wangspeed

Everyone is getting along just fine. The lineatus and the red velvet are nothing short of spectacular when they flash, though they have not done it at each other. We let my 3 yr old son name the lineatus all on his own. Moomi... Don't even ask because I don't know. -- Warren

Looks like a fun little project. I loved my Biocube 14. Kinda miss it in some ways. They feel more intimate. Wait, no I don't, bigger is better.

You should sell all us local mandarin and wrasse lovers harpacticoid copepods at a discount

Marine Scene in Reston regularly has them in stock.

Trochus snails are my favorite. Hard working and fast. They prefer my glass and rocks over sand anyways and they defend against even the largest of hermits by shaking them off. If you have any ceriths they won't be happy about this change. -- Warren

Yep. Got clear mesh tops. Day1 went well with the other 3 male fairy wrasses. Lots of places to hide and sleep. They gave him a wide berth due to size. I have 1 other super male fairy wrasse, a red velvet that I actually got from Steve@IC. He's the troublemaker usually. -- Warren

-- Warren

I Bayer dip all frags. Every single one, even from veteran members on the board. Not worth the risk. It's so easy too, and the therapeutic range on the dip is huge, so it's hard to really mess up. Make sure you transfer to a fresh tank water container before going in the tank though, especially if it's staying on a plug/rock that was in the Bayer dip.

There isn't anything magical about Zeovit, other than it's a system of carbon dosing, and quickly feeding the bacteria. I think the thing that really sets is apart from other carbon dosing methods is the zeovit reactor. The rest can be emulated through other methods. It's nice to have an ecosystem of this stuff though. My greatest dislike is the lack of documentation in both ingredients and potency of each solution.

You know those days when you don't want to get out of bed? Don't really want anything to do with the world? Yeah, well, Pinky had one of those days yesterday. He came crawling out from a new hole in the sand he dug, kinda made a cave against a rock. Not in his usual spots. Well, he's out like nothing happened, and Mr gigantic nearly 5" lineatus arrives tomorrow, complements of Diver's Den, and my bank account. My usual strategy is to dose Coral Snow mid-day to let the newbie get settled in, but I may need to go actually get an acclimation box, or make one with eggcrate.

Generally the experience is very good. I think all the issues I had were my fault. Looks like the most severe was the reactor getting cutoff from the rest of the sump, because with the last sump change I made, the corals are exploding with growth in the last 2 weeks. It's so fast that I can tell on a day by day basis with the montiporas. This is how I remembered the first 7 months of Zeo! I'm going to post some pretty miserable looking SPS pics. You should have seen these montis 2 weeks ago. IMG_4571 by wangspeed, on Flickr That lump of crap on the right side is what used to be nice Starburst monti. Gasping in horror? Wait til I tell you it's making a comeback. I think it'll survive. I thought the next one was dead as a doornail: IMG_4569 by wangspeed, on Flickr Nope, look at all those new itty bitty polyps. This is what used to be a forest fire digitata montipora. This one was down to maybe 10 polyps 2 weeks ago. If I remember, I'll take a pic next week. Sump version 1.5: IMG_4581 by wangspeed, on Flickr It's an addiction, really. Keep in mind that many of these are rarely used. Zeostart, Zeobak, Sponge Power, Coral Snow, LPS Amino, and the normal Aminos are my regulars. The rest are as needed: IMG_4580 by wangspeed, on Flickr Sump buddy, though usually it's the cat at night: IMG_4585 by wangspeed, on Flickr Thanks to Piper27 for this jewel. It is finally starting to encrust! This was the bottom side of his colony, and it had very little color. It's the darkest true red coral in the tank now. IMG_4587 by wangspeed, on Flickr Far cry from what it looked like before. Lost many sticks :( IMG_4577 by wangspeed, on Flickr Nice rainbow acan: IMG_4574 by wangspeed, on Flickr Friggin mini colony "frag" that I got from Dave Lin. Many thanks for this one, I love it. Red Planet is one of my favorites. IMG_4573 by wangspeed, on Flickr

Coralline algae does, and it can come in green. -- Warren

Sigh. He is officially MIA. I really wish I just knew what happened at this point. He and my blue spot jawfish are my favorite fish. In my misery, I may have done the following: http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/itemdisplay.cfm?c=2733+3&ddid=234395&ref=4282&subref=AI&cmpid=E-_-TR-_-DDN-_-PRDCT If any of you ever comes over, not a word on how much this darn fish costs.

