FishWife

Thanks, Johhny.... Can you possibly post on my thread in the GB forum (second link in my post above)? 'Preciate it!

There's something in me that resists paying $1500 for a chiller, plus the energy to run one. I dunno. I guess you just have to draw the line somewhere and this is it for me. Anyone tried a DIY version? I've read about these two ideas... or see any huge downsides to either one? Got any more/other ideas? http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/dyiprojec...ydonchiller.htm and http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71279

This club did a fall group buy: here were the prices. http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...ler++group++buy I doubt much has changed. I put up a thread in the Group Buy forum. http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=21693 If we have interest, I'll be willing to follow through with administration.

We are now managing 300 gallons of water between all its parts, and will add an 80g display soon. How do those of you with larger systems heat and cool your tanks as household ambient air varies so much day to day in spring/fall, and in terms of getting enough heat exchange happening? We know about ACIII, but I'm wondering about the actual equipment you use. Heaters: 1. For instance, I saw that Dan (on his tank build thread) seemed to have about 8 heaters encased and wired together... Dan... if you have time, care to detail what that's all about?) http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1269/144631..._a0b13ac599.jpg 2. What brands of heaters work well; which to avoid? Etc. Chilling options: 1. Anyone do anything except buy a chiller (like running pipes through cold water in the basement and back up to the tank? Anyone have a line on homemade chillers of any kind? 2. If not (sigh) what kind of chillers are best for larger systems? TIA!

Moderators: please delete my other post. I put it in the wrong section. I have my zoas mostly down lower in the tank and around quite a bit of flow; mostly laminar flow, too, not so much turbulent, because our jets are low in the tank. They don't seem to be thriving; some are even regressing. Now, one factor is that we have had temp swings (we're gearing up to purchase an ACIII soon) recently. But beyond normal water parameters and what are optimal conditions for zoas in terms of light and flow?

I've been battling what I feel is a gram negative infection with our wrasse. We treated him first by means of soaking his food in gram negative antibiotic, then we treated the hospital tank for five days. Yesterday, we moved him into quarentine, thinking he was better. We stressed him in the process. Last week, it was his fin was affected, but yesterday he was sluggish and today he has ONE cloudy eye... Sort of looks like a cateract. I would not say that his eye is popped; more a cloudy film over it. He's swimming and eating.... anyone know what it is and how do we treat it? TIA as always!

So: brown does not equal decay? It sure looks decayed to me, comparatively....

Here they are: fully out last night:

OK, so, now it started turning brown. First picture below is a picture under a T-5 array in our frag tank (as opposed to under 250 w 20,000 K halides, as in the upper pictures. Second is a repeat of above; coral is turned about 90 degrees. Any ideas?

Thanks. Yep: first place we went. NICE site.

The lights do have glass over the bulbs when assembled. I sure can't find any flatworms anywhere. I figured it was just that the light only hits the inside/tops. From the TOP down, it's ALL green. Thanks!

Thanks for all the replies! System: it's not OLD, but it has a lot of features that mature systems have: refugium w/cheato directly feeds the system, large aged rocks with lots of coraline algae that had been in a system for years when acquired used, etc. This system as a whole has been up since Jan. 15 (see tank thread below). We're "new to SPS" in the last year... Never had any before last Oct '07. The bleaching that I'm describing is on the sides that DON'T get light. It's an acropora that is about 5" tall. Here it is from dead level on: side view. Here's a view more from the top (the white blob is a crab that lives in this coral) and looks vibrant. Our lights have been the same since we got the system up and running, but we did move them closer about a month ago... maybe 7" closer. The fixture has 4 250 W halides. This coral sits about 8" down from one. Here's a picture in context. Finally, our temperature HAS been fluctuating about five degrees day to day: hotter at 10PM (c. 80-81 degrees) and more like 76-77 in the early AM when we get up. We dose with CA daily and have a CA reactor running... still and all, it's not up over 375 ppm ever. pH is stable right at 8.0-8.3 or so. Photoperiod is 10 hrs. / day. What is this coral called, anyways?

Update on Joseph: in case anyone else has a fish in this kind of situation. Well, we left him alone for 24 hours and the white spot on his fin spread. We noticed the next day that the fin looked eaten away and ragged. (He's alone in his tank.) We surmised that the problem is fin rot, and hoofed down to Congressional and bought gram-negative antibiotics. I read on the Internet that the BEST way to get antibiotic into a fish is in his food, so we've been lacing his frozen mysis feedings with it morning, noon, and night. He downs it readily if we soak it less than five minutes, but soaking it more leads to him spitting it out. So far, the fin is holding steady, and the white on it is almost gone. I think he's also getting more active and feeding more and more. (Remember, he was new and not voracious when we acquired him from Blue Zoo.) We're pretty sure that this is a gram-negative bacterial infection induced by stress from shipping. (Lots of fish in this order were unusually stressed/dead on arrival.) We make up a small batch of antibiotic each morning and keep it in the fridge. We crumble frozen brine into it three times per day, and are planning to finish out a 10-day course with this antibiotic. If he takes any turn for the worse, we plan to dose the whole tank, but for now, we are taking this more conservative approach so as to keep the live rock in the tank available for ammonia processing.

