lutz123

The Tunze 9002 modded has historically been the go-to skimmer for the Solana 34. I like Solana but need to deal with the noise sometime.

Glad you are okay. And nice to hear the coconut oil tip. It really is hit or miss when working in tanks - best to be cautious! One big plus of being in FL is that they are somewhat familiar with ocean dwelling critters. Not the case around here!

Following along. I would like to do a MAME overflow on my next nano and can't wait to see what you think!

Would you be able to access the Solana in the bookshelf? I have a 34 gallon just against a wall and don't find it terribly easy to access. FWIW, my Solana is pretty loud if that matters to you. That can be modded some. Very nice tank though.

They are great fish. I had a pair in the past and would like to get another sometime!

So are you planning on corals too, or want the option anyway? If this is possibly going to be a 2 year or less tank and only fish, any lighting is fine. You can find an LED perfectly fine for lps/softies and maxi minis for under $100 new. LPS and softies prefer slightly dirtier water (win/win!) and my daughter's favorite corals have always been pulsing xenia anyway. As a matter of fact the tank my 5 year old has designated as "hers" has a good bit of xenia and halimeda, a few lps, clownfish, soon to be a royal gramma, and she loves the skunk cleaner shrimp. It is a Nuvo 16 but would be easier to clean if it was not an all in one. I kept stock lighting. On my pico I have a little 12 inch finnex led and it is perfect for what it is (but no moonlights). I agree on the rodi on going new - I wish I would have for the exact reason you gave. Even after replacing filters I had only saved about $35 - not worth it.

I agree with moving it to the biocube. If it has pods, it is fine for the fish. Do a 25% water change first and move him over. An "unmaintained tank" can be surprisingly healthy - even more so in some cases. Add a bunch of chaeto to the large tank while your mandarin is not in there so a population can get going. If your larger tank is not populated already I would highly doubt you will be able to successfully start one without a major undertaking. The mandarin will decimate the population before it can get going. Even chaeto or a sponge will be a waste unless it is a massive wad of chaeto - enough to hide breeding pods very well. You will be constantly replenishing.

I still say keep it small for starters. Life will be crazy for a bit. Set something up that is easy and small to test the waters first. You can always put up a big tank once all of the baby gear gets put away. You will have giant colorful baby things in your house for awhile!

I think a little nano would be awesome there. I find that it is more satisfying to plan a focus species or two rather than a few random community fish. There are tons of fish/invert options that would be swallowed up in a 300DD. And with a little one, I would recommend staying away from anything that requires frozen/live to survive. Keep it simple. Adding display macroalgae helps too. Honestly, with a small tank, unless you are planning SPS, I would skip the sump, and even the AIO in favor of a simple aquaclear HOB and a powerhead. It is plenty of filtration if it is slightly oversized. Water changes are more than adequate in a FOWLR less than 30 gallons. Keep an ATO in the cabinet below, though top offs with a jug of distilled is simple. My family's favorite tank is our little 3 gallon Pico. The sexy shrimp all hang out on the maxi mini, and the pom pom crab waves her anemones at us daily! My next nano (we have 3) will likely be mostly Hancock barnacle blennies.

I believe when I was researching them at one point I saw that one color is supposed to be particularly hardy, but unfortunately I don't remember what that is. May make it easier to google though...

There are tons of suggestions out there. Have you tried an aggressive approach like this yet? http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/how-i-beat-dinoflagellates-and-the-lessons-i-learned How long and how much dino are we talking?

It would be awesome if you could just set up a delivery option, like "Hey, I'm going to be in Reston Friday from 12-1 if you want something." When the stocklist is up, you can bet I would be seeing if there was something I just couldn't live without.

Really beautiful! I love macros and find that they really help keep a tank healthy! I'd love to hear more about your setup. Join!

I like the schooling bannerfish idea - that's what I am considering for a 180. I am not very familiar with some of the fish you have so I couldn't say whether it would be appropriate. I hear they are very active and grow very quickly. They are also not terribly easy to find with the assurance you are actually getting the schooling bannerfish. That being said, they are open swimmers and need plenty of room, not really "reef" fish. Though they live fine in groups, you could always just get one. Go to BRK and see them in person. Maybe that will help you decide. My preference is never to "fully stock", just because I will inevitably want to tinker down the road and need room to add something new.

Those bannerfish are awfully tempting!

Really nice - great to see that the product works!

Flatworms release toxin when they die, corals release toxin when they are threatened (poison/toxin from something else). Plus, it was a relatively new tank to me so who knows what was lurking in there. There were alot of flatworms.

Toxins are not fun. I never figured out if mine were palys/gsp/flatworms - I nuked my tank with flatworm exit and stuck my hand in it...with a small open cut I hadn't noticed...ended up in an ambulance. More fun continued in that I had some kind of ptsd reaction and would have full on panic attacks if I saw a fish tank! Heck, I couldn't even go in a pet store! Setting up a tank again 18 months later was a little scary and I still worry a little every time tank water touches me. (More ironic since I grew up in Florida picking up every water critter I found). It may seem stupid to an experienced aquarist to boil rocks, but we have all been newbs and you just have no idea that it could be so dangerous. Honestly, just like having an emergency contact on your phone, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have an emergency packet in a safe place with info about toxins, resources, phone contact of a local reefer in case of a problem (to give to a doc, or your significant other to have). You are not in a great position to offer info if there is an emergency and I can promise you that the docs don't have a clue how to approach.

Some critters can survive the dip too...or eggs. Populations of things ebb and flow, and also can be responding to your recent parameter changes - more or less of the right nutrients available.

What is your reason for wanting to change?

I may have missed it, but are you acclimating in a bucket, or floating the bag? I don't remember enough about what happens to the oxygen/ph/ammonia when floating a bag but it changes drastically and quickly worsens. Also, if the water they are in is much warmer than the bag water they absorb less oxyen (I think). I agree with stress for sure. Shortening your acclimation time may help too. It may be easier to come closer to shipping conditions in your display ahead of time.

Welcome! You will really like the active, friendly community here, and the recommended fish stores are all good ones. I can't wait to see your new set up, large and small. I have always wanted to try lily pipes and will follow along. I hope you are ready for a long drive to the Chesapeake! Northern Virginia is deceptively far from salt water. You would likely be looking at about 3 hours from Ashburn - but a fun field trip.

I have one that I almost ignore. It currently has a yellow clown goby, 5 sexy shrimp, a pom pom crab, and a few lps (duncan, favia, clove polyps). I have a little macroalgae too and a couple of snails. Tank is easy. I can't tell you the salinity, but I it has lost alot of water (an inch down) on a couple of vacations and nothing terrible happened. While I am well versed on the reasons against, I haven't changed the water in this tank since January/February - just topped off with distilled. No algae issues, everything is active. It isn't exploding in growth so it clearly is struggling a little, but as long as something is fairly hardy I wouldn't worry too much if you can do easy maintenance (water change with a 16 oz cup). When I was only letting it go down a quarter inch and doing regular water changes I got some pretty good growth. Oh, I just remembered this little nugget. The hob filter died several months ago (pre-water change) and it has been running with a simple air pump releasing bubbles a little faster than one per second. No other flow. Lighting is stock.

Yay! Perfect timing! We are making the trip to Pittsburgh and back Friday to visit a new puppy and I told my daughter I wanted to find an lfs too. By the way, I had an lps live for 5 days in an unheated shipping box because I overlooked it at first. Still going strong.

Ocellaris