droyal1110

I'm not a 100% sure but I think most of your lfs will order them for you, I think blue ribbon koi once told me they could order the bulbs I wanted. However I opted for www.reefgeek.com, I will admit I had an issue with the shipping but it was a UPS problem and not their problem. Owner of the business called me after I emailed them and took care of it. Shipping isn't that bad, once you order so many bulbs the shipping is the same.

If its setup like dursostandpipe.com then just go to home depot and buy a couple of end caps. Start with one small hole, wait a few minutes, either widen or drill another (personally I'd widen). One thing to keep in mind is those whole will get clocked with salt spray and it will seem like something is wrong, I keep the cap loose enough to remove and rinse with freshwater and wipe clean, or you can just pour some water over the top and the water will help breakup the salt creep. How is it in your sump? My standpipe is quiet but I got tons of bubbles rushing into the sump, makes the fizzy sound.

Yea I just posted in the classifieds section on here and people replied when they were doing a waterchange and when I could come get it. I also made sure they never dosed copper, what their parameters were, RO vs tap water, etc.

Oh yea I also forgot, depending on how old the sand in your current tank is should tell you whether or not to use it. If your tank is like a 1year + old, I would just scoop the top and use it to seed your new sand. You could rinse it using the garden hose and I would do a really good job, but then I would soak it and rinse it vigoursly (couple days of agitation) in RO water, simply to reduce the chances of it leeching TDS into your new tank.

From how I understood it, live sand isn't exactly live. I mean there may be some life still gettnig it in those bags but who knows how long they have been sealed and what their definition of live is. But anyways the way I saw it was the living or already dead organisms in that sand is perfect for cycling a tank. Considering you buy live rock to help cycle your tank, you're actually buying the die off the will help kick off the whole ammonia to nitrite to nitrate etc process. So if you're upgrading I would go with dry sand, its what I did, and I didn't have a cycle. I also recommend the following for a transfer: 1. Make lots of water, more than you think you need because you'll probably need it 2. Get help - its tiring it be at weird angles all day and especially if you are transfering a distance 3. Use established tank water - I used water from my 55 when transfering and I even got water change water from lanman on here to help promote stablity and what not 4. Use established live rock - Take the live rock from your tank and quickly stick it in buckets full of tank water, then put it in your new tank (already pre-filled) The idea behind that is the beneficial bacteria is already established on the rock, as soon as you expose it to air some of it will automatically die off, you want to minimize the amount of die off as much as possible because this is what leads to a cycle. Plus the established rock + water should be able to take care of the minimal amounts of potential ammonia etc. 5. Leave the base rock (rock touching the sand) for last when removing things - it will create a sand storm and you don't want to transfer the dirty water/ make catching livestock harder/ could release destructive gasses from the sand 6. Drain water as you go - drain until you get to the top of your live rock, remove a couple pieces into the buckets you drained your water into, drain some more. Again it makes catching fish a lot easier with less places for them to go. 7. Towels are you friends. 8. Set aside a lot of time for this, pick a weekend where you know you have nothing going on and start early. Again start making water the day before. I hope this helps, I'm sorry if this is irrelevant to you but I wish someone told me all of this when I was doing my transfer. Any questions feel free to ask, I did my transfer over 30 miles, about 18 hours, from a 55 gallon to a 90 gallon with a 30 gallon sump.

I've heard lawnmower blennies can be hit or miss though, maybe I'm just misinformed. However mexican turbos will do the trick, but they will knock over anything that isn't secure. If you've got a frag rack, they will drive you crazy. The sea hares do work well but they eat nonstop and once the algae is gone they pretty much die within days, only thing I can think of would be to pass it on to another member in need.

Thanks! I'm really proud of the haddoni, by far my favorite thing right now. Sugar thats cool, let me know if you ever need help with anything.

Thanks! Its a Nikon D200, using a Nikkor 60mm micro lens on a tripod. Here's the FTS, I apologize for the mess, its still a huge work in progress. The rock work had to be moved from selling some stuff a few weeks before and I wanted to leave a valley for the haddoni, I still plan on adding a lot more rock and I definitely plan on finishing scraping the glass. Sorry atinics are on and its hard to meter it well on the camera. Thanks Lynn I think I will do that.

Thanks and yea a turbo had knocked it down by the anemone, found it the next day and promptly moved it, its on my frag rack where it will hopefully heal up. Should I remove the white portion to encourage growth where it has died? Will this spread?

Sorry I was lazy, most of them came out pretty good but I didn't crop or edit them, I'm actually home sick right now and should be resting =D

I had problems with my PH as well from it being in the basement. What helped me was point powerheads at the surface, having fans in my canopy to move fresh air, leaving the door open to the rest of the house, and having a light on over my fuge (w/ cheato) opposite of my display light times. You may have a bigger problem than I have with the dosing factors but hope that helps.

Wow that sucks dude. You could just get another tank, 25 gal tanks aren't expensive. Maybe this is a sign to look on craigslist/wamas classifieds and find a bigger tank.

Didn't think of that either, good call. But like you said I think the issue would be the whole melting and making the concrete runny or whatever. Plus I can't remember but I think theirs chemical reaction when you mix the two and it heats up the concrete which would further melt the ice and give odd results.

