Gatortailale

Big NO - nothing goes back in UNLESS you switch control so that it is pumping water instead of sucking. The faucet attachment creates a suctin via faucet water pressure - Thus no need to SUCk saltwater in mouth. NEVER use to fill tank with tap water; major sin with saltwater systems imo. Bigalsonline.com HTH

How do you clean detritus from sump area? I use python hooked to sink to suck out detritus and old water; then pump in new from ro/di saltwater container via hose as you described. Will have to look at making ball valve method, like the idea.

Last years big thread on generators ect. Reefmon's thread NOAA page [beer2]

Looks like lots of rain coming our way this weekend. :( Time to tune up generator for the season. NOAA page Earl: Danielle:

my tank swings like that every day for past 3 plus years. So far animals have adapted to it. Try adding some 7" clip on fans to canopy and sump area to move more air.

Greetings to all, WHAT'S NEW An impressive shipment of 60 new corals arrived this week. Amongst them were a few colorful Acropora pieces, Torches Frogspawn, and a few pieces of rare white Pom-Pom Xenia. We even have two "two for one" corals. One is a Yellow Leather with Porites all over the rock the other is a Fire coral with a cluster of Acropora on the same rock. We have a great selection of anemones available right now, including a few large Rose anemones and a nice Purple Long Tentacle anemone. Nano-reef keepers, check out our red cluster dusters, they are hardy, colorful filter feeders. Mini Maxima clams just arrived along with a new captive bred fish, the Yellowline Goby. Add some color to your reef with one of our new red or orange sponges. The long anticipated new Moon Glow lunar lights are here. These small add-on lights simulate the glow of the moon in your tank for 24 hour viewing. WHAT'S ON SALE This weekend there are a few Marc Weiss products on sale. Combo-Vital coral supplement, Reef Vital DNA coralline booster, Live Sand booster, Coral Vital and the Phosphate and Silicate Magnet are all 15% off. OSI Marine flakes are also 15% off this weekend. And for those of you who missed it last weekend we'll give you another chance to take advantage of 10% off all Current USA retro-fit kits and Orbit power compact fixtures. This is a good chance to upgrade the lighting on your reef tank! DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that temperature is a very important factor in a healthy reef tank? Ocean animals, especially invertebrates, like shrimp, snails and corals will perish in water that is either too hot or too cold. The ideal temperature range is between 74 and 78 degrees for most reef critters. Most reef tank keepers usually struggle with higher temperatures due to the heat produced by the intense lighting. Here are some tips to help keep the temperature down; install fans on either side of your canopy, leave the lid of the tank open to release and trapped heat, or reduce the duration of time the lights are running. If you have Metal halides try 4 hours of white light and let your cooler actinic lights run for 6 to 8 hours. Make sure your tank isn't getting any direct sunlight that may be heating up the water. And of course don't forget to check your heater to make sure the thermostat is running properly. Keep in mind a natural decline in temperature overnight is normal, just be sure that it isn't falling more than a degree or two from dusk until dawn. Do you know how stable your temperature is? Have a great weekend everyone! Kristen Lau The Marine Scene Assistant Manager Retail Sales 293 Sunset Park Drive Herndon, Virginia 20170 703.689.2815 www.marinescene.com

I've found for online bulbs, Marine depot is decent price once you get meet Qty to get free shipping on them - I think 4 of 36" & 6 of 46"+ and vho bulb is like $21. Haven't seen hello cupon in ages and don't know if they match free ship deal.

