firecrackerbob

I think I would generally agree with the above posters. I dont test as often as I would like(or have time for) so what I do is keep a PH probe in the tank that I can check quickly. I have found that PH tends to be a pretty good proxy for the overall health of the system. I can just walk up to my tank, turn of the meter and see what the PH is in a few seconds. if its around 8 or whatever, then my dosing is usually in line and all my other parameters are usually pretty good. if its off then I start to do other tests- ca, alk, mg... So I would say if for me that having a PH probe is worth every penny for the ease of use. I am thinking about some of the hanna checkers as well, but for now, salifert kits are doing a pretty good job...

Interesting- it seems that there are two schools of thought on detritus: let it settle and siphon it(sooner or later) or keep it suspended and let the skimmer pull it out.... I suppose a filter sock may also be a corollary too

I run a bare bottom tank as well as a empty sump(except pump and skimmer) without a sock on my return. Both get vacuumed every other day or so to remove detritus with some tubing. it ends up being about 5gal a week of dirty water that I pull out. I just add a little salt to the sump weekly to keep the salinity up(worth noting here, I have 120 total gal, so its not a huge shock). I also have a large fuge that is plumbed into the system which gets torn down, all rock and macro algae removed and siphoned free of detritus every three months or so. I have run my tanks in a variety of ways over the years only to switch to the above methodology in the last 6mo or so. the difference to my tank has been amazing!

just a thought... did you try a syringe full of kalk paste? I prefer an to use animal solutions as well, but the old fashion way is more reliable some times... though not fun if you have 100 or so aptasia...

IMHO, I would start up your skimmer, and run your fuge light ( I am assuming you have cheto in there?) and keep your main light off. make sure you have good circulation around your rock and maybe blow it off manually every couple of days. I would keep your tank light off for now as its really just using up electricity. im sure there is a wide variety of opitions on cycling, but I believe it takes months. I would wait at least 4 more weeks before doing anything else, but thats just me... as for fuge lighting, what you have would probably work. I have been trying different lights for about a year now and am currently using full specrtrum bulbs from depot with pretty good results.

+1 with Chad- it really wont be that simple. depending on your level of infestation you may be looking at a real headache and losses-dinos almost made me give up the hobby. I lost all of my snails and about 30% of my corals ( and it probably would have been worse, but I had already lost a good amount of my stock to a crash...) something else to do for this- make sure you spot siphon out as much of the slime as you can on a daily or every other day dasis. I found in my case the stuff formed thick globs of snot that could be pretty easily sucked out of hte tank. to get rid of mine I had to bake out some of my base rock, dose kalk about 10 times to the point I had precipitation(which caked over my entire tank, including the glass and jammed all powerheads-all fun to clean out), spot siphoined, tunrned of lights for 5days, changed bulbs, and have not run my lights longer than 6hrs a day for about 6 mo now.... its been a long ride but ive been dino free for about 3mo now... like all things in this hobby, changes can be made, but it takes time... hopfully your situation is better than mine was

JMHO, but I am a firm believer in RO\DI. not only for my fish but for drinking water as well for me and my family (RO Only), especially given the amount of pharmaceuticals that are present in significant trace amounts in public water. Frankly, I wouldnt set up a reef tank without one, but thats just me (others do it very successfully though) nor do I want my children drinking public water out of the tap. Also, and this is purely my experience as a chemist, but I have not been impressed with most suppliers of RODI equipment and their "expertise" ...not naming and names or anything... anyway, after alot of research, I went with aquasafe canada to buy and have not had any problems. I did replace their membrane with a dow after about 2yrs of use though... here is thier info http://aquasafecanada.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1 good luck

Looks like dinoflagellates to me.. heres some basic info- http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php these can be viscous if left unchecked. I would suggest turning off your lights for about 3days then run them for a while for no longer than 6hrs. it killed mine off. per the article PH seems to help, but no matter what I do I cannot get my tank above PH=7.9, so that was out for me... good luck!

