lancer99

This is my "no muss, no fuss" tank...other than Ca/Alk additions, water changes, and Aiptasia hunts, it's pretty much maintenance-free: Tubipora musica: Yellow Fiji leather, Sarcophyton elegans: Ricordea florida rock, with attached Eunicea: Blue ridge coral with the tank bosses: Echinopora lamellosa closeup: Cheers, -R

I do! My 29G has a 6.5KK light and is doing well. Rics and gorgonians both growing, and no nuisance algae (unless you count Ochtodes, which I have to trim back every week). Sanjay Joshi has done a lot of research into the color temperatures of various bulbs, and a lot that claim to be 20K aren't. -R Edit: forgot to mention that it was intended to be a seagrass tank, thus the 6500K bulb....but other than turtle grass, all the other seagrasses died off!

I am curious...the only tank where I've ever had a problem with cyano (which went away after about three months) was my 75G that I set up with almost all base rock, a few pieces of LR, and DSB. All my other tanks, DSB + only LR, SSB + only LR, or DSB only have never had cyano problems. Does that correlate with y'alls experiences, or did I just get lucky? Thx, -R

Zygote, the quote from that article clearly applies to freshwater and not saltwater. I am also a huge Aragamax fan. All three of my tanks have 4-8" DSB of Aragamax. But based on what I've read, and my experience, I don't think they contribute in any significant way to Ca levels. -R

I don't know...possibly compaction or processing by the infauna? Here is an article that explains why adding particulate CaCO3 to saltwater doesn't increase the Ca, although not from the pH point of view: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2002/chem.htm -R

Aragonite doesn't dissolve at the pH range typically encountered in reef tanks. -R

All your flirtation is belong to us? A pedant might point out that there are more than 90 gallons in a tank that's (48' x 24" x 18"). Como que un peruviano habla tan bien el ingles?!? Just kidding...great website ROBZ! -R

I don't have any personal experience with this pair, but from what I've read, Pseudochromis and Mandarins occupy totally different ecological niches. A Mandarin (passive bottom feeder) certainly wouldn't even notice a Pseudochromis, although a Pseudochromis (aggressive opportunistic feeder) will probably notice the pods.... It's worth a try, and if it doesn't work out, I'll take the Pseudochromis off your hands -R

Thank *you* for taking my minor criticisms as they were intended...as constructive. Most retailers would be happy to have this problem Personally I'm not bothered by the grease pencil look, but maybe that's just coz I'm nearsighted....Monitors would be great, and others in here have had great suggestions as well. If the inventory isn't already digitized, (not sure this would work), but maybe you could take digital pics of the magnetic boards, and (stole this idea from ctenophore), print them out, and let customers carry them around as they browse. It would be low cost and fairly low effort. You must mean stock, because you're at 90%+ in terms of customer care! -R

Since my tanks are pretty much maxed out, I've been avoiding aquarium stores for the past few months, including AquaCo...even though it's about 15 minutes from where I work. But fueled on by the great reviews here, and a fat escrow rebate check from my mortgage servicer (there is an upside to declining house prices!) I finally ventured in yesterday. First impressions: Very nice, clean, almost minimalist layout to the store. Tanks pristine, excellent lighting, and (from what I could see) great support systems. No sickly looking or obviously dying corals like you often see in other marine stores, even their closest competitor I hate aquarium stores where prices aren't listed, so I was glad to see that this wasn't the case at AquaCo. I thought their use of little numbered flags and numbered discs next to the corals, which referenced boards on the wall that had species ID/pricing info, was ingenious. But here are my (slight) criticisms, which I hope will be taken as constructive. First of all, it wasn't always clear (to me) which coral matched up with which numbered disc in the vats. Slightly more judicious spacing would make it obvious. Second, I quickly grew tired of having to walk from the tanks to the walls to check out prices. It's probably just coz I'm old, but by the time I got to the wall, I usually forgot which numbers I was checking out. I would have found much easier if the prices were just written on the front of the tanks in magic marker, or maybe a sheet taped to one side of the front of the tank, that had the same info as on the boards on the wall. (I'm not suggesting that I know better than them how to run their business, just expressing my personal opinion.) I probably wouldn't have gotten so tired of walking back and forth, if they didn't have so many nice things that I wanted to buy! Selection? As I just implied, great. It's an LPS fancier's wet dream, and (from what they said) there will be more great SPS in stock soon. And their frag tank has IMO some great bargains. Prices? Reasonable. Staff? Very friendly and knowledgable. I met Jeff and Sean, and the guy who checked me out (didn't catch his name) was very personable too. Had a good chat with Sean....surprised when he mentioned that trendy designer corals (Blastos, chalices, etc.), which seem to sell in a heartbeat on the net, are slow sellers from the store. So, all in all, I would give them an A. After only a few months, already one of the best (if not the best) marine aquarium stores in the DC area. I will certainly be back soon. -Robert

Mopar, A couple of observations and suggestions: I hate to say it, but I think you added your fish too soon. As others have mentioned, the inputs into your tank (water impurities, food) have to either be processed by the inhabitants of your tank (anaerobic bacteria, for example, to remove nitrates) or exported from your tank (skimming, chemical filtration, water changes, etc.) A lot of the processing can be done in the tank itself, but it takes time to adjust. So you have too many inputs, a tank that hasn't had the time to adjust to them, and not enough exports. Here are my suggestions: 1) Inputs: Cut back on the feeding. Flake food is very concentrated, and generally contains a lot of phosphates (which may be indirectly contributing to your high nitrates). If you switch to mostly frozen or fresh seafood, it will be better for your fishes' health, and might help out with the nitrates. 2) Beef up your tank's processing power. I'd suggest a DSB in your refugium....great at processing nitrates (although, again, they take a while to adjust), and if you run into any problems in the future, easily removed. Definitely add some Chaeto if you can. 3) Exports: Not much to say, but make sure your skimmer is adjusted properly. You might also consider removing the filter sock...I've never used them, but have heard that they need to be cleaned much more often than weekly, or will contribute to nitrates. HTH, -R