Yea water softner salt is large, but I know nothing about it. I didn't think they would dissolve that fast and when I say fast I mean like a month of curing and they are still there. Whereas the rock salt should break down within that time with several water changes and flow. If the softener breaks down I know exactly where to get that.

Oh cool, thanks!

davelin I had no idea those were that biodegradable, my only issue is that I think because they are so soft and break down easily they might not survive the mixing process. Most people say they like to get bigger rock salt because when you mix it some of it melts down anyways. dshnarw - That is a good point, I'd use tank salt but A) its expensive =D B) need the large granules. I suppose I could try to make a bunch of "chunks" of aquarium salt but I don't see it working out too well. So when looking for the road salt is there anything I need to watch out for? I always thought there would be chemicals harmful to a reef tank in it, now that I think about it, it has to be environmentally safe since it can run off into streams etc. I might try this, thanks!

What if it doesn't all melt away though? I guess my question is if I used the road salt in my tank right now, what would it do to it?

I have a 30 gallon that was used a QT but it all the sudden became a new home. I originally just had a HOB filter and a pump for flow and I just did water changes to help keep params stable. Well I don't have the time or will to do a water change even once a week, I decided its time to get a protein skimmer. I attempted my own little DIY skimmer using a bottle, air stone, and a pump, its somewhat working but it needs to be really tweaked to get anywhere with it. I was thinking of just getting some pvc and going with that, I am most likely going to stick with the air stone method because its only a 30g, not heavily stocked, and I want to use what I already bought, total price of supplies with like 30 bucks. If anyone has a link to a good DIY skimmer I'd appreciate it. I'm mainly looking for something to hang in the tank and easily adjusted or maintained. I did do a search but didn't turn up anything worth while. Thanks.

Yea too small, the idea is to make large pores and make the rock lighter, plus I will also use it as a "mold" when making the rock.

Oh cool thanks, I'll shoot them a PM then.

Hello. In the past I've experimented with creating my own rock but have always been disappointed with the results. After doing even more research I have decided the key ingredient I need is rock salt. However the salt has to be aquarium safe so pretty much food grade (not the chemical type for icy walkways), and it has to be large pieces, something like a dime and up would be fantastic. I've checked walmart, Giant foods, Harris Teeter, etc, all with no luck. If anyone has made their own rock and went through this process and found the large rock salt, please share where you got it from! Thanks.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sou...mp;oq=&aqi= Whichever is closest to you.

Not a problem. I am as passionate and knowledgeable about cameras as most people are reefing (I'm getting there too.) Honestly I contemplated the T1i, but I just couldn't make the jump, I've got too much money invested into Nikon and even if I bought the adapter to use Nikon lenses on a Canon body it just wouldn't be the same. Good luck on your purchase and if you have any questions please feel free to shoot me a PM and I'll do my best to help you or direct you to the right place. I also enjoy doing "photoshoots" or just walking around new areas taking pictures, if you buy a new camera and want to go on a stroll and learn about picture taking I'm all for it.

I'm not going to lie, I didn't read all the posts, however I know a thing or two about photography. 1st - Don't worry about the pixels, thats just a selling factor people will use to promote what their selling. If you were blowing up your pictures to billboard size, yea I would say megapixels matter. 2nd - You don't have to buy top of the line or latest and greatest. My personal opinion, buy a decent body with your budget, use the rest of the money to buy a decent focal length lens (50-200mm) for everyday shooting, and save the rest of the money for a decent $400 dollar macro lens and a tripod. You're not going to get the pictures like most people see on here without a tripod and sharp lens. 3rd - Used is good too. www.keh.com highly reputable for their used equipment, truth be told I literally ordered a used D200 like 12 hours ago and I cannot wait. I'm personally a Nikon guy, I thought about switching to cannon but thats a long list why and in the long run I decided to stick with Nikon. Personally, the being able to see the picture in the screen versus the view finder isn't as accurate. In the viewfinder you get a magnified look at what you're taking a picture of, if its sharp and in focus, if its cropped everything you want. I recommend the D40 or D3000 or the Canon Rebel XS. I think you'll be happy with those choices with what you want to do, plus it can still take "professional" photos with the right lens and the right settings. I used a Nikon D80 and a 60mm macro lens seen here http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6698..._Autofocus.html to take these photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davinroyal/se...57614788265515/ They are nothing fantastic but it gives you an idea, plus I took all of these without a tripod compromising ISO and aperture/shutter speed. But like I said www.keh.com is good. If you want the classes I know if you buy a camera from Ritz camera they offer a class on how to use it but you could just read the manual, tinker with the camera, and READ. There are tons of how to articles online, something like http://digital-photography-school.com/ is a great place to start. Plus you can youtube on how to use the camera. Another thing is join a nikon or canon forum and a lot of times people will explain how they took the shot they did and what they did to make it look they way it did. Just my .02 If you go Nikon I can help you out with most questions, canon I know nothing about.

Yea but I'm not scared of coconuts and I'm pretty sure I can swim faster than them. Plus I can set a tree on fire, shark I cannot.