HowardofNOVA

Billy, I'm going to start calling you Wild Bill! TRT is $10 a hole and will drill it while you wait, doesn't take long depending on the crowd. I would recommend 2 holes though for 1" bulkheads on each corner like I did mine. (actually, mine has 3 on the 90g) This will allow a 600gph drain each. Use a Mag9 to pump the water through a SCWD for returns with one on each corner. Will give you a ton of flow! Relax on the LR situation, one thing I learned is to cycle a tank is put in your water, after salinity has settled, add LR with zero lighting and forget about it for a week or two to allow time for it do its thing....nothing else is needed. THEN check your perimeters and when all is settled, do a water change of about 25%. WAIT Again! Check it. If all is zero, add 2 fish and call me in the morning Howard

Dang Michael, I heard that same lip popping noise from my female ........ before I divorced her [crzy] :p ]]]sory couldn't resist

My daughter and I won the Free Scuba Lessons from Adventure Scuba Company of Chantilly at the WAMAS 1st Annual Symposism. We start classes on 2Aug. Looking forward to it! Seems like a great outfit! www.scubava.com Howard

Welcome! The Reef Tank (TRT) had a bag last night. Website: www.reefstore.com Check them out. I believe there where other topic about this recently as well Howard

Hey welcome to the DC Area! I heading to Missouri in Nov, to chase some deer around. :D We have several LFS in the area. MarineScene in Herndon has an excellent store & selection but at a premium. The Reeftank is another around Fairfax, great prices on LR, LS, Cleaner Crews, Corals and Fish. Livestock moves quick, so good place to stop in or better yet, call Mike and order. Roozens as mentioned has an awesome collection on livestock, prices not bad either. Wally Aquarium in Annandale, another also in Annandale, I believe its called Pet Store, alot of selection, big prices. Vienna Aquarium is another choice. Lots of chains too.

Bill, Rain water shouldn't be the problem, UNLESS it was coming from run off from the roof, wilth leave build ups, I sure the high acidity would not bod well it that is the case? Howard

Guys, I just got a Lab Quality Conductivity Meter off of Andrey, Pretty Cool Toy Let me know if you would like to use it. Andrey ran his tap water through it and it read around 320 millosemens per centimeter, my house water read around 301. But I run my RO/DI water though the system it comes out at 0. Clear clean water. Andrey recommends that when the DI reads 2 or above that it's time to replace it. My system has a separate valve to check the Membrane and when it gets to 10 or above, time to replace it. It's pretty cool unit. Howard

Bill, Is this the unit you purchased off of me? The water was coming out fine, I ran about 50 gallons through the unit before I sold it to you, the filters where all new and I had no problems with it, I don't think its the unit. Has anyone accidentally spilled anything into the tank? This is awful! I just purchased a Lab Quality Conductivity Meter off of Andrey and if you like, we can test your water quality through the unit and see if that actually is the problem! Maybe, I can catch you some evening this week? If you like, I can bring some processed water down to get you started in the mean time. Howard

Happy BDAY SIR! clp]] By the way, can someone PM on how to submit photo's to the gallery OH HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN! :p :p

Ditto's on being in! I have some tools, 9' of 1" PVC Pipe available in case we need it? Anything at ReefTopia that we can order on the 9Aug order date that we could use? Howard

Tony, Where is this guy? Any chance we can have him do a tank tour? Howard

:p ACTUALLY YES! My daughter and I won the 2 PADI Diving Classes at WAMAS Symposism from ADVENTURE SCUBA CO: www.scubava.com Rick, Scott & Henry will fix you right up, nice shop off Rt 50 near Chantilly. We start our lesson 2Aug. Howard [nana]

Michael, Look at my topic on Red Slime Algae, working to remove it myself. Will be putting an order in for the Red Tipped Crabs, etc soon. Howard