Just a comment from the peanut gallery... I'm quite astounded by the civility of this exchange. In most other forums, it would have already descended into name-calling and insults. ArtC put forward his case objectively, even injecting a bit of humor ("if I can't get by without $1200 for a couple of months then I'm in the wrong hobby"), and NAGA/Jeff didn't attempt to evade the issue, or deny his obligations. I think it's a credit to WAMAS members that this sort of discussion can happen, and no one descends to the level of, say, ReefCentral posts. Hoping for a happy resolution, -R

A slight diversion back to the topic This is the 50 lbs of Marco rocks I got last December (the bubble wrap's 18" wide): Which pretty much filled up my 75G: The rock I got from him was very clean, no dead sponges -- I just rinsed it off, and it cycled in 10 days. He has had problems with suppliers in the past, and it seems kind of a crap shoot as to the quality of the rock, and how long you'll have to wait to get it. -R PS I won't program in any language that doesn't run on CP/M.

Well then plan on having replacement membranes for the Aqualifter, and spills when that doesn't work. I'm glad your buddy hasn't had any problems for "a while." Do a search on CPR overflows on ReefCentral. I'm not sure why you're asking for advice, since you've already made up your mind. Good luck, you'll need it. -R

My beautiful 4" black false percula female (part of a $250 mated pair from The Marine Scene) jumped out of my 75G display tank....it has a full hood, but she found the 3" x 8" opening in the back. So add me to the list of ppl wanting to know about your screen, Chris! -R

I would strongly, strongly advise you against getting a CPR overflow. Their design is inherently flawed. Bubbles will build up in the overflow, breaking the siphon, which is why they have a "bleed-off" that needs to be attached to an Aqualifter pump or powerhead. They are basically a disaster waiting to happen. Just as strongly I'd advise you to get an overflow from Lifereef. They are more expensive than the CPRs (about $120), but basically bulletproof. In this case you really do get what you pay for. Not sure about the Prizm skimmer, since I've never had one, but they don't have a very good reputation...you might consider something different HTH, -Robert

IMHO a DSB is the best cure for nitrates. I have them in all my tanks, and my nitrates never get above 1.0, assuming my Salifert test kit is correct. Just my 2 pesos, others have very strong anti-DSB opinions -R

I think this is silly. The Marine Scene is one of the top aquarium stores in the area, and they charge top prices. I have never had to/wanted to return any fish to them, and have got some amazing corals from them. But as one of the best aquarium stores in the area, they should accept returns on any day, for whatever reason. And even refund your $$$ if you just say "I'm unhappy with my purchase." Not arguing with a customer is the best guarantee that he/she'll be a customer for life. That's just a basic rule of customer service. And I don't think anyone here is trying to scam them..... -R

About six months ago, I noticed a couple of flatworms on the glass of my 29G Caribbean tank. I kind of dismissed them...thinking they were the non-invasive kind. But boy was I wrong! In the last two months, they covered pretty much every surface in the tank, seeming to favor the Ochtodes macro-algae, which was completely covered with them, as of last night. But tonight the Ochtodes is pristine, as is most of the rest of the tank. A few on the rocks, but they don't look very happy. I haven't changed anything with my tank regimen (=Ca/Alk supplements, and Fe for the seagrasses), but I think those nasty little flatworms may have hit some limit. My skimmer is going crazy, so I should probably do a water change! -R

I had one loss from the power outage, the female of a Black false percula mated pair. Here is a picture of her, her mate (on the bottom), and their black misbar buddy in the middle. I am surprised that she didn't survive, but kindof upset that she didn't. -R

My power was out for 28 hours... yesterday I worked from home so could fill up containers with water, pour them from high into my tanks and hope for oxygenation and a bit of water movement. This morning I had to go into work, so called around about battery-powered air pumps. Vienna Aquarium (screw'em, would only sell "one per customer"...they suck) then got four at Wally's. Most of my tanks lights are about to go off, and some off the corals (esp. SPS) are looking very unhappy, so wish me luck -R

Someone here...or was it RC? found a dead raccoon in their RO makeup water tank! I am reasonably clean, just occasionally find a cockroach in my dishwasher....so pulling out a dead mouse pretty much freaked me out! -R

The last time I went on vacation I had digital timers to do my top-offs and an automatic fish feeder for the (one) fish I had at the time. Five days turned into ten, and when I got back, I found out that we'd lost power either the first or second day I was away, so no top-offs...and the cheap fish feeder had suffered a mechanical failure. But everything was fine, no losses of either coral or fish. So this time when I was going away for 4-5 days, I didn't even bother. When I got back earlier today, I started adding top-off water to get the tanks back to their normal salinity, cleaned out the excess Chaeto from my fuges, etc., etc. I did notice before I left, that some Chaeto had migrated from the fuge on my 75G into the DT, so I yanked it out, and this is what I found: -R

Sam, IME seahorses are pretty easy to keep, as long as you feed them no less than twice a day (mysis or better) and keep up good water conditions. I think their difficulty is exaggerated...when I lived in the UK I had a 24G Eclipse equivalent heavily planted with Caulerpa and they thrived...but then I moved and had to break down the tank. -R

Green hairies = bad. Anything else (no matter what size) = good. Isn't that right? -R