Sikryd

+1 I couldn't catch a shrimp or two and they made it. Same with the snails I missed. The hermits I didn't catch didn't fare so well. I was surprised it wasn't that big of a deal. Definitely run it through all your reactors, sump, fuge, skimmer, ect. I turned on my skimmer and reactors @ 6 hours and let it go through them for 3 hours, then rinsed and refilled them and did a water change. I doubt you lost any SPS due to them, but color is night and day. I think a lot more people have them than realize it. I would have never known unless someone pointed them out to me, since my color was awesome. Polyp extension wasn't as good, but I never knew the difference. Growth wasn't all that either. Unless I knew what to look for, or someone pointed it out, I wouldn't have known. After that is when I switched to full QT, and things can still get through.

Yeah, take a look at night. Different ones/types have them, not all do. I have seen one that was a huge colony and 10" tentacles.

I think it was Jeff Foxworthy that said a Redneck is one with: "A glorious lack of sophistication" Using any, or all of those items, might fit into that category. lol (I had to use that reference since my wife was telling me about it last night when we took the dogs for a walk and saw a really nice depiction of the definition )

Its usually one of either a few things (or all) Flow No RODI - ie. high TDS in water change water Phosphates Overfeeding I'm sure I'm missing something - but those are usually the culprits from what I have noticed.

Thats looking awesome Stu ! I would speak to the not adding more frags things, but that would be hippocritical lol That is funny about your Mystery - luckily I added mine pretty much last, except for the Flame Troupe - he hasn't ate any shrimps, and there are only a couple hermits left, so hopefully it will stay that way, but like you said, I don't really mind either way - definitely a cool fish. He did chase the smaller of the 4 flame wrasses out of the tank though - finally. I caught it once, the next time a buddy and I watched him fly out of the tank (put him back in) then a couple days later the wife and I found a fish bisquit. Definitely keep this thing updated with tank growth shots, that will cool to watch it grow in.

+1 Looking good Rik Nice fish list too. The only thing I would worry about is your Mystery chasing stuff out of the tank. Mine did it to one of the smaller flames. They're all cool now though. I guess he had to establish his dominance after the tang and foxface were gone.

Nice piece! Even better looking Picasso's - nice pickups./

With the depth of a 150g I would run 10-12

LOL!!!!! Thats all up to how much space you want to dedicate to eat species/frag. I have ~350 pieces in the tank now - they ALL get ~ 1" of space. lol Its a frag junk yard right now. Not really a reef, but it will get there. I just have to color it all up and move out the stuff we aren't keeping as part of the final display. I would leave it with that list, see where you are at for space, then keep in mind the growth, style, and color, then go from there. Your asking for HELP!!?!? It looks like you did a pretty good job with your last tank, that thing was sweet! I guess it depends on what you want it to look like. I like the look of 5-6" colonies (not for stags and stuff of course) with all kinds of different colors, textures, ect. - all growing together. Some guys like the 20" big colonies with 10-20 different corals max. I love the grown together full looks with all kinds of crazy nice colors and textures. I am emulating my tank "look" after others that I like. This is one of them. Its Mark Poletti's tank out of Sacramento. He's got a nice system, that looks good to me. I'm doing some different stuff though since I have a lot of LPS too.

Looks like a good list to start. I'm a big fan of the Lokani's, Granny's, and Carolina's.

Same here - I would love to add some LED's. I even bought some off of ebay that were DIY. They came in a strip of speaker wire and a wall plug. They are all connected about 8" apart and are soldered and heat shrunk together. I have been looking for a way to add them that wouldn't detract from my setup, but haven't figured anything out yet. I have the Aquamedic 4x250w Ocean light - so it pretty sleek looking and I don't want to mess that up. I miss having a moon light with the shimmer!

Lol - I wasn't speaking about my tank and T-5's vs. PC's at all. I just brought that up about the coral being able to tell you whether or not they are getting what they need. The T-5's do NOTHING in my tank except are for visual supplementation. I had an all T-5 tank before and hated it. The colors were cool and stuff, but missed the shimmer. I also have PC's on my QT tank. They're fine for lighting it up, but thats about it. If I can get the bulb to fire up tomorrow I'll test it to see what par it is throwing out. It wouldn't be fair to judge growth off a QT tank where a coral isn't even settled in. So I have no idea what a straight up PC lit tank would do for growth or color. I've kind of followed the crowd, and all the knowledgable reefers that have been around for 20 years. There is a reason they aren't using PC's anymore, they just aren't as good or efficient as T-5's. To be honest - I would laugh if I saw $50 pc's lighting up a tank with $500 in coral. It just doesn't add up since T-5's don't cost that much more and are more efficient.

