Jon Lazar

I'm no feather duster expert, but that sure sounds bad. Mine never leave their tubes, and I've never heard of one leaving it's tube. I'd be ready to pull it out and dispose of it if it shows signs of decomposition. If your critters eat it though, consider it expensive food! I think feather dusters, especially large ones like those, tend to have a high mortality rate from inadequate feeding. I think most reefs just don't have enough food in them for these critters. So your water quality may be fine, and your duster could still die. Jon

Do we get to sample the food as we make it? Regardless, I'm in. Jon

You might call the manufacturer and talk to an engineer type. Jon

It may be easier than you think to remove your fish to treat them. I had a foxface that decided he likes to eat polyps...but only the colorful ones. I made a simple trap out of a 2l bottle and set it in the tank, baited with some brine shrimp. Within 30 minutes the fish was caught and removed to my q-tank. I didn't have to starve the fish for days first or wait for him to get used to the trap. Yet another reason to have a q-tank ready to go. HTH, Jon

Weren't these guys addressed at MACNA? My notes are all at work, but I'll try to remember to bring them home tomorrow. If I remember right, you have to get all the adults, so no more eggs get laid. Then you have to get all the juveniles that eventually hatch before they get mature enough to lay more eggs. Jon

I would leave the lights off for a while unless you have corals that came with the rocks you added. Right now it sounds like you don't need lights on for anything, so why "feed" the algae? It sounds like you've been a patient reefer so far, and I would encourage you to continue that philosophy. I wouldn't add shrimp to increase the ammonia. Sure you'll get a cycle, but once the bacteria turn the shrimp into nitrates, the bacteria will fall back to a steady state population, which is about where you're at now. Unless you keep adding shrimp, you'll be exactly back where you started. Plus the initial ammonia spike may affect some of the critters currently on your live rock. Jon

I browsed through their catalog, and I feel so much more normal now by comparison. Some people just have too high a money to common sense ratio. Jon

I've only ever used the Salifert kits, and have found the color change relatively easy to spot within a drop or two. I use their Ca and Alk kits, and both mark the level by a color change. The exact moment of the color change may be subjective, but I'm confident that where I "call" the color change is reasonably close to the actual value (say 20 units on the Ca test, for example), and very confident that I'm able to measure upwards or downwards trends. Hope this helps, and it's a free bump if nothing else. Jon

I got my base rock from Drs. Foster and Smith during one of their specials. $90 + shipping fora 45lb box worked out to about $3 per pound, and it was good quality. You can also watch for someone breaking down a tank and pick some up that way. Jon

One of those plastic kiddie pools would work great too. Plenty of room to spread things out without having to stack all your rocks and corals on top of one another.

I would definitely keep it. If you decide you don't want him, I'll take him

Congratulations! Maybe you'll find some eggs or fry one of these nights. Jon

Ok, this is better. The first link is the one I remember seeing. The second is a link to a RC search for "magnet" and "powerhead". If it works, you'll get a list of my search results and you can check out other related threads. Some may be better or updated. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...owerhead+magnet http://reefcentral.com/forums/search.php?s...tby=&sortorder=

I think that's the one RC thread I don't have saved as a favorite :( I tried searching too, but I got the "tip" about not banging the search button. Jon

The guy's name is Dana. MARU Pet Shop Courthouse Road Breezewood Station Fredericksburg, VA 22408 (540) 891-2704

Tim, There's a thread in the Reefcentral DIY group about how to glue a cleaning magnet onto a powerhead. It's got the specifics of what size magnet, type of epoxy, and helpful tips like roughing up the gluing surface to make it stick better. Makes it easy to move the powerhead around, too. That's what I would do. You could also try putting the powerhead into your rockwork in such a way that you don't need suction cups to hold it. Wedge it inbetween the back wall of your tank and some rocks or something. Might be hard to get it in just the right spot though. I've also seen people post that you can put a blob of silicone on the concave side of your suction cup, and then attach it to the glass. Apparently this makes it stick a lot better. Hope this helps, Jon

Gary, I didn't notice the seahorses. Does he sell them in the store? Maru is where I buy my cyclopeze too. I'm going to ask next visit whether he might start carrying oyster eggs too. Jon

Nice pics Lee, especially that blastomussa. Are you testing out a new camera? Jon

For all you folks down south in Fredericksburg, I stopped by Maru pets today and discovered that they are under new management. The owner appears to be more salt and reef-centric than the previous owner, and he's expanding their reef selection. There was a much larger selection of fish and corals than usual, and he pointed out that they don't transship, so the specimens aren't as stressed. Happy reefing, Jon

Alex, Do you have plans that you could post here? It would help everyone make more specific comments, and might help identify problem points that others have discovered the hard way. No sense in you inventing the wheel all over again. As far as your lag screws go, it depends on how exactly you are putting the frame together. If you're attaching two 2x4s together, I'd want the screw most of the way through the second 2x4. If you're countersinking the lag screws because you want them flush to put the plywood over, then take that depth of your countersink into account too. Happy reefing, Jon

Alex, Glad to hear you're working your way towards your dream 120g setup, and it sounds like you've been thinking the project out. I built my stand too, and here are some thoughts... When I built my stand, I made the stand a couple inches wider that the tank so there is a small ledge to lean your hands or elbows on when viewing...I like that feature a lot. I also made the inside "floor" by laying plywood on top of the bottom 2x4 frame, which left a 2-1/2" cavity between the floor of the house and the bottom of the stand. I sure wish I had lined it with sound board from HD or foam, because the skimmer pumps vibrate sometimes, and that cavity amplifies the noise. I constructed the bottom of the stand (where everything sits) sort of like a bathtub and sealed it with polyurethane. It's only about an inch deep, but that holds over 5 gallons in case there's a leak or the sump overflows somehow. If your're going to eventually drill the bottom of your tank for an overflow, figure out where that hole is going to be now. You don't want to find out later when you go to drill the hole in the top of the stand that there's a 2x4 directly in your way. Trust me, it's hard to relocate that support after the stand is complete. Good luck, and remember to "measure twice, cut once." Happy reefing, Jon

Welcome to the WAMAS reef community. WAMAS is a pretty active club, both online here on the site and in real life. Don't hesitate to ask questions. The folks here are much more patient, understanding, and polite than you'll find elsewhere on the Internet. Lots of help available here; just ask. Again, welcome, and I hope to see you at the next meeting. Happy reefing, Jon

I just wanted to pass along some of the tremendous feedback I received from people outside WAMAS. I had four total strangers come up to me and when they saw I was a member of WAMAS, they told me what a terrific conference it was, what great speakers there were, and how much they enjoyed the exhibition booths. Lots of comments too on how well everything was organized and how so many of the little details were taken care of. You can add my thanks too. This was my first MACNA, and I totally enjoyed myself. I met a lot of hobbyists, both new and old, got to listen to all sorts of talks from the who's who list of reefers, bought way more corals than I should have, took home a ton of free goodies, and talked to all the vendors. What a hoot! Happy reefing, Jon

Hey, what a coincidence! I'll be there with my name on too.

I just want to make sure others know that some tanks do have tempered glass in the sides, not just the bottom. If they were to try to drill a tempered tank, the glass will break, dumping everything on the floor, no matter how careful they are. Bad enough to ruin an aquarium, but disastrous if it's filled with critters (and water!) Obviously your tank was good to go from the start. Happy reefing, Jon