sheac12

Well since that didnt work for me, I am now going to use a maxijet 1200 connected to 1/2" pipe to pull water from the drain section of the sump and into the fuge. Thanks everybody for your help!

I am in Columbia, MD and have close to that setup. I have the 90G with a 20L with a fuge built in. I have the 10 also, but I use it for qt. You are more then welcome to stop in and see it. Nothing too fancy but I like it! Oh live rock, don't forget the live rock and if you think you have enough keep going!. Plus you will need to decide on your bottom covering, are you going bare bottom or Sand? If you are going sand you will need to figure out your sand bed type and depth.

I went ahead and replumbed the fuge to pull water from the drain from the main tank. The drain is 1.25" and the return is 3/4" (connected to the mag 7 using a 1/2" to 3/4" expander). The flow is now terrible going to in the fuge. I am using a 1.25" Tee to a 3/4" reducer to a 1/2" reducer(couldn't find a 1.25" to .5" reducer at Lowes) into 1/2" piping into the fuge. I have a 3/4" drain option for my tank, but I always thought it was better to use the larger drain. Would it be better to use the same size as the return?

The gent says he bought it 12 yrs ago and used it for 18 months. Does that seem odd? I was thinking about replumbing the fug and using water that comes directly from the drain. That might be my best option and would allow meto keep the current pump.

So after using a mag 7 as my return for the past 4 months, last month I plumbed in a refugium when I rebuilt/replaced my sump. Currently my mag 7 is plumbed with 3/4" pvc with a tee that has 1/2" to a ball value for the refugium. If i open up the ball value into the refugium so I have adequate flow, the flow into the main tank seems to go way down(as would be expected). I am wondering if I could get a suggestion on a new pump? I was thinking about either a mag 12.5 or a iwaki md55rlt. I know the iwaki is external but I am willing to drill my sump if it is worth the upgrade to the md55rlt. Also I am only considering the iwaki because some one is basically giving the thing away.

I haven't bitten the bullet and purchased a refractometer. However, I did end up purchasing a set of T5's from bk_market. I have already seen a difference in the the algae growth and in my enjoyment of the tank. If anyone is even thinking about upgrading their lighting DO IT. Now if only I could get rid of the chocolate chip star fish my wife loves....

No too far from me, I live in Columbia MD. I will check one closer to see if they have the reflectors. Thanks for the help.

Alright thanks for the info and discussing this with me. I am going to do 2 T5's to start but get a ballast that can drive 4. Depending on how they work, I must just over drive it. What would you recommend for the reflector, an icecap?

Thanks! Alright, so now comes the question about how much wattage. I have seen numbers that range from 1.6W/GAL(http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/aboutcorallinealgae/ss/coralline_2.htm) to 3.0W/GAL(http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fowlrltgfaqs.htm - which I still dont like reading do to the lacking search function) for coraline algae growth. So assuming I go with a ballast that drives 4 HO 54W T5s(2 10K, 2 Actinic) that gives me a total wattage of 4*54 = 216W/90GAL = 2.4W/GAL which falls in the middle. However am I getting a head of myself here? Would I be better off starting with the ballast and 2 10k bulbs and as needed expand out to the 2 more T5s? I ask because my main goal right now, is to have a Fish with LR not a LR with Fish tank....(famous last words)

Ok, I think I am starting to get this. The T5's run cooler and have the same or greater lumen ratings as a VHO(T12), plus they are "more" energy efficient. From what I have seen I could do a workhorse 7 with 4 (HO) T5s or I could use a Sunpark HO/VHO ballast and drive 2 VHO T12s. With the T5's I would have more options in the future for corals, with the ability to drive up to 4 bulbs, I can customize the mix(right???)

I went to the fulham site and was looking for a distributor in MD, but after going to their site it says they dont sell to the public. Does anyone know where to purchase fulham's ballasts? I did see that if I went with the workhorse 7 I would be able to use T12 vho's. For that matter why would I do a T5 setup instead of T12? On a tangent: I was over at Aqua traders and they have a 2x65W CF setup for 50 including bulbs. Anyone have experience with these?

Well I could start with that. I am now thinking though that I will get a PC system to replace the lights I have now. My next question is how much light is right for me? Is 65W good or do I need to do a 95W system? Should I stick with the 50/50 lights that come with them or should I get different ones? Thanks for the advice!

Well I realize that, but I have to keep up "appearances" with my wife....she controls my funding.