The Thrive machine would be nice, but I think it's a huge investment for the LFS. Something odd this morning. I can't find Pinky, my red velvet fairy wrasse. He's huge, and very aggressive with food. Nothing this morning :( I've been looking around the stand, in case he found a way to escape, but I don't see anything.

I have the KZ and Salifert Potassium testers, but I was thrown when AWT said my potassium levels were way down, despite Salifert tester showing ok. That's when I decided to try the Red Sea version. I do it maybe once ever 2-3 weeks, but yes, it's painfully slow.

Oh, forgot to mention I'm on my third potassium test kit. This time Red Sea pro. It seems to be very accurate, but it takes a gd long time. There is one part where the suspension must sit for 10 minutes, and another where that same suspension must pass at least 3ml through a paper filter to remove the solids. I feel like I'm back in chemistry class.

Cutover from kalk to 2 part dosing. I had 2 pumps rigged already, I just used kalk for convenience, but I'm starting to see an imbalance and faster alk consumption. I see new growth from my surviving SPS. The R6i is working out great too. At this point, I'm pretty confident that I'm back on track. I've stepped up my own testing too, by going with Hanna alk and ca testers. I'm tired of guessing at the right color for typical titration testing. The alk tester is awesome. Fast and simple. The Ca tester is a total PITA, and requires the utmost care to get consistent and accurate results. I sent an email to Hanna about my dislikes, and they sent me a smaller more accurate syringe for the sample water, which you only need .1ml of. Yes, that's right, .1ml. Impossible to get an accurate amount in a 1ml syringe. They also gave me a bottle of lab grade RODI. With these 2, I'm getting consistent and accurate results.

Trochus > all other snails Ceriths and Nassarius are better for the sandbed though.

I've considered a pencil urchin just to rid me of some of this coralline. I only like so much of it. Beyond that, I just consider it an alk/ca sink :P Gives a nice mature look to things though. If you weren't so far, I'd say come get some. -- Warren

Happens to lots of corals. Don't worry about it. If it's an eyesore to you, you can always put a dab of superglue on. -- Warren

Hey, it looks great! Very happy I was able to contribute to this effort. Good idea on passing on damsels and dottybacks. Fairy wrasses, blennies, gobies, and chromis are probably better choices.

I get much faster evap in the winter, due to heater usage, and low relative humidity of the house. I have a 5 gallon ATO, and I annoyingly have to fill it at least once every few days during the winter, but maybe just once every 9-10 days right now in the summer. Besides that, I put ATOs and heaters in the same category in terms of things likely to fail. Plus the ATO can kick on if you scoop some water out for coral or fish additions, or work in the sump. It's one thing, to me at least, to trigger the addition of RODI, but it's another if it's a significant amount of saturated kalk solution. My 2 cents.

BRS's take on kalk: I disagree with ATO + kalk as being the ideal solution though. Just not consistent enough, and there is much more risk, IMO. In terms of mixture, I like 1 gallon of water, 45 ml of distilled vinegar, and 2 teaspoons of kalk. Don't shake too hard, just gently mix or turn the container upside down.

Is it getting bubbles stuck under it?

If you're just starting, I vote drip kalk. Lots of videos and explanations on how to dose kalk like this. I prefer it over adding it to ATO, since that is too inconsistent. Not that it matters since you don't even have that option