Champion's VHO tank pics link Luminescence Analysis of Fluorescent Lamps driven by IceCap 660 I'm still a fan of MH especially in anything deeper than 18 inches; plus love look of mH lights and shimmer & endless variety of bulb colors wndr I think VHO cost is a little less than PC; but they should last 2x or more longer than PC bulbs

I didn't see source for your lights other than pet supply liquid. NEW: 47" Ultra Reef Light, 6x55W Bulbs $325.00 http://www.petsupplyliquidator.com/htm/aprod_hood_ultrareef.htm and in 6 monts your pc bulbs will need replaced @ around 20 a bulb = $120. In the past I used PC's and didn't care for them cause after 5 months they lose color and tend to crack (at least 96w ones did) Cheaper option is to build your own hood/canopy and Lots of people swear by VHO - that might be a good option. Bulbs last over a year - reefmon got almost 2 years on his. I just switched to them 3 months ago via change of wire harness - PFO ballast runs pc or vho; and the 96 PC bulbs are about $40 and VHO cost me $20. 3 X 46.5 Ice Cap VHO Retro W/660 @ champion is $275 - probably cheaper sources for them if you search. I keep my frogspawn under 250w mogul MH and it loves it. Good luck with upgrade.

1) it takes LOTS of time to have a successful tank 2) buy a refractometer from northcoastmarines.com for around $40 bucks 3) buy livestock from a quality source - sure marine scene charges a little more, but the QT the fish for week plus and get them feeding. 90% of my fish came from them - I still have the original ones I ever bought - yellow tail damsel; royal grama; potters angel & flame angel; yellow tang; strawberry dottyback - All fish 3.5 years or older in my tank. Live sand - what is your source for this - old tank ? okay, but if you are just going to buy 50# new, you are wasting money IMHO - buy 1-3 lbs and get some from club members tanks to seed tank. lights Remember it's going to be about $20 x 6 every 6 months to replace those PC bulbs. Most peeps get 12-24 months out of the HQI lights, you might be better served with your cash to buy 2 150w hqi lights/pendants (more upfront cost - but cost less in bulbs in long run) YOU ALSO on right path looking for used - but caution to know source of lights Goal is to take time, do it right, and avoid loss of life

Sept 11 is the MACNA Boston weekend. Sept 25 is PSU trip Oct 16 fall meeting

[nana] Ditto. Have a good one. Beer is on Steve :p

New Shipments This Week Corals Fish Cleaner and Fire Shrimp Pistol Shrimp with cool Watchman Gobies DTs and Joe's Juice In Stock

Howdy Hobbyists! Our used ETSS skimmer, sump and pump combo is still up for grabs. We also have an additional pump for sale, the price is $95, and only $75 when you by the sump kit. WHAT'S NEW Green Chromis are back in stock and there are plenty available. A nice juvenile Blue Angel came in on Thursday. A great shipment of Tonga and Fiji live rock arrived on Tuesday. The big black Volitan Lionfish in our artificial reef display will be up for sale soon, he's getting to big for our tank, if you are interested let us know and we'll put you down on the wish list for him. First request takes him! WHAT'S ON SALE? Red Montipora Capricornis frags are now only $20.99, that's $9 off! Our Marine Scene shirts are on clearance, they are now only $14.99! All Orbit Lunar Light power compact fixtures are now 10% off along with the Current USA power compact retro-fit kits. All Premium Grade Star Polyps are 15% off this weekend. All Premium and Show Grade Leather corals will also be 15% off. DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that it is possible to have an interesting reef tank with out the intense lighting? There are several invertebrates available that will add beauty and balance to your marine aquarium and will thrive with out all the fancy light bulbs. Live sponges add bright color as well as extra filtration to your tank. Feather Dusters, Cluster Dusters, and other tube worms are also filter feeders and may add some movement to the rock structure. Many Gorgonian corals are non, or only slightly photo-synthetic and many have colorful polyps to add a different texture to a low light reef. More non-photosynthetic corals include; Distichophora, Dendronepthia (Carnation) and Sun corals. Of course the most popular low light corals are Mushrooms and Zoanthid polyps. And don't forget about all of the interesting shrimp, snails and crabs that can be fascinating as well as helpful in a reef tank. My personal favorite is the Boxing Pom-Pom crab. This little crab is white with pink markings and it holds tiny miniature anemones in its claws for food capture and defense. For more information on how to make your low light tank more reef-like just ask your favorite Marine Scene employee! Thanks for your time and we look forward to seeing you soon! Kristen Lau The Marine Scene Assistant Manager Retail Sales 293 Sunset Park Drive Herndon, Virginia 20170 703.689.2815 www.marinescene.com