I have a par meter, but no pc lights that work, otherwise I would. I guess out of curiosity it would be good to find out. Other than that, I don't see why anyone would want to skimp on lighting with the amount of benefit that comes with running a T-5 instead of a PC. The cost comparison isn't that big, yet the benefits can be seen in coral growth and color. That is all I really use to tell me how my lights are doing. I just borrowed my buddies par meter since that area under one of my 250's (4x250w + 4x39 T-5's) wasn't growing as good as I thought it should. Sure enough the par was down 200 under that bulb. Then I switched the ballast it was on with another bulb to make sure it was the bulb. It was. I pmed Amay last night and added one to my order. I think watching our corals closely can give us more information about our tank than just the #'s or specs per-se. I'll see if I can get a PC light to test it on for shots and giggles though.

Thats awesome Lynn. From my understanding it is that time of year. With the full moon, I would guess that this is happening to a lot more of us, we just aren't there to see it.

Same here, just wish I would have known sooner. They need a mailing list or something!

Salt is one of those things I think everyone has an opinion on. I gave up caring, and use IO since it is available everywhere, is decently priced, and I will have to dose regardless of what salt I use.

LOL Yeah - I think the guy that made the list up was doing it as a "generalization" - definitely not something for experienced reefers to take to heart. I don't think I have EVER seen two tanks setup the exact same way. We all have our own "special concoction" we believe in and setup to emulate. lol I just thought I would post it since it is some REALLY good info and seemed pretty cool. I wish they would print these off at the LFS's - It would have saved me some money and headaches - even if I didn't follow 75% of it!!!

I would hate to try and compare my 125g tank PACKED full of goodies with "hundreds of large scale aquariums" that have 1000x the tank volume per coral, and fish. We pack our tanks like sardines, comparitively. If you have a full mixed reef with no skimmer and no algae or issues, and was stocked without any knowledge of the hobby, that would be cool to check out. I know someone on here does. I think the person that wrote this was trying to give some general advice to reef newbies - which I think is totally cool. I'd leave the PC growing sps/lps with no skimmer to someone with a little more experience that is willing to deal with headaches and won't get out of the hobby over it. Nothing is absolute in this hobby if I have learned anything. One thing is for sure though - some things sure do make it a LOT easier. Just my .02 Great addition After Zygote brought up the book issue - I think this would be a good one *****Invest in the best and most books you can buy, and READ them. They will save hundreds of $$$'s, and provide a great education of the animals in our tanks.

Seen this on another site thought it would be good for newbies!! *Dont over feed. If you have tons of unexplained algae, you are probably feeding too much. *Frequent water changes are a must. *No salt water tank is complete without a skimmer. Some people will say you can get away without one but thats like saying you can go on a cross country road trip in your car using only first gear. Why bother? *Use coral food sparingly. *Don't buy a fish thinking 'I will buy a bigger tank when it outgrows this one'. *Many people, including both neophytes and seasoned veterans of the hobby, will tell you that certain things have to be done certain ways. A lot of the times these people are 90% or more correct but always do a little investigating before making your own decision. Sometimes people on the internet are wrong. *I will never setup a tank without a sump. *In woodworking you measure twice, cut once. My advice is to research a new livestock purchase twice, buy once. *Adequate flow and tank turnover are two of the most important factors in tank health and are often overlooked at the beginning. *For God's Sake, cycle that tank before stocking it with livestock. *If you own a fish before you own a test kit you are doing it wrong. *T5 lighting alone IS enough to grow basically any coral. PC lighting is not. *Support local retailors. Yes sometimes stuff can be found online cheaper, but good luck calling up Dr Fosters & Smith when you suddenly have a tank problem. It has been my experience that every local store I've ever been in has been more than happy to stop and talk/educate/teach about anything salt water related and this knowledge is far more valuable than the $5-10 you would have saved on the frag online. *Never spend more than $20 on a frag of common Xenia or Green Star Polyps. *If 10 people say that livestock X will probably die in your tank and 1 person says that he has had one healthy for 2 years and you'll be fine, it will probably die in your tank. Don't buy it. *Be generous to other reefers and they will usually be generous back. *Super glue gel is an amazing tool for mounting rocks and coral. *Hydrometers are junk, get a refractometer. *Frag swaps are fun ways of getting cheap corals and meeting new people. *Homemade frozen food is cheaper and easier to maintain quality control than ready made mixes like Prime Reef. *Regular Frozen brine shrimp is to fish what potato chips are to humans. **Probably the most important thing I've learned is that good things happen slowly, and only bad things happen fast. Patience is key when it comes to having a good reef tank. Often times the best thing to do is provide a stable environment and keep your hands out of the tank as much as possible. *****My addition***** Get out and see some tanks, meet some people, and share the love of the hobby - its makes it so much more fun.