Michael, Water changes do one thing major that you need to keep in mind. Having zero Am/Nitrate/Nitrites is good, but does nothing to replenish the missing elements that mother nature does constantly in the ocean. Corals, LR, LS keeps the tank cycling, but use up minerals etc in the process. Doing a routine water change helps bring those back in line. This is why you do water changes routinely. Also adding Kalk, Stronium, etc adds needed ingredients to a healthy tank. Howard

Guys, I might have found the answer to my prayers: Red tipped leg hermits (not red leg) are good for reef tank. They will clean your rock, sand bed and left over food. These are NOT the red leg hermits which are not good for tank. Click: http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchan....e=Crabs They supposably love the red stuff! Premium Aquatics sell them at $2 each, but some guy from CA named Kenton Huynh can get them for .50 cents each! Howard

Michael, Ditto with Amber, I've had several Firefish and I currently have 2 that I believe are mating and have a LR that they are darting into and out. Just give them some LR to hide in, they will do fine. My tank is about 82 during the day and 80 at night. They seem fine, but above that continueously, could be bad. Howard

Thanks Sugar, But I think the down sides would be worst with Hares then not. I just posted a future purhase at http://reeftopia.com/index.html Check it out if your looking for some additional clearners yourself? Howard

Michael, I have a Yellow Canary Wrasse (Coris) that seems to be doing quite well. (thanks Billy). But he likes to hide alot in evenings. IMO, I would add a couple of Cleaner Shrimp. A whole lot cooler and will do a nicer job. Howard

He was swimming upside down after I scraped off the fungus last night! [tr] But now he's acting like a million bucks! :p Talked to Chip and believe that I have a PH problem, will start adding Kalk to the program. Been doing the B-Ionic approach, but not seeming to get it done yet? Howard

[wl] Ok, I've suctioned it up, picked it out and now ready to try something different. Talked to Chip and believes I have a PH problem. Will add some more Blue/Red Leg Crabs and more Astrea Snails to beef up the cleaner crews and see what will happen. Will keep you in the know, but any other recommendations on what eats this stuff, appreciate the 411? Howard

Tank has been running since Feb04, with fish and corals going since Apr. Before I left, everything was running smoothly with Salinity around 1.026. When I got back, my landlord never followed my directions on adding evaporation water and was down about 10g and salinity about 1.029. Since got it down to 1.0275 but need to do a water change soon.

My B/W Heniochus has another bout with fin fungus and will need to put him into a quarantine tank with medicine soon. It looks like small bits of cotton on his fins. The last time he had it, it took me 4 days to catch him and according to one source, I pulled it off, kind of felt like a blister and applied a tablet type medicine that disolved green in a small container. It acted like a million bucks afterwards and I thought he was fine from there, but when I returned after 11 days in FL, he had it again and with a vengence! Any suggestions? I plan on putting him in a 10g quarantine tank tonight with the medicine according to directions again and see what happens. Also have an issue with Red Hair Algae, (see other topic) that could have something to do with it.

Hey everyone, I didn't see this heading posted anywhere on the site and when I returned from FL, my tank was loaded with it. I've removed as much of it as I can with my fingers, but alot is left over. Obviously, I must have other issues going on, but does anyone have any suggestions on anything that will feed on Red Hair Algae? I plan on doing a water change tonight and sucking as much of the slimy stuff out as I can. Any other suggestions? Howard Also, my B/W Heniochus has another bout with fin fungus and will need to put him into a quarantine tank with medicine, but that's another topic. Probably related. [tr] note: Was thinking about taking a small cheese cloth type bag and start syphoning from main tank into sump with bag catching residue. Will see if that works next

Michael, Good topic to start a new post on: How to acclimate different species of Salt Water inhabitants! Fish, Corals, Invertebrates, etc. Howard

Michael, Now I'm not an Anenome guy yet, want to soon though. On the Powerheads, try adding some mesh to stop them going in for now, but maybe take a look at your Sandbeds and lighting! Maybe they need a deeper sandbed or more lighting to KEEP them in one spot. From what everyone is telling me, this is an option I NEED to address before I go the Anenome route. Howard