Mando77

I would do some research, but I wouldn't touch it.

It could be a number of things, but my first guess is light. That coral should be placed up high. If your tank is new than I think you might want to give it some time or start with some more forgiving SPS like montiporas or millipora.

Sorry to hear

I am religious about dipping all new corals before I add to tank. I just ran out of coral dip solution (Brightwells Iodine). I did have some problems with this on some corals. It worked on all pretty well, but some SPS had seemed to lose some color and took a few days to recover. So before I buy I wanted to see what everyone

Looks great. Like the close up on SPS.

I would through in some t5 blue and/or extra blue LED's.

just 2 part, and I guess it gets in on some of the fish food like rods, pe mysis and rotifers.

I bought a piece a few weeks ago at the Marine Scene and man does this thing seem to grow. This is on the bottom of my tank so I didn't expect much, but it has grown almost an inch in about 4-5 weeks. Can't wait to see how this grows out. I will continue to tak pics to show progress. I just thought it was intersting to see how this coral grows. This coral was just a stick a gew weeks ago and now has 4-5 arms growing. Green Bali Slimmer Week 1 three weeks later 4th week 5th week Enlarged Pic of coral now

I would go 8 bulbs, more is always better. There has to be sites and plenty of information online on how to wire and set this up.

I saw this critter and couldn't pass him up. I know littlle about them, but was told it was Reef safe. I haven't seen them around to much so I wanted to get this. If anyone has anymore information on these urchins please let me know. There is almost nothing online about them. He has got the best color on an urchin I have ever seen. I usually don't make impulse purches, but I had to get this.The pic is actuall pretyy bad, but wanted to show what he looked like.

Yeah I had a skilter back in the 80's.

I saw the Excel Scottwood CC online, but not sure about the 4% Alkali and what that could do. I think in order to get food/pharmaceutical grade CC you need to go directly to the maker or large distrubtor. BRS must have a source they go straight to and they are probably making a fortune in reselling. Not one other aquarium store online does what they do? I find that odd. I think the CC salt melt brands change often and so do the chemicals being put in them so it is hard to keep up with. The Alk and Mag should be easy to keep up with from a DIY, but CC isn't so easy.

Yes Deltec, Bubble King and high end products are better quality, but as many reports I have read there is little difference between the other good brands and the aquarium water quality. I think spending alot of money on a skimmer is overkill. Just get a good brand. Don't buy Coral Life or the cheap cheap Petco Petsmart stuff. If you want more production just get a larger skimmer and get a good brand. Some of the skimmer prices are plain crazy. As much as some of the high end skimmers cost they should automatically clean and maintain your tank in some magical way. Reef Octopus and Aqua C are the biggest bang for the buck and I'm sure if you compared the 3 there wouldn't be much of a difference if any at all. Its just as important to keep up with water changes and changing your media.

All soda ash is, is baked baking soda. This is what I have found today. Target has a large thing of baking soda that would probably tripple BRS amount for a total of $3.00, I'm curious to see what a large box at Cosco would cost. A large container of Epson Salt is about $4.00, agian I bet Cosco has this at even a better price Merrifield Garden center has Mag Flakes (50 pound bag) for $25.00 Still trying to find the DOW flake. I'm sure there are other brands, but I am looking for food grade calcium chloride. So all in all if I find a 50 pound bag of Cal I could run a large reef tank for well over a year and a medium reef tank for probably 2 plus years for around $75. Why would you need a reactor and all the parts, pieces plus bells and whistles? Plus if a reactor ever has mechanical issues or a part just breaks you are in big trouble. If you dose 2 part manually your set, its as simple as feeding fish. If you dose with pumps just replace the moving hose piece every year. This seems so much easier and cost effective? I'm just surprised to see why more people don't use this method.

From reports that I have read its the same as EVS and other commercial brands.

I tried Home depot yesterday and didn't see anything. Ace hardware has a Calcium Chlrodie Flake that I want to check out. They sell it in 20-50 pound bags. I also want to see if Cosco sells anything like Baking Soda in a large amount. I have also contacted a few large suppliers about DOW and Mag flake. They are looking to see if they distribute to anyone in NOVA who has these products. If it came down to it, I wouldn't even mind buying this online and making batches for WAMAS memebers? It all depends on how hard this is to find.

I have been doing research on two part and think the whole aquarium industry has been selling snake oil to people for years. This is as simple as it seems. It's just calcium chloride flakes, baking soda and magnesium flakes and salt. Bulk Reef Supply has good deals, but all they are doing is reselling and premeasuring calcium chloride flakes, baking soda (Ash) and magnesium sulfate and chloride. When you buy the liquid version (ex. EVS, Two Little Fishes) you are paying for something that has just been mixed and has a fancy label, plus you are paying for the shipping because liquids are heavy. If I could find 50 pound bags of DOW Flake (under $18) and 1 1/2 cups makes a gallon you could run a very large reef tank for basically pennies and nickels never needing a calcium reactor. In terms of the Alk all you need to do is bake Baking Soda on a bake sheet at 300 degrees for an hour to get rid of moisture and you are then ready to mix that in a gallon container. You just have to be careful and not buy the incorrect product. My only concern is keeping the sodium down so my salt level does not increase fast. With all that being said I am having a hard time finding a local place that sells calcium chloride flakes and magnesium sulfate and chloride. If I was a LFS I would jump on this and create my own mix because they could buy large quantities dirt cheap from a supplier and sell cheap to customers while still making a profit. I'm just surprised no one does this? Buying a mainstream 2 part liquid premixed formula is not cost effective, BRS dry DIY version is nice and cost effective, but it is still much more expensive then if you could just buy the items needed locally. Maybe WAMAS could get involved in buying or working with a vendor on getting the dry goods needed to make 2 part with Mag. Just a thought? This could also make for a nice demo at next meeting? Just to show the process and how is makes sense in terms of saving money. Imagine doing 2 part for a large (200 gallon range) SPS heavy tank for around $100 a year. In the meantime does anyone know who sells calcium chloride flakes and magnesium sulfate and chloride locally?

Both Reef Octopus and the Aqua C are nice. I know the Aqua C HOB skimmers are more widely used and I belive they use a simple maxijet powerhead. You can't go wrong with either, but I believe you could find an Aqua C used somewhere and save some money.

Thanks for the info. It seems very reasonable. 7-8 gallons of each part is only like $50. I am going to try for a few months or so on two smaller tanks that will be loaded with SPS to try and get a feel for what I do before I get a larger tank. I like the idea of dosing pumps and keeping it simple. I am just interested to see how demanding SPS are once they start growing and what will be needed to maintain.

Dose anyone use this? I am new to the two part (now using ESV) and have only been doing this for 2 weeks and am now looking at buying the BRS 2 part DIY mix. It looks nice and simple and very cost effective. I have also thought about using this instead on a calcium reactor for when I get my larger tank. I mainly wanted to get thoughts and opinions on the BRS 2 part vs a calcium reactor. What are the pros and cons.

Good idea. I will try that.

I would like to borrow/use a coral cutting band saw. Does anyone have one of these? Can a local vendor maybe do this? The rock is about an inch and a half thick.

Thanks, looking more for id info and would just like to get to know more.

What is the best book or resource for learning about SPS?

They will need to be replaced. If you have meanwell drivers order from rapid or reefledlights.com