amos

Enlarging the clean up crew will help, but I'd also suggest increasing your water movement. If you can keep detritus in the water column, it will both be absorbed by filter feeders and skimmed off by your skimmer. That should help a lot, even if it its just so you don't see the detritus pile in the corner. When I do a water change I use a turkey baster to remove any detritus sitting in the sump. I know lots of folks use it to blast rocks also, prior to a water change (to remove even more). Hope that helps. Jon

Corals will react differently under different lights. Corals generally stretch to maximize light under lower light conditions, and the reverse is true when under higher light conditions. What you might be experiencing is the corals just reacting to the new level of light intensity from the T5s. I experienced something similar. Its recommended to acclimate corals to light changes gradually using short photo periods initially, or by using eggcreate or another screen to help the transition. Most are resilient though, and should recover. Jon

I used tap water for at least a year when I first started - and I've heard of plenty of others doing the same. He may battle some additional algae issues, but I don't think it will have any negative effect on the livestock. Jon

Looks like a great start brimming with potential! Looking forward to your build thread, Tim. Jon

He's doing ok. He's been pretty timid, and stays on one side of the tank until I put food in, and then he goes wild over the food. He has eaten everything I've put in. He's not being bullied. Everyone leaves him alone (I have a white cheek tang, clown, starry blenny, and a melanarus wrasse), but since he's near the clown's hosting spot, they get into scuffles every once and a while. He hasn't gone after any invertebrates in the tank. But he's also still a bit jumpy and can get easily startled. I think he's still going through a transition period, so I'm keeping a close watch.

Submitters: Jon, Amos Location: My 90 Camera Used: Canon Digital SLR Subject: Green Hairy Mushroom

Looks great! I really like the dimensions of the tank. Thanks for sharing. Jon

Wow. Thanks for sharing that. I hope mine never gets a taste for corals. So far I haven't noticed anything like that. Were there particular corals he would go after?

General Update I'll admit it, I got a little caught up in the aquascaping wave. I needed to make some room for corals, and wanted to create some more vertical viewing interest, so I figured I would try moving some rocks around. This allowed me to place a couple of new monti frags (a little small to see right now). Maintenance wise, everything was going fine until one of maxi-jet mod shafts broke in half a few days ago. I called algaefree, and they said they would send me one immediately as it was still under warranty. I may have to get a temporary replacement until I receive the part. The product has its flaws, but I'm still a firm believer as its so inexpensive. Hitchhiker Crab Over the past few years, I would catch a glimpse of a hitcher crab in the tank every few months (who hasn't had one of these?). Just when I thought he had gone, he would pop up and then disappear again. Yesterday, I finally managed to snap a picture of him. The following site allowed me to properly ID him: http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchcrabs.html. It looks like he's the xanthidae shown in the 2nd pic here: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/reefs/guamimg/cru...idae/index.html. It says that these are opportunistic feeders that borrow in live rock. That being said, I looked around and noticed a long tunnel running through one of the rocks that I'm fairly sure didn't exist before. I haven't paid him much attention, as I've only lost one fish the past couple of years to something unexplained- a yellow watchman goby- which this probably explains. I'm considering now if I need to have him removed, but I actually think he's pretty cool and I have to take my hat off to him for being a survivor. Bluejaw Trigger I've now had the bluejaw for just over two months. He's eaten great, but has been consistently timid and has even been picked on a bit by an ocellaris clownfish. He has also jumped into the overflow box once, so I'm really keeping an eye on him. Hope you enjoy the pics!

I let mine fall off naturally, then grabbed it. It had been waving in the current like a loose tooth and then just fell off one day. I don't think it would hurt to cut the piece off, as long as it has a mouth. Jon

I've had the same thing occur on my favia. For me, its happening when the coral grows over a tiny tube worm. As the tube worms grow upward to escape the coral, the coral continues to grow over it. At some point, the worm loses this battle, and the case breaks, thus causing the growth to flop over. When one broke off, I used some epoxy to secure the tiny frag to a frag square (the shown frag now has 5 mouths). As long as the frag has a mouth, it'll be ok. Hope this helps. Jon

