, or did years ago when I saw it in person, an amazing frag system that uses natural light. Is the person planning to just allow those temp swings to affect the tank, with no heaters or fans?

Yeah, the practice of keeping them in aquariums, does it itself present an ethical dilemma. I'd like to be able to be in the hobby without crossing the line to being cruel.

I'm having second thoughts about the practice of getting fish that I know I will only keep for part of its life due to growth. I have done it in the past, and was planning on doing it to be able to get a captive bred yellow tang, but I think I need to change my mind. How can we know really, at what point a small fish that will eventually get big needs to be in a bigger space? If a fish needs a 5 ft tank when fully grown, at what point does it start suffering unduly from being in a 4 ft tank? I have always figured, like a lot of other people, that up to about 4", a yellow tang would be okay in a 48x18 tank. I have nothing to back that up except for knowing that a lot of people use the "grow out and trade" practice because they think it is adequate to prevent problems for the fish. It's a better situation than keeping the fish in the 4 ft tank it's entire life, but at the very least, it causes stress for the fish who has to suffer the transfer and adjustment to an unfamiliar tank. I would really like to know what other people think about this topic. If anyone knows of any research on it, please point it out to me. D

I really wanted to participate, but work kept me from doing it :(

Does anyone use a brand other than the ATI line? Wildcrazyjoker81, I know there is a brand called UV, but it sounds like your saying there is a specific bulb called UV. What brand is it?

I hate asking when there are so many threads on the internet about bulb combos, but most aren't geared toward having an 8 bulb fixture over a an 18" wide 75g tank. I have never used an 8 bulb fixture until recently, and am currently using a conglomerate of bulbs from other fixtures I had. I need to know what combination of new bulbs to get, with consideration to the facts that: - the tank is 18" wide - fixture covers the entire surface - the fixture is about 2/3 of a cubit above top of the tank (~11.5") - I want to go somewhat heavy on the blue, though not extreme - the middle 4 bulbs are on one switch and the outer 4 (2 on each side) are on the other I keep having to decrease the length of day because the current group of bulbs is simply too much light for a tank this size. I am hoping the right bulb combo will allow me to run on a more normal schedule. I don't always know which color names go with which brands, so please specify. Thanks.

Not me. LOL. Congrats on getting the devil out.

Nice. Congrats on the new home.

I would never trust a hydrometer to be accurate. I used them for years and no two ever gave the same reading. When I moved in April, I threw away 4 different ones that were in the old tank junk. Two of them had lines drawn for where 1.026 would be, because the reading was off by a certain specific amount every single time. If I just had a FO tank, a hydrometer would be good enough, but with corals, it wouldn't be the safe route to take.

A couple of years ago I read some research article about goby lifespans that put the max for all gobies at 2 years. I tried to find on the net again after I commented, but couldn't locate the article. I can't remember any details, just the life spans being that short. I've had gobies damage corals in the past. They aren't as bad as mithrax crabs plucking off polyps.

Those little gobies don't live a long time. How long have you had it? Maybe it will die of old age before you can catch it.

I actually read something the other day that claimed skunk clowns tend to be more aggressive than some other clowns. I don't know if that would mean more aggressive than maroons. If lightening maroons weren't so aggressive I would get a pair.

What's happening in your tank is the test!

Good luck and have fun!

You guys are ruining his chance to upgrade.

But the next one is going to have to be an all out grand event. I really wish we could spread it out to 2 days and have more time for demos and stuff.

I've had bouts where multiple failures occurred close together. I think sometimes it happens at least once to every hobbyist a certain number of years after starting up, because all the initial equipment was bought around the same time (if bought new). It also happens if all the equipment is from the same manufacturer this having the same quality and longevity. Some of us are just unlucky.

I wanted to see if I could take a picture of something from above, didn't expect to see this. Looks pretty cool. The flow is from a Sea Swirl and a Jabao Crosswave (grye-type pump), kind of intermittently crossing paths. I was trying to take tank pics, since the newly set up tank finally looks half decent (except going through a mini cycle due to all new water and new sand), but for some reason my eyes are blurry, so these might be blurry. I can't seem to get away from reflection in the glass - I'm always afraid a reflection of something embarrassing with show up. FYI, I have no fish right now, and only a couple of snails and tiny hermits. Got LOTS of pods, since my dottyback vanished. I need to work on getting fish, and on getting some corals to fill in all the bare rocks.

Would two different types of clowns form a bonded pair (not necessarily breeding)? I was thinking of getting a skunk and an occi, just to have something different.