albatross666

Hi I ordered a few hours after my first post as I had indicated in my first post. The order was not too great :( My anemone came shrivelled and even after 2 days, this morning only about 1 cm has emerged from the "blob". The cleaning crew was fine, although one of the green crabs was not green! Thanks to the people who quickly glanced at the order and supported it.

Anyone want to comment on products on http://reeftopia.com/Reeftopiaspecials.html ? I am placing an order in an hour and if anyone wants to jump in and advise on their "Algae Control Critters Special" for $99, I would love to hear from you. Also, if there is sufficient interest, I can start a group buy thread in the appropriate section of the website. I am ordering today and am hoping for delivery tomorrow.

EXCELLENT IDEA!!! I never thought of that! Easy, unobstrusive, cheap and EFFECTIVE! THANKS A TON Tracy! I'm headed to petco very soon!

Hi I my great wisdom, I purchased a CPR HOB refuge. It works great, I already have a lot of critters, cheato and red grape algae and aptisia :( growing in it. BUT, I also have a bit of brown algae growing in the display tank, and i think i figured out why! My timer turns the main lights off and the refuge light on, so the refuge has about 14 hours of light. The light on the refuge sits about 3 inches high on pedestals. So, there is 3 inches of open space between the light and teh refuge, and light from this gap enters the tank and places quite a bit of weak light on almost all areas of the tank. Wheverver I have this "light creep", I have brown algae. So, i put a piece of cardboard to cover the opening, and it works great to block the light, but looks UGLY. So I had to put the fuge on the same schedule as the main lights. How do other members who have HOB fuges deal with this issue of light creaping into the main tank? Thanks for any ideas! As a note, the CPR refuge has black acrylic on one side so that the light does not enter the tank throught the acrylic. Here is a link to a stock picture: http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=649

Greetings I am in the process of raising the temperature of my tank a few degrees a week to bring it upto 78 and am thinking that in the winter/spring months, I should be able to maintain a steady temperature. Its the summer that bothers me. What is the negative effect of using a chiller? Thanks

Hi The trouble is that I have partial credit towards the SuperSkimmer 125 if I choose to upgrade my skimmer. So the only upgrade option is towards the SuperSkimmer if others can also give feedback on using a Coralife 65 on a 55 gallon tank. Thanks!

Hi I have a Coralife 65 skimmer and it collects a bit of gunk, so its working. Here is my setup: 55 gallon tank 70 - 80 lbs live rock 6 fish (3 clown, 2 gobies, 1 young angel - 4 inches) Now, is there a beneft to upgrade to a Coralife Super Skimmer 125? The Super Skimmer 125 has great reviews and also has a drain line. Any advise appreciated.

Hi I am changind 10 gallons every other week. I am using R/O water.

Hi So generally speaking, 2-4 degrees fluctuation between night and daytime is OK? All I need to do is keep a higher base temperature? How does that affect algae growth? I am currently fighting the brown slime algae. Also, I have green spot diatoms too. Thanks!

Hi everyone I need help from experienced small setup reefers (i have a 55 gallon setup) wrt heat. Let me describe my situation. I keep my 55 gallon tank heater set at 72 degrees. When my lights are running, the temperature reaches 75-76. I have been told that the temperature is to low. What is the ideal range with the lights off and on? Also, I invested in an Artica JBJ 1/10HP since I was expecting the temperature to be even higher. Now I am wondering whether my temperature will be higher in the summer? In the summer, we set the home AC thermostat to 85 when we are not in the house and 76 when we are in the house. My cichlid tank in the summer would peak at 82 degrees (using 130Watt lights) on a 125 gallon. I am currently using 260 watts on my 55 gallon. Also, is it possible that I may have to use the chiller in the summer? I am about to do some plumbling, and want to do it in one go. Also, my chiller does not fit in my stand, so I am hoping I do have to use it. What would you recommend?

This seems to be a nice way to do it. I already have a 100 micron filter sock that I have never used. I will probably do this proccess this weekend. Also, my filter sock says that it is washable and reusable. After this process, should i throw the sock away or can I clean it and save it for re-use later? Thanks!

Hi, Sorry for the delay in responding. I have been running a phosban 150 to counter phospates, but haven't measured them. I have low nitrates. temperature is about 75 with the lights on, the heater is set to 72 and my salinity is on the higher end of the scale (.23 if i remember right). As for fish, i have a young angel (5 inhes) 1 large clown (1.5 inches) 1 baby clown (.5 inch) a large and fat redish-purple fish (3 inches),and 2 gobies (1 inch). I also have 2 asteria star fish. I feed once a day, and I am feeding pellets. i feed into the mouth of each fish! 3-4 pelletts for the larger fish and 1 for the smaller fish. Its interesting, but one goby has not eaten for about 2 months, but still is alive. I feed the baby nemo several 10-15 smaller bits, so that it has a chance of eating, so some of that is uneaten. I have purple coralline algae starting to grow on the tank walls, in addition to the hard green spot algae. i added an older powerhear aquaclear 402/50 with a rotating defelctor yesterday. Lets see if that works. any other ideas? Thanks! I guess I have cyano! I have exactly what you described. I just thought that bubbles got trapped in the algae! Also, i have quite a bit of that in my refuge as well. Should I clean the refuge or is it beneficial in the refuge? Thanks! I am using RO water MOSTLY. occassionally, I have to top off and have none available, so i resorted to tap water a couple of times. Now I know of a place that sells RO water, so in emergencies, I am using that. Thanks!

Hi I have this in my tank, on the top most pieces of rock and on the sand. My tank is about 3 months old. I am changing 7 gallons every 2 weeks in a 55 gallon tank. I have about 80 lbs of cured rock. Is this an effect of light, overfeeding, or bad flow? I have a mag 5 for the return and two small aquaclear 203 powerheads. Any help is appreciated! Thanks Albatross