Thanks! We sure are enjoying it, but couldn't have gotten ANYWHERE (specially on our budget) w/o this great club! We got them at Mr. Coral in Frederick for only $35. There are at least 25 polyps at night when they come out to feed, and lots of new growth... but, we don't have a long track record yet with them.

We have a pair of purple firefish. We specifically bought them as a pair from BRK. Johnny couldn't vouch for their sex, but they were compatible at BRK for two weeks, and they've been fine here for six weeks. They sleep together under the same rock in our display, and did so in QT as well. I think the trick is to put them in together, maybe? Ours hid in QT the whole time except to eat. That was for four weeks. In our display, after about a week, they got bolder and now they hang out in the water column for hours at a time. I think they are pretty shy fish: I've read that you can't have a whole tank full of boisterous fish who compete with them for food, or bully them. We have a fairly calm tank: two tangs, one clownfish, and a CBB besides Fred and Ginger (the purple firefishies). So far, I've been making sure they get their fair share of food, and they're doing fine, imho.

We HATES them, Precious. We did closed loops in both our tanks. See the dedicated tank forum for our 80 build and my signature below for a link to our 180 build. Closed loops are GREAT. We found that in angling our openings towards one another we achieve random swirling without any other aids: no oceans motions or powerheads or anything. Our tank is full of healthy animals that are growing like weeds.

It could just be me, but it seems that some of my acroporas are either losing color on the sides or have white tips on the ends. I had assumed that the latter was new growth... but what about a colony losing color on its sides? Is that a matter for concern? If so, what kinds of things cause that, assuming good water perameters, no overfeeding, and dosing CA daily w/a CA reactor running 24/7? Could it be old bulbs in the light fixture? Or maybe light too strong? We're REAL newbies with coral issues... TIA!

We're looking around for 250W double-ended metal halide bulbs. We have some aging Aqualine Buschke 20000Ks, and have no idea whether 20000K is the best choice for our tank. We'd like to try, maybe, 14Ks? Where can I go to research spectra easily, and their effect on PAR (whatever that means) and coral growth? Anyone have any links handy? If anybody has some 250W double-ended MHs of a different spectrum than 20K that they'd like to unload, PM us with a price... we'd be willing to experiment with anything if it doesn't cost us an arm and a leg.

Chris, In our LIMITED experience, no. Like Erik, we just use it to stabilize frags. Thanks, all!

All my LFSs are out of epoxy, and we have some zoas to place this weekend. Isn't there a brand that works at Home Depot? (Did a search but can't find it; thanks!)

Yes, but which? I called Congressional (to see if they even had meds) and he suggested a fresh water bath. I thought that sounded wise and prudent. But, I'm comforted by Bob's advice, too. Perhaps we'll wait another day before disturbing Joey. (Joseph, because of his coat of many colors. Of course, my children call him by his Egyptian name: Zaphnathpaaneah (said: ZAP pan ath pan I ah)

Rod's Reef and mysis. Seems to be eating well. I'm concerned about him this morning, though. Seems to have a white spot on his left fin. See my post in "General" if you know anything that can help! Here's the link: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...c=21438&hl= THANKS!

Hey there, When my new Melanurus wrasse emerged from the sand this morning, I was feeding him and noticed a minute white spot (bigger than ich... more like a tiny patch) on one of his side fins. We've had him about four days, and since his arrival, there's been a small white patch that I thought was an injury on his left side as you face with him (same side as the now affected fin). Here are pics: Still: you can't see the spot on this affected fin or the small white patch here, though. It's hard to capture on still film: Video: It's easiest to see the affected left fin in this short video: I've been trying to diagnose: I'm thinking the closest description I can find is Columnaris Disease. Here's my source: http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/Q&A/fin_disorders.html 1. Anyone had this problem? Think I'm on the right track? 2. Anyone tried any of these drugs? Drugs listed: Sulfa drugs: TMP-Sulfa -or- Sulfa 4 TMP -or Triple Sulfa Powder 3. How long is the treatment? 4. Will sulpha drugs affect live rock/sand? (Got sand in there for him to sleep in.) 5. Any downside to trying them sooner than later, before it spreads? (Thankfully, fish is in isolated QT tank.) In other words, should I wait for it to develop more because sulfa drugs have their downsides too, or just go ahead and treat it? Other comments? TIA for reading/answering.

Meanwhile, I am so excited because we finally are having success with a blenny! I fell in love with the Midas blenny months ago. We tried to buy two; both died within three days, while other fish in the same tank lived! Well, we decided to try only ONE more time. Here's the happy fish after two full weeks in QT Also new and in QT from bluezoo GB last week: Melanurus Wrass: We call him "Joseph" because he has a coat of many colors! It's amazing to see him dive into the sand each night. He's also a teenager... doesn't emerge from the sand before 2 PM each day! LOL.

LOL! Isn't this a GREAT club? A place to share joys and sorrows... with others who REALLY care. Thanks, all.