Lee Stearns

If you have time- and in this business of reef aquariums you had better have time- Then I would highly suggest the best way is to look for a used package deal- look wait read up - look some more - they are coming up all the time on this site. The only reason I would buy new is if I needed a custom of some sort to fit a specific area/size.

Man you guys and your compicated systems- I live by the Kiss principle, that way ther eis nothing to go wrong- if a coral is that sensitive to change- I guess it won't do well in my system-- Though i have a feeling Chip after this sunday will bring me over to the dark side of having a Kalk reactor- I have to admit his stable fast growth is tempting--

OK Uber reefer- congrats on being so vociferous- Say- I thought you had enough of elctrical contact to last you a while, you were still tingling and fuzzy yourself last time I saw you. Of course it might have been the happy hour effect - Might help if you put plugs- strips, ect above the sump area rather than down below the water level. The gurgles are the most difficult to get rid of- A tube run well down into the drain pipe seems to do the trick in dursos, but in your overflow drain set up I am not sure- Let us know how it works. Regards,

check to see if howard still has the 4 foot stand he is trying to get rid of in the for sale section- It would be cheaper than buying wood even.

I will try to get there. Thanks for the invite and hosting TRT. Regards,

watch out- free tanks are a hook- to a lot of expenses. The cheapest stand can be made with bolts and 2x4s-- but these are just the beginning of the expense with this freebe

There are many types of Iso pods out there that I was reading about a while back- Out of hundreds of virieties there are only a couple that are the harmful fish attacking varieties- the rest are benificial- have you seen any clinging onto one of your fish sucking blood?- No-- and this has been running three months- have you seen one of these isopods being eaten by any of your fish?- If so I would say they are beneficial critters. But I am game to let them devour anything in your tank for a couple of more more months before importing- On the asexual change in calurpa- yea it occurs over two -three days before it is totally gone- no trace, and seems like if the grape and feather are intertwined they will go at the same time- If they are fairly seperate, opposite ends of the same fuge, then one going asexual will not affect the other. I am not sure what the nutrient levels were when it went- High, low, or not a factor- Did not seem to be a factor in my nano- as I kept it trimmed to about the same amount. At least those were my observations. Now on that note I saw at live aquaria that they are selling white feeder shrimp-tank raised- whose adult size only gets to about 1/2 inch- I thought about cranking a small 5 gallon up to see how they do- they sell by the hundred- want to split a hundred a couple of ways anyone? Sorry for hijacking the calurpa thread- the shrimp might eat calurpa? Regards,

We could start at phyto plankton- AT least as a Pod you are above that. - but I am not sure about all this master reefer stuff just because you have x number of posts- I am still knuckling my way through the ever changing mixed reef curves ---

Phil, Sounds like the calurpa is going asexual- in the events I have wacthed this occur- It releases its nutrients back into the water stream- with the massive skimmer you have I would not worry about it too much- But on why it happens and when it will happen- I have not got a clue- nor is there much on RC or other places as to why. I had the long feather type growing in my Nano cube just fine- I harvested every month a bit to keep it under control and then one weekend it started turning white on the ends and then disappeared altogether- did not seem to affect the tank much at all and my cube has no skimmer. I have had it do the same in my fuge of my main tank which is why I seldom let it get very big there. I wonder if the red varient would go asexual like that- I would be willing to go in and try some with you if you want- I have never had much luck keeping everything in the tank from heading for the red macro though.(tang heaven?) BTW I for got to get some of the neat looking pods you have in there, so If you are coming down the parkway - stop in and bring me some- I will make it worth your while frag wise-- They almost look like an isopod-harmless varient Regards, Lee

Go for it grav- They will get big even in that tank but they will be neat addidtions- I had an atlantic many years ago don't recall that it was much of a grazer- The hippo will not be much of a grazer either- I am thinking of adding a yellow tang back to my tank with the powder blue and the blue hippo just to get them grazing more.

BTAs in my opinion are a boon to reef keeping- They usually split once or twice a year which allows us to keep propagating them rather than steal from the wild and affect long term clown and anemone production. The BTA is the easiest kept and if tank raised/cloned then they are very hardy and do well even under less lighting than most others require- But Howard-you can not miss the difference between a rose and a green- The roses are bright florecent orangish pink. The greens are less colorfull but no less attractive with a muted green - they do not always have bubble tips- in our reef systems. I think more light makes them bubble their tips more- but only to a point.

This is not a cure all, esp for that many 400 Watt MH's- But putting the fan on the sump area to increase evaporation did far more for my cooling than putting four small fans in the canopy. One 8 inch clip on el-cheapo fan over my sump increased my evap from less that a gallon a day to over 1.5 gallons per day and lowered my temp from 79-83 night and day temp ot 77-80. I raised the height of the clip-on fan and got a happy medium of 78-81. And the evap rate to 1 gallon- Removed the canopy fans and did not notice any change at all. So All I run is just the el- cheapo clip-on over the sump and no noise-----

Look at the 28 April 05 1 year anniversary shots- It looks like it was started as about 1 inch sand layer and is now just Bare bottomed-- Bendalat what's up? what are some of your thoughts and specs on this nice tank?

Ok chalk one up for a very nice looking Bare bottom (tank that is). Things look to be healthy and growing well.