Stop the store bashing NOW! If you have issues with a store take it up with THEM. This board will not be used to trash any store. WAMAS does NOT endorse any store. But I'm not going to sit back and watch someone toss out accusations. Been down that road with BB member in 2002. NOT going there again. We try to work with ALL stores. I don't mean to bush the person that purchased the system - but they need to take personal responsibility for their own actions and not BLAME others. Why buy something if you don't know what you are getting. That is like buying a pretty fish, put it in your tank, then have it eat all your other fish, them cause you didn't do research to find out what it was. If you don't know what you are buying - then you need to do more research.

Thanks gang! off to see what the wife will give me for birthday ??? :D

Not enough flow from return pump to tank - huh - open the valve more to increase flow and fine tune return flow against amount flowing out overflow. Might take few minutes, just tweak it a bit until you get steady rate so it does not overflow.

I hope to come after my tour. Will see what I can get if I ever make it store after cleaning house.

Moved to FS/FT forum

Almost Every Sunday. See their site for details: CMAS-MD Events Calendar

You talking about simple float like the toilet float pic here? If so, you NEED to seal it with silicon. That is what I did 3.5 + years ago and no drip. Do you have a pic of your leak? http://www.spectrapure.com/St_alc_p4.htm I can use just the toilet float that is $12 bucks; but I have it connected to sump. Forgot you don't have sump. Maybe someone can advise if you can add on float level controler to back of a 55 tank to keep level topped off. Device in center of pic. cost $87 I think. http://www.spectrapure.com/St_alc_p1.htm I have used the $12 float for 3.5+ years no problem ever.

We are pleased to announce the host of MACNA XVII The MASNA Board on June 9th awarded WAMAS ( Washington Area Marine Aquarium Society ) the contract to host MACNA XVII. We recieved two exciting bids this year. One from WAMAS and the other from MARSH. You can view the bids here--- MACNA XVII host page Registration and more information will be available at MACNA XVI in Boston. The Officers

Tank tour on July 17th, 4pm to 7pm Caribbean Jake House 13401 Alfred Mill CT. Herndon, VA 20171 Tel. 703.437.8189 Directions #1: Take Dulles Toll Road 267 towards Dulles Airport. Take Exit 10 and turn south towards Centreville Road (away from Herndon town) Turn left on West Ox Road Turn right on Floris Lane Turn right on Alfred Mill CT. House sits corner of Floris Lane and Alfred Mill CT. Directions #2 Take 66 West towards Chantilly Take 50 West Take Fairfax County Parkway (7100) North Turn left on West Ox Road Turn Left on Floris Lane Turn Right on Alfred Mill CT. House sits corner of Floris Lane and Alfred Mill CT. Tanks 55 gal show tank, all natural, nice !. 30 gal starter tank 10 gal quarantine tank 20 gal fresh water tank Everyone is welcome; just ring the door bell since we will be in the basement. If you tried the flan at the symposium and liked it, we will have some more on Saturday. Got about 10 pounds of Caribbean curshed coral substrate to share or trade. Sincerely Jacob & Marleen

I wanted to say thanks to Dr. Mac for taking the time to come out to the symposium. He spent several days preping stuff so he could come. This all took time away from work needed to open his new store. In case you missed it, this is what Mac had to say on his website prior to the symposium. What a recommendation for the club. Thanks again Mac for your CONTINUED support to the WAMAS club. 4+ years of excellent support!

That is a nice controler unit, didn't read all the details about it, but looked like you still have to purchase a lot of add-ons to make each feature work, which UPs the price more :( For that money, you might as well buy a bigger tank instead of getting a controler. IMO http://www.spectrapure.com/St_alc_p4.htm I can use just the toilet float that is $12 bucks; but I have it connected to sump. Forgot you don't have sump. Maybe someone can advise if you can add on float level controler to back of a 55 tank to keep level topped off. Device in center of pic. cost $87 I think. http://www.spectrapure.com/St_alc_p1.htm I have used the $12 float for 3.5+ years no problem ever.