gastone

Sean, I'm planning out my next upgrade, and I'm fairly confident I will use a WM cone for it. Lotsa good from what I've seen on the WM forum on RC. Unbelievable build quality, innovative, made in the America, and the price is right. That being said, I haven't seen one in operation, but every thread that I've read about WM skimmers extols their virtues and praises them across the board. Of course there are quite a few good skimmer and good skimmer manufacturers out there. Let us know what you decide to do and if you do go with a WM, I'd love to check it out. Garrett.

Jim, welcome to the club. I wish I was as smart as you... reading books and joining WAMAS before moving forward on your purchases. I've got a copy of Bob Fenner's "The Conscientious Reef Aquarist" if you'd like to borrow it (I am a bit far away, but I can bring it to the next group event). It's a bit dated, but he manages to cover quite a few different ways to set up and maintain reef aquaria. Garrett.

+2 ...like Brian, I like the benefits of kalk (which in my estimation is as close to perfect a reef supplement as we have available to us) and I try to increase evaporation via the use of fans and surface agitation in both the display and sump. Edit: spell-ing

I was going to say the poop in Minnesota...

DP

Chip, I'm sure it will be a pleasure to watch everything grow in. Well done Chip and Robbie. Garrett.

I did a quick search and this is what I came up with: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?act=...fugium+lighting

Going with a pendant vs. a DIY canopy is your choice. IMO pendants are better suited when you want a clean, open top look. Canopies are used better suited in integrate existing furnishings/cabinetry. Then again, that's not a concrete ideal. Go with what you want. Doing a DIY canopy allows for quite a bit of customization, while the pendant you are using stock ballast, reflectors, cooling, etc. I've seen people swap out reflectors and ballast even in high end pendants costing in the thousands of dollars. That being said, my advice for halide lighting is to first pick out the lamp you want to use. Look around at other tanks, online galleries, the dedicated tank forum, fish stores, etc. Find the color/lighting that you like best. Once you've picked your lamp, you'll be able to pair it with the appropriate spec'd ballast and the best reflector to maximize it's efficiency. Then you'll need to decide if you want to supplement (like Amay I prefer T5 to VHO). Knowing which halide lamp you are going with will help you to decided which color supplement to go with (blue or actinic generally speaking). If on the other hand you go with T5 only lighting you'll have a seemingly limitless array of color combinations. Again, look around to find the color/spectrum you want to replicate. You should always use individual reflectors with T5, which is what makes them so efficient. You'll want to decide if you want to overdrive them (which will shorten the bulb's lifespan), or go with standard ballasts. If you do go with T5, pick up extra lamps so you can experiment on your own. If nothing else, try to solicit free, used bulbs off of other members to do this. If you do go with a canopy you'll also want to consider cooling the bulbs/ballasts. Garrett.

Sometimes being the guinea pig isn't the best. Sorry to hear this Steve. g.

Dave, did you manage to get ahold of the levamisole? I've been looking and it seems that rumors are true... can't be found in Canada anymore either. Garrett.

Here is the e-mail I received from Greg at ReefGeek: Hi Garrett, They are not available through the site yet, but you can purchase them by calling us toll-free at 866-295-9230. We can also substitute them into any our IceCap or Sunlight Supply T5 retrofit kits. Warmest Regards, Greg Morgan ReefGeek, Inc. 310-329-8375 866-295-9230 (toll-free) I've dealt with ReefGeek on a few occasions. Greg provides first rate customer service and a great product. Garrett.

Justin, I just e-mailed Greg at ReefGeek regarding their reflectors (or lack thereof). I will update as soon as I hear back. G.

This is what I was looking for regarding T5 reflectors. From Grim on RC: ReefGeek >= Aquatinics > IceCap > Tek > others G.

Got any links? I try to appreciate different approaches to reefkeeping. Garrett.

How large is your miniatus? What size tank? Tankmates? Always been my fav. I kept one in college (I won't even say what size tank). He used to eat out of my hand. Garrett.

