Gurnie

Apologies if this has been posted already. I tried looking for a discussion on the board. Its sad. It seems that the Aquarium company will not be returning. A friend of mine commented when she went to Pristine Aquariums, their tanks weren't very full, and she was worried that they are in the process of closing up. AquaCo was my favorite store, and it was sooo easy for me to get to (not to mention great coral prices). I personally don't really have a local fish store that i like (regrettably i have to go TMS, who's water quality i am not confident about). And my friend is worried about her local store Pristine Aquariums closing up. So is there any word about Aquaco or Pristine Aquariums? Maybe Pristine had a really good selling day (fingers crossed) And if these two are going under, can anyone recommend another store, preferably not TMS.

So in woodshop I am building a canopy for a 5.5g AGA. It is really turning out spiffy and I will post photos when finished (it will be made out of cherry, which is a good wood to have need a lot of moisture, just FYI). I was going to use the compact bulbs but i don't think they'll be strong enough and well... honestly i'm not much of an electrician. I was thinking of buying one of the following kits: 15 inch 1x32 Watt Current USA PowerCompact Dual SunPaq Retrofit Kit 15 inch 2x32 Watt Current USA PowerCompact Dual SunPaq Retrofit Kit But i had some questions.. 1) What is the perfect size light for a 5.5g "long" aquarium, the 1X 32watt kit or the 2X 32watt kit? Is there a better kit to use besides the link above? how many watts do i need, and i assume the lighting should be 50/50 right? 2) How do these kits usually attach to the fixture? I shop we're using a special kid of wood glue that work well around humidity, and has the strength to contract/compact depending on heat/moisture... But i wasn't sure if these kits are mounted by glue or screws or what. 3) I should use stainless steel screws correct? 4) Does anyone use a glass/plastic/lexan canopy over their tank to prevent water from getting to close to their wiring (via humidity or splash ups)? Do you really have to worry about wiring/water exposure with these retro kits? For those curious about the design there's about 3 inches of space (height) and the canopy itself is around 17", so the light needs to be under 16". Above the celing of the canopy, there will be another box build into the canopy that can be used for storage (keep the fish food, tweezers,ect there). All together the canopy is about 5 inches tall, and the base is like a step bezel, about 2 inches high total. it's really turning out cool. my teacher really likes my design and i tell you what, taking this class has made my mondays/wednesdays and occasional saturday mornings more interesting. Now i know some people aren't too keen on closed top canopies, but this tank will be closed top with a cut area for the filter (and for some gas exchange). I'm not too keen on using MH b/c of heating issues with such a small tank, and i guess it would be best to use some sort of lexan/glass to prevent a salt creep getting to the wires.

yeah i'm just afraid from buying another saddleback from an iffy store and then the fish carrying ich.

Any places in northern Virginia that have a great rep that sells them? i don't mind the drive if the only place that sells them is in MD, but Va would be great Too bad marine scene doesn't sell them, they are right up the road from me (reston)

Thank-you both. I will keep this all in mind. I've heard of aquarium one, are they a good store? Does anyone know about how long i should wait before adding the fish in my new tank? (referring to first post)

I went away for a long weekend, and while away my two saddleback clownfish, whom i thought were better after being treated for ich, took a dive and both died yesterday. They looked completely fine when i left and when i got back it looked like someone beat them with a baseball bat. It's not the pet sitter's fault, she has taken care of my fish before over a period of 2 weeks and they were fine. Questions about the tank: So i'm going to leave my reef tank sit empty for 6-8 weeks, maybe even longer, as late as june or august to put in new fish since i go on vacation in july/august and i'm not sure if i should let the fish be at home with the pet sitter if they are so new to the tank. i gotta think about it. But as for the display, do i continue to do a 20% water change every 2 weeks or can i lower the amount (either a monthly change or only 10% changes) I have a fromia starfish and some about 9 hermits hermits along with 3 mithrex crabs and about 3 snails, do i need to occasionally throw frozen food in there (there's a lot of hair algea to eat)? if so how much and how often? can i add more shrimp in the meantime? will any of the above critters be a host for ich? but waiting at least 6-8 weeks before adding new fish seems to be the golden amount of time to wait, correct? Now here's my main question: Where can i purchase another young saddleback clownfish pair in the DC area? I went to congressional aquarium and i think the saddleback i bought from there had the ich, because my other saddleback was as healthy as a horse. their saddleback was really mean too, as she grew quickly and bullied the male.

it does look like some sort of shrimp, just by the way it swims.

Nope, he's swimming. Is he safe to put in the tank?

So I found a little critter in my acclimation bucket (from the coral). So is he a good guy or a bad guy (flush!) Oh and coral banded shrimp grow back their claws, right?

