lancer99

thx tbittner & garrett. I forgot to mention that Ken included a little bonus with my order...the Merman's Shaving Brush that you can see in the last pic. What a great little lagniappe! -R

Black sea rod (Plexaura homomalla) has always been my favorite Caribbean gorgonian, but I've never seen it listed for sale anywhere. Luckily Ken from sealifeinc.net volunteered to collect one for me, as well as for someone else whom you may know: I also got this beautiful Pterogorgia citrina from Ken...it's lost a bit of tissue, but as of last night, the polyps are sneaking out, so I'm optimistic: Both: Cheers, -R

Woke up this morning, and just like every other morning, jumped out of bed and checked out the fish room.... ...only to be greeted by the extremely disagreeable smell of burning plastic. Checked out the usual suspects....spilled water, jammed pump, maybe a leaking tank?....nothing. Searched my brain for anything unusual I had done last night....just the usual top-offs/feeding/dosing/water changes...nothing. Opened the basement windows, and started the laborious process of unplugging things (and I have a lot of things!) one by one, then waiting half an hour for (hopefully!) the smell to dissipate. I got lucky on the fourth plug...turns out, while doing my water changes, the water level in the Rubbermaid trashcan where I make up saltwater got too low, and the heater and the trashcan decided to bond...literally. So I got lucky this time...no disaster! -R

Great thread, and Forrest, thx for posting that link, great stuff. But....my Millepora (Fire coral, not Acropora millepora) can kick yours, and anyone else's corals', butt! Technically it's not a coral, but rather a Hydrozoan, so maybe that doesn't count -R PS Love the Bob avatar Surly.

I am with Doug on this one. As much as I respect the knowledge and experience of WAMAS members, diseases are just plain hard. Not only accurately describing the symptoms and finding any causative agents/pathogens/etc, but also coming up with treatment protocols. Plus there is a vast difference between diseases of fish, corals, other inverts etc. Just my two pfennigs. -R

Nikki, at 6 spaghetti worms for $19.95, you may have a goldmine on your hands. I notice that IPSF also sells bristleworms, 6 for $19.95. They are guaranteed 100% Captive-Bred, though. I think I'll sell the sandbed from my 75G and retire early. -R

Maureen, I spend the last 20 minutes trying ... have some good pics of yellow/pink furtive blobs You'll just have to take my word for it that's he a cool little guy -R

I've never had a Midas blenny before, and he's rapidly become my favorite fish. He's in the QT tank, and although he has some good potential hidey-holes, has decided that his "hangout" spot is on top of the upper bracket of the heater (no worries, it's above the part that gets hot). While chillin' he's a bright yellow all over. When I feed him, he gets excited, and his body turns pink. When he's mad at me (usually because I approach the tank too quickly and scare him) he gets dark brown blotches on the side of his body, then hides. Then pokes out his head quizically..... I'm not much of a fish guy, so this is probably old hat to most of y'alls, but just thought I'd share...Midas blennies rule! -R PS He moves way too quickly for me to get a pic :(

Has anyone been there? Opinions? -R

The "Mediterranean clone" of Caulerpa taxifolia is listed as a federal obnoxious weed. I'm pretty sure mine didn't come from the Mediterranean! Does anyone know how to tell the "Mediterrean clone" from regular old C. taxifolia? -R

Chewie, There is a very active forum on RC, under "Corallimorpharians." I love my Rics... Cheers, -R

-R

Two Little Fishies recommend 30-50 gph for the Phosban Reactor 150. -R

Calcium reactor + no CO2 = no calcium reactor Unless you're using a salt that has highly elevated concentrations of both Ca and Alk, water changes probably won't help. And beware of buffers...a lot of them will bring down your Ca when you try to raise your alk, and vice versa. The supplements from bulkreefsupply work out to about $10 per gallon, which is 4000ml. Depending on how much your tanks require, that can be quite a bargain. -R

Yep, and even though some e-tailers sell them for less per tube, by the time you add in the cost of the mailer (pricey) and shipping, BRK is cheaper than any online vendor I've found. BTW, I heard a rumor on RC that URI/UV were phasing out VHO, starting with the 46.5" tubes. E-mailed them and they said they had no intention of phasing out VHO, and that the 46.5" tubes were their best sellers. -R

1.029....until I got a refractometer. -R

I've bought items from Marine Scene's frag tank twice. They were both from the left half, at $10, and both times I was charged $20. Both by the same clerk. -R

They are filter feeders, and will help to remove fine particulate matter from your water. Often small ones spring up spontaneously & multiply....my 110G, in its former life, had hundreds in the sump. So no worries.... -R

I agree about the alk, and you should get your salinity back up too. Just one minor point...I use the supplements from bulkreefsupply, and adding alk *raises* the pH. I would expect other alk supplements to do the same, but I may be wrong. -R

Miniatus grouper! IMO the most beautiful fish ever. I had one for a couple of years before I moved and had to break down my tanks, but he was definitely my fave. DK, not to sound negative, but you do know that they lose their coloration as they age? -R

IME the beautiful blue & orange/red sponges that I've deliberately added to my tanks have never lasted for long. Those that survived on LR or sprouted up spontaneously seem to do much better (obviously, in the latter case). I do have one really nice orange encrusting sponge that came in on a Ricordea rock, and even though the rock was shipped "dry," after four months it seems to be doing fine. I'd love to have some of the larger, showier sponges, but until someone comes up with a protocol for keeping them alive, I'll wait. -R

The pic is pretty blurry...maybe Halymenia? -R

Beatle, Did you mean 81 *before* your RO membrane and 1-2 after? If so, that's normal...an RO membrane should reject about 90-95% of TDS. If you're getting 81 *after* your RO membrane, Bob is right...there's something seriously wrong. -R

Thanks, it still stings! -R

If micro-bubbles accumulate under your LR, that might be an issue, because that's where a lot of sponges grow, and they might not like that. Having said that, I've never had any experiences like that. I kinda like micro-bubbles...that way you can tell where your flow is going -R