NotSoFat2U

I have some recently-aquired zoas that are dying off. The most recent polyp to sucumb has small off-white bumps on its stalk, leading me to suspect I may have zoa pox. My plan is to do a Furan dip regement and start dosing vitamin C. The VC should arrive tomorrow, but does anyone know where I can get the Furan-2 locally (I live in Arlington)? Does petsmart or petco or Wally's or Superpets carry it? Given that this problem has been going on for a few days I'd rather not wait until next week to have something shipped to me.

Thanks for that heads up. Unfortunately I don't think I care for the misbars (which are the ones on sale) and they don't have non-misbar percs atm (though maybe they will by next weekend?).

I am just about ready to add a pair of percs to my BC14, and am looking for recomendations on where to find them. Specifically what I am looking for: - two true percs - prefer captive-bred - the closer to Arlington the better (I dislike driving for more than ~10 minutes) - a store with multiple individuals (so my gf can pick out two)

I've found much information about aggression levels between corals and how far of a berth to leave between a torch and a zoa. What I want to know about is placing zoas and palys in close proximity to one another. Basically, am I likely to have success with a patch of one species of zoa or paly growing right next to (i.e. on the same rock as, and abuttin) a patch of another species? I ask because I am looking to create color variety in my biocube 14 mostly from zoas. I was figuring on having Xenia, a frogspawn or similar, and rockwork dedicated mostly to zoas/palys. Mushrooms are not at all appealing to me, and with stock lighting my options are obviously somewhat restricted.

So I found a guy who sold me three of the water cooler jugs (5 gallons each) for $1--less than the gas it took to drive the 7 miles. And there was a Home Depot right next to his place, where I bought a 5 gallon can (plus lid). They had orange ones and translucent-white ones. I went with the white; I hope it's not toxic. I should now be set to pick up 15+ gallons of RO and mix my water, once my IO (and almost everything else) arrives. But the tank came today (or so fedex says), so I can get to work on modding that in the mean time.

I think I found a source on some cheap 5 gallon water cooler containers. I think that will handle my initial water need "rush" pretty well. Where do people typically get the 5 gallon "dry-wall" buckets? I assume those are the (usually white) plastic buckets with vertical sides, a fully-open top, and a metal handle (with a piece of plastic for a grip).

Yeah, my expectation was to have a couple gallons of ro/di water and a couple gallons of salt water on hand (or at least mixed up the day prior to a water change in the case of the latter). I was wondering more specifically about what type of containers to use, and where to get them.

Thanks for all the advice. My girlfriend would rather get "new" LR. She is intrigued by the prospect of seeing what shows up as it cures/cycles. I'm of a similar disposition, but would just as soon save ~$50 and have a shorter cycle time. Availability is likely the biggest factor. The reports on Wally's rock seem to be conflicting, although when I was there a few weeks ago the rock seemed on the high end price-wise. The only thing that bothers me about BRK is how far out they are. I have a car and all so it's not a real problem, but I'm averse to driving out to the suburbs. I guess Wally's isn't all that much closer. @ amay121: I was in fact planning on doing a 'fuge in chamber 2. Still haven't decided whether to put a light on the back (and scrape some of the black off) or to find a submersible light. The latter seems more attractive (both aestetically and ease-wise), but most of the people who've posted on the matter have gone with the former. I'll likely do a tank thread once I actually get started, and I'll post there the mods I wind up doing.

I was thinking it might be worthwhile for someone with their own system to sell to me. I was sorta looking forward to not having to mix the salt myself, but not a huge deal. What should I do with regard to obtaining water containers in the event that I buy from an individual (like Brian)? I guess I need about 20 gallons of water off the bat (though never more than that after initial setup).

I live in north Arlington. Where is a good, nearby source of RO water? (I will only be running a Biocube 14, so don't want my on RO/DI system.) What can I expect to pay for the stuff? edit: It occurs to me that given the ammount of water I'll need for changes (<2 gallons per week) maybe I'm better off just buying saltwater from a LFS (they do sell this, right?) and only using RO for top-offs. Any thoughts on this?

So my new Biocube 14 should be arriving sometime this week, and I am collecting the other materials I'll need (test kits, refractometer, Instant Ocean, etc.). After everything gets here and I confirm the operation I will need to go about stocking the tank with live sand and rock: which brings me to these questions: Where should I go to buy the stuff? Since I only need about 15 pounds of rock, mail-order is probably not cost-effective. I live in Arlington, and would rather not travel too far. I have been to Wally's World once, though the LR there didn't seem like such a good deal. What am I looking for with regard to LS? I was figuring on a 1/2" to 3/4" bed, which I gather will be about 10-15 pounds. Are there different options when buying LS? My understanding is that I want fine particles to minimize detreus buildup. Are there any other things to be looking for? In what order should the LR and LS be put in the tank? I have seen some recommendations of LS a few days before the LR. It seems to me that putting the LR in first would be advantageous because it would be sitting on the tank floor, and thus be less likely to shift and have rock slides. With the depth of sand bed that I will use, would Nerius snails be good, bad, or irrelevant?

How long are the polyps on that toadstool? I ask because down the line I would like a coral to (hopefully) serve as a host for some percs. A long-polyped Sarcophyton seemed like a possibility.

Thanks for activating me. There's a good chance I will be able to attend on the 5th.

Hi everybody. My name is Nathan and I just joined this weekend. I am planning on starting my first marine tank soon (using a Biocube 14) and found WAMAS a month or so ago during the course of my research. This site has been a great resource, so it seemed like it would be in my best interest to join. I mostly just wanted to introduce myself right now (though I do have one question at the end of this post). I've been living in Arlington since graduating from Virginia Tech (coming up on two years now), though I lived in Arlington for my entire life prior to school. I don't have a ton of aquaria experience (certainly not recently), but I've been researching for some time now and am close to ready to take the plunge, so to speak. I'm sure I'll have questions about specific things down the line. My question for right now has to do with my membership status. I actually registered with WAMAS before creating a forum account. When I registered I did submit the same ID that I ultimately used for my forum account. Should I be expecting some sort of email notification confirming that my WAMAS registration went through? My paypal account was debitted, but I don't seem to have access to the "Member's Only" boards.