Probably as they they are being used on the wrong spec'd ballast, IE electronic. From Icecaps forum on RC (even makes mention of radiums): http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...hreadid=1236502 Here's another linky from RC (PaulErik is the halide lighting guru on RC, much like Grim is the T5 guru. His company is a specialty lighting company doing architectural/commercial/aquarium installs and consults.) http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...mp;pagenumber=1 Here's another link which should help to match up lamps with manufacturer spec'd ballast: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/sj/index.php and from radium's website: http://www.radium.de/e/produkt_details.htm...on_s_pe_id=3889 Of course if you are using the 400w lamps than that is a different matter all together. Garrett.

The M80 is the US spec'd ballast for the 250w radium. An electronic ballast will underdrive the bulb and shorten the usable lifespan. On an M80 expect to get 12-18 months of usage. G.

IMO you can get the look you are looking for using just Radiums. This of course is predicated upon me knowing what you are looking for. Radiums look much different on an M80 ballast than they do on an electronic ballast. Look at Chris's dedicated tank He uses electronic and the radiums are very blue (what many people would consider to be 20k). However, on an M80 ballast they are a very bright white, with a nice blue tinge (what people may consider 14k). Of course this is moot if you are using an M58 in which case the radium won't work (and if it does, don't expect it to work for long). G.

The icecap reflectors are good. Grim did some studies (of course I don't have access as I'm not a premium member on RC and I can't search ~ maybe we can get Justin to run a search for us ) about which reflectors are the best. The icecap were not at the top of the list, but are still good reflectors to use. For bulbs you could go with 2x http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluore..._by_UV_Lighting and 2x http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluore...orescent_by_ATI I can't remember what the difference is between the various actinics from different manufacturers. I use the UVL, but I'm sure the Giesemann and ATI are suitable as well. G.

XM 10k spike at 420 nm (not a huge spike, but the biggest spike it offers), therefore if you are going to supplement with just one lamp I would use T5 blue+ lamps which spike at 460nm. This make for a nice complement. A few years ago I use XM10k with VHO superactinics. I couldn't barely tell when the VHOs were turned on, even though the 24" supplements that I was using were pushing 150w total. I then switched out to 24" T5 blue+ (2x24w= 1/3 the wattage of the VHOs) and the color difference was phenomenal. If you've got the space, I would do both. Of course I'd probably just use T5 instead of T5 and VHO as IMO T5 are significantly brighter (perhaps as a result of using individual reflectors) and consume significantly less power. I'd say go with 4x5' T5, 2 blue+ and 2 actinic 03 driven using an IC ballast and some high quality reflectors. That's just me though. Garrett.

IMO once heliofungia starts to go downhill, better to chuck it. Many other fungia sp. are quite hardy, but the helio ain't. If you could isolate it, that might be okay, but I'd worry about bacterial infection (brown jelly and the like) with my other LPS if it did go. Garrett.

Some people have luck with emerald crabs. Certain tangs have worked for others, but a rabbitfish (foxface or goldspot or whatever) might be the best bet. G.

http://ozreef.org/library/articles/tempera..._on_a_reef.html http://www.reefland.com/rho/1105/reefc7.php and.... well, you can do the search yourself if you want to see the rest. In my old row house (which had zilch for insulation) the average summer temp reading (according to my thermometer (anyone care to discuss the accuracy of hobby grade thermometers?)) was 80-85. Any higher and I'd keep the halides off. In the winter the temp fluctuated from 68-72. Quite low in my estimations, but through any/all issues that I've had, I don't associate any of them with the temp difference/season fluctuation. Garrett. EDIT: That being said, in my upgrade I'll be using a ranco controller to keep the daily fluctuation to between 3-4 degrees.

If you paypal me another $20 I'll make sure you get a premium membership with all the bells and whistles and access to the secret forums. G.

New England, Ohio... whatever. Glad to have you in the area either way. I'll be upgrading (hopefully next summer) to a cube(ish), rimless tank. Probably acrylic as well. To boot I'm pretty sure I'll go with a cone skimmer as well, though the ATB is a bit much for my paltry budget. I'm thinking of the new WarnerMarine unit when it is released. G.