More questions for the experts and experienced out there. My goal is to support(for now) just coraline algae growth. My water parameters are really good thanks to the refurgium, the large skimmer, and proper maintenance. My current setup has just a 48" fluorescent bulb in a standard hood. After setting up the 6.7k light on my refurgium I realized that my 48" is old and not providing the type or kind of light I want. So I started looking into replacing my current hood with something else. I starting thinking that maybe I could just add a second fluorescent bulb to the current hood, making 80W total lighting(working off the general ideal of 1W per gal). However, I don't know if that is really even a good option. So I starting looking into converting my setup into a VHO, however, it seems it isn't just a simple switching of the end caps. Which I thought I might be able to get away with. I starting do more research and realized that not only would I need new endcaps but I would also need a ballast to go with it. So I starting looking into PC lights like the following over at marine depot: http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idP...ct~CU01006.html . Well now I am just confused. Working with the knowledge that I am doing a FOWLR and want to promot coraline algae growth, what is my cheapest and best working option? If it is to save up for the next two months and get the PC unit, then fine. If there is another option great. Thanks for the help!

Yeah right off the beach. It was partially submerged at high tide so i figured I should error on the side of caution and let it sit dry for a while, before setting it in the sump.

The rock went through customs without a problem. I even declared it on my customs sheet. My bag was searched and they let it pass without taking it. I asked the locals about it, because as you said it is against the law in Hawaii and I remember that from going there. The locals I asked(hotel staff, fishermen,random aquarium store off main street) claimed it was fine and multiple people said

Well after spending a week in Aruba for my best bud's wedding I brought back some great looking rock I found on the shore that I would like to use in my 90GAL tank. My question is what is the best way to prepare this? Should I treat it like uncured "live" rock? Should I do something else? Would baking the rock be best first? Ideas and suggestions would be great. Thanks!

I purchased my gate valve from acehardwareoutlet.com. Price wasn't terrible, but they shipped it fast.

Thanks, and where would I get furan?

What would you have suggested for the viral/bacterial treatment?

Last night, after what appeared to be hours of suffering, he died. I double checked all my parameters and they are all at 0/0/0 8.3 (A/Ni/Na PH). I know my test kit works, I purchase it off the recommendations here and when I started the tank I did see my parameters change and then change again. I just dont get what happened. My skimmer is working and is definitely pulling some ulgy stuff out of the water, I have done my water changes. I even went out and up purchased a(had a 60) 100 GAD RO/DI unit and keep a reservoir of 50 GAL in the basement. Well I guess this is a live and learn kind of hobby, sucks I lost one cool fish over it. I keep second guessing myself if I should have started treatment on the Ridifungus earlier, if that might have helped or if he was just a sick fish. He had the pimples on him when I got him, but I thought maybe they was just from the chase around the tank. I dont know if the clown I bought was tank raised, but I will be waiting a few weeks and then going to get another one, this time making sure it is. So here is a sad face for a lost fish....I hope it isnt the first of many. :(

Thanks for the offer, but I went out and purchased Ridifungus. I hope this works. He(I am calling it a him) is acting even weirder then he did when i got him originally. It also seems like whatever it is it is advancing.

Hi all, So, my tank has cycled( two weeks at 0 for Nitrate, Nitrite, and Ammonia, PH at 8.3 and Temp at 79.5-80.3F and I went out and purchased a small complement of a clean up crew and a Maroon Clownfish. Everything has been going well but now my Maroon is acting a little strange and has this white pimple on his chin and a small patch, about the size of a pin head, of funky looking stuff on his side. I spent a lot of time searching wetwebmedia, which IMHO is the most disorganized allocation of facts making anything contained in there hopelessly unreferencable. This lead me to think maybe he had some strange herpes out break, but I know it isnt that. I have eliminated ICK as the cause. Oh and there is one white spot on his underside that is pretty prominent, you can see it in all three photos. I am posting photos and a video in hopes someone can tell me what is wrong with him. Photos: Videos: Thanks!

woops! My drain now goes like this(photo later) flexable PVC to 45 degree angle to 10 inch drop to 45 degree to tee to 6 inch drop. Ok, that explains a lot. I have the tee about 4 inches above the water line and then a 6 inch tube that drops below the water line. Guess I shouldn't have glued all the pvc...oh well just go buy more.

Yeah I am going to pick up a end cap put that on and see how it is behaving. Also there are a lot of bubbles that come out of the end of the pipe that sticks up, when I get back from class tonight I will post another vid.