Coral Hind

There are several ways to get rid of them. This is usually what I do. If the rock is really small you can remove the rock and just let it dry out for a week and put it back in the tank. You can break off the part where the aiptasia is and let that part dry out. I have used reef epoxy putty to plug the hole and seal them in too. There are several fish and shirmp that also eat aiptasia but be careful as they may also eat certain things you wish to keep. You can also use several new products that kill aiptasia in the tank like Joe's Juice, Aiptasia Control by Blue Life and Aiptasia-X. See this WAMAS thread for some video links and details on Aiptasia-X.

Unless they are extremely large worms I would just leave them alone. When I was just starting to keep saltwater tanks I used to freak out about trying to remove them. Now they are the least of my worries. Most tanks are going to have them and they help to break down solid fish wastes or anything that might accidentally die. Make sure you are not overfeeding your tank as the uneaten found will make them multiply.

I just got back from Scientist Cliffs in Calvert Co. Maryland. I found about a dozen teeth each from snaggletooth, mako and tiger sharks. I found about a dozen dental plates from bonnet and eagle rays. I also found one mostly intact Ecphora shell. Ecphora is Maryland's state fossil. If there is a teacher that can use these in the classroom please let me know. These items would be from the Early to Middle Miocene Epoch of the Neogene period, 15 to 18 million years ago.

Yeah, for that price you might as well just buy the live rock.

Cell Pore has been around for awhile for wet/dry filters but I have never seen it in the large blocks before. I guess you could use it for anaerobic denitrification just like live rock and it probably has more internal areas then live rock. I would use it in a low flow area. Let us know how it works.

I was told Jos and Larry got into a yelling match a few months ago so they let him go. He must of worked there a very long time because I have been going there for ten years and Larry was always there except Sunday mornings when he was at church. I did notice when I was there last month that it seems the place has gone down hill a little since Larry left.

Congratulations!! So are you going to share the "incident"?

It sounds like the air bubbles are slowly working themselves out. Since most R/O membranes are horizontally mounted it helps to take them and turn them vertical so the brine tube is at the top, then tap it against the wall or something else to help get the bubbles out of the membrane and pressure vessel. I once replaced a member's membrane in his unit and because of the way he had it positioned a giant air bubble was trapped in the pressure vessel. The membrane was wet and dirty on the bottom 2/3 and the top 1/3 was bone dry and looked brand new.

I picked up a really nice XL Red Lobophyllia today. The large shipment they got in, mostly LPS, looked very healthy. Every time I stop in the store it looks better and better with more and more inventory. If I ask for something and they don't have it, when I walk in the next week, it is there. Great response, really pays attention to the customers needs.

Gary, I think it is some what of a learn behavior and an acquired taste. I got a yellow eyed kole tang and for over three months it would only eat the algae on the rocks and glass as well as what I pulled from the sump to feed it. It didn't touch the nori or any of the frozen foods I offered the fish. During feeding time he would just sit and watch the others eat. He is twice the size of the next biggest fish, a hippo tang, so it wasn't a fear thing. Then one day I saw him take a try at some prepared food, he wasn't that interested but he ate a piece and went back to picking on the rocks. Over the next few days he began to eat a few more bites during each feeding. Now he is a real pig. So I think he saw the hippo tang and others going into a frenzy over dinner so he decided to try it. Still plenty of algae in the tank so it wasn't lack of food either.

Do you have any pics? Are they RTNing as in all the tissue detaching from the coral skeleton and sloughs away or are you talking about the tissue receeding like from the bottom up or top down? I just want to make sure because a lot of reefers use the term RTNing when it is actually something esle.

lmeyer, WOW, that setup sounds really front heavy and out of balance. I hope the stand was secured to the wall or floor really well. With a tank that size, I am sure there would be a lot of stress on the bottom pane right at the front edge of the stand. Not something I would try.

Thanks for sharing the site. I saw the "settlement tiles" in several of the tanks at the zoo this summer and I was puzzled as to what they were for. Now I know!

Awesome find. Thanks for sharing! Pretty up to date since they already have Pristine Aquarium on there and they just opened.

When I frag my mine I place them in a strong current area to prevent infection. I also do not place all the newly cut frags in the same spot. Once one gets infected it seems to spread very fast to the other frags since they are not complety healed. You may try to place them on eggcrate to get them up off the bottom. The decomposing detritis will be full of bacteria and fungi which could cause an infection. I have dipped zoanthids in Furan2 to help stop some infections.

Frag it by cutting the branch of coral skeleton as low as you can so you have enough tissue free skeleton on the frag to assist in mounting it. I am sure the clowns will not be happy if their host is removed. If there is another suitable host in the tank they may adopt it but it may take awhile. The good thing is clowns can live just fine without a host.

You are right on the plenum wiring. Some comm wires and F/A cables are made with cheaper plastics that produce a lot of smoke, fumes and burn easy so the NEC required those cables to be made with better plastic jackets such as PVC. NM cables were already made with these more durable jackets so they really do not have a "plenum" lable on them. Behind the wall would not be considered a plenum unless the space was used as part of your homes HVAC system.

NightOwl, I would stick with the 20amp breaker with one home run to seperate GFCI outlets as Brian mentioned. This reduces the loss should the GFCI trip. Without knowing your load no one can really recommend a 15amp breaker over a 20 amp breaker but from what I have seen in the hobby. Most wish they had a 20amp over their current 15amp. I would also not put the lighting on a GFCI outlet as Chubakah mentioned, especially if they are T-5s. And before someone asks...I have 20 years of electrical experience. First as a journeyman lineman and then as a master electrician.

Check out this site. It has some photos which might help you identify your hitchhiker as well. Asterina FAQs

I have a few asterinas in my tanks too and they never seem to multiply out of control as some members say they do in their tanks. I am sure it has to do with the available food. No extra food laying around means a lower number of asterinas. I have never seen them hurting any corals and I really do not see a reason to remove them. They are just another part of the clean up crew. One that I actually didn't have to pay $1 each for. Harlequin shrimp will eat the asterinas if you really want to get rid of them.

I made some rocks following GARF's instructions about 8 years ago. It was when everyone was trading crushed coral beds out for South Down sand beds in their tanks so everyone was giving way crushed coral. It was a fun family project and my two daughters really enjoyed it. Very easy to do!

Great catch...that's scary! It would also be wise to check all the electrical plugs in the whole house on a routine basis as something like that could happen to other items as well. Sounds like Coralife is now ranked up there with Rio.

Thanks for sharing the pictures. The fish you liked is an adult male "bird wrasse", Gomphosus varius.

What size tank do you have? I would not put a mandarin in a tank unless it was big enough to support an established pod population. My reef tanks have lots of copods and amphipods that came in on the live rocks and also when I got some macro algae from a fellow reefer. If you have an area of the tank that is free from pod predators then the pods will mulitply easily. You could use a hang on refugium. Looking at the tank at night time and you should see them on the glass and rocks. I had a mandarin in a 75 for three years and I never fed him. He just hunted and picked at the rocks all day.

Everything sounds normal to me. Do not expect a better ratio as time goes on. You can add a booster pump which will raise the PSI and push more water through the membrane to help your ratio but it is not required. Make sure you flush the membrane periodically.