lutz123

I am also perfectly happy to go sumpless and was in agreement, but after understanding what can be done to mitigate risk I find that sumps are far safer with the right setup. FWIW, I have had an hob filter overflow, I have overflowed my all in one Solana, and canister plumbing is no safer than sump (if not less secure). Go visit some tanks of other members and do lots of research. I agree that alot has changed.

Honestly, I think it's just personal preference. I prefer vinyl clear tubing over flex if I am going to use it. Both have their good and bad qualities. Typically if you add valves and want unions you will want pvc so at that point you may as well use pvc the whole way.

I may have missed it, but are you feeding your coral? Once a week with mysis isn't much and not varied. You might try getting a frozen blend and ditch the flakes and pellets for awhile and see if that helps.

I've seen some really cool ones on reefcentral I think. There were a few nanos belonging to people who live on the west coast and just collect locally - anemones and local fish and such. I don't remember anyone ever saying it was particularly difficult to maintain.

Just thoughts since it could be so many things. If nitrates are high perhaps you need a source of mechanical filtration unless you are doing fairly large water changes weekly. Even though they aren't big, that's alot of fish in a 10 gallon (if I understand correctly that it's still in the 10 gallon). I have a 16 gallon nano and it felt a little overstocked when I temporarily had three small fish. That will definitely contribute to nitrates, as will feeding heavily which you likely have to do. A 10 gallon would do fine with an HOB filter - a little oversized like an AC70. That way you could use filter floss to catch the crud that may be making it harder to keep up with. The 20 gallon should simplify things greatly and an HOB filter would be fine with that too. You really don't need a protein skimmer in my opinion - on nanos they are of marginal benefit but it doesn't hurt. Lighting should be fine and likely isn't contributing. I agree on the water source being a question (though that won't cause high nitrates). The tank can easilly handle changing 3 gallons at a time and it would be worth it. If you run up to your LFS you can pick up 5 gallons pretty inexpensively and do two pretty good water changes in a week. At least you would have a hopefully good source of water. Also, if your top offs are inconsistent and there are large swings you may be seeing stress, but I personally don't reallly every notice that and have pushed the limit a few times.

I got in the habit of leaving the lights off during short trips (a week or less) because it always seems to benefit - not sure. It started because I was trying to minimize any fire hazard while we were out of town. I have always found that it is the single best way to keep cyano in check over time.

Patience will be your friend in this one. If you have natural light reaching the tank, cut the lights for a couple of weeks. Do a few smaller water changes. Remove manually what you can but don't worry about every tiny bit (you will never remove it all, even if you don't see it). You are aiming for changing the biological balance so that the cyano isn't dominant. It is no different than any other time something has undoubtedly popped up in your tank and it eventually went away once things leveled out. I admit I haven't paid attention to what you care routine is so I can't comment there. Good luck!

Yeah, I was going to suggest possibly shipping and having them in a quarantine until you arrived but shipping this time of year is risky. I wish I had a suggestion. If you keep the car very warm you may be okay with circulating with an air pump and plugging in at night in a hotel. Not sure I would do that with anything bigger than a couple of inches though. Call a couple of the lfs. They may have suggestions since they transport year round.

Something to strive for - thank you for sharing!

Part of the cycle - I got it thick on one rock when I first set my nuvo up and it eventually disappeared. Just ignore. And be prepared for many other funky questionable things to come and go over the next year.

Hmm...might be interesting to try. I would love a big fish only, but do not want 180 gallons of cyanobacteria on my hands - it's frustrating enough in a small tank. I guess I'm picturing something similar to when I kept a couple of freshwater Oscars in the past. I don't ever remember doing anything really other than water changes and replacing media, with the occasional scrub. I don't remember ever needing an algae scraper, etc. Could it possibly be that easy if it's understocked? Plus, with salt you have the additional benefit of a protein skimmer. I am thinking a 150 or 180 for the basement, but don't want the headache if it just becomes a huge maintenance beast.

Thanks - I guess that's what I was looking for. Back many years ago when I had my first saltwater tank all I remember doing was essentially take a freshwater tank system and add salt. Yes, there was bacteria, etc, but having all of the extra critters wasn't really a thing yet. It was mostly reliant on mechanical filtration. Since taking the hobby back up in the last 10 years or so everything is much more natural. You really don't see the transition to natural tanks nearly as much in freshwater tanks now so I didn't know if there was more to it. Are there different additives or algae control methods? Are water changes more or less frequent? It seems that problems would be potentially easier to tackle since there isn't as diverse of a habitat. Pipe dream?

I know there are some that do just fish only without the live rock and was wondering what your maintenance is like. Rarely when you see the massive tanks in restaurants and public aquariums do you see live rock, worms, and snails, etc. Typically it's artificial corals and large fish. While I love all the critters and variation that comes with live rock in a smaller tank, I think if we eventually set up a large fish only tank I would prefer it to have less variables to deal with.

I thought they had pretty good suppliers these days? Sustainable Aquatics maybe? I agree that it definitely has to do with the shipping - perhaps whether, perhaps not. My longest living fish have been the couple I picked up at Petco. Then again, the fish dept at the local one here is well staffed. It's still far from my first choice but I have been in a couple of local reputable LFS and seen ill or dead fish too on occasion.

No problems, but I am careful to watch weather (as are the sellers). In the winter or summer I typically have them hold at the post office or fedex location.

Healthy... Strange, I think we read so much about keeping everything perfect that you forget how hardy everything can be. Not keeping sps helps too I guess.

No worries. My experiences is that they run in cycles - mostly meaning they appear and then disappear forever.. I doubt you will be overrun (I have never seen a peppermint shrimp eat one).

I have a goldline blenny that I really like. Check out kpaquatics - they have a good selection of what you are considering, and priced well, and are very healthy in my experience.

Funny - I had a pearly jawfish typed out and deleted it...just because. Pearly jawfish are some of my favorites. I've had pairs two different times - and all four are dead from jumping. Yes, I have a lid. Three went carpet surfing, and one died from injuries after jumping into the glass lid too many times. There were no aggressive tankmates. There is no exaggeration when jawfish are termed "jumpers". For what it's worth, $40 for a pair is quite reasonable, but they have such a great personality that it's hard to see them die like that. Maybe in a 24 inch or deeper tank it would be better.

Yeah, a controller will definitely will be an investment. In the meantime that probe looks like a good interim purchase. We usually keep the home heat at about 69 in the winter. No wonder I felt like it was colder than that!

So, I realized that when I was cleaning out the back sections of my Solana I forgot to plug the heater back in. My thermometer is usually being carried around by my urchin so I didn't notice - everything seemed happy so no reason to think anything was amiss. And by the way, that cleaning took place a week and a half ago. And the tank was 64 degrees the whole time. After it finally came back up to temperature I'm wondering what to expect. Just watch? It's inhabitants are two threadfin cardinals, a goldline blenny, two skunk cleaners, three urchins (they were hitchhikers), a few lps, mushrooms, serpent star, and a spiral coral. I usually keep the tank around 75 degrees - cooler than many folks do.

I second the barnacle blenny suggestion - get 4 or 5 and they are fun to watch. Also, a possum wrasse. Mine wasn't too shy and was in and out of the rocks. Our dottyback is extremely shy - hides in a cave rather than perches.

Welcome - A couple of top notch LFS right around the corner from you!

I would recommend the tank tranfer method (with 5 gallon buckets?) before putting them in quarantine.

Meh. I really don't care. Our Petco in Leesburg is good. It certainly isn't worth wasting more than a passing thought on. There are plenty of other options if that's not your choice.