lutz123

Not a good choice at all - and find a new lfs. A serpent star is great. Not quite the same but reef safe and you can easily provide enough food for it. Remember that "reef safe" means it doesn't bother corals, not that it isn't a predator.

I have a couple of pink skunk clowns and would like to get them an anemone. The anemones they host naturally are the Ritteri, LTA, and sebae. Of those, I think the sebae would be the best fit. I would like to find a healthy, well acclimated specimen and am hoping someone can offer a good resource. For what it's worth, the clowns are 2 1/2 and 4 inches so I would preferably like to find one big enough that they don't overwhelm it. They aren't "paired" yet but hang together without bickering.

Thanks. It was a little dirty and I ended up just making fresh.

No idea but it sure is pretty. The truth is, most sea stars are extremely difficult to care for long term because many have such specialized diets. Worth checking out for sure though!

Never had an issue with nassarius being anything but scavengers. The tongan (large) nassarius ware aggressive eaters and can steal from corals. Margarita snails are coldwater and shouldn't be recommended for warm tanks.

Ceriths are some of my favorite - great for cyano. Odd that they don't show turbos eat hair algae - mine are like lawnmowers. I don't love astreas just because the fact that they can't flip themselves back over is a maintenance issue for me.

While I know it's probably not great to use old tankwater (meaning sitting for two weeks with no heat/circulation) can someone tell me why? I don't mean dirty, yellow water - just water that has been sitting but isn't exactly clean either. Is there an actual scientific reason, or is it just better safe than sorry?

This is what I have...

If you do try to clean the sand, I have actually not found it all that difficult, though that is probably pretty deep if it's a standard 90. Also, it depends on how dirty, but it's worth a try. Empty all of the water except for a few inches and reserve half to use for sand cleaning. also remove life and rock. Stir the sandbed and really dirty that remaining water. Siphon the water. Add a few inches of water back to the tank. Stir and siphon. Repeat several times. Once the water isn't completely dirty I have reused with no issues. If it's more than a couple of inches deep I would probably just save some from the top and add new sand. I have followed the advice of not mixing your old sand and new - just drop it in handfuls and let everything migrate.

I caught one of my emeralds eating at a sinularia frag this afternoon. Shooed it away and caught it wrapped around a toadstool frag this evening. He was banished after that. In my other tank I added some new cleanup crew and the darn emeralds could not stay away from eating the small cerith snails and I think a couple of little hermits. They would hold the snail and run from me. Never saw them going after LPS but at this point the emeralds are all going. That being said, the stn could be from anything.

+2 Not the time to make a big decision on this. Get settled in and put this on the back burner for a bit. I have several items I got rid of prematurely and regretted it.

I have had Ocellaris in the past and never heard anything, but I had two pink skunk clowns arrive yesterday and as they are venturing out today there is all sorts of clacking and grunting going on. I can hear it loud from across the room. That's why I love this hobby - definitely always learning! Any other loud fish out there? Now I just hope this is flirting (appears to be). By the way, when you order one at .75"-1", and the other from 1"-2"...to blue zoo aquatics it really means one at 2 inches, and the other at 3.5+, not including the tail.

I don't have my 200 set up yet, but one of my biggest concerns is humidity control. That also has me questioning whether I will put my sump and ato under the stairwell behind the tank. I have a 40 with a 20 gallon sump in my 12x12 home office right now with just rock and no light fixture, and the humidity is very noticeable. I know there are measures that can be taken, but I have no doubt there are some lessons learned there. Btw, I love the dimensions of this 200dd. I never thought I would even want a tank that is 24 inches high, but honestly this 27 is great. I would never want to do intricate aquascaping or coral placement though after initial setup.

Curious - why can't you access the washing machine hookup?

My advice isn't really specific brand, but just be careful not to get a light that is way more than you need. Oftentimes these powerful lights need to be hung so high you would have a ton of light spillage. I really like Kessils for smaller tanks. Their website has recommendations based on tank size. I am impressed with OR lights as well, but I am concerned that they may be pretty big for a tank that narrow.

Is it red turf algae? From your pic it kind of looks like cyanobacteria. Can you slurp it up with a turkey baster?

I sure wish mine would. I have a rock boring and pencil urchin in there. Up until a few weeks ago there was a sea egg there too. If they are doing anything I can't tell. They seem to prefer the coralline. The pencil urchin has a beautiful flowing mane of hair algae all over its spines...

Research "cooking rock". You don't literally cook - that can actually be dangerous.

I have that in one of my nanos. I had NO fish in the tank and wasn't even feeding it except for very occasionally sprinkling a couple of mysis for my serpent star. It is like a solid grassy forest. I will likely go the dolabella sea hare route to finish up. I have had two urchins in there since well before this started, as well as turbos. Urchins don't eat hair algae. I did throw 5 emerald crabs in and it was like they were dropped into Thanksgiving dinner. They were fast workers and made quick work. But as I said, I put 5 emeralds in a nano. They will kill each other if I let it go on too long. They have made a small dent though. I will definitely always keep one or two in my big tank after seeing how they love hair algae as insurance. It would definitely be good to go rodi - just a big water change with it may help. He ought to have his water tested before running his well water through rodi. If I remember correctly, it can contain substances that aren't filtered out with an rodi.

+1 on the Synergy Overflow! BTW, if you go that route, they prefer you use Bulk Reef Supply because bulk shipping is easier for them...

I think some light fixtures are worse than others. Go to the lfs and look at them. I don't find the kessils to be bad at all. I know what you mean though. I am a canopy fan because I hate to be sitting on the couch and see the blinding light across the room coming from a fixture.

With a tank of that size, acrylic is going to be easier to move if it's ever necessary. I think there are plenty of good choices out there. Decide your dimensions and see if you can find it stock or will need to go custom.

What a pain. I have never had more than a few pop up and disappear. Do you know what type of valonia you have? It might make a difference in finding help. Urchins may help as well.

Good suggestions - I will look into both of those. I am hesitant on the behind the wall option because of the "project" aspect of that. I never had this tank even slightly on the horizon so, as a surprise setup, holes in the wall is something I am trying to avoid. However, the tank actually backs up to a wall where basement stairs are directly behind it. As far as I know, it's just empty wasted space. I'm not sure how high the area is. I could go behind and to the side very easily because there is already a little alcove/bench area but this is a reef-ready tank and I don't know if having the sump too far away to the side is a good idea. And our house sump pump sits nearby as well. It sure would be nice to have water changes go directly there. Of course, I am still debating even keeping this tank because I have an empty 75 gallon sitting in my living room that I still want to finish setting up. Maybe I should just trade both for a size in between that's already planned out!

Have you thought about doing a particular biotope? It may make it easier to pick your stock. Just a thought here... The thing about shallow reefs is that, in nature, shallow reefs are often in more turbulent areas - not conducive to a "look down" because of the high flow. Lagoons though are typically calmer overall, and the species that reside in those areas have a calmer environment. Or a tide pool? I agree that the fish concern is a big one. Typically in look down tanks you find inverts. Anything that resides in groups may squabble and that's the biggest jump risk in my opinion. I lost two clowns to jumping in a 16 inch deep tank. I will say though that I would love a bangaii/mangrove/urchin shallow tank.