wildcrazyjoker81

Centreville aquarium gets live blackworms in. They are first come first serve and sell quick, so best bet is to call ahead.

The new owner of Tiki dropped the site since it was part of the deal of him buying the store and he really didn't want the hassle of it. Many just went to the various FB groups. So RIP Richmondreefers.com. Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Just have to double-check, but have you tested with two different tests to verify that reading. That does seem to be a bit ridiculous of a drop when you upped your doser. Were the jugs of ESV new before you left? Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Im not too far off 95 in North Stafford if wanting some simple acros and such.

This is always such a touchy topic these days for return pumps. Do you spend 300+ on the "name brand" pumps or spend 300 or less (sometimes way less) on one or two pumps. On my 80 frag I started out with my old trusty Jebao DCT12000 (this pump is almost 7 years old now and still works like new) and it worked great. I then switched in my even older Mag18 (over 10 years old) since I needed a controllable pump elsewhere and who doesn't love a double duty pump/heater combo. For my 220G I am setting up I highly debated getting a nice Sicce/Vectra/Octo return pump, but at the end of the day they can just as easily fail like the cheaper china knock offs. Sure they have a warranty, but that doesn't help while the tank is down. So I was able to buy two DCP18000 return pumps for the same cost as one L2/Varios 8. Hard to beat having a complete new backup. Just my 2 pennies and thoughts.

Since tapes use some form of glue adhesive and the only glue adhesive we strictly use in the hobby is cyanoacrylate, I would lean on the side of caution of trying any tape at all. Now silicone sounds like it might work for exactly what you are trying to attempt, just going to have to give it a some cure time. Plus it is fairly easy to remove silicone with no damage to the filter.

I still have a pair of DA Reef keepers running. I would possibly be interested in some things since all I have is the brain and one power bar on each system I have up.

Looking great man! Really sucks what happened to the original tank, but the 300DD has been known to split at the seams long term, so I think it was just meant to be. Plus the Planet Aquarium tank is a much much better tank in build and quality. I guess I need to sit down at some point and start my thread too

Looks great thus far man. I too need to get to work on getting a build thread for my 220G that I am setting up. Still waiting on plumbing to come in before I get water in it. Don't make your scape too nice or I may have to convince you to come help with mine. I really dislike aqua-scaping. I am having my wife and son give it a go while I work on plumbing/setup. I run the emerald39 on my 80G and it really is a good sump for the money. Can't wait to get some tester frags in there

@tonkadawgnice tank choice and absolutely need to catch up with you at some point. I am across from HH Poole Middle school.

As Lynn already stated the Alkatronic and Mastertronic are a set just as are the KH Director and Ion Director from GHL. The Mastertronic and ION Director are near impossible to find at times. I know personally the ION Director is still working through the people who pre-ordered the units last year. Neptune Trident is the most available out of the group, but is a different animal in that you need to have an APEX to use it which definitely adds to the up front cost and it only does testing with no option for dosing correction unless you buy a separate Neptune doser as well (referring to ALK specifically). The KH Director, Alkatronic, and the not mentioned KH Guardian (The KH Guardian is the cheapest up front ALK tester/doser available) all have the capability to test and dose to correct low alkalinity in a standalone form. The KH Director and Alkatronic both have cheap DIY reagents and supposedly so does the KH Guardian, but I have heard the KH Guardian can possible be bricked due to some dye coloring in their reagents. The trident only does three tests (ALK/CAL/MAG) vice the Mastertronic and ION Director which test more. Heck you could also even throw the Reefbot into the mix if that is still around since its is a big testing machine. All in all I guess you just need to decide what is most important to you or the direction you are going to head since they all are very capable units. Personally I like the look, feel, and phone app of the GHL units (hard to beat a good German engineered product) and don't like the shape/design/orange color of Neptune stuff which consequently also ruled out the Alkatronic/Mastertronic for me too. The only big perk for me with the Alkatronic/Mastertronic is they are all fairly concealed so while bulky, definitely do have a clean look. Also the GHL setup is the only one of the group that can be added to a controller later on if wanted that is tried and true. The Hydros still has bugs to work out so I don't even see that as an option yet when compared to Apex/GHL. Just my 2 pennies.

I think glass cages is in NJ. I would be interested to see who all does make glass tanks local if any.

Isn't this sheer amazing. Love it that nature is still trying to thrive!

I'm in the same boat as a few others here and I dose Neophos and NeoNitro on a doser. I am more afraid of 0's and dinos than I am elevated NO3/P04 levels. Don't be afraid to get a doser (yes even the cheapy Jebao Dosers) running. Just do proper calibration to know what you are getting and start slow. I am SPS dominant and am currently dosing about 70ml of each a week in an 100G system. Aaron

I would bet Blue Ribbon Koi would have them since they do carry plumbing parts in store.

Welcome back. As the others said above things really haven't changed too much per say. A lot of us use biomedia bricks/cubes/balls for added filtration instead of a ton of rock in the displays. 2 part/Kalk/CARX are all effective in their own ways. I too am in Stafford and you could come check out my 80 setup if you want. I will also be setting up a 220G Peninsula here soon too. Like ReefdUp said the names are really confusing and painful this day and age in the hobby. Soooooo many names for the same species of corals and classifications seem to have gotten all over the place for some species. What will really shock you is the price of certain corals like Torches and "high end" SPS.

Looks like a peanut worm. Pretty cool!

I think Tricolor Valida still. Looking forward to hearing others ideas on identification for sure.

Yes. It has been like that for a while now.

I work from home most days so more than welcome to stop on over. Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Dang sorry to hear it. Yeah realibility on technology can be a blessing and a curse. Tank looks great now though for sure. I too have the acro/SPS bug and am quickly running out of room. Now living out of frag racks for the moment and to make it worse I just bought a 10 acro pack of Reef2reef ha ha. Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Wanted to send a big thank you to AWI for this amazing RODI kit I won. Excited to upgrade from my older Typhoon III basic model. Also a big thanks for allowing me to add a bag of DI resin into the package last second via a phone call. Great customer service and the reason I will always get my RODI products from AWI. Plus the WAMAS discount is an added bonus! Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

They definitely do start to disintegrate if handled a lot. I s have both of mine in a low flow area with my fuge, so not sure how well they would fare in a high flow area.

I have the brick and plate and while they don't specifically remove nitrate it does increase bacteria load that will help consume nitrate. So it's really a win win in my book.

Sorry to hear it man. I know there are a few of us in the area that have had some big SPS troubles recently, myself included. I sent in an ICP and it really didn't reveal much other than my silicates were a bit high and iodine was low. Epleeds (Eric) has also been having die off as of late of older coral acro colonies and his ICP had some of the stuff yours did but the only thing that matched mine was low iodine. Not sure if that is the magic parameter that is funky or not, but I ended up doing about 160G worth of water change in my 100G system over a month added a UV and mine seemed to have stopped and coral growth is back on point. It was weird as it just affected my acros.