MisterTang

Back when my tank was having issues a couple of weeks ago, several people offered cheato to replace my crudded-up batch. I am now looking for a decent-sized chunk from anyone who is willing to share, and isn't too far away. Thanks in advance

Sorry - I tried to get some a few months ago but couldn't manage to make it happen. You and I need to start a couple cultures so us folks out west don't have to drive all the way to Reston to get some! EDIT: I do have a brine hatchery if you want to try to use BBS in the interim...

Chip's secret recipe for a long marriage and an old tank - copious amounts of BS

Yep - I can honestly say that it cleaned me right out

You might also want to pour a tablespoon or two of phosphate remover into your media reactor. It works wonders... in fact, it works so well, that I now have to target-feed my algae-grazing snails and urchins, because there just wasn't anything left!

Is this a hair algae problem, then? I have both a Lawnmower and Yellow Tang who refused to touch the stuff, but if you can get your hands on some snails that eat filamentatious algae, they will reliably munch it. I got five Shooting Star Astrea snails a while back that munched all of mine to the point that I could then manage it with nutrient export and GFO, and I haven't seen any green hair since late September!

I talked to Sean about this same issue with mine. I had a green one that was growing HUGE - growing several extra mouths, but then it just started to shrink when I started carbon dosing. Anyway, some of these apparently do better in higher-nutrient environments, so I'd fathom a guess that a little nitrate is good for these, like Sam said. Same with Xenia, by the way! Also, mine won't eat anything that isn't chopped really fine. I got a small $5 no-name food processor, and I use it to pulverize a mysis/phytoplankton/amino acid mixture that I feed twice a month to my LPS and rics. I recently moved mine lower to make room for an awesome SPS piece, and when I moved them lower in the tank, they actually got bigger. Probably just trying to absorb more light. At any rate, they look a lot better, so maybe play around with placement a bit. Lastly, unless you're cycling your tank or are having big problems, I don't know that I'd check for ammonia really frequently. If you have a big ammonia problem after the tank is established, you'll see it in the tank inhabitants, AND you'd probably observe a nitrate spike. Since most people have some problem with nitrate creep, I'd get yourself a test for that.

Dave, I've been looking at your Dragon Eye zoas for months. Count me in for a nice-sized frag if you've got some that aren't freshly cut!

Tonight was not a good night for pictures. It seems like every step I take forward in photography, I take two steps back. I wanted to take some "after the tank nuke" shots. I recently lost my prized ORA clam, my skunk cleaner "Stinky", and one of my three scissortail gobies, as well as a colony of Xenia. Paly colony, not quite as big as it used to be... ... but the GSP has just exploded. DaveS warned me about this! Also, new Cherub Angel "Cher". My new Cardinal, "Carl", who I picked up at AquaCo today. My first official venture into SPS is this colony I've been eying at AquaCo for the last three weeks: FragFest Finger Leather: Fat n' happy Manny the Mandarin! I've had him about four months now, so I think I'm passed the "will he make it" stage. Duncan - it has just recently sprouted three babies. I was starting to wonder if it EVER would... it has just been growing bigger, but not reproducing (to my dismay) My Rock Flower anemone. Sometimes he looks like he's going to split, but then changes his mind and flattens out. I kinda wish he wasn't in there sometimes... the stings really burn me for some reason.

Submitter: MisterTang Location: 75 Gallon Camera: D40 Subject: New frogspawn frag

Sorry to hear of your loss. Copper-bandeds are such cool-looking fish, but alas, I don't even entertain the idea of keeping one for this exact reason.

Sorry, pal. You got nominated again. Do your time!

This is exactly what I was getting at. Thanks for articulating it so well!

This is why Jon has a better tank than I do . That should be a hint to anyone!

Always QT That being said, I have a list of people's tanks I 'trust', and may not do a QT if the fish eats pellets while still in the bag.

Is a "Blue Ribbon Kio" a type of Korean car?

Eh? Like what? What's the incentive here?

Sorry to hear this... If I were to offer an opinion, it would be to sell everything that you can't use on your next tank if you're going to move anyway. My tank also suffered pretty bad the last seven days, and I actually had the "For Sale" post all written up with all of my stuff. In the end, I just couldn't do it. It took several days of just working on it and not even thinking about selling it, plus a really tasty hamburger, and now I feel like I can keep at it.

I've heard about this with crabs in general. I thought it was called auto-amputation or something. Porcelain crabs will do this with their big claws if sufficiently threatened... they just pop them off and run away. In fact, I read somewhere that the large claws on Porcelain crabs are mostly for show, and they will almost always leave them behind and retreat, rather than face a predator. EDIT: Also, Tim leaves a disclaimer on every single video link. Nobody watches a video called "Crustacean Wars" or something that features a Mantis with the expectation that they're going to see a Disney ending.

That sure doesn't look eaten to me. My tang mauls seaweed like a lion mauls an antelope.

Did you have any kind of written contract?

Yes. Squamosa clams are hardier than maxima clams, and have a lower light requirement. I scooped up the last ORA squamosa he had, and it's doing great in my tank.

Jon, Do you QT your corals? If so, how long?

I use the Brightwell product. It killed the bugs that were on a piece of coral that I got at fragfest, and I haven't seen any bugs in my tank at all.

Yeah, the finish work is what kills me. I get a bit carried away with the sander to the point that I may as well have been using balsa wood Also like to see some of the mitre work on the doors. Even though I set mine to the correct angle, the pieces don't make a perfect square What kind of wood was this?