Coral Hind

Lionfish are back in the news. I saw this on CNN and thought I would share it. Seems they are working on different types of robots to help kill the lionfish.

Just my luck, as soon as I move away from Sterling a new store opens up there. Oh well, at least I'm much closer to BRK now.

I don't know why they would have had an o-ring as that is not normal. It's best to place the new uniseal in hot, almost boiling water, for about five or so minutes to soften it up. The best lube is regular vegetable oil which is safer for the tank than soaps or silicone and the skimmer will easily remove it.

I would leave it alone. It's a natural inhabitant of GSP and doesn't harm the coral. The worms live use under the base mat of the coral. We strive to replicate a natural environment in our tanks and worms play a part of that. The worms help capture suspended particles in the water helping to keep the water clear and breakdown any waste items into smaller forms. Just my opinion, but I would leave it alone. If you decide to remove it then tweezers or covering it with super glue as was mentioned are options but trust me there are probably already a few others living under the coral already with is normal.

Below are the lamp holders I used. I just drilled and bolted them in. http://www.businesslights.com/challenger-t5-fluorescent-twist-and-lock-lampholder.html

The MH ballast look to be the same style and age to me. Probably original as I don't see a bunch of wire nuts where it was swapped out. Swapping the PC lamps with the T5 lamps is doable and I've done it to several fixtures. http://wamas.org/forums/topic/31637-modification-of-coralife-aquapro-pcs-to-t5s/?p=274157

Both of those will fire your lamp. Just check specs on size to make sure they fit.

Prime will not do anything to stop the algae. You might not like the look of it but it is natural and a part of the bio-system. There are currently or should be things in your system that will feed on that algae as part of the food chain. Welcome it and don't fight it. There will be many worse algae and other things to stress about later on.

Since you said you wanted to use 1000bulbs.com I've post these that might work from that site. They do not have M81 ballasts listed so these are M102. ANSI M102 is listed as a single ended lamp but they are electrically almost the same as an M81. THe M81 has a higher pulse voltage at starting because the bulb design allows it. The M102 have the slightly lower pulse voltage means the on a hot restrike the bulb will need to cool down a few minutes longer before restrike. Since we don't turn our tank lights off and on frequently this isn't a big issue. Here are core and coil magnetic ballasts. You can see why they are named that by the copper coils around an iron core. Less expensive but take up more space, can have a hum to them, and can be heavy. Last longer than electronic ballast in my opinion. https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/4tap-150-watt-metal-halide-ballasts/ F-can ballasts are core and coil ballasts secured in a tin housing that is filled with tar for protection and noise reduction. https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/5987/BS-MH0150F.html Here are the electronic versions. One is even listed as ANSI code M81. They are more compact but pricey! https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/120-v-150-watt-metal-halide-ballasts/ I would look at the general age of your fixture and it might be easier and cost effective to get a new fixture over ballast replacement.

Both of those are for T5 fluorescent lamps so they will not work!! Open your fixture and post a pic of what you have now so we can find a better match.

I doubt addition of the pods are related to the algae showing up. These simple algae are just a natural part of the tank cycle and most tanks never loss them. Once the tank is cycled a clean up crew will help to keep things clean and larger forms of algae will out compete the diatoms for space and nutrients. Unfortunately, you may find yourself cleaning them off of the glass a couple times a week.

Nice display of skills on the stand! I would go with a bigger sump myself, about twice that size. A small sump is prone to overflowing on a large tank when the pumps turn off and the tank drains down. Small sumps and large volumes/flow can cause micro bubbles back into the display. A longer sump tank allows the bubbles time to rise up and not get sucked into the return pump. Just my two cents.

Is it currently a core and coil ballast or electronic? Electronic or canned ballasts cost more then open core and coil ballasts but don't provide better performance in my opinion. If you have the space look into a core and coil ballast as they tend to be cheaper. Ebay is normally a cheap place to get them.

I used to love UV until I tried Ozone. Ozone was superior in my experience.

So was it your drain line or your return line from the sump back to the tank that was clogged?

Those turtles are some algae eating machines. Thanks for sharing!

That is sad.

I find it hard to believe that there would be concentrations high enough that would cause an effect when it is diluted with so much seawater constantly flowing over the reef.

Looks like you had fun. Was there any Elkhorn coral still alive? Most of it in the video looked dead.

Nice score!! What type of filter is under it?

I have rock and corals I can donate.

You looking forward to more raffles?

I had the large blocks of it and it all eventually turned to a fine sand. My sump has strong flow and the turbulence just wore it away. After a year the squares were round balls. Just saying if you use it, don't keep it in really strong flow areas.

I love the Harlequin Tusk. Mine played nice with tank mates, even with smaller fish.

Is this a light that you want to hard wire? What type of fixture is it?