Bill, You can actually do ALOT with the lighting you have (even with the single lens reflector (SLR)). I have 4 T5 bulbs on my 90. My buddy has the Nova with the SLR and has the exact same set of corals! There are lots of folks on here with similar setups, and you can get an idea (and real experience!) on how corals have done under that type of lighting. I think Brian Ward said something a while back about how flow is more important than light, and I'm starting to really believe that... Here's another thread with some examples of acros under T5s. http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...mp;#entry237483 Regards, Jon

I tried this with a yellow stripped maroon once, and when I put him back in, he went straight back to his old antics. He went right back to his nesting spot and began picking on the same kaudern's cardinal fish, among other things. He had been in the sump for at least three weeks, and I had changed the rockwork around to no avail. Jon

I've been replacing right at 12 months.

What about a foxface or rabbitfish? There are some beautiful varieties out there, and do well with additional algea control and would mix well. Otherwise, one of the (supposedly) reef-safe butterflies like the pyramid? Jon

Good observation! I need to take some better notes on the tank (and maybe test more regularly). Thanks for pointing that out. I remember reading that many of these corals are alot hardier and can adapt more readily than we realize. Jon

Sean, Actually, I haven't done anything to specifically bring down nutrients after the introduction of the acropora. What's interesting is this tank is 80% mushrooms, which supposedly thrive on higher nutrients and grow incredibly rapidly in the tank. Perhaps I should do some testing. Jon

First off, this is by no means an endorsement of using 4 T5s over any tank. Nor is this intended to "prove" anything. Just sharing some personal experiences in trying some acropora in my 90 gallon. If I did everything again (and had the funds), I might have splurged for a 6 bulb fixture for flexibility and a better color mix. But as it was, I kept my 4 bulb Tek Light when I upgraded and am continually searching for data on what might be kept successfully. Montis have had a great track record, but wasn't sure how a more light-demanding acropora might fare, and couldn't find much by ways of anecdotal experience. Thanks to reefhunter, I acquired a nice green slimer frag back in august - which is rated as moderate-high light demanding species but has a good reputation for adapting to light conditions. My lights are maybe 3" off the water (the lowest setting with the legs). The frag base is down about 6" from the top of the water. I'm using a combo of 3 ATI Blue Plus and 1 GE 6500k, which according to grimreefer's numbers, is a total PAR of 1273. If you go by their specified 6 bulb configuration, you get a PAR of 1612. Pics depict growth over 4.5 months. August 5: October 27: December 16:

I wondered the same when I noticed the decline in snails/hermits when I first started maintaining the tank. I finally got to the point where I decided not to replenish either, and haven't seen any noticeable difference since I stopped purchasing hermits or snails a couple of years ago (with the exception of the 4 nassarius I added after my upgrade to a 90). Right now, I have 2 hermits and 3 trochus snails, and 4 nassarius. I also have noticed an increase in tiny brittle stars, asterinas, and limpets. In my experience, I'd rather have these self-balancing species around as a clean up crew. Jon

Submitters: Jon, amos Location: my 90 reef Camera Used: Canon digital SLR Subject: Bob the clownfish

Scott, Here's a great link that boils alot of the discussion that occurs over at RC (primarily based on grimreefer's experiences). http://tfivetesting.googlepages.com/ Good info on bulb types, brands, combos. Regards, Jon

A couple of weeks ago, my GBTA and my yuma ric got tangled up. The GBTA recoiled and ended up moving (after being there for 2 years). Just my experience.

I know lots of folks on this forum are DIY'ers. This is one of those instances where I think the product (algea-free sure grip) is well worth the money. I bought two and expect to not have to think about it for the next 10 years. Of course, lots of folks enjoy the tinkering aspects of the hobby. Just my 2 cents.

If you want a reef-safe angel, the Genicanthus family has some options: Lamarks, bellus, swallowtail. I've never had any personal experience keeping these, but did a fair amount of research as I was considering them at one time. Jon

These things definitely require a high level of tinkering... Usually, they start out noisy but then quiet down after a few weeks use. Reseating the impeller DOES help in some cases. Almost, make sure no snail is parked beside it, because that'll cause a large amount of rattling. There is a chance it blows out impeller "seat". Highly likely if you are using a wavemaker. I used some epoxy to fix it in place. Not a perfect technology, but for the price and the minor efforts to get them to work, well worth it IMHO. Jon