They are similiar. I think pretty much the same. I went with the MSX. I love it, and great bang for the $

^^^^ +1 I'd add the Tyree Jedi Mind Trick monti, Sand dollar monti, and a good reverse sunset. There are so many nice chalices out its hard to pick. Plus it matters how much you want to spend. Depending on how much she wants to spend, it is probably best to find someone with a nice collection, then buy it as a package deal. That is what I tried to do most of the time.

I learned that at the same time as Bob lol I'd try that and see what happens.

LOL - yeah no doubt! I heard it changes the whole meaning of being broke! I am not going to expand at all. I wouldn't run another system if the whole thing was given to me. This is what I ended up doing. Picking corals I really like - including the dreaded chalices lol - I don't care if any of them sell to be honest. I really like most of them, and the ones I didn't I have already sold. If I was you, I would definitely learn about chalices prior to buying them if you haven't already - wild ones that are fragged up will usually either die, brown out, or never really grow. That is from personal experiece. They have to be in our tanks for a year prior to doing any of that. I learned the hard way on quite a few pieces.... That is not 100% of course, just my experience with them. Justin's advice on the 2 year plan is a good one. I know for me, I get hit up all the time for stuff. I can't imagine how I could sell frags of anything for at least a year. Some stuff I can if it grows quicker, or I bought it bigger. But for the most part it takes time to grow a nice sweet display that needs some underwater gardening to keep it in check. <rant on> This is just my take on some of the crazier stuff going on - I got a little tied up in that thinking for a bit too awhile back, I'm not perfect either - I'd love to be able to line my pockets. Just my opinion - I think there are wayyyyyyy too many people with frag tanks and no displays that are only in the hobby to make money via propagation. I'm all for making a few bucks to help buy new coral, offset costs, ect. But to only have a frag display to grow something to sell a 1/2 frag or 1 polyp is what has turned the hobby from something fun for everyone into a frenzy to make money. Someone is going to do it, and people pay, but there is a point where I need to look at myself and see if that is what I want to support. I have read more than one thread on Purple Hornets being slow growers. ANYTHING thing is if you frag it when it is little more than 2 polyps, or 2" acro, or .002 chalice frag - lol <rant-off>

+1 Somehow I ventured from doing a reef on a budget, then decided to do a little more. Then after the wife talking me into doing a little more with it I decided to go forth with doing some sort of coral propagation. I still haven't decided 100% yet. Since I am going to be a stay at home Dad I figured it might be a good plan to make a little extra money doing something I really enjoy. The investment in time, research, testing, and general reefing is often overlooked as an expense. It is extremely time consuming when you have 20k+ tied up in livestock. This isn't just if you want to sell stuff, but just keeping a nice looking reef with great color. If I added up the time, reading, and research I have done on reefing just in the last couple years it would be insane. I can't imagine the guys that have done this for years. After learning for myself what it takes to have a nice colorful reef, I definitely have a LOT more respect and understanding of the amount of time that those with the same have put in it. I guess it matters if your client is looking for a quick short term monetary gain, a reef that he enjoys but would like to sell frags from in a couple of years, or farming. I decided that I wouldn't mind spending a few dollars on some real nice livestock, then be able to sell frags in a year or two. Stocking with all high-end stuff is nice, but the amount of time and energy that goes into it isn't worth it unless you really enjoy it and are doing it more for yourself. At least that is my take on it.

Thanks. 4 x 250w 14k Phoenix on HQI + 4 39w T-5's