bprinehart

If you're talking about lighting for reef corals and inverts, then it's T5 HO (High Output), which are used with individual reflectors. They provide much more light, and operate at a higher wattage than regular T5. Usually, people only use regular T5 NO (Normal output) for freshwater or FOWLR tanks

Baaaah...That's nothing... That's nothing like I've seen! What a great tank Johnny, congrats, what a great testament to your persistence, and patience. Someday I hope to have a reef worthy of such compliments. Keep it up!!!

I love it when people think outside the box. What a great inspiration for a future biotope.

You are well on your way then. We all want you to succeed, and to indeed become a productive member!! Just remember that nothing good happens fast in a saltwater tank. Good job on getting the 'trates down as well! -Brian

I've got to put in a vote of confidence for Oz as well. He's actually quite knowledgeable and friendly.. (Did I really just say that?!?!) But seriously, he's always taken the time to answer all of my questions, and he and I have a great customer service relationship. I'm sure if you'd just say "Hey, I'm new at all this, and would like someone to spend a few minutes answering some questions I have" you'd have a different experience. The staff at BRK are good, real good. So good in fact, that I frequently drive 1.5 hours one way to check them out. Except fot that new guy Chris.... All that aside, nobody here is trying to pick on you, but you really need to decide what you want to keep in the 12 gallon. Do some more research on appropriate species for nanos, there is a wealth of things you could keep in that tank that would be just as satisfying as a 180. But there is a limit, and you have to keep in mind that whatever nutrients you put into that tank, don't disappear into a "nutrient black hole". They're going to stay there until you export them either through some type of filter (Carbon, etc), vegetative export with alga of some kind, or water changes. Take your time dude, mistakes are simply opportunities to learn a different way of doing things. We all made them too, and are probably bound to make many, many, many more.

Just speaking from my personal experience- The icecap ballasts (430, 660) are supposed to be better because they slightly overdrive the bulbs, providing more PAR. This provides more light for your corals, but also reduces the life of the bulbs slightly. To be honest, I'm using a Fulham Workhorse ballast that I got for my retro kit and it works just fine. If I had to do it all over again I'd probably get a ballast with EOL protection built in. This will sense when the bulb is at end of life and safely prevent it from firing up, but the Workhorse is more than sufficient. Keep in mind- the bulb's spectrum will most likely shift and need to be replaced before it actually reaches its physical end of life. The Icecap reflectors are smaller 2.5 inches I believe, and you can fit more of them in a smaller space, there's a lot of debate on some of the other boards on which reflectors are better- Tek vs. Icecap vs. some of the other brands out there, so do a lot of research and make your best, most informed decision. You absolutely have to get some waterproof endcaps, again I'd reccomend the Icecaps. If not you run the risk of a nasty short, or worse a fire. I mounted mine directy into my wood canopy, and double and triple checked the wiring diagram- which is different for each manufacturer before firing anything up. Again like Phil and others have said, if you aren't comfortable with electricity or DIY BUY A PREMADE FIXTURE!! It may just be worth your time and effort to buy a 2 or 4 bulbs premade fixture, mine took about an hour to install altogether, so it was worth it to me to go retro. There's some really good threads on RC about T5 fixtures and retros and all that good stuff: The T5 Q&A Thread If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask! Oh one other thing-- Regarding heat- Keep in mind that a Watt is a Watt is a Watt. If you have 250W of MH lighting, vs 250W of T5 lighting, you are still using 250W of electricity. With MH being a point source, it will be concentrated in a smaller area, and will have a greater effect, but 250Ws of T5 is still going to generate some heat, it will just be distributed along the entire length of the bulb, and if you are cooling them with fans- like you should be, the effect will be much less noticeable. HTH

Looks like growth tips to me, they seem to have good polyp extension.

It's Done!! Should be here by Thursday!!

Chris-- I would imagine 1/2" ply of any hardwood would be more than adequate for the top. I had my acrylic tank on a 1/2" sheet of red oak, and built the body from the same material. No 2x4s for internal support. Once I planed and squared it to the floor, it was rock solid. Probably even overbuilt for the 26 gallons resting on top of it. As for the legs you could probably even get away with something like 1x2s. The amount of load that a 2x4 or even a 1x2 can handle is mind boggling. Check with the other guys to be certain, but more often than not we over-compensate and make stands and supports unecessarily bulky.

Yeah the standard six from GSA looks like a pretty sweet skimmer, the 8 as well. I think Moshins is still for sale...you should look into that Chris....You know you want to.