From what I have read HLLE cause is still unknown- though they list about 5 things that have been known, when corrected to relieve or cure it- The two most promising are Vitamin A increase and installing an elctrical discharge probe. Some anecdotal evidence as to lighting- but not neccessarily as an independent factor.

Eric, We must have posted at the same time- I think not having charged particals outside of the natural salt water balance would be reason enough from anecdotal indications on polyps extension or HLLE. I think there can be small charges that do not create enough to trip the GFI. Regards,

Ok - I admit I am only going by RC threads that have mentioned grounding probes in a positive light from circumstantial observations of their tanks, with no real scientific understanding- IE for removing a source of HLLE in Tangs and for almost instant improvements in corals polyps opening- I would say for safety reasons alone it might be advisable. I remember in the long ago and far far away times that I would get mildly shocked every time I reached into one of my tanks.( yea I know that explains a lot) A grounding probe would have prevented this-(I think). I know if it is too great a fault it should pop the RFI breaker that ALL of our tanks are now running on Right! Hope every one is running their eqipment from a GFI plug- they are easy to install and it is important. But back to electrical flow vs a charged system- I think the fact that there is a device (usually heater, but could be any other device including these sealed pumps) that is leaking electricity charges into the water and changes the ionic state of the many various chemicals in the water. By taking that usually small charge off the system you allow the the salt water and all its various compounds to remain in a more natural state. Electrical or chemical guys jump in here- this would be a great question to put before The RC chemical guru Randy. My view for less that 10 bucks it can't hurt.

Xeon, I will not be able to make the food making party as I got tagged with a business road trip next- Eddie is going to pick up my half block of mysis, sirulina powder and some other items to donate to the mix- I'll give him the funds for my salt and cyclopeze I ordered. Sorry I will miss you folks- I should be available for the meeting on the 14th though- you coming in for that? Regards,

too late for my suggestion to start with a nano cube and read - read - read- Everything is dependent on what you want to keep- Just understand that the natural porgression is that someone will coax you with that first "free" sps to add to your nice softy and leather only tank. So if you have any inclination to that you will grow, start out with the right lights first- I owe myself a trip to culpeper to see your tank Xeon- Regards, Lee

I have a monster Mythryx crab that is free to who ever can catch it without destroying my corals- It knocks and lifts up rocks all over nmy tank and has moved frags into other stinging corals. It has even moved a frag that was plumbers puttied in place. I nevr did get the feeling he liked bubble algae- I manually remove any I come across- He may be eating hair - gotta be eating something as big as he is now--- Not much of a sales man am I - I have a smaller one in the tank with him that does not seem to be as much of a problem- I also have a small one in my nano cube- Maybe there are different species- though all three came from the same place.

Tony- Courage We are waiting for the after pic- looks like some neat colonies in there- Regards,

Sorry to hear about the loss. What are you using for skimmer and do you have some surface agitation with your return- Do you have a fuge- From the sound of the way the chromis acted it sounds a bit like O2 levels may be low. I know you have kept salt in the past and it is obvious you are checking water params. And yes PH normally drops after light out. The only other ting that I can think of is to run come carbon which could assist in taking out any spurious chemicals that might be in there. Just thowing out possibilities for now. What is the tank size and configuration- would like to help you get up and running. I would not bet on Roozens carrying anything tank raised. Actually these marine systems are pretty easily run once they get going, as long as they remain in balance, and the occupants are carefully selected for the enviornment- as the nano cube keeps showing me here at work.

Mike

I reported this in the members forum under healthy fish but is germain here. I was reading on RC some of the solutions for HLLE and Vitamine A increase seems to be the cure. Gracillaria Macro is better than calurpa macros. Indianapolis zoo reported: "Carrots were found to be a good natural food, but they had to be shredded and were quite messy to feed. Still, we fed carrots solely for six to eight weeks and observed a resolution of the HLLE. A more complete literature review made broccoli an obvious choice. It is well balanced in many vitamins in addition to the high level of vitamin A, and also has other features that make it acceptable. It holds up very well in the aquarium. Many fish like the flowerettes when they are first added. Only the larger fish could break open the woody layer on the stalks, but once opened small fish feed on the softer pulp material. We replaced the carrots with broccoli, and we are currently using it as a well-balanced maintenance diet. After replacing the lettuce diet with first carrots and then fresh broccoli, the HLLE improved to the extent that only a few scars remained on the most severely affected fish. After nearly eight years in the exhibit, most of the original batch of blue tangs are still alive. Broccoli, supplemented with peas and other prepared foods, dominates the diet. No HLLE sypmtoms are evident in any of the fish in the exhibit. "

I prefer MH and VHO actinics- But if you are running 20 K MHs you do not need much actinic supplement and could run a 6500 K bulb in one or two of the VHO slots- The VHO preference is becasue they put out a lot of PAR- and 110 watts per 4' bulb. I run two 250 DE 10K AB MH's and four 110 actinic VHO two in front of the MHs and two on the back side on basically the same foot print of your 120 tank. I am pretty happy with the reults. Feel free to drop by and see the set up if you get a chance or want to see before buying. Pm me for the address if you are interested. I inserted my VHOs as a retro fit in the canopy run on one ballast- Regards,