Hi boss, thats a tough situation! I can relate though, I spend about 3hrs a day in the car for the commute, get home to my son and try to spend some time with him, and get chores done around the house... on and on... it doesnt leave much time for the tanks. Im lucky to get about 30min a WEEK to play with and enjoy my tanks. heres some ideas: 1)set up an auto top off system. I just use a 10g tank and a TOM pump on a timer that runs 2X15min a day. all I have to do is add water to the 10g tank once a week. 2)I only keep 2 fish in my tank and low care corals(I have a 55g display, 20g sump and a 45g fuge) and only feed the tank once a week. the rest of the time, the fish are on thier own to forrage for pods that make their way out of the fuge. you might want to sell a few of your fish to minimize the bioload. 3)add a fuge if you dont have one. personally, I really think it balances a tank out... but thats JMHO. I would also sell off any corals that are of high value. its not ideal, believe me, but you have to work with what youve got. I think it can be done, but you have to adjust your expectations about what you can keep and care for. Good luck! FB

I should have probably included some info about my system- I have a 55 display connected to a 45 that is being used as a fuge that is full of cheto. the 55 has 1 fish in it and is recovering from a crash last summer (2010) that occured after a move. I feed the chromis about once a week and let him forrage the rest of the time. I also run GFO and polyfilter as well as my fairly inneficient skimmer (aquamedic). I had assumed that by now most of the algae problems I am having with the tank would have been gone, but you know how assuming goes... still fighting red hair and bubble algae among others... its been a long year...

hmmm... havent checked my mg in a while. to be honest, its time to reorder my test kits too. I would guess on the low side though. I have never been able to maintain a PH much higher than 8.0 I typically range between 7.85-8. Ive tried just about everything for that... anyway, I will have to check into the mg issue... what is the consensus on sea hares? doin a quick check, it sounds like there is some real downside risk if the thing dies in the tank? anyone here have any experience with them?

Thanks for the input so far!!!... heres a couple pics of the "red hair algae"... didnt think there was too many types, but maybe im off base here... Ive been thinking about a yellow tang anyway, but im currently at (below?) the minimum size with a 55gal-thoughts on this?... any other thoughts appreciated!

My tank is currently infested with red hair algae and its time to re-order my CUC. I have blue legs, scarlets, and astrea in there now, but none seem to be interested. Do I just need more of them or something else??? Also, any recommendations for bubble algae eaters?? Thanks!!!

Hmm, I had to think about what you were asking for a minute... but If I understand your Q correctly, I think you are trying to compare apples and oranges. When you are looking at a pump, I think most people are looking at how much water gets moved per wattage. So comparing say a 50W pump that moves 300gph vs a 100W pump that moves 800gph lets say. While pumps obviously produce heat as well, most of the energy (I hope) goes into water momentum, not frictional losses, which produces the heat. Heaters on the other hand utilize their wattage to heat a metal coil which raises water temp. So, to your original Q, 50W heater+50WPump does not equal a 100W heater

thanks for the responses!!! Davelin- HOT is house of tropicals. store in glen burnie MD. worth checking out if you are ever up this way. the tang was sold to me as a powered brown, but I think he could also possibly be a white cheek. he is a juvenile either way. my tank is a mixed reef with an open layout. there are two damsels in with him and he has already established dominance over them, so he seems to be the alpha. the tang seems to be doing OK overall, he is eating like a pig and swimming happily. he appears to be breathing normally so whatever he has doesn't seem to have impacted his circulation system too bad yet... I generally prefer to quarantine, but since I moved to an apartment, space is limited. plus with just two other damsels as tank mates I decided to just put him into the display where he would be the least stressed out and water quality could be kept the best. I did some more research on Rally last night and most people claimed it was reef safe without problems. I decided to dose a half dose and see how the tank did. today all sps polyps are still extended so I will probably go for a full dose today. I really want to be proactive about the tangs health. I don't think he is too far along with the velvet(if that is what he has) and am hoping that the steps I am taking will take care of it before it gets too bad.

Hi Guys, Picked up a tang this week at HOT. its doing OK overall, but is rubbing on rocks quite a bit with a whitish\grayish spot on his side. I figured ick or some other issue may be going on and added a cleaner shrimp today-but it doesn't seen to want to do any cleaning yet. HOT also recommended using a product called Rally and claimed it is reef safe. What is the best course of action here?? hope that the cleaner does his job? dose some rally to the display? or QT the tang and dose some rally or other product??? THANKS!!!