Does anyone know if the Aqua C Nano Remora Protein Skimmer will fit the biocube (i own the 14g). Just curious. I'll be getting out the measure tape tomorrow to see if it will, but i wanted to know if anyone had any experiance. I'm hoping to squeeze it into the 2nd chamber if possible

What in the photos show that they are immature? Size? Coloration? Thank you so much for your help!

Hey traveller, I've been trying to PM you. If you don't mind cleaning out your inbox, i'd like to Pm you about something anyways right now i have bioballs falling in the back, so i assume some air gets circulated into the water b/c of the bioball / water hitting bioball exchange. I am bidding on a Aqua C Nano Remora Skimmer. Hopefully this will fit in the biocube (14g) I'll put the cheapo skimmer back in until i get the new skimmer... which will hopefully fit the tank. strange how the LFS didn't tell me that a skimmer wasn't really necessary if i was doing weekly W.C. (or the fact that they never mentioned anything for oxygen exchange). Right now i have my jet pointing towards the surface since i am treating for a cyno outbreak.

but what about the Aqua C Nano Remora Protein Skimmer, is it worth it? Does anyone know if this will fit in the 14g biocube?

Previous owner said it was kept alone for that year. The fish will occationally swim together, but for the most part, smaller fish swims at the top, larger at the bottom. earlier the smaller fish did the dance inorder to prevent the larger guy from chasing it. I'll see if i can get a better photo. Traveller's PM box is full edit: here are a few more edit edit: I watched them this morning before going to work (wednesday, so day 5 with the two together). Lots of dancing by the smaller fish, some dancing by the big fish. Both fish were hungry and snapped up the food i gave them (though the larger fish ate far more). Big fish did most of the chasing, sometimes little fish stopped the chasing by dancing. Seems like male/female behavior. I have not seen them bite since day 1 (and that one time when they were first introduced)

The previous owner did say that he got the fish Nov 2006 i hope these help:

Problem is, i'm not 100% how old the fish is, and i think the saddleback did have a friend (when living with the previous tank owner). I think i'm going to have to watch them closely. Lemme email the previous owner and see what he says In terms of "fish attitude" the smaller will just kinda float and fish smile at me, while the large will turbo launch itself towards the glass (in MY direction), snap at the glass and then back off (note it won't actually run into the glass). Would photos help? There is a significant size difference I will say. The larger saddleback (the new fish) is at least an inch bigger compared to the smaller. My LFS claimed that they could revert back if the small female was a young female.

Thank-goodness. I had to drive all the way to rockville just to get the new fish. I'd be totally bummed if I had to give it up. What's with all the NOVA stores not carrying black saddleback clowns :P

Thank-you edit: after reading this, i hope i did not get two female clowns by accident. The original fish is about 1.5" long and was kept in the tank by itself for at least a month. When i first introduced the two fish, they locked mouths but have not done since. They have done the dominance dance a few times, and the larger fish usually chases the smaller, but usually stops (but the smaller does not do the dance inorder to get the larger to stop) Typical, or does it sound like two females?

So how does one establish male and female? Does the "female" develop a viewable ovipositor ?

lol, thanks dude

Then really bad, stupid follow-up. I don't have a bubbler in my tank (never was advised, which I was surprised coming from freshwater). The system does push water around for the rocks, and the water does fall over bio balls which i assume re oxygenate the water that hits the bioballs... but do i need to add a bubbler? Maybe i need to add a wave maker or another jet? Any recommendations?

Right now I have two saddleback clown fish, 5 burgundy hermits, 3 blue hermits, lots of microstars, bristle worms, a few snails, one conch and a cowrie. Aprox. 16 lbs of live rock, I run with the carbon filter and bioballs, but currently the carbon filter isn't in the tank b/c I am treating the tanks for a cyno outbreak. Tank is new, its only been up for a month (but belonged to another gentleman, so i was able to keep some of the beneficial bacteria). I have one kenya tree and one red mushroom coral. I might add two barnacle blennies later. Those two fish would be it. I had a fission skimmer but i was told it was total crap and took it out of the tank

Can anyone recommend a nano skimmer for a 14 gallon biocube? Is it necessary to get a skimmer if you are preforming 15-20% WC every week?

I just added my 2nd saddleback clownfish into the tank two days ago. So far they seem to be getting along (occasional chasing but and it looks like the smaller guy has a tiny bite on his back fin, but nothing serious). They do this cute thing where they'll swim on their sides and twitch, then swim on their other sides, and do a twitch. Is this some sort of mating dance? The new fish is bigger, and I assume is female (or in the process of her change). The smaller one is about 1 year old and doesn't act as aggressive as the larger fish. The larger fish is also a pig, he/she might scare the smaller one when it comes to chow time, but the small one still gets a chance to eat. Thanks!!

There is no coral banded shrimp in the tank, i just proposed getting one since the peppermint was attacked It wasn't a molt. There was shrimp meat that the crabs were consuming :P So with that and two days passed, i assume that was a carcass my crabies ate.