I'm pretty sure I've made up my mind. I'll be placing an order for a brand spankin new A110-F2000 tomorrow morning!

Mine do the same thing all the time. I posted the exact same event when mine spawned in tank for the first time. It kind of takes your breath away!! COOL FOR YOU! But yes, unfortunately they become the seafood special of the day rather quickly. :(

Just kidding about the marriage thing. Ok guys and gals- I'm looking to graduate to a good skimmer. Here are the choices I'm considering. This is for my very lightly stocked 75 (GSM, and coral beauty, maybe a cardinal or Goby of some sort to come) with 33 gallon sump (12 gallons of actual water) and 14 gallon fuge. Deltec- AP600 - Can get one about a year old for $350 TS1250 - Found a used one for $400 H&S- 110-F2000 $399.00 New A110-F2000 $479.00 New I'm leaning towards the H&S because it would seem to be ideal for my size tank and even be pretty forgiving for my bio-load should I increase it. I'm pretty much 100% certain I won't be upgrading this tank now that I'm making plans to finish the basement, and I just won't have the room- but if I did, the max size I could accomodate is a 125, just because of the layout. That being said, I'm sticking with the assumption that the 75 is going to be it for me. If you were going to blow some money, which would you choose and why? Honestly I see no real differences in the H&S and the Deltec, other than the name. Please educate me if I'm wrong. Brian

So my wife comes home last night after I had been looking for most of the evening for Interceptor. I tell her about my situation, she goes into the medicine cabinet, and comes out with 1 of the large dog tablets, and says "Do you mean these? Why didn't you say so?" Turns out she had the vet change their meds a few months ago, but we have one tablet left. Should be more than enough to treat my tank for the full 3 dose regimen. I had no idea what we were even giving them. Good turn of events however. I will be moving my shrimp and crabs over to the nano later this weekend and dosing the interceptor. Asta la vista...Red Bugs! BTW thanks to everyone who has offered advice, reassurance. Much appreciated.

That is super cool. I love serpent stars!

Hey Chris- Are you talking about treating with Interceptor? If so that's the major problem I have right now, all of the vets I've been to won't dispense it except for dogs. Any other available meds that will wipe them out? Thx for the advice btw.

Well I've just now noticed that I have a red bug infestation. I know exactly where they came from, an LFS, and have showed the manager the bugs, and hope to prevent them from losing any corals or business from the problem. I have a major problem though, as most of my corals are Acros, so I'm really freaking out. Currently I only see them on the two acros that are in relatively close proximity to each other, none of the others on the other side of the tank appear to be infested currently. I've been to several local vets, and have been unsuccessful in obtaining any interceptor, due to the tight FDA regs, and them not wanting to encourage any "off-label" uses. My plan of attack is currently to remove all of my acros and place them in quarantine, until I can come up with a better plan . I'm planning on keeping the known infested ones separate from the ones that don't appear to be ATM. Is there anything other than interceptor that will kill these little s@#^s, without killing the corals themselves? Would freshwater or iodine dips help at all? BTW, I recognize that this was a completely avoidable situation had I simply chosen to quarantine the frag before placing it in my display, but I did not, and now I have to bite the bullet and deal with this. Any advice would be MOST appreciated. Thanks Brian "I WILL QUARANTINE EVERY CORAL FROM NOW ON" R.

While we were in Costa Rica, many of the juvenile billfish hang out close to the beaches, and the copious amounts of feed for them made it inevitable that you would be swimming amongst them. From what I understand due to the excellent fisheries management there, CR is one of if not the top billfish sites in the world. Kind of scary when one breaks the surface less than 5 meters away from you chasing some small tuna!

Bob-- Just out of curiosity, do you check for phosphate levels? I know in the past, I would get browning of my sps when phosphate levels would creep up.

That's it, I've had it with BRK. Everytime I go in there, Oz manages to seperate me from my money. This weekend it was the "buy two get one free" sale. He's like a brain ninja or something, he suggests something and then you're doing it. I'm done with you guys... The Idaho Grape and Tri-Color I picked up from you guys are phenomenal. Thanks again for a great experience Johnny and crew.

What a cool find...The folks at A1 had some really neat pieces in for the social. What a great bunch of guys up there, friendly, and they even let us coral junkies hang out for a few hours! I picked up two heads of the white with purple,green, pink and orange coloration.

Xenia is quite possibly the stinkiest thing on the planet, aside from a weeks worth of skimmate collection.